Reviews :
Romantic Sapp : That is so sweet :( Thank you so very much. I'm really glad!
Snake557 : Baw, shucks. Thank you friend! I sometimes get carried away with details that I'm certain the majority of you could care less about xD But thank you!
Burgie : This is true! I love group hugs haha
Song Listened To :
Break My Heart Again by Finneas
*Chapter 55*
After a few hours well into Sugar Rush's cold, early morning, stomachs full of Berri's delicious cinnamon rolls, laughs and smiles filled every single pixel of Berri's, Wren's and Theo's brand new tower. Although Throttle and Nox left for a long-overdue reset, and Wren and Theo agreed to just simply unpack their belongings the next day, Berri and Turbo were left at a curious impasse. In a toss up of wondering if they should just split for the night, and left with the flicker of potential to further hang out, Berri kindly agreed to allow Turbo up to her bedroom, so to help her unpack. She was well aware that, after this whole Game Over fiasco, that their budding friendship had only continued to blossom into a bigger bloom of curious love. She knew now that being alone with Turbo would eventually lead into dangerous territory, and although she was certain she wouldn't mind, she almost was thankful that neither of the two would be brave enough to get anything done behind closed doors, anyhow.
In the tender smoosh of Berri, Turbo and Chester's whole, cumbersome body onto the hub of a domed teleportation pad room, in the nook of the flawless, white kitchen, the three were teleported to Berri's room. Fit for a princess, the highest floor with the best view, Turbo's eyes adjusted to their now dim surroundings. A large, rectangular room with crisp, white walls, he was delighted to see that her teleportation hub eased out into a lower ceiling, half of the room was crowned with said grey wood of a lower ceiling, one that finally bowed in a tender, soft slope, as opposed to a hard edge that a ceiling that met a wall would usually have. It was clear to Turbo that said section of low ceiling, that spanned the entire length of her bedroom, would eventually house her glorious bed. Said area, where her bed would eventually lay, had a gorgeous splay of sleek, thin ceiling lights, ones that clearly were color changing, though they held solid at a dim, warm glow of white.
Turbo sagged his shoulders in delightful, curious looking as his eyes swooped about. Although they were welcomed into a cozy, large span of an area with the lower ceiling, it eventually arched to a much higher span of a white ceiling, of which was also eventually met with one massive wall of windows. Said windows looked out onto the flyer's enclosure, a beautiful show of peaceful nature. Berri's brand new bedroom was gorgeous, kissed with a futuristic touch of glossy, white girliness, though it was starkly empty. A few silver code boxes hovered just off to the right, near a beautiful archway of a mini, no-door corridor that clearly lead off to her bathroom and closet. Chester huffed a long, sleepy sigh and pushed past the two in a clumsy, claw-clacking mosey, amidst her gorgeous matte-grey tiles. He finally sagged his body to the floor, near the window, and rested his head on his paws, so to insinuate he'd likely be snoozing soon. Turbo put his hands on his hips and looked about the lovely, dimly lit room, the glow of his golden eyes also gently aided in lighting up the place.
"Not bad at all," Turbo kindly droned on as he nodded, as if to be entirely pleased. Berri smiled, nodded as well, and softly pushed closer to the wall near the arch of her small corridor, a silver digital pad so softly illuminated as she neared, "It may not be the 64th floor up, but still... You got yourself a fantastic view, as well."
"Yeah, I'm pretty pleased with it," Berri encouraged, she bobbed a nod in Turbo's direction with a kind smile, though as she pressed a few options on the silver digital pad, the whole entire glass wall of a window suddenly began to methodically hum in a draw of a solid white, black out curtain. It was so sleek and flat, it almost looked like a wall covering the entirety of the glass. She lofted Turbo a knowing smile and blurt a small chuckle, "So... The windows are one way windows, but I still feel weird having these windows wide opened at night."
"I don't blame you," Turbo shook his head and shrugged, though as he began to finally mosey off of the teleportation pad, he heaved a sigh and put his hands in his black jean's pockets; his hand came into contact with his materializer, something that harbored a secretive little surprise he purposefully brought over, just for Berri.
