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Burgie : Indeed! Little subplot for you guys. Murphy's a good guy, he represents a few individuals in my life, individuals I hold great respect for.


*Chapter 126*

"And THEN he said where we'd be afterwards, I-I could essentially inherit this guy's art studio!" Gideon cried in full, boyish excitement, and though his voice was low and gentle due to being indoors, he nearly couldn't contain himself.

"Gideon this is GREAT!" Kepa exclaimed quietly. Although this was exciting news, Gideon had joined Kepa, Mara and Novus inside of the cozy, dim cafe just a few buildings down and the vibe inside was of peace and warm serenity. So not to affect the gentle quietness inside, Kepa scoot over at their rustic, glossy wooden table to make room for Gideon to sit down, her voice held at a tender inside voice, ladened with as much excitement as her face could afford, "Did he like your portfolio?"

"Oh, surely," Mara guffawed with a wag of her hand as Gideon sat down next to Kepa, across the small table from Mara, to which Novus sat at the head with his strong, fluffy chin rested on the table in stillness.

"He did, well..." Gideon heaved a raspy sigh and looked down to the table in aimless thought, everyone perked up in prickled confusion, "He was honest with me..."

"What? Your work is incredible, he really didn't like it?" Mara complained with a grimace of protective annoyance, to which Novus and Kepa both sagged their ears in irritation at the same time, the fervent desire to protect and love Gideon at all costs was the thing further cementing him to Turbotime.

"Well, no, he loved it, he gave me a lot of compliments, but he made clear I was lacking a lot of observational art," Gideon stated in a downswing of dread, he shyly glanced about the beautiful, dimly brown, warm and glowing little cafe and now saddled himself into the mindset of curiously gesture drawing strangers inside of this type of setting.

"What does that mean?" MAra barked quietly, still en-route to being protective of her uncle, though Kepa sighed and sagged with the gentle flag of her hand to assure Mara that Gideon, as well as Murphy, were both right in these findings.

"No, no, it's... It's probably wise information, it means that Gideon works from his imagination and doesn't have enough artwork to prove that he's good at capturing true form," Kepa eased, though Mara furrowed her brow in further confusion.

"Like still life drawings, drawing things I can physically see," Gideon rattled with a cute chuckle as it finally clicked for Mara.

"Y'can paint me, next time," Novus chimed cutely, everyone quietly laughed.

"Well, I'm sure you did great, nonetheless," Kepa shrugged, "Y'went in looking for a job and came out with a mentor. That's really wonderful! You're gunna be taught how to teach... Probably the first step we leaped clear over, huh."

"I guess that makes sense," Gideon stated humbly with a nod as him and Kepa caught eyes in their tight proximity, she cutely tapped the table in hefty succession with the aid of her scarily sharp claws.

"Imma getchu a drink to celebrate, okay?" Kepa chirped excitedly as she began to stand and worm her way around Novus's body, though Gideon staggered on a few words to hopefully slow her down.

"Kepa, y-you don't have to-"

"Stop it, I'm getting you a drink," Kepa snipped as her tail flicked upwards, she quickly climbed the few stairs up into the main part of the cafe, so to approach the point of sale counter, and escaped her group's cozy gravity. Gideon outwardly sighed as he watched her leave, so much so that it was nearly full-blown swooning.

"... Damn, that bad, huh?" Mara joked as Gideon flinched and brought his shy eyes into Mara's, though he rolled his eyes and looked up as Mara and Novus outwardly began to laugh.

"Ask me how many times I wish I didn't have my sense of smell whenever I hang out with them two," Novus's deep voice grumbled, his huge blue eyes rested to a sealed shut of playful irritation.

"I think she likes you, you should ask her out," Mara snipped cutely, she readjusted the way she was sitting in her comfortable chair. Mara donned an adorable little look of sassy warmth, she wore a worn, black and grey plaid flannel cozily nestled inside of a tattered, faded brown jacket. The kiss of her lovely, shoulder length pastel blue hair complimented the more muted outfits she wore perfectly. She tucked her half-empty cup of frothy coffee to her lips, though she quietly spoke into her mug as she lulled her eyes closed in a girly swathe of sassy deliverance, "Get her number... Maybe light the lighthouse lamp with all that manifestation goodness you two are marinating in."

"We still have yet to light that thing..." Gideon mused, his lovestruck, aimless gaze watched Kepa continue on.

"Prepare her for the fact that she's due to being Sugar Rush royalty," Novus grumbled cutely, to which Gideon heaved a hefty sigh down to the table, opened his palms and felt the twinkle in Mara's eye practically light the whole room. The sheer visual of Gideon's contemplative, aimless stare down into his hands shocked Mara that a proper, cohesive conversation was likely about to unfold, about this topic, for the first time.

"I'm getting there, I've... Begun considering ways to tell her," Gideon mumbled warmly, he lifted his shy eyes and tossed said gaze across the cafe in a delicate lay to find Kepa's figure. Once sourced, he sagged and allowed the gloss of enchanted easiness to coat him, there was one being that held his beaming beacon home, and it was her. He sighed hard through his nose and couldn't help but smile in tepid annoyance, "There's a few things I'd like to do, first, but... I sort of had to pump the brakes, the other day."

"Why?" Mara whispered, she shook her head and frowned.

"It's... Well," Gideon nervously peered to Mara and felt nervous having to explain the delicate, intimate inner workings of his and Kepa's relationship. Although he almost clenched his teeth in frustration over the fact that Novus had lifted, so to fill in the gaps, Gideon was almost relieved that Novus had done so, taking the work away from him altogether.

