Reviews :
Romantic Sapp : Haha thank you SO much! Yeah it was weird to see, for sure. In order to get to 1000 chapters, either OOTB would have to be well over 300 chapters, orrrr we're just gunna have to wait until the 5th story. Ah well.
CHICKENM4N : Oh man this is only the beginning xD
Snake557 : Yes! I hope you all agree. If not, it's okay, I can maybe just draw some snippets from it, then, but who knows. You'll see why I love it so much :D Thank you friend! I'm glad you're enjoying it.
Song Listened To :
Longer Than I Thought by Loote
*Chapter 46*
With silver coding that swarmed Turbo's teleportation pad, Berri gently stepped off of the gentle glow of it all and flinched in sleepy realization. She furrowed her brow and peered about Turbo's crisp, white foyer, the matte grey tiles that lined it like usual. Although it all was familiar, all the lights in said foyer were on a night setting, a much dimmer and calmer touch of light coat the place, she quickly realized that even though she had now been to Turbo's home a handful of times, she's never been here this late in the night. Seeing everything in a night setting was something she now realized she was welcomed to, her heart jumped at the thought of someone so reclusive and so stand offish simply inviting her to come over, this late in the night, so last minute. She bit her lip and relished in the thought, though as she eased into Turbo's open front door, she was nearly knocked off her feet at the sight of Orion City, across his home, the view from his glass living room, she could swear she had never seen anything like it.
As she so slowly eased about five feet into Turbo's opened front door, her eyes were just lost in the gorgeous view of Orion City, every single sky scraper and building was lit up in a gloss of unending life, like the fourth of July, she shook her head and was certain her eyes had never seen a more incredible sight; even the palace, off in the distance, glowed with pride, the strange thought that she was just previously there, not seconds ago. Before she could get too lost in his dim, lovely abode and the magnificent sights that it heavily included, she eagerly glossed her eyes across Turbo's kitchen and began to push off, to quickly march down his hallway and to his other much smaller teleportation pad, knowing full well he was in his code room. In simply one or two quick steps of a long stride, she suddenly came to an abrupt halt and met eyes with Turbo, he stood poised at his kitchen island, facing Berri. Berri choked a small noise of an inquiry, though before she could open her mouth and inquire just what the hell was going on, she noticed that his eyes were not the only thing giving off a golden glow.
In Turbo's hand was a cute cupcake with a gloss of delicious blue frosting on top. Speckled with pink confetti sprinkles, confidently poked out the top of it was a single white candle, which was lit and unwavering. Berri raised her eyebrows in a tender pluck of delight, she held her hands cupped to her chest in a cute show of surprise and peered her whole attention to Turbo. She wondered just exactly how much courage he had to have mustered for this little, itty-bitty surprise, the fact that he either made her cupcakes or did whatever he could to obtain them without leaving his high perch, she sagged her shoulders in a show of defeated, smiling gratitude as Turbo's golden eyes softly peered down to the little flame of the candle. He scoffed a small, nervous chuckle and shook his head.
"I'm so glad you're smiling, you have no clue the lengths I went just to get this single cupcake," Turbo blurt a full laugh, he beamed Berri a genuine, unreserved smile, something that was becoming much easier; she figured it helped that she smiled along with him, hopefully to encourage him.
"Y-You really didn't have to," Berri eased with a kind giggle as she eased closer, though she furrowed her brow and peered to the adorable, decent sized cupcake; it looked professionally made, it was practically a work of art.
"I swear to User, Beard Papa was entirely done with my bullshit," Turbo heaved another shaky chuckle as Berri approached, though she gave Turbo an inquisitive smile and crossed her arms in patient, beaming listening, as if she was entirely ready to hear his story about this, "I-I... I wanted to place an order at the factory for just a single, blue frosted cupcake. Easy, right? I can do that."
"One phone call away, no?" Berri shrugged, she cutely agreed with Turbo as he grimaced and shrugged along with her, a cute rhythm they now fell into, with each other.