"Oh, and look... I thought this was a nice little touch," Berri pointed behind Turbo, he turned around and was surprised to see a three foot wide floor to ceiling sliver of a window, just near the hub of her teleportation pad. It showed the opposite side of the palace lot, which included the whole dome of the code room. Berri wrinkled her nose in a cute way, and as the two approached the window, she pointed to something just beyond the glass of the code room's flawless dome, "If you look closely... I have a perfect view of your tower. See it?"
"Holy User, yeah, I see it," Turbo gawked in surprise, he rubbed the back of his head in smiling cuteness, somehow the sight of his tiny little tower, off in the distance, had him reeling, the whole fact that he was so incredibly far from the safety of his perch, yet he had never felt more comfortable being away from home, in his entire life, until this instance.
"Well... I think maybe we should start with my furniture, huh?" Berri sighed in nonchalance as she pulled from the window, she eased across her bedroom and sagged into the vicinity of the dimly glowing, softly bobbing and hovering silver code boxes; untitled and hung in anticipated wait, "I can do the rest on my own, I'm sure you don't want to see the chaos that my bedroom consists of."
"It's not a problem," Turbo eased warmly, he followed her to the code boxes and gave her room to open one of the said boxes. His eyes scanned the few tiers of information that sprawled from the code box, little pockets of organized chaos, "It's up to you. Whatever you're comfortable with."
"Well... I guess we can start with my bed," Berri pressed nonchalantly, she shrugged and, with her silver coding present on the pinpoint of her finger tip, she dragged the small tier of information out and hovered it out before her. With a sudden spark of information across the room, her bed appeared in a simple, dimly lit, holographic state, making clear that it wouldn't be a tangible thing until she cued it to be. She bit her lip in concentration and, as she centered it with the bow of the lower ceiling, eased into correction, she finally tabbed for the bed to eke into existence. With a gentle thud, her gorgeous, white canopy bed settled on the grey tiles, "I... I want to thank my mother and father for code room abilities, this would suck without the easiness of a code room."
"You're telling me," Turbo muttered, he casted her a sweet smile and still held his hands tight in his pockets, his hand clutched his materializer. She so softly eased two littler tiers of information in front of Turbo and kindly gave him a look of friendly, impending curiosity.
"Would you mind placing my night stands on either side? I'll go ahead and find a spot for my desk," Berri pressed warmly, Turbo bobbed a nod of whole agreeing and did as she said, and whilst the two successfully placed her furniture in all the places it all should go, Berri wrinkled her nose and continuously kept resetting the position of her desk, which was along the opposite wall of windows, deep in the nook of the lower ceiling area of her room, just near her bed, "I really have no clue where I'd rather do school work... Either up here, or downstairs in the kitchen."
"The spot in the kitchen is beautiful, and peaceful," Turbo shrugged with a nod, "Maybe on rainy days, where the rain hits the vaulted glass, y'know?"
"True, I guess I don't need a definitive spot," Berri agreed tenderly; Turbo softly glanced to her, in his peripheral, and felt bravery soak his golden eyes.
"You also always have a safe spot in my loft... The one that overlooks my living room," Turbo pressed, they finally caught eyes, he felt his heart so desperately want to unravel to her, he felt his hands do everything they could to just reel it all in, though somehow his words persisted, almost without his permission, "My... My loft is, well... More an escape, to me. My workstation is up there... But, you're more than welcome to utilize it, as well."
"... That's so nice, thank you," Berri nodded with humility, she peered to him in sweet surrender, she shook her head and finally gave him a knowing smile, "You know, you CAN say no. Just because we're friends, and I'm Sugar Rush's princess, doesn't mean you need to cater to me outside of your comfort zones."
"It's nothing, honest," Turbo nodded, he wondered just why he had suddenly felt so light headed, the secretive display of nervousness now coat his being, something Berri eagerly cued to.
