Reviews :
BanannaSammich : Thank you! Yeah Lash needs a little bit of backlash, no one else really gives it to him like Mara will :p LOL and yeah! But no one in the palace ever put two and two together, it's sort of not even on anyone's radar xD
chuckiboo : Oh thank you! I'm glad you're invested :D Yeah Lash has never really gotten a taste of his own medicine before, so he now has no clue how to act haha
faolan1230 : OH HAPPY BIRTHDAY! That's exciting, yay :D
Lyssdoodle : He be like, wtf no one told me about BIKINIS.
Song Listened To :
Autumn Breeze by View Points
*Chapter 227*
As Berri stepped out of Turbo's glorious car, the lower driver seat that hovered so close to the ground, the prickling feel of loose sand that lightly littered the asphalt driveway the three had pulled up to, Berri gasped in soft, whimsical delight as her eyes trained to the gorgeous sights all around. Tucked away in a private alcove sat eight gorgeous, luxurious little resort cabins, all facing a healthy span of a private beach, securely snuggled away against the stark, majestic heights of white chocolate cliffsides. With the view of Orion City far on the horizon, just a little speckle across the blue, crystal ocean, the breeze whisked Berri's beautiful blue hair about, as if to promise Sugar Sun was due to whisking away every single last one of her worries. With Sugar Rush's irresistible, minty blue sky, not a single cotton candy cloud could be seen, something Berri was thrilled about. Just as she was about to scan her eyes about the incredible views they were treated to, a private escape that only this group had access to, Lash's deep voice suddenly popped her bliss.
"Bear, I gotta piss something fierce," Lash muttered tightly, he grit his teeth and adjusted his clothes a little. Berri furrowed her eyebrows a little and landed her gaze into Lash's muted, yellow stare; boyish, annoyingly cute, he reeked of a brotherly air as he finally gave Berri an annoyed eye roll, he carried on in a mockingly proper tone, "Sorry, sorry... Your Highness, are there any receptacles to where one can empty one's bladder? Your greatness?"
"You're not allowed to call her that," Wren mumbled through a gentle cough, an act of clearing his throat and trying to remain subtle, he continued on his path to meeting up with the group that was apart of Throttle's carpool, as well as Turbo's.
"... I'm so confused, you guys are princesses, but now... I can't say 'Your Highness'? Is there a rule book?" Lash staggered in irritated confusion, though he felt his insides shrivel as Mara slowly rounded the front of Turbo's still-hot car and eased into their conversation, having heard little bits of it and understanding it pertained to her.
"I only let Turbo call me that," Berri mumbled, though they flinched as Wren's voice suddenly carried back to them.
"Or unless she demands your respect, my guy, she's your future Queen, after all," Wren concluded, Berri crossed her arms and gave Lash a small, sly grin.
"I prefer it from anyone," Mara chirped, she smiled though was entirely unreadable.
"Yeah, I got that," Lash quipped meanly, Mara pursed her lips and looked off in gentle, stewing defeat, though Berri gently lulled her arm over Mara's shoulder in girly delicacy.
"Turbo can tell you where the bathrooms are, Lash. Mara and I are going to retrieve Chester," Berri stated as Mara gently sagged into Berri's side hug, though Lash rolled his eyes and waved the girls off.
"Yes Your Highness and Berri," Lash muttered, disinterested, to which Berri sagged her shoulders and looked off in aimless frustration as Lash pushed past the two; Mara inhaled a long, irritated breath through her nose and firmly watched Lash leave, as if her glower could burn a hole through his head.
"Kitepchke," Mara stabbed quietly in Teltokuan, though Berri sharply raised her eyebrows and beamed a curious smile into Mara's eyes, a sour word meaning something much worse than a jerk.
"Uh, kanna'te, kit molka?" uh, hello, you surprised?' Berri blurt through a sharp giggle; although she wasn't fluent in Telotkuan, she felt the embers in the back of her brain fire up. Due to not having really anyone to practice with recently, she suddenly felt a jolt of camaraderie with her Teltokuan niece. Having learned a very healthy amount in her childhood, due to Ace and Libby making sure she was well versed, Berri was excited to have another being to chit chat with in her sister-in-law's native language. She cutely carried on as confidently as she could, "Firt seh'te tem, eh'Lash kunjitoma." For what it's worth, he has come around.'
