Reviews :
Burgie : very true! Kepa garners company tho so she won't be so lonely waiting for Gideon :)
Song Listened To :
Birthplace by Novo Amor
*Chapter 98*
Gideon's eyes patiently watched as Novus's lovely, silent flight carried him across the palace lot and in the direction of his pack's cozy, warm enclosure. Sugar Rush's cold, winter air began to kiss Gideon's nose with a sting, and though he stood hovered neared the much bigger, outdoor teleport pad just outside his home, he warily drew his eyes to the huge wall Tessa had designated for him. Nervous to see Callum's haunting figure standing there, waiting for Gideon to unveil more weaknesses, he furrowed his brow and saw past the hurt. What he saw was his own, huge wall, a slab that Tessa had gifted him, and in the sting of remembrance, everything that happened last night, Gideon heaved a hot sigh of dread through his nose and began to lazily fumble for his phone.
Although not totally excited to go on this trip, starting tomorrow morning, he felt his heart tug for the Queen of the palace, the lengths she went to make sure Gideon was now properly included, he was well aware he likely needed to apologize to her and get on the same page of love he knew she was likely desperate for. His bare feet scuffed the lovely winter grass undertow, his heel sagged to the powered down teleport pad, and as he cued to call Tessa's phone number, he sagged his phone to his ear and patiently stood underneath Sugar Rush's glorious stars, out in the chorus of happy crickets the palace lot had to offer. Gideon lulled his eyes closed as he could hear Tessa scurry to answer her phone and bring it to her ear, she sounded mildly shocked that he was calling.
"Gid? Hey bud, y'okay?" Tessa stabbed in a rush; phone calls were clearly a blaring warning sign that something could potentially be wrong, a notion that made Gideon's heart ache even more.
"Hey, yeah I'm okay," Gideon's deep voice started, and though the two held in a few seconds of tender silence, he glossed his eyes about the palace's massive lot and somehow felt drawn to be entirely vulnerable with Tessa. Although aware he could easily do all of this with Novus, for some reason he felt the need to land in a feminine square on the grid, one of motherly love that wasn't directly from Vanellope, but still in her proxy. He shyly carried on and, due to Tessa keeping all of Gideon's secrets as best as she could, he knew she was one to be trusted with his trembling, scared heart, "Can, uh... Can I come over?"
Before Tessa could answer, Gideon felt his coding jolt in hot, glitching confusion, and with an educated whisk of binary, Gideon scrunched and felt his whole being relocate. He finally settled, the sound of crickets vanished, and what was returned was the sound of two pairs of scuffling bare feet. Gideon un-scrunched his eyes, peered forward in a flutter and was floored to see that Tessa had teleported Gideon straight to her home, via their obvious code room powers. Gideon grinned in cheeky shock, hung up the call with Tessa and happily caught eyes with her as her and Zed patiently rounded into the gap between their entry corridor and their kitchen where Gideon's bigger bare feet were planted.
"... I'll take that as a yes," Gideon grunted with a laugh as Zed beamed and crossed his arms, and though Gideon felt his coding do a dance and his gash began to throb, due to being teleported, he frowned and peered hard into Tessa's eyes. She stood a few feet from him she looked ready to dive into his arms, and though he would gladly welcome it, he curiously peered to her as she stood in baited wait. She had been hurt in this, too, and though Gideon knew they all could afford each other apologies, Gideon heaved a raspy sigh through his nose, looked down to his hands and allowed all walls to come down, "Tessa, I'm... Very sorry for last night. I know I was ultimately wronged, in the end, by Callum, but... You've done nothing but protect me and make sure we all stick together and I might as well have turned my back on you by being so nasty, the other morning, and for running off last night."
"It's okay, Gideon," Tessa whispered as huge tears billowed in her eyes, it was clear this was absolutely not the first time she had cried over this topic, and though she gently tucked the back of her hand to her mouth and grimaced a toss of her eyes away, she shook her head and whimpered a conclusion, "Gideon, I'm so glad you called me. I'm so glad. I'm so sorry..."
