Reviews :
Burgie : Yyyyyep. And, it's actually not easy for me to write for, because I can't relate to her situation. Makes for a fun challenge!
Jay Sketchin : Wren's a good boi ;-; I love him as well. Theo's her shoulder, and Wren is her kick in the pants haha.
faolan1230 : Woohoo!
*Chapter 119*
In the vivid explosion of sensory overload, Gunner, with Berri tight on his arm, as well as Theo and Wren in tow, came easing out into a sea of flashing cameras, screaming fans, an adoring crowd that nearly were due to barreling over the barricades, ones of which Archived Chaos' security team did everything to guard and hold back. Berri beamed a wide smile and felt her heart race at the speed of light, the waves of hands, the flag of memorabilia just waiting to be signed, the speckles of dots permanently glued to her retinas due to the rapid fire flashes of paparazzi and news cameras. Although the crew had just gotten done with their fourth show, inside Dance Dance, Berri was well aware the team was allowed to wander about the sprawled carpet of a walkway, which lead to their stretch limo, the allowance to potentially meet and greet with fans that had done anything and everything to wait for a chance to meet either Gunner, Berri, Wren or Theo; a true celebrity status Berri was still certain wasn't a reality. The second she gently began to ease from Gunner's gentle grip, to a certain area of the crowd, said area began to scream and go bonkers over the sheer fact that Berri was approaching to love on some of her fans.
Upon approaching a barricade of excited fans, security hovered loosely about her, vigilant and prepared for anything, though as Berri began to grow heaps of confidence for this kind of rare interactions with her fans, they eased off more and more. In tenderness, a huge smile of gratitude plastered to her face, she lovingly approached a group of fans with their hands outstretched. Although scared to potentially be grabbed or tugged on, she was thrilled that, for the most part, her fans showed respect and only gripped her hand in excitement as she came by. With easiness, the gloss of her long, incredible, shiny blue hair, her chic outfit, the splash of lights all over her, she grinned with whole entire delight, a dream come true she never even realized she wanted up until this instance. Although still getting used to signing an official signature, she bit her lip in concentration and glossed a permanent marker over the broad of a girl's hot blue electric guitar, to be signed. Certain to look each fan in the eye and thank them, Berri did her best and was certain that, if left to her own devices, she could be on said carpet for days, loving on each and every single person that made time to come see their show.
Although Gunner was the main heartthrob of the group, Berri softly lofted her eyes over her shoulder and noticed Wren and Theo getting a very real amount of attention from some excited, squealing fangirls from across the way, though the second Berri could see Gunner softly sauntering over to her was the second the excited group, that she was just showing love to, began to freak out like never before. Berri blurt a soft laugh as Gunner approached, and although he raveled Berri into his arm, once more, he did his best to reach his hand out in the crowds him and Berri now began to pass, an easy task for him, a second nature he had been used to for almost two years now. Berri sagged into his protective side grip and looked up into the side of his face; a confident smile that sparkled, honey brown eyes that showed whole warmth, the easiness of his disposition made Berri feel strangely calm. As Wren and Theo regrouped with Berri and Gunner, they finally made a straight shot for the limo, patiently waiting, and eased into their luxurious ride, one by one.
"Holy User," Theo grunted as he adjusted himself, in his seat, though he ultimately slumped and began to brush the sweat off of his forehead, "That's the seventh time today that a girl has begged me to marry her."
"You should just start agreeing to it," Wren huffed a hard laugh and shook his head, "I get the same thing. Surely I'll break all the girls' hearts if ever paparazzi somehow gets a picture of Throttle and I."
"Yeah, then all the guys will be after you," Gunner huffed, everyone visibly relaxed as the limo slowly began to pull away from the arena they had just completed a show at; screaming fans could still be seen flagging their arms and calling their names through the extremely dark, tinted windows. Gunner breathed an exhausted chuckle and waved a little, even though he was well aware his fans couldn't see him, "Doesn't matter your orientation. There will always be someone after'yah."
