Song Listened To :

Cry by The Used

Trajectory Burn by Adam Young


*WARNING*

This chapter, as well as the next one or two chapters, have homosexual themes all throughout it - If you're sensitive to it, check back to chapter 133 or so! Thanks for understanding!


*Chapter 131*

"I'm so confused... I-I thought this was already common knowledge," Lash muttered in an irritated way, he shot Turbo a cocky smile and shrugged a little, "Why the big hoopla? Just... Invite Wren over and get it done with. Why is it a huge deal?"

"... Odd words, coming from the likes of you," Turbo eased on the gas, sagged his hip to the island's counter and crossed his arms. With the way Throttle was finally and firmly marching his way into the kitchen, Turbo understood that his role as host was now slowly beginning to sag to that of a quiet spectator and potential mediator. He cocked an eyebrow in Throttle's direction and was floored to see Throttle shed his spiky shell, one that reserved him at all costs. Turbo cleared his throat and glanced to both his older and younger brother, "I-It... It definitely is possible, and, fortunately, I think it might be easier than a normal, heterosexual swap."

"R-Really?" Throttle staggered in a split second of softened relief, though he flinched and scrunched his agitated positioning right back to the defense, the second Lash sat up a bit straighter and cleared his throat.

"You guys are so WEIRD, WHY would you want to weaken your coding by merging it with someone else's?" Lash complained in raw, irritated confusion, and although he had a billion years to ask Turbo all of these questions, he almost hesitantly peered to Turbo and hoped that his bigger brother wouldn't bring up said fact; he flinched the second Throttle very kindly did it for him in the form of a firm hand gesture in Turbo's direction.

"Lash... HOW many years did you have to ask Turbo that VERY question?" Throttle barked, to which only Turbo flinched in surprise, a sharper more aggressive stance that Throttle had taken here, he was certain he'd never see this kind of behavior in Throttle in a million years.

"It wasn't something I cared to ask," Lash barked back as he furrowed his eyebrows and glowered Throttle down, "I saw how miserable swapping with Libby made him. The answer was as clear as day... That's why you're so foolishly chasing after that swap. You didn't have time with Turbo to understand that it was the stupidest decision he's ever made."

"Whoa, whoa," Turbo urged in irritation, the few moments of spectating he had very quickly went out the window. He stiffened his spine in a stand and faced Lash with power, something that had Lash eagerly shrinking, "I never regretted swapping codes with Libby. Swapping is the coolest, most securing feeling anyone can go through. The hell's your problem?"

"Don't put words in his mouth," Throttle muttered to Lash as both him and Turbo stared Lash down.

"Look, I've been saddled with my own coding for my whole life, and I'm JUST fine," Lash muttered with a cheeky smile in Throttle's direction, and though he gestured to Turbo in nonchalance, he kept his eyes tight to his oldest brother's hauntingly white, glowing glare, "Why can't you just keep it simple between you and Wren? Why confuse it with mixed coding?"

"Because I love him," Throttle stabbed in confidence, something Turbo raised his eyebrows at; he was well aware the two were dating, though he had to wonder if the dreaded L word was given or not. Throttle inhaled a quick, shaky breath and leaned over the island, so to figuratively get in Lash's face, "Because I have someone to love. Because I want to further my intimate relationship with someone. Something you wouldn't even begin to understand."

"So you want to stick your dick in something other than your hand," Lash eased with mean delight alongside a shrug and a toss of his creepy, golden eyes up to Turbo's kitchen's ceiling.

"You're the only Turbotime guy left that's a virgin, how does that make you feel?" Throttle stabbed meanly, to which Turbo heaved a shaky sigh and gingerly gestured in Throttle's direction.

"Easy," Turbo mumbled, swiftly sinking back into his mediating mode, and although Throttle was right, Turbo felt his wing tightly come about Lash in a huge attempt to get Lash acclimated back into normal life; a rather hefty and fragile task.

"No, no, he's not wrong," Lash barked with a widening smile of mean delight, though it was clear he was about to blow, "Keep 'em comin', Tee, why don't you school me on this bullshit then, if you're so confident."

