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Snake557 : Oh thank you for that! That's definitely reassuring. Yeah, somehow May and like November are my absolute worst months for numbers. Which is fine, it's just a slum of being mildly discouraged and wondering if people are still reading xD But yeah, thank you for that!
Burgie : As alwayyyys xD You'll find she's the master at hindsight haha. Thank you friend! I appreciate your support.
Romantic Sapp : haha its true xD thank you so much!
Song Listened To :
Goodnight and Go by Imogen Heap
*Chapter 57*
"Somehow, I can see this very first New Years Eve celebration, of ours, going so well, that we will never want to spend New Years Eve anywhere else," Wren stated with a heavy nod of whole entire gawking appreciation; he stood at the gape of Turbo's incredible two-storied floor to ceiling wall of window, in his living room, the view of Orion City was other-worldly.
"I'm not complaining," Theo stated confidently, his bare feet casually lead him across Turbo's tiles, down the small steps and onto the plush white carpet of Turbo's living room.
The gang of four lounged in comfortable clothes, no shoes, and spirits aplenty. It was a perfect, clear night over Orion City, Sugar Rush's incredible palace just glistened on the horizon, like a North Star just aglow with pride. In a slow mosey, followed by Turbo, Berri joined Wren and Theo at the window. Although midnight was merely five minutes away, and the four were ready to toast, Berri couldn't help but think back to what her Uncle Orph had kindly stated to her earlier in the day. The idea of a New Years kiss, the explosion of fireworks once midnight hits, she fantasized about how awesome it'd be to be swept into a romantic kiss, something to start the new year out right, though she heaved a gentle sigh and approached Turbo's gloss of windows. She was well aware her and Turbo weren't well acquainted enough for kissing, let alone any deeper form of romance, like such. She knew the idea of it was all something she now was just mildly dreaming about in her head, and she was okay with keeping it that way, for now.
"Then, let's make a tradition of it, hm?" Turbo's warm, masculine voice eased into their souls, his kind, glowing eyes tenderly glistened against the glass the four stood upon, though he heaved a long sigh, sagged his hands into the lazy, gaping side pockets of his favorite, faded, red sweats, his shoulders sagged as he adorned a nearly-nostalgic smile, "Shame none of us will be partaking in a New Years kiss, or anything."
Berri froze, she remained absolutely frigid, her heart nearly jolted in a whole shiver of stunned surprise. She was entirely certain the idea wouldn't even be touched on, though with the searing hot topic now melting into her skull, she could suddenly feel the sinking, freezing cold touch of dread now hit her skin. The very idea that Wren was majorly cued in to this very topic, something she now was sort of dreading to expand on, she cued her whole mental attention to Wren and just simply waited for him to slaughter her with teasing notions. Before she could feel way too surprised, Theo was the one to speak first, Wren's gentle, polite hesitation had Berri understanding that maybe he was now due to being a bit more sensitive towards Turbo's and Berri's lightly weird predicament.
"I'll kiss yah," Theo stated in a nonchalant chime of cuteness, alongside a shrug; all four individuals held their frothy, delicious drinks to their being, they avoided taking a sip due to waiting to cheers right at midnight; Berri beamed at Theo's cute suggestion, though Turbo scoffed a nearly annoyed noise and shook his head.
"Uh, absolutely not," Turbo grumbled in mild annoyance, Wren blurt a laugh and elbowed Theo with a cheeky grin.
"Keep your mouth to yourself, there will be no kissing," Wren stated confidently, "We will CHEERS. NOTHING more."
"Maybe we should all keep a ten foot distance from one another," Turbo blurt a hard laugh and took a gentle step away from the group, although Berri was wrapped up in the light hearted banter, she was beginning to feel nervous that no one was segueing away from this sensitive topic.
"All four of us should just get our first kisses over with, right here, right now," Theo demanded as he pointed down to the ground in fervor, though Berri furrowed her eyebrows and gave Theo a teasing smile of disbelief, though her ears prickled as Turbo's voice grumbled the three a knowing notion.
"I've already had my first kiss, but you guys aren't stealing any more, from me," Turbo choked a small laugh and hovered at a playful now five foot distance from the rest of the group; Berri raised her eyebrows in cold surprise and tried not to nearly whirl her whole entire shocked expression right for Turbo's soul.
"Y-You... You've previously..." Berri staggered, though she felt like a fish out of water, she knew she was stumbling over her words and choosing the avenue of it all poorly. She knew this by the way Turbo's confident demeanor began to sag, as if he was now potentially worried that maybe she wasn't important enough to gift him his very first kiss, something taken so long ago.
