Reviews :
Snake557 : Haha, Turbo gets away with it. Zed has eased off now that Berri's an adult.
Romantic Sapp : Aww thank you! Yes, 2 year old artwork xD Insane how that happens!
Burgie : Thank you! ;_; I'm glad you think so!
chuckiboo : Hey! I meant to reply to you in my last chapter. Thanks for keeping up, hope you're well!
Song Listened To :
Walk Me Home by P!nk
*Chapter 63*
"Hey, man," Turbo eased to Throttle in a soft tone of almost mild dejection; he softly shuffled into Throttle's warm home, both men escaped Sugar Rush's bitter, cold, snowy nightfall. As Throttle closed his larger, wooden front door with a clack, sealing them away in warmth for good, Turbo heaved a sigh of relief and began to take off his dark red zip up hoodie, "Thanks for letting me come over so late... Berri and company kept stopping by, and I had no excuse to stop them from coming."
"I understand," Throttle said through a small laugh, he firmly pat Turbo's back as he passed him in his dimly lit foyer, and as they both eased deeper into Throttle's home, they sagged into his lower-leveled living room and found spots amidst Throttle's comfortable living room chairs and couches to sit. Throttle raised his eyebrows, once he sat down, and tenderly brought his steaming cup of frothy, milky coffee up to his mouth, "Night owls unite."
"Amen," Turbo huffed sarcastically, he sat down onto Throttle's comfortable white couch in a slump and raised his eyebrows in cute, dewy surprise, the fact that Throttle had preemptively made him a cup of hot coffee, as well. Turbo froze in his actions before gently reaching for the handle of the glossy brown mug on Throttle's glass coffee table, "For me?"
"For you," Throttle assured with a nod, and though he knew to tread as lightly as humanely possible, he still cocked an eyebrow at his younger brother and bobbed another nod of whole understanding, "Figured you'd need it... With a text like that, I was sure we'd be here awhile, so... I prepared."
"Thank you," Turbo sighed as he sagged back into the couch with his hot, delicious cup of coffee. His grey pointer finger idly ran around the rim of the cup as he aimlessly gazed into the steamy liquid, "I... I appreciate it, a lot. Sorry I sort of came at you, like that, I just... It hit me like a wall, and I had no clue who to message. All I knew is I needed to message someone."
"Your secrets are safe with me," Throttle assured, once more, a stoic, unmoving wall of love and protection, something Turbo had so greatly missed.
"Safest, probably," Turbo shrugged in a soft bob of a nod, he shot his cheeky, kind, glowing yellow eyes tight to his big brother's line of sight, both boys erupted in gentle chuckling, "I-I could easily tell Nox all this as well, but... I always went to you for advice."
"Nox is actually probably a better fit for a conversation like this, to be honest, but..." Throttle shrugged and lofted his left ankle over his right knee in a lazy crossed position, he sagged deeper into his comfortable, light brown recliner and sighed Turbo his conclusion, "I'm honored, either way."
"Guess I could still run it by him," Turbo furrowed his brow and looked off, it was here did Throttle understand that he'd probably have to take the reigns with this conversation, the way Turbo grew nervous and faltered in words, a bashful show of a typically walled off, secluded individual; proof to Throttle that Turbo was, indeed, harboring a mass of warm, new feelings.
"Tell me what's going on, then? Where did this all come from?" Throttle prod softly, he knew he'd hit harder questions later.
"Entirely out of the blue," Turbo sighed, a sweet smile sprawled his face, he looked illuminated with love, though his eyes still held a very real amount of apprehension and terror, "You know that stupid Gamer Social commercial that plays literally any chance it gets?"
"Oh, the one where the girl was so persistent and annoying that the secluded guy finally just caved and fell in love with his best friend?" Throttle rushed in a lazy show of redundancy, though as he replayed the words in his head, and Turbo's eyes held tight to Throttle's in baited wait, Throttle raised his eyebrows in a slow spike of now brimming laughter. Both men were rocketed into a warm bout of chuckling, whole understanding as to just where Turbo was coming from, "Ahhh, I see, I see... The commercial must've hit you square between the eyes."
