Reviews :
faolan1230 : True xD You'll come to find Turbo is very good at picking on Berri. As kindly as he can, that is.
Song Listened To :
There's No Way ft. Julia Michaels by LAUV
*Chapter 154*
"Alright, pop quiz," Turbo's deep voice eased in cuteness, he glanced to Berri over his shoulder and was thrilled her little, bare feet pattered after him, through his lovely, dim loft. The light emanating through was strictly from the glow of Orion City, far below. His golden gaze illuminated the hallway they trekked down, forked from between his bedroom and the infamous spiral staircase that lead up to Turbo's typically sunny, sky-room of a work area. They ducked down the rather secretive separate hallway and straight for the teleport pad that lead to his own code room, one floor down. Due to the constraints of the hallway, Turbo pressed his feet onto the small pad, turned around, and opened his arm in anticipation for Berri's body to join his on the pad. He raised his eyebrows in cute, expectant surprise and relished in the draw her body did to ease closer to his, "State the three classes of coding."
"For User's sake," Berri hissed in mild, playful irritation, and upon the lull of her closed eyes, she warmly sagged into Turbo's broad chest, wrapped her arms tight about his torso and heaved a hot sigh into his sternum. She bit her lip in thought, though she flinched the second Turbo cued the two to teleport one floor below, to his dim, warm, lovely code room. With the hum of familiar electricity, the two eased out of each others arms and kept a light air about them. Berri fingered her lip in contemplation, and although she tried to think on it all, the view from Turbo's code room, as well as Turbo's masculine, handsome figure walking away from her stance, in pursuit of his shred of the code room's orb, heavily distracted her. Berri cocked an eyebrow and secretively eyed his rear as he walked off. With a huff of a shy, shaky giggle, she lulled her eyes closed and relished in her sly, girly thoughts, "I-I... I know the first one, for exterior coding. Isn't it... Cognizance Class?"
"Yep, good job," Turbo shot her a smile over his broad shoulder, his code room just barely illuminated upon him waking up the core orb of his own shred of Sugar Rush's heart. He bobbed an expectant nod and carefully began to cue up Berri's coding information, "What about interior coding?"
"User... I-I know this, don't tell me," Berri held her breath and looked off, though she finally began to mosey to Turbo's positioning and aimlessly looked off in further thought, "I-It... Starts with a V, right?"
"Right," Turbo egged gently, he cocked an eyebrow and gave her a kind, expectant smile.
"... Visceral Class?" Berri narrowed her gaze in cute uncertainty, though she stiffened her spine in a perk of confidence the second Turbo bobbed a nod and smiled into her eyes.
"And the last? Core coding?" Turbo wondered sweetly, though Berri looked down in an already-stumped kind of manner; she sagged her shoulders, to boot.
"I-I... Forget," Berri sighed softly, she shook her head and gently hooked her eyes in Turbo's, and although he gave her a kind smile of displeased defeat, she shook her head and perked up, once more; her eyes illuminated with the warmth of the code room that enveloped them in love, "I-I remember what each stressor represents! Well... The ones you showed me, previously."
"The Quintessence Class," Turbo tenderly pressed, his careful hand brought up Berri's coding with a gentle, glowing lull, and as he began to fill the gap between the two, his bare feet tenderly pressed on with purpose, she slowly followed suit. He gestured to her coding, and although it still was a fragile predicament, he felt confident Berri would give him her coded permission, like last time, to politely nose about her sensitive inner-most code stream. With no hesitation, this time around, Berri confidently pressed the button aptly labelled 'allow', to which a few tiers of larger, messier indexes and menus opened up. Turbo bobbed a nod and, although he hovered her information off to the side, he kept it close to relevance later on, "Tell me what you remember, and I'll fill in the gaps."
"I remember you stated that the two stressors, on my temples, act as a recording agent. It remembers everything I see, documents the positive and negative, and my coding reacts accordingly... Mainly where dreams and nightmares originate," Berri smartly listed, the two fell into a rhythm of tenderness, a teacher to his pupil, he cutely watched her mannerisms with a world of patience and allowed her to carry on with the homework he had previously left her with, "The two stressors on the bottoms of the feet are what ground you, keep you rooted and stable in unstable situations. The heart stressor, is, well..."
"Hunger," Turbo cheekily joked, he huffed a small laugh and shook his head as Berri shot him an annoyed smile. He gestured his hand a little, and although he almost had no clue how to properly move this little lesson forward, he cocked an eyebrow and was glad he found a little sneak way, "Hunger does actually play in to one of the stressors."
