Reviews :
Jay Sketchin : Aww lol! Yeah Zed's dad anger is a mood. Thanks friend!
Snake557 : It's very true! Though, they don't really know any different, y'know? :)
Burgie : Zed figures Berri dates either someone HE knows well enough, someone who knows Sugar Rush like the back of his hand, orrrrr... Some rando from Academy that Zed doesn't know xD Thanks for your support! :D
Song Listened To :
Running with the Boys by Lights
*Chapter 49*
With fuzzy grey socks, a soak of baggy black sweats, a lazy hot blue spaghetti strap and bare shoulders cozily draped in Turbo's hoodie, Berri did everything she could to softly ease down her spiral staircase. Having attended the last half of Throttle's class, politely declined to hang out with Wren and Theo, and sticking to the confines of her room, Berri felt a whole gloss of embarrassment practically hold her captive in her own skin. She mulled around her room, tidied everything, cleaned out old drawers of clothes she didn't fit into anymore, she could practically see the look of fear, on Turbo's face, when her father pushed into their lovely morning bubble; it was practically burned in her retinas, something she so wished maybe a good night's sleep would rid of, and although she was due for bed anytime soon, she worried over the fact that Turbo hadn't reached out to her, all day.
With the clack of her bedroom door finally opening, for the first time in hours, Berri wondered if she could potentially brave her father's presence. She felt her coding begin to wiggle in nervousness, she wondered just how hard she'd have to defend herself, how she'd have to beg and promise that her and Turbo were most definitely not doing anything in the way of intimate themes, she worried that her father had potentially did his absolute best at chasing Turbo away. An undo of all her hard work, a massive foot to the fragile, delicate little blossom of their budding friendship, she held her breath as her silent, sock-covered feet rounded the dim, main corridor of her's, Tessa's and Zed's home. She prayed that her father was somewhere near, hopefully simmered from the entire, terrifying amount of anger he exuded, she knew he was the last one to get that mad. With Zed's fuse being nearly the longest of anyone on the lot, Berri felt her heart climb in her throat as she pushed into the kitchen, knowing full well she'd have to fully explain herself, though she bashfully peeked into the main room, their massive kitchen and living room conjoined, only to see her mother at the island.
"There's my Blue," Tessa eased warmly, she sat hunched over the kitchen island, after a long day at Academy and an even longer day running the kingdom, she dutifully sat with a splay of holographic displays, notes, homework and text books alike; she had made clear to everyone that this time around, she'd ace every single one of her classes, no questions asked.
"Hi, mom," Berri mumbled nervously, she sagged into Tessa's studious presence and eyed all of her mother's incredibly difficult looking work, "Uh... Where's dad?"
"He's in the code room," Tessa eased through a content sigh, she wore a pair of cute, black prescription glasses, her eyes were honed to what she was diligently writing down in her notes, though she finally cocked an eyebrow and glossed her cheeky, hazel eyes for her daughter's wavering orbs, "You have a good birthday, huh?"
"Please, mom, not you too," Berri muttered as she volleyed dreaded, defeated eye contact to her mother, though she was surprised to see Tessa's face slope to genuine, prickled sorrow.
"Bear, I'm not picking at you, I'm genuinely wondering," Tessa set her pencil down and sagged her shoulders of her strict, studying posture, "Your father told me everything that happened... I'm really glad you got to enjoy some of Tapper's, we felt really bad that we couldn't take you, due to the, well... Random self-program deletion happening."
"...You're not mad?" Berri wondered in a girly uplift of so desperately trying to drag herself from the slump of sorrow she's been in all day.
"Why would I be mad, Bear. So, you had a fun night of drinking with one of your friends," Tessa shrugged, "On your birthday, no less. You're an adult now. Whatever choices you make, we have to just trust it'll be the right ones... We're always here to guide you."
Berri raised her eyebrows in prickled surprise, she now began to wonder just exactly what Zed had told Tessa, and it was here did she begin to feel more confidence come back to her. She crossed her arms, furrowed her eyebrows, looked around in confusion and finally shot her eyes back to her mother's in near smiling, cheeky delight.
"...What exactly did dad tell you?" Berri prod, though Tessa heaved a long sigh through her nose and cocked an eyebrow.
"He said he went into full-dad mode, nearly barreled down Turbo's door and scared the piss out of you guys for no reason other than your phone died, and you spent the night at Turbo's," Tessa heaved a small giggle and shook her head, "After this whole week of you traipsing around in his hoodie and coming and going from his loft, your dad was absolutely certain Turbo whisked you away and didn't let you enjoy a single day of innocent adulthood without sneaking your own coding right out of your system. I mean, he was PISSED."
