Reviews :
Snake557 : They're the best huh! :)
Burgie : Haha too true. Ralph bucks up all by himself, this morning tho :P
ThoreLB : TAKE ALL OF IT haha
*Chapter 25*
"It likely meant the entire world, to her, to have you two show up right in the knick of time, like that," Zed's deep voice ushered to Ralph and Vanellope. Zed, as well as Berri and Ace, pressed into Sugar Rush's abundantly crowded dining hall. With such an appearance from Ralph and Vanellope, the two were showered with adorable, excited shows of welcome upon their return, from the racers that were present this early in the morning. With the press to the main hearth, where Taffyta remained, the group then meshed in with her's, Lash's and Mara's cute conversing. Zed gingerly wrangled his granddaughter into a snuggly side hug as he continued on, "Hey gang, what's for breakfast?"
"Where's the booger?" Vanellope hissed to Taffyta, clearly referring to Callum. Her eager, hazel eyes glossed about the place in search for either Rancis, Penny, Orph or Wren, knowing surely one of those four beings were holding Callum; she slumped when she realized neither of said beings were to be found, "Aw, man, seriously, where is he?"
"He's home with Rancis," Taffyta playfully sneered, she shook her head and gave Vanellope a knowing smirk, "Methinks you and Ralph should just go program yourselves a booger to hold. Mine isn't available twenty four seven."
"Y'guys enjoy?" Lash wondered with a cute smile, though it quickly turned into a knowing side-eye, "Y'all better've gotten on with the deed, I'm tired of the wonky, misaligned coding from the two that started it all, now..."
"Yes, we... We swapped, for anyone who wants every single last byte of our private information," Vanellope started with a snarky little grin.
"Don't be TOO upset about it," Ralph grumbled shyly, though he concealed a huge grin down to his feet, twiddled his fingers and finally looked off in cute, seductive delight.
"Glad you two are on the same page, again," Zed bobbed a nod as he and Lash now wrangled into a boyish toss of mild shoving that eventually simmered into a brotherly side hug, "Now, your homework is to never let an abstinence of swapping to go beyond five days."
"I'll rain hell-fire down on you two, seriously," Lash muttered as he waggled his hand to the two, to which Berri rubbed her temple and shyly eyed Vanellope with a sweet smile.
"I can speak from experience, mom," Berri mumbled cutely, she sport a bashful little smile and eased it to a wide grin as the group began to coo her knowing notions.
"Imagine being this guy's swap mate," Mara blurt with a firm thumb gesture in Lash's direction, the group was alive with warm laughter as Mara settled with a loving, sheepish smile in Lash's playfully glowering direction, "It has more perks than anything, and you know that, don't gimme that look... Why don't you tell everyone your exciting news?"
"Ooo, exciting news," Vanellope hissed with a nod, she bounced on her tip toes a little and clutched her hands to her chest in cute, girly wait; both her and Ralph looked entirely refreshed, a lovely getaway that was clearly much needed.
"What is it?" Zed wondered cutely, Lash now nervously took in a breath, looked about the group and sweetly sunk his arm over Mara's shoulders, making obvious that she was included in on said exciting news; said gesture had Ace's face suddenly turning sheet white, he held his forehead and huffed a shaky breath.
"Oh, for User's sakes, I TOLD myself I'd be prepared for this news, but I don't think I ever will be," Ace rushed in a squeeze of raspy cuteness, to which Mara wildly furrowed her eyebrows and gave her father a pleading look.
"... I'm not pregnant, dad! My lord," Mara blurt with a hearty laugh, to which Taffyta pointed in Ace's direction, as if to playfully make fun of him, as he heaved a long, shaky sigh and took a few steps away, as if to make clear he needed a moment to collect himself.
"Trust me, my brain can hardly comprehend that I'm a grandfather," Zed muttered shakily, obviously secretly shaken by the show unfolding as well.
"Y'wanna talk to ME about how I'M feeling? I have GREAT grandchildren," Ralph loudly urged, the small group was alive with laughter and smiles, to which Lash urgently flagged his hand.
