Reviews :
CHICKENM4N : I'm SO GLAD it didn't disappoint, oh my god. I was genuinely worried ;_; thank you!
Burgie : I actually am in the middle of painting a picture that has Bug as one of the subjects, so you'll get a decent look at what he looks like! He kind of looks like a weird cross between a chinchilla and a bug-like hare. He's very cute :D
Jay Sketchin : Thank you so much! He's a weird mixture between a chinchilla and a hare, but bug/alien like. Hard to explain, I have a painting of him I'll be posting soon :) Thank you for everything friend! You're the best!
Song Listened To :
Hold of Me by Dean Lewis
A/N : Hey all, sorry for the short(ish) chapter. I figured since the last one was so insanely long, I'd just give a smaller fluff chapter, here. ALSO -be thinking of what chapter you want to be put into comic form! Any chapter between chapter 50-100. I have chapter 46's comic form almost all finished, it only really has 2 or 3 pages left. It's all on my deviantART, username Vyntresser! :D
*Chapter 98*
"Man, we should hang out in Orion City more often," Theo grumbled, he ran his larger fingers through his dark emerald hair and eyed the small crowd of Archived Chaos' fans that had gathered outside of Sugarbucks.
"How come?" Wren wondered softly, Berri furrowed her eyebrows and tenderly gave Theo an inquisitive stare as well.
"Because, our fanbase here is so well behaved," Theo blurt a small chuckle, him, Wren, Berri and Turbo hung tight to the opposite end of Sugarbucks' interior layout, near where the baristas would enter behind the bar, into their own workspace. Bug stood with them, his cute ears perked high and his posture at the ready, "The people inside EZ Living are savage. They'd have busted down Sugarbucks' doors, by now."
"I thought it strange how politely they waited outside for you guys," Turbo huffed a small chuckle, tucked his hands into his jackets and began to show a tad bit more of a nervous air, something that had worn off inside the half an hour they had been inside Sugarbucks, "Although, I'm getting a little nervous, now... I see some people with cameras."
"I noticed," Berri grit her teeth and nervously eyed Turbo, though as everyone fell silent and peered to Turbo in a show of soft apprehension, Bug snapped his fingers, looked about, pat his apron pockets and gently tsked for Turbo to follow him.
"I-I'm... I'm not really supposed to do this, but I can let you out the back door, Turbo," Bug suggested with such warmth, the paw pads of his feet gingerly began to step deeper into his work area, a soft gesture of his arms for Turbo to kindly follow, "You can meet up with Berri, Wren and Theo on the other side... That way, you can avoid the cameras."
"I-I don't want to get you in trouble, Bug," Turbo staggered, though he was relieved Bug had come up with a secretive escape plan.
"I'm the supervisor, and my boss left for the morning," Bug stated with cheek, flattened ears and a sly smile to boot, which had Turbo's posture now turning to show interest in Bug's idea, "It's for good reason, I... I really don't think you want your face plastered all over the news, do you?"
"Not today," Turbo bulged his eyes and shot Wren, Theo and Berri a look of nervous delight, to which everyone softly laughed.
"Not ever, huh," Berri stated with cheek, though before Turbo could show a tad bit of a disgruntled air, Berri gingerly gave Bug her attention, "Thank you, Bug, I hope that's not too much trouble."
"No, not at all! Come on with me," Bug gestured to Turbo in a welcoming manner, and as Turbo apprehensively eased to the back room with Bug, Berri furrowed her eyebrow in irritation to find the few female baristas tightly tail Turbo.
"Uh oh," Wren muttered to Berri in a sly manner, though Berri gave him a sharp glower, as if to dare him to try her, though he bravely pressed on anyways, "Didn't think this outing would garner Turbo some fangirls, didja?"
"I wasn't even thinking that," Berri fibbed with a snap, she turned on her heel and began to head for Sugarbucks' exit, in which Wren and Theo quickly tailed her.
"I mean, this is ultimately what you want for Turbo, to have a life?" Wren argued quietly, Sugarbucks' interior still held a very quiet, calm air. Wren skipped a few steps, so to keep up with Berri's long stride, "You went and snagged YOURSELF a life, and, what, you invite Turbo to do the same and you're now irritated?"
"Not now, Wren," Berri warned in sassy coldness, and although Theo gingerly nudged Wren's shoulder, to warn him to knock it off, Wren only merely glanced at him in soft question.
"You have yourself a shiny boyfriend, is it such a crime if Turbo found HIMSELF a shiny girlfriend?" Wren inhaled a breath to continue on, though Berri halted in her footsteps and peered hard into Wren's eyes, causing Theo and Wren to come to a sharp, jarring stop.
"Please Wren, not now," Berri urged quietly, though this time, her tone was more begging and lacked authority; her eyes pleadingly eased into Wren's now softening disposition, and with the switch up, Wren sagged and wondered if there was maybe a deeper wound, here.
"Sorry, B," Wren mumbled warmly, and with a gentle sting of hesitation, Berri put on a brave face and pushed on the heavy glass door of Sugarbucks' double-walled entrance and exit.
"Wow, this building is deceivingly huge," Turbo chimed warmly, he peered about Sugarbucks' roomy backroom, complete with tiers of shelves that stored all sorts of coffees, syrups, containers and cups galore. He cocked an eyebrow as Bug slowed his roll, as if to now give an impromptu tour, no matter how mini it was, "I would never guess this little shop had this massive of a back room."