"Yeah, yeah, you'd think," Turbo's voice pitched higher in a lilt of cute annoyance, he grimaced and shrugged, though his adorable, unfolding, cheeky personality was now about to be in full bloom, right before her eyes, "No one knows I exist, at the factory, so I have to call and pretend I'm someone else... Do you know the sheer volume of business that factory does on the daily? The wait time for a single cup cake as an average Joe?"
"Clearly right up until midnight?" Berri blurt a harder laugh, Turbo bugged his eyes and side-eyed her in a further show of beaming, teasingly-annoyed cheek.
"Clearly right up until midnight!" Turbo stabbed with a wider smile, Berri covered her forehead and felt her heart race, somehow the idea of his energy levels now reaching or even surpassing Nox's didn't seem so unrealistic; she wondered just when she'd be able to see it, though as he cheekily carried on, she wondered if it would be here and now. Turbo deepened his voice, stiffened his spine and sarcastically bobbed his head from side to side, as if to make fun of the individual, at the factory, that he was dealing with, "'Oh, sure, one single cupcake Mr. Average Joe, we'll have it finished and ready for you by eleven tonight.' ELEVEN!"
"For User's sake, you REALLY didn't have to," Berri choked a harder laugh and now rested the side of her hip against the counter, though Turbo shook his head and now jostled the cute cupcake, the flame flickered a little though remained confidently lit.
"Then I had to teleport over there and pick it up... Here I am, wearing a cloaked hoodie, a pair of sunglasses at eleven at night, I look like an asshole picking up a single cupcake like I'm about to rob the place," Turbo joked, he flagged his hand out, and although it seemed as if he had gone through hell and back to get Berri this one little treat, she was well aware he was only teasing, due to the widening, handsome, bashful beam of a smile goofily plastered to his cheeks, "At this point, I'm wondering if I should've like levitated up on a dark cloud like, 'I'M TURBO. THE GREATEST RACER EVER. GIVE ME THE DAMN CUPCAKE.'"
Berri was now lost in laughter, she clutched her stomach and bent over as she narrowed her gaze and did everything to at least try and stay upright. Turbo easily joined her laughter and continued to carefully cradle the cute cupcake in his masculine hands.
"Is that why you told me to get here quickly?" Berri wheezed as she wiped tears of laughter from the edges of her eyes, "I was in bed for a reset."
"I almost don't care, I want you to have the stupid cupcake before your first birthday is over, for User's sake," Turbo stabbed with a blurt of a playful laugh, to which Berri easily joined in on.
"That's incredibly nice of you," Berri huffed through soft laughter as she finally was successful in beginning to compose herself. She tucked her beautiful blue hair behind her ears, her new hair cut made it so some strands were too short to go behind her ears, and into her long braid, anymore, though she bat her lashes in girly delight, glanced down to the cute cupcake and heaved a long, smiling sigh, "You really didn't need to go through all that trouble, but... I'm glad you did. I was beginning to think you maybe forgot."
"No, there's no way I could've forgotten, I've been mustering up the energy to even CALL the factory ever since our first hang out," Turbo sighed with a smile and shrugged, "You said your birthday was Thursday... I'm sure you had many more delicious things to eat, today, but... Figured I'd... At least show that I, well... Care."
Berri eased her smiling, illuminated blue eyes tight to Turbo's golden gaze in a crushing sting of fervor, she felt her heart jump with delight, she desperately tried to reign in these feelings she was beginning to have, and as much as she wanted to convince herself that Turbo was the kind of man that would never even dream of reciprocating said flirty feelings, she furrowed her eyebrows and let reality hit her head on. Turbo's figure stood confidently before her, the look of dewy renewal in Turbo's eyes, as if he had simply just been so hulled away, inside himself, for so incredibly long, the raw fact that he now had a brand new soul to confide in, a new friendship to sink into, Berri could swear her heart was in her throat at the thought of Turbo actually and genuinely having the potential to reciprocate those buzzing feelings. For the whole week she had convinced herself it was one sided, impossible for him to ever look at her in a fleeting 'new crush' kind of a light, though he long blinked in a sigh of relief, the trouble he had gone through, the fact that he made it before the day was over, she was now incredibly worried she'd immediately get way too ahead of herself, here... She further pondered if he potentially would, as well.
