Reviews :
ThoreLB : Yyyyyep.
Burgie : Yeah, poor kid doesn't really catch many breaks lol
Firesong-Writes : Thank you! He's tender-hearted and naive, gets him into a bit of trouble. He's not much of a flirt, due to social rejection he's gone through but yeah, she was a brat lol. You unfortunately haven't seen the last of her lol
*Chapter 60*
Gideon held his breath and felt a wiggle go down his spine. A ripple of fear that plagued him, the raw fact that he was always underneath authority; family, school, rulers, Users, it didn't matter. He finally heaved a long, hot, shaky sigh through his nose and sagged, though not out of defeat. His core stiffened, he stood proud, though he firmly looked off in a glower, a solid mean-mugging of full, adolescent defiance and Lash knew it. Lash cleared his throat, cocked an eyebrow and gently peered to Novus in a swing of cheeky, smiling curiosity. He finally unravelled his arms from behind his back, held his hand out towards Novus and quipped him a curt demand with the stiff waggle of his fingers.
"Thank you for your time, Novus, we'll be seeing you later," Lash's voice was laced in light-hearted, playful loveliness, though both boys were well aware it was just a sarcastic mask.
Smart to bow out, Novus lowered his head, flattened his big bat ears in submission, held a tight-lip look of assuring Lash that he was well aware he knew how to take orders, and in a successful swing, Novus sagged the hefty energy drink into Lash's awaiting grip, eased his stance out of Gideon's and Lash's presence, slunk down the cobbled alley and lifted to the sky in a successful swoop of his huge, majestic wing span. In a whisk, he was gone, leaving the alley briskly kissed with an agitated swirl of dead leaves, loose debris and stagnant, chilly fall air. Lash eyed the energy drink, and with whole nonchalance, he sagged his happy, devious eyes tight to Gideon's still-devilish glower and eased a wide, sarcastic grin.
"Y'havin' fun back here?" Lash cooed, it was here did Gideon naively soften. He furrowed his brow just barely, Gideon's nervous eyes finally succumbed to inspecting curiosity, and as he dart his softening gaze about Lash's broad, strong chest and shoulders, he finally eased out of the glower he held tight to and watched as Lash cutely held up Novus's energy drink in baited, boyish wait, "Cheers."
Gideon dared to let the edges of his mouth curl in true belief that maybe Lash was surely being sarcastic about busting his and Novus's party, and though a piece of him urged him to be apprehensive about all of this, he still softened and lifted his second bottle of beer, which was now half-empty. As both men went to properly cheers, Lash skillfully yanked the neck of the bottle from Gideon's unsuspecting grip and fiercely swiped it down and to the side with a shatter and a pop of beer that sprayed outwards, away from both boys. Gideon inhaled a tight, silent gasp, peered to the mess and finally delivered Lash the meanest glower he could afford, though much to his further dismay, Lash easily blurt a chuckle and brought Novus's energy drink to his mouth. With a heavy swig, it took absolutely everything inside of Gideon to not furiously swipe the can of frosty goodness right out of Lash's unwavering grip.
"Damn, this is good," Lash smacked his lips and eyed the energy drink, he cocked an eyebrow and smiled into Gideon's eyes, "Y'guys rob a gas station or something? How'd you wind up with this expensive brand of energy drink, AND beer, nonetheless?"
"Leave me alone," Gideon muttered tightly, anger sapped his existence.
"I'll leave you alone once you tell me what you were up to," Lash shrugged, his eyes dragged to the pops of color Gideon had painted on the wall directly to his right.
"It's none of your business," Gideon skillfully volleyed, his deep voice began to tremble, and though he was discovered, he firmly stuck to his guns, "How'd you find me, anyways?"
Lash cocked an eyebrow and halted his movement of taking another sip of Novus's drink. He eyed Gideon in sweet delight and finally blurt a laugh, as if to prove to Gideon that Gideon's little question was valid, though almost incredibly silly. Lash shook his head, huffed a dry chuckle, finally swigged the drink, once more, and came up for air. He slowed the shake of his head and aimlessly peered to the paintings, once more, he sagged his shoulders and let a cocky, almost nonchalant smile cross his face in bittersweet nostalgia.