"I'm going to guess it's the one on your stomach," Berri muttered dully, though still held with a positive, twinkling smile; Turbo chuckled and bobbed a nod, though before going any further with this little lesson, he inhaled a deep breath and eyed Berri in cute suspicion.
"While we're doing all this talking, about stressors, can you cue yours up? Like last time?" Turbo wondered gently, he cocked an eyebrow and gave Berri a sweet look of curiosity.
In the recall of the last time they were in this predicament together, Berri held her breath and felt a rush of sudden nervousness come to her. The act of the two partaking in an exterior swap, though included with their core coding, Berri knew there were far too many more secrets, inside of her, that she didn't exactly want Turbo to know right now. Shy, adamant desires she was well aware would eventually come spilling out, though somehow, she peered up into Turbo's eyes with tender question. Somehow unravelling herself and mentally explaining to Turbo every tedious detail of desire, every single little butterfly that lined her stomach, she was aware the core coding swap would be on par with laying each butterfly flat and scanning the intricate details of each wing. Kissed with golden desire, the gentle glow of Turbo's eyes that splayed her skin, she held her breath and almost had the urge to deny Turbo's gentle, polite request. She feared he, too, would cue his coding up, once more, and they'd be back to where they were last time, though this time, Berri was well aware there absolutely had to be stressors that involved sexual desire, tension and release. How desperately she wanted to avoid it, she inhaled a shaky breath and felt brave standing up for her shivering feelings, here.
"Turbo, I... C-Can you maybe just tell me what other stressors we'll be focusing on? I-Instead of showing me?" Berri pressed as gently and nervously as she could, her twinkling eyes hooked into Turbo's with hot knowing, though Turbo long-blinked in warm, surprised understanding, as if suddenly her skin glistened like the most delicate porcelain.
"Absolutely," Turbo eased, he sagged his shoulders and now suddenly felt as if their relationship was hot to the touch, something that needed to be left to burn by itself for a second. He inhaled a shaky breath and now felt a very odd vibe come off of Berri, almost as if she didn't want to be read, whether that be mentally or physically. Turbo cleared his throat and took one slow, careful step away from Berri, he hoped to convey that he was now going to be doing anything and everything to not be overbearing, "Let's see... The stressor on your stomach deals with a mixture of different things. Although it does deal with hunger, it wouldn't be the same as physical hunger, like the thing you satiate with food."
"... Drive, then?" Berri quietly questioned, Turbo felt the gears in his brain run a million miles a minute with the way Berri's now stand-offish, nervous demeanor was not letting up.
"Exactly," Turbo cooed cautiously, he donned an easy smile, he did everything to radiate softness, though Berri's stiff, nervous disposition persisted, "It's fueled by determination, it's flared by motivation, but can easily be soured by greed. It's an easy scale to tip, sometimes people are driven by things that will only benefit themselves."
"I'm hyper aware of that," Berri mumbled as she looked down to her fingers, in which she aimlessly twiddled, "I... I sometimes wonder if yanking the mic more in my direction was selfish. Ever since that one show, where Gunner's mic went out, I've... Really reflected on that."
"... What place did that dominance come from? A place of greed?" Turbo carefully questioned, he side-eyed Berri in warmth and smiled, "Or were you simply standing up for yourself?"
Berri raised her eyebrows in warm contemplation, as if maybe she hadn't thought of it that way. She bobbed a gentle nod and finally gave Turbo a smile of a little bit of relief. Although Berri showed a shred normalcy, Turbo felt suddenly stumped by her switch up, here, as if he was now reminding himself just what it meant to keep up with a woman, once more. He furrowed his eyebrows tenderly and debated asking her about the shy nervousness she now eagerly radiated, though he wondered if holding off would be wise. He assumed that if it were to come bubbling over, she'd reveal just why she was acting so strange, though he was also aware that there was a fine line, here. In a weird fit of now worrying himself into a hole, he lulled his eyes closed and begged himself not to become so hyper-aware of everything. How desperate he was to make sure that his and Berri's relationship ran smoothly, he knew he needed to not be so critical of every change in tone or inflection, such scrutiny would drive the both of them mad, he was certain.
"I think the latter," Turbo concluded with soft warmth, he very easily hid his agitation, though he almost began to feel restless due to the fact that said agitation was due to her switch in energy. How desperately he now wanted to ask just why she suddenly shut him out to said core coding practice, he inhaled a shaky breath and tried not to feel mildly hurt. He tried his best to assume that it was nothing personal, and to lay off. With forced easiness, he looked about his code room a little and finally hooked his eyes into Berri's, yet again, "The... Much larger stressor mark on your back signifies trust, what makes you stay and fight and what makes you retreat with flight."
