Reviews :

Firesong-Writes : Hey friend! Yes, age is expedited for self-programmed gamers, but only in their 1st year of existence. Infants are 1-2 weeks, babies are 1-2 months, toddlers are 2-4 months, children are 4-8 months, teenagers are 8-12 months and full adulthood, which typically is a gamer's physical, mental and emotional 'peak' is 12 months and on. Self-programmed gamers won't ever really physically age from there. The only thing that could 'look' to age you would be acquired wisdom that comes with time, kind of what it does to the soul behind your eyes. This is expanded on later in the story. The starting age for Pre-A is 8 months, proper teenage years, but Gideon was put in early because everyone thought that'd do good. A similar thing happened with me, I was put into school super early, so not only was I the youngest in my whole family, I was the youngest in my whole grade. Totally fucked with me. This story is helping me unravel a bit, but those age and time constraints, for self-programmed gamers, are all thoroughly thought out and in place for certain reasons! Once gamers turn 1, any birthday they have after that is just a celebration of their birth, obviously, and though their 'age' may get higher, their physical appearance wouldn't drastically change/there is no aging or 'growing old'. I hope this helps :)

Snake557 : Yeah, true. Lash has become a master at putting out fires xD

Burgie : Yeah, him and Lash become real good buds - The Ralph and Vanellope thing, however, well... You'll see as the story progresses.

chuckiboo : Hi friend! Thank you so much, no worries on the lack of reviews. I understand entirely, but I'm really glad you're still here trucking along with me :D Thank you! And yes, Gideon definitely has quite a bit of crap he's packed away and sealed the door on. It all eventually gets unpacked, but not before he nearly lights the whole house on fire.


Song Listened To :

Circles by Post Malone


*Chapter 66*

Lash's bare feet traversed his and Mara's lovely abode. Properly tucked away in one of the wings of the big, multi-home like mansion the Turbotime men had commandeered, inside the racing arena, each couple got their own little segment of said home. With Throttle, Nox, Lash and Theo being full-time residents, alongside their own swap mates, Turbo and Berri were the ones that only resided on the arena lot part time. Nearing midnight, everyone had escaped to their own corridors for the night, and though Lash and Mara had to get up early for game day and shop duties, respectively, they both patiently waited up for their meeting with Ralph and Vanellope due at any second now. With a proper invite to Turbotime, to their warm and cozy abode, Lash readied their teleportation pad and checked his phone.

Lash's and Mara's segment of their arena home, although identical to everyone else's structure, was different in terms of interior, paint color, furniture and everything in between. A dark, moody home glossed in lovely, muted green, grey, cream and gold accents with a glossy kitchen full of black marble and lovely kisses of stark white, their home was a vision of well-loved, humble luxury. One giant, single, long room that contained their teleportation hub, a lovely, dim mudroom off to the left of it, a path that eventually sagged into their kitchen and then again to the main, airy living space and main wall that was all structured glass, their home sung with drawn curtains, lit candles, dreamy sags of fuzzy blankets and cloud-like couches.

Kissed with Mara's cute, womanly touch, their bedroom area was securely tucked above the lot of it, in proper loft form. Mara sweetly sat on the couch and aimlessly watched a late-night television special, she had a mug of tea tucked into her sternum, alongside the bend of her thick sweatpants-covered legs. Her hair was wet due to just having had a shower, everyone was en route to a proper reset, though Lash paced the kitchen in impatient wait just as his teleportation pad cued with life. Lash perked up, set his phone on his smaller kitchen island, lifted off of the counter he had been leaned against and hurriedly eased into their entry way and hub of a humble teleportation pad to be cutely greet by Ralph and Vanellope. Lash brightened, although all of these friendly interactions were now beyond normal, he'd still have hits to the brain where the reality of being solid friends with Ralph and Vanellope, of all gamers, was the weirdest thing he could ever be apart of.

"Hey guys," Lash cued as Ralph and Vanellope cautiously stepped off of Lash's pad and eased him smiles of very well concealed wariness, the idea that he had called them here for this seemingly secretive late-night meeting had their brains running in confusion.

"Hey, man," Ralph mumbled warmly as Vanellope gave Lash a friendly little side hug and was welcomed into Lash's warm abode.