"A-Are you okay?" Berri wondered, now in a lilt of nervousness. She shook her head as Turbo's nervous, sock-covered footsteps began to wander away from her still hovering, waiting code boxes. Berri closed the mess of them and was now interested in seeing a little deeper into Turbo's reserved eyes, "I mean, really, I DID sort of just erupt all over your life and shake everything up. Somehow we became friends out of it, but... Please, tell me if I'm becoming too overbearing, or... If our hang outs are maybe, well... Too much-"
"It's never too much, I'm being honest with you," Turbo assured as he finally turned and smiled into her eyes, he heaved a shaky sigh and shook his head, though in doing so, he so softly pulled his own materializer from his pocket and held it out before him. He held his breath and peered down to it, "Berri, I... I need to tell you something."
Berri froze and now peered to Turbo in whole, nervous confusion. She furrowed her brow and glanced down to his materializer, his golden gaze was fixated on it, as if he was nearly scared as to just what was inside of it. She felt as if the blood had left her face, her stomach clenched in a sag of nervousness, though she somehow held onto hope the second a bashful smile sprawled from Turbo's face.
"I, well... I came over here to assure you that I wasn't going to be attending Game Over, but..." Turbo trailed off, he heaved a shaky sigh and softly waved his materializer around a little, as if opening another creased, stiff fold of his fragile, origami heart was painful, yet he still continued on, "I have something else I wanted to show you. I-It's... It's something I thought I lost touch with, but, I just need you to know that meeting you has helped me get back in touch with myself."
Berri crossed her arms, eyed his materializer and allowed a gentle, curious, cheeky smile sprawl her face. She shook her head a little, narrowed her gaze and knew what this was all about. Somehow Turbo had forgotten that having guests over to his house would include them needing to eventually visit the bathroom, somehow he had forgotten to sweep his true self under the rug for visitors, the image of Turbo's beautiful, glossy acoustic guitar, rested against his bed, amidst the mess of sheet music, flashed before Berri's memory like a hot poker through her skull, an almost delightful punch of knowing. She felt her heart begin to throb, the whole fact that Turbo was opening up his heart, just for her, someone so scared to show trust, someone so terrified to open up, now someone nearly in full bloom right before her eyes. She remained still, knowing full well, this was his fragile timing, and his timing alone.
"You, uh... You already discovered that I'm also a musician," Turbo pressed bashfully, he didn't dare look up from his materializer, almost as if looking up would erase this incredibly fragile moment. Berri smiled and patiently waited for him to reveal that he simply brought over his guitar, though her heart began to thud in further girly anxiety as he pressed on, in a much deeper, different direction than she ever thought was possible, " I... I wanted to let you know that I wrote you a song."
Berri raised her eyebrows in whole entire surprise, so much so that she nearly scoffed a soft, silent laugh of disbelief. She bashfully tucked her hair behind her ears and felt her stomach do a weird dance. She felt all the blood rush to her face, the thud of her heart now began to just pound and pound on her ribcage. She sagged her shoulders in a lull of tenderness, allowed the honesty of Turbo's fragile heart nearly unwillingly open up to her. Simply as if he wrote this song in the whole secrecy of his soul, and swore to himself he'd never let her hear it. Somehow, he seemed at war with himself, the long blink of his gaze had her truly believing that he was trying his hardest to wrap his mind around this unfolding instance. Berri smiled in whole sweetness and knew, full well, he'd need some hand holding, here. As confident as he was to come out and reveal he had written her a full-blown song, she knew, in order to bridge the gaps, she'd have to be the one to ease his trembling soul over the scary rapids.
"Y-You... You wrote me a song?" Berri's tender voice lilted in bashful curiosity, she glanced back to her bed and immediately knew that'd likely be their landing spot, for said escapade, something that made her insides clench in whole entire shyness, "That's... That's SO sweet, Turbo, you... You really didn't have to."
"I didn't have a choice," Turbo blurt with a bashful laugh as he gestured his sleek, black materializer, about the size of his phone. Berri warmly began to step over to him, and in doing so, she gestured to the edge of her bed, though as Turbo caught on and bashfully followed her lead, his deep voice glossed her bedroom in a drum of romantic knowing, "It just... Was itching to get out, you know how that goes."
