Reviews :
Burgie : Yes indeed! She's a lion gargoyle, one of her gamer powers is the ability to turn to stone :)
ThoreLB : Hahaha She liiiiiives! Yes, it's been maybe a year for you guys but it's been nearly 4 for me. I'm SO EXCITED.
Firesong-Writes : HAHAHA Yes! Entirely! Novus would be like yeeees watch the fur fly!
faolan1230 : I ADORE that movie, very fitting here hahaha!
Snake557 : haha yeah, can you imagine? Paint tastes gross lol
Song Listened To :
Sunlight ft. Phaera by TheFatRat (first half) I ADORE THIS SONG PLEASE LISTEN. If there's any song that reminds me of Kepa, Novus, Gideon and their friendship, it's this song.
The Open Road by Hollow Coves (last half)
A/N : Wowww, holy User y'all came out to PLAY with that last chapter haha! That was such a wonderful birthday surprise, to see everyone rally around and get just as excited as I am! Thank you everyone! I'm SO GLAD EVERYONE'S SO EXCITED AHH ME TOO. I just need to state how important this chapter is, to me. This whole scene is YEARS in the making and I get emotional thinking about it. These two, alongside this scene, were dreamed up almost 4 years ago. I can't believe this day is here, it's just absolutely wild to me. PLEASE enjoy, I know I did.
It's also my 30th birthday today! Big day :D ENJOY!
*Chapter 70*
"Hoookay, let's table the idea of putting spray paint in the gargoyle's mouth, yeah?" Came a sudden belt of a feminine voice that bounced about the inside of Gideon's skull in the form of molten confusion; Gideon sharply fell to his rear, urgently scoot backwards a few feet and peered hard to the mind-boggling sight before him. The previously painted gargoyle was now in a full stand, fully alive, fur, tail, wings and all. Her ears sharply flattened, she waggled about Gideon's can of spray paint, the look in her eyes was that of grinning, whole annoyance as her grumbly, snarky, though cute little voice carried on in full-fledged sass, "I was okay with everything else! Sure! Spray paint my ass! Get RIGHT in my armpits, up close and personal! In my mouth? No, not today, not tomorrow, I don't know you like that."
"I-I..." Gideon could swear there was no air in his lungs, his trembling hands and arms did everything to help push him to a wobbly stand, and as he stood, he almost crouched in a hunched show of the potential need to defend himself, though as his eyes drew to this now strange new creature, of which he was absolutely certain was merely stone not seconds ago, he scoffed a trembling notion of pure, excited terror and held his gaze to Pebbles' across the dozen foot gap they had now put between each other, "H-How... Y-You?"
"Yeah, I... I was gunna tell you sooner or later, but I had this awesome plan to totally fuck with you for days on end, it was gunna be so great," Pebbles urged with a flail of her arms, gorgeous, long black claws that clacked against Gideon's can of spray paint.
"You're alive," Gideon hissed in full, unadulterated joy as reality very rapidly began to hit him, over and over.
"Hallelujah," Pebbles mumbled lazily in whole sarcasm, her lovely cat ears sagged on either side of her head in the drape of her long, mildly unmanaged pale pink hair, almost a creamy white.
A fully bipedal anthropomorphic lion gargoyle, she stood on the flat of her long feet and began to brush her upper thighs free of dust. Although her statue didn't make it obvious, she was dressed in baggy tan jeans with huge holes in the knees and a black spaghetti strap that revealed her midriff. A very slender, lithe little being, her impressive tail, paws, claws and wingspan made up for her cute and tiny stature. Noted that all of the stripe work that Gideon had painted on Pebbles was now gone, it was replaced with a darker, matte grey of suede-like fur, almost rosy and peachy in tint. With gorgeous little specks of darker grey and almost maroon colored freckles all along her chest, shoulders and splayed down her limbs and back, she unfurled her beautiful wings for a stretch before quickly making them vanish in a clip of corrected coding. Gideon flinched in surprise at such notion, she flicked her long, hefty tail and shifted on her feet as she assessed Gideon's paint can. The face structure of a human with the flat nose and striking eyes of a cat, her nose wrinkled in a few sniffling inhales, as if she couldn't help herself but to assess Gideon's belongings in her own little way, though she finally brought her piercing, light orange-brown cat eyes tight to Gideon's in a sink of dominance; certainly the largest firework put together into the cutest little package.