"That's... So nice of you, Turbo," Berri stated with a kiss of tender, womanly maturity on her smiling, blushing cheeks. She shrugged her bare shoulders and finally peered up into Turbo's golden eyes, the flinch of fear she usually felt was almost entirely long gone, the urge to gaze deeper, to really see what was behind it all, she could practically hear her heart thumping in her ears, "Thank you so much... You really didn't have to do this, just for me."
"Yes I did, Berri," Turbo's deep voice lilted through a sigh of tender, masculine politeness as he bobbed a nod and gave her a grateful smirk of delight, "You've... You've done quite a lot for me, these past few days. It's, well... A lot to unpack, but, I just wanted to let you know that... I'm really grateful for you. And I hope your birthday was amazing."
"It was," Berri chimed gently, though she sagged and bashfully looked off, she felt her knees almost begin to shake as she felt herself become brave, "I caught myself always looking for your tower, today, wherever we were, in Orion City."
"Can't say I blame yah," Turbo sighed, he sagged his shoulders and finally melted into a soft, tender bubble of blooming flirtation, though he knew he was absolutely not the one to leap out and make the first move here; he secretly wondered if he could even afford it, at this point, so he carried on down a more nonchalant avenue in conclusion, "The tower is a nice escape. Above the city, y'have everything you need, you can teleport to the palace if you absolutely must. I'm glad someone understands just why it's so hard to break away."
Berri gently eyed him in girly, scheming delight, that fragile, brand new touch of maturity on her face, in her tone and laced about her words, she was floored that Turbo was the one and only lucky witness before for, while she tried it all on for size.
"... It's not the tower that has me coming back," Berri braved, as softly and as coyly as she could; she knew this was probably too soon, though she also knew she was absolutely itching to make some new, adult decisions.
Turbo was frozen, although his eyes were previously honed to the gentle flame in aimless, cute contentment, he suddenly cocked an eyebrow and, without further moving a single muscle, his daring, surprised, golden eyes hooked tight to hers in a show of unsure, boyish stun. They held now smoldering eye contact, Turbo could swear this was all a dream, every word coming out of her mouth was fake, and although he was previously peeved her presence was over-abundant, he suddenly felt her wreck another one of those high, sturdy walls around his heart. Although he was absolutely not looking for a fling, a romance, a flirty friendship, anything, he held his breath and suddenly wondered just exactly what this all was, before him. A bit of fun, a flirtatious spark that could just potentially simmer to a solid friendship, whatever it was, he had absolutely no idea, though he knew he'd be wholly kidding himself if he said he now wasn't secretly itching to find out.
"Is it the view?" Turbo's voice lilted to a softer show of a teasing climb, he was well aware that he could easily play this little game back at her.
"Ohh, you can just keep telling yourself that, I guess," Berri shrugged her bare shoulders, she bashfully smiled down to her feet, though her eyes eventually came back to the cupcake, the candle's wax now eased down the base of the little candle.
"I guess I will until you tell me otherwise," Turbo bobbed a nod and now was floored to play dumb; he was well aware Berri was a woman of a daring nature, someone who didn't reserve her thoughts, something he had the potential to go absolutely bonkers for, though strictly didn't allow himself. He gently jostled the cupcake and sweetly smiled into her eyes, a loving, whispering conclusion eased from the depths of his heart, "Make a wish..."
Berri narrowed her cheeky, smiling gaze at him and dropped the tender, flirtatious banter they had stumbled into. Something she thought was concluded for now, she humbly peered down at the cute cupcake, lulled her eyes closed, and let her thoughts run wild. It didn't take long for a single wish to come to her, and upon the small prayer for it to hopefully come true, she reopened her eyes, leaned in a little and tenderly huffed the candle out. It began to gently smoke as Turbo held it out for her, though they finally met eyes in smiling delight. She could practically taste the words that were about to come out of his mouth, so she waited for her prediction to come true.
"Want to know what I wished for?" Turbo blurt quietly with a chuckle.
