Reviews :
ThoreLB : Haha too true. I love sneaking in 4th wall breaks from time to time, I try not to abuse it but sometimes I literally cannot resist. I'm glad you all (hopefully) enjoy them when they arrive. As for the slow burn... Yeah, I'm discovering that with each story, I make the burn slower and slower and I genuinely do apologize. If it helps, a yummy, upped amount of romance, from two certain love birds, is literally right around the corner :D 3 chapters worth!
Snake557 : Yes! It would read Chapter 1,000 - crazy right? And, Kepa's not necessarily mad when she discovers all of Gideon's secrets... She's told in a way that's most definitely not ideal. I usually go into hiding when those kinds of chapters come about lmao
faolan1230 : Oh thank you! :( That's so nice of you. I've been on a spiritual journey with myself for the past year or so, and I've learned a world about myself, I've spent this time deconstructing toxic mindsets I've had and really have sniffed out toxic sources in my life, of which I thought were good but really weren't. It's exhausting, but the product of everything in Favor's Game is definitely everything I've learned. I've had to put myself back together, and am still in the process, but I like to think I'm doing well for myself. I'm grateful it's noticeable, sometimes I worry I'm not making any progress but then I get reviews like yours and it really makes me happy. It's lonely, I've lost a ton of friends and connections to family, but... Gotta look out for number 1.
Burgie : Thank you! :D Oh, that's cool! It's interesting to hear about the journey my readers have taken with this saga, what life events it's seen everyone through. Wild that it's not just me dug in, y'know? I get so inside my head and assume I'm the only one incredibly invested but then certain readers will reach out and it just blows my mind. Yeah, it's REALLY weird to see the whole thing closing in on 1 decade. I started writing a week after the movie was premiered, at the end of 2012. I'll be doing a special drawing November of 2022 to commemorate.
Firesong-Writes : Yes! Very true. Novus definitely learns to soften due to having Kepa around, it's actually very prominent in this chapter. Kepa and Novus end up having a very beautiful bond, she tells him all of her 'Gideon-esque' secrets. I try to keep the dynamic between the flyers and their respective 'person' very side-kick like, though this 5th story will likely break that mold towards the middle. Novus may not seem it, but deep down, he is extremely similar to Gideon in the notion of held grudges... I appreciate all of the love and support, friend. I hope you're well :)
Song Listened To :
Woman by Doja Cat
Oh, Round Lake by Novo Amor
*Chapter 89*
After a fun day at the boardwalk fair, with Lash and Mara joining later in the afternoon, the crew of five head back to the lighthouse, a place of interest Gideon had very warily now revealed said sanctity to his other two best friends. Although Gideon could tell that Lash and Mara were on the verge of outwardly geeking out over said raw predicament, being in the epicenter of his childhood lore, being swept away into this enchanted, divine, emotional adventure that he likely didn't realize the sum of, he was thrilled that Lash and Mara at least kept their explosive excitement tight under wraps and well away from Kepa's intuitive sniffling. A huge ask, Gideon continued to mentally remind himself to have a private chat with Lash later on, to give Lash a proper show of full gratitude and thanks for everything Lash had done for him. From taking him in and under his wing straight on to reserving selfless, explosive excitement over the one plain and simple truth staring everyone in the face; Gideon had sourced his beacon of light, and no better than that of Kepa to have thrusted said beams far into the black for Gideon to respond to.
Turbotime's sky had gone dark, though the common room's air was full of chatty love. The television drummed a program in the background of Mara's and Lash's cute, bickering nonsense at the kitchen island. Bare feet, removed hoodies, fresh smiles and sun kissed cheeks called for a satisfying and delightfully exhausting day at the boardwalk fair. With Lash due to questioning Gideon just what they could do for dinner, and if he'd be willing to manifest it, he hesitated and took note that Kepa and Gideon were having a quiet, curiously intimate moment together off at Gideon's slab of wall near Kepa's narrow stairwell. A beam of a warm house light, bevelled into the ceiling, cast down on them as they talked hushed to one another. Gideon looked to be in the act of changing brushes, their feet just barely lifted and stepped on the mildly noisy white tarp that had been laid down to protect the flooring from Gideon's paint. Lash swung away from preparing to politely interrupt them and inquire about dinner. From the way Gideon's stare held to hers, while they so quietly conversed, he wondered if a tiny, charming moment was happening between both becoming-electrically and flirtatiously charged beings.
