A/N: Hey guys, I think I'm going to slow down on the uploads, for the summer, because everyone is on vacation and etc. This happens every summer, lol. My view and review count goes way down, cause everyone is on vacation, to places they maybe can't get internet/are busy, and then everyone comes home, and they're intimidated by how much they have to catch up xD So, sorry to those of you (which is few) that are keeping up with me every other day, but I will likely be slowing down until probably the beginning of August, just so everyone can keep up :) I'll probably stick to uploading maybe once or twice a week, throughout the rest of July, and see where everyone is coming from in August. Thanks for understanding!
Songs Listened To : Silver Comforts Jim (Treasure Planet soundtrack)
One of the Family - Big Hero 6 soundtrack
*Chapter 78*
Through her near pitch black room, Tessa lightly opened her tired eyes and gazed at Oliver, who soundly slept close to her. She exhaled a small groan and gingerly moved his large, limp hand, which had nudged into her rib cage. In a huff, she re-situated herself to get comfortable. She rolled over and muttered Oliver's name in a dull, groggy annoyance, though her skin pricked at the sound of her lucky dragon across the room. She threw her gaze to the ground, where Lickity remained, though she could hardly see anything. She felt her heart softly begin to race in a sleepy sort of panic, the dim moonlight, from outside, just barely cast it's beams across Lickity's body, and she could sense something was definitely wrong, with the way Lickity's wings grew rigid and tense. She harshly furrowed her eyebrows and flew out of bed. She quickly cued her soft, chandelier light to come on, though she made sure it was on the dimmest, most calmest setting possible.
Tessa wobbled groggily and peered across her lightly illuminated room, though she felt her skin grow cold at Lickity's figure. She remained curled on the ground, where they had left her on a comfortable blanket, though as if having a night terror, her eyes were just barely open, though it was clear they were lulled so far into the back of her head. She was dug in so hard, she harshly twitched and grunted nervous meeps of noises. Tessa felt her muscles tense as she took a hurried step forward, though she immediately froze and peered down at Lickity in growing fear and confusion; she knew Lickity was likely having a bad dream, though she wasn't certain how to go about waking up a terrified, fragile dragon. As sleepy as her thoughts were, she finally realized that she was, indeed, in her own game, and no matter what happened, everything would get sorted out one way or another. She braved her dragon's presence, though she was cued to Oliver's sudden, annoyed exhale of a grunt as he sat up.
"Tess, I thought 3AM was, oh I don't know, a time when you SLEEP?" Oliver groaned, his sleepy voice was a deeper croak than usual. He gave Tessa a hard exhausted glare, though he raised his eyebrows in surprise as he finally caught sight of what was going on.
"Oliver, help, she's having a bad dream," Tessa worried in a hiss of a whisper as she quickly knelt before Lickity's face.
"Wake her up," Oliver ordered as his upset demeanor immediately switched to that of caring concern. He quickly scoot off of Tessa's bed and stood a few feet away.
"Lickity, girl," Tessa urged in a tone a little louder than prior.
Tessa inhaled a nervous breath and reached her now shaking hand outwards towards Lickity's snout, though as if on a cue, Lickity's eyes suddenly snapped into focus. With a hard, grumble of an inhale, Lickity's whole body jolted, including her wings and tail. Amidst the chaos, Lickity's sturdy tail flung outwards and caught some of Tessa's furniture, along with some fragile trinkets she had about her room. A few shelves came down with a loud crash. Tessa's chandelier easily wobbled in the cross-fire of Lickity's wings suddenly sprawling upwards into action. Tessa covered her head, though after the few seconds of disturbance, she eagerly gave Lickity a stunned, scared look; Lickity easily gave it back to her ten-fold as she opened her fang filled mouth and panted in pure fear.
