Reviews :

Burgie : She's got a big heart, for sure!

CHICKENM4N : You're telling me. I just finished writing chapter 54. It's really weird looking back on these chapters, now.

Snake557 : Hey, thanks for understanding! It's not something I enjoy doing, I have nearly unending energy for this story... I say nearly. If i were to write out every single little minuet detail, I mean, I'd go nuts, and any energy I had for the actual plot of each story would just be sapped, and I'd likely stop/slow down writing. Not something I want to do! I try and listen to what people genuinely enjoy, and try hard to squeeze suggestions in where I can, but I have to write the story the way I intend. I'm too much of a people pleaser and I've already spent a huge majority of my life letting people steer my craft in their own direction. Thanks for you support, friend. It means a lot!


Song Listened To :

Born to be Yours by Kygo Imagine Dragons


*Chapter 43*

In routine, Berri eased off of Throttle's stoop alongside Beaux and Mara. This time, their little study group excluded Chester. Berri was thrilled that Chester was eating up the fun times to be had, with his pack, amidst the palace grounds, now thrusted with a hefty blanket of snow. Berri shivered, as she was certain both Beaux and Mara did as well. Although Sugar Rush's proud sunshine gleamed down on the palace lot, Berri wrinkled her nose and softly glanced up to it, as much as she could, a mild irritation that its heat could hardly be felt. In the tender drum of pleasantries, the crunch of their hefty snow boots that sagged into the snow, Beaux knew to keep conversation light, due to the two girls, that he was with, in a constant, simmering state of feuding. Although he wondered when the two would settle their differences, he knew it was likely only something time and maturity could eventually solve.

In the gentle part of both parties, Beaux and Mara began to make their way to the outer reaches of the western corridor, a long stretch of a smaller, outdoor arch of a corridor that almost cut the palace lot in half. It stretched from the palace's main heart of a kitchen to the direction of the recreational hall, the pool, and eventually Tessa's and Zed's abode. Berri's fogged breath issued her niece and nephew a small farewell, as well as a promise to the two that she would bring them back something tasty from Orion City. Once officially parted, she bit her lip in a drum of excitement, hurried her footsteps across the lot and pushed closer to her's, Tessa's and Zed's cozy tower, tucked into the safety of the flyer's enclosure. She knew her mother was long gone for a busy day at Academy, as was nearly everyone else, either attending Academy or game day, though her excited, sneaky smile knew there was one being that had ultimately set himself up for near-constant availability; Orion City's hidden gem.

As she teleported from the pad in her tower's small gathering room, to the teleportation pad inside her home's lovely, open corridor, Berri immediately booked it for her spiral staircase and bedroom. She felt her heart jolt in a sudden surge of remembrance; she held her breath and wondered if her father was home. As she urgently pushed into her room, ripped her hefty winter coat off, grappled for Turbo's hoodie and began to tidy the cerulean blue messy bun atop her head, she wondered just how many times she could sneak away to Turbo's little loft in the cloud without her own father becoming suspicious. She knew Zed and Turbo were on good terms, due to them being a team, in helping keep the game and the city afloat, though she had to wonder just what Zed thought about Berri crossing the line, from professional to casual. She furrowed her brow and knew she shouldn't waste time thinking about the what-ifs. She bit her lip in excitement, eased down her spiral staircase and knew she would just deal with the repercussions later, if said topic were to be a debate or not.

Now wearing loved, tan canvas shoes, Turbo's hoodie, her favorite pair of ripped, grey skinny jeans and a casual dark brown Dead Zed t-shirt that she loved, she had her phone gripped in her hand, her eyes scanned her's and Turbo's conversation for a further amount of clarity. She knew that Turbo had reassured her that she could use his personal teleportation pad, outside the front door of his loft, after her school session with Throttle, though she reread his message at least a million times, almost as if she didn't believe it. Having barged in on him a few nights ago, she hoped this all wasn't a dream, and that his words still held true. She finally reached Tessa's and Zed's front door of a teleportation pad, stood in the center of it and patiently waited for the holographic display to provide her with a list of way-points she could go to, from here. A lot similar to the palace's main teleportation hub, it sectioned in three different tiers of privacy each reachable pad was labelled as such. She eagerly lobbed her pointer finger into Turbo's, awaited to be whisked away and was thrilled upon the electrifying, coded delivery.