"Gideon?" Kepa inquired delicately, she stood still near Gideon's back right while he painted. While he had been doing his best to work slowly, to manifest paint now through the few paint brushes that Kepa was holding onto, he raised his eyebrows in a small swing of warm, innocent inquiry and hooked his golden eyes tight to hers. Previously transfixed on just which paint brush he'd take next, he now looked past the selection that Kepa held up and drew his alluring, handsome gaze tight to hers. Although Kepa had already felt the magnitude of their closer proximity, she felt her face heat up as she could phsyically tell just when said notion hit Gideon's brain. Due to said grab of brewing eye contact, held still, poised and fervent in full attention, Kepa felt all her confidence suddenly dwindle. She breathed a quiet, airy giggle and drew her eyes to Gideon's beautifully crafted mural, directly behind him, "... N-Never mind."
The two held in suspended tenderness, though Kepa felt her pupils nearly dilate to full expansion as she hooked said gape of a gaze tight to Gideon's, once more. Although the two held frozen, Kepa felt chills roll down her spine as the only movement present from Gideon's figure was the lift of one of his eyebrows in a coy show of question, as if he simply wasn't going to just 'never mind'. Kepa's ears drooped a little, she scoffed a bit of a harder giggle, shifted on her feet and felt chills plague her arms as she could feel Gideon's hot breath coat her fur due to him exhaling an equally as happy, silent chuckle out into their tight bubble.
"Yes?" Gideon deep, grumbly voice so sweetly ushered as at least fifteen seconds went by of Kepa now silently contemplating her next words. Said cute request sounded nice in her mind, though now that it was all verbalized between the two, she realized how silly it might be.
"It's not important, I just... Saw something at the fair, today, that made me curious to try," Kepa mumbled, and although said boardwalk fair wasn't a rarity, having discovered that it simply takes place at least once a month, she knew returning shortly for said delicious item was possible, though now said item seemed to nag her with the regret of not just being brave and asking Gideon to retrieve her said item.
"What was it?" Gideon's voice rasped, he was thrilled the television was louder than their conversation, as well as the fact that Lash and Mara's conversing was louder and made clear that the two were distracted within their own bubble.
Although not feeling entirely brave over all of it yet, he somehow held eyes with Kepa and felt as if the planet's magnetic field had flipped, as if she truly was the thing keeping him to the planet. Although he had previously had some sort of an itching feeling over just how seamless their friendship was unfurling, he held his breath and very quickly realized this was a platonic easiness that was ruminating into something a lot more passionate than expected, something that was beginning to brew to a sizzle, something he was now becoming nervous over. The fact that he was mildly losing control of his feelings had him now holding his breath as Kepa's cute smile broadened, her big, orange-gold eyes lulled closed in girly, sighing defeat. She shyly looked down to the brushes in her hands and shrugged her furry little shoulders, Gideon hooked to the cue of said flick and excessive, shy curl of her long, beautiful tail. He narrowed his loving gaze and was now hyper aware of her body language, here.
"We passed by this one shop that sold these really plain and boring vanilla... Drink, things, I don't even know what they'd be called," Kepa tightly rattled in a quiet display of issuing all of this to Gideon as quickly and shyly as she could.
"Vanilla drink? Was it a cold drink? Like frozen?" Gideon deduced patiently, Kepa nodded and hooked her eyes tight up into his, she stood on the flat of her feet and allowed Gideon to hold the foot difference of height he had over her, when she wasn't stood to her full potential; although eager to keep higher ground most of the time, she somehow sagged and enjoyed that he was towering over her, in this instance.
"It was frozen, it looked like ice cream," Kepa mumbled in such a sweet, shy show of bashful nervousness. She could tell this was driving Gideon up a wall, however nicely he held it all together, she could see his eye contact hold tight to her eyes and aura in a show of pure, undivided intent and attention.
"A vanilla milkshake?" Gideon continued to deduce, Kepa brightened.
"Yeah, I think so," Kepa huffed, though she felt her heart so happily begin to crawl up her esophagus as Gideon's handsome face so slowly now began to crown him a devious little toothy smirk of now teasing assuredness.
