Reviews :
Snake557 : Wonderful question! You're definitely not wrong in thinking that, however, Lickity has been technically a 'captive' dragon her whole life. From when she was a pup, she was in Orph's 'care', and when Zed set her free, she eventually bumped into Tessa and was then indoctrinated into cushiony castle life. So, although Lickity definitely has animal INSTINCTS, Boss has an entire lifetime of wilderness living experience, of proper hunting and fishing and falling in and out of the seasons and what that looks like. So while Lickity has the upper hand, due to more life experience and listening to her instincts and having a pup and finding a mate, Royal has been rather sheltered, in that aspect, and is now at Boss's will, when it comes to learning proper wilderness-lifestyle lessons. Thank you friend! :)
chuckiboo : Ahh YES I loved that! Definitely a good call back. The kids get into similar trouble, in a few chapters here. Definitely a good throw back!
Jay Sketchin : YAYAYAY I love Boss's and Royal's relationship. It's so tense and funny. And yes, Turbo is terrible with children, in the fact that he's never really been around them and doesn't know how to handle them really. Then again, once all three kids are grown, he STILL low-key doesn't know how to handle them, at first. This whole story is one big chunk of desperately trying to push Turbo out of every single last one of his comfort zones LMAO
Burgie : Thank you so much! :D
Song Listened To :
comethru by Jeremy Zucker
*Chapter 21*
In a mess of agitated pacing, Royal's clumsy paws scuffed the glossy tiles of Tessa's incredible code room. With wings and tail taut in a show of whole nervousness, Royal practically paced himself into the ground. With ears perked tight on his head, he listened for any sounds from his mate, a detrimental moment in their lives, and although he wanted to rush Balba and stay tightly informed, he was politely asked for breathing room, from Tessa, who diligently coached Balba, kept tight with hers and her baby's coding; Chesters birthday had finally come, a day before his due date, and everyone on the lot was floored. Tight in communication with Tessa was Zed, who hung back and gave both ladies room, though he had a whole splay of code boxes and holographic menus out before him, he made sure to stay strictly on top of every single function of the code room, due to this birth.
Underneath Sugar Rush's glorious, nighttime, late February stars, the code room sung with love, a preparation for another baby coded to the game. Zed and Tessa knew they'd have to turn around do this all again sometime shortly, because of Ace's and Libby's twins to be due, though there was nowhere else they'd rather be. Amidst the gentle, nervous pacing of Royal's clumsy paws, Tessa sat with Balba in a comfortable shroud of pillowy downs, as if the center of the code room was a tight, though doughy trampoline, it bowed with the weight of Tessa and Balba, strictly so Balba didn't have to lay on the cold, hard tiles of the code room. Whilst on her side, Tessa hung tight to her head and lovingly pet her snout as Balba went through coded contractions, surges of Chester being properly downloaded to the code room. Though Tessa had it all under control, she huffed a gentle chuckle and volleyed her gaze over her shoulder, to where Royal's pacing had finally given both girls a run for their money.
"Alright, Roy, I know I told you to give us a little breathing room, but now your pacing is stressing me out," Tessa blurt a small giggle, to which Zed joined; Balba smiled as best as she could and slumped her head into Tessa's lap through a shaky sigh of panting preparation, "C'mere, Roy-boy, come take it easy, Balba is doing just fine."
"I'm so nervous," Royal sagged, he finally trot over to the two, though sagged the second he found the springy, doughy flooring in which Tessa had diligently coded. Everyone sagged further into the comfortable, billowy downs and cushions, as if they were simply on cloud nine, there was no where else they'd all rather be, "I-I guess I just don't know what to expect, here."
"Well, what're we looking at, Zeddy?" Tessa chimed in gentle girliness, a shrug of cuteness to hopefully put Royal at ease; Zed bobbed a nod, sprawled the tiers of coding he had up, of Balba and Chester, and inhaled a deep breath to prepare to coat Royal with affirmation.