"Yeah, Bear, I... I told you all about it?" Turbo now felt a weird wiggle fall over his spine, he raised his eyebrows in dewy nervousness and felt Wren's, Theo's, and most importantly, Berri's eyes honed tight to his. He swallowed hard and rubbed the back of his head in a bashful manner, and although he knew he for sure told Berri all about his and Libby's previous relationship, complete with swapped codes, he recalled that said conversation happened on the night of her birthday. A night in where she wound up very drunk, "I-I... I'm now recalling that I probably told you everything on the night of your birthday."
"A night I hardly even remember," Berri blurt a small laugh and shook her head, she almost held authoritative eye contact to Turbo's figure, though she knew she had absolutely no right.
"You were pretty drunk," Turbo mumbled with a gentle chuckle, to which Berri heaved an annoyed sigh and glossed her eyes out of Turbo's glorious windows, to the incredible view. Turbo frowned and shook his head, he knew, full well, he'd likely have to repeat everything he told her, though he prayed it wasn't in this moment, "I-I can retell you everything later. It's just... A lot to swallow, I guess. But, yeah... A few years after we were plugged into Litwak's, I had a girlfriend."
Berri bobbed a nod and felt strange. She latched on to the fact that said girlfriend was someone who existed so long ago, though her skin crawled with a million different questions. It was clear that his previous girlfriend wasn't in existence anymore, due to Turbo never mentioning her, someone so far removed from his life now, she knew she didn't even have the right to be feeling mildly defensive over the fact that he had a previous relationship. She comforted herself over the fact that Turbo was nearly four whole decades worth of Arcade time older than her, his past was so strange and convoluted, Berri was well aware this was a learning opportunity. She also dutifully noted the fact that he was now at least a seasoned boyfriend, someone who knew what he was doing. She was glad Turbo's house was dim, cause she was certain the blush across her face was dipping close to a color resembling purple.
"So JUST cheers, then," Theo mumbled in whole dismay, he bobbed a nod and sagged his shoulders, "I want a girlfriend."
"I don't," Wren wrinkled his nose in annoyance, and although Berri tried to force a gentle chuckle to hopefully prove she now wasn't feeling too weird about this all, she was at least thrilled to see Turbo open up, a brave notion of warm, exposed feelings he knew he was safe revealing.
"I do too," Turbo kindly eased, in agreeing to Theo's previous statement. Turbo shrugged and almost bashfully lofted Berri his glowing eye contact, "It's got it's ups and downs, but overall, it's pretty fun spoiling someone."
Berri eased him a kind smile, though it was here did she almost feel tortured. She knew Turbo was just stating previous experiences, and what that all entailed, though she nearly began to feel jealous of the empty spaces in his arms, between his fingers. She wondered why she felt that itch to be the one to fill the void, some terrific force just yanking her closer and closer, she tried so hard not to get way too ahead of herself. Berri warmly caught eyes with Turbo, and it was in his strong eye contact, held only with her, did she begin to feel that giddy, joyous spark of hopeful desire come back to her heart. It smashed any sense of unwarranted jealousy to bits, the way his confident smile held unwavering, just for her, she could almost just simply hear Turbo asking her to be his, just with his body language alone. Berri huffed a faltered breath and finally peeled her eyes from him in a show of girly bashfulness; she was entirely thankful both Wren and Theo seemed oblivious to any of this.
"I like being spoiled," Wren stated plainly with a shrug, "Turbo, you know of any guys readily available for said spoilings?"
Turbo furrowed his brow, looked off, and thought a moment. Turbo knew that Throttle had never come out with his own orientation, to him, though Turbo was still well aware of the fact. He finally peaked a cute curl of a toothy smile and narrowed his gaze, "Yeah, I know a guy."
"You do? Who?" Wren staggered in now serious confusion, he lowered his drink and peeled his eyes from the city's view, and straight into Turbo's cute, cheeky smile.
"Yeah, my older brother," Turbo assured cutely, though Berri raised her eyebrows in poised cuteness and now volleyed Wren a look of entire sass, as if she was now more than ready to begin teasing Wren over the very thing Wren had been teasing her for, ever since they all met Turbo.
"Th-Throttle?" Wren stumbled, he cleared his throat and shrugged, a forced wall of nonchalance, he knew he couldn't ever be caught with his guard down, "He's cool, huh."
"I'd say," Turbo blurt a laugh and shrugged, "He's one of the coolest guys I know."