"You want a vanilla milkshake," Gideon repeated in quiet, sarcastic dullness, though his smile was nearly a mile long. Kepa nervously looked off and tried not to roll her eyes as Gideon's strong chest exhaled a quiet, incredulous little chuckle down to her, "Wait, like... Really? You've never had a vanilla milkshake before? The plainest that plain can get? You sure you don't want something more exciting?"
"No, it looked good, I like vanilla," Kepa complained with a giggle as she just barely stomped her foot, a very playful show of brattiness that had Gideon's smile further-broadening, "W-Would it... Be okay if I asked if you could please manifest me one? I was gunna ask if I could get one earlier, but I held off because you had already gotten me the cotton candy. But, now I'm regretting not asking cause I can't stop thinking about it."
"You hesitated because I had already bought you something?" Gideon pressed as he narrowed his gaze in a gentle downswing of polite, smiling grief towards such a humble, cute show of Kepa's true character. Now that he was becoming cued in and was most definitely picking up what she was putting down, he could very visibly see that he was impressionable to her, as important to her as she was for him. Gideon softened his deep voice and as he just barely shook his head, he tilted his face down a bit, hooked his eyes deep into hers, through his brow, and leaned down a little, so to make the eye contact emphasized, as if to make clear that he wanted his word, here, to be immediately driven home, "I don't care how many things you'd like. Whatever you want, it's yours, Kepa. Unlimited."
Kepa held her breath and felt the blood leave her face as she softened her expression and felt her fingers go numb. She exhaled a shaky, silent, slow breath through her nose and now somehow couldn't help but return with a few shallow inhales of sniffles, her adorable, black, little cat nose began to just barely wrinkle in bunny-wriggles of instinctive assessing, though she flinched once Gideon huffed a silent little chuckle at her adorable expense. Her pupils tightened as she eased a shy smile and glossed her eyes about Gideon's strong, broad chest. She began to shake, she wondered just why her body was now issuing her all sorts of blaring warning signals, just why all of this was now crashing down atop her unlike anything she had ever felt before. Although nervous to dive head first into this nonsense, she so desperately tried to collect her thoughts and really focus on the conversation at hand, a desperate attempt to take it all at face value and not melt into a gooey puddle of sighing swooning due to the captivating, raspy loveliness of Gideon's tender words, especially the way her name fell from his mouth.
"Pretty please," Kepa mumbled cutely, to which Gideon nodded and held out his right hand, almost between the two, though he halted in soft concern and now peered to her in a lift of their hazy, sighing, almost-sexually charged conversing. Kepa prickled, her tail held in suspended wait in a hover above the ground behind her, "Everything okay?"
"Yeah, I just... Am now realizing, I don't remember the last time I had a vanilla milkshake, and I didn't get my hands on one at the fair, today," Gideon stated quietly, he peered to her in billowing nervousness and shrugged, "I... I've never really manifested anything to eat from my imagination, I've only ever been able to easily manifest items that I've consumed before, or really came into contact with."
"Well... Maybe this is a good opportunity to practice," Kepa shrugged; although she selfishly did want this vanilla milkshake right now, she also knew this was a very valuable moment for Gideon to expand. She smiled with the glisten of her fangs, she could see the cogs turning in Gideon's brain, she breathed a hushed, silent little giggle and knew that she was, indeed, the spark to his wick. He believed in himself, though she was well aware he required the push to feel it in his bones and know it to be true. She narrowed her loving eyes and watched as he shyly readied his right hand, once more, though Kepa cutely stopped him and was excited to now further mentor Gideon in this moment, "Hey, real quick... You're right handed, yeah?"
"Mhmm," Gideon breathed, his eyes hooked to hers, pierced like fire in the night, she gingerly pat the backs of his much bigger fingers, on his right hand, and glanced down to his limp left arm and hand, by his side.
"You're doing all of your summoning with your right hand, your left hand is your receiving hand," Kepa gently instructed, although she held on to Gideon's paint brushes, she made clear she was available to demonstrate if need be, "You're summoning and manifesting tangible items. In craft, with intention, prepare your will in your receiving hand. You'll have more success."
"Okay" Gideon mumbled, now shyly, he extended his left hand and peered to her in a pause of wondering now just what to do next; Kepa smiled and lulled her eyes closed with a shake of her head, as if to convey she was always happy to start him off, though he needed to take flight, by himself, eventually.