"NO babies are involved, for User's sake, there's already enough talk of it, on the lot," Lash rushed, to which Mara rubbed her forehead and grimaced in sweet delight. Lash inhaled a readied breath and tossed Zed a cute smile, "We're bringing Sugar Rush to Vidrix. I'm... I'm going to be opening up a confectionary with Mara."
"...No way!" Vanellope erupted in hot excitement, "Oh thank USER, I hate having to go to that other confectionary in town, I always feel so guilty."
"Only half of their menu is yummy," Taffyta mumbled, she eyed Lash with a wide smile, "Congratulations, you guys! So what lead you to want to do that?"
"Ahem," Ace cleared his throat into his fist and shyly looked off in a non suspecting way, Berri nudged his shoulder and was successful in getting a cute chuckle out of his figure.
"I made cinnamon rolls for Berri and Turbo, during our stay on Sugar Sun Island a few months ago... Ace crashed the party, and, well... Sort of put the idea in my head," Lash humbly stated, he gave Ace a warm smile, "I realized how much I love baking, and now that I have Mara's coding, it's kind of amplified... I-I really enjoy seeing what kinds of new sweets and types of breads I can combine with certain frostings, and... Whatever else that looks like-"
"What's the most verbose way of saying 'I want to bake cupcakes for a living'?" Taffyta staggered with a laugh, everyone easily joined her as Lash looked off in teasing disdain; Mara giggled and pat the center of his broad chest.
"We're excited, we have our eyes set on a location in downtown Vidrix," Mara cooed cutely, the group nodded in whole excitement, "The lease comes to a close closer to November or December, so... Hopefully we'll be moved in, by then, with the proper licensing and all that jazz."
"Y'got a ton of recipes already cooked up?" Zed wondered, the twinkle in his blue eyes proved to the group that he was relieved Sugar Rush was going to have a small little branch of goodness outside of the outlet it all originated in.
"I do, I'm sure I'll have more by the time winter comes about," Lash bobbed a nod, Taffyta lit up with a gasp of an idea.
"Ohh, you should make hot drink recipes," Taffyta hissed, to which Vanellope bobbed an eager nod.
"It'll be cold, so it'd be nice to come in and get a hot cinnamon roll with a cup of something hot to drink," Vanellope and Taffyta melted at the thought of said place, Lash fingered his lip as the ideas continued to sap the group in goodness, "Oh, man, we gotta talk more about this."
"While you guys are talking, Ace and I are gunna hit our morning routine," Zed assured, he pat Ace's upper back as both boys cutely eyed Ralph in curious suspicion. Zed narrowed his gaze on Ralph's and was shocked that Ralph wasn't avoiding eye contact, "Y'comin' with, my guy? Or, did the weekend take it outta yah?"
Ralph heaved a long, hot sigh through his nose and briefly glossed his eyes in Vanellope's direction. Although he was well aware she wouldn't judge him for saying no, going home and sneaking in a solid nap before game day, he sagged his shoulders and understood he needed to stick to his own routines. He humbly smiled in Zed's direction, bobbed him a certain nod and took a moment to stretch his big arms and hands above his head with a grunt of potentially readying himself.
"Yeah, I'll join you guys, I gotta go home and get changed," Ralph assured, to which Ace cutely hissed a silent 'yes', alongside a subtle fist pump.
"Proud of you," Vanellope snuck, though she raised her eyebrows in plucked delight as Ralph leaned in and placed a warm little smooch to her mouth right before he began to step away.
"Love you," He eased with an overflow of warmth, to which she sweetly returned, and as Ralph stepped away, Vanellope's dainty, lovestruck little waggle of her fingers sagged to shyness as she realized the whole group was now staring her down.
"Well, damn, I knew your weekend would be good but I didn't think it'd be THAT good," Taffyta garbled, Vanellope's shy grin broadened as she looked down to her hands.
"It was wonderful," Vanellope nodded, she smiled into Lash's and Zed's sweet, humble gazes, "I really appreciate everyone looking out for us, so adamantly... Thank you."
"We love you," Zed assured with a nod, "Gotta make sure this quilt stays stitched together."
