Reviews :
Jak Sketchin : LMAO! omg could you imagine xD Chester does get a proper voice, and it IS from a certain someone! ;D
Burgie : The more Berri falls for Turbo, the more uncomfortable she gets, and the more distance she tries to wedge between the two, but fails miserably LMAO
Snake557 : Unfortunately, Berri is practically the equivalent of a giddy 'of age' school girl that has two really awesome boys she wants to impress and cater to. So, naturally, patience doesn't come easy. Especially for someone as quick-to-leap as Berri lol.
Song Listened To :
Stuck in the Middle by Mike Posner
*Chapter 67*
"Okay, so, can I ask a favor or two?" Beri wondered in dry cuteness, she shrugged her shoulders as she confidently strolled into Turbo's warm, cozy loft. Chester happily traipsed after her as Turbo staggered outside his front door, in his dimly lit foyer, though he grunted Berri a kind noise of inquiry and began to set his foyer lights to a more darker afternoon setting.
"Anything," Turbo's warm voice breathed, and as he stepped inside his house, his large front door slid closed with a hefty thud, sealing the three inside for good.
"Could you make me that cup of hot chocolate you promised, now, and then when Theo, Wren and Throttle come over later, can you make me ANOTHER one, too?" Berri rushed in girly delight, she sagged her larger hands to Turbo's kitchen island, the one that was now closest to the garage side door and his lovely, much larger dining room table. The air of confidence radiating off of her was beyond palpable, something that Turbo dutifully noted. Berri gave Turbo her beautiful eye contact, a sheepish smile of pure sweetness, "Just... Pretend I only had one, and not two. Can we just keep it our little secret?"
Turbo cocked an eyebrow and gave her a playfully stern look of tease. He finally exhaled an annoyed, long sigh through his nose, an audible noise of pure tease and bantering the two knew very well, by now. Berri blurt a hard giggle and slumped onto Turbo's island as he silently bowed to her wishes, he knew he'd wait on her every single wish, hand and foot until the day he endured an official game over. His gentle touch began to softly and kindly rummage through his cabinets for the cocoa powder, and once he eased to his glorious, double doored refrigerator, he finally cocked an eyebrow and shot her yet another annoyed look of smiling, cheeky glee, as if to silently make fun of her for wanting more sweets than what was previously suggested.
"Stoppp," Berri whined as she finally sagged her face into her hands, her elbows were firmly planted on his kitchen island. She sat comfortably at the bar stools on the opposite side of the kitchen, from where Turbo was planted.
"Yes, your highness, it'll be our little secret," Turbo mumbled kindly as he finally turned his back to her and began to prepare her a delicious cup of hot chocolate.
His hands worked with his kettle, a gentle, methodical click of his gas stove, and with a spark, the blue flames gently lit underneath his gorgeous, lightly dinged grey kettle. His golden eyes aimlessly gazed down at the flame, it eagerly licked at the bottom edges of the kettle and began to heat the water inside. The metaphor of simple, little secrets now being built upon his and Berri's blossoming friendship had his stomach itching. He furrowed his brows and held his breath, the very idea of building the very base of trust between safely harbored secrets and information, only passed between him and Berri, was something he was dutifully wanting to strengthen. A foundation of solid concrete, something the both of them could rely on. He cocked an eyebrow and just barely peered to her, over his shoulder; she was so sweetly ruffling the fur on Chester's chest, her lovely voice cooed adorable, sweet notions of nothings to him, he was well aware he had made clear to Berri that he was, indeed, not a bluffer, and any card he played was the right one.
"Tell me about your day, Bear," Turbo warmly eased, he finally turned around to face her, rested his lower back to the edge of his kitchen counter, away from the flames on the stove. He crossed his masculine arms and relaxed.