"What's your intention?" Kepa whispered, and though she had her eyes closed, she wasn't aware of Gideon's tender gaze to her illuminated being, he furrowed his brow gently in a pang of almost bittersweet, lovestruck grief, as if he was shocked he had ever had the chance to stumble upon this rare and incredible creature.
"To gift you with something you've never had before," Gideon pressed quietly, cutely, his fiery golden eyes were met with the pop of her reopened orange gaze, reopened with a pluck of cute surprise. Both beings so quietly huffed breaths of laughter into each other's warm bubble as Gideon patiently carried on, "A vanilla milkshake summoned from nothing but my imagination... I'll do my best."
"Just think of the ingredients, the core of it all," Kepa shrugged, the room seemingly dimmed to a calm about them, and it was here did Mara and Lash stop their louder chatter to hone in on just what they were doing, although neither parties could properly hear the other. Kepa was floored to hold eyes with Gideon, though she flinched in tender surprise and could see a purple glow emanate from the gape of his much huger palm. Kepa furrowed her brow and sharply peered down to the incredible, intricate circuitry on his hand, of which sprawled his wrist and lower arm,. She cautiously pressed on, though seeing Gideon's raw coding on display, like such, for the very first time, had her ears perked in alert, excited surprise, "Y-Y'surely can remember what it tastes like? Temperature? Texture?"
"Can I," Gideon huffed cutely as he lulled his eyes closed and really focused, and although he'd never tell, he immediately envisioned Vanilla Lake, a place his parents used to take him when he was a boy, he remembered getting gulps of mouthfuls before the lake took form of his vivid, electric purple coding, "It's sweet, frozen... Sugary."
"H-How are you doing that?" Kepa quietly inquired as he glowing on his palm got a bit more intense, though before Gideon could reply, he huffed a shaky breath and materialized a plain, solid white cup with a straw out the lid. He popped his eyes open as his coding settled and he grappled onto the cup, and though he wanted to immediately take a sip and excitedly discover his either success or failure, he panted through his nose and peered to Kepa as she meeped a small giggle and continued on with her hands tucked sweetly to her chest, still grappling his paint brushes, "I-Is it..."
"Try," Gideon whispered as he handed her the cup, and though he was praying she wouldn't bring up the fact of the matter being the exposure of his coding to her, once and for all, thus revealing his glitching abilities, he knew he'd have to brace for it eventually. With cute certainty and pure trust she had in Gideon, he was shocked to see her politely tilt the cup closer to her, firmly suck the straw and get a good dose of delicious goodness. The way her ears perked, the way her eyes brightened, the way her adorable whiskers frayed outwards in a display of plucked excitement had Gideon's handsome smile donning from ear to ear, "Yeah? Did it work?"
"I mean, if this is a milkshake, this is likely the best milkshake ever made," Kepa barked a soft laugh and gestured for Gideon to try. She patiently assessed him as he took a sip of it, though he sagged in a melt of gooey delight and bobbed a fervent nod.
"Yep, we've cracked the code," Gideon huffed with a wider grin of easiness, and just before the two could fall deeper into puddles of gooey, loving exchanges and further prolonged eye contact that would eventually have the two colliding in on each other, Lash obnoxiously cleared his throat.
"Alright, love birds, wanna share what's happening with the audience?" He blurt loudly, and though Mara inwardly grimaced at the title Lash had given Kepa and Gideon, both beings were absolutely floored that neither Kepa nor Gideon protested to said very blatant pet name; instead, they tossed shy, huge grins across the room, ushered the room soft, breathy chuckles, butterflies escaped their lungs as they both eased over to the kitchen island in unison.
"I wanted a milkshake, but it's something Gideon has never manifested before, so we were just trying it out," Kepa mumbled cutely as she jostled about the cup she was very graciously given, she began to move about the island, and it was here did all four beings settle on each side, so they each had their own flat of the rectangular island counter.
"Hey, c'mon now, I could totally go for a milkshake," Mara complained as she firmly pout her bottom lip, sagged to the island and gave Gideon the hugest show of puppy-dog eyes "Pweeease?"
