Song Listened To :
Dirty Thoughts by Chloe Adams
*Chapter 213*
"No, no, don't even try to go lay down and take a nap, get over here," Kepa loudly garbled as she flagged her hand in Gideon's direction. Grateful she had stopped him in his tracks, the direction of schlepping his zip up to the kitchen island and moving to the lighthouse's common room couch for lazy time that could easily morph into nap time, Kepa watched as he confusedly and longingly peered to the huge, cozy sectional. She blurt a giggle and gestured her hand a little harder, "C'mon! It's way too late in the evening for naps anyways, I need you front and center, good sir."
"I don't wanna talk about it," Gideon murmured sweetly as he tried to hide a bashful, proud little smile.
He slumped his big shoulders, amidst the tight white tank he wore, and rounded the island so to stand in Kepa's gravity. Dressed down and prepared to ride out the eventful, exhausting day chased with a night of winding down and securing rest, both kids donned sweats and tanks, though Kepa began to feel even more frustrated at the raw idea that Gideon could be wearing a clown costume and he'd still look like the sexiest thing she had ever laid eyes on. She knew last night's dream was what was now making her inch closer to the edge of the deep end, she knew somehow he was aware he was a taunt, a delicious feast for the eyes all encapsulated with a reformed villain demeanor, she almost felt the need to just plainly be mean and cold to him as if that would somehow trick her brain into believing that maybe she didn't want him as bad as she thought. Everything leading up to her splendid dream the night prior, the lovely good-morning text, the swathe of gentlemanly prowess Gideon had absolutely mastered and gifted her all day long, the adorable sight of him tenderly catering to a small child, only now to be dolloped in cozy alone time with minimal clothing and nowhere to be, she sucked in a huge breath and firmly looked down to the island as she began to scurry to gather some of her metaphysical tools and knick-knacks. It was something Gideon was definitely cued to, but was rather enjoying playing dumb and seeing just where it all lead.
"You manifested while your abilities were muted... I know Oliver continued to touch on it, but I'm not about to let it go that easy," Kepa tightly muttered as she lit an incense stick, tucked it into the adorable, well-loved holder and gestured to a small pile of Gideon's belongings, just across the island and securely tucked near his zip-up, "Do you have any blunts left?"
"I have one left," Gideon mumbled gently, he cocked an eyebrow and moved away from Kepa so to source his items, "Wanna share?"
"Please," Kepa mumbled as she rubbed her forehead and lulled her eyes closed.
"...Couldn't have caused you THAT much grief, did it? It was only yellow paint, I don't even know how I did it," Gideon murmured shyly as he rummaged through the small pile and picked the thick, tightly rolled blunt. He returned to his positioning with Kepa, lit the blunt, took a thick inhale and held it as his bigger fingers tenderly passed the blunt to Kepa's needy hands. As he continued on, thick smoke billowed out of his body with the flutter of his golden eyes, "I'm wondering if it's because I was panicking..."
"Yeah, you weren't thinking too hard on it, it just happened," Kepa whispered as she tucked the blunt to her lips, though held it there as she continued to rummage through her own items. She mumbled as she kept it secure with her mouth, "Makes me wonder..."
"I've turned into the palace science experiment," Gideon stated in a downswing of only playful irritation, Kepa finally inhaled a thick breath of the blunt and hovered in it as Gideon carried on, "Theo was testing out my muting abilities while we were waiting on our food, earlier. Koko's also become really fascinated with the way my tattoos have seemingly taken on avenues of swirly circuitry, whenever I use my glitching abilities, though I think Lash's tattoos do the same thing..."
"Y'think my stripes would do the same thing?" Kepa plainly wondered as she exhaled a thick billow of smoke, though through the veil, she noticed Gideon cock an eyebrow and shoot her a curious little smirk. She immediately kicked herself, inwardly, and set the blunt on one her nearby incense tray, so the two could come back to it whenever they wanted. She tightly shook her head and diverted, she could practically feel Gideon want to touch on her innocent findings, a winding road that would lead to some not-so-innocent things, "I-It doesn't matter, why don't you hold out your left hand and-"
"Where were y'going with that?" Gideon's deep voice lilted in sweet, charming tease, he stood still and was thrilled to catch eyes with her, "Y'mean if we shared codes?"
"Yeah, how else?" Kepa mumbled plainly, she was desperate to keep Gideon at bay, somehow the stairwell to her bedroom began to glow in hot white, as if to beg the two to just go upstairs and figure it out once and for all, not holds barred; she subtly glowered down her stairwell and was adamant about not letting her strongholds crumple, she began to feel dizzy with how desperately she wanted Gideon to truly fight for it all.
"Exterior swap, a more innocent route," Gideon kindly pressed as he reached his bigger hand for her lower arm, all tenderly aglow with his royal purple coding, though Kepa skillfully tucked her hand away from his advance and was willing to now fight to the death, to die on the hill of having the most restraint, she shook her head and was well aware she was fooling no one.