"Speaking of being alive, I know you said not to touch the Oreos in the freezer, but I couldn't help myself," Pebbles muttered cutely, she perked her beautiful, dark grey ears, all sweetly ladened with fluffy white fur closer to the gape of her ear holes, alongside the kiss of pink, of her skin, showing the ridges of the inner bend of said huge cat ears. A lined exterior with fuzz the same color as her hair, she looked mildly unkept, though in good spirits, "You, uh... I mean, I had never heard of that and was excited to try. Figured if you were to be that mad about me having some Oreos, you would've said something by now."
"A-And the heat, I didn't turn that on, YOU did," Gideon urged in riled excitement, simply as if he was floored to find that he wasn't losing his mind. He cautiously stepped a little closer to Pebbles and ogled the place where she was just sitting, "Y-You've been alive this ENTIRE time?"
"Guilty," She quipped, she filled the gentle gap with the press of her paws, her long tail swayed with each step, and as she finally handed Gideon his can of paint, his trembling hand delicately and slowly retrieved it from her. The top of her head came cutely leveled to the middle of Gideon's chest, and upon the exchange, and proper reveal of sheer height difference, she outstretched her right hand-like paw and tiredly smiled up into Gideon's eyes, "Name's Kepa. Um... You can keep calling me Pebbles, if you must. Kinda sissy, if I'm being honest."
"Gideon," He huffed with a widening little smile, and as his much larger hand tenderly gripped hers in a small shake of a greeting, he side-eyed her and quietly ushered her a volley of sass he was well aware she'd take kindly to, simply from the small exchanges they've already had, "But... Methinks you already knew that, didn't you."
"You DID introduce yourself on day one, yes," Kepa blurt a sharp giggle as the two shook hands, and with the release, she shot him a cheeky little grin and pressed closer to the smaller stairwell, to begin the descent downstairs, "Amongst other things."
"... Well, fuck, what ELSE did I say? How am I to remember, I thought I was alone!" Gideon urged in hot annoyance, though now he was entirely sure he could never wipe the grin from his face.
"Eh, I'll use it against you later," Kepa's cute voice clipped the close walls they were engulfed by, inside the narrow, steep stairwell, her heavier paws thud down the hollow stairs and to the lovely downstairs abode that Gideon had manifested straight from heaven. His face sloped to gentle concern as he patiently waited for her to traverse the stairwell first, so not to step on her thicker, nearly seven foot long tail, "Definitely incriminating stuff, if I do say so myself, but don't worry. What I want to know is... How the hell did you do all of this?"
"... What, the kitchen?" Gideon mumbled blindly as the two sagged to the glossy, light grey concrete of the main downstairs; a lovely, sunny abode that no one could be sad inside of.
"Yeah, the kitchen, I ONLY want to know how you built the kitchen," Kepa barked with a hard, cute laugh. She fervetly flung her arm outwards in a hefty flail, swatting Gideon's lower arm in the process, "The whole thing! Just last week, I was living in ruin! You leave every day, now, and I practically prance around the house like a pretty princess."
"... Please demonstrate such prancing," Gideon's deep voice tightly muttered down to her, she sharply flattened her ears, wrinkled the flat of her cat nose and now firmly swat Gideon's upper arm; he winced, recoiled and blurt a hard, boyish laugh of teasing delight.
"Tell me before I turn to stone and stay that way," Kepa snipped through the grit of her fangs, though her and Gideon were equally all grins.
"I-It's nothing special, I just manifest," Gideon huffed through an easy chuckle, though Kepa's demeanor immediately softened with the loosen of her beautiful ears, her big cat eyes hooked tight into Gideon's, the dilate of her pupils had Gideon flinching in realized surprise. What were usually diamond-shaped, with the ability to shrink to slit-like cross hairs, were now beginning to dilate so big that they almost held a round shape.