"I know, I had a front row seat to the first minute of it," Berri bugged her eyes and shook her head, and although her face heated up, she sneakily smiled at her mother and sighed, "Nothing happened, mom. We're just friends. I literally just started hanging out with him on Monday. It's Friday, for User's sake."
"Had I not been at Academy, I would've been able to ease your father's worries," Tessa sighed, she looked down to her work and shook her head, wondering just where all the time went, "I remember my first birthday..."
"What happened?" Berri prod with a curious smile.
"Well... Not even before my first birthday was over, your father and I had our first kiss... He whisked me away on the back of his bike and we made out. It was awesome," Tessa smiled in reminiscing, she cutely looked up to the higher ceilings and grinned amidst the doughiness, "That's something you have over me. I had my first kiss not twenty two hours into my first day of being a fully grown gamer. Unless you and Turbo actually DID-"
"MOM he's a friend, for User's sake, how many times do I have to convince people that he's just a friend," Berri rushed in a hard giggle, though Tessa gave her a cheeky side-eye and shrugged again.
"I guess, however many times you have to convince YOURSELF that he's just a friend, as well," Tessa concluded cutely, and it was here did Berri freeze and feel the blood leave her face. Before Berri could even scrunch her face and attempt to come back with a retort, Tessa inhaled a deep breath through her nose and began to diligently busy herself in her notes, "You're so funny, Bear. No one's going to crucify you for garnering a liking for Mr. Black."
"So, what if I DID say that I liked him, more than just a friend, what would that solve? Would everyone get off my case? Would you guys just harass Turbo and make it harder for him to hang out with me?" Berri pressed, almost as if to instigate, as if her words were just rhetorical, though Tessa was well aware this was strictly so Berri could log this information for a rainy day.
"Welp... We'd probably question Turbo a little, what his intentions were with you," Tessa shrugged, she eyed Berri a little and smiled, "He's a User made gamer, babe. You're a self-programmed gamer. If anything were to go beyond just simple, flirty hand holding, then you and I would have to have a little pow-wow, then, my dude."
"... See, I didn't even put any of that together, I didn't even THINK about that," Berri staggered, she furrowed her eyebrows and smiled amidst red cheeks, so desperately trying to convince herself, and everyone around her, that this wasn't anything to be concerned with, "Nothing to worry about, mom."
"Well, you know where to find me," Tessa shrugged, she knew this was a serious topic, though she also knew that even with Berri's protesting, Turbo was far more of a reserved being than to just willingly throw his coding at another woman, after the fiasco his last code swapping event caused for the Arcade, "It's not so much him I'm worried about, anyways. Poor guy is probably not looking for a serious commitment again."
"...Again?" Berri wondered in a strike of now concerned girliness, though Tessa cocked an eyebrow and dragged her eyes from her work in a slope of genuine, incredulous softness.
"J-Just... Please be safe," Tessa concluded in a motherly tone, and with such, she tenderly began to shoo Berri away, "Go chat with your father, Bear. He's in the main code room."
Berri furrowed her brow and recalled a certain dollop of information from earlier this morning, the mention of Turbo's extended conversation from the night prior, Berri began to feel absolutely irritated with the fact that she didn't remember any of it. She was well aware asking Turbo to repeat himself was indeed warranted, though still embarrassing. She shook her head, softly stated a warm chirp of almost annoyed gratitude and began to make her way to their main teleportation pad, just down the long, open-aired main corridor of their home. In the tender steps of her tidy, fuzzy grey socks, she eased onto the teleport pad, cued to the holographic silver options that hovered near the wall and held her breath. Although her finger nearly wanted to stab firmly into Turbo's name, to whisk away and be in his mysterious, addicting presence, she heaved a hot, long sigh through her nose, closed her eyes, and let her finger lazily tab to Sugar Rush's main code room; something only a very few select individuals had access to.
In the grip of silver coding that eagerly began to grapple at her legs, torso, arms and whole body, she was quickly downloaded to Sugar Rush's glorious code room. A dome that now had a cute settlement of a thin, snowy layer, Berri allowed her eyes to ease into the massive code room's gorgeous span of a thousand and one code boxes. An impressive web that Zed diligently stood at the center of, Berri held her breath and sorrowfully peered to the back of her father's head. Amidst the buzz, Zed only gently looked over his shoulder, knowing full well that the person behind him could only a specific few certain individuals, though upon seeing Berri's splash of blue hair, he halted everything he was doing and took a tender double take on her figure; he could've sworn she'd likely never want to be in his presence ever again.
