Reviews :
Romantic Sapp : Thank you SO much! :D I'm glad you liked my picture! Also, I'll be sure to squeeze in an update picture of the flyers, I've really dropped the ball on that one.
Burgie : Aw thank you! :D
Snake557 : Thanks friend! And, I've heard Berbo the most haha. I like it!
SamanthaR1987 : I think it's shaping up to be that way! Guess we'll see, but the lot of you want chapter 46. I'm genuinely surprised, I thought I'd be the only one that was itching to draw 46.
CHICKENM4N : LMAO! Sorry, friend haha. Thanks for the love!
Song Listened To :
Affection ft. Jack Newsome by Said the Sky Origami
A/N : WOW. So, when it comes to the comic pages I was speaking about previously, Chapter 46 has 8 votes, as of right now. Soooo... Dare I say we have a winner, but I will wait until Chapter 50 to solidify that. You guys are so funny LOL! I'm SO glad you guys enjoyed reading that chapter just as much as I did writing it :D
*Chapter 47*
In a sharp, silent inhale of a reflex, Turbo felt his eyes dryly come unglued from the back of his skull. Laid on his back, shirtless, he froze and peered his groggy, exhausted eyes up to the deck of his loft, as well as the glassy ceiling, a whole two stories up. In a pang of hurdles of foggy remembrance that came practically somersaulting back to his brain, he felt his heart begin to eagerly throb in a spike of fear as he could hear tender, quiet footsteps in his kitchen, as well as the dainty rummaging of ice cubes that tinkered into a glass, via the hub of a small spout smoothly bevelled into his modern, stainless steel fridge. He grimaced as he furrowed his eyebrows, just stabs of cheery memories that came rocketing back to his brain, memories that did not cooperate with the intense splitting headache he was now enduring. In bits of pieces, he now remembered that he had safely harbored Sugar Rush's princess for the night, a night to definitely be remembered, an ice breaker of belly laughs, new inside jokes, and an ember of a solid, and rather flirtatious friendship, Turbo knew he had to somehow garner the energy to sit up, lest he rot away in the insane hangover he was about ready to let consume his whole skull via migraine.
In the silent jostle to sit up, he desperately tried to peer his foggy gaze across his home. He rested on his elbows and let his brain catch up with him, the splitting headache that made everything impossible and every single light as bright as a thousand suns, he cocked an eyebrow and groggily peered up to his wall of windows; it was in this instance he gave past-Turbo a massive, silent thank you, the sheer fact that he had switched his windows to a fogged white tint before he fell asleep, knowing full well the rising sun would beam into his living room and make enduring this morning impossible, otherwise. He smiled to himself and finally allowed his cleared gaze to peer into his kitchen, from his comfortable couch, where he had slept the whole night. He long blinked in the picturesque moment at his island, the sight he didn't know his brain needed, he couldn't even barely remember the last instance he woke up in the morning, a beautiful woman in his comfortable presence, and even though him and Berri were just friends, he secretly held onto the dregs of this fleeting feeling.
Berri stood in Turbo's kitchen, her back was to him. It was clear she was sipping on the glass of water Turbo had kindly left her, on his own nightstand, the night prior. Due to her falling asleep on his recliner, once again, he bravely made the executive decision to just let her sleep in his bed, all to herself. He was well aware her waking up there might've been a shock, though with her seemingly peaceful demeanor, he sagged his bare chest, as he rested his upper body and elbows sharply into the cushions of his couch; he knew he should at least attempt to get up. In the struggle to remain silent all while reserving the urge to let loose a loud, grumbling groan of pain, he was successful in not cueing Berri's attention. He cocked an eyebrow and further assessed her, as he sat up. He ruffled his messy, chaotic, dusty grey hair and allowed how ever much time he had to just soak in her silent, tender, half awake presence. He had absolutely no idea just when he'd ever be allowed to this fragile moment, ever again. He tried not to feel sore over it, the majority of anything good in his life was so easily a fleeting memory of swift arrival and departure; he soaked in her incredible beauty, knowing full well this was, indeed, likely one of those very fleeting memories.