"She's about ready... You're looking at a healthy pair of paws, Royal. The only thing that's up in the air is what Chester will look like," Zed huffed a small chuckle, he kept a kind distance from Balba and Tessa, though his hand was firm over the coding of it all, "I mean, Chester's a hybrid of three very different beings, so it'll definitely be interesting."
"You doing okay?" Royal nervously huffed to Balba, though he had an elated, dewy smile of nervous bliss on his face, and once they gently nuzzled noses, Tessa beamed the widest, closed-mouth grin she could.
"I-I'm alright," Balba uttered through a smile as she sagged her wings to her side, a little, though she wrinkled her nose and grit her teeth in a grimace, "Ow, ow, th-this one... Hurts!"
"One hundred percent, it's time," Zed instructed with a gentle nod in Tessa's direction, in which she prepared for the throw around.
Royal tried not to be too cumbersome, though sat on his hindquarters, near both girls, and gently nuzzled his snout into the back of Balba's neck as he diligently sat alongside her spine. Like previously, the code room's wires gently came down from the heavens, like silver snakes, they sought out Balba's loading bar. Tessa grimaced a nervous face, outside of Balba's line of sight, and the second said silver wires inched closer to Balba's lower stomach, Tessa prepared for Balba's pain to come. The second the live wires eagerly latched onto Balba's skin, she inhaled a sharp gasp, stiffened and began to loudly gripe about the pain in the form of grunts and groans. Every single feather on her neck, back and wings stuck on end in a show of entire pain and agitation, and in the drawn out minutes that this process took, the nervous group surrounding her felt as if it might as well be centuries. The silver code wires did everything it could to extract Chester's coding from Balba's care, so to properly be brought to the game, though just as Balba was nearly about to call out in entire defeat and flop to the ground in writhing pain, the code wires finally ceased activity.
In a final, gentle pop, the wires released Balba's skin, and as Tessa's larger, diligently hands lovingly stroked her snout, the wires gently lifted and made their way to Balba's head, as well as Tessa's presence. Balba panted in pain and exhaustion, though she perked her ears in readiness, propped herself up a little and eagerly watched the wires begin to work their magic. In a 3D-printer fashion, the code room's glorious, silver wires did everything they could to create Chester's little main frame. A hefty boy, about three feet long, the wires took their time stringing together every single feather, every spike, every scale and every little toe bean, everything was absolutely perfect about him. All four beings held their breath and watched the skeleton, muscles, and mainframe of Chester's little being, and just before they could grow entirely impatient with the process, the silver wires suddenly sparked life into the little being that hovered over Balba's readied paws and arms. With a ginger plop, Chester's gorgeous little fluffy, squirmy body was finally placed into Balba's motherly arms.
"Ohhh wow, he's SO beautiful!" Tessa cooed in entire excitement, and with the elated coos of the entire group, Chester's little figure let out whispers of whimpers, as if he so badly wanted to prove that he had a voice somewhere, deep inside, though the lack of said cries easily was forgotten as Royal and Balba beamed ear to ear at their incredible little newborn.
Chester, although born to a green lykata and a cream chameleon dragon, sport an incredible, vivid, hot orange coat and a creamy white underbelly. With a few stubby spines on his jaws and the top of his head, said features, as well as his little, scaly dragon wings, emulated Royal's genes. Although he was very much Royal's son, he had the lithe, beautiful figure, head and tail of a proper lykata. His spine was riddled in hot blue speckles, and it was in further inspection did Tessa shake her head with a hard, loving realization; Chester's pelt mocked Orion's markings and colorings nearly down to the scale. Tessa covered her mouth and lovingly put her hand on Chester's small, back, on his velvety soft fur.
"He has Orion's exact colors," Tessa gasped, as if she nearly forgot what Orion looked like, though with the way Royal's eyes further lit up with remembrance, Tessa gently sagged her hand to Royal's snout and huffed a teary chuckle, "H-he got all of Orion's colors, Roy... Orion would be... So beside himself."