"... Kind of like instinct?" Berri pondered softly, still a reserved show of contemplative shyness. Turbo now took note of her full body language; arms crossed, feet together, shoulders mildly scrunched, all things that added up to closed-off demeanor, though the only thing that tipped Turbo off was now the hard, red blush across her cheeks.
"Exactly like instinct," Turbo smiled, he narrowed his gaze and now began to try and piece the puzzle together. The way she reserved herself in cute, shy bashfulness, so unlike her fiery typical self, he felt his heart begin to thump in his chest; a strange desire for this adorable, shy little version of the Berri he knew and loved, he was almost floored straight into an outward facial expression of bewilderment. Although feeling a strange bout of a craving for this fragile angle of Berri, he did everything he could to remain calm and still for her, "As if you have a physical pair of wings. Do you use them to fly away in a hard situation? Or do you use them to shield yourself and fight? It could easily be soured by putting your trust into people, or situations, that aren't technically trustworthy. Thus, clouding your judgement and making it harder to really decipher intention."
"D-Did we already cover the ones on the jugular?" Berri wondered daintily after a moment of soaking in all of Turbo's knowledge, though he furrowed his brow in gentle contemplation and looked off.
"I'm not positive we did," Turbo pressed, though with Berri's reserved, nervous demeanor really not letting up, he felt his curiosity brim over the edge. He tenderly carried on, though he knew he was on the brink of finally just coming out with it and asking her plainly what he maybe did wrong, here, "It deals with voice, something I think would resonate well with you, due to your singing and your desire to be heard. It could... Be soured by maybe not being taken seriously in certain situations, or your opinion and needs being shut out."
"I know that well," Berri muttered in quiet, seething irritation as she looked off, and although Turbo knew she was directing said frustration towards Gunner, he inhaled a deep breath and could feel current and past insecurities begin to bubble right into her's and Turbo's fresh, brand new relationship; something he was determined to not allow.
"I think you could probably practice soothing THIS stressor, right here in this instance," Turbo stated as gently as he could, though he did what he could to hold a mild, authoritative air over Berri, a teachable moment that could very easily morph into a gentle growth of a branch off of their brand new bud of their relationship.
"... What do you mean?" Berri wondered in a switch up of mild, annoyed defensiveness; she eased a toothy smile, as if to silently guffaw at Turbo's brave insinuation and instruction.
"Well... You were previously in a really good mood until I suggested you cueing up your core coding," Turbo stated knowingly, he did everything he could to not come across as accusatory. Much to his nervous surprise, Berri began to look further agitated, and though he pressed on, Berri's fiery personality now came about in a roll of pent up frustration Turbo had no idea how to navigate.
"It's personal, that's a lot to ask," Berri almost meanly snapped, to which Turbo gingerly sagged his shoulders and held his hands up; it was here in this hot moment of debate did he quickly realize Berri wasn't arguing with him, she was arguing with Gunner. She was a different woman from the last time they sat in this tender predicament.
"... Hun," Turbo warmly cautioned, a soft, deep tone of a reminder, he felt relief the second Berri halted in the angry words about to come flying out of her mouth. The second she realized Turbo wasn't going to climb all over her and argue her until the morning light, she furrowed her eyebrows in warm confusion and finally looked Turbo in the eye. Turbo exhaled a shaky chuckle and now felt scared to even move, "I'm... I'm not your enemy here, babe, I'm just curious what that was about. I'm not mad at all. You're right, that is personal, and I didn't expect you to just... Open up, like that. I should've been more sensitive about it, maybe."
"N-No, no, you were fine, I just..." Berri held her forehead and now took a small step away, she shook her head and sheepishly gave Turbo a frown of nervous, shy apology, "Sorry, I'm used to putting up a MUCH bigger fight when it comes to things I need, or being heard."
"Okay, so utilize that feeling, here and now," Turbo's deep voice pressed knowingly; he was glad said word choice had Berri's curious, nervous eyes firmly glued to his in frozen, shivering delight. Turbo warmly placed a hand to his broad chest and shook his head, "Clearly something triggered you, there... I asked something of you, something personal, and you wanted to deny me, so you did... Which I respect. Did you assume I was going to argue you?"
Berri nervously eased a short, few nods of quick agreeing with a tight-lipped look of continued reservedness.