"Manifest," Kepa repeated in a whispery huff of serious softness, well rounded easiness Gideon was grateful she now showed; he fiddled his fingers and now began to feel weirdly exposed to this brand new individual he was just being introduced to. Although now sure he likely had said and done way too much in her presence, without knowing, his heart began to thud as realization quickly caught up to him.
"I-I need to sit down, this is..." Gideon huffed a shaky breath and fervently pressed to his new kitchen island.
"Alright, butt-wipe, did YOU fill the back air duct with a wasp nest and wait to tell me until my sorry ass found it? I'm staring headlong into a void of yellow and black about to die on the beach, of all places, and I'm partially color blind!" Novus loudly rattled as he pressed in through the glass French doors, the deck underneath him loudly croaked with his hefty weight. He firmly pushed into the tiled, sunny home and although his eyes landed on Kepa, and then Gideon, he halted his footwork, perked his huge ears high and stared hard into Kepa's frozen figure from across the way, on the other side of the island. Gideon slumped to a sit on one of the island's bar stools and hung his head in his hands, his elbows firmly planted to the island's glossy wooden counter. Novus breathed a shaky breath and took a wary step backwards, "Uhhh... Gid... Y-You uh, manifest the gargoyle to life or something? What the hell is happening?"
"I-I can't... I'm about to throw up," Gideon choked a hard, shaky laugh, shut his eyes and grappled his hair.
"My name's Kepa, I'm here to ruin everyone's day," Kepa chirped happily with a wave of her hand, though she sagged her hand to the fridge handle, yanked it open like she had lived in this setup for years and began to rummage through the fridge for something to drink, "'Course, what else is new."
"Gideon," Novus muttered through a nervous chuckle as he rounded Gideon's back and began to loudly whisper over his shoulder, "If we just back away... Real slow like..."
"I-It's fine, she..." Gideon grimaced, staggered his words and now resorted to slumping his forehead to the counter he was slouched against, though Kepa came back up from the fridge, eased it shut and eyed Gideon in a reserved swathe of warm concern.
"I've been alive this whole time, I'm a lion gargoyle," Kepa rattled tenderly as her and Novus caught gazes, she inhaled a deep breath and finally exhaled as she continued on, "Barf-bag, here, was about to take your WONDERFUL advice of spray painting freckles into my mouth."
"... What! Like you would've even tasted it," Novus argued as he firmly sat on his rump, next to Gideon, and briefly glanced down to him as he tried to silently collect himself and keep from vomiting.
"Eh, it's the notion behind it," Kepa sharply grit her teeth in a disgusted grimace and further-eyed the top of Gideon's head in now full concern, "Alright, friend, I don't know EVERYTHING about you, but I DO know that a rush of adrenaline can lead to feeling barfy. You loaded this one cabinet with tea, and... One in specific that's supposed to help with being barfy. I'll make you a cup, yeah?"
"Please," Gideon muttered in a groggy stagger of weak nervousness, though he managed a chuckle and angled his head so he could somewhat look in Novus's direction, "Thanks for the idea, Novus. She would've screwed with us for the rest of eternity if it weren't for your spray paint idea."
"Happy to oblige," Novus laughed as he flattened his big ears and eyed Kepa; she sweetly navigated the kitchen as if she was now very well-versed in it.
"Yeah, man, THANKS," Kepa's sarcastic tone croaked in a loud urge of a trailed giggle; she stood up on the balls of her feet, the squish of her paw pads, and was able to stand a full almost foot and a half taller. In the reach of a high cabinet, she brought down some ginger tea bags, sagged back to the flat of her feet, meticulously began to fill the kettle Gideon had provided and moved it to the stove top. As she set said kettle over the flicker of the stove's flame, she heaved a long sigh, crossed her arms and leaned her lower back against the counter directly next to the stove. She smiled a little and glossed her eyes to both boys who now sat on the opposite side of the island, from where she was standing, "So... Where you boys from, then?"
"Vidrix," Gideon skillfully assured, though he remained with his forehead to the counter, steady breaths were his focus, though he almost nervously shot Novus a sneaky look, as if to desperately beg him to play along. Novus eyed him in sneaking, confused suspicion though remained quiet, "Yeah, um... Southwest Vidrix. My cousin has a confectionary in the city we go to, often."