Berri jolted in a flinch of surprise that her prediction, in fact, did not come true, and it was here did she now fully understand that Turbo was not as cut and dry as he lead on, the cover of his book was vastly more plain than the whole incredible saga that was on the inside, and as if she could've absolutely bet money on the fact that she thought for certain he was simply going to ask her what she had wished for, instead of the odd reversal he laid out before her, she grinned in a furrowed look of stunned, cocky delight.
"...What, what exactly did YOU wish for? On MY birthday candle?" Berri stabbed with a choke of a laugh, Turbo's whole demeanor glowed, the unfold of his so tightly creased origami heart, he narrowed his cheeky gaze and just barely shook his head through the daring stab of his precise, golden eyes.
"For you to tell me what exactly is bringing you back to this tower every day," Turbo revisited, though Berri rolled her eyes in beaming annoyance, sagged her shoulders and looked off to the view of his living room and the glorious city beyond it.
"I wished that you wouldn't ask," Berri fibbed in cocky delight as she continued to hold her eyes across his home, she crossed her arms and finally gave him a smiling look of girly sass.
"Fair," Turbo shrugged, though he tenderly set her cupcake on the small, white saucer of a plate that was previously provided on the island. He sneakily licked his pointer finger and thumb free of blue icing, gave her a coy look of delight and softly began to step over to his fridge, "Your wish didn't come true, cause I DID ask."
"Neither did yours, cause I'm not tellin' yah," Berri chimed, the cute, sarcastic delight in her voice had him now itching for more fun banter, the hard-to-get attitude she delivered was something he had entirely forgotten that his soul craved.
"I'll ask again later," Turbo mumbled, though as he opened his fridge, he halted and gave Berri a now kind smile, outside of their playful banter, "I... Well... The cupcake wasn't the only surprise."
"You've really done enough, Bo, it's fine," Berri mumbled as she gently picked up her delicious looking cupcake and took a small bite.
"I'm really glad you were at that palace meeting, last week, because... You'd know that going to Tapper's wasn't possible, right now, due to, well... Self programmed gamers being randomly deleted," Turbo stated in a lilt of tenderness that now coat him, a serious topic he knew to not just take lightly, and as he bent over and dug into his fridge, Berri raised her eyebrows in plucked, soft surprise and swallowed the current bite of cupcake she had taken. With ease, Turbo came from the whole of his fridge and stepped back over to the island with a large glass jar of none other than Tapper's delicious, frothy, dangerous root beer. Berri gaped as Turbo firmly pat the jar with a wide, proud smile, "I figured if we can't go to Tapper's... I'd bring Tapper's to us."
"H-How... When...?" Berri staggered as she set the cupcake down, he shrugged and looked down to the frosty jug, almost a gallon's worth, "Y-You... I mean, I know you said to come to you for all my Tapper's needs, but, I honestly thought you were bluffing."
Turbo furrowed his brow and felt purpose come back to his skin, he cocked an eyebrow and gave her a look as if to say that he, too, had a reserve of cocky, flirty confidence he was ready to utilize, "I'm not a bluffer, love. I play my cards right every time."
Berri gingerly lofted her now curious, bashful and girly gaze tight to his, it was here that her stomach began to clench in weird fit of tension that was swiftly dipping from playful flirtation to a squishy dig of coy, innocent, intimate delight. Berri felt almost beat by her own game, she wondered if she was now in on this weird, cute bout of tension strictly to see if she could possibly one-up Turbo, if there was a definitive end to his fuse. She was certain his reclusive, introverted nature could hardly afford anymore, though she was now beginning to wonder if said reclusive, introverted nature was not apart of his nature at all, and rather a part of a defense mechanism he had diligently built for himself. She wondered just why someone so fun loving and daring would possibly restrict themselves like such, though she also recalled his past. She wondered if there was more to the story, and was certain she'd find out in due time, though for now, she was excited to stare down the business end of a tall pint of Tapper's root beer.
"Well, then, cassanova, why don't we bust this thing open and see just what you're made of, then?" Berri chimed in delight as she, too, pat the side of the frosty glass. She then flung her arm up into the air, and with near half-hearted, exhausted delight, she lulled her eyes closed and acted as if her next statement maybe wasn't as huge of a deal as she thought it'd be, "Cause I'm an ADULT."
