Reviews :

Burgie : Thank you! Eh, I wouldn't speak so quick, unfortunately

Lyssdoodle : You're definitely right!

Song Listened To :

Chosen Last by Sara Kays

*Chapter 43*

On a calm, cool evening in Turbotime, Ralph and his entire brood had very cozily made themselves at home inside Lash's and Mara's brand new confectionary. Although a fun, easy going place to be, their lovely shop had warm gold walls, beautiful black trim, a professional, luxurious bar area and lounge, as well as a segment for picking out one of the dozen flavors of ice creams, alongside triple that amount of toppings, their confectionary had it all; from alcohol, to ice cream, from candy to baked goods, everything was as right as rain and ready for a solid grand opening come tomorrow morning. For tonight, however, the group marinated in a soft opening, christened with Oliver's birthday party. Having planned this for weeks, to properly line up with Lash's soft opening, his gorgeous shop, aptly named 'The Black W', was filled to the brim with warmth and excitement. Everyone from the palace, Dead Zed's hierarchy, Hero's Duty and Fix-It Felix Jr., had gathered this evening to celebrate Oliver, as well as Lash and Mara.

"Oliver's gunna freak out when he sees your gift, dad," Koko whispered cutely as her, Ralph and Penny stood nearest the swooping, gorgeous splay of an ice cream counter. A few polite employees worked the night, happy to cater to Oliver's birthday party, the whole place was alive with music and chatter from the nearly four dozen beings that littered the place.

"I know, he's been asking for it for what feels like years, now," Ralph mumbled, he smiled and rubbed the back of his head. Having already finished his ice cream, Penny and Koko stood loosely with Ralph and polished off their bowls of delicious ice cream in preparation to scoot on over to the bar for a taste of Lash's ingenious idea of mixing Tapper's root-beer with his own brand of ice cream. Bottomless pits, they carried on without a single worry as Ralph so quietly ushered them more information, "You know how hard it was to find the pattern to my game day shirt? We NEARLY resorted to going to the internet."

"Tessa would've killed you," Penny muttered, Koko bobbed a nod.

"She would've dragged you TO the internet to kill you," Koko added, Penny bugged her eyes in solid agreeing and swirled her spoon around her thick chocolate ice cream.

"She would've dragged you to the internet, found the pattern to your shirt, BOUGHT it with your money, then strangled you with the shirt... Thus, killing you," Penny further added, though just as Koko opened her mouth to add to the ridiculous chain of nonsense, Ralph grinned, shut his eyes tight and flagged his hand.

"Alright, alright, I get it, internet equals bad, not a place I'd like to revisit," Ralph rushed with a laugh, he heaved a long sigh and sagged his bigger thumbs into the gape of his dark, faded red jean's pockets, similar material to his game day overalls. With the expansion of his powerful chest in preparation to carry on quietly speaking about Oliver's birthday gift, all three beings perked up in whole delight as Lash casually walked by, "Heyyy, man of the hour."

"No, no, don't give me that kind of credit on Oliver's birthday," Lash muttered cutely with a smile. He casually flagged his hand and eased his hands into his pant's pockets. He wore a cream-colored formal button down short sleeved shirt. His golden pixel-cubed-pupil eyes dart about in curious searching for said birthday boy, "I have the cake ready in the back, did you want to start rallying everyone? Y'think it's time yet?"

"Oh, c'mon, dude, you deserve a slice of attention tonight, too," Koko urged with a nod, Penny and Ralph easily joined as Lash sagged his shoulders and looked off in sweet, smiling humility.

"This place is AWESOME, Lash," Penny kindly assured.

"It's beautiful," Koko rushed with a nod, to which Ralph gingerly nudged his bigger knuckles into the side of Lash's upper arm.

"You and Mara should be proud," Ralph added with a nod and a smile of full warmth, to which Lash easily returned in further humility. Ralph glossed his eyes about their beautiful confectionary and, although it had a mature touch to it, it still easily radiated a solid Sugar Rush vibe, "You make her home game proud."