"Alright, my guy, you have us on pins and needles," Vanellope ushered nervously as her, Lash and Ralph finally eased into Lash's much bigger kitchen. Her and Mara cutely caught eyes from across the gap, "Hi, baby."

"Hi mom," Mara sweetly cooed with a waggle of her fingers; she looked as if she potentially was due to joining their conversation, though was well aware this was Lash's endeavor to spearhead. Politely due to giving him room to have a proper pow-wow with Ralph and Vanellope, Mara cued her attention to the conversation and kept her respectful distance.

"Don't be worried, I just needed to get you two somewhere away from Gideon, whilst he was asleep, outside of Sugar Rush as a whole," Lash rushed as Ralph rested his large hands on Lash's kitchen island, glossed his eyes about Lash's lovely home and finally settled on shifted feet, both him and Vanellope.

"Is everything okay? What's wrong with Gideon?" Ralph worried, his nervous, warm eyes held tight to Lash's in full vulnerability.

"No, nothing's wrong with Gideon," Lash confirmed, he eyed both of his parents, "Did he, by chance, tell you how his first day of Academy went?"

"Yeah, I guess it was super uneventful, Gideon made it seem like it was very much a 'getting to know you' kind of day," Vanellope used air quotes.

Lash bobbed a nod and glanced in Mara's direction, she raised her eyebrows, side-eyed the other side of their living room and cutely took a slow, long sip of her hot, steamy tea. Lash blurt a silent chuckle, crossed his arms, leaned his lower back and rear against the counter and cabinets behind him and felt a sweep of pride course through him. Although him and Tessa had their massive amount of previous discourse, the trauma she had endured due to him, the sheer amount of forgiveness and friendship she didn't have to afford him, he lulled his eyes closed and felt his heart coat in another hefty seal of love towards her. With her Queenly promise to keep Gideon's ditching a secret, he was well aware she was a solid rock of trustworthiness.

"Well, don't freak out, but... Gideon didn't attend school today," Lash revealed in soft regret, to which Ralph and Vanellope froze in stiffened nervousness.

"He... I mean, we watched him," Ralph trailed off as him and Vanellope now urgently peered hard into each other's eyes. They finally peeled their desperate gazes to Lash's and looked at a loss for words, "H-He ditched? He told us, in great detail, what his day was like and the classes he had, what his teachers were like..."

"The kid is King of the imagining and manifesting realm and you're really surprised he could pull tales out of his ass?" Lash muttered, Ralph and Vanellope sagged in the immediate thwart, "I just wanted to let you guys know that he came directly into Turbotime, and later to mine and Mara's shop. He confided in me, and... I just wanted to make clear to you guys that, if he does decide to keep ditching like this, he was offered a safe space at my shop."

"Wai-wai-wait," Ralph flagged his hand and began to show stern authority, "So, Gideon ditched school today, came running to you, was promised solace at your shop to CONTINUE ditching, and now is feeding me and his mother bold-faced lies?"

"Yyyeah, doesn't sound so good when you put it that way," Lash rushed silently through the grit of his teeth as he scrunched his shoulders to his head.

"We're not just going to LET him ditch Academy," Vanellope firmly rattled as she shook her head and fervently caught eyes with Ralph, he nodded in agreeing to her stern words, "I'm glad you told us, I'll have a chat with him tomorrow."

"No, no, I... I didn't bring you guys here to rat Gideon out, I brought you guys here to, well..." Lash weighed his options and desperately began to grasp at words. Warmth, tender loving care, a sense of brotherly urgency was far more easily accessible, more so than he had ever expected upon swapping with Mara. He blew a hard raspberry and sagged his strong shoulders in a show of warm defeat, "I guess I brought you guys here to get your guys permission... I gave Gideon the sanctity of my home to keep him out of trouble."

"He doesn't ever get INTO trouble, in the first place," Vanellope defended, to which Lash now felt bad for revealing more of Gideon's little secrets.

"Well... There was one instance where I had caught him doing rather illegal stuff in Orion City, after Pre-A let out," Lash muttered regrettably, to which Ralph and Vanellope froze in a slope of thwarted nervousness.

"That..." Vanellope was en route to sticking up for Gideon, though Lash raised his eyebrows, lifted his hands in defense and huffed a shaky stagger of a laugh.