"No! This is about you, hold out your left hand," Kepa squealed in frustrated adamancy all dolloped with a cute, annoyed little giggle and a little stomp of her foot.
"I don't know what you think is gunna happen," Gideon muttered through a sly smile he tried to keep under control as he looked down to his left hand and opened it in a draw of patient readiness, "I'm not currently panicking."
"I think the idea is that you don't need to technically panic to bring about your manifestation skills, I think you just need to not focus on it so tightly," Kepa instructed, she was grateful Gideon dropped her little stripes remark and moved on, "...Last resort, I can give you something to panic about, if you'd like."
"User, please no," Gideon pleaded tenderly, the dip of his voice was lovely and warm, Kepa flattened her ears and was now becoming angry that she was waltzing herself right into these little one-liner quips Gideon was dolling her way, left and right. He stood patiently with his left hand opened, he exhaled a huge breath, causing his broad chest to sag, "I've been through enough hell."
"Alright, let's try and manifest as if you truly do have your powers," Kepa instructed with a fresh breath, she smiled up into Gideon's eyes and bobbed a small nod, "You manifested paint because, sure, you were panicking, but... At the core of you, you knew that was your roots, artwork is the official language you speak. You had a tiny, innocent audience, you likely were fueled by wanting to delight, wanting to express your true self to the world. And you succeeded."
Gideon patiently listened to her, his eyes watched her struggle and struggle. He almost wanted to laugh at just how sweet and flustered she looked, even with the forced look of nonchalance she desperately tried to pull off as natural. All at once, the day came flooding back to him, every instance where he'd catch her looking away from him just as his eyes casted in her direction, the sheer look of inner frustration she'd don after he said something polite, she looked pensive and pent up. He subtly ogled her lithe, beautiful figure, he patiently awaited instruction, he was grateful for the few hits he had now taken due to blinders coming off, an easier access of relaxation and creativity that he was well aware was beneficial, though began to feel it all collide in on him with just what being this raw and exposed really meant. He thought back to the conversation she had presented to him at lunch, the way she brought up their shared lucid space as if Kepa's side had more paragraphs to the story, like questions were left unanswered. He narrowed his gaze and dared to be brave, he knew prodding to a topic that touched on their intimately shared spaces, whether that be his bed or lucid play, was likely dodgy due to just how much of a runaway train her feelings were.
"... Kepa, did something separate happen to you in our lucid state last night? Something I'm unaware of?" Gideon so tenderly asked, proof he wasn't here to taunt her with this question. He knew, either way, she'd likely feel the pull of tantalizing topics they danced around, though did whatever he could to come across as still water, "You've been so on edge and flustered all day long... I just hope you're okay, you can tell me if something is bothering you."
"N-No, nothing is bothering me, I think we must've disconnected from our lucid play, last night, and I went off into my own little dream realm," Kepa rolled her eyes and flagged her hands, "Certain things happened, but I wasn't sure if that was genuine lucid play or if I was just having a dream all on my own. Based on your answer from earlier though, it's plain as day that I was dreaming."
"So, what happened, then?" Gideon cautiously prod as he cocked an eyebrow and looked down into her eyes with the glint of his loving stare, so equally full of fresh tease.
"I'll tell you if you manifest me a cold brew from Sugar Bucks," Kepa mumbled nonchalantly, hoping Gideon would ride on the notion of no-thinking and just make it happen, though much to her delight and dismay, it worked; a partial success, both beings suddenly gasped in a stunned jump away from Gideon's hand as he successfully manifested everything but the plastic clear cup that the cold coffee would go into. In the movement, Gideon yanked his hand away, thus causing the huge amount of ice-cold coffee to splash all over his broad chest, his white tank top. Kepa covered her mouth in a bounce away, ice cubes clacked to the tiles, they both stood still as Gideon's left arm and now torso dripped with delicious iced coffee. Kepa finally beamed a wide grin and erupted into refreshed giggling, "You did it! I-I mean... Sans drinking apparatus."
"Holy shit, I did it," Gideon hissed in bewildered stun, though as Kepa dropped her arms and took in the near-three seconds of assessment to Gideon's person, her ears loosened from the tight pin she was keeping them in as the world hummed to a slow boil of a halt, just for her.
