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Burgie : Yyyep. Things are, uh... Gunna get interesting to say the least.
*Chapter 127*
Sugar Rush's lot was quiet for the evening, Gideon's parent's house was warmly lit and lofted fireplace smoke up into the still atmosphere. What Gideon thought would be a quiet entrance into his home and a full night of easy relaxing, he prickled at the sound of carried laughter that broadened once he croaked open his home's front door. As he stepped in, he took note that Zed, Tessa, Oliver, Koko, Ace and Beaux were all inside, including Ralph and Vanellope. It looked as if they were due to splitting ways for the evening, and by the way everyone still had their shoes and coats on, Gideon wondered if maybe the group had stopped by only temporarily. Upon coming inside, Gideon felt his core clench as everyone starkly noticed his presence. Although happy to be verbally included, he felt a wall of social anxiety climb over him.
"Hey Gid," Koko chimed excitedly with a wave, the group had begun loitering near the gape of the entry corridor, an obvious sign that everyone was due to winding down conversation to leave.
"Hey, guys, what's going on?" Gideon wondered lightly, he glanced to the darkened corridor that led down to the safety of his bedroom, he bit his lip and worried he wouldn't ever be able to make it in time for his social battery to totally drain.
"Oh, Libby made some tarts from the berries she harvested in Dead Zed, she gave them to mom and dad yesterday and we were invited over to try," Koko giggled and waggled her hand to her nephew, "I mean, except Ace and Beaux. They're constantly treated to Libby's baking."
"Sugar Rush'll do that to you," Ralph mumbled, clearly pretending to be disgruntled by this notion, though everyone roused into warm, contagious laughter.
Gideon bobbed a nod and smiled as Koko and Tessa quickly began to go on about how amazing said tarts were, and though Gideon was certainly listening, he softened his gaze, glanced about to see just where Zed was, and was floored to find that he was standing nearest him. The group easily melted back into the separate group conversations certain individuals were having, and with this, Gideon was happy to note that Zed was merely listening in to Ace and Vanellope's conversation, a spectator that likely easily pulled from said conversation. Gideon swallowed hard and assessed Zed. Although simply his brother in law, Gideon could feel the wall of power radiate off of Zed's figure. A Kingly figure to begin with, Zed's posture was tall and proud, even standing at ease he exude a world of prolific, wise energy. Zed's eyes radiated a youthful, daring past, secrets long kept, though Gideon garnered courage to quietly cue for Zed's attention in the beginning stages of collecting information on just how to go about properly moving deeper into his relationship with Kepa.
"Hey, Zed, uh..." Gideon started quietly, for Zed's ears only. Zed perked up, angled his body to Gideon's and gave Gideon his full, undivided attention. Vivid, loving blue eyes that hooked tight into Gideon's to prove he had every single last fiber of his energy. Gideon shyly rubbed the back of his head and suddenly felt all the words escape him, "C-Can I, uh... Ask you something?"
"Sure, what's up?" Zed soothed with a shrug of his muscular shoulders, he wore a cozy black jacket that was unzipped, it revealed the fuzzy black lining, alongside a tidy polo. It was clear the group had likely been spending time in Orion City on this cold evening.
"I just need some relationship advice, I guess," Gideon did everything he could to seem nonchalant, as if this maybe wasn't a big deal. He was glad Zed caught on to his demeanor, though Gideon also knew Zed was near impossible to fool.
"Ask away," Zed's deep voice clipped the air with tenderness, he dutifully stood close to Gideon and kept their conversation quiet. Seeing all the signs of Gideon's nerves worn right on his sleeve, Zed effortlessly exuded the fact that he was a safe space.
"Well... I wanted to reveal to Kepa that I love her on Valentine's Day, but I'm wondering how to even go about doing that or... If I should do it sooner or later than Valentine's Day," Gideon's voice now shook, he cautiously looked about the group and was adamant about keeping this tightly to Zed's ears only; Zed scoffed a gentle laugh and looked down to his feet.
"Well, what's your gut saying? What's your knee-jerk reaction?" Zed pondered gently.
"I guess... I would easily tell her right now, but not two weeks ago, we, uh..." Gideon now felt like back tracking, he shyly glanced into Zed's eyes and muttered his smiling conclusion, "I had to sort of put up a boundary to sex, cause she's ready and I'm not... Stupid, I know."
"That's not stupid at all, who told you that?" Zed flinched at Gideon's own harmful words, Zed smiled his contagious, charming little smile of warmth and narrowed his eyes for emphasis, "Surely she received your boundary well?"