Late into nightfall, Sugar Rush's sweet, humid summer air coat the flyer's gorgeous, massive dome of an enclosure. Due to the climate control of said dome, coming and going wasn't a flippant thing, and was often reserved to three times a day tops. Knowing that the evening was coming to an end, meaning their nighttime hunt was freshly beginning, Boss paced and began to feel weird. The residue of his and Orion's chat, about a month ago, still held tight to the back of his brain. The secret notion of desperately, and secretly, wanting to be the alpha male, of currently Royal's pack, had his head spinning. On one hand, he quite enjoyed having a younger stud to run the show, Royal kept everyone on task, in shape, fed and groomed, to the best of his naive ability, though somehow Boss began to itch with the idea of his very first offspring being brought into the world, a male nonetheless. Although Boss knew overthrowing Royal would unfortunately split loyalties temporarily, he wondered if doing so would be wiser and easier before his own pup was born.
"C'mon, pops, we're gunna be heading out soon," Royal pressed as his massive, gorgeous wingspan suddenly flit against the direct, downward moonlight Boss was marinating in.
The towering, beautiful trees, overhead, only showed Royal for a flicker of a second before his silent flight saw him off into the shroud of shadows, and though Boss's eyesight was terrible, his massive ears perked and what could be heard was Royal's cute voice ushering Marble a similar notion, from afar. Boss flattened his ears and felt a weird sense of challenge. Although he was well aware Royal made a wonderful leader, the prospect of Royal having a paw in being in charge of Boss's brand new pup, in the next few months, had him feeling protective, on edge, as if he should likely nip this feeling quick before it was too late. Although strong-arming Royal for the leader positioning was something he was sure would be confusing and would cause fur to fly, he grit his teeth and felt his brain tug at the idea, harder and harder. The more he understood that his very first pup would certainly be under his own care, he was well aware said pup would also fall under Royal's reign; something Boss didn't want to share.
Boss puffed his chest, inhaled a shaky breath and felt dominance soak him. He wondered if he could somehow sneakily strong arm the hunt, this time, to test the waters and see just how Royal fared in the act of sharing a position of power. Boss knew that he and Lickity were laid back and didn't mind Royal's stance on matters, though still the nagging persisting notion of his brand new pup being eclipsed by his big brother had Boss feeling uneasy. A weird batch of males in a strewn-out show of unbalanced power, Boss knew that as the wise old elder of the group, he had weight here, more-so with the fact that he was due to fathering a new pup shortly. His strong saunter held confidence and power, though the more he neared their meeting area, a gorgeous melt of trees into a valley of moonlit goodness they always gathered at before a hunt, the more his stride began to weaken with nervousness. He wondered if this was the right move, and though the idea of simply sharing responsibilities was an option, Boss felt the fire in his heart surge with protectiveness towards his unborn pup, the idea that he were to be his pup's sole head stuck like glue to his mind.
"Hey, dad, y'get lost?" Royal chimed, him, Lickity, Balba and Marble all loosely stood with each other, the toss of their gorgeous eyes glinted against the moonlight were given to Boss with the warmest of welcome.
"No, sorry, just... Got to thinkin'," Boss uttered, in which he immediately regret; the group looked at him in soft concern, especially Lickity.
"Whatcha thinking about?" Balba innocently questioned, she sat on her haunches and tilted her head a little, as if to express entire curiosity, and though Lickity sport a similar look, Royal furrowed his brow in a spike of nervous intuition he was cued in to.
"Oh, nothing, why don't we... Head out," Boss assured with a nod, though he felt his pupils tighten the second Royal heaved a gentle sigh and tossed his mother a cute look.
"Mom, y'wanna be at the head, like old times?" Royal plainly wondered.
"Unmatched hearing," Balba assured with a little smile, though Boss perked his ears high as he was quick to notice Lickity sag a little and look uncertain.
"I don't know, I'm not really at my best, lately," Lickity mumbled, and though she looked as if she could be perturbed, she eased a sweet smile in Boss's direction before she glossed the group in gentle knowing, "I think the baby has something to do with it. I can be follow up."
"But, Boss is always follow up," Royal defended, he shot Boss a look of question before he gave his mom a boyish tone, almost as if to waive Lickity of her mild setbacks, "C'mon, mom, it's not nearly as exciting unless you're at the front."
"Bub," Lickity started in a soft huff of mild, playful irritation, to which Royal shrugged and looked about.