"Boy, do I," Berri agreed warmly, and as she sat down on the edge of her bed, she gently pat the bed next to her; her cozy mattress was void of sheets or blankets, lacked in pillows and downs, somehow the metaphor of the rawness was palpable as Turbo nervously sat down next to her, closest to her nightstand.
"I-I just need to preface that... I don't have this song memorized, so, i-if you wouldn't mind, well," Turbo staggered his words, his hands began to tremble, Berri just absolutely relished in the cute show of tremors he was just wrought with. His materializer gently illuminated, and in doing so, he successfully pulled out a few pages of worn and torn sheet music, scribbled with his chicken scratch, as neatly as he could've afforded. Turbo continued on, his hand so nervously handed her his raw sheet music, "M-maybe, can you please hold it out for me? So I can read the notes while I play."
"Oh, sure," Berri prod easily, she so desperately tried to keep her brimming excitement on the downlow, she knew overflowing him with excitement would likely make him more nervous. Her eyes warmly glanced down to his sheet music, so methodically strung with pencil and pen marks, musical notes neatly clad inside the lines of treble and bass clef, her heart began to throb with the oddness of it all, the universal language of music they were both fluent in. Her eyes just barely glossed down the sheet, and as her heart continued to throb, she noticed said sheet music was definitely complete with lyrics. She held her breath and wondered if he'd open up far enough to sing for her, though she narrowed her gaze and tossed it to him in cute knowing, assured that he probably has already run out of all his bravery. Berri inhaled a shaky breath and watched as Turbo so carefully unravelled his gorgeous, acoustic guitar from his materializer, "I-Is this... Well... A more fast piece or slow?"
"Oh, well... I guess you could very easily give it a good beat, y'know? Something fast and exciting," Turbo shrugged, he cleared his throat and nervously glossed his eyes to his own sheet music, in Berri's capable hands, though it was here did Berri notice the confident, golden glow in his eyes was nearly gone, a matte grey show of bashful terror he was now wrought with; his apprehensive tone so carefully carried on, "Th-this is more an acoustic version, I guess... Slower and sweeter. But, i-if you think you, Wren and Theo could add an awesome beat to it, then, I mean... By all means."
"Don't be scared," Berri bravely assured in whole warmth, and it was here did her tender hand finally find his lower right arm, whilst his left arm cradled and gripped the neck of his beautiful guitar. His grey eyes glossed to hers in soft, nervous knowing, an almost frown of fear, a desperate show of the persistence of her encouraging words, Berri smiled into his scared eyes and shook her head, "I'm not going to judge you, or laugh, or anything... I'm sure it's going to be great... I'm just floored you actually wrote me a song, like... No one has ever done that for me."
"T-Trust me, I've never done it for anyone, either," Turbo bobbed a nod and gave her a grateful smile of conclusion, he shook his head and heaved a shaky sigh, "I just figured I'd show you... It's nothing heavy, just... A song to further thank you for everything you've done for me."
"It was nothing," Berri eased in a sweet whisper of cute knowing as she lulled her eyes closed, wrinkled her nose and gave him a cute smile.
Amidst the softness, Turbo finally situated himself, glossed his dark eyes to the sheet music she now correctly held out before him, and with a brave moment of frozen silence, both beings melted into a single wavelength, a single beat of their hearts, a silent symphony of understanding that this was a secretive unfold of their friendship, an entirely off limits topic of their blossoming attraction, something they now silently swore to only potentially talk about through song, an understanding that plain conversation was just too much to afford, right now. With the tender plucks of his guitar that now filled her room with the sweet sound of warm, major notes, an adorable little tune of near bittersweet reveal, Berri narrowed her gaze and read his sheet music in following, eased tight into his rhythm.