Gideon's white tank top, now sheer, gripped to his skin in a wet slop of mapping every inch of his light-sculpted torso, the topography of his whole, broad, muscular front was now on full display in a glistening, drenched show that practically twinkled underneath the kitchen lights. It was as if the universe was now on board Gideon's schemes of full-taunt, something that had Kepa's ears returning into the tight, frustrated pin to her skull, the stiffening of her spine to stop the tufts of fur all along her back from standing on end, she clenched her fists, jaw and core and began to feel genuine frustration course her. What was a light hearted little kiss of irritability for the whole notion of her being the flag girl, for her making clear to Gideon that she was definitely ready to move to the next level, even though she didn't technically want that responsibility, was now turning into a massive battle within herself, one of which Gideon was just simply a bench warmer for. A patient, adorable little spectator from the sidelines, as if he was now due to cheering her on whether she erupted into flames or got her act together and just was honest with when and how they moved forward. Kepa could sense just a tiny speckle of guilt from Gideon, in this mess, she could tell he was quite enjoying this attention, though now it was all coming at the cost of her already fragile sanity. Desperate to stay on course, she gestured her hands and shakily brushed her bangs from her forehead, though just in time to catch Gideon jostle his dripping-wet hand about and brush back his messy, delightfully-tossed auburn hair with his dry hand.
"Y'didn't think on it," Kepa mused excitedly, she again stuffed her frustrations, a volcano that was now angrily warning her that it was no longer dormant, and hadn't been dormant for at least a week now. Kepa sighed, reached for the blunt, took another big hit in the desperation to calm down and bounced on her feet a little, "Okay, now comes the tricky part... Try again, but this time, you're gunna have to at least think on adding the cup and making it all cohesive."
"Alright, maybe... Stand back, I don't know what else is gunna come shooting out of me," Gideon muttered in annoyance at himself as he took a step away from Kepa, though as Kepa moved to turn around so to distance herself, she caught one last glimpse of his wet, sculpted front.
The shift of his hips as he stepped, the gentle jostle of his much bigger left hand and arm, she briefly turned around fully, largely rolled her eyes out to the room, held her breath and turned back to face Gideon as he skillfully prepared to keep this train flying. He sucked in a steady breath through his nose and reminded himself all of the teachings Kepa had gifted him over the course of their friendship and relationship, and with a few moments of silence that went by, he grunted a silent little noise and was successful in manifesting Kepa a frosty, delicious cold brew, a usual that she loved, a routine they had easily fallen into. He brightened, choked a small laugh of excitement and jostled it about as him and Kepa erupted into happy notions of shock. He felt his coding begin to wiggle in curious delight, he wondered just what this meant for his muted abilities. Strengthening a skill he already had, while it was muted and dumbed down, felt like a massive service he was doing to himself. He grinned in excitement and patiently stood the handful of feet away from Kepa.
"As exciting as this is, it depletes me almost immediately," Gideon scoffed in a downswing of still-smiling sweetness, "Usually, I can dole out manifestations left and right, it usually would take manifesting at least two dozen items in order for my coding to feel the buzz of exhaustion, but damn... Just these two times and I'm already spent."
"There's gotta be a regeneration timer, somehow," Kepa innocently mused, though Gideon cocked an eyebrow and wondered if she was aware of the innuendo. Kepa furrowed her brow, peered up into Gideon's once-again teasing, golden stare of a full smirk and felt her heart surge in girly terror, "L-Like... How long do you have to wait between manifestations, after you've reached your limit?"
Gideon raised both eyebrows and now wondered if she was simply feeding Gideon material just so she had a reason to be upset with him. After a moment of staring into each others eyes, Gideon finally huffed a playful little chuckle of incredulous shock and shrugged his big shoulders. Kepa sucked in a huge breath, looked off, crossed her arms, rubbed her temple with one hand and firmly nodded in a pursed-lipped show of now full, obvious irritation. Gideon finally grinned in full knowing as louder, happier laughter shook from his big rib cage, he almost couldn't handle just how cute she was. He wondered if he could somehow break the ice a little more without the promise of an avalanche for tonight, now due to how tired he had become.
"Oh, when I'm feeling my best, I could surely go all night," Gideon gently pressed, not trying to be discreet any longer, though Kepa stiffened and shook her head.
"I-I'm not talking about that!" Kepa shouted through a trail of shy giggling as Gideon beamed a happy, refreshed smile and pressed into her bubble, the cold brew was extended as if it were a white flag. She politely retrieved it from his grip and shyly looked up at him through still-standing strongholds she was shocked weren't flattened, just yet, "Thank you... Looks like we got some homework to bring to Lash. Don't you go manifesting yourself stuff you shouldn't, babe..."
"No, no, I'm... I'm not in that headspace, there are bigger and better things I want," Gideon innocently pressed, a shush of his lovely deep voice, he eyed Kepa in tender curiosity and, although he understood his limit and was en-route to respecting any of her final decisions about revealing what happened in her dream last night, he pushed the envelope by gingerly tapping his bigger pointer finger into the lid of her tasty drink and meeting her eyes with a swathe of warm respect all daintily sprinkled with a well-afforded smolder of promise, "We had a deal."