"I-I wish he was here," Royal now peered his teary, golden orbs into Tessa's, and as Tessa easily matched his fervor, everyone easily relaxed in the presence of Orion's grand baby, "I really miss him."
"He is here, he's here with us," Tessa encouraged with a small nod, Balba eagerly nuzzled Chester's face and chest, she lapped him in a good amount of dog kisses, "Orion would be so proud."
"I surely hope so," Royal bobbed a nod and peered down to his beautiful, adorable newborn.
"It's insane, those are Orion's EXACT markings," Zed stated in gentle, loving nostalgia as he very carefully approached Balba and her newborn, though she kindly allowed Zed to approach, "He's incredibly adorable, you guys... You're in for a wild ride, that's for sure."
"It'll be fun having a puppy around," Tessa encouraged as Zed softly knelt next to Tessa, in front of Balba and Chester.
"May I get a proper reading on his exterior coding?" Zed tenderly asked Balba as he allowed his own silver coding to swarm his palm.
"Of course," Balba sighed as Chester softly got comfortable in the nooks of Balba's folded front legs. Zed gingerly reached his hand out, for Chester's lower back, and allowed his silver coding to soak into the velvety orange and blue fur along his spine, "Th-that was... Wow, I was about to yank those leads off of me, that sucked."
"Yeah, I... I wasn't conscious for Ace's birth," Tessa grit her teeth and gave Balba a knowing look, "Buuuut I most CERTAINLY was through Berri's birth. Wow."
"It's that bad?" Royal frowned, to which Balba and Tessa, both now experienced mothers, bugged their eyes.
"YES," They both confidently urged; Zed huffed a knowing chuckle as Royal bashfully sank into himself.
"He's very healthy, everything reads normality," Zed instructed, though he nervously eyed Balba and shrugged, "Everything except his eye sight and his voice box... It seems as if his voice box has a little bit more 'energy' than his eye sight. He very well may be able to make noise, as he grows up, and trains his vocal chords. The only way he'll be able to speak is if we can somehow code him a proper voice box."
"And, his eye sight?" Royal pressed, hoping that maybe that would strengthen over time.
"He's entirely blind," Zed frowned, as carefully as he could, he tilted Chester's fuzzy chin up and got a good look into his opened eyes; although they were a gorgeous, pale turquoise, they were still entirely fogged and glossed in an aimless gaze, "That coding is not something that even reads... Though, the good news is, it's easier to code eye sight coding than it is to code a voice box."
"How come?" Balba gently wondered, Zed shrugged and gave all three adults a bashful smile.
"Because... We'd simply have to re-use someone's voice box, we'd need something to go off of," Zed huffed a small chuckle, "We could easily give Chester my voice, or Royal's voice, but then... It wouldn't be his own. Y'know?"
"Makes sense," Royal sagged in defeat, "Well... Who knows what the future holds, I guess... I'm just glad he made it," Royal smiled in tender easiness, he flattened his ears and gently nuzzled his larger snout into Chester's sniffling, wet lykata nose.
"He's perfect," Balba whispered in gentle glee, and as her and Royal began to sink into a tender, romantic and loving moment with their newborn, Tessa and Zed took their cue to quietly excuse themselves and allow the three a moment together, as a brand new family unit, a confident glow they gave off underneath Sugar Rush's beautiful, welcoming, early spring time stars.
"Ace, when will I get to meet Beaux and Mara?" Berri wondered in girly impatience, she heaved a drawn out sigh and slumped over the top of Ace's head.
"Soon enough, Bear," Ace chuckled with a broadening smile; he had Berri safely sat on his broad shoulders, the two strolled through Sugar Rush's main courtyard, every single tree and flower absolutely sung amidst Sugar Rush's glorious, springtime sunshine, a haven for birds and bees and amazing smells alike.
"HOW soon?" Berri prod, she wrapped her little arms and larger hands about the crown of Ace's head, he grunted with yet another laugh as Berri squeezed and gently kicked her legs, "I want it to be NOW!"