Although this song definitely had words, she was now certain he wasn't about to reveal too much of himself in one go, the tight-lip look he had as his dark eyes scanned his sheet music, his fingers intelligently strummed and plucked at the right notes, an almost staccato reverberation of cuteness, Berri felt a weird wiggle fall over her soul. He came upon the second line of a gentle melody of his introduction, the words of his song so easily brimmed upon the two, and it was here did Berri now wonder if she could volley a loft of bravery his way, a silent show of gratitude, she wondered if singing his lyrics would be just what he needed to feel whole. She could feel every single ounce of her musical knowledge now sap into their budding, secretive romance, the words to his music now swelled upon them in a tender crescendo of new beginnings, Berri inhaled a readied breath and allowed her soft, sweet and tender voice to sing his heart's words.
"Keeping a hold of passing glances, advances... And further shame," Berri's voice sang in perfect pitch, the tender pluck of her added care to his song had Turbo nearly reeling in a flinch of surprise, something she caught in her peripheral. His nervous fingers almost rushed to carry on, as if he was absolutely floored that she invited herself to jump on board. He huffed a silent breath of entire shock, Berri inhaled a deep breath and sang from her diaphragm, her hand confidently held the sheet music out for both of them to read, "The tabs of tally marks to my name... And like dusty umbrellas, deep breaths that shield the rain..."
"Lost eyes cast in the wild, wild blue, somehow I'm warmed from death," Berri's confident voice pressed, though she allowed herself to stay soft for the not-so-confident volume of Turbo's intelligent strumming, though as her eyes peered harder into his sheet music, she nearly beamed a wider smile as she could see the sheet music reflect the returning glow of Turbo's golden eyes, a gentle wash of love and returned confidence that came back. Berri tried to carry on without giggling, the widest smile plastered to her face, she could practically hear Turbo smiling as well, "Somehow I'm new..."
As Turbo's strumming only just barely picked up in confidence, she smiled and could feel him straighten his spine, as if he was only just now ready to really give this song everything he got, the rush of her cute confidence now saturated his soul like gasoline over a flicker of a flame. Berri inhaled a deep breath and sat up a little straighter, as well, the two eagerly carried on in rhythm.
"A cold fire of blue, keeping me from feeling true... An upside down void of nonsensical burning stars," Berri's voice carried the chorus with that touch Turbo was absolutely certain this song was missing, he shook his head amidst their goofy, dewy smiles and felt that burning fire rush back to his heart, something he knew he couldn't tame, any longer, the sweet sound of Berri's singing voice carried on in a rush of squeezed love, vocals that nearly shook the entirety of the game, something Turbo was sure would take her very far, "As if it's only blue, keeping me from holding you, eradicated scars, fresh beat of lonely hearts... Somehow I'm new."
"Oily swipes of persistence, a molt long overdue, the fade of tally marks to my name," Berri pressed into the second verse, she breathed a soft giggle amidst her singing as she continued to turn pages in a chaotic flutter of trying to keep them in rhythm; Turbo's deep voice emit a soft chuckle, as well, they continued to beam knowing smiles, a particularly new, proverbial cloud nine they had eagerly caught together, the glow of Turbo's golden eyes nearly lit the sheet music on fire as her now powerful voice carried the love and emotion in his art, his strumming now pressed in a greater show of confidence, "A welcome of tectonic tremors, a feeling I once knew... New eyes honed tight to a glowing beacon."
"Somehow I'm warmed from death," Berri's voice dipped for the dramatic slow of said verse, Turbo's tender strumming filled the room with negative space, a sweet kiss of balance, Berri's ribcage inhaled a proper breath as she pressed on, the words of his heart now deeply resonating with her, simply fueling her craft, from here, "Somehow I'm new..."
"A cold fire of blue, keeping me from feeling true... An upside down void of nonsensical burning stars," Berri confidently pressed, the proper amount of glow easily had come back to Turbo's eyes, his meticulous hands pressed into the neck of his guitar with fervor as they both now catapulted into a new, silent realm of swirling feelings they were only just now trying to come to grips with, Berri felt a pang of girly delight hit her heart as she sang the few differing words in this strain of the chorus, "As if it's only blue, keeping me from loving you, eradicated scars, fresh beat of lonely hearts..."