"Lover girl wants a full taste of what Prince Sugar has to offer and he had to put up a wall cause he's not ready to swap codes and reveal, in one blow, that he's literally kin of the greats," Novus darkly muttered with a cheeky little grin, and though he wasn't wrong, Gideon sagged and gave Mara a dull, defeated look of smiling irony.

"What fur-for-brains said," Gideon muttered, Mara looked off and erupted into hard, concealed laughter that Gideon shyly fell into with a sag of his shoulders, "What, don't make fun of me."

"Ohh, Uncle Gideon," Mara tried to collect herself, she heaved a giggly sigh and smiled earnestly into Gideon's warm eyes, "You're at war with yourself and yourself only, at this point."

"You're not even wrong," Gideon grumbled, though he furrowed his eyebrows and curiously reached into his pocket, "What's this...?"

"Y'okay?" Mara collected her giggling, though Gideon slowly pulled his bigger hand from his pocket and revealed a gorgeous brown and gold glossy stone, he furrowed his brow and gave Mara a full confused look, "I'm guessing you didn't put that there?"

"What is it?" Novus wondered as he sat up a little.

"It's a tiger's eye gemstone," Gideon scoffed in delighted, baffled surprise as he sourced Kepa, once more. Her adorable figure stood at the hand-off plane of the cafe's counter, her ears were perked as she carried on a conversation with the barista. She rocked on the pads of her bunny-like feet, her tail so sweetly curled in happy tilts and sways of easiness. Gideon peered back down to the crystal and shook his head, "Kepa must've... Put it in my pocket before my interview."

"For what?" Mara delicately questioned, Gideon lulled his eyes closed and smiled.

"She told me a few weeks ago that this stone can bring about confidence and positive energy, especially in situations when risks are taken," Gideon mumbled knowingly, "I had it with me while I was in my interview and I didn't even know..."

Mara cocked an eyebrow, looked down at the stone in frozen cuteness and finally drew her eyes back to Gideon's with a look of incredulous, smiling understanding.

"She loves you," Mara's gentle, womanly voice cooed in full affirmation, Gideon hooked his eyes to her in a spell of frozen uncertainty. Mara huffed a silent giggle and lifted her mug, once more, "I know you know that... Do you think it's too soon for the dreaded L word?"

"I don't think it's too soon, but... Again, I'm mustering the courage," Gideon's voice delicately trembled, he eased a shaky chuckle and tucked the stone back into his pocket for safe keeping, "She's always one step ahead of me. I hate to be the one to keep a tight leash on everything, but... I gotta step up my game, somehow."

"She's already bonkers for you, anymore Gideon-game and she'll have whiskers growing outta her eyes," Novus garbled, everyone stifled laughter.

"You're wary, I understand where you're coming from, but," Mara shrugged and eyed Gideon with a glint of caution, "Too much of a prolonged show of wariness and distrust certainly isn't good for any relationship... This all boils down to trust."

"Why don't you just tell her about your life and where you're from, but make clear you're not prepared to bring her around just yet," Novus lilted in warm concern, "That way, she knows she's garnered your trust, and can understand the boundary with respect. You have her in the dark, dude."

"I know, I feel bad about it, but... I'm going to start with telling her that I love her," Gideon bobbed a nod of certainty and looked energized by this conversation, "If it's reciprocated, I'll... I'll tell her everything."

"There's no way it wouldn't be reciprocated," Mara muttered with a sassy little smirk, "She's totally goo-goo eyed for you. It's like, painful."

"Painful," Novus suddenly stabbed for emphasis, of which caused Gideon to flinch in the startle.

"I know, I know," Gideon sighed with a smile, "I'm trying to find my footing, but... Maybe I'll do it over Valentine's Day."

"Ohh, good idea!" Mara chirped with a nod, "That gives you about a month to prepare, that's good."

"Maybe I'll see what I can do, get some ideas from seasoned folk," Gideon mumbled, he eyed Mara in playful cheek and narrowed his gaze, "Can't imagine I can get Lash's advice, eh?"

"Lash is, hmm... How to I say this to my uncle without making things awkward," Mara murmured up into the air, as if to speak to herself, "Lash isn't so good with romance in, say... Beginning stages of a relationship."

"You two need like blunt subtitles or something," Novus ushered in smiling irritation as he turned to Gideon and dully rattled Mara's intentions, "What she's saying is Lash is probably a perfect go-to for advice once you and Kepa swap codes."

"... Yes, thank you, Novus," Mara grumbled in a sag of shy annoyance, "Lash is a hell of a guy behind closed doors. He's like... The final boss for advice, I'd maybe ask Nox, Turbo or even Zed for outward relationship advice. Those men are more open with the whole process, I'd assume."

"I think you should probably talk to women, too," Novus smartly added under his breath.

"Yeah, I'll... I'll consider my options," Gideon rubbed the back of his head and, although the twinkle in his eye looked hopeful for the secretive little date he had put on his intimate advancements, he also began to look mildly terrified of said notion, as well, "It might be too soon to ask Murphy, but... At least I'll have these classes to distract me."

"Doesn't hurt to garner info from all places, but don't forget," Mara waggled her finger, "ALWAYS go with your own gut, your own intuition. Don't let others sway you, okay?"

"I'll try," Gideon frowned, knowing full well that his hugest worry was the act of disappointing the people around him, no matter how estranged or close he was to them.