"Hooo, man," Lash sighed sweetly, his pointer and middle finger aimlessly tapped the body of the can he gripped in sweet, mindless fiddling as he brought his sarcastically sweet eyes tight to Gideon, "We've finally reached the generation that will never understand the horse shit we endured just so you could be here illegally tagging walls and drinking underaged in my big brother's city. All to ask the DUMBEST question on the face of this green earth."
"You followed me," Gideon guessed, strict navigating he tried to cloak with firm belief.
"Orion watches the city during game day, in which Zed is his proxy until game day is over, which then goes to Turbo," Lash skillfully laid into Gideon's still, stewing demeanor, "Throttle takes over for my game day duties when Academy releases at two, so I can relieve Mara at the shop. Guess who then becomes Orion's proxy..."
"You, congratulations," Gideon's deep, raspy voice delivered in swift, witty footwork.
"Oh, thanks," Lash narrowed his gaze and prepared to take another sip of Novus's drink, "I earned it."
"Must be real fun being a little bitch," Gideon darkly huffed, though he flinched in hot, dreaded surprise the second Lash's furious, coral-colored coding riddled the can in his hand and vaporized it into thin air; distracted by such, Gideon sharply flinched, once more, the second Lash firmly got in his face.
"What was that?" Lash delivered with a smile, Gideon sagged and felt his heart drop the second an actual, physical fight was upon him, with someone who had such an incredible, scary stature above him. Gideon stood his ground, though the second he nervously divert his eyes away from Lash's in wallowing, stiffening defeat was the second Lash was well aware he won this little show of arms. Like a house of cards, Gideon crumpled in on himself and tightened his glower of hatred off to the side the second Lash hovered his forehead tight to his, "Try it again. Watch what happens."
"Sorry," Gideon muttered in irritation, though he jolted in surprise the second Lash firmly shoved on his chest; he took a fumbling step or two backwards and caught his footing, though he clenched his fists and firmly glowered Lash down.
"Huh?" Lash's voice loudly echoed in the alley, he still meanly smiled, the scary cy-bug markings on his face sprawled in a stretch as his smile broadened, and it was here did Gideon allow realization hit him. This wasn't simply a fist fight, a school yard tussle of strength and nothing more, this could wind up being a serious issue had Lash been a full stranger, or had he not genuinely been on Gideon's side.
"I'm sorry," Gideon muttered, his voice shook, it was clear he had a determined, fighting spirit, though his gooey center made it incredibly easy to thwart.
"With your chest," Lash stabbed as he firmly pushed his first two fingers into the center of Gideon's sternum, and although Gideon stood still in Lash's scary presence, Gideon winced as Lash's strong stab dug to the bone.
"I'm sorry," Gideon's shaky voice eased with a further push of clarity and genuine humility, to which Lash bobbed a firm, authoritative nod.
"You want this to make it home to Ralph and Vanellope? Would you like me to call Tessa right now? Or better yet... King Zed?" Lash firmly side-eyed Gideon, his scary, glowing eyes held tight to him like prey he had locked onto, "You know what happens when King Zed is sicced on troublemakers..."
"I'm not a little kid," Gideon's deep voice firmly pressed, heat came back to his skin as the fire ignited in his eyes, once more, "And I'm NOT a troublemaker."
"You're out here illegally drinking, illegally tagging and illegally loitering," Lash rapid-fire counted on his fingers, "You're gunna tell me what vendor sold you the beer, you're gunna tell me exactly why you're out here graffitiing on the side of this building which, may I remind you, is the building of an innocent, family owned shop."
"I didn't steal anything," Gideon defended, to which Lash gave him a look of full disbelief.
"Yeah, and I was born yesterday," Lash huffed in annoyance, though before Lash could carry on, Gideon held up his hand and bravely manifested yet another frosty bottle of beer, right before Lash's eyes, something that had Lash halting his words before he could think them up. Lash furrowed his brow and eyed Gideon's hand in hot surprise, he sharply peered deep into Gideon's fiery gaze, a toss of challenge from both men, Lash grit his teeth and hissed him a dark deliverance of uncertainty, "How the hell'd you do that."
"I have manifestation powers, if anyone in fucking Arcade would care to ask," Gideon stabbed, he waggled about the still sealed beer and mockingly gave Lash a mean smile, "You're not the only one in Arcade with cool powers, my guy."
