Reviews :

Lyssdoodle : baw LOL Well I'm glad. It's only downhill from here, in that respect :)


Song Listened To :

Chosen Last by Sara Kays


A/N : Hey guys! Just a quick update, here... Few things to say. So, I start school in about a week. I'm not 100% positive what this will do to my uploads, but I just need everyone to know that this story is NOT abandoned, I promise. If I go long stretches without uploading, just know I'm loaded with school work, this story is always in my heart, and I will ALWAYS come back to it. I'm going to try my best to stock pile chapters, and I may come up with a new upload schedule whilst I'm in school for 4 years. I might go to uploading once or twice a week, but I'll keep everyone posted.

ALSO - this whole entire year, I've been doing everything I can to comfort myself and feel a sense of normalcy and security. This comes in the form of 'slice of life'/'filler' like chapters. Whilst everyone's at Sugar Sun, it's going to be similar to this, though it WILL be skillfully littered with things that further the plot, especially towards the end of their stay. I'm excited to expand on these characters, especially a certain two that currently don't get along. This is how I cope with stress, is with happy and fun and interesting chapters. If you think this is moving too slow or too filler, then check back around chapter 240-50ish. Things will probably be rocketing forward by then, but until then, I'll be here, self soothing. So come along and enjoy the sun and sand!

Thanks guys :)


*Chapter 228*

"Alright, gang, I know we want to have fun and do nothing, but I think I should probably go over a few things," Turbo claimed gently; everyone had sauntered into their luxurious common room of a building.

It was the epicenter of all eight houses, right in the middle of their lovely, massive, private cul-de-sac. Said common room was a single-floored, single-roomed building, though with the arch of the high ceilings, the gorgeous span of sliding glass that lined the opposite end, and properly boasted the whole of their gorgeous private beach, it felt more like the palace's rec hall. A gathering place anyone could come and go from. With terracotta tiles that lined the whole of the place, as well as the lovely outdoor patio, said massive room had a proper kitchen area, as well as a little corridor off to the right that housed a large changing room and bathroom area. Certain this massive room was likely used to wash off, after being in the sand and the ocean, the whole place was kissed with lovely white walls, a pristine, luxurious getaway all crowned with an eternal amount of natural light, a kitchen packed to the teeth with food and appliances, everyone quietly looked about in gawking cuteness as everyone sagged into the kitchen, near the large sprawl of an island. Whilst some sat down on the island's bar stools, others continued to stroll and poke about, though they remained quiet and attentive whilst Turbo carried on.

"So, as you've guessed, this is the common room, anyone's welcome here any time of the day, it's not any one's specific abode. I envision the majority of our vacation will be centered around this building," Turbo mumbled cutely as he stood at the head of the island; everyone eagerly held their eyes to him in cute observing, it was clear Turbo was toured this place before anyone else had been here. Turbo glossed his eyes across the room and straight to the incredible view outside, the private beach, the peachy-white sands, he scoffed a noise and shook his head in delirious disbelief, "I mean, really anywhere in this resort, you get THAT view, so, anywhere you go is going to be magical."

"Yeah, you can catch me out on the sand for the entire vacation, you'll have to use force to get me to be anywhere else, frankly," Koko muttered cutely, her honey-brown eyes peered out to the glowing white sand with eagerness, everyone was looking to unpack and unwind for good.

"Seconded," Mara quipped cutely, she crossed her arms and got a knowing nod and smile from her great aunt Koko.

"All us TurboTime guys would turn to ash," Lash muttered as he sagged his hands into his faded cargo shorts, he eased a small chuckle, as did a few individuals around him, though he ultimately glossed his eyes in Mara's direction and now immediately wondered why he was so concerned with her reactions to whatever he had to say; he sagged a little upon noting that she had either ignored his comment, or it went unheard.

"There are four houses on either side of this common room, I'll give each of you a key to your respective home. Though there are eight units total, we'll only be residing in six of them," Turbo stated to the group with a smile as he pulled out a thicker envelope. He set it down before him and pulled out a set of two keys, in which he glossed his eyes to Throttle and Wren, "Alright, boys, you have unit number one."

"I thought YOU were always number one," Lash mumbled, he cleared his throat and gave his big brother a cute, cocky smile, though it was soft enough to prove to Turbo that Lash wasn't trying to pick a fight; Turbo rolled his eyes and grinned a little as he gave Throttle and Wren their respective keys.

"Get yourself a woman, my guy, you're not going to be concerned with coming first any longer," Turbo skillfully retort, immediately thwarting Lash's nonsense; the group loudly cooed notions encouraging Turbo's sharp wit, to which Lash lightly looked up, in a subtle show of an eye roll, and finally looked off.

"Did you teach him that?" Tatum cutely wondered to Berri, to which Berri's face turned beet red.