"It's okay," Gideon chuckled gently as he finally took a step closer to her, though she urgently closed the gap and wrangled her arms tight about his torso.
She buried her face into his sternum and softly cried into his chest, to which he warmly cupped the back of her head and buried his face into the top of her soft hair. He heaved a shaky breath into the crown of her head, the emit of silent cries she whimpered into his chest was enough to break him, and though he wanted to be her strong hold, he welled up and was aware breaking down was likely the only option. He scoffed a soft little breath onto her hair and scrunched his eyes tight amidst a secret splay of gentle cries as they grappled each other a little tighter. With such, Zed sagged into their bubble of love and warmly rubbed up and down Gideon's left, uninjured arm. Gideon gently pried his face from the top of Tessa's head and caught eyes with Zed in a swing of shy vulnerability.
"Y'know... We can learn a lot from family, they can teach us right from wrong, they can be our greatest friends or our worst enemies, they can betray our trust, they can be disappointed in our decisions," Zed's deep voice softly ushered to the two, Tessa kept her face firmly plowed into Gideon's broad chest as his grip on his big sister hardly wavered. Zed continued to rub up and down the back of Gideon's left upper arm in soothe, which eventually sagged to the middle of Tessa's upper back for further comfort, "But, you can learn a lot more from the beings in your life that are your CHOSEN family. Callum made a huge mistake. Will he apologize? Surely some day. Does he regret what he did? I can safely tell you that he does."
"How do you know?" Gideon mumbled, his voice was nasally, Tessa finally unhanded him, though hovered tight in his gravity and didn't dare let him from her sight.
"Your best friend overrode my authority today and went to bat for you," Zed grumbled cutely, as if it wasn't something he wanted to admit. His sharp, attentive blue eyes scanned his and Tessa's warm, dim home, a place of cozy, abundant love, it was clear they were due to settling down for the night though halted production due to Gideon's sudden phone call. Zed pierced his eyes tight to Gideon's doughy, curious gaze, "Whiplash is... A curious dude. He doesn't go to war for just anyone. He's witnessed the lot of us bully each other and go through waves of hardships, and not once has he gotten in someone's face like what he did to Callum, today."
Gideon sagged a bit and allowed Tessa to cutely garner his bigger hands in her equally as doughy wrecking hands. He smiled into her teary eyes and squeezed her hands as he brought his curiously surprised gaze tight to Zed's, once more.
"Look... We all love and care about you. You're as much my brother as Oliver and Nox are, to me," Zed stated with care, "We want to make sure you're associating with the right people, and though you're not directly next in line for the throne... You still are royalty. I'm sorry if we've left you out, or if you've felt as if we have had a hard time understanding just what goes on in your head."
"I... I don't make it easy," Gideon mumbled regrettably, he peered down into Tessa's eyes and sighed, "I appreciate you guys caring so much about what I'm on about. I don't know why Callum is so worried. You guys don't need to worry about me, or Flint, or Kepa, none of it. I'm just trying to have a good time, I'm not trying to bring any harm to anyone."
"We know, we just want to make sure you're not influenced by someone who may actually be a wolf in sheep's wool," Tessa murmured through tears, she had collected herself, though it was clear this was difficult. She shook her head and desperately peered into Gideon's eyes, "You're still coming tomorrow, right? Please come... Please..."
"Yes, I'm coming, that's... Mainly why I called you," Gideon started, though it was here where he felt the vulnerability was about to eat him alive. He glanced between Tessa's and Zed's eyes, "Mom and dad told me I could invite Kepa on this trip, and though I'm not ready to do that, I DID promise her I'd keep in touch with her while I was away."
"That's okay, Gideon, you can talk to whoever you'd like," Tessa rushed nervously, as if even thinking against his word would have him running off.