"Does anyone else here know Teltokuan?" Mara suddenly whispered as she scrunched her shoulders, leaned a little closer to Berri and beamed a curious little smile of pure, girly glee. Berri grinned and opened her mouth to answer, though Mara warmly continued, "It can be our secret code or something."
"Turbo knows, but... I don't think he KNOWS that he knows," Berri scratched her head and looked off in cute confusion, "It'd be funny if we spoke to Turbo in Teltokuan and see how he reacted. He knows as much as I do, due to our swap."
"This'll be so fun," Mara meeped, Berri long-blinked and quickly agreed in their cute mess of gentle giggling, though somehow her heart soared, the raw fact that Mara had actually shaped up to being this adorable, secretive little ball of fun, someone right under her own nose this entire time. Adamant to not feel too guilty whilst on vacation, she figured these two weeks would certainly make up for lost time.
"I prefer it from anyone," Lash mocked in a nasally, high pitched voice, as quietly as he could afford, a disgusted wrinkle of his nose and the subtle protrusion of his tongue through his teeth, to top it off, said grand finale of irritation was concluded with an eye roll of the century. Lash pressed on under his breath as he begrudgingly pressed closer to Turbo's gorgeous, now powered off and parked Lumos at the end of the lovely, massive circle driveway, "Yeah, not everyone, toots, what if I just ignore you for the whole vacation... Y'ain't gettin' no 'your highness' from me, anymore."
"Guys, go ahead and hang out near the common room's entrance, over there. I'll disperse keys to everyone and maybe we can talk ground rules, or something," Turbo called to everyone that was now slowly climbing out of their respective vehicles, big stretches and relaxed groans trickled the group. Turbo inhaled a deep breath of refreshing ocean air and felt floored to have his hair whisk a bit in the cool ocean breeze. He sighed a small chuckle as Theo gently nudged him in a knowing manner, upon brushing past him, "I can't wait to sit on the beach."
"You and me both, it's been a little while since I've been to a beach," Theo mumbled kindly as he walked away, he bugged his eyes and shook his head, "Let alone any private beach THIS luxurious."
"Agreed," Turbo eased with a warm chuckle, though he furrowed his eyebrows in tender confusion and took note that Lash was now nearly marching straight for him. Turbo halted his positioning from bending over into his car, to grab said house keys from his center console, and raised his eyebrows in cute, piqued surprise, "Hey bud, you... Okay?"
"No, I'm not okay, here I thought this would be a relaxing vacation where I can pick on the lot o'yah and know my threshold," Lash barked, clearly becoming a touch beyond just flat irritation, he seemed en route to becoming flustered. Turbo gave him a furrowed, confused frown and stood to correction as he hung in the gaping driver side door of his car. Lash gestured out towards the car he had just came from, the first one in the circle driveway and the one Berri was just driving. He stabbed his muted yellow gaze tight to Turbo's and shook his head in brewing frustration, "Now I gotta spend the next two weeks trying to figure out just how little miss princess number TWO wants to be treated?"
"... You mean Mara?" Turbo's voice lilted in stern though smiling irritation.
"Yeah, the light blue haired brat, my guy, who else would I be talking about? I just drove with her, Wren and Berri for almost two hours, like hell I'd talk about Berri like that to YOU," Lash pressed in forceful, clear irritation, though Turbo opened his mouth to potentially inquire a light-bulb of an idea that draped over him, Lash rushed to carry on, "She related to Berri in any drastic way?"
"Yeah, Mara's her only niece," Turbo grunted with an incredulous chuckle, "She's my ex-girlfriend's daughter. Before you assume that it's only weird for YOU, maybe look around. Read the room, my guy."
"... She's a USER?" Lash urged in hot irritation, though Turbo was thrilled Lash at least got this across in a sharp hiss of a statement, the rest of their vacationing crew was now at least fifty feet off in a lazy gathering about the main house's common room entrance.
"Yes, she's a User, will you relax?" Turbo sighed, he desperately tried to act as if this notion was literally nothing different than the fact that she has blue hair, though before Turbo could potentially segue the conversation elsewhere, Lash stiffened further.