"You would know, I guess," Wren eased in gentle defeat as he pulled his phone from his back pocket, with a grunt, and began thumbing away at a text message.
"Yyyep," Gunner chimed, he raised his eyebrows and softly eased his eyes to Berri's, a show of gentle love, "You did great, babe. You're becoming more confident."
"Thank you," Berri eased warmly, she tucked her blue hair behind her ears and was floored that a night of rest was ahead of them, "It's getting easier. I-I never thought, in my life, I'd hear the words 'princess Berri' so many times I don't even get that kind of attention in Sugar Rush."
"Well... NOW you would," Theo choked a small laugh, as did everyone, "You mean before you became a celebrity?"
"Well, yeah," Berri shrugged and sat back, though as her hand fell to her sides, on the leather seats she shared with Gunner, she raised her eyebrows in tenderness as Gunner's hand wormed into hers, laced fingers and everything. She tried to seem casual, though she cocked an eyebrow and peered to Gunner as he sat back, his head tilted in exhaustion, his prominent jaw line and adam's apple only barely illuminated by the darkened, passing street and city lights. Berri almost felt too exhausted to notice the butterflies in her stomach as she staggered to carry on, "I-I... I wish I could remember a time that I would go unnoticed."
"I thought about making a disguise for myself, but... I quite like the attention," Gunner stated in cocky cheek, it was clear he was just being playful, though he shot Berri a knowing grin and shrugged, "Some people thrive off of it, some don't. To each their own."
"Oh, I'd totally make myself a disguise," Theo mumbled as he rubbed his face in mild agitation, he lofted his emerald green gaze out the window and very gently began to crack said window, so to get some fresh, cool air to his face; the limo finally made it's way to faster speeds on a busy freeway, "I like to control when I'm noticed and when I'm not."
"Well, surely disguises would be easy for you guys to make, what with Sugar Rush's code room at your disposal," Gunner encouraged, though it was here did Berri hold her breath and understand that her very own disguise, of which Turbo created, was to be kept tightly under wraps. She furrowed her eyebrows in contemplation and wondered if she could somehow further aid in said secrecy.
"I don't mind the constant attention, I've been into Orion City, out and about... It's a lot of fun, everyone's so nice and excited to see me," Berri shrugged, she put on a big smile and was floored her words came out as convincing; Wren flagged his hand at her and rolled his eyes.
"Of course you'd feel that way, you're Sugar Rush's princess," Wren muttered, he gave her a loving smile, however much he teased.
"Even without my princess title or celebrity status, I'm a people person," Berri bragged, words that were definitely true, though she was glad it shoved the idea of a self-disguise deeper into the dark.
"I'm a home body," Theo grumbled, though he peaked a smile as he closed his eyes and continued to let the rushing, cool wind ease onto his face, the limo picked up speed as they head for the hotel the band would be staying in.
"You get that from grandpa, I think," Berri mumbled as she crossed her arms, though she gave Gunner a gentle smile and bobbed a nod, "I hope there's alcohol at the hotel, waiting for us. I could use a drink."
"I'm way ahead of you," Gunner assured, his deep voice glossed over Berri like a velvet cloak, the flicker of fleeting street and car lights glinted against his golden brown eyes as his dilated pupils honed in on her in the dark, "Remember our last show?"
"No," Theo blurt a hard laugh, everyone easily began to choke with laughter as Theo urgently gestured his hand in annoyance, "You're so on top of making sure there's alcohol, wherever we go, that the days are starting to blur."
"That's the point, this is hard work," Wren muttered with a daring smile as he eyed his band mates, "Everyone thinks these shows are just fun and games, for us. I'm LITERALLY about to pass out."
"We're almost there, guys, then we can relax," Gunner stated through a sigh, though he gently unhanded the weave of his and Berri's fingers and lofted his arm up and over her shoulders. In a gentle tug, he eased her deeper into her side and warmly pressed his lips into the top and side of her head and blue hair. As Theo and Wren began to bicker, Gunner's warm, tender voice remained low and gentle, just for her ears, "I claimed the suite, just for us... The penthouse shows the entirety of Goldwater City. The view is to die for."
