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Snake557 : Oh thank you so much! I know, I always have to just tell myself that at least I'm uploading. I try not to feel guilty making filler chapters or writing scenes that maybe don't heavily pertain to plot. I could very easily just not write at all, I have to just remind myself that I'm being productive :) I appreciate the support, friend! Thank you!
*Chapter 163*
"Well, well," Jukkit muttered with a side-eyeing smirk, he stood in a lazy lean against a nearby wall inside their shared home's massive kitchen, one of two. This main kitchen was closest to Gideon's section of their home, pristine blacks and whites, glossed to perfection, a jaw-dropping gape of a windowed view of the arena, a similar view the lobby had. Gideon long-blinked in groggy, sleepy crankiness as he came into the kitchen with the slow slap of his bare feet. Albar looked up from the chore on the huge splay of a work and dining room table nearby, Ora was currently nowhere to be found. Jukkit choked a hearty little laugh and adjusted the gape of the collar of his tattered black t-shirt, he grinned as Gideon gently budged into his presence, "This is the first time I've seen you in what, three days? Lemme see your piercings."
"I finally can eat," Gideon muttered, his voice was hoarse and dry, he looked disheveled, though as Jukkit stood a bit stiffer and got a good look at Gideon, he softened in rising concern.
Jukkit and Albar knew to leave Gideon be while he adjusted to this new lifestyle, while he got used to his new piercings and tattoos and while his new, harsh reality set in, though Jukkit now began to worry about all the distance Gideon was putting between them. Jukkit subtly glossed his eyes down Gideon's body; right off the bat, he noticed his once hefty chest looked to be becoming sunken, his thick, bold clavicles were far more prominent, as well as his cheek bones. Huge dark bags hung underneath his sunken eyes, and although his tattoos were all peeling nicely and his piercings didn't look to be way too swollen or irritated any longer, the gold light in Gideon's eyes was nearly dead. In the swing of pretending to assess Gideon's tattoos, Jukkit held his breath and felt dreaded realization hit his skin. The inner nook of the bend of Gideon's arms were absolutely destroyed with injection sites, his skin looked clammy and cold, his hands and wrists held a very steady tremble. Jukkit raised his eyebrows and now understood that giving Gideon the drugs he did on day one, and suggesting that Gideon manifest as much as he need, was likely the worst advice he could've given. Jukkit held his breath and now understood that he fully assumed Gideon would keep his head, just as Albar and Ora have, though he squeezed his eyes shut in regret and understood that he, too, allowed drugs to take his legs out from under him, at one point.
"These are healing nicely," Jukkit stated with warmth, such tenderness that was uncharacteristic to him, such a swing of differential that had Gideon cocking an eyebrow in confusion and tossing his darkened eyes down into Jukkit's with a subtle hint of curious vulnerability, and it was here did Jukkit inhale a huge, trembling breath and feel brave, "My guy, I know you're hurting. I know I said we should just leave the past where it was, but... C'mon, if you need to talk about it, I'd much rather you turn to us than drugs... Or at least have an outlet, you know we have a gym, right?"
"Yeah, I was there the other day," Gideon croaked with a nod, he inhaled a long, trembling deep breath and glanced down to his inner arms in a show of almost coy shame. He gulped a swallow and glossed his eyes to Albar, across the way, though the sheer look of fatherly concern written on Albar's face was enough to make Gideon want to crumple into an explosion of tears, though he held onto his composure. Gideon squeezed his eyes shut and bobbed a nod of understanding, "I-I haven't used for twelve hours, I'm trying... The pain is finally going away."
"Why don't you hang with us for the day, we were gunna go downstairs and order some food," Jukkit suggested with a nod, to which Gideon's mood just barely lifted from the dead with scheming glee.
"...Downstairs? There's places to order food in this building?" Gideon questioned, he pressed deeper into the kitchen, opened the massive fridge so skillfully cloaked as glossy cabinets, reached in and grabbed a bottle of water.
"Yeah, man... We can't manifest food for ourselves," Jukkit erupted into laughter, to which Gideon huffed a breath of a laugh through his nose as he tilted his head back and took a few hearty gulps of water, "Albar and I go downstairs to get a mass of food, every now and then. Every once in awhile, we'll hit up the drug-lord floors."
"So, scold me for doing drugs," Gideon started darkly as he looked up in cheeky sarcasm and pointed down to the ground in a lazy fashion, his hand trembled in the flex of movement, noticeable ticks that now began to overtake Gideon's wiggly mainframe.
"The keyword is USE, not abuse," Albar chuffed in stewing irritation, Gideon flinched, sagged and caught eyes with Albar in a downswing of the cocky air he had put upon the place. Albar heaved a long, dreaded sigh and firmly put down the stack of money he was counting, a splay of cash he had all about him on the table, something Gideon only now was noticing and registering in his brain as curious, "I get it, it's easy to abuse, especially for someone like you, you can just will it into existence at any time."