"Welcome, it sucks," Turbo muttered as he bobbed a lazy nod and quickly began to unscrew the tight cap of the jar. As he set the lid down and stepped away to get them two proper drinking pints, he cocked an eyebrow, eyed his front door, subtly leaned in and tabbed the switch underneath his island's counter top. Berri raised her eyebrows in surprise and softly lofted her gaze over her shoulder, she watched him seal the two inside his warm home, her heart began to start thudding, once more, as Turbo continued, "And I can guarantee that."
"Why? Y'get to stay up however late you want, you don't have to answer to anyone," Berri shrugged and grasped for more positive sides of adulthood, "There's more to do, you can say what you want, romance, code swapping, Tapper's, LIFE."
"Guess it's easy to be happy when your life would just consist of things like swapping and Tapper's," Turbo blurt a laugh and softly eased two proper beer pints on the island, before the two, "In my almost forty years, I can tell you it's been anything but those things... But go off."
"I guess I still have a lot to learn," Berri bobbed a humble nod, peered down to Turbo's hands and eased a tender smile on her womanly face, "Hope I'm not... Digging at wounds, here. You have the entire Arcade's lifetime worth of years under your belt. I guess I'm not one to talk, having little to no life experience, whatsoever."
"Well, I told you a little bit of my backstory, mine isn't well rounded or anything," Turbo muttered softly, he began to pour the two a frothy, decent helping of the delicious, intoxicating root beer, "I maybe had a normal life for only a few years before it all went down the shitter. I've been trapped inside Sugar Rush for the past almost thirty some odd years, the majority of it I've either been by myself or with Lash. Neither of which included any of the things you listed."
"So, guess we're both stepping into a new chapter of life, then, yeah?" Berri chimed in cuteness as she bravely lifted her full pint, held it out before her and awaited for Turbo's to cheers her, "I'm just a silly youngin' and you're an old fart with a new lease on life."
"Okay, ow," Turbo scoffed as he clutched his chest, over his heart; Berri blurt a loud laugh and sagged her arm a little, he knew she was just playing as the two finally smiled into each other's eyes, "Who am I kidding, you're not wrong."
"We make an interesting duo, I'd say? What would you call this?" Berri wrinkled her nose and looked off, knowing full well they were just friends, though the dynamic, the timing, everything about it was delightfully, perfectly odd, and everyone knew it.
"...Potential," Turbo stated bravely, his warm, handsome closed-mouth smile said it all, a million and one hopes and wishes he so cutely managed to secure into the powerful punch of one word, one insinuation, and it was with this did Berri stand up a little straighter and lift her glass in another wave of bashful confidence.
"I'll drink to that," Berri eased with a smile, and as the two tenderly chimed the rims of their frosty, frothy pints of Tapper's root beer, it was here did they immediately understand that their night was, indeed, very young.
A/N : HEY GUYS! Soooo, we're coming up on chapter 50, soon, hopefully you guys remember what that means. But, this time, I am thinking of switching it up.
Although the 50-chapter-sketchdumps have been a wonderful way for me to get quick doodles out, of certain scenes in the story, I have actually decided that, with each 50 chapters, I will let you guys vote on just which ONE chapter you'd like to see... In a fully fleshed out, colored and detailed COMIC! Yes, one single entire chapter in comic form! If I had a choice, I'd personally pick this chapter, 46, to draw in comic form, strictly because of the mood and potential for tons of facial expressions and cute flirting between the two, (as well as a nighttime setting of Turbo's lovely loft) but I will let you guys decide! Which ever chapter gets the MOST votes will be in comic form! Full color and dialog, EVERYTHING!
So, you can start casting now if you would like, but I won't start counting the votes until chapter 50! I'll remind everyone when chapter 50 is live. Be sure to keep an eye on my deviantART, as well as my ArtStation accounts for when pages to said comic go up! (I'll make sure to keep everyone posted of such thing, as well) So be thinking about which chapter you'd like to see drawn! Thanks guys! :D