"Yeah, she's respectful, she understood," Gideon nodded and shrugged, Zed sighed and aimlessly looked down in thought.
"Well... Due to the boundary, yeah, I can see how you're a little conflicted," Zed lifted his shoulders in a held shrug and quietly continued on, his wise, deep voice marinated over Gideon's soul like the gloss of brotherly love he definitely needed, "I think Valentine's Day is perfect timing, in this case. Make her a nice dinner, maybe... Supply her with something she needs, y'know?"
"Needs?" Gideon patiently wondered, Zed huffed a chuckle and glanced to his bride, across the way.
"Sure... Women love gifts, but it means worlds more if the gift is something practical that they need, something that would make their life easier," Zed warmly continued, "Last week, I designed Tessa this mat to put by her side of the bed... When she wakes up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, she's told me she's too sleepy to cue her coding for a night light, and any traditional night lights in the room disturbs her sleep. This mat only barely illuminates once it feels her feet on it, so she can then navigate to the bathroom without having to cue her coding."
"How many times had she beefed it in the middle of the night for this gift to be warranted?" Gideon dryly wondered, both men shared a burst of quiet laughter.
"Maybe twice," Zed grinned, "We just recently got rid of the one night light in our room because it was too bright, but then... Yeah, blah blah. All to say, it was a dilemma, and I designed that mat to integrate into the flooring. Sure, women love flowers and jewelry and snacks and whatever else, but Tessa hasn't stopped raving over it and constantly tells me how thoughtful it was."
"That's a good idea," Gideon bobbed a nod and rubbed his chin, he wondered just what Kepa could need to aid in her practices, any charms or spell work she ever did, he knew the world was wide open to him, in that avenue of abundance.
"I'd say make her a dinner, get her her favorite flowers, maybe a small, materialistic gift, but... Otherwise, make any main gift something she can use, something she might need," Zed mumbled warmly, he side-eyed Gideon with cheek, "That way, any time she uses it, she'll think of you."
"Smart," Gideon's deep voice urged quietly, both men nodded in cheeky agreeing.
"And then, to top it all off, revealing your feelings should sit well," Zed nodded, "You seem to be headed in the right direction. Women love surprises like that."
"Thank you," Gideon eased, obviously relieved.
"As for the sex and code swapping nonsense..." Zed inhaled a big, deep breath and sourced Tessa with his vivid blue eyes, once more, "Tessa and I had the luxury of doing all that drama as humans, no code swapping was involved for our first go... Even though I regret nothing, going through that was very eye opening. Kepa's pretty spiritual, from what I've heard from you, yeah?"
"She is," Gideon agreed, he hooked his eyes to Zed's nervously, as if Zed was a life line in this mess.
"For most women, that's a pretty spiritual, sacred act... It's not really to be just tossed around," Zed smiled in warm humility, "It's really big of you that your intuition recognized that in yourself. You have an understanding that you're not ready, and I think it's cool you didn't dip to temptation. That's a permanent bond... Trust me, the Users are not keen on reversing swaps... I think all five of them have gotten together and made a whole list of stipulations revolving the reversal of any person's swap. The coding isn't something to just throw around, and I think you are subconsciously picking up on that."
"Yeah, it's... It's a lot. It's partly because I'm not ready to fully open up to her yet, either. A code swap would unlock everything in one go," Gideon worried, Zed choked a small laugh and nodded.
"Yeah, it's an opened flood gate... I think starting with telling her that you love her is good," Zed encouraged, he warmly pat the back of Gideon's broad shoulder, "Solidifying that level of trust, first and foremost, is a good start. Merging coding and all that fun stuff AFTER finding common ground is for the best. You're on the right track."
"Thank you," Gideon pleaded gently with a nod, he heaved a shaky breath and looked down to his bare feet, "I'm at war with myself."
"It's obvious, Gideon," Zed mumbled in stoic, tender stillness, his authoritative eyes hooked tight into Gideon's shivering ones, and it was here did Gideon truly understand that even though there may be Users with powers above his, even though there were gamers with decades of Arcade years over him, Zed felt like a true end-all, an immovable force of love and strength that Gideon felt almost willingly sapped underneath. Zed peaked a boyish smile and shook his head a little, "Don't fret. Treat Valentine's Day as the first step. Everything should fall into place after that."
"I guess I'll just have to hope for the best," Gideon stated with humble acceptance, though he raised his eyebrows in a prickle of surprise as his phone began to daintily ring. He gently tilted it from the gape of his jacket pocket and felt his pupils tighten at the unbelievable notion that Callum was calling him. Gideon snapped his jaw shut, looked up, politely gave Zed an apologetic smile and began to step away in the act of sheepishly ushering Zed a white lie, "I, uh... Gotta take this, Kepa's calling."