"We get some nose candy, we get some weed, sometimes other shit," Jukkit boyishly lilted, he shrugged and sagged a bit, Albar shot him a look as if to surely make Jukkit clear he was reading his mind, the notion that Jukkit was responsible for opening this new, scary world for Gideon to run rampant in, and so soon after the trauma he had gone through and didn't have time to process. Jukkit tugged his collar and caught gazes with Gideon in a show of regret, "Bud, let's... Let's take it easy, from here, look... I know life sucks right now, you're thrusted into this new world with other beings you don't know after literally murdering thirty seven-"
"I DON'T need the reminder," Gideon's booming voice suddenly laid over the land, causing Jukkit and even Albar to jump, though Gideon immediately regret raising his voice the second Albar slowly crawled to a stiff, hefty stand of a hover at the table he was sat at. Gideon huffed a shaky breath, glowered Albar down and felt the urge to soften, though stood his ground, "Yeah, I'm hurting. You guys had your own shit to battle, and I have mine. I'm numbing the pain for now, I JUST told you guys I've resisted using for over twelve hours now. Sure, I wanna die, but I know I'm playing with fire. I'll bounce back, get off my dick about it."
"Alright, man, you're heard," Jukkit responded with a prickle of clarity and certainty, such a response that had Gideon recoiling.
Gideon flinched and watched as Jukkit shrugged and tossed his gaze to Albar, he furrowed his brow and looked between Jukkit and Albar in a roll of confusion. He finally scoffed a mean chuckle and shrugged.
"That easy, huh?" Gideon dared curiously, Jukkit long-blinked in confusion.
"What do you mean?" Jukkit pressed, Gideon faltered a breath and rolled into another chuckle.
"You just... Backed off, so quick," Gideon looked almost cutely delighted by all of this, to which Jukkit and Albar stole confused glances to each other, though Albar finally sagged out of his dominant stance, one he took in the assumption that Gideon's yelling was going to turn into something physical Albar would have to break up.
"Uh, yeah? I don't need to hear your reasoning, you don't need to justify yourself to me," Jukkit muttered knowingly, "You're right. I was fucked up when I first came here, sure I only have twenty-two kills underneath your thirty-seven, but it still messes with you for a bit. You're leaning into substance, which... I mean, I guess I started, I just... Have been down that road, and it's not pretty. Believe it or not, we DO want the best for you. We're family, now."
"You finally have influence over someone and you run away with it," Albar meanly muttered to Jukkit, and though Gideon was certain this would cause Jukkit to explode, he was shocked to see a collected response, it was here did Gideon wonder if there was hope for him and all of this mental and physical pain he was enduring. The raw fact that Jukkit and Albar were able to have this healthy amount of back and forth had Gideon looking down to his trembling hands in regret for what the past two weeks had become, for him.
"You're right, I should've been more careful, there," Jukkit mumbled, he gave Gideon an apologetic look and shrugged, "I didn't mean to make it seem like you couldn't talk to us, Gid... I didn't mean to make it seem like you had to stuff your issues and rely on substance to get through. You can talk to us at any time, we're the only people on planet earth that understand just what you've gone through."
"Thank you," Gideon croaked with a nod, he heaved a trembling breath and regretfully looked down at the scars that riddled his inner arms, "It's so... Nice, it's so warm. I like forgetting."
"Hooo I know," Jukkit raised his eyebrows and looked down to his own arms; although clean, there was a minimal amount of old scarring, "Albar barred me from it, which... Made matters worse. I lead you right to it and made it easy, which... Is equally as bad, in my opinion. I'm sorry, Gideon."
"It's okay," Gideon sighed, he rubbed his temples and was thrilled he could now touch the tattooing on his face without it hurting. He squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head in the show of exhaustion, "I've spent my entire life being told what to do, or if I did something, I'd have to justify my actions until I was blue in the face. Feels nice to have some freedom, to make choices that no one has a say in. I've just run away with myself, I guess, but... I'm starting to feel better."
"Your family was controlling?" Jukkit wondered as cautiously as he could, and though Gideon looked down to the tiles and didn't want to open the sealed box of his past, he lulled his tired eyes closed and felt as if enough drugs, enough time, enough sleeps had put distance between his current life and his old life.
"I wouldn't say controlling," Gideon murmured, he furrowed his eyebrows and almost had an impossible time trying to even recall the palace, the people in it, he squinted in searching and was certain all the drugs that had been coursing his system, for the past two weeks, had totally exaggerated just how much or how little amount of time had truly passed. He huffed a chuckle and rubbed his chest, his hand trembled, though his voice was steady, "It all feels like it was decades ago, I feel so removed from it. It's so jarring... I had to truly recall the name of my home game, just now, that's how hard I've shoved it all out of my life."