"It was like the room was on fire," Turbo sighed, he set his coffee down on the table, after taking a sip. He rested his elbows on his knees, shook his head and looked off in aimless thought, "I mean... Berri and I have sort of developed this flirty, banter-like friendship, over the last month and a half we've been together, but... I-I don't know. I walled off, I made certain that it stayed that way. It's almost not fair, it's like I don't have any control over this feeling."
"So, you DON'T want to be in love with her?" Throttle dared, stickier questions began to slowly come to the surface, and it was with Turbo's prolonged silence did both men hold eyes in a string of nervous anticipation.
"I do," Turbo's voice lilted in a depth of sweet, masculine, pin-prickled cuteness. He narrowed his eyes in a soft smile and barely shook his head as both men caught eyes, "That's what scares me... I vowed to never allow myself to feel this way, ever again. Look where it got me last time..."
"That was LAST time," Throttle urged gently, he knew this topic would quickly segue to Turbo's and Libby's past relationship, "There's so much, in this situation, that is different. So much. It's night and day."
"HOW is it different, Tee, I mean really," Turbo shook his head and lulled his eyes closed, "Libby Swirlz was bratty, played the guitar, she was a firecracker of nonsense. Tell me how that is different from Berri, please."
"That's just the kind of women you go for, that's your TYPE," Throttle encouraged with a shrug, "So what? Doesn't mean HISTORY will repeat itself. Just because you found a rebirth of new love, doesn't mean that you're going to swap codes with Berri, the game will get unplugged, Lash will sweep you away to another racing game, and you'll be trapped with Berri's coding for another thirty years."
"...If Sugar Rush gets unplugged, I'm going down with the ship, because you can't pay me enough to leave the game," Turbo rushed with a soft laugh, to which Throttle joined and gestured his arm out.
"See? It's a different situation. Sugar Rush is established, it's not going anywhere, and... If I'm being honest with you, you're treating this time around, with Berri, a lot more responsibly than you ever did with Libby Von Swirlz," Throttle assured, though he cocked an eyebrow and gave his little brother a stern look, "You remember how that all went..."
"It was thirty years ago, Throttle, I mean, really," Turbo grumbled in a gentle sting of despair, "I don't even remember HOW to properly code swap, let alone do ANYTHING that pertains to romance, anymore... That's how long it's been."
"You and Libby literally dove head first into your relationship, Bo," Throttle interrupted with a hard chuckle, he waved Turbo off and shook his head in further irritation, "I remember the day we met Libby... You immediately fell head over heels, and the second we all got upgraded with them, I mean, wow... It was either that night, or the next night, that you guys shared codes. Neither of you wasted ANY time."
Turbo raised his eyebrows in gentle remembrance and thought hard on Throttle's words, he heaved a long sigh through his nose, looked down to his conjoined hands and hung in Throttle's wise notions.
"You both were high score racers, at the absolute top of your game... It was no surprise you two rushed away with each other's coding, none of us were surprised," Throttle smiled a warm smile into Turbo's eyes, one of love and understanding. He narrowed his eyes, side-eyed Turbo and continued on in a deeper tone of tenderness, "I can see the growth in you, Turbo... It's taken thirty years of turmoil and hatred, but... You've come out of the other side of all of your hardships a much better man. You're patient, you're cautious, I mean, hell, lookit you. You've fallen in love with your best friend, and you look absolutely mortified about it."
"I am!" Turbo blurt, both boys immediately burst out into knowing laughter, a warmth that filled Throttle's home to the brim.
"Thirty years ago, you'd have grabbed Berri by the hand and whisked her away for a whole night of code swapping. You would've wasted absolutely no time, you wouldn't have asked questions, you wouldn't text me that you needed a shoulder," Throttle listed, his sweet voice hovered over Turbo's soul like a warm embrace, "This situation is entirely different... And I think you should most definitely welcome it into your life, with open arms."
Turbo raised his eyebrows and continued to soak in Throttle's loving words of finalization, he held eyes with his big brother and now was entirely relieved he had reached out to Throttle. Turbo bobbed a nod of gentle agreeing, looked down to his hands, once more, and felt his heart just continue to pound with these lovely, new feelings. Feelings that latched onto his soul for good and now refused to let go. He long blinked in nervousness, more questions and worries that continued to pop up in his coding, he was hoping Throttle had allotted a solid amount of time for this conversation.