"Oh, it was so good," Berri sighed as she, too, relaxed, she sagged her shoulders and tucked her hair behind her ears the second Chester began to so slowly peel his gravity from her's and straight for Turbo's, "I mean, it was weird, because... In hanging out with Gunner, Wren, Theo and I are now sort of considered celebrities alongside him. I signed a lot of autographs today... For what? I'm not entirely sure. Can't say I complain, though."
"Wow, autographs? That's awesome," Turbo blurt a chuckle as Chester's taller, bumbling body came moseying straight for Turbo, his head was held low, ears sagged flat, the very epitome of humble, loving submission. He hung his turquoise tongue out of his mouth, happily panted and came upon Turbo in search for head and ear scratches. Turbo grunted a noise the second Chester's blind self clumsily bumped into his center, his whole sense of depth was entirely out the window. Turbo blurt a soft laugh and kindly began to bow to Chester's needs, as well, his masculine hands did everything they could to give the backs of Chester's ears a good scratch session, "I'm assuming Gunner is probably taking that as a good sign, huh... Testing the waters, seeing how you three handle fame. Is that why you texted me about the deletion protection, earlier?"
"Yeah, I... Well..." Berri now began to look nervous. She looked down to her hands and shook her head in gentle confusion, "Gunner, well... Invited us to come to EZ Living today. He was going to take us on a tour inside his mansion, on Keppel Crest."
"...Shit, a mansion? On Keppel Crest, no less?" Turbo ogled, he shook his head and honed his eyes to the top of Chester's head, a very secretive, well hid sting of mild jealousy began to brew inside of him, something he was a master at hiding, "Well... I-I'm sorry you had to turn it down. We'll make sure to cover a lot of ground work tonight, on the deletion protection. I-I know your mother wanted all of u to have a meeting with the Academy board... A few important people are actually interested about the technology, so we should probably get on it, anyways."
"Wh-when do you think it'll be able to be finished?" Berri wondered shyly, she shook her head and began to look even more nervous, "I-I mean... Not to rush you."
"It's no issue," Turbo chuckled, he shook his head and curiously peered to her, as if to maybe be confused as to why she had now become so nervous, "I'd say maybe a week or two of perfecting... It's not something to rush, Bear. It's people's lives literally at stake."
"I know," Berri sighed, she looked down to her hands, on Turbo's cold, dark marble counters; she knew patience was definitely not her strong suit.
"We can take a good, hard look at it tonight and see what comes up," Turbo assured warmly, he bobbed a nod and now began to feel almost defeated in reassuring Berri. He continued to firmly scratch at Chester's ears, all while keeping his attention on his kettle, on the stove. Turbo sagged his shoulders and gave Berri a nervous frown, "I know you... You probably really want to go into EZ Living, huh... It's a GREAT opportunity, I mean if Gunner wanted to slap you guys right onto his team? The distance your talent would go? The sheer amount of people you guys would reach?"
"I-I guess I never really thought about my talent being put out in the world, like this, until there was a MASSIVE opportunity right at my fingertips," Berri shrugged, she gave Turbo a soft, apologetic smile and shrugged, "I just... Don't want him to think we're dragging our feet, or like we're not interested. I just... Want to get into his studios and show him, and his team, what I'm made of."
Turbo narrowed his gaze and gave Berri a long and hard look, though before even he could say anything, Chester suddenly grumbled a very audible noise of near annoyance. He flickered his ears, firmly stood, shook himself off in a floppy show of fur and wings, and finally came up for air amidst an equally as annoyed glower, right in Berri's direction. Although Chester was trying to come across clearly as being annoyed at Berri's notions, Berri lit up and scrunched her shoulders.
"Chester, your voice is really becoming stronger and stronger!" Berri encouraged lovingly, almost as if she simply knew Chester was annoyed, and she was now trying to do everything she could to bypass said annoyance with blind, cheery ignorance.