"You mean to tell me, you can just make shit APPEAR," Lash barked in further irritancy, he swiped the beer from Gideon, popped the cap in a skillful maneuver against the jutting cobble and concrete of the wall, next to him, and took a swig of said beer. He smacked his lips in curiosity, narrowed his gaze and firmly peered into Gideon's eyes, "Who knows you're out here just manifesting your own silly little world, over here? Beer? Spray paint? The hell else can you manifest?"
"Like I'm gunna sit here and tell you all of my dirty little secrets," Gideon bobbed a sarcastic nod and finally found courage the second Lash began to strangely level with him. Gideon confidently put his hands on his hips, shifted in the tilt and smiled at Lash down the bridge of his nose, "Just so you can run off and tell my parents? Sic Zed on me, like you want? I may be young, but I'm not an idiot."
"Alright, tough guy, you don't have to tell me," Lash shrugged, he cued his incredibly powerful coding, once more, and skillfully vaporized the beer, just as he did the energy drink. He shot his scary eyes tight to Gideon's and smiled, "Don't tell me, I'll report to your parents what I found, here. I found you publicly drinking underaged, tagging an innocent establishment, skulking around like an asshole, and that'll be that."
"What do you want, then," Gideon stabbed in wagering irritation, he looked off and felt his blood boil, though he finally stabbed his mean, curious eyes to Lash's, once more.
"I want you to teach me how you did that," Lash volleyed, Gideon firmly furrowed his brow.
"Yeah... You and your band of Users have NO idea how to materialize shit willy-nilly," Gideon barked with a laugh as he finally gained clarity back to his body, his heart had been aggressively thumping in his chest on the now dwindling ride of adrenaline; he immediately began to feel woozy due to said adrenaline rush, as well as the rapidly-tossed back beer and a half sitting in his previously empty stomach.
"No, we don't. We're Users, not magical unicorns that have the answers," Lash huffed, "I have my own teleportation powers... Sure, being a User comes with perks, but none of it came with a manual. I probably DO have manifestation powers, I'm an open vessel that could probably learn to do ANYTHING..."
"... You genuinely have to learn it, first?" Gideon wondered, he narrowed his eyes and felt dizziness come upon him, though he held up and nervously rubbed his temple.
"Like anything. We're not invincible," Lash muttered, "Tell me how you did that, and this stupid little game of illegalities will be our secret."
Gideon glared Lash down in nauseating confusion, he heaved a shaky breath and quickly had to weigh pros and cons all whilst doing everything to sober up as fast as he could. Although he was certain he should just give Lash what he wanted, he felt jealousy strike him. These were his powers, a rarity that made him special, he felt as if it were the only thing that truly made him who he was, and now that someone else had come along and was desperate to replicate it, Gideon lulled his eyes closed in hot regret, sagged his shoulders and heaved a shaky sigh down to the ground.
"Just... Tell my parents, it's fine," Gideon huffed sorrowfully, he looked about the ground in whole defeat and although he was certain Lash would up and agree, they'd part ways and that'd be that, Gideon felt his skin prickle with the energy shift between both men. After a few moments of silence, Gideon peered into Lash's eyes in softer confusion as Lash looked to be eagerly doing what he could to read Gideon, in this instance.
"You'd rather me rat you out then for you to just tell me how you were able to manifest like that?" Lash asked, his tone and demeanor finally softened, Gideon shrugged and bobbed a tired nod, though he stood firm in his beliefs and allowed his becoming-wet, desperate eyes aimlessly dart about Lash's chest in scared searching.
"I'm all I got, man, I don't want to share it," Gideon's voice clipped with the onset of tears, he sucked in his bottom lip and composed himself nicely. He shook his head and gingerly rested his fist into the flat of his other hand, aimless, anxious fidgeting he was known for, "I'd rather be trapped at home forever than to share my coded skill, my ability. This is for me, you'll have to pry it from my coding if that's your wish, but... I'm not gunna give it willingly."