Relieved that Turbo hadn't changed the way-points of his pad, or even the impossible task of relocating his tower, she eased into his lovely foyer, silent and crisp. She beamed an excited smile, one of gratitude, though as she stepped off the teleportation pad, she furrowed her brow in a sudden roll of delighted surprise. As she eased her nervous footsteps off of Turbo's semi-private teleportation pad, she peered to her right, where Turbo's walled alcove of a secretive front door usually was, only to find that his front door was wide open. Berri cocked an eyebrow, tucked her phone into her back pocket, and dared to lean in a little and have a curious, secretive peak inside. She furrowed her brows in a roll of continued, girly apprehension, though she found entire warmth and solace in the fact that Turbo was stationed at his kitchen island, the television in his sprawl of a living room drummed a commercial, he was busy typing away on a dimly lit, red holographic display. Berri bit her lip in a wider, knowing smile, finally stepped inside with as much silence and grace as she could, though she stopped her footwork the second Turbo's creepy, golden gaze stabbed to hers.

"Y'know... You leaving your front door open is just asking for someone to rob you," Berri eased in a lilt of cute knowing, she shrugged and peered about Turbo's lovely, sunkissed bachelor pad, she carried on in a playful tone and purposefully annunciated her words to match, "Y'got a lot of nice tings in your tower."

"Good morning, princess," Turbo's deep voice lilted in soft politeness as he barely eased a knowing, almost annoyed smile. He was entirely delighted to see Berri begin to make herself comfortable in the act of taking her shoes off, near his front door, though he felt his heart practically stop the second she slumped her arms to her sides in whole dismay, stared off into space and let her bare feet stand firm on his cold, grey tiles. He dart his eyes about her in a spike of rememberance and shook his head in whole, flustered dismay, "Oh, COME ON. 'Princess' is even off the table?"

"BERRI, like the little fruit you can eat? They're BLUE?" Berri urgently gestured to her hair, and although Turbo looked off in whole, frustrated dismay, he very clearly was failing at not letting his face crack open wide a huge smile, "See, okay... Here... Let's try this again."

Berri's bare feet slapped out of his home and eased into the crisp, white foyer just outside of the gape of his massive front door. She hovered outside for a moment before she finally came strolling back in. With a cute wave, she halted half a dozen feet inside his home, shrugged a little and gave him a smile, as if to pretend this was the very first interaction with him, today.

"Hey, Turbo," Berri chimed in delight, she froze and awaited his response.

"Hello," Turbo staggered in now shy, barely smiling confusion. He finally huffed a stifled laugh and urgently peered to her once she dropped her hand, slumped her shoulders and gave him a dull, teasing look of dismay, "I seriously can't say 'hello' either?"

"You sound like it's painful, you're like a robot! Loosen up, C'mon. Let's try again," Berri grunted, and although she left Turbo's home, once more, she only hovered in the foyer for maybe a second before her bare feet came strolling back in. She perked up, again, as if this was their first interaction, once more, "Hey, Turbo!"

"Hey," Turbo stiffly breathed, he bobbed her a nod and this time, didn't look up from his holographic display; Berri slumped, again, in a new breed of irritation.

"Okay, at least pretend we're friends. Can you just ACT like you like me?" Berri waved her hand and softly left once more. Turbo snuck a sweet smile in her direction and secretly watched her leave, though once she was gone, he heaved a hard sigh and gave up on his work. He leaned the side of his hip against the counter and cocked an eyebrow as he anticipated her to welcome herself back into his home, once more. She strolled in, looking more and more defeated, though still, she smiled, "Hey, Turbo!"

"'Sa, dude," Turbo's deep voice eased in a nonchalant, lazy tone, he bobbed his head in a nod of a greeting and sagged one hand into his black jean's side pockets. Berri cocked an eyebrow and was now frozen with just how well he played that off. She finally blurt a hard laugh of surprise, though he slumped his shoulders, waggled his hands and finally returned back to his work, on his kitchen island, "There, happy? Hi Berri, good morning, Berri. Berri, Berri, BERRI."