"Don't we all, Bear, I'm just as impatient as you," Ace looked up to Sugar Rush's wild blue in a wistful show of giddy, new-father anxiousness, though he shook his head, "Libby's due date is in two days, so... Let's hope it's soon, cause I'm sure everyone is itching for them to finally be here."
"You're my big brother," Berri started gently, she nuzzled her sweet little cheeks into the top of Ace's muted, dark blue hair. Berri wrinkled her nose, her vivid blue eyes peered up to Sugar Rush's equally as vivid sky with gentle question, "Are Beaux and Mara going to be my brother and sister too?"
"No, silly, they'll be your niece and nephew," Ace blurt a laugh, Berri bashfully beamed a smile into the top of Ace's head, as if she was caught wrapped up in a silly question, even though Ace was thrilled to treat it as a teachable moment, "You and I are brother and sister. Beaux and Mara are my children, so they will call youuuu. Aunt Berri."
"ANTS?!" Berri choked a laugh, to which Ace rolled his eyes an absolutely could not help but get lost in Berri's adorable, hyper antics, "I don't like ants!"
"For User's sakes, Bear, I mean like... Great Aunt Taffyta? Aunt Penny?" Ace rushed through Berri's giggling, Ace couldn't possibly stop smiling.
"Ohhhh," Berri drew out in a sigh of cute girliness, she hugged Ace's head a little tighter, "I thought I'd turn into an ant."
"That'd be cool," Ace joked, to which Berri squealed a noise of protest; Ace continued to loudly laugh and tease his little sister.
"No fair," Berri cried with a giggle, though she sat up in tender realization and gaped a wide, toothy smile as to just who was seen, across the courtyard, making his way over to the main center piece of the area, the cross-striped tree, "PAPA RALPH!"
"Grandpa?" Ace wondered in a jolt of confusion as his eyes hooked to Ralph's figure, though he sagged in realization and smiled, "Oh, I forgot today's Sunday. Arcade's closed."
"Grandpa, grandpa, grandpa!" Berri hollered as she nearly tore the scalp right off of Ace; he grit his teeth in a show of teasing agony and wrinkled his nose.
"BERRI, I would like my hair to stay on my head!" Ace loudly teased, the two siblings laughed with each other as Ace gently peeled Berri from the tops of his shoulders and set her larger bare feet to the ground; he flinched the second she took off in a jolt of silver coding, the glitch-hop she was nearly a master at.
"Whoa, kid," Ralph barked as Berri suddenly zipped in a bee-line for Ralph, and upon re-entry, she stumbled into Ralph, a glitching mess, something that also wigged out Ralph's purple coding. Ralph easily laughed, scooped Berri into his large hands and arms and firmly smooched her smiling, giggling, sunkissed cheeks, "Y'really got that whole glitch-hop thing under control, already, huh? Y'got mom teaching you day and night or something?"
"She showed me twice!" Berri held up two fingers, she was excited to reveal to her grandfather her progress.
"Well, you're already a master," Ralph grumbled with glee, he lovingly lofted Berri up to his one broad shoulder and was grateful she got comfortable, much like Vanellope used to, all that time ago, when she was still a little gamer, "Better tell Tess to watch out... Got another Queen glitcher to worry about."
"Princess!" Berri corrected, Ralph choked a laugh and looked off.
"Right, right," Ralph sighed, he continued to saunter across the courtyard and was thrilled once him and Ace were within earshot of each other.
"I hardly even saw where she went, she was so quick," Ace choked a laugh as both men approached each other, "I don't even think I can glitch hop, that fast."
"It's much easier for the ladies," Ralph grumbled as he nudged his larger finger into Berri's bare heel, which dangled just above Ralph's upper chest; she loudly blurt a giggle and swat Ralph's hand away, "Lithe, sneaky little things."
"Got that right," Ace bugged his eyes and shook his head, as if to insinuate that Libby was potentially lumped in that group, as well.
"Y'doing okay? What have you two been up to?" Ralph wondered with a smile as both men began to saunter to a canopy-covered sitting area, just near the massive trunk of Ralph's and Vanellope's gorgeous cross-striped tree.