"Guess so," Berri blurt a giggle and rubbed her cheek in further smiling embarrassment, Turbo shot her a cute, subtle look of seductive cheekiness, though he pulled out the next pair of keys.

"Tatum and Theo, you guys are unit two," Turbo eased the keys into Theo's larger, outstretched hand, and upon retrieval, Tatum cutely linked her arm with Theo as they briefly smiled into each other's eyes. Once again, Turbo pulled from the envelope, "Koko and Nox, unit three."

"If our homes are as nice as the common room, I don't know, I might need a month here," Nox mumbled as he retrieved the keys from Turbo's reach over the island.

"Yeah, we've been here for all of ten minutes and I already don't want this to be a one and done," Wren worried with a sheepish smile, everyone loudly began to agree with his notions in mumbling, agitated agreeing.

"Well, I've made nice with the owner," Turbo shrugged gently, he opened his mouth to press on, though Koko interrupted him.

"I mean, it probably helps that you're due to be Sugar Rush's future King," Koko gave him a cute side-eye, a knowing glance of certainty that had Turbo sagging in smiling humility.

"Probably helps," Wren playfully sneered with crossed arms, narrowed eyes and a sweetly sarcastic smile.

"He's told me that whenever we want to come and stay, we can, we just have to give ample notice, obviously," Turbo mumbled cutely with a shrug, he reached into the envelope, once more, and gently began to hand one key to Mara, "Your Highness... You're in unit four."

"Thank you," Mara eased in a gentle show of tepid warmth, she reached out and retrieved the key from Turbo; Lash gently cocked an eyebrow and assessed Turbo's demeanor, though he was relieved there was further evidence that Mara did, indeed, like her title to be properly used.

"Mara, you can choose to keep Chester with you, if you'd like," Turbo warmly assured with a nod, to which Chester's clacking claws, from across the place, began to make its way to the large, airy hub of a kitchen.

"I'm Chester," Chester huffed with a cute, at-attention attitude, he cautiously approached where Mara was stood and was thrilled she reached her hand out to carefully pet Chester's snout, as if to somehow prove to herself that she was getting a little bit more laxed around said majestic flyer.

"If not, Chess, you can choose who to stay with, it's really your call," Turbo expanded on, to Chester, though Mara bobbed a cute nod and kept her hand to Chester's soft wolf snout.

"No, I'll... I'll keep him, it'll be okay," Mara confidently assured, to which Chester sagged in smiling relief and eased into Mara's touch.

"Okay, great," Turbo chirped as he reached into the envelope and landed his golden eyes to Lash's in soft knowing, "Alright, my guy, you're in unit five."

"Do I get my own fridge and stuff?" Lash wondered softly, a question that seemingly had been brewing in his mind, a question not everyone would think to ask first, something that obviously seemed odd to everyone else, though to him, it was a genuine inquiry.

"Course, you get your own everything," Turbo chuckled as he passed the key to Lash, "Bathroom, bed, kitchen, living space... You can lock the door and close the blinds, you can do what you want. It's yours, for the next two weeks."

"Wow," Lash huffed quietly, his golden eyes peered down to the hefty golden key now in his own possession, he ran his thumb over the grooves and felt alive in this moment. Having been in isolated purgatory for so long, and then under strict watch from his big brother, to suddenly having his own little abode where he could call the shots, as well as the use of all his powers, he exhaled a shaky breath and almost felt the urge to well up, though he'd never tell.

"As for Berri and I, we'll be in unit six," Turbo stated gently, his golden eyes trailed to his bride-to-be, he cutely dangled the keys before reaching out to give her one of the two, "Your Majesty."

"Yay," Berri meeped cutely as she wrapped her hand about the key Turbo dangled out for her, and with said conclusion, Berri inhaled a deep breath and raised her eyebrows in cuteness, "Welp... I'm going to unpack, and then hit the beach."

"Seconded," Koko urged.

"Third...ed," Tatum quickly followed as everyone tensed into excited, moving fervor, and although everyone loudly began to chit chat and make their moseying way towards the exit of the common room, Turbo halted his smiling notions of being prepared to deliver Berri a cute notion, his eyes caught with his little brother.

Last to get up from the island, Lash's eyes were lazily transfixed on the key in his hand. He ran his thumb over the grooves, over and over, as if to assure his brain that this was real. He raised his eyebrows in plucked delight the second his feet hit the tiles underneath him, his eyes caught with Turbo's curious stare. Although Lash cleared his throat and tried to act normal, Turbo still was successful in catching his hand with the top of Lash's shoulder, once both boys were close enough to each other. Lash furrowed his eyebrows in gentle confusion as Turbo physically got his attention, though upon Turbo's knowing smile, Lash heaved a shaky sigh and looked off in almost irritated shyness.