"It's a love outside of your family that you wouldn't understand, the urge to share your everything with someone because you adore them so much," Throttle quickly rattled off, the heat of all the years of being a professor, at End of Line Academy, very quickly glossed his figure with an infinite amount of wisdom, "You adopt everything they are, and they graciously accept everything YOU are. It's a shared experience of memory, skill, ability, self and love. It's no wonder you love yourself, so much. Like you said, all your dick has is your own User-damned hand."

"Why don't you come over here and say that without a counter between us?" Lash bobbed a nod as his eyes very quickly dipped from golden to that of a now stinging spark of hot orange; although Turbo remained still and was certain Throttle wouldn't jump at Lash's goading, he flinched in whole surprise and watched as Throttle firmly began to march around Turbo's kitchen island.

"WHOA whoa whoa, guys, come ON," Turbo stated in irritated urgency as he quickly rounded Lash and successfully got in between both of his brothers before Throttle rounded the island, though Throttle pressed on and hovered tight over Turbo's figure. In the gentle bob and weave of both Lash and Throttle, to attempt to get at each other, Turbo finally pushed on Throttle's chest and was glad he got his eldest brother's attention, "Knock it off, Tee, c'mon guys, don't be stupid about this."

"You two are the only ones stupid enough to even consider following through with a swap," Lash barked in a smiling show of mean irritation up into Throttle's soul, "Nox is a lost cause, and Turbo only just recently got his own coding back. Come ON guys, our coding is an ENTIRE rarity! And you're here wanting to muddy it with simpleton FAUX-CODES!"

"You have a big mouth for such a small minded dude," Turbo muttered darkly in whole irritation as he finally whirled around and grappled Lash's shirt with his fist. Lash bugged his eyes in boggled surprise as Turbo firmly jostled Lash about for a small second, as if to shake some sense into him, "I'm not going to keep saying it, so open your damned ears. Self-programmed gamers are stronger than User-made gamers because they are a whole combination of skill and ability. You're not just talking about Wren, in that statement."

"You're talking about Sugar Rush's princess," Throttle quickly added in heated debate as both him and Turbo hovered over Lash, who looked to be entirely humbled.

"It'd be an honor to swap with that woman," Turbo growled in Lash's face, "Don't you DARE call ANYONE on the palace grounds a simpleton. If there's anyone whose currently stuck in simpleton-dom, it's YOU. So why don't you sit down, shut up and LISTEN."

Turbo firmly shoved Lash back down to a sit right on his hard, red bar stool, and with a creak and a thump, Lash grunted with the force, sagged his shoulders and peered up to his bigger, much wiser brothers in astonished nervousness. Turbo put his hands on his hips and gently leaned in to Lash's face a little.

"And it's not simply for the fact that she's royalty. Had you been around for the past year and a half, you'd discover that I wanted NOTHING to do with ANYONE on the entire palace lot. I wanted to be left ENTIRELY alone," Turbo urged in Lash's face, to which Throttle shook his head and verbally rushed to Turbo's aid.

"It was Berri that kept bugging Turbo until he finally let his walls come down," Throttle explained, Lash nervously looked back and forth between his big brothers, his golden eyes muted in dim defeat.

"You wanna know why my walls came down?" Turbo huffed in quiet, scheming question, to which Lash only barely opened his mouth.

"Why-?"

"Because I fell in LOVE with her," Turbo growled as he clenched his fists, "She became my best friend and slowly, I fell hard. She could be the poorest commoner in ARCADE and I'd STILL want every single little PIECE of her underneath my skin."

"I-I get it," Lash mumbled in irritated defeat as Throttle and Turbo finally eased up, "Alright, you guys win... I-I'm sorry, I just... It's just odd, and I don't understand it."

"You don't understand it because you've never fallen in love with someone, clearly," Throttle muttered, though he shrugged and urgently peered to his little brother, "It's not to say you couldn't."

"Who KNOWS. If you behave and act right, maybe Zed and Tessa will let you live in the city, in peace," Turbo rushed as he gestured his hand out to the city below the three, "Maybe, just MAYBE, you'll meet a woman you find attractive."

"And befriend," Throttle added.

"And, what? Fall in love with?" Turbo quickly concluded, Lash nervously looked away and furrowed his eyebrows in now thwarted defeat, "Huh. What a wild idea."

"Then you'd be crawling back to us... Asking us just WHAT you have to do to get her coding into yours," Throttle muttered in understanding, to which Lash inhaled a shaky breath and shrugged.