"I-I... I say this because, I need some advice and I don't want to turn to Lash for it, because he's in our friend group, and things might get more awkward than it's already starting to get," Gideon mumbled shyly, and though Zed smiled in knowing delight and looked down to their feet, Tessa peered up to him in still prickled confusion. Gideon heaved a shaky sigh and felt weird fully opening up about all of this, "I've been keeping Sugar Rush and my title as Prince a secret from Kepa because I just didn't want to get hurt. I've let in too many people, prior, only to be hurt and feel as if I'm robbed of pieces of my soul, but..."
Zed brought his smiling eyes tight to Gideons and narrowed in tender, understanding cheek as Gideon's hands now visibly began to tremble, something Tessa's hands could feel. She blurt a small little chuckle and jostled his bigger hands as he now froze in not totally knowing how to continue on with what he was wanting to say.
"You're shaking, Giddy, what is it?" Tessa cutely stated above a whisper, to which Zed nodded a little and tilted his head.
"You want to let her in because you've developed feelings for her and now you have no clue how to introduce her to the sheer tidal wave of information she would be drowned in?" Zed rattled, to which Tessa brightened at Zed's words, the sheer idea that Gideon had garnered the liking of a woman.
"Gideon," Tessa hissed in elated cuteness, she side-eyed her little brother and squeezed his hands, "You have a secret girlfriend?"
"No, sh-she's not my girlfriend," Gideon mumbled, he tried to stifle a smile as he looked down to their hands, "Yet, anyways."
"You're wanting our advice on how to move forward? You're wanting to continue to keep this under wraps?" Zed wondered delicately, to which Gideon nodded.
"I'm not ready to let her in just yet, but, I don't want her to get away," Gideon staggered shyly, "I don't want to keep her waiting for an eternity, but I'm just not ready to welcome her onto palace grounds. With the whole Callum drama, and other wounds still being too fresh... I haven't told anyone, but you guys, and I'm genuinely terrified to be doing so, to be honest."
"I speak for both Tessa and I when I say your secrets are safe with us, you know this," Zed stated in firm adamancy as he pat the back of Gideon's upper left arm for assurance, "We're happy to give you advice in privacy, and keep your situation with Kepa under wraps. Sure, we're absolutely dying to meet her and I'm pretty jealous that Lash and Mara just get to hang out with her whenever they want, but..."
"We respect you enough to know that this is probably hard for you," Tessa rushed gently, Gideon nodded shyly and looked down to his and Tessa's still conjoined hands. The three tenderly fell silent for a moment before Tessa whispered him a shy, squee of a girly question, "Have you told her how you feel?"
"More or less," Gideon's voice shook in nervous smiling, above a whisper, "I... I stayed with her last night, she stitched my gash."
"... Wait, Lash didn't reset you?" Zed suddenly worried, Gideon shook his head and now rushed to defend Kepa's handiwork.
"No, I begged Kepa not to call Lash, she took care of me," Gideon gently demanded, "I don't want to be reset, Kepa worked hard to stitch the wound."
"You let her STITCH you when you knew you had access to a code room? You endured that pain so she could take care of you?" Tessa ogled, she side-eyed Gideon in cheeky knowing and grinned, "Oh, so you 'stayed the night', then... Battle warrior gets injured and retreats for a night of licked wounds and pillow talk."
"No, no... Truly nothing happened," Gideon nervously defended, though he shrugged and shyly looked down as his raspy voice cautiously ushered the truth, "I-I mean... We kissed, but-"
"There it is," Zed choked a laugh as everyone grinned in the joyous uplift of soft laughter, "So, you let her clean you up, endured pain, and now, from the looks of it... She bandaged you up and likely sent you on your way."
"That is SO sweet, Gideon," Tessa cooed as she finally sagged her hands out of Gideon's and cupped her fists to her chest in girly, swooning delight, "I don't think I could bear being stitched up without any pain meds or anything like that, you're brave..."