"You mean to tell me you invited her to not only babysit me, but also TORTURE me?" Lash nearly growled to Turbo, and it was here did Turbo understand that there was no verbally reasoning with Lash, in this little tantrum.
Turbo narrowed his gaze a little as the world slowed about the two. Lash's look of pure hurt, a little bitty ember of a flame in the process of being stamped out, Turbo nearly let a kind chuckle escape his rib cage at just how sweet Lash looked in this moment. The sunlight glinted on his lighter grey skin, ultimately boasting his faded cy-bug markings that lined his forehead and jawline, his matte yellow gaze stabbed up into Turbo's with a whole slew of mental emotion Turbo was now well-versed in. A man that so desperately just wanted to be understood, Turbo was well aware Berri's coding had softened his once tougher, red coding. Turbo exhaled a soft sigh through his nose and wondered what a little patient, tender loving care would do for Lash, or if he'd even be receptive; he figured two weeks off, to really get down to the hidden details of it all, was the perfect place to start.
"May I please exterior swap with you?" Turbo asked gently, his deep voice was laced in patient nonchalance, as if the question was a serious question of consent, but also woven with lighthearted normalcy.
Lash wrinkled his nose in a knee-jerk reaction to loudly blurt Turbo a negative reply, though in the immediate realization that the two were technically alone, Lash held his breath and allowed his eyes to gloss Turbo's broad collar and chest in an aimless moment of halted thought. Lash long-blinked in rising confusion and gave Turbo eye contact, once more, a much more vulnerable show of true heart, though Lash huffed a silent breath through his nose, shifted on his feet in mild embarrassment and just barely nodded as he looked off. He desperately tried to eke a tough-guy, no-nonsense attitude, something Turbo could see right through.
"Just... Make it quick," Lash muttered in defeat, and though he looked entirely bothered that Turbo would even ask, he bravely held out his hand for Turbo, as if to prove to Turbo that this had become routine, as if to make clear that the lovely kiss of familial coding and communication was a sense of true, kind normalcy Lash secretly wanted.
"Lash, we didn't invite Mara just to keep an eye on you," Turbo started calmly, and as the live-wired, rose-golden honeycombs and circuits illuminated his own palm, he so gently took hold of Lash's hand and successfully laid his brotherly care into the shivering, lonely strands of Lash's stubborn red coding. Lash visibly sagged, he shifted on his feet a little and straightened his spine, and for the first time this entire conversation, he finally held unwavering eye contact to Turbo's. Turbo narrowed his gaze a little and did whatever he could to ease a sense of peace into Lash's confused, buzzing red coding, "She currently is on the outs with her friend group, they went on a camping trip that she ducked out of and Berri invited her so she wouldn't be stuck at home and lonely."
Lash long-blinked in listening confusion, though just as the urge to fight and be mean and angry rose, Lash huffed a faltered breath and could feel a secretive, brotherly sense of camaraderie so gently flatten the raging tide of angry red coding. Although he'd never openly admit it out loud, Lash felt his rib cage take in a solid deep breath and allowed Turbo's cautious, though embracing coding lay his worries to rest.
"If I am to be honest with you, though, inviting her to keep a watchful eye on everyone, and everything, did play a factor in Berri's decision," Turbo mumbled, he gently squeezed Lash's hand and breathed a small chuckle, "Lash, I'm really going to challenge you to ease up, on this vacation. No one is out to get you... Sure, Mara has a bit of a colder edge, but Berri said that once she warms up to people, she's a lot friendlier."
Lash held on to whatever previous feeling of frustration he could and gently rolled his eyes, though it was becoming clear to Turbo that being this worked up and irritated, all the time, was now becoming a bit of a chore. Turbo was well aware Lash had walls up, he squeezed Lash's hand a little harder and tilted his head to get a gentle sneak into Lash's eyes, which were now shyly becoming minty.
"It wouldn't hurt to show a little bit more kindness, too... These incredible women are very important, to me, to everyone at the palace, to Sugar Rush," Turbo's warm voice reverberated in Lash's ears like a slow drum of a lullaby, Lash long-blinked in a further, fresher show of being grounded as Turbo side-eyed Lash and carried on with a nearly irritated little smirk, "Those girls are royalty, literally. Try showing a bit more respect, you'd be surprised just how willing they'd be to giving you the world in return."