"Definitely a safe haven," Bug chuckled, though Turbo nearly flinched as one of the few girls, that successfully kept tight in tow, chimed in.
"We've played hide and seek back here, before," She giggled cutely, Turbo softly lofted his gaze over his shoulder in tender surprise and eased to a slow as the group came to a bigger clearing, amidst the larger, towering racks of supplies.
"Hopefully you were gettin' paid to do it," Turbo muttered, he still held a shy front, though he huffed a shaky chuckle the second all three girls burst out into flirty, cheeky laughter, full of hair twirls and fidgets of straightening shirts and aprons.
"Clocked in, for sure," Another girl chirped with a nod, though Bug rolled his eyes with a nervous smile, typical of a rather nonchalant supervisor, wanting to have fun but also nervous for the managers above him.
"We're just glad they don't watch the cameras," Bug grumbled as he sagged his cute, clawed paws into the sag of his apron's pockets.
"Hopefully this visit wasn't too difficult for you," One of the girls eased quietly, the shyest of the bunch. She wore cute glasses, had long black hair and a lovely smile. Her fair skin was nearly flawless, with just a kiss of freckles below the edges of her big, brown eyes. Turbo eyed her softly and gave her a kind smile, he felt very weird about this entire situation, though anyone he could convince into friendship, at this point, was a win in his eyes.
"It wasn't at all, like what I thought it would be... I was certain I'd be chased outta here with torches and pitchforks," Turbo grunted a laugh, the group was all smiles.
"I mean... You're like really... THE Turbo?" Bug finally staggered in continued disbelief as he flattened his ears, though he flinched in hard surprise as all the girls finally choked out into a sudden burst of cute laughter, "WHAT! It's hard to believe! Turbo was around in the 80's, this is just bizarre, okay?!"
"Yes, it's me," Turbo smiled freely, he shrugged a little and looked down, "I did some stupid things, in my past... I've been around since the Arcade was first opened. I never would've ever done any of this, had it not been for Berri."
"She has a way with words, that one," Bug bobbed a knowing nod and bulged his eyes, though Turbo bashfully smiled and looked down to his feet.
"That she does," Turbo grumbled, as if it were indeed a redeeming quality, though Berri's antics always seemed to push him to grow from his already comfortable ways.
"C'mon... Let's getcha out of here," Bug gestured warmly, though it was clear he maybe wanted to continue on with this small conversation without the three girls that were glued to Turbo's presence. As Bug warmly instructed each girl to now fall into cafe routines and tasked them with different cleaning chores, they dispersed as Bug and Turbo now pressed to the heavy back door. With a push, Bug shivered as the cold, morning air brisked inside. He flattened his ears and softly peered up to Turbo as the two hesitated to fully step outside, "Y'know... I'm really glad Berri was so determined to have you come down from your tower."
"Poor girl probably equates it to pulling teeth," Turbo grumbled with a nearly sorrowful smile, "I see the look in her eye..."
"So do we," Bug huffed with an almost bitter sweet look, out to the parking lot. He sagged a little before he gently peered up to Turbo, once more, "Y'know... I can see this little outing, here, spoke volumes to Berri. I know she has a new boyfriend, and all, but..."
"...Y-You don't have to do that," Turbo kindly stated, he tried not to sound too curt, the idea that his and Berri's secretive little ember of love was becoming a now well-known thing had him feeling beyond apprehensive, though he softened the second Bug's innocent, tender facial expression eased to that of humble, bittersweet delight.
"It'd be cool to have you as Sugar Rush's Prince," Bug tenderly insinuated.
Turbo raised his eyebrows and peered down into Bug's gentle, brotherly brown eyes, they nearly twinkled with Sugar Rush's morning sunlight, and although Turbo had now heard this notion before, and it was becoming more painful than anything, he froze and felt the difference here. Turbo was aware that Berri's father, Sugar Rush's King, was rooting for their ember of love, though somehow, the fact that a once full-blown stranger had the same exact mindset, now had Turbo understanding the weight and depth of his and Berri's friendship. A relationship that seemingly pended for what seemed to be an eternity, he felt purpose continue to rush his veins. He held his breath and wondered if maybe, just maybe, he should muster the courage to verbally tell Berri how he really felt, outside of a secretive, non-verbal exterior swap. Turbo swallowed hard and knew that if he could step out in public, an unthinkable act, he could certainly tell Berri that he had feelings for her, whether she was taken or not.
"I got a long way to go, Bug," Turbo grumbled gently, he heaved a shaky sigh and shook his head, "But... Today was a good start."
"This better not be a one and done," Bug narrowed his eyes and playfully gave Turbo an authoritative look, he waggled his finger, "Looks like we got lots to talk about, then, Mr. Bad Guy."
"I promise, I'll be back," Turbo confidently assured, somehow allowing himself to be an extrovert, for the day, gave him the confidence to potentially try it again. He shrugged as he began to step out of the building and onto the cold concrete and asphalt of the parking lot, "Who knows... Maybe I'll even come down here all by my lonesome."
"Holy sugar, you really mean it?" Bug gawked with a hard, fogged laugh; Turbo shrugged, turned a bit and began to back step, so to continue talking to Bug from the now twenty foot stretch.
"I do," Turbo assured with a warm laugh and smile, to boot. Bug kindly waved and stood on his tip toes.
"Don't be a stranger, now," Bug called, his welcoming air was palpable.
"I won't," Turbo confidently assured with a handsome, assuring smile, one that felt new, something he diligently held onto.