"Thanks, guys, seriously," Lash cutely rubbed his arm in a rise of rare shyness, he heaved a shaky breath and opened his mouth to continue on, though all four beings flinched as a bolt of purple coding, closer to the ground, whizzed by in a hyper show of surprise.

"Hey, hey," Ralph's fatherly voice nearly boomed in said bolt of lightning's direction. Gideon erupted from his frenzy of glitch hopping, skid his bare feet to a screech of a halt on the white tiles underfoot and perked up in a sting of frozen, boyish terror written all over his face. Ralph shook his head and locked eyes with his rambunctious child, "Not indoors, my guy, take it down a notch."

"Sorry," Gideon mumbled, though he obeyed, he still scurried off; oddly enough, in said scurry, he quickly began urgently talking to someone lower on the ground than he, someone that didn't exist.

"... Did y'all catch that, too?" Penny mumbled in confusion as they all glanced between each other, and then in the direction that Gideon hesitantly scurried off in.

"I guess... Gideon has an imaginary friend," Koko hissed through a long, drawn out sigh, she sagged her shoulders and smiled as she began to scoop more ice cream onto her spoon, "I thought, by this age, he'd be fully grown out of the imaginary friend stage..."

"I think it's just slugging by because, well..." Ralph nervously rubbed the back of his head and stabbed his eyes back in the direction Gideon had escaped off to. Although he had stopped glitch-hopping, she still rushed in a weave about the beautiful tables of Lash's lovely seating, a huge splay of over a dozen tidy tables for guests, and though every single adult in the place was mildly stationary and alive with conversation amongst groups, Gideon was the outlier that was hurrying about, loudly partaking in conversation with no one particular, "Poor boy needs some friends his age..."

"Berri briefly told us about Tessa's plan, for getting Gideon into Pre-Academy early," Lash bobbed a nod and crossed his arms as he, too, watched the top of Gideon's head amidst the mess of people he bobbed and weaved about. He cutely laughed and joked all by himself, "I'm positive Tessa can pull some strings..."

"She IS pretty convincing," Penny mumbled with a nod of certainty.

"I'm sure it'll all be fine," Ralph grumbled, though he could feel tension rise the second he could see Gideon testing a few little blips of glitch hopping, just to see if anyone would notice. Thankful Vanellope was nearby and had eyes on him, Ralph shook his head and blurt an annoyed chuckle, "Doesn't help that the poor kid's loaded with an endless amount of Sugar Rush, right now."

"I am not to be held liable," Lash chirped cutely as he bounced on his feet and lightly slipped away, leaving the group chasing after him with their kind laughter.

"Finch, duck down, you don't want anyone to see you," Gideon hissed in a sharp whisper as he firmly pushed past a group of adults; said adults included Zed, Theo and Oliver. Gideon grunted a noise as he accidentally slammed right into a nearby chair that someone was sitting in, causing them to jolt and their adult conversation to halt. Gideon stumbled on his big feet, sheepishly turned to see that it was his sister in law, Emery, to which he bashfully waggled his hand and ushered her a half-hearted notion of embarrassment, "Sorry, Em."

"Careful, Gideon," Emery called after him politely, to which Gideon grit his teeth and ducked away through the crowd.

"Watch where you're going, Finch, you nearly killed me," Gideon groaned cutely as he gestured his hands outward, he imagined Finch smiling up at him in cheeky, mischievous delight, though just as Gideon were to continue scolding Finch, Gideon was gently yanked by his upper arm and into the motherly grip of Vanellope's stern aura.

"Gideon Fox Von Schweetz," Vanellope gently hissed as she further yanked Gideon to the table she was sat at. In such a yank and a firm talking-to by his own mother, Finch's cute, imaginary self vanished, the colors of Gideon's world dulled to reality and his curated, bubbled vision of glowing fun was immediately popped. Gideon raised his eyebrows in hot surprise and peered up into his mother's eyes, she had begun to look as if this run-around was getting the best of her patience, "I've told you multiple times now to watch where you're going, to stop the aimless running around, and I know your father has to. I'm about to permanently sit you at this table if you don't settle down, do you understand me?"