Lash sat frozen in stun, and as he peered hard into Gideon's eyes, he felt a swathe of understanding cloak him. Like looking in a mirror, Lash held his breath and felt the hairs on the back of his neck raise with the lift of their aggressive energy, now easily sagged into molten understanding, two flames that angrily danced about each other until settling into new, fluent language they both knew well. Lash finally heaved a long breath through his nose, eased his eyes from Gideon's, once and for all, and eyed the spray paint can down by Gideon's bare feet. Lash was well aware that prying the powers from Gideon was obviously not the answer, and though it'd be magical to know just how the hell Gideon was able to simply manifest whatever he thought up, Lash was well aware it likely came with vices and wasn't just as easy as that. He cocked an eyebrow and eased a warm smile into Gideon's wet, mature gaze.
"I respect that," Lash eased, he bobbed a nod and looked down to his hands as he patiently continued on, "I'm not going to rat you out. I just need to know why you're out here doing stupid shit... Y'know this part of town is not a place for you to just be lurking in back alleys, I don't know where the hell your head's at. You're royalty, dude..."
"I can't tag in any other place without being arrested," Gideon muttered, he rolled his eyes, "All other places are prissy and full of security cameras."
"Why aren't you hanging out with like... Oliver and Ace and them? They're on palace grounds, what gives?" Lash muttered, though he flinched in surprise as Gideon grimaced and huffed a silent hiccup. He held his forehead and looked as if he was due to either vomiting, passing out, or both. Lash perked up and gently cued his incredible User coding underneath both of their feet, "Alright, hold on, let's get you home."
Within the blink of an eye, Lash successfully teleported him and Gideon straight to Gideon's home. Materialized perfectly in the gap of tile between the kitchen, the bedroom corridor and the gaping entry way, Lash held his coding tight to Gideon's and easily reset him back to the grid. He removed Gideon's ailments, the effects of the beer he drank and anything else causing Gideon's coding to sag further into a downward spiral of physical turmoil. Gideon inhaled a deep breath, peered his eyes tight to Lash's in full gratitude for a moment and then nervously looked about. Both men remained silent, and although Gideon was well aware his parents wouldn't be home for a few hours, they both froze in still listening to see if anyone was home. Upon understanding that they were alone, Lash finally bobbed a nod and crossed his arms.
"Really, though, why aren't you hanging out with Oliver and Ace and them? They're here all day," Lash wondered, Gideon largely rolled his eyes and shook his head.
"I don't really fit in with them, I think they're annoyed of me," Gideon muttered, Lash narrowed his gaze in wonderment.
"Have you tried asking them?" Lash pressed, Gideon gave him a dull look.
"No, but you really think they're going to tell a 'child' that they're annoying? No, I can sense it, I can see it by the looks on their faces, I can feel it in my body and in my coding," Gideon firmly gestured to his chest, and though Lash felt the impulse to argue Gideon's intuition, he wondered if Gideon genuinely had a leg up, here, due to his incredible manifestation powers. Just how cued in Gideon was, to an emotionally coded realm, assured Lash that he likely didn't hold a candle to Gideon's senses, here, "I speak and they change the subject, they only want to talk about weddings and babies and... New home designs, and concert tickets, and tour busses, and how great palace life is..."
"Sorry, dude," Lash mumbled, and though it sounded as if he had no clue what to say, he littered little quips, here and there, hoping Gideon would continue on.
"I stick to just hanging out with Novus because he's the only one that gets me. Everyone at school sucks, I just recently lost my best friend, I was trying to make conversation with a girl earlier today and..." Gideon inhaled a shaky breath, gestured to his chest and peered to Lash in mild desperation as he hurriedly carried on, "She rudely told me she had a boyfriend. I didn't even ask, I wasn't even THINKING about that. She was just drawing and I was curious because that could be something we have in common!"
"I have a boyfriend," Lash mocked in a high pitch tone as he bobbed his head, he blurt a choke of a laugh and gestured his hand in a flippant, stereotypically girly show, though he was absolutely floored to see a genuine little peak of a smile want to curl on Gideon's mouth, "You don't want an Academy girlfriend. Not that I'd have any experience with Academy girls, but, still. Majority of them sound like brats."
"I wasn't even thinking about that, she was drawing, we both have that in common," Gideon gestured to his chest and now gave Lash an almost desperate look, "No one relates to me. NO one. I only lean so hard on Novus because, well..."
"You boys were raised together, he's your familiar," Lash quipped cutely as he gave Gideon a knowing side-eye, "I get it. I see how Berri is with Chester. It's a bond that can't be broken. I'm glad you have Novus."