"Really?" Berri pressed, though she furrowed her eyebrows, in the dark, and felt her stomach knot in nervousness; the whole idea that Gunner reserved a single bedroom for the two of them, had her sagging in hot confusion, a weird mixture of heart-fluttering excitement and a gentle gut feeling of red flags. She had no clue how to even begin navigating all of the feelings that began rushing her, though to come across nonchalant and figuring that she was just wound up from the concert, she put on a brave face and bobbed a gentle nod, "That sounds nice."
Although floored to maybe be on the brink of new things, with Gunner, Berri eased her blue eyes out the window and felt cursed. As city lights whizzed past, red brake lights eased into her existence like proverbial warnings, a hot poker that sagged between her eyes, she was well aware she was doomed, here. In the lull of her tired eye lids, all splayed with a gorgeous smokey eye and perfect winged liner, she exhaled every last ounce of oxygen in her body and wondered just when she got so wrapped up in confusion. The desire to touch and be touched, though she reopened her eyes and was well aware she was with the wrong being, a person she definitely had love for, though somehow not enough of it. Berri furrowed her eyebrows and wondered if just fooling around and having fun, in this stage of her life, would either bring her satisfaction or pure, inevitable destruction. She felt her heart jump at the urge to have a heart to heart, with someone, about all of this, and although she could simply only think of one genuine person to keep all of her tender secrets, said keeper of secrets was also the lion inside the den, patiently waiting to strike. Although biased, Berri was aware Turbo would at least attempt to remove himself from the equation, though she knew, without a doubt, it'd be impossible to do so constructively, wholly.
In the swing of heavy doors, the creak of metal that eased into luxurious, hidden hallways where celebrities would escape through in urgent desires to simply get upstairs, to their hotel room, without the hoard of screaming fans that did whatever they could to loiter and get an autograph, the gang snuck inside their resort of a temporary home. With the clack of Berri's heels, as well as the thuds of Theo's, Wren's and Gunner's shoes, they eased out of the elevator and onto the floor they shared with no one. As Berri's eyes sagged to their humble, temporary abode, she felt ease come over her. A golden room glossed with futuristic furniture, an adorable, modern kitchenette, and a view that Gunner promised would be to die for, Berri beamed the widest, laziest smile and lulled her eyes closed in whole relief; relief in the fact that she could now relax for the next twenty four hours without repercussion, without having to pratice her guitar, without having to stifle the fact that she couldn't sing on stage, she easily slumped to the nearby splay of couches and melted into the cushions.
"Hooooly User my feet are killing me," Berri muttered as her face sagged into the cushion, and as haphazardly as she could try to contain, she did whatever she could to kick off her gorgeous heels and worm out of her killer leather jacket, adorably cut and studded with dull, black spikes. She wrinkled her nose in pain as she accidentally laid on her long hair, though she peered over the back of the couch and watched as Gunner moseyed into the kitchen and prepared a few glasses, so the four could toast, "Alright, what's on the menu, then?"
"User, I don't even care, I just want it in my cup," Wren grumbled as he waggled about an empty, short glass, though he raised his eyebrows in renewed, prickled surprise and peered down to his illuminated phone, on the counter next to him, "OH! Throttle just arrived. He said security has him downstairs, I'm going to go grab him, real quick."
"OH I want to come! Throttle!" Berri chimed in a second wind of whole entire excitement, though she grunted a noise of irritation the second Wren began to very quickly head for the door.
"I'll be right back, guys," Wren called, to which Gunner and Theo kindly responded, though Berri fumbled to grapple for her heels, once more.
"WAIT I want to come with!" Berri called as their lovely, hotel room door easily slid open in a hover of a glide, in which Wren successfully began to leg it.