"Is this something Gunner would usually do?" Turbo pressed in a rise of seething frustration, though he so skillfully kept it under wraps, "Berri, you tell me just what you need, I'm not going to go banging on a door that is closed. That's counterintuitive. You said no, and I complied. Why would I argue you on something like that? That doesn't benefit either of us."
"Sorry, it's... Just what I'm used to," Berri mumbled as she shyly looked down with a frown, "I've... Had to deny a lot, from Gunner, and it made him mad. I'm REALLY not trying to bring baggage into our relationship, Bo, just... Forget it happened."
Turbo softened and peered to Berri's still demeanor. A woman born of fire, he almost felt heartbroken with how frozen and stagnant she seemed inside of these road blocks. Although every relationship is a learning process, one of love, hurt and healing, Turbo held his breath and wondered if Berri went through a bit more psychological manipulation than she ever lead on. Although due to making Turbo's life a little harder, he inhaled a deep breath and smiled at the idea of wanting to go above and beyond for this incredible woman that almost nervously had finally fallen into his arms, where she belonged. Although life lessons were dragged into it, hard ones that would take time to bounce back from, Turbo knew he could so easily help her along, hands down.
"... He was pushy with you, wasn't he," Turbo mumbled sorrowfully, he tried to keep it light, though he knew he hit jackpot the second Berri eased another nod and looked off.
"He... Eventually got the hint and laid off, but," Berri sighed, she shook her head and lulled her eyes closed, "Y'know, the phrase 'I'm so stressed out' heard so many times, from him, was beginning to feel too much like he was expecting me to comply and be his stress reliever. I may be the granddaughter of one of the fastest racers in this Arcade, but... There are certain things, I think, that deserve a much slower speed."
"... I wholeheartedly agree," Turbo pressed quietly as he looked down with a relieved smile; he was thrilled the two were, at least, on the same page, "Well... I'm glad I can teach you more about these stressors, because then you can rely on yourself. You have to find peace and happiness within. It wasn't fair of Gunner to expect you to fill his cup, like that."
"So unfair, right?" Berri began to open up, slowly but surely; she finally unravelled her arms and donned a small smile to her feet, "Thanks for understanding. Sorry I... Got upset."
"You had every right," Turbo assured with a nod, "I'm not hurt over it. Don't fret."
Berri bobbed a small nod and tucked her hair behind her ears with a shaky exhale of relief. She finally raised her eyebrows and peered to Turbo with great warmth. How patiently he began to sift through a few options, in Berri's splayed coding, how easy this all was, Berri sagged her shoulders and now felt bad for feeling the need to lash out at such a patient, caring creature. How reserved and closed off she previously was, she sagged her shoulders and felt as if she could finally begin contemplating opening up, once more. She was very well aware Turbo was a safe spot, though she was still thrilled they were not inside of an exterior core coding swap, right at this moment. Turbo bobbed a nod and finally gave her a small, curious look.
"O-On that note... Should we stop here?" Turbo cautiously pressed, "I'm going to be frank with you... The last two stressors, that we haven't discussed, involve the idea of sex and, well... The pleasure that brings. If that makes you uncomfortable, we can save it for another time. Or... Never. It's your choice."
Berri raised her eyebrows in prickled surprise and was floored at Turbo's shivering bravery. As the two caught eyes in a string of frozen fervor, Berri held her breath and hung on the wavering, negative connotations of the forbidden word Turbo meekly uttered; 'never'. Berri bashfully glossed her eyes to Turbo's broad chest, the splay of his masculine clavicles, the way he exuded all of Arcade's power by just a simple, steady, slow inhale, Berri finally eased her eye contact to his glowing gaze, once and for all. She knew, even without an exterior swap inside each other's thought stream, she could so easily feel just what Turbo was thinking; she was well aware the road went both ways. As much as Berri wanted to jump away from the hot topic and save it for a rainy day, she bashfully looked down to her hands, inhaled a brave breath and knew she had to eventually dive into this sensitive, raw topic with Turbo as her new, romantic partner.
"Never," Berri breathed in disbelief, repeating Turbo's one, detrimental word. She narrowed her gaze and cheekily gave it to Turbo in loving confidence, "Do you really think, given our circumstance, that 'never' is realistic, here?"
Turbo raised his eyebrows in poised surprise and could feel his gaze becoming blushed in a glow of nervousness. He heaved a silent, shaky breath of unmitigated terror, shyness, joy, and relief, all in one exhale, though he lulled his eyes closed in a long-blink of disbelief that this conversation was genuinely unfolding, his deep voice pressed on in cute defeat, "...No, ma'am."