Berri inhaled a deep breath and felt all the blood rush to her face, her heart pounded with excitement, she was absolutely certain that here and now, they both were very painfully aware of their interest in each other, however deep that all was, Berri was unsure. She shook her head as Turbo's powerful strumming of confidence now sagged to a tender, dainty pluck of the song's insinuated end, she warmly exhaled the final words of his song and felt like an entirely different person, "Somehow... I'm new."
As the final, gentle strum of the last note of the song so tenderly soaked into the mainframe of Berri's bedroom, their eyes, glossed in enchanted wonder, finally honed back to their surroundings. As if thrusted into an alternate reality, and then thrusted back to their point and time on the grid, Berri inhaled a shaky breath, sagged the sheet music and now bashfully peered into Turbo's vividly glowing eyes. They held, a show of unadulterated surprise, somehow they both hadn't given each other enough credit and maybe secretly didn't expect much, though the second Turbo clutched his chest and blurt a shaky, boyish chuckle, alongside an adorable, renewed smile, he shook his head and eased his grateful, floored eye contact back into her shy blue eyes.
"H-Holy, User," Turbo staggered with a more confident laugh as she finally scrunched her shoulders and blurt a giggle down to the hands in her laps, "I-I mean, you said you were a musician but I had no clue you could sing like that. So, you play AND sing?"
"Yeah, I'm... I'm lead singer and guitarist, Wren's on keyboard and Theo's on drums," Berri bobbed a confident nod, somehow she could've sworn Turbo knew about their little jam sessions, their musically inclined talents, though he shook his head in floored surprise and continued to peer into her now raw, opened soul with whole adoration.
"Berri, that was incredible, I mean, wow..." Turbo scoffed, he shook his head and aimlessly looked across Berri's bedroom, as if to be entirely beside himself, "That song sounds a million times better with your voice added to it, mine just made it sound all mopey and raspy."
"Wait... You sing too?" Berri now prod in whole, girly excitement, she could tell Turbo was now regretting revealing such things as he bashfully rubbed the back of his head.
"I-I'm not nearly as good as you, I mean, you've never heard this song in your life and somehow you hit every single note and read every pause, like... Wow," Turbo was still clearly flabbergasted, Berri shrugged.
"I can sight read, I guess I shouldn't have assumed you weren't going to sing the lyrics," Berri cutely smiled to him and now relaxed in their more raw, opened friendship, "I got excited, the tune was so pretty, I couldn't resist."
"Damn, that was wild," Turbo choked a laugh, as did Berri, though as she sagged her soft hand to his lower forearm, they both eased their stirring and locked eyes.
"Thank you... That was so beautiful, and so meaningful," Berri's soft voice eased, she eyed him in warm curiosity and felt her heart pound in further excitement, "Would you mind if I maybe, well... Borrowed this sheet music? I'd love to learn this song... Maybe one day, I can play it for YOU and YOU can sing it for ME."
"Oh, User, you'd, well... It'd take convincing," Turbo staggered, it was here that Berri was absolutely floored to see Turbo's face turn red, something that she never had seen before, due to his darker, sweeter complexion. She narrowed her gaze and watched the cute sight unfold, the way he now finally allowed himself to become visibly bashful and shy, "I-I mean, j-just... Playing this, without singing, with someone listening, was... Well... Extremely hard."
"But you were incredible," Berri encouraged, she shook her head and eyed him in suspicious knowing, "And, it took absolutely no convincing at all..."
Turbo sagged his shoulders and knew he was now doomed, the slippery slope he had finally caught himself in, he lulled his glowing eyes closed and heaved a soft chuckle through his nose. Once he finally reopened his eyes and glossed his gaze across her beautiful bedroom, he finally peered back into her eyes and felt renewed bravery flood him, a hit of new feels, something he felt confident to finally dip his toes into.
"Guess you have that effect on me," Turbo politely revealed, the hidden smolder of truth in his sweet eyes, he knew there was no escape from these feelings now.