"Yeah, mom," Gideon grumbled in child-like irritation, he rubbed his cheek and looked off with a solid boyish glower, the fact that he was now beginning to be sat in hot water made him want to rebel further.

"Who are you chatting with, there, Giddy?" Wren kindly asked; he could tell, coming off the dregs of being scolded, that Gideon likely needed a small boost to bring a smile about.

"My friend Finch," Gideon mumbled shyly, to which Wren furrowed his brow, caught with Throttle's gaze and, and though Gideon was being honest, he flinched in solid surprise the second the group began to sweetly laugh, simply as if Gideon wasn't telling the truth.

"It's his imaginary friend," Callum's deeper voice pressed over the group, and though he had a kind air about himself, he somehow managed to ease a sneaky narrow of his eyes laid into Gideon's heart, "I remember those days."

"Yeah, cause it was basically yesterday," Gideon bravely and nastily retort, to which Vanellope inhaled a stiff breath through her nose and squeezed Gideon's upper arm, one of which she had not released yet.

"Ouch, dude," Wren muttered in Callum's direction, to which Callum hushed Wren a stifled noise in the vein of telling his big brother to shut up.

"I think it's great, keeps the imagination running," Throttle sweetly added with a nod, having taught all ages of students over the course of his life, he leaned into the wonders of everything the mind was capable of, "Don't ever lose that, Gid, I mean, really. Growing up and out of it is no fun."

"Yeah, being an adult is the most boring thing ever," Callum garbled sarcastically, he rolled his eyes and tossed Throttle a grin; it was here did Orph, Koko, Nox, Oliver and Tessa stroll over. Callum grinned in teasing delight and caught eyes with Wren, "Said absolutely no one."

"Definitely has its perks," Wren added with a nod, and though Gideon's now boiling aura dragged between all the adults talking, he felt his heart simmer for mere seconds as he noticed Wren shrug and open his mouth, as if to look like he could maybe bring a counter to said argument, though he was unfortunately cut off.

"Alright freaks, presents time!" Orph chimed excitedly, and loud enough for everyone to hear; although Vanellope had loosened her grip on Gideon's arm, she still made clear that she wanted him to stand with her, in this window of time, whilst Oliver opened presents.

"You guys are WAY too nice, none of you guys had to get me anything," Oliver sweetly complained as he came upon the much larger table Vanellope and crew were sitting at; over the course of the evening, it had begun to pile with presents that people had kindly left, one big pile of exciting colors and bows that everyone knew Oliver was excited to dive into, deep down.

"Bud, I think you should start off with the present that your father and I got for you," Vanellope bobbed a nod, to which Tessa, Koko and Nox's eyes all lit up with a surge of knowing and excitement. Vanellope grinned and, though she sternly told Gideon to stand close, she lovingly rubbed up at down his back as he fidgeted and looked as if he wanted to run off. Vanellope cutely continued as the crowd began to drum their conversations to a halt and gather about the much larger table that Oliver had grabbed a seat at, in front of all the presents, "We worked really hard to make this a possibility."

"Yeah, kick it off with that one, it's really gunna set the tone for the rest of 'em," Koko cutely agreed as she gripped the back rest of Tessa's chair and leaned in for emphasis.

"Now you have me all nervous, what is it?" Oliver grinned in excited anticipation as Ralph eagerly took a stand behind Vanellope and Gideon, though just as Koko politely handed Oliver the very present, all wrapped in orange fabric and finished off with a nice teal bow, Gideon furrowed his eyebrows and, though he let an incredulous grin fly free from his face, his brain whirred at the speed of light, the insatiable urge to speak up and really give the group a solid dose of information, information he was absolutely sure no one had, though definitely needed.

"It's a replica of dad's game day shirt," Gideon proudly announced with a nod, though his undeserved cocky air and the press of his crackling voice had the group rolling to a halt of any movement or conversation.

