Reviews :
Burgie : it was more the sentiment, similar to a 'phone stack' on a dinner date, but I can see your side of it for sure lol.
Jay Sketchin : Lol! Yeah he's definitely a guy you love to hate and hate to love.
Nikki Firesong : aww lol! yeah Gunner doesn't seem to be liked worldwide, but hes trustworthy in that aspect. I try to give both boys very real flaws so that they're both still loved, but I can definitely tell which boy you guys like better. I'm unfortunately being pretty heavy handed with it, but its blatantly clear which boy I'm rooting for too haha
Song Listened To :
Party For One by Carly Rae Jepsen
*Chapter 103*
With a firm, reserved yank of securing Chester's saddle, about his slim belly, Berri grunted a noise and stood up. With her hair in a tight, long braid down her back, headphones in with music blaring, and the proper riding gear on, she was floored to finally be able to take Chester for runs, once more. During the winter months, it had become impossible to take Chester for a run due to the pile up of snow, though the first sight that Berri could see of emerging grass and little speckles of Chester's running path, here and there, she took the immediate opportunity to further help the snow thin out. Excited for warmer weather, she finally pat Chester's side and warmly cooed for him to press on, with her aid. With a quick saunter out of the flyer's enclosure, void of any life except her and Chester, Berri finally mounted Chester's back the second they were upon the long, open-aired corridor of the flyer's humid enclosure. In a grimace of the change in temperature, from hot and humid to still cold and snowy, Berri allowed Chester to slowly trot down the long corridor to get used to the sudden change in atmosphere, though once they were officially on the main palace's grounds, Berri inhaled a deep breath and allowed her coding to flood Chester's in whole certainty.
Chester perked up the second he could see the grid via his and Berri's exterior swap, and like a bolt of lightning, Chester tightened the furl of his dragon wings to his lithe body and inhaled a readied breath. Berri huffed a startled giggle the second Chester darted for their typical running path, and upon letting his cleat-like claws find it, amidst the thin layer of snow, Berri hardly had the opportunity to brace herself before Chester lunged forward in prepared excitement. With a proper hunch of a riding stance that Berri had to immediately force herself into, she urged Chester a few encouraging words, amidst surprise laughter, and was entirely floored to feel the sap of confidence that ran through Chester's entire being. She bugged her eyes in joyous concern, almost as if she now didn't recognize this version of Chester, as if somehow, something had given him an added push of confidence in his actions. She was well aware there was no running training going on, between Turbo and Chester, though she had to wonder if the vocal lessons, Turbo was putting Chester through, somehow tied in here.
With no reserves, Berri blurt out a few more encouraging words to Chester the second she could feel his flexible, long spine begin to firmly ripple in the form of his incredible, lunging run. A lightning speed Berri wasn't used to anymore, she eagerly braced herself and took a minute to get acclimated to it all again, though the second she was finally back in rhythm with Chester, she tilted her head down and kept an eagle eye out on the path ahead of them, one that circled the very inner perimeter of the round palace grounds. She huffed a shaky chuckle to herself, grappled Chester's streamline saddle and reigns and hunched into her strict, proper riding position. A weightless feeling of flight came upon them, something she imagined flying to actually be like, and although she had only taken a few flights on the backs of Chester's family members, she knew actually steering a dragon was an entirely different feeling. In the act of wanting to close her eyes and make believe her and Chester were actually flying, she felt the cold wind rush the two as they tore, lightning speed, over the palace grounds, a hobby Berri was certainly glad she had not long forgotten, due to Sugar Rush's unforgiving snowfall.
"I mean, Lickity was telling me all about how she got a mouthful of honey-daisies, yesterday, so," Tessa trailed off in tender delight with a shrug, "I'm certain we'll be rid of the snowfall soon, here... I'm tired of it, I know everyone else is, too."
"Flyers probably the most," Turbo's deep voice soothed as him, Boss, Tessa, Zed and Rancis softly stepped out of the palace's main building, the two wings of the palace that housed all of the racer's homes, as well as the code room right at the center, they crossed the beautiful courtyard, only lightly littered with snow. Their boots crunched on the cobble and ice as they made their way to Ace's home, which was only right across the way, "That new enclosure sure came in handy, though."
"It'll take care of us year round, really," Boss pressed warmly, the five slowly began to reach the edges of the courtyard in a moseying saunter of easiness, "Sugar Rush honestly doesn't get hot enough, in the summer, where as the enclosure has the right amount of heat and humidity."
"I'm glad it's working out for you guys," Tessa sweetly assured, she sagged her hand to Boss's dark, velvety snout and gave him a warm smile as he flattened his ears in kind acceptance, "Hopefully there's enough flying room."