"Hey, Orion has it all recorded, as I'm sure it was eventually rested on Zed's desk for report," Lash urged with a small laugh, "Being Orion's proxy for a few hours has it's pros and cons. One of which being catching Gideon illegally drinking, tagging and loitering in South Orion."

"... When-" Ralph trailed off with a scoff of a laugh of pure, sorrowful disbelief.

"It was about two months ago, it doesn't matter anymore, he did it once and I handed him his ass," Lash mumbled cutely, "I may not know him as well as you guys, and obviously not nearly as well as Novus, but... I do know he needs structure that Academy will not provide for him."

"Academy is nothing BUT structure," Vanellope argued in confusion.

"Look... He confided in me today, heavily. He does not feel right about it, he does not want to go back, and I'm absolutely certain he's scared to tell you guys that in fear of falling out of the norm, for fear of letting you guys down," Lash stated delicately as he laid his hand on his chest, "I... I see a whole lot of myself in that kid, and... I can safely assure you, if he can't get away from something that doesn't align with just who he is, he's going to rebel."

"Can't hold his feet to sand and tell him it's concrete," Ralph mumbled in defeat, to which Vanellope tossed him a concerned look of forlorn nervousness.

"He's adamant about not going back. He didn't even get inside the building," Lash mumbled, he peered into Ralph's and Vanellope's eyes in a whole swathe of urgency, "I can tell he's really struggling, and, look, I KNOW he has Oliver and other good brotherly figures in his life, but I think he needs someone a bit more removed."

"You?" Vanellope prod, although her eyes looked nervous, the lilt in her voice held confident promise.

Lash looked down to the tiles under his feet, contemplated all of this for a moment and really dug in as to just where all of this rooted urgency was coming from. Knowing, full well, it had been inside of him all along, he tossed his gaze across the way and straight to Mara's cute little figure on the couch. Although her eyes were trained to the massive flat screen across their cozy living room, Lash knew her ears were on the conversation at hand. He huffed a cute, knowing chuckle and smiled back into Ralph's and Vanellope's eyes.

"You guys know that, BECAUSE you two decided to form an army of self-programmed gamers, that I am a product of all of that love, right?" Lash gently inquired, tenderness he was still getting used to displaying for people outside of Mara, he long-blinked in steadiness and shrugged, "I get Gideon. I get wanting to find my own way, I get knowing nothing but to gravitate to beings that show unconditional love. Hate to break it to you guys, but the lot of you have dropped the ball."

"Us?" Ralph urged in eye-narrowing defense.

"I'm not going to sit here and list off all of the times I've silently been a fly on the wall at any huge family gatherings, the sheer amount of times Gideon has been disregarded or ignored or left out or interrupted, but... I WILL sit here and make clear just how angry I am, at literally everyone but you two and Tessa, for not showing up to Gideon's art show," Lash rattled tightly, his heart began to thud in defense of Gideon's fragile feelings, "I can tell he was deeply hurt by that... And yeah, my actual little brother was inside of this mess, and I definitely do feel pulled in two directions, but you bet your ass I gave my team, here, a stern talking-to."

Vanellope and Ralph sorrowfully peered to each other in hot regret, Lash fervently carried on.

"Sure, Gideon's extremely sensitive, but, I think that should be celebrated, and I think that he should be built up," Lash sharply narrowed his gaze and firmly pushed his first two fingers into his temple for urgent emphasis, "That kid can just MANIFEST shit at will... You guys, I'm a full-blown User and I don't even know how to do that. Even with my nearly forty years in this Arcade. That kid has been alive for exactly one year and is already leagues ahead of ALL the Users above him."

"I just could've sworn Academy would've expedited his desire to learn and create, I was certain that was what he wanted," Vanellope worried with a defeated shrug.

"He only wanted it because everyone above him seemingly wanted it," Lash muttered, "I don't think Callum was any help, either, pretty sure Callum expedited Gideon's desire to break away."

"Callum," Ralph stated with a regretful sigh, and though he opened his mouth to carry on, Lash sharply continued.

"Please... I'm begging you, please," Lash clasped his hands together in delicate authority that had Ralph and Vanellope frozen in eager listening, "Let me take care of him everyday. Just carry on like normal, let him continue pretending he's going to Academy until he's comfortable telling you guys his plan. He's on uneven ground right now and I feel as if I can really make a difference, here."