"Don't forget it," Berri snipped with a smile as she finally crossed her arms and now eased closer to Turbo's kitchen island; he rubbed his temple, and although he was strictly falling into a comfortable norm with her, she knew he still had good intentions behind his annoyed notions.

"Hooo, I won't be able to," Turbo grumbled, and although Berri was now discovering a rather thorny individual, inside an even thornier shell, she could see the warmth in Turbo's eyes, he was always stuck in a furrowed look of almost desperately trying not to smile, and often failing.

"How's your morning been so far?" Berri pressed tenderly; although his television was on, it wasn't loud enough to overbear their conversing. She eased to the opposite side of his kitchen island, the side where three black bar stools sat stationed. As she sat down, her back to his sunkissed living room and the incredible view of Orion City, she sagged her chin into her hands and peered to Turbo over the tops of his holographic display, "You don't get to see the snow, from up here, do you."

"Not really," Turbo stated through a sigh, his eyes scanned his work, and although he was now catering to Berri's presence, he didn't seem bothered, at least much, "The clouds are often too high, but on occasion, I'll see a good rain or snow storm. It's weird being right inside the clouds, when it's happening... My morning's been fine, by the way."

"That must be weird, can you feel the tower like... Swaying?" Berri gestured, her eyes lit up, as if she was now even further excited to be friends with Turbo, so to be able to experience these kinds of things otherwise likely not possible.

"Yes, it's terrifying," Turbo staggered, yet another smile forced back; Berri felt it mildly frustrating, every day was nearly a redo, a square one peg, and towards the end of the few hours of their hang out, he'd be on the brink of full fledged smiles and laughs. She knew he likely just needed a typical warm up period, a being that was so foreign to social interactions, she was well aware all he needed was patience. Turbo curled a gentle, half-smile on the edge of his mouth and glossed his powerful, intense, haunting gaze across the span of his sunny home, "I know it's safe up here, but still. On particularly windy days, I always hope for a palace meeting I have to attend."

"Well, y'know, my dad is building me, Wren and Theo a tower on the palace lot, near the pool and the rec hall, after my birthday," Berri shrugged, she was entirely aware this was a long shot, though she took it anyhow and bashfully looked down to her hands, "Once it's built, you're more than welcome to come over if your tower starts to... Well... Dance."

"Thank you," Turbo finally eased a normal, knowing smile, bobbed a nod, glanced into Berri's eyes and shied away; she felt the recoil of his gaze leave hers, he typically held tight eye contact and wasn't afraid to let his scary gaze pierce the soul of whoever dared, though somehow, she felt as if his avoidance of eye contact was now for her benefit. She knew she'd eventually muster the courage to bring it up, though Turbo's deep, gentle, raspy voice pushed on, "How was your morning?"

"Oh, good," Berri sighed with a nod as she pulled out her phone and aimlessly thumbed through it, "Since I'm suspended, I go to Throttle's homeschooling sessions with my niece and nephew, Mara an Beaux."

"Oh yeah, Throttle was telling me about that, a little," Turbo cocked an eyebrow and gave Berri a glance of a suspicious, near-smiling side-eye, "He also told me how a certain someone spilled the beans about our little hang outs."

"Well, it's kind of hard to go much of anywhere, wearing your hoodie," Berri threw up her hands, which were heavily cloaked in Turbo's cozy, dark grey hoodie, his name splashed across the left sleeve, "I keep coming over just to give it back, but, for User's sake, you won't take it."

"Throttle literally called it your badge of honor, whatever that means," Turbo rolled his eyes, though once he eased his eyes to Berri's, he gave her a sweet smile, however much he had to push it out of his own soul. He heaved a raspy sigh, minimized his holographic displays, jostled the small projector that was issuing said holographic display and waved it around a little bit, "C'mon... I'm heading down to the compass, I have a few more things left to do before I can put my work on pause, for the time afternoon."