"You both are from Turbotime?" Kepa nonchalantly asked, taking the bait.
"Yeah, well... Novus is from Dead Zed, but he lives with me," Gideon maneuvered; although not way too far from the truth, both boys were Sugar Rush, born and raised, something he was certain he'd have to urgently explain to Novus, just why he was now lying to their new friend had Novus nervous to speak up.
"What about you?" Novus cutely volleyed, Gideon lulled his eyes closed in sweet relief, feeling grateful that Novus knew just what to do.
"I'm... I'm from Castle Run," Kepa flattened her ears and looked off in almost irritated dread, "The, uh... The one that got unplugged a few years ago."
"Oh, I'm sorry," Novus mumbled in a sag, Kepa shrugged as the kettle began to cutely squeal, signaling that the water was hot and ready to use.
"It's okay," Kepa started gently, her large ears loosened in a regrettable sag. She turned to tend to the kettle, pulled out two mugs from a nearby cabinet and, in the careful act of pouring her and Gideon mugs of hot ginger tea, her cute voice carried on, "I miss my mom... I've been a nomad for awhile, but, I just recently found this tired old place about half a year ago, and, well... I've been doing my best to live day by day, y'know?"
"Until I came by and turned it all upside down," Gideon mumbled cutely as he lifted his head, and though the nausea was subsiding, he still was grateful when Kepa gently set his mug down in front of him. She returned to her stand across the island from Gideon and Novus, "Oh, thank you."
"Mhmm," Kepa hummed warmly, she brought her own mug to her mouth and began to tenderly sniffle at it, a typical thing she usually did. Her wet, little black cat nose wrinkled in curiosity, though her ears perked the second she noticed Novus very loudly doing the same exact thing to Gideon's tea. As if this was potentially routine between both boys, Gideon patiently let Novus sniffle at his tea before bring it to his mouth, his free hand so lovingly sagged into Novus's rich, fluffy, chocolate colored mane all gorgeously splashed with cerulean on his ventral and chest. Kepa eyed Novus in sweet suspicion, "So, you're a dragon, right? A bat dragon?"
"That'd be me, a Regal Kamuri," Novus's deep voice chirped as he sat a little prouder on his hind quarters, he inhaled a deep breath, his massive ribcage expanded with such pride as his wings lazily sagged on either side of himself.
"Regal, definitely get that vibe. The blues in your fur are really pretty," Kepa complimented, to which Novus looked down at his broad chest with a little grin of pride and volleyed Kepa a grateful smile.
"Thank you. You're a lion gargoyle, right?" Novus inquired; Gideon sipped his tea and was eternally grateful Novus was asking all of the questions he was dying to, questions he was well aware could be seen as forward and pushy, though Novus had a much more tactful way of presenting himself, "Does that mean your kind is actually lion-like or are there different types of big cats that could umbrella."
"... Damn, good question," Kepa huffed with a wide grin, Gideon cocked an eyebrow and so curiously assessed her. Now that he was finding his feet with this world-altering surprise, he realized, really quick, he was in the presence of a being that he was eternally curious about. Big cats being his fascination, his heart began to thump as a billion questions rose to the undersides of his skin, "Well, us lion gargoyles definitely can evoke different types of cats. The lot of us all look the same until we molt. Er... Evolve. It's ritualistic."
"So, you won't know until you evolve, then," Novus inquired, to which Kepa shrugged and half-heartedly nodded.
"Well, yeah... You can kind of guess, some lion gargoyles are build different," Kepa chirped, "I had a friend that had a cute little bobby tail... When she molted, she looked like a bob cat, markings and colorings."
"You have a long tail, like me," Novus grunted, he lifted his thick, hefty dragon tail and allowed it to thud to the tiles below, to which Kepa choked a laugh as Gideon flinched in surprise, "Guess... That doesn't rule out many of the big cats."