"Aww, how sweet! You and a TurboTime guy," Berri so eagerly volleyed, oh the sweet revenge she was beyond floored to deploy all over her now frozen in fear uncle.
"Yeah, yeah, great minds think alike, don't you think, Bear?" Wren stabbed as he kept his teeth clenched, he bugged his eyes at Berri and gave her a mean, teasing look of taunting delight, as if to clearly state that he wouldn't be beat at his own game.
"Whatever," Berri now muttered, a quick fold she knew she had to afford due to the fact that her own said TurboTime guy was currently present.
"Whoa guys, one minute left," Theo blurt with an excited, beaming smile. He jostled his drink, waggled his eyebrows and gestured to himself, as well as the three before him, "Y'sure none of you want a New Years kiss from me?"
"THEO. All of us, but Turbo, are RELATED to you," Berri choked a hard laugh and came out of her gentle slope of shyness, though Turbo groaned and covered his face.
"Can I PRETEND I'm related to him? For literally two seconds?" Turbo mumbled into his hand as everyone eased into excited laughter.
"NO ONE KISS ANYONE," Wren suddenly staggered in a loud tone as he scrunched his shoulders and nearly dropped his drink, he shook his head in a flurry and bulged his eyes, "No kisses. We'll cheers! No one touch anyone!"
"A very hands-off New Years," Berri grumbled as she rolled her eyes, she shot Turbo a cheeky smile and shook her head, "Is this the New Year's tradition as well?"
"Should we all pick a corner?" Turbo beamed a wide smile and softly lofted his gaze across his home, as if to contemplate his idea in its entirety.
"We have twenty seconds," Theo urged in whole excitement, though everyone suddenly flinched the second a loud bang could be heard from down below, near a neighboring sky scraper; someone, on the ground, had set off a few fireworks prematurely. Theo pointed as Wren and Berri blurt into louder laughter, "That's not fair! They didn't wait!"
"Maybe our clocks are off," Turbo tried hard to collect his laughter, how easily it wanted to just wildly run away from him, he clutched his stomach and almost was successful in reigning it all in, though the second Berri's adorable, contagious laughter hit his ears, he knew he was doomed.
"Get ready, guys," Wren stated as he bounced on the balls of his feet in boyish excitement, everyone eagerly peered out to the city, the tender display of a few fireworks before them fizzled into bright, lovely colors before fogging into the wind over the massive, twinkling city.
"Five," Theo started loudly, a methodical count in time, and although everyone had quickly swore not to stand close to one another, they resisted and huddled tight into each other's gravity, drinks at the ready; all four loudly continued with the countdown in impending excitement, "Four, three, two, ONE!"
"Happy new year!" Berri shouted, as did everyone, in excitement as Berri gently flung her arm upwards, and in a whole, reverberating show of bass, massive sections of the city immediately erupted in fireworks. In whole surprise, even some were sent off from the palace lot, the whole city was illuminated with the explosion of awesome, huge fireworks, something they had an incredible seat for, a near birds-eye view.
In a gentle swoop of smiles and excited notions, all four eagerly clinked their glasses together in a proper cheers, they made sure to let their glasses touch each and every other person's glasses, and in unison, all four fell silent to take a hearty swig of their delicious, frothy drinks. In beaming, renewed smiles, only three people lowered their glasses and came up for air, the other continued to down their drink with huge, deep gulps; Theo was nearly bottoms-up, at this point.
"Chug! Chug! Chug!" Wren suddenly began to loudly chant, though Berri blurt a laugh and covered her mouth in whole surprise, Theo surprisingly made his entire drink vanish in one single go.
"Ohhh, dude," Turbo muttered in a hard grimace, as if to entirely state that Theo was going to regret that.
"Theodore Trey Von Schweetz...!" Berri stated in a gasp of exasperated surprise as she clutched her bare sternum, she shook her head and went absolutely wide eyed at her cousin, Theo wiped his mouth with his larger hand and gave all three of his friends a wide, doughy smile of cuteness, he simply was a puppy dog still growing into his paws, a boy just asking for trouble. Berri finally heaved a hard laugh and covered her face, she shook her head as now everyone was lost in laughter, "You are going to HATE yourself shortly."
"Oh, man, that was sooo good," Theo shook his head, he inhaled a deep breath, jostled his empty cup a little and now eyed the kitchen in a fervor that everyone was now beginning to cheekily fear, "Can I have more?"