"Sure, now that I conjured it with my coding, it's easy from here," Gideon chirped in accessed easiness, and with a blip, he manifested an exact replica just for Mara. She firmly perked up, clapped her hands in sweet excitement, politely thanked Gideon and retrieved the cup from him. Gideon rested his bigger hands to the island, and with Mara to his left, Lash to his right and Kepa directly across from him, he could see Lash's fervent, boyish gaze hold tight to him in full, solid knowing. He sighed and glossed his eyes about the group in an easy show of delight, though he wondered if the near-beacons of lovestruck gooeyness melting from his pores was enough for Lash to bookmark said notion for a man-to-man conversation later. He tried not to think to hard on it as he struggled to swallow and get normal with the projection of his deep voice, "Y'guys hungry? What do you want for dinner?"
"AHT-It's my turn, you two got your wishes and milkshakes are what you're eating," Lash barked as he firmly pointed to Mara and Kepa; both girls wildly began to giggle at Lash's clearly playful demeanor. He dragged his creepy, golden-glowing eyes tight to Gideons and cocked an eyebrow with a sly smile, "Alright, since you're out here now manifesting stuff straight from your imagination, y'got anymore tricks up your sleeve?"
"I'm being honest with you, that milkshake was hard," Gideon mumbled as he motioned to the particular milkshake Kepa was holding.
"Yeah, it didn't even bring all the boys to the yard, USELESS," Mara stabbed in whole annoyance, to which Kepa sharply choked and began to stagger out hard, teary laughter into the bend of her inner arm and elbow.
"How original," Lash sneered through both girls incredibly contagious giggling, he was glad to catch grins with Gideon, he could sense the change in him. Standing in the epicenter of his and Kepa's ever-evolving, sunny little bubble of love on Lash's very own point of the grid, Lash rested his hand to his own broad chest and felt struck down with abundance. He was thrilled Gideon was worming out of his shell, trying new things, succumbing to soft love Kepa had to offer, Lash assessed Gideon and could practically feel the light coming off of him. He caught eyes with Gideon in a swing of knowing, and with the very subtle narrow of mild desperation, Lash could now sense Gideon was silently pleading him to not tease him about the little, intimate moment he had just had with Kepa. Lash struggled to take down his offensive strategies, sighed and bobbed a tiny nod to silently assure Gideon he was on his side, and with the swing away from the touchy subject at hand, Lash shook his head and gently swat at Gideon's broad, strong chest, "Nah, don't... Don't pull a muscle, dude. If you could possibly manifest some of that pizza you got us that one time? Remember?"
"Oh, yeah, with extra cheese," Gideon huffed excitedly, and as he held his hand out over the center of the island's counter, he easily manifested a steamy hot box of fresh, gooey pizza; everyone hummed eager coos of delight and began to plate up, to which Gideon patiently waited to go last.
"Thank you, Gideon," Kepa chimed in a drag of sweet, polite knowing, in which Mara and Lash joined. Gideon bobbed a nod and heaved a long, satisfied sigh.
"You're welcome, guys," Gideon concluded with great warmth.
"That mural is coming along, my guy," Lash warmly mumbled amidst his chewing, as politely as he could. He took a step away from the island so to get a better look at Gideon's painting, and though it wasn't done quite yet, it was well on its way to being an entire masterpiece. Lash sighed, turned back towards the island and eyed Kepa as he came back to the spot he was standing, adjacent Gideon's right, "This whole lighthouse is incredible, guys, I mean really."
"I'm on cloud nine," Kepa mused sweetly as Novus had come up to her, tenderly rested his big, heavy skull in her lap, as she had pulled up a bar stool to sit, and in silent, cute communication, he sleepily opened his much larger mouth and was thrilled Kepa caught on to the fact that he was requesting a piece of pizza. As Kepa clumsily fished a big piece from the gaping pizza box, she rested said steamy piece on Novus's tongue and sagged her hands to Novus's fluffy, billowy mane as he slowly and grateful chewed. He lulled his huge eyes shut, sagged deeper into Kepa's lap and was thrilled she was inviting him to stay in the form of tucked knees and a hefty thump of her tail curled about the side of his head. She sweetly began to pet his thick, dense fur and, through a satisfied sigh, she shyly smiled into Gideon's eyes, across the island, and sagged her shoulders, ears and figure in full humility, "Probably the coolest lighthouse in this whole game."