"There's just... So much to unpack," Turbo sighed in defeat, he urgently peered to Throttle and was prepared to nervously lay it all out before him, "I-I mean, like... What do I even tell Libby? Wh-what do I tell Zed? What do I even tell BERRI? She's a self-programmed gamer, for User's sakes, I don't have experience with that!"
"Yeah, I was gunna bring that up," Throttle blurt a hard chuckle, and was successful in getting the same reaction out of Turbo, though worry quickly flood Turbo's demeanor, once more.
"There's so much at stake, it's... It's like she showed up on my doorstep, that one day, hexed me, and now I'm just doomed," Turbo staggered, Throttle blurt another chuckle and shook his head.
"Okay, one person at a time... You have no reason to be worried about Libby," Throttle kindly reassured with a nod, he gave Turbo a loving smile the second his wavering, scared yellow orbs sagged to his own, "Libby is happily married to Ace, with two children... Although she's not simply the SAME Libby Swirlz, she still has all those memories of you and her. She's in an entirely different headspace. She would WANT you to be happy, I know that for a fact."
"But, Berri's basically her little sister," Turbo worried, he grappled his head and shut his eyes tight, "It's just... SO convoluted. Not to mention, Ace would probably delete my ass in one keystroke if he found out."
"Found out what! You simply feel LOVE!" Throttle loudly argued, he continued to chuckle at just how worried and worked up Turbo was getting, "Man, I mean I KNEW these last thirty years have not been kind to you, but you've become the hugest worry wart."
"And then Zed? You understand what falling for Berri really means, in the long run," Turbo shook his head and looked off. He narrowed his gaze and strangely felt a weird urge to weep just brim at the back of his throat, "It's... It's all Lash ever wanted for either one of us... And now that it's strangely right at my fingertips..."
"...To be King?" Throttle sweetly pressed, he knew he needed to get Turbo to see all of this in a new light, "There's a huge difference here, Turbo. You're not rushing in and stealing the crown. You're not robbing unborn code boxes, you're not brainwashing unfortunate souls from other games, you're not wrangling in everyone's insecurities and getting inside peoples heads, just to be in charge..."
Turbo finally dragged a forlorn look of crumpling understanding into his big brother's eyes, and although he had been successful in not allowing this overwhelming swell of new feelings to swallow him whole, a gentle, glassy layer of tears brimmed in Turbo's confidently glowing, glistening eyes. Throttle shook his head, sat forward, set his cup of coffee on his table and eased a little tighter into Turbo's gravity.
"You would have earned it, Turbo," Throttle's voice eased above a whisper, he continued to peer to Turbo in a narrowed gaze of understanding warmth and love, "This is how it's supposed to go... If you live life with your hands in a fist, there's no room for anything good to be placed into them. You've let go of your desire for power, and with such... It strangely found its way right back to you, in a rebirth of humility and purpose."
"I-I don't need the crown, it's not even what I'd want out of this situation," Turbo staggered as a few tears finally slipped down his matte grey skin, he long blinked and held vulnerable eye contact with Throttle, "She could be a simple Orion City commoner, for all I care... I don't care her stature, I just..."
Throttle softly smiled and remained silent for Turbo to continue to reveal his feelings, to show his bare heart, to finally prove that he could find sheer strength in being entirely vulnerable. Turbo shook his head and, after a moment of aimlessly peering into his coffee mug, he finally gave Throttle his glassy eyes, once more.
"I want her to be mine," Turbo patiently revealed, he inhaled a shaky breath and shrugged, "I've... I've never felt so sure about anything. Just when I thought I was successful at keeping all my feelings at bay, all it took was a STUPID television commercial to bring me right to my knees."
Throttle blurt out into hard laughter, which finally had Turbo's teeth showing in a full fledged grin. He wiped his cheeks in a flustered way, sat up a little straighter and finally joined in, officially, to Throttle's continued laughter.
"And right in time for her to befriend none-other than Gunner Ko," Turbo staggered in a final huff of sighing annoyance, Throttle eased his laughter and wiped his eyes free of tears of laughter.
"O-Oh, for User's sakes, it's just a crush, you know how those go," Throttle continued to chuckle.