"I-I hope I didn't interrupt anything," Berri worried, though she stiffened and quickly got off of her stool the second Turbo gently began to slowly press in the direction of said long, dark hallway, that eventually forked. He kindly gestured for her to follow as she continued on, "I mean, I guess I did warn you when I'd be coming over."

"Hence, why I left my front door open, oops... Speaking of which," Turbo halted his footsteps, which had Berri coming to a quick stop a few feet from him, though as they cued their attention to Turbo's front door, he diligently pushed a secretive button underneath the slab of counter, of his kitchen island. His front door quickly slid closed, securing the two inside officially. Berri cocked an eyebrow and froze in a gentle slump of awe, though he casually gestured for her to tag along, "Follow me."

Berri bobbed a nod and kept tight on Turbo's heels, her eyes lit up in further curiosity as they both soaked into the long, dark, secretive hallway. Berri cocked an eyebrow and, although the hallway tenderly forked into two directions, she peered down the left fork and noticed, what seemed to be, Turbo's bedroom. A very tall floor to ceiling dark wooden door hung ajar, and to avoid seeming like she was trying to take a peek inside, the only thing she could see was the edge of what looked to be a dark dresser, at the far end of the bedroom, also shroud in sunlight. She strictly followed Turbo down the right avenue of the fork, though said avenue also came to another much smaller fork. Turbo turned down the second right and glanced over his shoulder, in hopes that Berri was still following, his golden gaze was now what illuminated the dark hallway.

Berri felt comfort in the glow of his gaze, as long as it wasn't piercing into her soul, like it usually was. She was glad it was a light source, in a dark room, though she bit her lip and was hoping that said memory of Turbo, from the other night, when he kindly brought her back to her bedroom, was something that would diligently stick. She furrowed her brow in a spike of further curiosity, halted her footwork and turned around, in curiosity. Although Turbo was headed to what looked to simply be a dead end of a dark hallway, she peered her curious gaze to the sunny avenue on the other end. It lead to a sleek, tight, spiral staircase, and upon reveal, Berri's eyes soaked upwards and noticed the glass ceiling and Sugar Rush's gorgeous, minty blue sky. She furrowed her eyebrows in a spike of surprise, pointed in gentle curiosity, and although she knew full well that this was the stairwell that lead to Turbo's secretive loft, she still played dumb and volleyed her gaze back to him.

"I-If you don't mind me asking, but... Where does that staircase lead?" Berri prod confidently, though she flinched as Turbo turned around, soaked into the wall of the dead end and let his bare feet ease onto a sneakily hidden teleportation pad at the end of said small hallway.

"My loft," Turbo volleyed, a short and sweet answer, though somehow his curt, gentle tone lead Berri to believe that maybe said loft, much like his bedroom, was still off limits to a brand new friend hot off the heels of being promoted from the title of 'stranger'.

"Oh," Berri quipped with a small nod, she cued to his tone and was well aware everything Turbo was allowing to her was strictly on his timing, something he had to be comfortable with. She smiled a little, and although she was certain the piles of billowing, secretive frustration was bound to make her itchy, she knew that his gained trust, whenever it'd be presented, would be something so rare and beautiful, something she now quietly strived for.

"Your highness," Turbo's deep voice eased, the sweetest of honey, though he shut his eyes tight, grappled the sides of his head with his hands and grunted a noise of whole frustration towards himself, "Gah, I meant 'Berri'! Dammit!"

"Okay, it may be annoying, but don't beat yourself up over it," Berri choked a laugh and, although he had previously gestured for her to come close and stand on the teleportation pad with him, she hesitated and waited for his invitation, once more.

"I-I'm sorry, that's going to be a hard habit to break," Turbo staggered bashfully, he frowned and kept his glowing eyes shut, the hallway was void of golden light in this act, and flickered every time he blinked; he warmly gestured for her to come closer, another time.