Berri's beautiful, cerulean blue hair had managed to work it's way out of the tidy braid she previously had it in. Although her hair was predominantly straight, the braid caused a beautiful set of sleepy waves that cascaded down her shoulders and back in a tender, almost-frizzy show of cute bedhead. He lovingly smiled in her direction, a secret show of walls that were beginning to crumple, and although he tried to diligently repair them in full-force, as quick as he could, he was well aware the walls she already had destroyed were irreparable. He looked down to his conjoined hands, his elbows rested on his spread knees, his rear now on the edge of the cushion of his comfortable couch, he dared to want to hang his head, though he knew he'd have to come back up, something his neck and hangover couldn't afford. In a grimace of endurance, he finally squinted his eyes, reached for his A-shirt and clumsily began to try and swipe it over his body. Upon finally standing, the couch croaked a little with the release of his weight, and with such, Berri perked up and peered her inquisitive gaze to his figure, as he approached.
Without words, the two simply smiled the sleepiest, smallest smiles of acknowledgement their hangovers could painfully produce, and with this, Berri gently lifted her glass of water, as if to silently further her non-verbal 'good morning' and thank him for the glass of water, all in one motion. Turbo scrunched his tired face, squinted his eyes, tenderly bobbed a nod of a 'you're welcome' and slowly eased up the few steps from his carpeted living room, into his cold, tiled kitchen, where Berri remained stationed. Turbo huffed a soft groan, rubbed his forehead and looked a delightful mess. Berri barely huffed a scoff of a breathy giggle, she looked Turbo over and noticed that he had successfully put his shirt on backwards. His thick, faded red sweats, however, had her glossing over his toned, lower figure in a blushing, hap-hazardous slew of bashful thoughts, the blatant obvious that left her with at least a decent amount to the imagination. She eagerly looked off and finally scrunched her eyes tight, as if to hope she wasn't caught looking, and to also silently scold herself for the same thing.
"So, maybe next time, I won't... Have Nox get me that much, from Tapper's," Turbo's voice was definitely a few octaves deeper than usual, a grumbling, raspy settle of reverberating, masculine bass his rib cage did everything to produce, it was something that made Berri's ears prickle with the sensation of said comforting, grumbling tone.
"Yeah, we... Went ham," Berri groaned, she barely emit an exhausted giggle as the two lofted their eyes to the glass jug, one that was once filled to the brim, though only now contained maybe two or three sips of leftover root beer at the bottom.
"Are you doing okay?" Turbo wondered through narrowed, exhausted eyes, though with the peel of formalities and awkward, bumbling niceties, the two stumbled through the night and came out of it on the other side, clean and with a new appreciation for each other and their new, solid friendship.
"I'll live," Berri giggled, she took another swig of her ice water, set the cup on the counter and ran her hand through her messy blue mane. She shook her head and shot Turbo an almost annoyed, sleepy smile, "Scared the shit out of me, by the way..."
"Why?" Turbo frowned in squinting, tender confusion.
"I woke up in your bed, only able to recall certain aspects of the night prior," Berri choked, she finally eased more into a wider awake being, something Turbo only barely followed suit, "Can you, uh... Brief me? A-Are we, well... W-We didn't... Like..."
"I have to admit something, Berri," Turbo stated in a suspension of seriousness, and it was here did Berri freeze and hold her breath in a strike of girly terror. Turbo finally lofted her his full gaze and bobbed a sorrowful nod of teasing regret, "I'm pregnant."
Berri was frozen in the reel of information that hit her brain, though just as Turbo beamed a cheeky, sleepy smile, rubbed his eye and began to make his way around the whole of his kitchen island, Berri rolled her eyes, lulled them closed, slapped her arm to her side in annoyed relief and shook her head, a further roll of exhaustion soaked over her migraine.
"Don't scare me like thaaaat," Berri drawled, she shook her head amidst the tight scrunch of her eyes.
"I'm not that much of an asshole. Like I told you, I may not have had any action since about thirty years ago, but it's, well... Not really in my nature to take advantage of a brand new adult whilst she's not even sober," Turbo shot her a cheeky side eye and smiled, though with his comfortable words and choice of topic, Berri reeled. She almost felt bad for it, she narrowed her gaze in confusion and now began to wonder if Turbo had potentially opened up to her the night prior, about very specific things in his life, and it was now stuff she couldn't remember. She held her breath and didn't dare ask him to repeat himself, due to now being embarrassed for such topic and to avoid looking like a total ditz. Turbo raised his eyebrows in a sleepy drag as he finally eased to his fridge, and upon opening it and leaning inside, he muttered a boyish conclusion, "Not like you'd want to consent to a piece of THIS 'old fart' anyways."