"It's all good, hey," Zed pat Gideon's back once more, "Y'can always get ahold of me if you need, okay?"
"Thanks man, you're the best," Gideon humbly assured with a nod, and as both men eased quiet goodbyes, Gideon skillfully slipped about the chatty group, tucked the phone to his ear and was floored at how successful he was in worming his way out of the group in the proper avenue of going unnoticed. He quietly hissed a notion into his phone and furrowed his brow as his eyes collected with the gape of his dark bedroom at the end of the corridor, "Wow, you're actually calling me? You really must hate me less than I thought."
"No, I still hate you fully," Callum's voice loudly barked, Gideon flinched and choked a small laugh as he sagged into his bedroom and silently closed the door behind himself. He stood in his pitch black bedroom, all warm and still. Flint could be heard cutely arguing Callum in the background, both men erupted into laughter as Callum obnoxiously continued on, "Hey, come hang with us, I'm at Flint's. We're thinking of hitting up a few pubs nearby, maybe get some food. Where are you?"
"I'm home," Gideon mumbled, he lulled his eyes closed in hard dread and wanted nothing but to sag into his bed and be left alone after such a mentally draining day, though the very notion of being desired, of being wanted somewhere else besides his other point of safety, was somehow invigorating, intoxicating to say the very least. He glossed his eyes about the black and rubbed the back of his head, "I'm so beat, man... What about tomorrow?"
"Nooo, man, come on! Don't be such a weeny," Callum choked a contagious, annoyed laugh, this was trailed with Flint's equally as contagious laughter as he began to urge Callum to beg Gideon to come out, "We wanna hang out with you, c'mon, have some beers, maybe a smoke, y'can wind down here. You're probably in your silly little bedroom right now, huh."
"Callum," Gideon desperately held back laughter and felt his walls crumple.
"I'm right, aren't I," Callum gave a snarky retort, "Aww, wittle baby all tucked into beddy?"
"NO," Gideon urged with a harder laugh as he squeezed his eyes shut.
"Then, come on, either be a wet blanket in Sugar Rush, or..." Callum trailed, to which Flint loudly carried on for him.
"Be a wet blanket in Cyclone City," Flint and Callum roared with laughter, to which Gideon grinned and couldn't help but feel himself reaching for the bait, the urge to dive into a group of guys that genuinely did what they could to reach out and show tell-tale signs of true want of Gideon's presence.
"FINE, fine, I'll be on my way soon," Gideon urged in a playful show of dreaded irritation, he began to yank off his jacket in preparation to put on something a little different, more muted colors so to not stick out in such a hostile place. He muttered into his phone and prepared to hang up, "I'll text you when I'm on my way."
"I'll prepare the lube," Callum darkly teased, to which Gideon fully rolled his eyes and hung up on Flint's and Callum's roaring laughter, all while stifling his own.
As his room settled, he turned on his dim lamp nearby and yanked off his jacket, though upon doing so, he gasped in flinch of startle as a sudden clack of a bang was heard, upon said yank. He collected his eyes to the thing that flung from his pocket, the tiger's eye gemstone Kepa had so cutely snuck into Gideon's jacket in preparation for his job interview. Gideon froze, peered down to it as it settled in a few clacks on the glossy floor under toe, and with a sag, Gideon breathed a hot breath of dread through his nose and collected said precious stone. He secured the stone to his nightstand and now felt his brain wiggle with confusion. He was excited for his opportunities inside Turbotime, though he wondered how any of that information would be received to Callum and Flint, if well at all. Gideon knew his time at Flint's home was now becoming another branch of secrets off of this twisted vine of double and triple lives lived, and though Gideon was certain that somewhere along the line this aggressive vine would suffer root rot, he squeezed his eyes shut and shoved it all away with the idea of saving said uproot for a rainy day. For now, he eagerly switched gears and understood that although it wasn't on the agenda, somehow hanging with the boys and having a few beers was a newly desired way to end such a draining day. With his phone on silent, he changed into darker clothes and braced himself for the likely unhinged extension of his night to come.
A/N : Hey all, I've begun a little experiment on my Youtube if anyone is interested. I'll be doing time lapses of my artwork while I discuss weird dreams of mine, which could also derail into other topics. Come support me and check it out :) My username there is either Vyntresser or Vyntastic... I'm trying to change it to Vyntresser FROM Vyntastic but idk if it's like worked yet or whatever. I have Vanellope as my icon, I shouldn't be hard to find.