"I was just gunna avoid her," Lash mumbled in defeat, to which Turbo gave him a confused look.
"I think you should just treat her how you would want to be treated, you wouldn't want to be misunderstood and then avoided, now would you?" Turbo mumbled with an annoyed little smile, to which Lash exhaled a long breath through his nose and aimlessly looked down to their conjoined hands.
"I guess not," Lash muttered, he felt time slow even more, he softly eased his eyes up to Turbo's still figure and took the time to really assess just how much of Turbo's attention was now laser-pointed on Lash; every last ounce of it, and then some.
"Also, I was waiting for the right moment to tell you this, but... I just want to thank you for being like a brother to Berri, and for attempting to get through this mess with me. There was once a time where we stood like this, seconds before I... Stabbed you in the back," Turbo mumbled, clearly not happy to be reliving the memories, on his own accord, though he gave Lash a humble smile and was thrilled to feel the anxious buzzing, of Lash's coding, finally settle into a smooth, easy lull of brotherly love they shared, "I hope these two weeks makes up for it... Zed, Tessa and I had a big discussion, and have come to the decision to give you your powers back."
Lash raised his eyebrows in hot surprise and froze, though he opened his mouth to urgently say something, he held up his free hand and felt his muscles tense in a flex, as if he was en route to really putting Turbo's words to the test. Just as he was about to potentially whisk away, he largely stopped himself and peered hard into Turbo's eyes. The insane amount of trust Turbo had suddenly laid over Lash, Lash felt his heart suddenly yank back down to the ground, rooted in this moment of true love, as if he finally had a small little ember of hope that was keeping him to the planet, the embrace of home he had finally felt his heart warm to, in this singular moment. Lash held his breath and was shocked to feel his skin prickle with goosebumps, the strange dilemma he now was thrusted upon, though Turbo cutely continued.
"I know you'll be smart about it, you've showed everyone a great deal of cooperation, and we just want to prove to you that it's appreciated," Turbo stated kindly with a nod, though he slipped his hand out of Lash's, once and for all, closed his car's door and began to gently step about Lash. In the firm pat to Lash's upper arm, as well as a squeeze, Turbo began to press towards the common room's entrance, the sun beat down on the two with a full splay of summertime heat. Turbo cocked an eyebrow and gave Lash a cheeky look over his shoulder, "Y'gunna head out for a bit, then?"
Lash turned and peered to Turbo with purpose, though he remained frozen. He gently panted through his nose as his own coding rushed his veins in normalcy once more, outside of the break of his and Turbo's exterior swap. Lash opened his palms, felt his power bubble from the depths of his coding and halted any coded action before it came to fruition. He gently dragged his eyes back to Turbo's figure, which was still smiling at him over his shoulder, he lazily continued to saunter in the direction of the group gathered at the common room's entrance. Before Lash could ease his conclusion, he flinched a little as Berri, Mara and Chester suddenly teleported to the smaller circular field in which the driveway hugged. They giggled in cuteness as Chester barked an excited noise and greet the group about fifty feet off. Turbo volleyed his gaze in their direction, a chuckle shook from his figure, though he gave Lash one more curious steal of a glance, over his shoulder, a prolonged, smiling stare before he committed to his path and pressed on without Lash.
Lash huffed a noise of silent, faltered words that didn't come to be, he looked down to his opened palms and felt his heart race with purpose. The desire to jump off, to leap away with his teleportation power, though he furrowed his brow in soft confusion and peered to the sunny group, far off. A fun mess of smiles and laughter, the air about the group radiated every last shred of warmth and love Lash so desperately and so secretly longed for. He panted through his nose and counted down from five, as if to rewire his brain to how it used to be, to prepare him for lift off, guilt free, though once he silently counted down to one, and then zero, he held his breath and shut his eyes tight. After a few more seconds into the negatives, he huffed a shaky exhale and peered his curious gaze to the group, once more. An alluring desire, a need so deeply rooted in his coding, he unclenched his fists and felt the pull. Lash looked on with a new little shivering flame of purpose, everything Turbo had laid on his heart in this small instance of what was frustration, Lash scoffed a small chuckle of disbelief at himself as he pressed towards the one thing he thought he'd never have a chance at; to be surrounded by family, by love, old and new, something he wondered had more value than even the powers in his coding.