"Could be anything," Kepa sighed, she cutely grappled for her tail and brought the tip of it up in display. About the girth of her lower arm, it was clad in the lovely darker markings she had all over her shoulders and upper arms, though the end of her tail had lovelier, longer fur that was closer to the same color as her hair, almost a peachy, creamy white. She choked a small laugh as she flopped the tip of her tail around in her firm grip, "It's safe to say either lion or... I don't know, tiger. To be honest, I'm almost hoping snow leopard, or something. I'd have SUPER thick fur, though, if that was the case, but... Guess beggars can't be choosers."
"Tiger, eh?" Novus muttered, he firmly side-eyed Gideon, who was now busy doing whatever he could to act uninterested in this conversation, though Kepa choked a laugh and began to firmly saunter over to the mural that Gideon was only half done painting. Gideon cocked an eyebrow and felt his heart sink in a pit of cheeky dread as Kepa's long tail firmly swayed with her sharp march over to said gorgeous mural, "Y'know, I MIGHT know of a guy that has a huge affinity for big cats."
"You don't say!" Kepa chimed sarcastically, she crossed her arms and assessed Gideon's handiwork, to which she turned and revealed a happy grin in both boy's direction from across the stretch, "Who might that be?"
"I think... His name starts with a G and ends with an 'ideon'," Novus firmly scratched his chin, looked up and narrowed his gaze, though he scoffed a small laugh as Gideon firmly shoved on his shoulder blade, "Ow! C'mon, it's one of the cooler things to fixate on. I'm just playing!"
"I'm flattered, really... And, this painting is absolutely incredible," Kepa huffed cutely as she returned to the island, she took a careful sip of her tea and eyed Gideon in sweet delight.
"Thank you," Gideon stated with a humble toss of his eyes down to his twiddling fingers.
"I just think the ability to see really well, in the dark, is what I find the most fascinating," Novus mumbled as him and Kepa sweetly caught eyes and smiles, such sense of sharing fun facts had Gideon perking up a little.
"I think the purring thing is cool," Gideon urged gently, he tossed his eyes to Kepa with zest and set his tea down, "Did you know the frequency that cats purr is supposed to be healing and therapeutic?"
"Y'wanna tell me a little bit more about myself?" Kepa stated with an incredulous little sarcastic grin.
"She's even got whiskers, man, read the room," Novus urged through staggered laughter as he gestured his paw in Kepa's direction; Gideon visibly retracted into himself and brought his mug to his face.
"Thank you, Novus," Gideon muttered into his tea in full embarrassment.
"Yeah, there's a lot of cat-esque things that I do that turns other gamers off, I try to refrain," Kepa's ears tightened to her skull, and though her voice was ladened with tease, Gideon softened and could tell this was potentially a sore spot for her. As desperately as he wanted to urge her to be her true self, no matter what, he sat still and wondered if maybe divulging in a hardcore swing of sudden, fast-paced friendship, and all the tenderness that offered, was something no one in this group could afford in this moment. Gideon scoured for words, though Kepa carried on, "But I digress... Sorry to spook you boys with my party tricks."
"No, I think it's great," Gideon gently urged, doing whatever he could to rein in his excitement. Somehow the fact that he had somehow just landed a friend, that just so happened to be a cat, that also just so happened to now inhabit his brand new lighthouse abode, he long-blinked in soft surprise and wondered if this was all way too good to be true. He softened and, although he had been looking off in a moment of contemplation, he sagged and brought his fragile, mildly desperate eyes tight to Kepa's. He was floored to find her sharp, intuitive gaze hooked tight to his in cute question, the sweet look on her face held almost pleading inquisition as he carried on, "Now that I think about it, I kind of... Busted in and had my way with your home. I can understand if you think maybe we're intruding-"
"You're not intruding, y'kidding?" Kepa blurt with a giggle, she firmly gestured about the loveliness of her new home and smiled, "I'd pay you for your trouble, if I could."
"It's almost two, Gid," Novus gently reminded as he got a glance at the stove clock, Gideon stiffened and began to crawl to a stand.
"Oh, shit, you're right," Gideon mumbled, to which he gestured about their now shared abode and grimaced with a chuckle, "Well, so... How do we go about this? Is this now technically your home?"