"Me too," Gideon staggered, his deep voice clipped, once more, with the onset of tears and a catch of a breath that faltered in the back of his throat. He cleared his throat, grimaced a little and firmly rubbed the side of his face in unsettled, fidgeting agitation, "I just... Escape. Art is my outlet, I just didn't want to paint here because I think my mom and dad are starting to become wary of the things I paint."
"Yeah that... Painting you put on that building was intense, Jesus," Lash muttered with a nervous chuckle, "The hell was that about?"
"It was my best friend that ditched me," Gideon muttered, tears welled in his eyes, Lash was becoming impressed with just how well Gideon was able to keep it all at bay, "I-I invited everyone to my art show that's coming up next week, but... For some reason, they all seemed like they could give two shits."
"What day?" Lash prod.
"Next Friday," Gideon returned.
"... The seventh?" Lash volleyed.
"Yeah," Gideon chirped as he lulled his eyes closed and heaved a long sigh, though Lash grit his teeth and felt confusion hit him.
"... You... DO know what day that is, don't you?" Lash prod with a cheeky, nervous little smile, though Gideon's face sloped to genuine uncertainty.
"No, what? What day is it? What's happening on the seventh?" Gideon prod in rising concern, Lash narrowed his gaze harder in disbelief.
"... No one TOLD you?" Lash hissed with a dry chuckle, Gideon gestured to his chest and felt desperation crawl over his skin.
"Does it LOOK like anyone gives two shits about me? No one tells me anything, what the hell is happening next Friday!" Gideon barked in aggressive frustration.
"Why wouldn't they tell you?" Lash whispered to himself in full confusion, he shook his head and tightly peered into Gideon's desperate, still wet and teary gaze. Lash back tracked and pondered seriously just why Gideon wasn't given this information, though he rubbed his chin in contemplation and long-blinked in patient apprehension, "If I tell you, you have to promise you won't say anything to Koko."
"Why? My sister," Gideon faltered in nervousness, Lash bobbed a nod, lulled his eyes closed and smiled.
"Next Friday is Nox's and Koko's four year anniversary," Lash started, he hoped to let Gideon down gently, "He's planning on proposing to Koko, they have a whole entire party planned... Why the hell wouldn't they tell you any of this?"
"I-I had no clue," Gideon huffed in a stab of deflated sorrow, and though he wanted to feel so extremely happy for his big sister, he nervously looked away and frowned, "I wish they would've told me, that way I wasn't left feeling like they genuinely didn't want to come to my art show."
"Maybe we all can do both," Lash shrugged, "Festivities go into the evening, but like... Surely we can all break away to come to your show."
"You're gunna come?" Gideon wondered, and though his words surely should be offered up with hope, the twinkle in Gideon's eyes was totally gone, as if he was absolutely certain of Lash's answer.
"I'll be there," Lash blindly assured, and though he was well aware he shouldn't be feeding Gideon lies, he shook his head and gave Gideon a look as if to beg him to bear with him, "I might be a little late, but I will be there."
"Mom and dad acted really excited, but... No one else did," Gideon nervously fidgeted his fingers and inhaled a shaky breath, "Why didn't they tell me this? Did they just... Not trust me to keep a secret?"
"I mean... Who knows, maybe they assumed that wrongly," Lash shrugged, "There would be a certain age that you'd have to be in order for me to feel as if you maybe couldn't keep a secret, strictly because you're little and don't know any better, but... You're almost one, how old are you again?"
"Ten months," Gideon's voice muttered in deep, dark defeat, his strong shoulders sagged as he looked off in full deflation.
Lash largely frowned and felt his heart urgently tug towards this lost individual. Although he was well aware Gideon had the structure of a proper support system, somehow Lash was sure that along the way, misunderstanding caused the foundation to crumple, and Gideon was left to his devices. Lash knew, full well, that Gideon was loved, though with just how thorny and individualistic his personality and attitude had become, Lash quickly assumed this renders Gideon unapproachable. A wall of protection Gideon had built around his heart, Lash almost smiled and felt as if he was looking right into a mirror. Once a being that refused to let anyone in, Lash bobbed a nod and knew exactly what needed to be done, here. Planted seeds, assured safe spots, Lash understood that maybe Gideon's siblings, as well as the branch of palace heads, maybe didn't know how to cater to Gideon's elusive, bitey, wandering spirit. Eager to relay a refreshed splay of permanent, cemented groundwork, Lash rubbed his chin and smiled in readiness, the ability to brother lost souls was his specialty.