"...What?" Kepa huffed, she desperately played dumb, she knew it was all falling on deaf ears, she was aware Gideon knew she was way smarter than that.
"You said that you'd tell me about your dream if I manifested you a cold brew," Gideon patiently carried on, he tapped the lid once more and narrowed his smoldering gaze into her eyes, "Spill."
"N-No, I've decided it'll be just for me," Kepa mused, now that she had felt her strongholds collapsing, she knew she now had to fight dirty to stun her enemy.
"Just for you?" Gideon wondered in genuine confusion, Kepa felt success course her veins.
"Yeah, I've decided it's private, whatever happened is between me and dream-you," Kepa snipped sweetly with a shrug, she tucked the straw to her pink lips and took an innocent sip, though Gideon knew it was all anything but.
"... Yes ma'am," Gideon caved with a small nod and a polite smile, he sighed and took a step away from Kepa so to source his belongings, "Welp... I think I'm gunna head home and shower, I gotta get up early tomorrow anyways."
"Counseling?" Kepa cued, though she now grit her teeth behind a small smile and felt terrified that her little sultry trick didn't even work, Gideon kept right on dodging any offensive swipes she took, she wondered if she had spent way too long on the defense that now she had no clue how to navigate this big and scary debacle she had been blindly navigating.
"Yeah, your mother has asked for help with her garden," Gideon warmly stated, though Kepa felt her face burn up the second Gideon grunted in the lift of his wet shirt and peeled it off of his body. Now wet and shirtless, he rung out his tank top in the sink, balled it and began to reach for his zip-up hoodie to wear on his walk home, "I guess your father is good for tilling the soil, with his claws, but your mother has hit patches of dirt and rock that need to be broken down, and... Well, I just so happen to have wrecking abilities."
"Who knew wrecking could be good for flowers," Kepa mused, she sighed and sagged her shoulders, she knew she didn't have any more seductively charming sound bytes up her sleeve, she knew she had potentially lost this battle due to her own struggling and flailing, while Gideon continued to watch her crash and burn on the sidelines. She threw in the towel, what was her genuinely mustering the courage to invite him upstairs, once and for all, was now thwarted and only barely promised for revival tomorrow. She knew caving in and just expressing to him what she wanted was what she agreed to, it was even her own idea, though now that Gideon was politely putting his belongings into his pockets and zipping up his coat, he gave her a sweet little smile and gestured towards the door. She sighed and continued on as the two moseyed on, "Y'gunna be up early doing all that, then?"
"Yeah, before it gets too late in the morning and the heat sets in," Gideon mumbled, "We warned the flyers, your parents and I have scheduled the noisiest aspects of it for first thing in the morning, while the flyers are still awake. They tend to go to bed an hour or so after sunrise, so... This whole manifestation thing came at a good time, that absolutely tired me out."
"Happy to be of service, my guy," Kepa muttered, she inhaled a huge breath and nodded, "Sleep well, then, I guess I'll just text you when I'm awake. We have any plans tomorrow?"
"I was thinking we could get a group of us together to clean up my art wall," Gideon suggested softly, he shrugged and looked down to his feet as he swung the front door open and took a slow step or two outside, into the sand, "I think... I'd like to keep my old art, but I'd also love to start fresh, maybe get some of you guys to put your own art up. It could be a fun collective thing, y'know? A place where we can tag the wall and have some fun, leave some good memories up, yeah?"
"That sounds great," Kepa stated in an upswing of genuine excitement as Gideon smiled into her eyes, leaned down and collected her in a ravel of his big arms, a cue for a spill of innocent kisses given and received. Kepa sighed on his lips, the two puckered in innocent smooches, and though Kepa felt the knee-jerk reaction to grapple Gideon's hoodie and yank him back into the lighthouse for a full-reveal of just what was on her heart, she sighed and let him go as the two began to unwind from their loving embrace. Gideon began to step away, though kept his eyes lovingly to hers as the patio light finally lost Gideon from its clutches. Kepa waved a little and crossed her arms amidst the chilly, nighttime ocean breeze that whisked about the two, "I love you, sleep well."
"I love you too," Gideon called warmly, he shot her a small little look of glinted gold, the last twinkle of light the patio afforded Gideon's vanishing figure, his voice hit her ears like honey for the soul, "Go easy on dream-me, if you find yourself in another one of your secretive little scenarios."
"Stop it," Kepa stabbed with an annoyed giggle as the two waved and finally parted, though as Kepa slowly pulled back into the lighthouse, she shut the door, sagged her back against it and peered hard into the common room's dim, warm aura. She flattened her ears and felt her heart begin to race and race, a whole mixture of a million different emotions rushed her circuits, and as she muttered a final conclusion to no one but the inanimate pixels before her, she squeezed her eyes shut and stiffened through her findings, "Not in a million years, my guy, going easy on you is the last thing I'd do."