"SHE'S brave, she's a predatory big cat, at the root of her core, and was nose deep in all of my blood and stuff," Gideon gawked as he lifted his right arm and gestured to the bandage that peeked from the lazy gape of his baggy zip-up, "I could tell she was struggling with animalistic instincts, but... Yeah. She stitched me up and gave me some ointments so I could care for it on my trip."
"...She has no clue you're coded for Sugar Rush, let alone FROM Sugar Rush," Zed started, Tessa cupped her hands harder to her chest in a rising lilt of now more outward swooning, "That's dedication, my dude. You had the option to either call Lash and get it all reversed really quick, or... Endure the pain and really sag into her care. That's really sweet of you. Drastic lengths to go to keep the facade going, but still sweet, nonetheless."
"Yeah don't let another life or death situation happen again, like this, please promise me next time you'll have Lash help you," Tessa rushed nervously, "It's a good thing you were in a game where you were safe to game over. Had Kepa not known what to do, and had you been outside of the safety of a regenerative game over, you'd be screwed, Gid..."
"I know, I know... That's why I just let it happen, I really enjoyed feeling, well..." Gideon staggered on nervously, he grimaced and didn't want to hurt Tessa's or Zed's feelings here, though Zed bobbed a knowing nod and filled in the blank.
"You two love each other, that's clear as day from what you're just saying, alone," Zed mumbled warmly, "You'll do stupid things at the hands of someone you're head over heels for. You'll endure whatever. It's obvious you two have something special, and... I'm honored you've told us, to this extent. Before you have even told Lash or Novus? That's huge..."
"Lash wormed out of me my feelings for her, and Novus keeps complaining about how I 'smell', but... Outside of that group, outside of their inklings, I trust you guys," Gideon stated, although a wary tone held in his voice, he eyed the two in gentle seriousness, "I just needed to say something to you two before we went on this trip. I didn't want you to think I was doing anything sneaky, by talking on my phone or anything. It's just Kepa."
"Thanks for telling us," Tessa sighed in full clarity as she bobbed a nod, "But, like... We also want to actually hang out with you."
"No, I know, I'm just covering my bases, I'm not going to be glued to my phone," Gideon politely covered; as much as he desperately did want to be glued to his and Kepa's conversation, the more he was in Tessa's and Zed's presence, the more he understood that maybe this little break from Kepa was probably a good idea, to let the rush of butterflies settle a tiny bit so the two could properly see ahead of their own noses.
"I think you're wise to keep her at arm's length, in the beginning, since you've been burned before, but..." Zed grimaced and eyed Gideon, "From the sounds of it, you might want to really start planning when you're gunna tell her the truth. If you hold it all in for too long, she will feel deceived."
"Uh, also, I REALLY want to meet her," Tessa stated in a begging tone of cute, loving warmth, "I know mom and Koko would, too."
"I sort of prefaced to her that I had some deeper things, in my life, that I wasn't ready to tell her quite yet and she was really receptive," Gideon assured with a nod, "She... Lost her entire family, with Castle Run's unplug. She's a lion gargoyle."
"Ohhh, her and Tatum would probably be fast friends," Tessa cooed with adamant certainty, to which Gideon lulled his eyes closed and bobbed a nod.
"She's patient with me, but..." Gideon nervously trailed off and shrugged, "I just want to do this right. I want her to meet everyone without all my bitterness."
"It's a balancing act, and you know we'll help you as best as we can," Zed shrugged, "Even if maybe you introduce her to us slowly, one person or family unit at a time. This doesn't have to be a rushed experience. Either way... We're here for you, no matter what."
"I'm so proud of you, Giddy," Tessa chirped in a lilt of the promise of more tears as she sagged into his chest for another hug, to which he blurt a chuckle and warmly raveled her into a big hug.
"Thanks for hearing me," Gideon sighed shakily, he eyed Zed in soft caution, "I'm genuinely nervous for this trip... I don't want to fight with anyone, especially Oliver."
"You won't," Zed stated in a firm tone of loving assurance, as if he was now due to making sure the trip went smoothly whether anyone liked it or not, "I'll make sure of it."