"I mean, if he's your friend, he'd be patient," Turbo shrugged, the kettle on his stove began to loudly complain in the form of whistling. As he moved to take the kettle off the heat, he cocked an eyebrow and began to feel a strange, protective urge come over him. Never before had he felt a strange urge to fiercely protect Berri from one of her friends, before. He knew it was likely due to Gunner simply being a point of interest for Berri, something Turbo also strived to be, though the weird feeling he suddenly got in his gut made him narrow his gaze down to the chocolate powder he was now pouring the scalding hot water into, "You should tell him your plight, Bear... Certainly he'd understand."
"Well, Wren and Theo did, and he DID understand, but..." Berri sighed, shook her head and now began to look as if she was becoming flustered. She breathed a small, nervous giggle and began to wave off the conversation, "It's fine... I'm sure homework will distract me enough and time will go by quickly."
"I know it's tempting, but better safe than sorry," Turbo assured, and as he topped Berri's steamy cup off with a cool splash of delicious, creamy milk, he sprinkled a few mini marshmallows on top and lovingly crossed his kitchen, so to set the delicious cup of hot chocolate before Sugar Rush's princess. He eased a cute smile and gestured his hands, "Tada."
"Thank you, Bo," Berri eased with a warm smile, though before Turbo could walk away, she warmly gripped Turbo's wrist in a small gesture of further thank.
As she slipped her warm grip away, she cupped the steamy mug of hot chocolate, scrunched her shoulders and brought the deliciousness to her face. Turbo cocked an eyebrow and easily breezed past the gesture, though his insides clenched in a rile of being seemingly yanked. He turned back to his fridge to put away the ingredients left over and felt his heart do a weird dance of confusion. As if Berri had both her feet stood on different patches of grass, he had to assume that she only thought they maybe looked greener from different angles and different stances, and choosing was likely impossible, this soon into the season. His heart whirled in confusion, a lovely tug of war, as if Berri was due to playing a cheeky game of 'catch me if you can' without even realizing it, the coy, teasing dance of just which point of interest would eventually win out. He furrowed his eyebrows and replayed his own notions, the notions of warning Berri that he wasn't a bluffer, yet again, and every card played was, indeed, the right one.
"You're welcome," Turbo finally eased through a sigh, the second he leaned into his fridge, he rolled his eyes, scrunched them shut tight and, in pure, lovestruck fashion, he silently mouthed the words 'why me?'
"Anyways," Berri stated through a long, hard sigh. She smacked her lips and smiled down to the hot chocolate in her hands. She furrowed her eyebrows and, as the deliciousness hit her, she reeled and gave Turb an excited, loving smile, "User, this is... REALLY good."
"I may be from Turbotime, but... I've lived my entire life inside Sugar Rush," Turbo tried his very hardest not to gloat, he gave Berri a loving smile and returned to his leaning position against his counter, with his arms crossed. He hoped, at this point, he was wearing any battle scars, badges or awards with pride, as if the extremely tidy house, the providing of delicious food and drink, the eons of experience under his belt, would all make up the wonderful mixture of a perfect mate, in Berri's eyes, "If I didn't know a thing about sweets, by now, well... I'd give you full license to be concerned."
"It's amazing," Berri huffed a gentle breath into the gape of Turbo's loved mug, the entirely intoxicating hot chocolate was nearly frothy, somehow the fluffy, almost powdered chocolate sugar, that Turbo had used for mixture, thickened and frothed with the addition of the hot water. The splash of creamy cold milk, to finish it off, was what had Berri nearly turning the mug upside down from enjoyment.
"I'm glad," Turbo sighed, he looked down and knew that he needed to segue away from the topic of providing to Berri, whether that simply be food and drink or something far greater, in fear of putting his feet in his mouth. He huffed a faltered breath and shook his head a little, "Y'see how weird Throttle got, earlier? I mean, we were just fine talking, him and I, and then you three showed up and... He looked like he suddenly had to take the biggest crap of his life."