"No one would like a sorry asshole like me. You set me free in the city, and I'd never see the light of day," Lash muttered, though Turbo and Throttle froze at his words, for merely moments, before both boys urgently burst out in ironic laughter. Lash furrowed his eyebrows sharply and shook his head in now cold, stewing irritation, "WHAT is so funny?"

"Hooo, Lash," Throttle wiped his eye as him and Turbo urgently caught glances, to which Turbo put his hands on his hips and shook his head as Throttle continued, "Turbo was singing the exact... Same... Song."

"What do you mean?" Lash worried in mumbling nervousness.

"After Berri, that silly little simpleton, THWARTED you as nothing but a loading, unborn code box, I begged Tessa to put me in the highest tower in Orion City and leave me ENTIRELY alone," Turbo rushed as he cocked an eyebrow, "The only person that didn't abide by that rule was Berri."

"She relentlessly wanted your friendship," Throttle chuckled, though Lash softened in now gentle curiosity.

"She banged down my walls until I didn't even have a choice," Turbo eased softly as he shook his head, though Lash nervously peered to Throttle and Turbo in a rare show of humility.

"S-So... You really didn't pursue her for the crown?" Lash wondered gently, Turbo and Throttle largely rolled their eyes and lulled their heads back in entire irritation.

"NO," Turbo and Throttle blurt at the same time, though Throttle gestured to himself.

"I became fast friends with Wren over a game of hide and seek the palace was having," Throttle put his hand on his chest and chuckled, "Everyone glitched away, to go hide, and it was just me and Wren left behind... Neither of us have gamer powers, and we bonded over something so small."

"Which eventually snowballed into, well... Where you two are headed now," Turbo shrugged, he eyed Lash in mean, smiling delight and shook his head, "You can strive for a normal, closed-off life all you want, but love will eventually come clawing your way."

"And once it does," Throttle grumbled as he rubbed his forehead, Turbo blurt a small laugh and shook his head, "You won't be able to escape it."

"Sounds... Terrifying, really," Lash mumbled, though Turbo shrugged and bobbed a nod.

"It is... I mean, look at us now. Throttle's here to figure out a homosexual swap, something that isn't extremely common," Turbo gestured to Throttle and peered into Lash's eyes, "And I, well... I'm not the focus, here, tonight."

"Methinks you SHOULD swap with Berri," Throttle muttered as Turbo furrowed his eyebrows and shot Throttle a wildly confused look of mild embarrassment.

"Doesn't... Berri have a boyfriend? Or, swapmate?" Lash cautiously pressed.

"She swapped with Gunner?" Throttle blurt in whole entire sadness as he urgently peered to Turbo; he shook his head and shut his eyes tight.

"NO, th-they're just... Dating," Turbo grunted as he flagged his hand, "This is about Throttle, leave me out of it."

"Just get it over with, dude," Lash blurt a laugh as Turbo finally peeled himself from Lash's front, and Throttle's warpath. He made his way around the island and began to cue up a few holograms, a gently glowing extension of his own shred of Sugar Rush's code room, all calmly lit in red holograms. Lash pressed his grey hands to the island's counter and gave Turbo a cheeky smile, "Just swap with Berri, if it's what you so desperately want. She won't WANT to think about Gunner, afterwards."

"Y'know, Lash, there's a LITTLE thing I like to call... Consent," Turbo cheekily narrowed his eyes and gave Lash a wide, mean grin, "I'm not a monster."

"But you two ARE in love," Throttle egged, to which Turbo shot him a look, as if to beg Throttle not to join in on Lash's antics.

"Just, SIT her down and... And... I don't know, you guys are the experts, here," Lash grumbled as he gestured his hand off in Turbo's and Throttle's separate directions.

"I'm not yet," Throttle muttered, "I had sex with a woman, once upon a time, but, now..."

"Yikes," Lash blurt a hard laugh and shot Throttle a knowing, cheeky grin of mean delight, and although Turbo knew not to add fuel to the fire, he grit his teeth and snorted a laugh he desperately tried to hold back, "Y'got a WHOLE different ball game, here... Get it? Ball game?"