"I mean, I guess I could be at the front," Royal gestured to himself and looked around to see if anyone would protest; Boss bit his tongue, though Royal sagged and gave Lickity yet another huge helping of his boyish, irritated tone with a twinge of playfulness, "Mom, please? You were just fine the other night!"
"Listen to your mother," Boss suddenly snapped, his usual, grumbly, fatherly tone was absent and was instead sharp and certain; the whole group urgently whipped their surprised eyes to Boss as he inhaled a deep breath and bravely stood a bit taller. Much to Royal's whole surprise, Boss's ears were held taut and high, a challenge of dominance.
"... What's gotten into you?" Royal nervously questioned, he huffed a shaky laugh, shifted his heavy weight on his bumbling chameleon paws and gestured the wrist of his wing to Lickity, who glanced between Boss and Royal with a whole show of very knowing nervousness.
"Nothing, I just... You're not being very intuitive when it comes to the pack underneath you," Boss urged, he pressed a bit closer to Royal, and much to everyone's surprise, Boss's stance was anything but submissive; said stance and show of dominance had Royal almost nervously looking about the group, as if to wonder if everyone else was seeing this, too. Boss gently took half a few steps before Lickity, eased his wing out before her and made a very clear show of protection for her, "You have formation all wrong, and... I hate to say it, Roy, but every single night you fail to set us up for total success."
"... So why is this only NOW coming up, then?" Royal loudly wondered, and it was here did Balba and Marble now nervously began to take a few steps backwards, lykatas very clearly being the more lithe and non-confrontational of the two breeds of apex predators.
"Because I've finally had enough of it," Boss's deep voice rolled out of his body like wildfire, he did everything he could not to bare his fangs and allow this conversation to switch to an animalistic show of rivaled dominance, "Your mother showed hesitation for being at the head of the group. A spot that truly should be dedicated to me."
"You?" Royal gawked in a soft, apprehensive show of truly being confused.
"I'm your mother's breed... You REALLY think I hang back at the end of the group and maintain my fastest speed?" Boss narrowed his creepy, hot blue gaze and side-eyed Royal in a cheeky show of a now ballistic swathe of sarcastic rivalry, "I'm probably the only flyer here that can truly keep up with her speed and agility. If there's anyone that should be hanging back and playing follow up, with the runners doing the ground work, like usual... It'd be you."
"... You wanna run this show, then? Since you think you know so much?" Royal barked in hot irritation.
"YEAH, actually, I do," Boss amped up, his stance grew taller, his ears held more taut atop his head, and though Royal took a very similar stance, it was solidly clear that Royal's confidence was like a candle in the wind, "You should let your mate decide, amongst her and Marble, their positioning on the ground. You're the slowest flyer, so hanging back is best. Since Lickity is pregnant, I think it best to let her stay home and rest. That level of exhaustion is nothing you or I would know about, so when she TELLS you she's not up for it, a dragon who is ALWAYS up for hunting, otherwise... I THINK you should listen."
Royal nervously glanced to his mother, and though he was well aware he likely wouldn't gain her on his own side, due to being code-tied with Boss, amongst also carrying his pup, Royal nervously swallowed and peered up to Boss in a new light. The cold, blue moon cast hard upon Boss's scary features, a stance of a fatherly figure Royal had never seen from Boss before, and with a great deal of shock at just how quickly Boss was taking Royal down, Royal finally bared his large, sharp fangs and felt as if this was his last resort.
"You're gunna step down, if you know what's good for you," Royal barked through the mess of a guttural snarl, deep in the back of his throat, and with the show of his fangs first and foremost, Boss finally wrinkled his snout and joined in; all three females eagerly ducked out of the area and looked on in a show of pure stun.
"I've let you run this show long enough, I've sat back and watched you messily traipse through this reign of yours," Boss loudly started as he almost began to stand on his hind legs, to continue gaining height over Royal, and with said promised notion, Royal's ears finally began to flatten in the downswing of hot dread laid upon his heart. Boss loudly snarled as he daringly stepped closer to Royal, and with said few steps tighter to Royal's proximity, Royal's upper body began to sink closer to the ground in a show of very hesitant submission, "It's something I've grinned and bared for the past year and a half, but... I can't let you carry on with the idea that my own pup will be thrown into this mess."