"Well, y'guys somehow missed the entrance to my bedroom, so... Why don't we meet in the middle, here's what I'm thinking," Kepa gently clasped her hands together, her cute, though scary black claws sagged out of the secrecy of the slits, on her furry fingertips, as she pushed on the squishy paw pads of said fingertips, "Why don't we make THIS room a shared space... You boys can come and go as you please, so long as tomorrow, you guys make my bedroom a revamped, private space that only I have access to. I live here full-time, but you boys can come and go whenever you'd like. Deal?"
"Deal," Gideon swiftly agreed to, he grinned and felt relieved that she was willing to share.
"Ooo! We should put like... A landing strip on the roof," Novus huffed with excitement as all three beings began to slowly saunter to the front door, Kepa peered to him in cute confusion, "Y'know... You and I can go flying around!"
"O-Oh, that," Kepa breathed in smiling nonchalance, though she hugged her arms to her chest and strangely didn't agree to said notion; this was something only Gideon caught as Novus grinned in skippy delight and pushed out the front door.
"Alright, I gotta shit before we meet up with Lash, be right back," Novus blurt loudly as he pranced out of the front door, onto the sand and beach grass directly out from said front door, though he immediately lifted to the skies in a sprawl of his gorgeous wings and lofted to a safe place in the forest to do his business.
"Information we didn't need," Kepa muttered cutely as both her and Gideon stood lazily, side-by-side, in the doorway.
With her arms still crossed, she sagged her ears and fully softened, her cute, longing eyes glossed up Gideon's figure in a sweep of girly sweetness she wasn't totally brave enough to be loud and proud about just yet. Having only known Gideon personally for this tiny shred of time, she considered herself lucky to have gotten about a week with him in his rawest, most vulnerable form. Although she had her own vices, her own struggles and dark secrets way deep down, she felt her heart thud in whole, continued shock that had yet to die down over the course of this week. By the way Gideon sagged in her tender silence, she quickly understood that he was remembering what took place yesterday, while they were alone. He had cried on her shoulder, desperate for camaraderie, and though Kepa did absolutely everything she could not to be weird and affirm to Gideon that she was still that safe place, she had to keep viciously reminding herself that Gideon only knew her as a stone statue, he didn't get the opportunity to be a fly on the wall like she had all week. She knew the time would hopefully come to prove her friendship, though for now, she bit her lip and wondered how she could go about asking the question she was desperate to ask.
"So, uh..." Kepa started tenderly; with the way Gideon raised his eyebrows and peered down to her assured her that he potentially had the same questions hanging on his mind. Kepa blurt a shy chuckle and let her sarcastic, brash front fall to the wayside, however scary and vulnerable it all was, "Is... Is this gunna be a regular thing? Like... You two gunna come hang every day?"
"I mean, that was the plan, but if it's too much for you, then, no, we don't have to," Gideon staggered in sadness he tried to cloak as gentlemanliness; Kepa stiffened and felt a wild rush of desperation come over her, though she hid it well.
"N-No, I'd... I'd love if you guys came back every day," Kepa assured, she inhaled a shaky breath and wondered if she actually could get away with being open and vulnerable to this perfect stranger. Due to his show of whole heart, she felt the urge to match him, having dealt with her own demons, as well, "I-I... I don't have any friends."
Gideon softened and held his eyes tight to hers, though she looked forward and dart her scared gaze about the forest, far across the rolling hills her lovely light house had the pleasure of sitting in. Upon closer inspection, the grey fur on her face was a bit shorter than that of the fur on the rest of her body. Like Novus had stated, she had the cutest, faintest little whiskers just near the bend of where her wet nose met with each of her round cheeks. She was adorable, she looked velvety soft to the touch, and though it was clear that she had been living in mild squaller for a bit, she still kept herself up to the best of her ability. Gideon began to ease a knowing, cheeky little smile as he immediately began to pick up on her antics. Her lovely, long tail slid from about her ankles and up into her hands, she aimlessly began to thread her claws through the longer fur on the tip of her tail. Gideon felt his feet want to begin to grow roots, something he had never felt inside of him before. His soul itched, a wiggle went down his spine, he narrowed his gaze and wondered if past troubles would hopefully stay out of the desire to reach back out for friendship, to take the risk of being hurt once more. He long-blinked in a hushed notion of rawness and strangely felt safe, like he had, all along.