"Then keep up! I don't want security hovering for too long," Wren called as he turned a corner and was out of sight, though Berri squealed a noise of whole irritation the second the hotel room's futuristic door easily slid closed, sealing Berri, Gunner and Theo inside.
"Uhg, screw shoes, I don't even care," Berri muttered to herself as she easily schlepped her heels to the side and stumbled to access the hotel's sliding door, once more. It quickly slid open, upon her arrival, and as she darted out of the room, she cupped her hand over her jaw and called out to Wren, "Wait up!"
Berri huffed a soft giggle, though her bare feet came to a halt the second she peered down the shorter, dimly lit hallway that lead to the elevator. In the gentle part of the closing elevator doors, Wren's grinning face could be seen, cheekily egging her on with a tender wave of a few of his fingers, near his chin. Berri blurt an agitated noise, stomped her foot, and in quick thinking, she grunted in a firm push of a heavy, metal door to her left, which lead to a proper stairwell of a fire escape. With a scheming grin and a gentle giggle, she eased down a concrete, echoey hallway and was well aware she could possibly glitch-hop her way down the entirety of the seventeen flights of stairs this stairwell held, and easily beat Wren to wherever Throttle was. With success in the stomp of her feet, she puffed her chest, inhaled a deep breath, and with the gentle push of yet another heavy, metal door, the only thing in between her and the cascade of a stairwell, a glitch's playground, she sagged into another more abrupt turn of a hallway and furrowed her eyebrows in confusion as her eyes adjusted to a darker field of existence.
Although still powering on, the fall of said stairwell now in her sights, off to her right, she felt a wave of confusion hit her retinas as the door firmly latched behind her. As if easing into slow motion, the sludge of somehow falling into a recap of memories, she eased her bare footwork to a halt and stared ahead in blinking confusion. There, before her, was none other than a deleter, and although Berri was absolutely sure the loud latch of the door and the abruptness of her arrival would cue it's attention, she froze, held her breath and was confused by the way it lazily sniffled at the ground, a sag of almost nonchalance it eked, Berri's spine stiffened as she did everything she could to so quietly back step and ease towards the door she had just burst forth. Although she quietly unlatched the door, the deleter perked up in gentleness and eased it's attention to Berri's soul; somehow Berri slowed her motion and peered back into the deleter's creepy eyes, from their dozen foot gap. The blaring warning signals screamed at her to high tail it out of there, every single last inch of her begged to retreat, though somehow, the rebellious kickstart in her heart urgently whispered 'what if'.
As if certain she had now officially lost her mind, she hesitated in her retreating motion and peered into the deleter's eyes in warm question. Although the last time she had encountered one of these guys was vicious, bloody and traumatizing, she froze and felt a strange sense of peace, the vibe between the two was calm and curious, simply as if she was in the presence of Chester, a bumbly being that only wanted love. Certain that she was now making a habit of encountering misunderstood beings and charming her way into their hearts, one rogue gamer at a time, she exhaled said held breath and finally felt control sag over her once wiggling, scared silver circuits. Although she was aware she had protection from Turbo's deleter resistant coding, so diligently created and placed into her own mainframe, she wondered if the act of easing back into the deleter's closer presence was suicidal. The strange urge to level with such a feared creature had the gentle seal of the door, she was previously trying to escape out of, now closing the two into the abandoned stairwell, something Berri was well aware was likely the beginning sentence of a death scene. Nonetheless, she bravely held her positioning and knew, if there was any chance to bridge the gap of confusion, it was here and now.
A/N :
Huge announcement... SURPRISE!
CORY AND I JUST GOT MARRIED! * 11/18/2019 *
My first duty as Queen is to leave you all with this TERRIBLE cliff hanger until the 22nd, this coming Friday. I'll be back then! Cause, I have to mentally download all of this. I mean it's really only something Cory and I have wanted for over half a decade now. I can't believe I'm a Mrs.
Holyyyy moley.
I'm a WIFE! AHHHHH!