"How are you so confident, in this?" Ralph questioned, his voice was patient and gentle, though they all perked up the second Mara's sweet voice clipped the air with no beats missed.

"Because Lash was once in Gideon's headspace," Mara quietly assured, ultimately putting the whole conversation neatly to bed. Mara shrugged, delicately held her tea cup to her jaw and glossed her beautiful eyes about the room in intelligent searching as she carried on, "Lash had to navigate adversity all by his lonesome. Methinks... Academy isn't the only route to greatness, to productivity. Gideon is a wildcard, he needs freedom lest he rebels. Better to give Gideon the sanctity of Turbotime than to have Gideon aimlessly wandering the Arcade, or better yet... The internet."

Lash did absolutely everything he could to reserve the urge to let the hugest grin fly wide across his face. He just barely pursed his lips, tapped his fingers on his crossed arms and was lucky to catch eyes with Mara's snippy, bitey, adorable little face. Ralph and Vanellope heaved defeated sighs and looked off and to each other in exhausted defeat, in which Mara gave Lash a cute little winking smirk and returned her attention to diligently sipping her tea. Lash fervently glared down the side of her head and silently assured her aura that had it not been midnight, had they not currently had company over, he might've tossed her over his shoulder and swept her away to their little love nest, up stairs, for a good throw-around. Absolutely certain she had nailed the coffin shut, she raised her cute, blue eyebrows and came up for air, from her tea, her lovely, sassy voice filled her own home with total authority.

"Papa, you and I both know Gideon is beyond safe in the care of the Black family, and he's my family, too. Let Gideon wander, let him find his footing. Who knows, maybe one day, he'll return to Academy and none of this will matter," Mara shrugged and caught eyes with her great grandfather, "We have to start treating Gideon like the adult he is. He's gunna make his own choices, from here. Whether they be great or stupid, we have to be the safety net he'll fall into. There's genuinely no better person on the whole face of Arcade that can cultivate greatness in Gideon, like Lash can. No one greater but maybe Turbo. Both men have endured hell to be here..."

Ralph bobbed an assured nod and allowed Mara's wisdom to sap his soul, sheer wisdom far beyond her years, he eyed Lash and let a sneaky smile fly from his defeated aura. He choked a small laugh, as did Vanellope, both parents eased into a sag of hot knowing as they tossed their kindred gazes between both individuals.

"You two compliment each other so incredibly well, it's scary," Ralph muttered with a cheeky smile, which had Vanellope laughing a little louder; Mara giggled into her tea and lulled her eyes closed so to humbly accept the compliment.

"She's the brains behind the operation," Lash muttered in full, cute humility, to which Vanellope crossed her arms and gave Lash a loving little smile.

"And you're the heart," Vanellope concluded with a nod, to which Lash's face sloped to genuine, tender surprise, "I'm grateful you've taken so kindly to Gideon. Ralph and I have struggled to really truly understand him. He's so incredibly fragile and sensitive, we just kind of felt like anything and everything said and done would cause him to feel defeated..."

"He just needs a safe space, and... Unfortunately, that needs to be away from home," Lash mumbled, "Sure, he's happy living there, but he needs his own little marked path. Not one that leads to Academy, trailed by every single person in his family, that has wronged him in one way or another."

"I feel like we've let him down, should we talk to him about this?" Ralph worried, Lash shrugged and shook his head.

"From the experience I have now, with Gideon, it's much better to let HIM come to YOU," Lash emphasized with hand gestures, "Two months ago, I offered him solace, here, at my shop... It took that two months for him to finally come to me, on his own terms. I didn't invite him in, same problem same day. This was months ago."

"Thank you, for all of this," Vanellope stated in low, dejected worry, "I think I speak for both Ralph and I when I say... We feel awful. But, you're right."

"Don't feel bad, he's... He's not the best at communicating what he NEEDS," Lash rolled his eyes and smiled, "Just let me work him. Just needs a grouchy, mean friend to compliment all that sensitive goo at his core."

"No one better than you, my dude," Vanellope teased with a grateful smile.

"I guess we'll... Lay low, act unaware," Ralph mumbled sorrowfully as him and Vanellope caught eyes, "Might be hard for me, I don't like having discourse under our roof..."

"There won't or shouldn't be any discourse, just loosen your expectations of him," Lash shrugged, "He'll come around. I'll make sure of it."