"Well, considering you gave me a shoulder to cry on, yesterday," Gideon shrugged and joined Kepa in glossing his eyes across the sunny, grassy hills; endless, wild blue that was all theirs. He brought his golden eyes tight to hers as they met in a whirl of warmth, "I'd say that makes us friends."
"Yeah, man, that... Was likely the saddest thing I had to sit and endure as an inanimate statue," Kepa huffed through a shy laugh as she pulled her eyes away from Gideon's invigorating, irresistible grip of holding eye contact, he was unafraid of it, something that had her doing whatever she could to scrounge up bravery.
"Sorry," Gideon mumbled with an apologetic smile, "Moment of weakness."
"No, I... I totally understand, I related to everything you said," Kepa revealed, to which Gideon brought his gaze back down to her in a soft roll of shock, she shrugged and shook her head, "Eh, we don't have to get into it. Sounds like we've both had shitty pasts, shitty friends, shitty family, shitty times."
"Worlds of it," Gideon hissed as he sagged his big shoulders and bobbed a regrettable nod, they fixated their eyes to Juniper forest, across the way, and could see Novus lofting his way back to the two, "Welp... Guess that's shit we can expand on together. I've lost good friends, in my life, and I'm not prepared to lose another one, so... Think y'can handle it?"
"I managed to manifest light to the lighthouse, didn't I?" Kepa quipped in a soft show of a lovely, charming little smile and a side-eye in Gideon's anticipatory gaze, to which he sagged in the realization of her words.
"Alright, Lash awaits!" Novus barked as he galloped to a trot, and an eventual stop right near Gideon in baited wait, "Maybe we can bring Kepa, one of these days, y'know? No need for trains when y'got wings!"
"Lash?" Kepa questioned as she crossed her arms, leaned against her doorframe and watched as Gideon pressed closer to Novus, though she could absolutely tell her little manifestation statement opened a world of more questions in his mind.
"Yeah, he's my... Cousin's swap mate, he's one of the Turbotime guys," Gideon rolled his eyes and pointed his finger upwards and lazily waggled it, hoping to come across totally nonchalant.
"Oh, no way! He's a game-day guy?" Kepa urged hotly with a smile, "Yeah, bring me next time, if he's cool with it."
"I'm sure he would be, I'll ask and see," Gideon bobbed a nod and smiled, though he snapped his fingers and pointed to Kepa, "Oh! Here, almost forgot to give you this..."
"What is it?" Kepa wondered, to which Gideon pulled out of his pocket a shiny, golden key.
"Your key, now we both have one," Gideon smiled lovingly as he rested it in her cute, clawed hands. She sagged, peered to the bigger key in her fragile possession and drew Gideon a look of softer, sweet disbelief.
"For me?" Kepa pressed delicately, though they both flinched as Novus stiffened.
"Hey! What about me?" Novus urged, Gideon rolled his eyes and firmly pat Novus's snout as he prepared to board his spine.
"You don't need one, you're always with me, and I have a key," Gideon rattled as he properly mounted Novus's saddle and smiled down to Kepa, "See you tomorrow, yeah?"
"Yeah! I'll be here," Kepa firmly encouraged with a nod, though before Novus could take to the sky, she stood prouder and urged both boys a playful notion, "Stone or not, we'll find out."
"Oh, User, not again," Novus choked a laugh, and as Gideon cutely waved, Novus leaped to the sky and was off.
Kepa happily waved and softened once Novus's lovely wingspan had lofted far enough away to where the blue in his pelt was beginning to mix with the sky. Kepa crossed her arms, heaved a long, heavy sigh and felt her heart swell with renewed, exciting purpose. Her eyes trailed the thick, brand new, sturdy door frame, the intricate security details Gideon took to heart, she breathed a satisfied sigh through her nose and firmly pat the outside of her beautiful lighthouse. Assuring said structure that all of their hard work, all of their wishful nights, every single last ounce of sorrowful, lonely cries the ocean had seen was all now worth the trouble. With a renewed sense of pure warmth, she pressed into her's and Gideon's brand new little shared abode, eager for whatever tomorrow would hold, and all the tomorrows to come.