"Theo, maybe you should like... Eat something, or sleep, o-or... NOT," Wren encouraged with a hard laugh as he shrugged and peered back to Berri and Turbo, they stood frozen in a strange show of smiling, impending fear, though they all jolted as Theo quickly launched from their little gathering and began to basically claim Turbo's kitchen as his own. Wren flinched and urgently began to scramble after him, "No, no, no, THEO! NO! No more!"
Berri eased a gentle laugh and watched the two stroll away, her feet quickly began to work to move her in the direction of her two family members, though as she got maybe halfway to the kitchen, she slowed her roll, furrowed her eyebrows and froze. She sagged her shoulders and peered into the kitchen, she watched as Wren and Theo were now loudly chattering and bickering back and forth, clearly lost in their own predicament, it was here that her heart began to pound in tenderness. She long blinked in the roll of so softly looking over her shoulder, the sight she saw simultaneously made her heart swell and her eyes threaten to billow with tears, the adorably bittersweet vision before her was nearly too much for her retinas to take in.
Stood facing his own city, Turbo's dark figure peered out to the splay of incredible fireworks, the amazing blur of lights and the reverberating bass of the explosions, the proverbial unfold of what this new year entailed, Berri held her breath and felt realization hit her skin. The realization that, this was the very first New Years Turbo was able to actually celebrate with friends, in likely what had been well over thirty New Years. Berri furrowed her eyebrows and so badly wanted to just weep at the thought of such a rare, fragile and loving creature even remotely feeling lonely, she could hardly imagine just how difficult this all was for him, and with her heart now pounding with purpose, she knew this was the marker to switch it all up, to wholly remind him that this was a new leaf being turned over. This near year was going to be grand, and she was well aware she needed to do something to remind him of such.
With silent, skillful footwork, she ever so carefully came back to Turbo's gravity. She was glad she could still hear Wren and Theo loudly laughing and bickering from the other room, because as she pushed into Turbo's tighter vicinity, she allowed bravery to soak into their small orbit of secrecy, even though they weren't totally hidden. As she came upon Turbo's left side, she skillfully held her drink in her left hand and so warmly inched her right hand and arm in between the sag of Turbo's left arm and around the middle of his back. Grateful that she didn't startle him, she did everything she could to sink herself into the warmth of his side, like two right puzzle pieces, and as she lulled her eyes closed and stood up on her bare tip toes, she hugged her arm about his lightly-muscular back, lulled her eyes closed and eased a firm, warm kiss into the squish of Turbo's cheek.
She tightly hugged him in their snuggly side hug, she was well aware she had caught him off guard the second Turbo went to flinch but then held still for her prolonged kiss to his stubbly cheek, though as she slowly eased off of him, and her warm, plump lips finally peeled from his cheek, she was floored to feel him tighten the ravel of his left arm and hand about her body. She reopened her eyes, slowly sagged back to the flat of her feet and fluttered her eyes open in a bashful show of a small smile, girly eyes that glistened in the glow of his surprised, glowing, golden eyes. He raised his eyebrows and peered down to her in whole, adoring surprise, his hand lovingly held tight to the dip of her waist, he daringly held her to him, amidst their little side hug, though it was clear by the look of near-dumbfounded delight, on his face, that he was rocked from the face of Arcade. He finally, and just barely, huffed a shaky chuckle and long-blinked in almost dizzy confusion, his demeanor looked so taken aback, as if this little notion of love, from Berri, was something he was entirely not expecting, though wholly appreciated.
"If you haven't noticed by now, I don't like playing by the rules," Berri mumbled with a gentle giggle, and although the blush across her cheeks was apparent, Turbo was floored that she seemed confident in her actions, the way she remained warmly glued into their snuggly side hug. Turbo scoffed a gentle laugh and didn't dare take his eyes from the beauty he so badly just wanted to ravel into a complete, romantic embrace, though he refrained, for a number of reasons. Berri continued on and shrugged her cute, bare shoulders, "Rules were meant for breaking. I wanted that New Years kiss... N-no matter what form."
"Thank you," Turbo's deep voice pressed in gentlemanly gratitude, he bobbed a small nod and held eyes with her in a show of daring cheek, almost as if to secretly warn her that if she were to keep up any more of these pressing, nagging, romantic notions, that she'd eventually have poked the bear hard enough to wake him from his hibernation.
"Happy New Year, Bo," Berri warmly encouraged in a gentle nod of cute conclusion, their eyes nearly twinkled into each others, a string of understanding, both knowing full well this year was entirely due to be exciting, no matter what that looked like.
"Happy New Year, Bear," Turbo exhaled in a sigh of warm contentment.