Gideon smiled, though the second the dead air began to fill the space, he sagged a little and began to feel strange. The world began to bevel about him, the ceilings stretched to the heavens, the immeasurably important adults around him all narrowed their purely shocked, disappointed eyes tight to Gideon's figure, and it was only here did Gideon understand that he had messed up, big time. With tightness in his chest and heat on his face, he lulled his eyes in a long-blink of delirious regret, he nervously looked about at the insane amount of purely disappointed faces all around him, and though Vanellope tsked a noise and shoved her forehead into her hand in pure defeat, Gideon swallowed hard and felt Ralph's much larger hand grip Gideon's shoulder. As if the room was swelling with heat, warbled words of hot irritation, Gideon could swear his brain had melted to molten goo and had begun to sag out of his ears, the sheer weight of embarrassment cloaked him with the venomous kiss of a core memory doing what it could to now engrain itself in Gideon's once pure and happy little mind.

"Gideon," Koko's gentle voice trailed in a lilt of disappointed defeat, she gave him an offended look and gestured to Oliver, as if to express that Gideon maybe owed his big brother an apology.

"I hadn't even opened the gift yet, bud," Oliver mumbled sadly as he set the present down in front of him; though the mild blip of disappointment was maybe not as heavily felt by the adults, Gideon could feel as if he was spiraling into the sheer cliff-sides of the end of the world.

"Gideon, why did you just do that?" Vanellope hissed in saddened defeat as she gestured to Oliver, across the table, and before Gideon could somehow open his mouth and begin to back track and protest, he faltered a breath as a deep voice, to his right, laid the final nail in his coffin.

"Way-to-go, Gideon," Callum's deep voice sarcastically muttered in tight, overdramatized disappointment, though it was here did Gideon sag his shoulders and allow huge tears to well in his eyes.

"Don't cry, Gid, it's... It's okay," Tessa mumbled softly, though she, too, held a simmered look of disappointment in her eyes.

"If anyone should be crying, it's Oliver," Wren barked a laugh and gestured to Oliver, to somehow do what he could to lighten the air; this worked, and thus all the adults began to bicker and cutely remind Oliver that the gift was still incredibly important.

"Happy Birthday, lovey," Vanellope cooed sweetly to Oliver, both her and Ralph gave him kind smiles of molten apology.

"It was not easy to get," Ralph grumbled cutely with a smile, though his much larger hand was still gripped to Gideon's little shoulder.

"I'll bet, hopefully you didn't have to go to the internet to get it," Oliver teased as he began to open said already revealed gift, to which Tessa finally dragged her sorrowful gaze from Gideon and lifted into riled, teasing detriment straight into Ralph's eyes.

"No! No, don't sic your sister on me like that," Ralph barked with a hearty laugh, to which the group joined; he finally unhanded Gideon as he could see Vanellope preparing to see about slipping away with Gideon, to give him yet another talking-to, "No internet trips were taken, Thank User... I don't even know where that outlet would even be."

"Next to Litwak's run-down mini-fridge, right where I left it," Berri muttered cutely from across the way, to which the group of adults sagged back into lively conversation once more, an easy show of bouncing back that Gideon unfortunately would not keep up with.

Huge tears streamed his cheeks, his distorted view of the adults about him bobbed and bounced about through the tears in his eyes, and though it certainly wasn't the end of the world, Gideon felt the sting of reality continue to nip at his heels the second he caught gazes with Callum, once more. Although Vanellope had gently begun to usher Gideon away, Gideon felt the blood in his veins begin to simmer to a fervent boil as he shot Callum's dark eyes one last teary glower of full, frustrated hatred. Feeling the cold hard tiles against his bare feet, him and Vanellope firmly pressed towards the huge double doors of Lash's and Mara's lovely new building. The outside world, inside Turbotime, had grown dark and dreary, and with the push out of his daydream-like world of lovely, sunny delight, Gideon lulled his eyes closed in teary dread as Vanellope lead the two to a private place right outside to chat. Although not hugely detrimental, Gideon felt another lash of distrust sting his heart. What erupted from pure excitement and untimed, innocent nonsense somehow burned the image of disappointed elders tight to the backs of his eyelids, a burn of an image he was sure he wouldn't be able to get rid of for a long time to come.