"Oh, I picked Berri up a few hours ago for some babysitting," Ace eased as he peered his eyes up to his little sister, "I guess mom and dad have requested a lazy Sunday afternoon alone, and I'm happy to oblige."
"Ohh lala, you know what that means," Ralph teased to Berri as he shrugged the shoulder his granddaughter was sitting on, though Berri raised her eyebrows in bashful knowing and peered to the side of Ralph's head.
"No, yuck!" Berri spat in annoyance; both Ace and Ralph eased knowing laughter as Ace shrugged.
"They've done a lot for me, I figured I'd give back," Ace shrugged, he eyed Berri with a brotherly smile, "I GUESS I can deal with Sugar Rush's only booger."
"BOOGER?!" Berri cried in girly annoyance as all three beings began to laugh, "No fair. You're smelly!"
"She's not wrong," Ralph teased, Ace rolled his eyes and playfully threw his hands up, as if to show defeat.
"Oh, whatever," Ace grumbled, though the three finally began to ease closer to the large, comfortable bench they were slowly coming upon, and with a final sit, they relaxed in the springtime sunshine.
"So, what's new? You living it up before the twins are born?" Ralph finished his question with a chuckle the second Berri began trying to escape the height of Ralph's shoulder. In routine, Ralph held his massive finger up for her, and with all her might, she hugged her arms about Ralph's finger as he gently swung her down to the ground, onto her feet. Once she released, she gently skipped off to chase a few nearby birds, "You look exhausted, man... Try and get some good sleep before the twins come, because, well... You don't need to hear it on repeat, but you know what I'm going to say."
"I'm just... So nervous," Ace sighed in defeat as he and Ralph watched Berri's inocent self begin to loudly chat and play by herself, she let her cute imagination run wild, "Libby wants to take the twins to Dead Zed, right after their born, so to give them their Teltokuan newborn tattoo."
"...Newborns get their own tattoo?" Ralph wondered in gentle surprise, to which Ace nodded.
"They get their parent's thumbprints on the bottom of their heel... Once they're grown up, women get a tattoo on their left arm due to marriage and men get their tattoos after they have children," Ace listed, though he beamed the ground a bashful smile and shrugged, "I-I'm sure she's probably going to give me my tattoo, as well as our children, in one fell swoop, but... I-I just am so nervous to take the kids outside of Sugar Rush."
"I don't blame you," Ralph shrugged, he looked off to Sugar Rush's gorgeous, pink cotton candy clouds and shook his head a little, "I understand it's nerve-racking, there are so many unknowns when it comes to taking your own baby outside of their home game, but... If you go in a large group, that should give you more security. Libby seems persistent with this, yeah?"
"Yeah, I mean... I'm not going to say no, because this is her heritage, these are her roots," Ace shook his head and peered up to his grandfather in nervous neediness, "I can't simply deny her that... But it doesn't mean I'm not worried sick over it."
"Well... The only thing that will really help you get acclimated to it is to simply just DO it," Ralph shrugged his larger shoulders and gave Ace a kind, apologetic smile, "I hate giving that advice, cause I'm sure it's not something you want to hear, but... It's the truth. Once you're out in the station, off the station's trains and crossing into Dead Zed, you'll understand that everything is a-okay."
"I know it'll be fine," Ace sagged, "I just wish I could let my brain shut up about it. I even asked Royal about it, the other day. Even HE seemed totally chill with bringing Chester to the EZ Living trip uncle Orph and Nox and them planned. It just blew my mind."
"Well... Everyone's different, and once your children are actually HERE, you may think differently," Ralph smiled, "I mean, if you maybe asked Royal that question a few days before Chester was born, he likely would be singing the same song you're singing."
"I guess you're right," Ace sagged in defeat, against himself, he shook his head and let his wistful smile chase after his adorable little sister, "Another thing that has me all anxious is, well... I-I've been trying to muster up the courage to ask Libby to marry me."