"... Are you really going to hold on to that?" Berri stabbed in now painful annoyance as she gripped her forehead and grimaced, Turbo came out of his fridge with a bottle of water and gently bobbed a small nod, alongside a sleepy, cheeky close-mouthed smile.
"Yes, ma'am," Turbo concluded, continued smile and all.
"The dustiest old fart of all," Berri continued, though she finally gave Turbo a side-eye and a small smile, to insinuate she was only playing.
"Proud of it," Turbo near whispered, he finally took a few hard gulps of water.
With his head tilted back, Berri eagerly kept her eyes to his figure and allowed one more gloss, one more look over, something her new, adult, girly coding was having a hayday over. She cocked an eyebrow and held her breath. Although Turbo wasn't technically ripped or built on a mainframe of nothing but muscle, he still was toned in certain areas, lean and careful about his figure. His prominent adam's apple glossed up and down his jugular as he eagerly drank, small escaped beads of water making his dark, matte grey skin glossy, and as he finally came up for air, he lulled his eyes closed in relief and sagged his shoulders, amidst closed eyes. Berri blurt a small giggle and finally faced him, they sat stationed on the same side of the island, in the area between said island and his row of cabinets, stove and fridge, appropriately placed. Berri finally smiled down to her half empty glass and felt her heart swell with gratitude. She knew that Turbo most definitely didn't have to do anything that he did, last night, though he still put himself out there and made the night memorable; however figuratively it was, in hindsight.
"I-I want to thank you, Turbo," Berri tenderly pressed, she sighed in contentment and finally delivered her sweet, grateful blue eyes to his golden gaze.
"For what?" Turbo wondered, and as he slowly began to mosey to the island, so to stand closer to her, he furrowed his eyebrows in agitation as he peered down to his shirt. With a skillful move of bent arms and grappled cloth, he rearranged his shirt, over his body, so it wasn't backwards, any longer. Berri blurt a small laugh at his clean efforts and peered up to him as he bashfully continued on, "For giving you a single cupcake and an entire vat of alcohol that your body was absolutely not ready for? Nor mine, for that matter?"
"For caring about me," Berri blurt another small laugh and tried not to allow the sting of her headache to ruin the moment. She set her glass down and heaved a long sigh, "I-I... I was catered to all day long, I loved every second of it, I had such a blast with my family, but... The whole day was totally complete with last night. I had a lot of fun... E-Even if I don't really remember much of what happened at the end, there."
"I do, don't worry," Turbo bobbed a small, reassuring nod and lulled his eyes closed. He breathed a small chuckle amidst the memory and wrinkled his nose, "You MAY or may not have danced on my coffee table and played the sickest air guitar I've ever seen in my life."
"Nooo, nooo, cause that'd mean you'd have to kill me," Berri grumbled as she covered her whole face with her hands, hung her head and continued to groan silent obscenities to herself in whole entire embarrassment.
"It was really funny," Turbo assured with a laugh, it was contagious enough to get a few giggles out of Berri's scrunched, hiding figure, "Speaking of which. I also, am, well... Really floored that we speak the same language."
Berri furrowed her brows in a tender pluck of reviving confusion, she finally peered out from behind her hands, dropped her shoulders and peered up into Turbo's eyes in a draw of gentle camaraderie. It was here did she feel absolutely relieved that Turbo was the one to bring this up, the topic of their shared interest, and it was here did Berri feel purpose begin to rush her veins.
"Which?" Berri pressed; she knew he wasn't insinuating their speaking language, though instead, something more universal.
"Music," Turbo bashfully eased, and it was here did Berri realize that he was nervously opening another fold of his soul, for only her to see, something that was likely very difficult. He heaved a shaky sigh and gave her a small, knowing look, "I... I can only assume you saw the guitar and haphazard mess of lyrics and sheet music, in my room."