"No, seriously, there's maybe about ten all along the horseshoe of a coastline, that encompasses Vidrix, and this one is the prettiest," Lash encouraged with a nod and a smile, "I mean... I guess I've never been inside any of the others, but the outside of this lighthouse is the prettiest."
"It really is the one you kept dreaming about?" Mara wondered in wistful, enchanted sweetness as she looked up into Gideon's eyes, from her sat position adjacent to Gideon's left, she narrowed her gaze in further wonderment and shrugged, "Same color, same everything?"
"It's an exact replica," Gideon revealed, and though he was shy to unfurl these details to Kepa, he could tell by the way her eyes hooked to his that she was happily invested and eager to hear more. He bravely sighed and, although he was aware him and Lash were likely overdue a chit-chat, he cautiously pressed on and wondered just how much he could reveal here without giving away too much, "All those spaces I was given to paint... Even the art show. The lighthouse has always been a source of joy and pain."
"That's right, didn't you have awful nightmares of once you got inside?" Mara wondered, though Kepa sagged in nervousness.
"But... I was inside," Kepa worried, though Gideon shut his eyes tight and now desperately did what he could to assure her that she wasn't the negativity in this situation.
"I'm discovering that I couldn't ever get inside because I was refusing to be honest with myself, I was refusing to let go of what others maybe wanted of me," Gideon carefully spelled out as he looked down to his steamy pile of two slices of pizza. He hesitated a moment while he manifested everyone cans of soda so to wash down their delicious dinner with, though patiently carried on, "The second I let go and forged my own path... The lighthouse appeared, and I was able to get inside."
"Yeah, what was here before you spruced it all up like this?" Lash questioned, though Kepa had gone quiet, Gideon cutely kept an eye on her and took note that she was very secretly doing something feline-related that she was trying to keep minimal.
"It was just abandoned, old furniture left to rot, the usual," Gideon shrugged, though he smiled in Kepa's direction and wondered if he should bring attention to her. Novus laid with his big, heavy skull in Kepa's lap still, though Kepa had begun to cutely knead at his pillowy mane. Although said fluff of a mane concealed her actions, Gideon knew immediately what she was doing, also due to the fact that she had put eating her pizza on hold and her eyes had begun to lazily lull closed in the methodical, adorable kneading she was doing to Novus's fluffy fur about his neck and face. Gideon inhaled a shaky breath and wondered if outwardly squeeing at how cute she was was appropriate, though he held it in nicely and swung his eyes away from her, thus hoping the attention stayed off of her, "It's been fun to give this place new life, y'know. We'll probably try and get the lighthouse's lamp to work shortly, here."
"Yeah, of the about ten on the shorelines, this is the only one that's out of order," Lash gestured his hand; knowing Lash knew his own smaller game frontwards and backwards, Gideon was excited to hear what Lash had to say about the inner workings he was otherwise unaware of, "This lighthouse, behind Juniper Forest, is the last lighthouse along this bend of the beach. The horseshoe stretches for about one hundred miles, collectively, and though this game may SEEM tiny, there are two other islands out there that ships travel to and from."
"...You mean, this main land, with Turbotime's entrance, isn't the only slice of land in this game?" Gideon gawked, Mara bobbed a nod and smiled as she ate her food.
"I know, shocked me, too," Mara added, Lash grinned and dusted his hands of crust crumbs.
"Yeah, isn't it cool? There's this main island and two smaller ones that lay North and North East of here," Lash gestured his hands in the right directions, "They're much smaller islands, with much smaller cities, but... Y'guys should take a day trip there, some time. Ferries and ships come and go all the time, you're actually not too far from the nearest working harbor."
"Get this lighthouse up and running, and you'll likely see far more ships in the night, glowing on the water," Mara waggled her eyebrows, and though Lash had gotten away with aptly nicknaming Kepa and Gideon 'lovebirds' previously, Mara wondered if she could get away with another quip, "Would be quite romantic, I think..."
"Yeah, we have a lighthouse near the arena, it IS really nice to watch," Lash agreed as he happily tossed his eyes in Kepa's direction, though was cutely plucked to see her sat with her eyes sleepily closed, she kneaded at Novus's fur and looked as if she was well on her way to potentially dozing off, something that had Gideon's heart surging in solid surprise. Lash huffed a cute chuckle and gently jostled a curious point in Kepa's direction, "Whatcha doin', there?"