"Certainly," Boss assured with a nod, though as they reached the edges of the courtyard's cobbles and stepped into the thinly veiled snowy, dead grass, Boss perked his ears and honed his eyes tight to the one being that pressed ahead first, in the group, "Look alive, look alive!"
Turbo furrowed his eyebrows in confusion and felt his spine stiffen in concern, though just as he was about to turn heel and give Boss a look of confusion, a sudden bolt of orange and blue lightning nearly tore the skin off of Turbo's nose. In a hard whisk of kicked up grass, dirt and snow, Chester and Berri flew by at Chester's top speed, nearly at seventy miles an hour. The second the air about Turbo finally settled, he finally opened his eyes and realized he had messily channeled his own powers, so deeply stuffed away. Although his powers were a strange mixture of time travel and teleportation, he was shocked to find he had successfully moved his own self about five steps previous to where he was originally about to step. He was now stood right next to Tessa and Zed, they all halted in the whirl of it all. Boss was the first to bark a soft laugh, perk his ears and stand up a bit straighter, so to see where Berri and Chester had shot off to. In the mess of it all, Berri noticed that she had nearly made Turbo road kill and was en-route to turning Chester around and heading towards the quiet commotion.
"You almost died," Zed choked, he suddenly erupted in hard laughter and watched as Chester's heavy, lofty footsteps now began to trot his way back towards the group, he was almost a quarter-mile away.
"I-I forgot you had those sneaky powers, of yours," Tessa cued as she crossed her arms and gave Turbo a cheeky side-eye, to which he began to pat himself to see if he was actually alive or not.
"I did too, for User's sakes," Turbo huffed a shaky breath, having looked as if he had the wind knocked out of him, he finally joined in all of Zed's laughter and nervously tidied his hair, "Holy crap, w-was that... Berri and Chester?"
"Yeah, she rides, you didn't know that?" Tessa kindly pressed, though Turbo's nervous smile proved that he was entirely out of sorts.
"No, I didn't, I mean... I knew that we eventually wanted to try and teach Chester to fly, but," Turbo staggered, he was floored to see Chester trot up, all poised and handsome in his riding gear, though his eyes nervously trailed to Berri, who looked equally as stunning in her own gear, "I knew lykatas were extremely fast runners, but I didn't... User, that was insane."
"He's quick," Boss's deep voice eased in pride as he flattened his ears and joined the group in kindly watching Berri and Chester approach, "Watching him, Marble and Balba run is incredible. You'd be surprised how much that comes in handy, while we hunt. Of the how many times us dragons have lost our prey, only for Balba and Marble to continue the chase on foot and be successful."
"He'll be one, soon, won't he?" Zed wondered as he finally came out of his and Turbo's boyish laughing fit, he nudged Turbo's arm and shook his head, "Ho, man. I'm not laughing at you, I'm just-"
"Laughing with me? I see how it is," Turbo bobbed a nod of cute sarcasm, a boyish friendship that him and Zed had fallen into, though upon Chester finally sagging into their vicinity, Turbo eased off the banter and felt it odd at just how shy he was now becoming.
"That would've been funny to see, not gunna lie," Rancis grumbled towards Turbo with a scheming smile, a mild insult that would've legitimately made Turbo mad, had it been made over a year ago; Turbo only shot him an annoyed smile and shook his head at his fellow knight.
"Why do you hate me?" Turbo blurt inside their joking banter, though as him and Rancis were now rocketed into laughter, Chester's hefty, snow and dirt covered paws finally trot up, causing Turbo to soften in almost star-struck nervousness.
"Nearly mowed you right off the map, dude," Berri stated amidst a girly laugh, in Turbo's direction, though before he could retort, Berri swung her leg over and dismounted Chester with a hop and a thud. Turbo cocked an eyebrow and eyed Berri in subtly; she wore tight clothes, though they were thick to protect her from the cold and keep her streamline. She gently moved her tinted riding goggles to the crown of her head and finally gave Turbo, as well as everyone else, proper eye contact, "Sorry about that. I figured it was early enough, in the morning, that no one would be out here."
"It's okay," Turbo staggered with a nervous smile, he clutched his chest and prepared himself the second that Chester caught the sound of Turbo's voice and began to make a cute, bumbling bee-like right for Turbo's existence, "I-I had no clue you rode, like this. That was awesome."
"Would've been more awesome if-" Rancis blurt a hard laugh as Tessa firmly cut him off with a playful shove to his upper arm.