"I know it's so soon, but... I just hope I'm not too late, already," Turbo sighed from their laughing fit, he gave Throttle a nervous look and shrugged.
"It's not so soon, Bo... And it's most definitely not too late," Throttle shook his head in assurance, "It's been a little over a month. Sure, it's too soon to maybe throw all your feelings onto Berri and get extremely serious with her, but... I don't think it'd hurt to just tell her how you are beginning to feel. Maybe ask her out on a date?"
"I can't do that," Turbo grumbled, Throttle furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.
"Why not?" Throttle prod.
"I don't want to go into Orion City, you know how I am about being seen," Turbo grumbled, though he flinched the second Throttle heavily rolled his eyes and heaved a loud, annoyed sigh.
"Bo, do you want me to tell you how many times Nox and I have been in and out of the palace? Let alone Sugar Rush?" Throttle rushed to carry on, though Turbo loudly interrupted him.
"Yeah! You guys aren't me! You guys aren't hated worldwide!" Turbo barked with an annoyed laugh, "I can't go out without being crucified. I can't ask Berri out on a date because I'm positive she'd want to go somewhere inside the city. I'm not cut out for this whole... Dating nonsense. Why can't I just have her over to my loft?"
"Because you guys are there all the time," Throttle argued, "If you want to move forward with her, you're going to have to come out of your comfort zones. You're going to have to go into the city, you're going to have to EVENTUALLY leave Sugar Rush, Bo..."
"I'm never leaving Sugar Rush, Tee, I'm sorry," Turbo argued stubbornly, "Berri already knows this about me."
"And I'm sure it's killing her," Throttle volleyed back, both boys began to get heated, "I'm sure she doesn't show it, but I'm sure all those previous, fun trips to Dead Zed were included with her wishing you were there. I can almost guarantee she tells Wren and Theo those words."
"I already promised her I'd think about going into the city, I don't want to be pushed too hard too fast," Turbo retort firmly, he shook his head and held his forehead, "I... I just... I'm terrified that I have no control over these feelings. I don't have a choice but to just allow this to soak over me. I need to have some control SOMEWHERE."
"It's fine, Bo, just... I can see that being a roadblock, in the future," Throttle backed off, he sighed in slight annoyance and shook his head, "I mean, she's now good friends with Gunner. What if, by some keystroke of User, she lands a spot next to him on stage? Wouldn't you want to go see her shows?"
Turbo raised his eyebrows in dumbfounded surprise, as if he hadn't even thought of that possibility. He heaved a long, annoyed sigh and shook his head with his eyes shut tight.
"... Course I would," Turbo assured, though he frowned and continued to stubbornly hold onto his worries, "But I can't. I don't want to risk my life. I know she'd understand."
"I hear you," Throttle bobbed a nod of gentle defeat, he knew Turbo was extremely stubborn when it came to his own well being, though he found it frustrating that Turbo's nose was pushed up against the painting, "Just... Promise me you'll at least keep it all at the forefront of your thoughts."
"I will," Turbo curtly agreed, Throttle knew it was simply to get both boys further away from the conversation, and although Throttle wanted to keep arguing, he knew to just let it rest, for now.
"... I often wonder what Lash would think of how everything unfolded, here inside Sugar Rush," Throttle tenderly pressed after a few moments of warm silence between both boys, and although Turbo inhaled a deep breath and looked as if he had a thousand things he'd like to say, he huffed a long, hard sigh and seemed defeated, all in one breath, "Y'think he'd change his mind about everything? Be content by not being in charge? Sugar Rush is doing better than ever."
"I think he'd eventually come around," Turbo looked down, "That's another reason I would be worried to, well..."
"... Be King?" Throttle concluded, he was well aware this was likely a lot for Turbo to take in.
"I'd be King," Turbo finally hissed in disbelief as he narrowed his eyes and shook his head, "I-I mean, that is if Berri even agreed to, well... Being with me."
"I'm certain she would," Throttle grumbled out of kindness.
"I'd be worried to unbubble Lash, then... I can almost hear him now," Turbo muttered, as if to slowly have a very real amount of distasted for all of Lash's previous antics, " 'I told you you couldn't stay away from chasing after that crown. Addicting huh?' "
"Lash is... A confused child," Throttle huffed a sigh and looked off to the side.