"That was hilarious, I know why he was acting that way," Berri nearly choked on her hot chocolate, she set her half-empty cup down and blurt a small giggle, "I think Throttle has a thing for Wren. The past few times we've all hung out, Throttle just increasingly looks more and more uncomfortable to be around Wren... And not in a bad way, it's more like... He doesn't know what to do with the tension, the flirtatious banter, so he just bails out. Or wants to, anyways. It's typical of guys that are extremely, painfully shy. Especially someone like Throttle? So stoic and serious?"
"...Wow, you got ALL that from the way he was acting?" Turbo choked a hard laugh, to which Berri matched with a wide smile.
"I'm a girl! This is my expertise," Berri rattled, she got comfortable and gave Turbo a knowing look, "Y'ever hang out with the two of them and notice one, or the other, is mirroring the other person's stance or mannerisms? Whenever Wren tells a joke, he laughs and immediately looks to Throttle. Throttle is a dead give away, too, cause his skin is so sheet-white that any ounce of blush shows up like neon lights."
"He nearly turned purple, earlier!" Turbo held his stomach as the two were now continuously lost in laughter.
"I'm saying!" Berri loudly included through her giggling, she tucked her long blue hair behind her ears and bashfully looked up, "The poor thing! There's gotta be something we can do so that Throttle is comfortable with this... Y'think it'd be too forward of you to approach him for?"
"No, not at all, considering I went to him-..." Turbo stopped dead in his tracks and felt his heart nearly stop beating. He inhaled a cool breath and desperately tried to recover, the vivid, blue heat of Berri's piercing eyes now latched onto him in whole curiosity, "I went to him, the other day, to see if he was doing alright, I mean... I know he hasn't entirely come out of the closet, so I'm sure pursuing Wren hasn't been the easiest thing, for him to do. If that's even his intention?"
"I'm sure it is, believe it or not, him and Wren text ALL the time," Berri rolled her eyes, Turbo was grateful she breezed past his almost-slip up, though he bugged his eyes in confusion and peered to Berri long and hard.
"They WHAT?" Turbo choked a laugh, Berri urgently nodded, "HOW can they text all day long, and then the second they're physically together, they look like complete strangers?"
"There's something you have to know about Wren... Something you probably actually know about Throttle," Berri giggled as she held up a finger, "Wren is the LAST person to outwardly SHOW that he cares, to outwardly show physical love in the form of hugs or even words of affirmation. I mean, times REALLY have to be tough for him to feel the urgency to extend a full swathe of love, your way... I'm going to say it's safe to assume that Throttle is the same way."
"Yeah. Behind closed doors and nothing less," Turbo rattled quickly, the two shared a knowing laugh.
"I'm thinking that their constant texting is a way to alleviate the tension while at least SORT OF getting something done," Berri sighed, she shook her head and rolled her eyes, "Wren won't open up to me, about it... But, I'm sure if I sit him down, just him and I, he'd cave. He knows anything he says to me is safe, so..."
"Maybe I can do the same, for Throttle, give him some advice," Turbo shrugged, "I mean, Wren's not a stranger, to me, I at least will be able to help Throttle, a little..."
"Did we just tag-team match-making?" Berri side-eyed Turbo with a cheeky, excited smile, to which Turbo clapped his hands together and beamed.
"YES, and I'm here for it," Turbo barked with an equally as excited smile, the two eagerly shared a laugh as Turbo began to now methodically clean up his kitchen, a little more. He had a pep in his step, as if doing any sort of activity, with Berri, was something to rejoice in, "Alright, so... I'll do work on my end, in the way of Throttle, and you see if you can maybe get Wren to soften, on the subject matter. We can report back to each other tomorrow, yeah?"
"I'm already hearing wedding bells, my friend," Berri schemed as she rubbed her hands together, she blurt a giggle as Turbo firmly nodded.
"Will be good for ol' Tee... Poor thing needs some solid companionship," Turbo bobbed a nod and looked off, "I think Wren would add a good dose of excitement to his life."
"If he hasn't, already," Berri muttered with a knowing smile.