"Making biscuits," Gideon covered with a grunt of a cute chuckle, to which Kepa popped her eyes open. The secretive slip of her black, second eyelids drew open diagonally as her big cat eyes twinkled orange underneath the warm house lights that beamed onto the kitchen island, and with the attention brought to her, she stopped her kneading and sagged in on herself. She shyly hooked her eyes to Gideon's and looked as if she was mildly embarrassed, to which Gideon immediately gestured his hand to her and proverbially came to her rescue, "She's kneading, I don't blame her. Novus's fur is irresistible, I'm surprised she hasn't done it sooner."
"Kneading?" Lash questioned, to which both him and Mara peered back and forth between her and Gideon, the love and good intentions in their eyes was palpable.
"Yeah, it's like... Self soothing, I can't speak for Kepa's species, but I know it's something kittens do when they nurse," Gideon stood still and held in his very palpable stance of taking the reins from Kepa, the shy, poised look of grateful delight in her eyes assured him that he should keep speaking on it, "The joke is that they're making biscuits, or... Working at a biscuit factory, it looks like kneading dough."
"But your claws?" Mara inquired now to Kepa in a very reserved show of careful warmth, it was clear between both Kepa and Gideon that they had an unspoken rule of full submission and protection, a pact the two had subconsciously created with one another, something of which Mara and Lash now knew to tread lightly into. Kepa brightened a little due to Gideon's fervent display of camaraderie.
"Yeah, Novus is just bleeding out and we don't know it," Lash choked a laugh, to which Novus finally grinned wide, showing his fangs, his deep, rumbling voice ushered a happy laugh out to the kitchen, thus drawing everyone in as well.
"No, she's not hurting me," Novus mumbled sleepily as he kept his big eyes closed, his huge bat-like ears lay sagged in resting easiness, "I wouldn't be letting her carry on if it hurt. I can feel her claws, but I have thick skin."
"Yeah, those dragons can take a beating, y'know," Gideon mumbled to Lash, as if to inquire about all the scraps said dragons get into, on the palace lot, which involved fangs and claws much huger and scarier than Kepa's. Lash bobbed an affirmative nod in full understanding.
"You said it's something kittens do, though?" Lash patiently inquired, and though Gideon was ready to continue ushering more facts, information he had diligently stuffed his brain with due to hyper-fixations, Kepa perked up a little and looked to have garnered confidence due to Gideon's sweet, proverbial hand-holding.
"They do, it's a way to keep milk flowing while they nurse, my species does this," Kepa nodded, she looked down to Novus's fluffy mane and sighed, almost sorrowfully, "It's... A form of comfort, it's soothing and methodical. It's been awhile since I've had another body to knead on, so... Thanks, Novus."
"Happy to oblige, I don't mind the head scratch, I quite enjoy it," Novus chimed warmly, to which Kepa shyly smiled and snuggled deeper into the huge billow of Novus's fluffy mane, of which nearly began to engulf her, and with his word, Kepa continued to so cutely knead her hands and sharp claws into the depth of Novus's dense fur.
Although the conversation had continued to dabble in and out of the few things they had been chatting about, Gideon subtly would glance Kepa's way and could see her doing absolutely everything in her power to keep from falling asleep, something he was well aware she hadn't done in years. He felt his heart ache, the urge to just continue giving was now overriding any other plans he had. Although tomorrow was the last day he'd see Kepa until the end of the week, due to his family's vacation getaway to Honeydew Ridge, Gideon looked off in mild contemplation and wondered if he could somehow expedite the notion of Kepa needing to feel safe in order to fall asleep. Aware he had now put any other plans of scouring the city for a job and running off on his isolated lonesome on the back burner, he quickly realized that his life was beginning to permanently center about this little beam of light directly sat in his line of sight. He knew it'd be too forward to ask if she'd be willing for a sleep over, if she'd be willing to put this 'sleep where you feel safe' notion to the test, and so soon, though he bit his lip and wondered if this gap of absence between them, coming up, was for the better. Well aware distance made the heart grow fond, Gideon knew biding time here was his best bet at winning Kepa's trust for good, something he was eager to earn and cherish, to give her that familial bond she had very easily lost long ago, something she very clearly craved and desired.