"I know how to take care of my family," Royal loudly stabbed through the mess of bared fangs and snarling the two were now doing in each other's faces, and though Royal knew he now didn't have a leg to stand on, he narrowed his gaze and resorted to fighting dirty, "You're only acting this way because you've coded a perfect thoroughbred that you clearly think is better than everyone."
"That's your little brother you're talking about," Boss sharply stabbed into Royal's face, to which Royal now wondered just what would set Boss off.
"He's only half that, no thanks to you," Royal hissed, though with a world-altering dive, Royal nearly couldn't think twice before Boss's lightning-quick agility dove for Royal's throat, and with a sink of his teeth into Royal's thick skin and scruff, both males loudly scuffled in the sudden swing of claws, tails and wings, of Royal's massive body that thud to the ground with a loud reverberation that rattled the trees.
Boss unhinged his fangs from Royal's throat, pressed his powerful paw down on Royal's upper arm and shoulder and kept him pinned alongside the huge span of his gorgeous, cerulean blue wings against Sugar Rush's stark moonlight. Royal sagged in a roll of shock as he lay near helpless underneath the press of Boss's powerful body, and though both boys had formed a loving bond over the course of their time here in Sugar Rush, Royal was well aware any notion of it was very badly battered, here. Uncertain if it could be repaired, Royal felt grief strike his heart as Boss got in Royal's face and heavily continued on through the gentle, angry snarls through his massive, sharp, glistening fangs.
"You had your chance to rear a pup under reign," Boss's deep voice growled in Royal's face, he inhaled a trembling, readied breath and held his ears high as he pressed Royal a very definitive conclusion, laid cold into Royal's heart, "Now it's my turn."
Royal panted, and though his skin was thick, it still was dotted with blood on his jugular and a few other spots on his chest, due to the scuffle. Royal sagged, and though Boss finally released his weight from Royal, to which he felt the need to take an equally as angry lunge for Boss, he messily got to his feet, sprawled his wings and took off towards the entrance of the dome, far off. Boss panted through his snout and felt his heart ache in excitement, confusion, sorrow, elatedness, he wasn't sure which one he was going to adopt first. Boss lowered his head, sniffled the ground and sourced Lickity, Marble and Balba. Much to his entire surprise, all three females slowly sauntered over to him, though Balba looked the most hesitant.
"Thank you," Lickity murmured sorrowfully, she shook her head and eyed Balba, "I... I usually can put my foot down and say no to joining hunts, but... Royal's made it harder and harder, lately. I was going to get involved, but... My loading bar is masking the urge to lunge at another dragon."
"I'm grateful you took the reigns," Marble's voice eased through everyone's heads, telepathically, "It's been nice to see Royal come into his own and do a decent job at keeping us together, but... He really needs some guidance."
"I'm sorry, Balba, I... I hope you're not upset with me," Boss nearly panted, he fluffed his mane and looked beside himself, as if he was uncertain as to just what had come over him, "I-I... I didn't realize I had all of that pent up, inside of me."
"I'm not upset with you, I... I'm actually grateful, if I'm being honest," Balba mumbled sorrowfully, "The poor guy has been so stressed and worried if he was leading us correctly. So many times he'd say he wished Orion was here to show him the reigns, but... I kept reminding him that you were here, and you had far more experience with this kind of thing."
"You're also about to have a baby, I... I think it's natural that you want to father the whole group," Marble stated sweetly with a nod, the three kindly glossed their eyes to Lickity, "This alleviates stress. Lickity can stay back, you can lead Balba and I tonight... I highly doubt Royal will want to join, Chester's in Turbotime with Berri."
"Where do you think Royal went, anyways?" Lickity worried, Boss sighed and looked down to his paws in a swing of gentle confusion.
"If I had to guess, he's gunna go to the one being that gave me the kick in the pants I needed, when I was struggling," Boss's deep voice mumbled, he looked about his pack, in which he was now freshly in charge of, everyone looked renewed and plucked in readiness, though he looked off and almost nervously uttered his conclusion, "Orion."