"Alright... I'll make you a deal, okay?" Lash gestured his hand up to his own eyes and instructed Gideon to pay attention. Once Lash caught with Gideon's glassy gaze, it was clear that tears were due to cascading down his clean cheeks at any second. Lash held tight eyes with Gideon in an unwavering show of delivering a brotherly pact on Gideon's needy soul, "If you want to tag, and drink, and do illegal shit, you're to come find my shop in Vidrix."
"I'm not going to tag your shop, Lash," Gideon pleaded in sorrowful annoyance, he rolled his eyes to firmly look away, and upon doing so, said huge and heavy tears finally sagged down his cheeks.
"Listen to me," Lash affirmed, he grappled Gideon's strong shoulder and jostled him, he successfully caught eyes with Gideon's raw, exposed soul, "You can have the back of my building, okay? We can knock back a few beers and be assholes on my turf. Capeesh?"
Gideon heaved a shaky, nasally sigh through his nose and, though he held a stiffened upper lip look tight into Lash's eyes, they finally warmed and brightened from the depths of sorrow Lash was desperately fishing him from. Lash eased a small, boyish smile the second Gideon bobbed a nervous nod of affirming, the golden twinkle in his teary eyes finally returned, and with such, Lash jostled Gideon about a bit more firmly and was successful in getting a small huff of a chuckle from Gideon's figure.
"CAPEESH?" Lash urged a little louder, to which Gideon's handsome face finally eased a genuine smile, a show of warmth and soul that had the universe singing.
"Capeesh," Gideon tearfully chuckled in annoyance, he shook his head and lazily wiped the tears from his eyes.
"Good man," Lash breathed, "Stay out of Orion City. If I find you're out in the boonies being an asshole, again, I'll put your coding on a lockdown on palace grounds, with Zed's help. What do you do if you feel like being an asshole, again?"
"Find your shop," Gideon grumbled with an annoyed chuckle as he looked down, though he choked a laugh as Lash firmly jostled Gideon's shoulder, causing him to wobble.
"HUH? You're mumblinggg," Lash loudly whined, Gideon widely grinned and felt his heart swell with the genuine burst of laughter that cleansed his body.
"Find your shop," Gideon repeated louder, Lash nodded and pointed his finger into Gideon's left peck a few times.
"Find my shop," Lash obnoxiously repeated, "Don't ruin my brother's beautiful city anymore, Turbo did nothing to you."
"... Neither did you," Gideon volleyed, Lash gave him an authoritative look and pointed.
"YET," Lash threatened, and though they both sagged in a small bout of laughter, Lash took a few steps away from Gideon and pointed to him, once more, "I'll be late to your show, but I will be there. Okay?"
"Thanks, man," Gideon mumbled with an appreciative nod as he sagged his thumbs into the gape of his jean's side pockets, and with a whisk of intelligent coding, Lash's coral-coded honeycombs and circuit lines easily teleported him away in a kick of electricity.
Gideon sagged his shoulders, looked down to his now clean bare feet and heaved a long, tired sigh. Although he was absolutely sure this afternoon would have previously ended incredibly poorly, he felt a strange sensation course through him. The fact that Lash didn't rat him out, the fact that he was given a safe space, Gideon aimlessly glossed his eyes about his mother's and father's sunny entry way and felt as if he was now diligently collecting safe havens for himself, escape routes. He bit his lip and wondered just what tomorrow would look like, how he would go about getting to Lash's shop after Academy let out, what that all would even look like. He knew he also shouldn't abuse this little gift Lash had given him, showing up every single day to simply destroy the back of his own hard-earned confectionary with his splay of angry artwork, Gideon firmly weighed the pros and cons. Grateful to have another point on the grid he could slip away to, he tucked it away for a rainy day; the hermit in him begged him to stay home and fly under the radar, lest he be duped. Although Lash seemed to show signs of being trustworthy, he still firmly looked out for no one but himself. Hopeful that someone someday could convince him to wrangle more people into his bubble, he counted himself lucky in this situation, a situation which could've landed him in boiling hot water.