"Well, I was the one to tell you to forget it," Jukkit mumbled sorrowfully, "I guess... I'm so used to Albar being a brick wall, I didn't realize just how impressionable you were."
"It's a fucking curse," Gideon croaked, his tired eyes glossed the tile in defeat, "I'll always be just the baby of the family, the gullible one, the one who's easily fooled, hyper-impressionable. Even here, I can't escape it."
"You're wrong," Albar's deep bass-tone grumbled, to which Gideon lifted in a swing of gentle surprise as Albar stood, once more, though approached Gideon and Jukkit with easy energy this time, "You're here, aren't you? I can promise you... If everyone you ever knew and loved saw you now, the LAST thing they'd call you was gullible, easy to fool, hyper-impressionable. Jukkit gave you a peak out of a window of an escape and you liked what you saw. He didn't trick you, he didn't think you were gullible, Jukkit was telling the truth, YOU just ran wild with it."
Gideon heaved a long sigh through his nose and allowed Albar's wise words to marinate over him, he nodded and glanced to Jukkit, who looked defeated with apology.
"I think Jukkit's always wanted a brother out of me, and not a father," Albar grumbled in gentle regret, to which Jukkit heaved a long sigh and began to look as if he was due to shying away from this rapidly-becoming tender conversation, and though Jukkit stiffened with crossed arms and closed off body language, Albar continued, "You came along and suddenly it was an opportunity to help you not feel pain. If I DO recall, Jukkit warned you to not abuse it, though the addiction is louder than any of our reasonings, I understand..."
"I'm trying," Gideon croaked sorrowfully, "I just... Can't relax or get to sleep without it."
"I used to think the same thing, but... We're just concerned for you," Jukkit said with warm regret, "I wouldn't have suggested it if I knew you were going to go bonkers about it. It's super addicting, I should've known better..."
"Let's just hang out more often, the thing I wish I had, when I first came here, was camaraderie," Albar stated confidently, "We've, uh... Sort of failed you, in these first two weeks. We can start over, that's what coming here is all about, huh?"
"Not world domination?" Jukkit wondered with a cheeky smile, such notions that had Gideon finally smiling in annoyed nonchalance, though smiling nonetheless.
"There are only five of us," Albar said in smiling irritation, "I think Flint wants at least ten of us for his plan to be set into motion."
Gideon bobbed a nod and allowed the words to simply wiggle through his brain, in one ear and out the other, though as the reverberation of the dregs of drugs in his system yanked the word back to his rattled brain, Gideon sucked in a thick breath through his nose, stiffened and firmly peered into Albar's eyes with rocked surprise.
"...What did you just say?" Gideon stabbed in shock, Albar's ears sagged in uncertainty.
"Uh, Flint? He occasionally visits us, he's the head of recruitment for Game Over," Albar explained patiently as Gideon's eyes held with Albar's in a swing of almost smiling bewilderment, "Y'think we're all just here to walk downstairs and have people run in terror and ladies gawk and wet themselves on the sidelines? We're being amassed for a reason."
"What reason?" Gideon prod, he was eager to proverbially yank open this new door he happened upon.
"Well, I know it involves expanding The Block," Albar bobbed a nod and put his hands on his hips in nonchalance, "The floors under us, sure, they're bringing in money and business to our branch of the dark web, but I think Flint's plan is to have enough of us to duplicate our powers, amass a whole new breed of gamer."
"... You're saying we'll essentially be bred," Gideon choked a nervous laugh and gestured to his chest, "We're the best of the best... There will be enough winners that procreating will eventually be what becomes of us."
"Yep, let's get started!" Jukkit loudly choked into hard laughter that Albar and Gideon finally fell into.
"Wait, seriously?" Gideon wrinkled his nose and shook his head, "I know Flint, he was my old guidance counselor at school. Short little fox guy?"
"Oh, no... HUGE hawk creature," Jukkit furrowed his brow in full confusion, to which Albar shook his head and lazily tossed his eyes to Jukkit in a swing of lofted information.
"No, Gideon's right, he has a small little fox disguise he uses when he's recruiting," Albar mumbled, Jukkit softened in understanding, to which Gideon loudly scoffed a laugh and gripped the sides of his head with his bigger hands.
"Wait, SERIOUSLY?" Gideon looked to be almost crazed with the sheer idea of this knowledge, "That's wild, he gave me my Game Over application."
"Yeah, and you wonder why they ask, on the application, if you've swapped your code with anyone or not?" Jukkit mumbled with a sly smile as he crossed his arms, "You won't be accepted to compete if you have 'dirty' coding... It's why code swapping is so taboo. It's so that winners can eventually breed the ultimate, apex-gamers, the best gamers in the world creating even BETTER gamers with one another?"