"... No kidding?" Ralph pressed with an elated smile, Ace bobbed a bashful nod and looked off, though Ralph blurt an excited laugh and nudged Ace's upper arm, "Good man. How are you going to do it?"
"Well... It's hard, because I wanted to make it more geared towards her culture, but... I have no clue how men propose in her tribe," Ace peered up to Ralph in gentle, boyish worry, "I-I can't very well go knocking on their door, I mean... You saw what happened LAST time we interacted with her people."
"The flyers ate very well," Ralph grimaced through in inhale in the grit of his teeth, though he sagged and gave Ace a curious smile, "Well... Is there any way you can treat her to YOUR own culture, for that one?"
"What do you mean?" Ace pressed in willingness.
"Well... I mean, sure, you've taken on her culture in this venture, but, she's also taken on YOURS," Ralph encouraged, "You're already catering to HER ways when it comes to giving the twins their Teltokuan mark, but... Maybe you should propose to her in the way YOU see fit. The Sugar Rush way."
"I-I... I never thought of that," Ace's voice was tender in renewal as he fingered his lip in concentration.
"And, truth be told, she was the Queen of Sweet Streets," Ralph looked up in coy delight, he shrugged and finally gave Ace a cute, knowing smile, "She has Sugar Rush in her roots, too... Methinks you should treat her to every single aspect of her new life, y'know?"
"That idea definitely takes a load off," Ace held his hand to his chest in gentle relief, "Not a bad idea... I just need to think up an idea for a ring."
Ralph furrowed his brow and peered to his adorable grandson. A strapping young man, built for anything, his innocent, hazel eyes were certain to hold that delicate innocence, no matter what he did in life. Ralph held his breath and contemplated, though the more he dragged his eyes upwards, the wider his knowing smile sprawled across his face. He cocked an eyebrow and allowed his eyes to soak into the beauty of his and Vanellope's beautiful cross-striped branch. The trunk of the tree was thick and healthy, any branch and spindle that came from it eager sprawled and grasped for life, delicate blooms that boasted themselves year-round, Ralph knew this tree was an entire metaphor for his and Vanellope's grand adventure. What started with Vanellope's wedding ring eventually carried on to Tessa's wedding ring, Penny's wedding ring, and now Libby's, including any other Sugar Rush women to garner a husband. Ralph finally gave his eyes back to his grandson and gently gestured upwards.
"Well... Why don't you take a good look at the history of the tree you're sitting underneath?" Ralph pressed, and with such, remembrance finally came back to Ace's incredible eyes as he soaked his gaze up to the beautiful canopy overhead, "You're Sugar Rush's Prince... Why don't you give Libby the ultimate experience by treating her to a cross-striped ring? The Queen, and previous Queen, themselves, have the same foundation. You understand it's importance..."
"I-I mean, I always thought it'd be great, but I wasn't sure it'd be my place," Ace pressed sorrowfully, though his eyes hopefully scanned the tree in kind excitement.
"...Your PLACE?" Ralph blurt a laugh and nudged Ace's shoulder, "You're my grandson, your Sugar Rush's Prince... It is entirely your place. And it's my say who gets a shred of the bark... And I say, it's all yours, son."
"...Really?" Ace kindly pressed in a show of loving disbelief, Ralph urgently nodded and held tight, connecting eye contact, "Wow... Thanks paw..."
"Anything," Ralph eased with a sigh as both men finally relaxed, "You guys are doing good at keeping mine and Vanellope's love alive and well. It's only fair that we give back in any way that we can."
"Then it's decided," Ace bobbed a nod and gave Ralph a kind, excited smile, "I get the cool tattoo and Libby gets the gorgeous, cross-striped ring."
"Win-win, dude," Ralph shrugged as both boys blurt out in gentle laughter.
A/N : Hey all! I just uploaded Sugar Rush's Palace Map to my deviantART! Hopefully that helps give better context to the story! :D Check it out on my deviantART, Username Vyntresser.