"I... I WAS going to say something, but," Berri shrugged, she felt a whole sweep of tighter camaraderie begin to glue her and Turbo together, "I know how sensitive that is. From one musician to another, I'm not about to go prying at your sheet music and ask you to play me something."
"I genuinely appreciate that," Turbo chuckled as he bobbed a nod and closed his eyes, "M-Maybe, sometime, we can... Well..."
"Y-You don't have to do that, Bo," Berri assured in tender, solidified confidence as she barely shook her head at him, though it was in the sweep of careful action was she absolutely surprised to see Turbo so warmly reach out and ease his strong, masculine right hand into her left hand.
"I want to," Turbo quietly assured, almost as if it were a secret, "I can show you some of my stuff, you can show me some of yours. Maybe we can even bounce ideas off each other. I-I've never had another person to practice with."
Berri gripped Turbo's hand in a spike of warm surprise, she peered up into his eyes in anticipation, in an endless slew of patience, she furrowed her brow in the ache of her heart, how sore she was becoming over the fact that Turbo wasn't this big, scary and reclusive individual nearly everyone had made him out to be. He just needed a friend. Someone who rivaled his solitude, someone who easily competed with, and won, the battle over his own reserves, his own desire to be just with himself. It was here did she understand that it wasn't just anyone that Turbo wanted to welcome into the dark, deep end of his heart, it was someone who would meet him where he was at, and understand the fragility of it all. Berri felt absolutely honored, she smiled and was grateful her hard work, her likely annoying persistence, was now something that had won her a fragile, magical and solid friendship with Arcade's most feared bad guy.
"I'd love that," Berri quietly assured, her hand continued to squeeze in his, physical touch was not something Turbo was ever caught doing. Although this was something that mildly frustrated Berri, due to her being a hugger and a being of physical affection, she again knew that these milestones were on his watch, were all in his fragile time. She immediately felt as if she'd give this creature an endless supply of her patience, no matter what that meant, and it was here did Berri feel the need to reward all of Turbo's incredible bravery, all the instances he barreled down the walls of his comfort zones in her name. She barely revisited Turbo's previous words, the evening of their first shared palace meeting, she hoped it resonated with him, "Just name a time and place... Okay?"
"Yes, ma'am," Turbo nodded, and although Berri didn't want it to end, whatsoever, Turbo lovingly gave her hand one more strong squeeze and tenderly released. Turbo finally heaved a soft sigh, bobbed a nod and eased out of her gravity, he began to look as if he was going to head into his living room, so to tidy the mess of pillows and a throw blanket he had created. Although he had removed himself from the vicinity, he held on to the conversation, "I'll just follow your example and show up on your doorstep at dinner time... HERE AND NOW."
"Oh, come off it," Berri blurt a gentle laugh and regret it, she grimaced and held her forehead, "Ohhh wow, yeah this sucks. If this is what results in drinking Tapper's root beer, I don't think I want to do it again."
"You had nothing but a cupcake in your stomach, Bear... And no matter my persuasive convincing, I COULD NOT, for the life of me, encourage you to eat anything else, or drink water," Turbo grumbled as his figure slunk down the steps and into his living room. He flailed his hands a little and pitched his voice higher, to now teasingly make fun of Berri, his back was turned, "'No, Bo, I'm fine. No, Bo, I'm hydrated. No, Bo. No, Bo. NO, BO."
"Well at least you took my answer to heart," Berri muttered as she bugged her eyes, insinuating something further, as well.
In the gentle stagger of laughter that Turbo emit, a cue that he was going to carry on with potentially teasing Berri, Turbo's entire loft suddenly began to shake with the pounding of a hard fist on Turbo's front door, a bang that rocked the core of the entire game a total of five angry times. Turbo and Berri both froze in a prickle of now bug-eyed, confused terror, the two reeled, as if they now had to piece together the rest of Sugar Rush in rememebrance that everything outside of Turbo's loft existed, and it was here that Berri felt her stomach drop in a roll of terror. Not only had she slept over at Turbo's house without telling anyone, she immediately realized that she likely had successfully missed a good half of her home schooling with Throttle, in which she was instructed to attend, on top of wholly misjudging the status of her phone's battery, and now her entire coded being - dead.