"-If Turbo could've shown a greater display of his powers, there," Tessa completed Rancis's statement with a cute smile and a shrug, though she felt herself reel in delight the second Berri's face scrunched to bashful surprise, her sweet eyes stabbed to Turbo's in whole, remembered curiosity; Turbo heaved a shaky chuckle and braved Berri's eager stare.
"Dunno when the next time that'll be," Turbo tried to skirt around the topic, though Berri's stare was unwavering. He slumped his shoulders and finally gave Berri a sweet smile, "C'mon, don't do that to me."
"Seems odd that we're best friends and you still, to this day, have not even EXPLAINED to me what your gamer powers are," Berri shrugged in irritation, she bravely peered to her dad and shook her head at him, as if to be hopeful that Zed would jump to her aid; much to her dismay, he raised his eyebrows in prickled surprise, blurt a chuckle, firmly pat Turbo's upper arm and gave him a figurative go-ahead.
"You're on your own, friend," Zed grunted with a refreshed sigh as he firmly began to press on, past Berri, Chester and Turbo. Tessa, Rancis and Boss slowly began to follow in the King's footsteps, though not before Boss and Chester displayed a sweet, brief greeting of nuzzled snouts and flattened ears.
"Your majesty," Turbo mumbled in a very clearly annoyed tone, though all in good fun; Zed shot Turbo a cheeky smile and waved at him in continued kindness.
"We'll be at Ace's, just catch up with us there," Zed instructed across their broadening gap, to which Turbo chirped an agreeing notion towards.
"...Thought for sure my dad would side with me, on that one," Berri muttered as she sighed a fogged breath and watched as her mother, father and great uncle Rancis began to slowly saunter towards Ace's and Libby's poised tower, sunkissed with the dregs of pristine, winter snowfall. Berri cocked an eyebrow and gave Turbo a now softened look of humility, "My words still stand, though..."
"It's not that I'm not willing to show you my powers, or tell you what they are, I just..." Turbo bashfully rubbed the back of his head and wobbled with a chuckle the second Chester firmly nuzzled his snout into Turbo's core. Turbo smiled and lovingly gave Chester all the head and ear scratches he desired as he carried on, "It's been so long since I've practiced my own raw powers. I was trapped with mine and Libby's swapped coding for so long, that... I'm almost scared to relearn my powers. I should already know how to use them, y'know?"
"It's situational, it doesn't mean you're dumb or lacking," Berri shrugged and shook her head, she tucked her loose bangs behind her ears and riding goggles, "I certainly don't think that about you. I'd love to see what I'm working with, here."
Turbo nearly bulged his eyes in surprise and had to relay exactly what he had just heard. He shot Berri a wildly bewildered look of unmitigated surprise, though the second Berri burst out in laughter and pointed to Turbo, in a teasing fashion, Turbo largely rolled his eyes and looked off.
"Hooo man, the look on your face was totally worth that comment," Berri was lost in girly laughter, to which Turbo finally caved to and cracked a smile down to his boots.
"I'm so thankful you didn't say that in front of your parents," Turbo huffed a bashful notion, nearly a whisper, he kindly peered to Berri and almost gave her a grateful look of sweetness; even in said joke of mild cruelty, it was somehow Berri's way of reminding Turbo that she had, indeed, not given up on him. He felt further at ease, further comfortable welcoming Berri deeper into his heart, something he had now grown akin to properly displaying for her.
"I mean, I can," Berri bobbed a nod and gave Turbo a playfully eager look, as if she was due to skipping off and getting the attention of her father, though Turbo grunted an annoyed noise of plea and lightly grappled Berri's upper arm.
"I'd honestly rather die," Turbo barked, the two were, once more, rocketed into laughter with each other, an easiness the nature of their friendship provided, and with such warmth given back to the two, Berri beamed and peered up to Turbo in soft curiosity.
Berri was aware their little embers of love were put on pause, though the more she thought about it, the better this was for the both of them. She was floored to really get to know Turbo more, as a friend, to really scope out all the dark corners and hiding places of his heart, and him for her. The way the sun glinted down on his soft skin, the matte yellow of his now non-intimidating gaze, she softened and was well aware this incredibly rare being, before her, was definitely here for the long haul. Although there was no light at the end of the tunnel, Berri somehow felt solace in the dark trek to find it, alongside someone she was well aware she'd give the whole entire world to, and him for her. She sighed in contentment and allowed the sound of the breeze, in the rustling trees nearby, to coat their existence with peace.
"Please show me," Berri pressed, as softly as her hyperactive demeanor could possess, though she felt victory with the way Turbo's broad shoulders lightly sagged in defeat.
"Fine," Turbo said through a concluding sigh, he eyed her with a nervous, cheeky smile, "But it won't be pretty."