"It'll be a whole different breed of us," Albar mumbled, both men seemed thrilled at this idea, "It'll be cool to see just how many of us come about. Y'wonder if we'll be like, paired off eventually?"
"I'd rather just shut up and get it over with, I don't want romance or anything, let's just do it to do it," Jukkit gestured his arms outwards with a wrinkled look of wishing to shy away from any romantic aspects of code swapping, though it was here did Gideon hold his breath and feel that nagging tap of hot regret poke and prod the back of his brain, the one woman he was eager to share his everything with, the very name that kept holding tight to the back of his throat, just waiting to be the lynchpin to taking a complete one-eighty out of this black hole of devilish desire. Jukkit loudly carried on, interrupting Gideon's brain from even so much as spelling out Kepa's name, "'Course... Caring for a baby? I can hardly take care of myself. Can't we opt out?"
"Who knows, I wouldn't mind finding a mate," Albar stated with sure-fire confidence and a nod, though their eyes firmly diverted to Gideon for his opinion, "I guess we don't have to worry about it right now, but could be interesting, yeah? We're apart of a movement, breeding the best of the best. What would you rather, Gideon?"
"What, having kids?" Gideon tried not to gulp a hard swallow, his brain screamed at him to even so much as think of the first letter of Kepa's name, though he viciously shoved it all away, "I don't care, sure sex would be awesome, but... I don't care what happens, this is news to me, to be honest."
"Well, welcome," Jukkit muttered with a sarcastic chuckle that Albar fell into, "We got a long ways to go before we start fighting over women. User-love Ora, but I'll pass. She looks terrifying."
"That's mean, she's beautiful in her own right," Gideon grumbled as he crossed his arms, though he did the due diligence by sweeping the room to make sure she wasn't around; in these two weeks, Ora was the one to hover over Gideon and check up on him, their silent bond had strengthened through a gentle exchange of unconditional energy, a sibling-hood Gideon secretly leaned on Ora for, something they both kept under wraps due to the idea of exposing such tenderness would bring a never-ending parade of Jukkit's bullying, "Yeah, I'm chill just hanging with you guys until then. Tell me more about this whole... Downstairs event of scaring people."
"OH, yes, let's go," Jukkit perked up and clapped his hands in excitement, "There's a whole world below us... Sure, we COULD leave the building, but it's not wise. We're safe inside this big building, there's a sort of grocery market downstairs that we frequent. It has a bomb-ass pizza shop we can't resist."
"Gideon, you think if we take you to this pizza shop, you can get your coding on it and then manifest it for us later?" Albar asked, it was the first time since Gideon arrived did he see a sense of boyish plea in Albar's hardened, masculine aura. Gideon and Jukkit erupted into laughter as Albar sagged his ears and softened a smile of vulnerability, "It'd be cool not to leave, anymore. The one lady at the counter has the hots for me, and in the words of Jukkit... I'll pass."
"Hey, and to ease you off of your little needle friends... We can stop by the higher floors and grab some weed, we'll have a smoke sesh tonight, it'll be fun," Jukkit stated with warmth, and though Gideon felt worried that nothing would compare to the crap he had been putting into his body, he somehow sagged and was reminded that smoking did take the edge off, as well; a safer alternative to laying waste to his arms and coding.
"Alright, I'll bite," Gideon grumbled with a nod of smiling defeat, to which all three boys perked up and began to animate in the motion of preparing to leave the house, though all three jolted in surprise as they caught with Ora's figure, who was only hovering half way in the gape of the archway, the corridor that lead from the kitchen and into another huge, main lounging room with the massive flat screen.
"Ora, we're going downstairs," Jukkit heaved a trembling sigh and rubbed his chest, he self-soothed from the mild scare she had given, "Y'coming? Doubt it, you never come..."
"Sure," Ora stated in a quiet quip of uncertainty as she gently tossed her gaze to Gideon's with a twinkle of humbled, sisterly gratitude, and it was here did Gideon understand that she likely had been eavesdropping.
"Shocked," Albar quietly pressed in sincerity, "That's new... It'll be cool to have all four of us down there, people are gunna flip out."
"It's the best part, seeing who scrambles and who doesn't," Jukkit loudly whispered as he scrunched his shoulders and flapped his fingers about to insinuate little legs and feet running away, he grinned and smiled into Gideon's eyes, "You're gunna eat this up, I'm serious."
"You weren't kidding about the whole 'no stress' lifestyle, huh," Gideon croaked a laugh as they slowly filed to their massive front door in preparation, "When going downstairs is the highlight of the week?"
"I only speak the truth," Jukkit chimed excitedly as their hefty door came to a clack and seal behind them, their first venture out into their broadened world with Gideon tight in tow, a fragile, unique outing he was eager to experience for the first time.