Berri eased him another, cooing notion of forgiveness and softly assured to him that it'd be okay, though as she did, she carefully sagged onto the smaller teleportation pad in a squeeze next to him and felt the coding in her system spike in a jolt of a new vein of girly curiosity. As her upper arm gingerly sagged into the lower part of his upper arm, he carefully angled his upper body so that they weren't so confined. Although this eliminated the smoosh of their arms, Turbo kindly rested his masculine hand to the dip of Berri's back, as politely as he could, so to give her a little more breathing room. Berri ironically held her breath, glossed her eyes in Turbo's close proximity and felt her heart do a weird dance, the glow of his eyes that casted across her cheeks and the bridge of her nose, she felt a bashful amount of now sweaty palms and a racing heart overcome her. As their own coding eagerly grappled its way up their bodies, they were easily transported one floor down, to Turbo's secretive shred of a code room.

In the pop of a much heftier amount of sudden sunlight, Berri squinted her eyes, lofted her curious gaze across the stretch of a massive room they were in and raised her eyebrows in plucked, startled surprise. With some arranging Turbo had done, his little hub of a code room was now entirely a glass room one floor underneath his main home. A stretch of a round, glass-walled room, Turbo had an entire three hundred and sixty degree view of, not only Orion City, but the gorgeous mountain scape behind his tower, a spectacle Berri had yet to see, from this high up. She gasped in unadulterated delight, the snowscape that littered the view about the city, the practically glowing palace on the horizon, Berri nearly forgot she was practically glued into Turbo's warm side and presence.

"Holy User," Berri hissed in whole delight, and although she wanted to continue remaining glued to Turbo's presence, she took a small moseying step out into this span of a gorgeous space.

Glossed with clean slabs of massive, white tiles, it was so faintly pressed with the stain of a huge digital compass, only seen due to the ever so tender white glow it gave off. It was the size of the room in its entirety, though hardly seen. A glowing white pad, about two feet across, hung in the center of the room, clearly a point of interest for all of Turbo's work, likely where he cued to everything his little dollop of a code room was made of. The sunlight glinted into the Eastern side of the tower, a clean cut of sun that pushed into the code room with eagerness, the whole place was alive with the winter sun's desperate sprawl of warmth. In a slow, moseying turn, Berri's eyes finally caught with the incredible mountain scenery that couldn't be seen from Turbo's living room. She caught Turbo standing on said teleportation pad, unmoved, his eyes kindly hooked to Berri's aura, his hands in his pockets in a show of washed contentment.

"How do you get ANY work done?" Berri finally blurt a laugh, she casually strolled past Turbo and was thrilled he slowly began to follow wherever her feet took her, in a mosey of camaraderie.

"It's tough," Turbo stated, he wrinkled a small smile and bobbed a nod, "Hope you understand, now, why it's so difficult to want to be anywhere else..."

Berri sagged her shoulders, glossed her eyes to the crisp, snowy mountains in the distance and furrowed her brow. She eased her eyes to the ground, the massive W on the ground, that signified they were nearly facing West, and finally to Turbo's bare feet. In a gentle tug of proverbial understanding, Berri finally eased her eyes up into Turbo's, once and for all. Although she felt a twinge of fear, and she noticed him scan her cheeks, as if to potentially show that he was due to avoid eye contact with her due to his secretive understanding, she still held tight to him and forced herself to be brave. She shook her head and eased a bashful, womanly smile, a gentle show of her teeth amidst the cute, faint freckles that lined her cheeks.

"I'm starting to get it," Berri bobbed a nod of agreeing, she felt her heart continue to warm at the thought of finding solace in the one place she never would thought she'd ever find herself; she lost her bout of bravery and gently looked away with a hard, silent swallow, though she felt her heart jump in embarrassment the second she could see Turbo gently furrow his brow, narrow his gaze and tilt his head a little, as if to hopefully inquire about gaining Berri's beautiful, blue eye contact, once more.

"I-If I may... Can I ask you why you avoid eye contact with me?" Turbo wondered as gently as he could, and it was with this did Berri shut her eyes, heave a sigh of defeat through her nose, look down to her hands and bob a nod, as if to assure to him that he caught her red handed. He chuckled and shook his head, "Y-You don't seem like the insecure type, where eye contact with everyone is difficult. I understand my gaze is a little weird and creepy. Is there something I can do to make it easier on you?"