"He'd just view Berri as a trophy I earned," Turbo mumbled in disheartened defeat, "I guess it doesn't matter what others think, but... This all just looks REALLY bad."
"Why do you think so?" Throttle genuinely prod.
"I held Sugar Rush in a death grip for so long, with Lash... One year after Sugar Rush's princess is now of age, I decide to fancy her? Out of the hundreds of thousands of other women in this User forsaken Arcade, I choose Sugar Rush's princess," Turbo cocked an eyebrow and gave Throttle a knowing look, to which he grit his teeth in understanding.
"Yeahhh... I mean, to an outsider, it might look extremely sticky, but," Throttle shrugged and gave Turbo a kind look of understanding, "Everyone that knows you and Berri knows that's absolutely not the case. Hell, even Tess and Zed really like you, I'm sure getting their approval would be no issue."
"It wouldn't," Turbo agreed with a sigh and a shrug, "I've actually already talked to Zed about this, briefly... The night of Berri's birthday."
"Ohh yeah, where she slept over at your place," Throttle grit his teeth and blurt a chuckle, "Yikes."
"Yeah, he was livid," Turbo choked a laugh and shook his head, he gave Throttle a warm smile, "It was misunderstanding, and we quickly got on the same page... He actually said I was welcome to Berri, given consent and the like... Can you believe it?"
"Really? He gave you his word?" Throttle ogled in confusion, though Turbo half shrugged and looked off.
"I mean, I think it was more like... 'If you ever want to think about being with my daughter, I'm open to TALKING about it', kind of thing," Turbo rushed, he rubbed his temples in exhaustion and lulled his eyes closed, "I'm pretty sure he'd still give me a stern talking to, a whole slew of ideas of just what would happen if I were to break her heart."
"All the wreckers on the lot would break your face," Throttle volleyed, though Turbo smiled at said fact, simply due that he was well aware he'd never do anything to break Berri's heart.
"Rightfully so," Turbo agreed in warm conclusion, though both men fell silent in a slew of tender warmth.
Turbo now rubbed his eyes in sleepiness, Throttle assessed his little brother. A sweet, kindred soul of entire misunderstanding, a rare breed of a bitey individual wrapped up in a thick padding of past trauma, Throttle knew that the only reason he had come out of his shell, as of late, was due to Berri's contagious, loving soul. Throttle narrowed his eyes and easily could see his little brother properly taking care of not only Sugar Rush, but Sugar Rush's sweet, blue haired princess, with great success. Throttle could feel his heart swell with emotion, a warm, loving smile sprawled his cheeks, he knew he'd be honored to call Turbo King, one day, given everything in Turbo's path panned out to his liking.
"Turbo, I'm going to give you one last bit of racing advice," Throttle finally revealed, he looked down to his hands and felt Turbo's confused, curiously glowing eye contact land right onto his soul, "There's one last thing I forgot to teach you."
"... Racing advice," Turbo repeated, his eyes looked off in aimless back tracking, years and years of memories came flooding back to him, all those times Throttle would urge Turbo to be faster, to be sharper, Turbo furrowed his brow in a spike of hot confusion and wondered just where Throttle's previous racing advice could come in handy, here.
"Forget everything I taught you, all that time ago," Throttle warmly concluded as both men held tight, knowing eye contact. Throttle bobbed a nod, long blinked in understanding and gave Turbo a cute smile of humility, "Ease on the brakes and find the cruise control, my friend. Slow and steady wins the race."
Turbo held his breath and felt a wave of new warmth come over him, a soak of rising from the ashes of this entire situation, he finally beamed a gentle smile down to his hands and bobbed a nod of cute understanding. As Throttle's new words soaked tight into his brain, and held glued there in permanence, Turbo inhaled a readied breath and knew this was a situation he had to handle with the greatest care. As his racing coach, Turbo knew to take his word seriously, no matter what that advice looked like. Turbo finally gave Throttle his eye contact, once more, a thick layer of understanding sapped the room, their string of endearment held unwavering and solid.
"Thank you," Turbo's deep voice revealed in whole gratitude, he bobbed a small nod and furrowed his brow for emphasis, "I won't let you down."
Throttle smiled, he breathed a small, content sigh of conclusion, "You never have."