"Your highness," Zed so warmly eased, his tone was low, it was clear he was trying his very hardest to be approachable, a warm spot of love she could always run to, no matter the circumstance. As Berri slowly crossed the stretch from the code room's teleport pad to the center of the game, she frowned and looked down to her hands. Zed huffed a gentle chuckle and eyed her, the confidence it must've taken to come into this conversation wearing Turbo's hoodie. It was here that Zed was certain that she was here to stand her ground, and upon now being given the whole story, from Turbo's side, Zed sagged and gave her a loving, knowing smile, "Surprised to see you comin' around so soon, love."
"Dad, I'm really sorry," Berri mumbled in bashful regret, she heaved a long sigh, gestured her hands a little, which were easily lost in the gape of Turbo's hoodie's sleeves, "I shouldn't have scared you like that, or had been so careless... I'm glad Throttle wasn't mad at me for being so late to his lecture..."
Zed gently remained still and faced his young daughter. He narrowed his gaze and really got a good look at her; gorgeous, fluffy blue waves of prolonged bed head cascaded down her beautiful figure, her dewy blue lashes were long and looked as if they had potentially been curled and mildly stuck together, due to previous tears that were shed. The little kiss of childish freckles on her mature, womanly face, the innocent gloss of wild blue her eyes were coat with, Zed was certain he had never seen a more adorable, beautiful creature. All day he had been attempting to wrap his mind around the potential of Turbo even beginning to attempt to court this being of unleashed wildfire, untamed and unnamed, Zed finally scoffed a silent chuckle and felt pride sweep his being. He looked down to his bare feet in conclusion; any man that could successfully win, and keep up with this incredible firecracker would most definitely have earned it, tenfold.
"I'm the one who should be apologizing, Bear," Zed grumbled, he shook his head and eased his eyes into her now gingerly surprised ones, "I... I reacted as a father to an adolescent. I didn't really treat you like an adult, there, and... I'm sorry. I just freaked out cause your phone was going straight to voicemail, and your location, from code room waypoints, was in Turbo's house. I wasn't worried that Turbo had hurt you, o-or if you two had done anything, I just... Was more mad that, if... If you two HAD done anything, he had the balls not to consult me first."
"It's okay, dad, you really don't have to worry about that," Berri grumbled as she rubbed her eye and looked off in bashful dismay, and although Zed wanted to prod and assure her that he potentially might, he knew to drop it and lay the trust right at her feet.
"Yes ma'am," Zed heaved in tender conclusion, though in a gentle sweep of not being able to help it, Zed so warmly eased his masculine hand to Berri's left cheek. He cupped her beautiful face and felt his heart just ache the second she gave him her loving, unsure eye contact. Zed felt his heart squeeze harder, the urge to well up brimmed at the back of his throat, how much love he had for his very own little princess, he shook his head and felt safe showing his tears in front of his daughter. He welled up and gave her a nearly trembling, closed-mouth smile as he tenderly pressed on, "You're so beautiful, Berri... I just want the best for you. I want you to find someone who would agree."
"It doesn't have to be Turbo, dad, I promise, you don't have to get upset over it, we're just friends," Berri cooed in a tender lilt of now girly, soft concern, though Zed shut his eyes tight, shook his head and breathed a shaky scoff of a chuckle.
"I'm... Not concerned about Turbo, Bear," Zed revealed, the whole day of mulling the pros and cons of this tiny little ember of flirtatious fun had him understanding that, even though Berri was unaware of it, the pros massively outweighed the cons. Zed so warmly stroked her cheek, just underneath her eye, with his thumb, "No matter your stance... Just know that Turbo is a great man. You both have a whole entire Academy's worth to learn from each other. You hold on to that friendship, Bear... Cause it's promising."
Berri raised her eyebrows and allowed the warm feeling of her father's hand, on her face, to finally soak into her being. She peered hard up into Zed's eyes and froze amidst his tender, revealing insinuation, something that made her heart flutter, an oh so secretive way for Zed to encourage this daring venture of hers, to befriend a traumatized, hurting and lonely being, to stand next to the one she has come to cherish the most, Berri almost melted at the King's final word. In a smile that wormed across Berri's face, she shut her eyes tight, sagged her left hand into Zed's, eased it tighter to her face and softly tilted her head, so to lean into her father's caring touch. With this tender transition, Zed warmly slid his hand to her shoulder, cupped it, tugged her closer to him and was thrilled the second she so easily sagged into his strong chest.
