*Chapter 1,053*
With lithe arms above her head in a draw, a flick of her strong tail, Kepa lifted her thicker hooded cover over her upper body to reveal a tight, strappy tank top that hugged her figure nicely. With a grunt, she schlepped her heavy items bag onto the kitchen's island and rested her hands on her hips in a slump of cute contentment. Gideon coyly tossed a side-eye her way as he rounded the island, although eager to discover her spoils for the day, he felt his heart begin to thud in remembrance from the night prior. The feel of her hands and tail tight about him, the hot exhales that filled his low-ceilinged room to the brim, he held his breath and felt as if everything that had happened, since then, felt like a world of coded information, a world of time that had passed, though the reality of the simple twenty four hours had his brain swelling. With low, slow easiness, he rounded the entirety of the kitchen island and came to the bend closest to the common room's French doors, the glass that opened directly to the patio and furthermore, the beach. Sun splayed his figure as he, too, broadened his chest in the stretch to take his soft zip-up off of his body to reveal a lazy, dark red tank underneath.
"I hope you and Novus will be okay," Kepa murmured as she eyed Gideon, leaned over and grappled for her bag in definitive readiness, she tossed open the flap and began to carefully pull a few items out.
"We'll be fine," Gideon stated with a swing of nearly zero confidence, he rubbed the back of his head and sighed in tired frustration as his golden eyes tossed across the tidy common room and living space, "Not the first time we've had a disagreement... Can you possibly tell me exactly what you told Novus, about... What we did?"
"The night I slept over?" Kepa mused, Gideon held his breath and felt teasing frustration climb all over him, Kepa's beautiful figure wiggled a little as she carefully maneuvered a few stalks of tall grass-like herbs out of her bag, "Gideon, do I seem like the kind of girl to give my boyfriend a hand job and then tell everyone about it?"
"...No," Gideon tightly squeaked, he scoffed a gentle laugh through his youthful, Vanellope-like grin and looked down to the kitchen island with a face washed hot red, "Just... Described a vague sexual experience?"
"I said we did something romantic and private, he didn't prod me for further descriptors," Kepa shrugged, Gideon cocked an eyebrow and watched as Kepa nonchalantly pulled a lovely, shiny gemstone straight from inside the cup of her bra. She set it on the island and cutely dug her whole fist back into the nook of her breast, to which Gideon now sharply furrowed his brow in cute, blushing, incredulous stun as her easiness drew on, "He gave me the LOOK, though. You know the one."
"Well, thank you... His mother is my oldest sister's companion, so," Gideon huffed nervously, Kepa's ears cutely twitched, her eyes hooked to Gideon's in warm curiosity, "If you told Novus details of the sort, it would eventually get telephoned all the way to Tessa..."
"What, she'd find out that... GASP," Kepa dramatically clutched her sternum and pinned her ears to her skull, "Her adult brother is... An ADULT?!"
"Yeah, User forbid I do adult things, as the baby of the family," Gideon's deep, insatiable, raspy voice lured in tease as he looked off with an annoyed smolder.
"Don't worry, he knows the words 'private' and 'romantic' and nothing more," Kepa dismissed, though she pulled a third gem out of her bra; Gideon stiffened and glanced to her breasts.
"The fuck is happening?" Gideon erupted into happy laughter, as did Kepa.
"DON'T make fun of me, please, I've already had a difficult morning," Kepa urged through pleading giggling as she gently slid the three gems Gideon's way, "I like to keep these three on my skin, makes me feel closer to them, activates them yada yada. It's personal."
"Let's see, got tiger's eye, snuck that one in my coat that one time," Gideon picked up the tiger's eye gem and admired it, though he went for the other two. A frosty pink stone and a black one, "Hmm.. Got rose quartz, and... Is this one obsidian?"
"Yep," Kepa chirped, she continued to pull out smaller pouches of finer, looser herbs and things she collected, though the main bundle before her were the stalks she was after, "I got a ton of juniper... Has really awesome, protective properties. I just gotta clean some of it off."
"Got a lot of nice things," Gideon assured warmly with a nod, though he hovered in her gentle silence and took note that her orange cat eyes were now lost in an aimless, comfortable stare down into the pile of goodies before her.
Gideon bit his bottom lip, reached his big pointer finger to the little fluffies off of the tip of her ear, closest to him, and just barely tickled them. Kepa squealed, scrunched her shoulders tight to her head, took a swat at Gideon's hand and allowed her ears to angrily flicker and twitch with Gideon's cute disturbance.
"Hey," Kepa complained with a giggle, she softened and peered to Gideon in coy annoyance, to which he wrinkled his nose and warmly shook his head at her.
"Whatcha thinkin' about?" Gideon wondered cutely, though as he was certain she'd likely dip into the previous topic of their romantic night together, he hovered to a contemplative sag as her glossy gaze, down to her items, began to look more musing, curious, pawing. Nearly thirty seconds of patient silence went by before her tender, sweet voice lofted Gideon's way in prickled question.
"...Can you tell me what your mother is like?" Her disposition was still, patient, stoic, as if she was well aware this was an important question with an even more important answer, the question to hopefully begin the decent into deeper understanding, a deeper look into each other's souls.