"Please don't hone in on me, this is weird as it is," Lash muttered as everyone slowly filed out of the building and began to disperse, still chattering with their respective significant others, en route to finding their own little love nests. Sunlight hit Turbo's and Lash's skin with a flash of pupil-tightening warmth as Lash hurried to continue, "I-I just hope this isn't like a trap or something. I teleport to, say... Sugarbucks, and then Zed comes down from a bolt of lightning to delete my ass."

"The only people that would come down on you, for going to Sugarbucks, are the people you're currently with, because they'd probably want something from Sugarbucks too," Turbo rushed with a soft laugh as Berri gently budged into their conversation, as politely and quietly as she could. Turbo shook his head and was thrilled to keep eye contact with Lash, "You're not in the midst of a trap. We've given you this responsibility because we trust you. Just a way to ease into normalcy. We're all happy you're here, all you have to do is just relax and unwind. It's been a chaotic year, or two, for all of us."

"Yeah, the walls of my unit better not be white," Lash muttered nervously as Turbo largely rolled his eyes and looked off with a grin.

"They're beige, hopefully that's not triggering," Berri eased a giggle and crossed her arms, "Seriously... Just have fun. Don't think on your worries. You're on Sugar Sun."

"Like... We're REALLY not going to talk about the events that took place in Arcadia this past weekend?" Lash blurt with a confused, smiling side-eye, to which Berri shrugged and bobbed a nod.

"It's probably going to come up, we're all going to be hanging out and having conversation," Berri eased softly, her beautiful blue eyes hooked to Lash's with sincerity, "We're on vacation, not inside a brainwashing event. We can still discuss what happened, I just don't think we should be hardcore stressing out, on vacation."

"I'm going to be checking in with Zed everyday, to see how it's coming, or if he needs my help at all," Turbo mumbled in almost smiling defeat, to which Berri dropped her arms in surprise and gave Turbo an almost disappointed look.

"Babe, he said he had it all under control, you KNOW what he's going to say to you if you keep reaching out to him," Berri quickly instructed, to which Turbo lulled his eyes closed and rubbed his jaw, as if this was still a dilemma he was figuring out, for himself.

"He'll sic this one on yah," Lash muttered as he gestured to Berri and kept his golden gaze tight to Turbo's.

"I know, I know," Turbo sighed, he looked as if he was becoming mentally drained, and it was here did Berri gently dip her larger hand into the nook of Turbo's upper arm.

"C'mon. Let's go see our unit," Berri concluded with warmth, to which Turbo nodded and pat Lash's shoulder.

"We'll be out on the beach in about an hour, or so," Turbo calmly instructed to Lash, "No pressure to join, but we'd love to hang out with you, okay?"

"Okay," Lash mumbled in a grunt of wanting to come across as his normal, abrasive self, though he felt the desire to emanate softness, something he'd never really felt lead to show, he long-blinked in disbelief, towards himself, and peered down to his shiny golden key, once more.

In the slow turn, his eyes scanned the lovely cul-de-sac that every unit sat on. With two unused units at the very end, on either side of the common house, Lash found his unit with a little number '5' on the front door. A miniature little home, a modern and sleek beach abode, all his, he could feel his heart begin to pound with the strange newness of this all. With full powers to his name, the chatter of his friends and family that echoed about the place, the lovely kiss of foliage littered between the grassy sections and sandy beach that desperately reached from the crystal blue Sugar Rush ocean, Lash narrowed his gaze and wondered if he was dreaming. As he came to his front door, open and unlocked, he shut it behind himself and took a frozen, nervous look around. Silence swept him into a loving embrace, the gorgeous little studio home he had been selflessly given, for the next two weeks, Lash exhaled a shaky breath and allowed his now muted eyes to look about, as if in disbelief.

A little studio that almost mocked the common room, in terms of layout, a proper kitchen to the right of the entrance foyer and short corridor, as well as a seemingly large bathroom. Off to his left, around a small bend, was a little stairwell that led to the loft of his cozy abode, likely where his bed was. Although his eyes scanned the area in eagerness, he finally felt that itching breath catch at the back of his throat. In the secrecy of his own little abode, Lash choked a noise of stewing disbelief, covered his mouth with the back of his wrist and allowed tears to well in his eyes, tears he wouldn't dare show anyone else. He heaved a shaky breath as the tears streamed his grey cheeks, his now yellow eyes gathered at the incredible sight out the sliding glass doors of his patio, an exit that literally stepped out into the sand of their private beach. Lash shook his head and opened his palms, once more, ones that harbored full powers, alongside the shimmering golden key he had been gifted, he sniffled and looked out to the crystal clear waters beyond him, absolutely sure this was all a dream. Knowing not to squander a single second, he immediately sought to unpack and settle in, a proper excitement to hit the sand and finally feel as if he belonged.