"YEAH I get it, Whiplash, will you grow up?" Throttle grunted in now entire embarrassment, his sheet-white cheeks immediately flared in a bruised blush of entire shyness, something that Lash noted and surprisingly respected in the act of backing off.

"Goin' in the secret back entrance," Turbo muttered as he cleared his throat, and although he saw Throttle urgently narrow his glower and shoot it in his direction, he wheezed a laugh and pat his chest in stifling cheekiness, "Sorry, I... I had to get one in, sorry."

"How'd it make you feel, Bo?" Throttle barked in mortified irritation, to which Lash suddenly howled with laughter.

"Pretty great, not gunna lie," Turbo choked, he heaved a shaky, beaming sigh and began to pan through Throttle's pulled up displays and options. In sync with it all, Wren's quickly came to the forefront, as well, "Well, just feel grateful you know someone with a hand in the code room. A swap, between two men, is actually far easier to follow through with than, say, a man and a woman, or even two women. Y'got the long end of the stick, here, Tee."

"... W-was that a euphemism-?" Lash was urgently cut off.

"It BETTER NOT have been," Throttle stabbed in continued irritation, and although Turbo and Lash now easily enjoyed each other's camaraderie, Turbo sagged his shoulders and gave Throttle a kind, easy-going smile.

"Tee, RELAX. This is exciting, okay? This is a huge step, for you and Wren," Turbo cooed carefully, which thankfully had Throttle's shoulders un-tensing in a sag of mild relief, "Have you two discussed this, at all?"

"No, h-he... He saw how uptight I was at our small get-together, at Tessa's and Zed's house, and... H-He offered to come over and spend the night," Throttle mumbled in rising despair, he twiddled his long, gangly fingers before him and aimlessly looked down in sorrow, cueing both Turbo and Lash to drop their teasing antics, "He... Said he'd give me back rub, or whatever he could do, so to calm my nerves."

"Why are you so uptight?" Lash wondered genuinely, his tone was dull for curiosities sakes, to which Throttle finally shot Lash a look of mild irritation.

"Because YOU are unbubbled," Throttle grumbled, to which Lash rolled his eyes and looked off.

"So, you're going to have sex strictly because you're stressed out that I exist?" Lash muttered as he finally brought his cheeky, smiling demeanor back to Throttle's disposition, and before Throttle could unleash his temporarily short-fused self on Lash's quivering soul, Turbo stepped in.

"Lash, how many times do we have to tell you?" Turbo grunted, to which Lash threw his hands up in defeat and scrunched his eyes closed.

"I KNOW, it's for MANY reasons, it's because you love each other, I GOT THE PICTURE," Lash blurt loudly, to which Turbo stifled another laugh, the way Throttle looked off in huffy, bottle-necked irritation, Turbo cocked an eyebrow and now truly believed Throttle when he said Wren was concerned, and it was clear Throttle was in need of a point of safety, tonight.

"Throttle, it's as simple as me just swapping yours and Wren's source coding," Turbo cooed gently, to which Throttle raised his eyebrows in baited, curious, gleeful concern, "Unlike a man swapping with a woman as a self-programmed gamer to a user made gamer, two men swapping, no matter the coding orientation, is as easy as swapping the source code and, well... Going at it, no holds barred."

"N-No... Timed swap or ANYTHING?" Throttle wondered with a nervous tremble in his throat, it was here did his veins begin to surge with mild dread; dread at the raw fact that this was all becoming very real, very fast.

"It's all up to you and Wren, now," Turbo assured with a small chuckle as he showed both Throttle's and Wren's holographic, exterior displays, all cozily nestled with the other's source coding. Throttle raised his eyebrows and felt as if his feet was now glued to Turbo's tiles, though the pulse in his jugular was very clearly about to come bursting right out of his neck.

"So, what are you waiting for?" Lash barked, Throttle flinched and heaved a nervous breath of an inquiry, though Lash pretended to hold a phone up to his ear, "Uh, yeah, Wren? Can you stop by? I got a lil' somethin' for yah."

"THAT easy, huh," Throttle barked in hot irritation, to which Turbo shrugged and gave Throttle a cheeky look of kind delight.

"Hey, you DID say Wren offered," Turbo thwarted as Throttle nervously peered his anticipatory eyes straight into Turbo's, "Methinks Wren WANTS you to call and take him up on that there, uh... Back rub."