Gideon nearly flinched, though he held still and felt his heart begin to thud for a very different reason. He peered hard into Kepa's eyes, her adorable whiskers glint with Turbotime's noontime sun, her pupils held in the shape of big, black diamonds, her fluffy shoulders were sat back as she stood before Gideon, as if to show bravery. Gideon finally breathed a long sigh through his nose, looked down to the three gems in his hand and felt as if she was so politely requesting another inner wall to come down. With how kind she had asked, how patient and gracious she had been with him, he bobbed a gentle nod and was well aware it was high time to at least crack the door open and let her peak inside.
"My mother is an incredibly fierce woman, I love her to death," Gideon's deep voice mused with great pride, he slowly worked the three gems about his much bigger palm in aimless conversing, he allowed a cute, humbled smile to sprawl his handsome face as he recalled every last selfless thing Vanellope had done for him, the night prior, when he was at his lowest. Gideon shook his head in smiling disbelief, narrowed his gaze and peered into Kepa's for warm emphasis, "She's beautiful, loving, hilarious... I'm always told I have her smile."
Kepa held still and basked in Gideon's words, her ears held taut to catch everything he said, she remained silent and was desperate for him to carry on, even though her posture and body language read statued poise.
"When she speaks, the room lights up. She has this incredible ability to make you feel loved just by the way she looks at you, while you're talking to her," Gideon mused in nostalgic, smiling warmth as his eyes aimlessly glossed Kepa's findings, splayed before the two, "I know I just said she was hilarious, but I'm gunna say it again for emphasis. She's a riot."
"I'd love to meet her," Kepa bravely whispered, she held still, knowing now that this was a huge ask, though with the way Gideon bit his lower lip, in contemplation, and bobbed a shy nod, she raised her eyebrows in prickled surprise and allowed her tail to so softly lift in a tilt of a lazy flop.
"I can arrange that," Gideon's deep voice cautiously assured, he pierced his golden gaze tight into hers and spoke with certainty, even though his eyes were slightly narrowed for the emphasis of leftover hesitation, "My art teacher was supposed to host an art show last week, but it got postponed to next Saturday, the fourteenth... I wasn't going to invite my family, whatsoever, but I can invite my mom, so you can meet her."
"I-I would be honored, Gideon, I don't think you understand," Kepa huffed happily, she rested her hand to her bare sternum and lifted in a gentle bounce, as if containing her excitement was something she was en route to not being able to do, any longer, "I-I hope she likes me."
"She will adore you, I promise," Gideon assured with a grumble and a nod, "She spoils the crap out of my older brother's wife. Any girl I deem worthy enough to bring home is one she's going to sink her claws into, fair warning."
"I can't wait," Kepa squeaked excitedly as she bounced a little and shook her head, "What does she look like?"
"She's a little bit taller than you, when you're flat on your feet, she has long black hair, and..." Gideon pondered for a moment before he grinned Vanellope's infamous, toothy, youthful grin, "My smile."
"I'm really excited... I miss my mom," Kepa stated with happy confidence, though the second the words rolled out of her mouth, it was paired with the slow-swing into furrowed brows, a grimace to keep desperate composure, a full lip quiver and all daintily topped with huge tears that suddenly rushed to Kepa's beautiful eyes.
"Aww, c'mon, I'm... I'm sorry," Gideon guffawed apologetically as Kepa tucked her fingers to her mouth, sagged into herself and looked off as said big tears spilled down her cheeks, so suddenly. Gideon felt his heart stab with each thud, and though he was nervous to let Kepa in, he knew this was more for her desire to have a mother figure in her life, once more. Gideon knew she had to have mustered every last ounce of bravery to ask such a daunting, circumstantial question, and with such, he was well aware he needed to reward her in all aspects. With a great amount of ease, he wrangled Kepa into a huge hug and lovingly burrowed his face into the top of her head and soft hair, "I'm sorry I've been keeping her from you... She's one of the best mothers on the planet, I know she'd mother you into the next century, she'd drop everything to meet you, I promise."
"I can't wait," Kepa sweetly whimpered as she snuggled her face into Gideon's chest, "I-I hope I don't cry, upon meeting her... I don't want to weird her out."
"Well, I can warn her of your situation before hand, but trust me... If you start crying, she'll immediately baby you," Gideon grinned in chuckling warmth as he tucked his chin to the top of her head and so sweetly began to sway her, "It's a special, sticky situation... Not technically your typical 'meet the parents'. If she knows you're motherless and desperate, that's enough for her to whisk you away and spoil the crap out of you. What's better is you're my girlfriend, so whatever you're imagining, it's that, tenfold."
"I can't wait," Kepa repeated, though this time, inside a huge sigh of relief as she lulled her eyes closed and gripped Gideon around his middle.
"Next week," Gideon assured warmly into the top of her head as he lovingly began to pet the back of her head, down her soft braid, to the back of her neck and the back of her shoulder blades. His heart began to surge in anxiousness, and though he didn't want to fully let Kepa into his world all at once, he knew he could somehow afford the work around and give Kepa that huge dollop of motherly love he was very well aware Vanellope was eager to deploy on any and all lost, needy souls.