"It's not that it makes me uncomfortable, I just..." Berri staggered in smiling nervousness as she finally looked down; the brave eye contact she previously had faltered back to the side, to Turbo's lovely, matte white tiles of his dim code room, "I don't want to be so much of an open book, anymore, Bo. I love that my glitching powers makes for perfect communication, but... I don't want you to know exactly what I'm thinking, right now."
Turbo remained frozen and hovered in her fragile words, she shrugged and eased a small, cute giggle.
"There's something to be said for how long we've been at this romance, of ours, no matter how blatant... That we've danced around the notion of sex, or anything pertaining," Berri smiled warmly, though she rolled her eyes and shook her head, "Outside of Lash's stupid statements."
"I... I learned my lesson, from my previous relationship," Turbo chuckled, his deep voice glossed his code room in reverberating goodness of bass and depth. His smile was contagious, the peachy glow of his eyes assured Berri that they were both dancing on the notions of their impending fall into deeper romance, though it was light hearted and enjoyable, "Libby and I swapped within days of simply KNOWING each other. It was fast and immediate and... Reckless. I've... Really enjoyed getting to really know you, Bear. As a gamer, as a best friend..."
Berri smiled and allowed Turbo to tenderly carry on, she relished in his familiar voice, the gloss of his lovely eyes into hers, she felt at ease, once and for all.
"... As a lover," Turbo bashfully pressed, his voice croaked with depth, as if too shy to allow his voice to even properly work. He heaved a trembling breath, raised his eyebrows and looked down at his hands, his aimlessly twiddling fingers, "And, eventually, a swap-mate."
Berri crowned a wide, bashful grin down to her feet and tucked her hair behind her ears. She finally eased to a smirk, narrowed her gaze and returned said cheeky, bashful overflow of cuteness to Turbo, and although she so badly wanted to just unload every single last inch of desire into his shivering soul, she greatly refrained. The powerful, still stance of his masculine, handsome figure, the willingness in his golden eyes, the haunting glow about his dim code room, Berri felt the universe bevel beneath the code room they hovered in. With the twinkling lights of the city beyond Turbo's darker figure, the kiss of silver coding, that was Berri's code box and menus, that hovered to his right and glossed his matte grey skin in a swathe of love, Berri felt a swell of emotion hit her all at once. Flattened in a wash of understanding just how heavy this moment was, she heaved a shaky sigh and looked down, once again, she could feel her hands begin to shake.
"... I'd like that," Berri eased in warm honestly, a gentle kiss of maturity that coat her womanly voice, she bobbed a small nod and finally gave Turbo another bashful smile of conclusory cuteness, "Can we maybe just... Hold off on the demonstration?"
Turbo raised his thick eyebrows in a slow sweep of gentle surprise, to which Berri felt her heart jump clear out of her chest.
"EXPLANATION," Berri choked, she shook her head and clutched her chest in unmitigated embarrassment, "Explanation, wow... I-I meant... Explanation."
"We can hold off," Turbo choked a small laugh and eyed her in curious cuteness, he smiled with his eyes entirely, the adorable, fleeting warmth of shyness she was entirely capable had Turbo feeling drawn in, although her fiery, outspoken side is what attracted him initially, he somehow felt floored at the idea of the bashful and timid side of her that was ultimately reeling him in, for good, the final nail in the coffin, the one last item to get his heart really pumping. He gingerly began to scroll through a few options inside Berri's coding, though with such, he continued on in innocent warmth that was so easily laced with seductive leads, "You just let me know whenever you're willing to carry on, then. I'm ready for yah."
Berri now could swear her vision was about to fish-eye, and with all of the advancements from Gunner she was so used to shoving away, she felt a knee-jerk reaction to urgently decline Turbo's cute little request, a gentle way of reassuring her that a pin was put in it. She cocked an eyebrow and gave Turbo a cheeky look, her confident, teasing, girly side easily began to rise beyond all of the nauseating feelings of impending passion.
"I'd better study, the final sounds like it'll be really... Difficult," Berri muttered with a smile and a chuckle she couldn't stifle to save her life; something Turbo easily cued to.
"Wowww," Turbo blurt, he gestured his arm out to her with a boyish grin, "So it's gunna be like that, huh? You been talking to Lash, lately?"
"Guilty," Berri beamed an easy, wide smile, a carefree feeling of genuine happiness she had forgotten all about, until this instance.