Berri smiled into Zed's fatherly shoulder, gripped her arms about his upper back, and with said grip, she sank deeper into Zed's caring warmth as his arms came tight about the backs and tops of her dainty shoulders. In a tight squeeze, he furrowed his eyebrows, buried his face into the top and side of her incredible blue hair, he desperately tried to hold back tears, the sheer fact that his baby girl was no longer such, the blink of an eye and she's a whole adult, he held his breath and wished that he could stop time. The center of the game practically sang, the tender lull and bob of the thousands of code boxes that hung all about them in a bowing web of glistening colors, everything was in perfect harmony with itself, the glow of Sugar Rush's past, present and future, worn like a badge of honor, glowed into the cold, icy night. Berri furrowed her brow a little and could feel Zed's rib cage exhale a tremble of a breath, as if to attempt to clear his throat, though she gently wormed her head away to hopefully peer up into his eyes.
"Daaaad," Berri cooed with a small, nervous giggle, she tenderly reached up and began to lightly pet away the few tears that escaped Zed's now glassy eyes, they sagged their way to his dark blue five o'clock shadow, "What's with the waterworks? I'm not going anywhere, dad."
"It only really just hit me that you're not a little girl any longer," Zed staggered, his voice crackled a little, and as he composed himself a little, he furrowed his eyebrows and softly helped Berri swipe away his few tears.
"Dad, I'll ALWAYS be your little girl," Berri begged with a cute, sorrowful and apologetic smile, "Just because I turned one doesn't mean I'm never going to be the same. I'm still the dweeby blue haired girl you raised, dad, no danger there."
"Good... Don't ever change," Zed instructed, he pointed a finger and gave her a teasingly stern look, "Not even for a boy, y'hear?"
"I promise," Berri blurt a small giggle and scrunched her shoulders, "If some guy comes along and you start seeing me act all different, I give you full permission to give me a kick in the pants, okay? Will that make you feel better?"
"Yes, it does, thank you," Zed muttered as he rubbed his forehead and lulled his glassy eyes shut, "I will utilize your offer in whatever way I can, I can promise you that."
"You're so weird," Berri heaved a small giggle, though as they firmly hugged once more, Berri furrowed her eyebrows and felt a wave of confidence come over her, "Dad, you didn't like... Beat Turbo to a pulp, did you? We had some drinks and talked and laughed a bunch. Literally nothing more."
"I know, Turbo told me everything," Zed sighed as the two gently pulled apart, "He even gave me permission to nose through his coding terminal... I didn't, but, I mean... Takes guts to give someone permission to that."
"Yeah, wow," Berri raised her eyebrows and looked off as the information hit her brain like a gooey hug, she smiled and was even further assured that Turbo handled her like a gentleman, even when no one was watching; a mark of honor. She sighed and shook her head, "I'm sure you scared the pants off him, though. I wanted him to come to my birthday party on Sunday, and now I'm sure he's too scared to come anywhere near me in fear of you barreling down his door, again."
"He mentioned that," Zed chuckled, though it was in this did Berri freeze and bug her eyes a little.
"...Wait, he IS planning on coming?" Berri staggered in girly confusion, "I mean, I've been forgetting to invite him now, I didn't think he knew about it?"
"Well, as we were parting, I told him he was invited, and, well... He said he'd think about it," Zed shrugged, and as Berri deflated, Zed gave her an apologetic smile, "Aw, babe... You have to understand, the Sugar Rush racers and him don't really see eye to eye. I know you want him to come out of his shell a little more, but it might be too much for him to attend a party full of racers that don't really enjoy his presence. Especially in the span of only five or six days."
"WHY, why is everyone so weird about him, everything he did was so long ago, and he's been here keeping Sugar Rush safe for a whole entire year now," Berri hurried to argue, she flung her arm out in solid annoyance and now was fully prepared to go to bat for him, "Seriously, who do I have to talk to about this? Do I need to sit them ALL down and make clear that he's a great guy and they don't need to be so mean?"
"Berri, you're so sweet," Zed blurt a small chuckle and warmly gripped her shoulder, "It's just... Bad blood. They obviously trust that Turbo's not going to go AWOL on everyone, but, it's just hard feelings... Turbo has never stood before them and rectified anything, made clear his intentions. He's not ever around enough to show those racers the side that you see of him, now."
"I could try and bring him around more?" Berri pressed in a lilt of now eager girliness, to which Zed nodded in whole agreeing to; anything so that she wasn't hulled up in his loft for the rest of time.
"That'd be great," Zed encouraged, "I know his brothers would appreciate that, too."
"As would you? Get in his face if he so much as looks at me wrong?" Berri wrinkled her nose and cheekily side-eyed her father, to which he rolled his eyes and shrugged.
"Caught me, I guess," Zed teasingly grumbled.