"No, it's... It's not you," Berri started, though Turbo sagged his shoulders in playful defeat and frowned.

"...The whole 'it's not you, it's me' bit, I get it," Turbo muttered in a teasingly sad tone, though he came out of it the second Berri blurt a loud laugh of revival.

"Seriously! I-I'm not just saying that, it's true," Berri staggered with a wide smile, though she softened and shook her head, "Long story short... I adopted one of my mom's old memories of Whiplash, I believe... He was standing over her bloodied body, in Sugar Rush's code room... I only just was told that it was a memory, and not just a nasty, reoccurring nightmare."

"...Yikes," Turbo huffed in apology, he rubbed the back of his head, looked off and shook his head, "Childhood trauma... Don't know if there's anything I can do to reverse that, unfortunately."

"Well, you already have, at least a little," Berri stated in cuteness with a shrug, though upon Turbo's gentle eye contact once more, the reality that she now was revealing to him a shred of her bashful, crushing heart, she felt her face heat up in a fierce show of a blush. She staggered on, which caused Turbo to furrow his brow in delighted confusion, "Y-You, uh... Wh-when you returned me to my room, the other night... I-I sort of woke up when you laid me down, I think. Cause I now have a memory of, well, YOU, instead of Whiplash."

"Oh, reversing the damage and I didn't even know it," Turbo chuckled, and it was here did he unknowingly let a wide, genuine smile sprawl his face, unreserved. He shook his head and peered to Berri in apology, "Well... Can't promise that happening again, I-I mean... Unless you fall asleep here."

Berri froze and peered up into Turbo's eyes, a spike of surprise, and it was only until he realized just what he was insinuating did he scrunch his face, shrug his shoulders and finally reveal his hand from his pocket, just to gesture in embarrassment.

"I-I... Wow, that came out wrong," Turbo muttered, though the second Berri blurt a laugh of understanding, he peered to her in a bashful show of smiling humility, "I-I'm terrible with words, sorry. You know what I mean."

"I get it," Berri assured with a nod, "I think the only thing that will help, is time. It's not as difficult with Throttle, but Nox looks a lot like you... Still, I grew up with him on the palace lot, so it's become a lot easier, with him."

"You'll go back to Academy and all our hard work will be eradicated," Turbo chuckled, almost a twinge of sorrow, his golden eyes glossed across his code room and to his vast city below, "Guess we can do whatever we can in the three weeks you have."

"...I can always still come over, after Academy," Berri tenderly pressed, hoping she wasn't overstepping a boundary, "I'll probably be tailed by Wren and Theo, if that doesn't bother you, but... I-I mean... Forgive me if I'm wrong, but I thought we were friends?"

Turbo raised his eyebrows and softly peered into Berri's eyes. He reversed his tactic and stuck with her word, hoping that time, indeed, would heal all wounds. He remained quiet in her Queenly presence, the mature look of softness on her face, he knew mellowing out was likely something she struggled with, though when it happened, it was like a silent symphony to the heart. He relished in her sweet, empathetic stillness and allowed her warm words to finally coat his rigid, scared heart. He long blinked, he gratefully gave her a look of returned softness, and although she had stolen his friendship, he hesitantly allowed yet another wall to come down; he finally, and graciously, received her friendship, in return.

"We are," Turbo assured in a lilt of tender charm, a closed-mouth smile he now couldn't force back, any longer.

"Good, cause I'll need a study buddy," Berri bobbed a nod, Turbo choked a small chuckle and looked down to their bare feet, "Wren and Theo are too distracting."

"I'll help in any way that I can, Berri," Turbo assured, once more, and with the final lilt of her name that eased from his deep, raspy voice with pressed confidence, Berri gently held out her hand and extended her pinky to him, she felt almost desperate to physically seal the deal.

"Promise?" Berri prod in a smiling side-eye, and although Turbo curiously peered to her pinky and nearly forgot just what a pinky promise even looked like, he choked a silent chuckle and tenderly obliged as he wrapped his larger pinky around hers.

"Promise."