Tessa harshly flinched as Lickity suddenly bellowed a deep grunt of terrified confusion. Her eyes looked a lot glassier than normal, a haze in which had been gathering over the course of her bad dream. She finally, and clumsily, tried to get to her feet as her wings messily flopped back to her body. She slumped back down to the ground as all of her limbs clearly began to shake. Tessa outreached her hands tenderly and cooed a few words of assurance to Lickity, though her heart immediately broke at her crumpled friend before her. Tessa shook her head and immediately held her warm hand to Lickity's snout. She eagerly peered back at Oliver and gave him a stunned look of question.
"Must've been some dream," Oliver urged nervously, though he flinched once her bedroom door eagerly flung open.
"Is everything okay?" Vanellope breathed in a rush of nervousness as she budged into Tessa's room.
"L-Lickity had a bad dream," Tessa urged over tears that so desperately wanted to gather in her eyes; her heart raced nervously as Lickity's panting and confused whimpering only gained.
"Are you guys hurt?" Vanellope worried as she lightly knelt next to Tessa, who was eagerly stroking Lickity's snout.
"No, we're fine," Tessa uttered in a scared tone, though she shot her mother a look of pure apprehension.
"I-I think Lickity is having more than just a bad dream," Oliver muttered in a gloss of worry as he stood a foot or two away, he nervously rubbed the back of his head.
"It's okay, Lickity, you're alright," Tessa said in a shaky tone as she nervously pet Lickity's snout, which wrinkled over and over as she continued to pant, in an uneven way.
Lickity let her eyes haze half way closed, her ears lazily drooped around the back of her neck and head. She largely panted in a shivering kind of way, her whole body trembled in fear, as if her night terror refused to unglue itself from Lickity's scales. She trembled as the long fingers of her wings, and the webbing, trembled and twitched, as if to attempt to shake something. She puffed a few noises of anguish, her paws nervously gripped the blanket underneath her. Tessa shook her head and let a few tears roll down her cheeks, in growing horror, at the sheer fact that her best companion wasn't calming down.
"M-mom, what do I do, what do I do?" Tessa hissed in nervousness as she immediately glued her attention to her mother.
"Don't panic," Vanellope quietly urged to her daughter, "If you panic, it will cause Lickity to only panic some more. Just relax."
Tessa exhaled a worried noise as she continued to stroke Lickity's snout. She shook her head and gazed down at Lickity in pure confusion. She continued to firmly, though lovingly, stroke Lickity's snout, though it seemed as if nothing was going to shake her from her panic attack. Just as Tessa was about to bark another confused notion towards her mother, who easily joined in on rubbing Lickity's ear, she heard Zed's voice quietly speaking to Oliver in her doorway. Oliver worriedly explained to Zed just what was going on, though before she could turn around and beg for Zed to give her camaraderie, his quiet footsteps budged into her room. Vanellope softly stood as Zed neared.
"You guys okay?" Zed asked to Vanellope as he eagerly assessed the situation. He glued his groggy eyes to Vanellope, though she lightly raised her eyebrows in dewy concern, with an exhausted frown to match Zed's.
"Lickity had some sort of night terror," Vanellope worried as everyone glued their attention to Lickity, who continued to tremble and wheeze scared whimpers that emitted from the very core of her shaking being.
"Zed, I-I can't get her to calm down, I don't know what to do!" Tessa largely worried as she kept her loving hand to Lickity's snout. She flinched once Zed suddenly knelt down next to her and rested on his knees.
"You wanna know why? It's because YOU'RE panicking, alongside her," Zed said firmly, though he let a kind chuckle escape his figure. He quickly snatched her hand from Lickity's snout and held it firmly. Tessa opened her mouth and gave Zed a glare, to firmly protest, though Zed shoved her open palm to the center of his bare chest and eagerly peered his tired gaze into hers, "You remember what I said? Dragons are the extension of their riders, and vice versa... She's sentient, unlike that surfboard, we were talking about, yesterday."
Tessa raised her eyebrows in hard surprise and peered at Zed through a tight lipped, nervously upset facial expression. She exhaled a worried noise as messy tears slipped down her cheeks. She tore her gaze back to Lickity, who continued to loudly pant and tremble. Zed gripped her hand a little harder and quickly let his free hand cup Tessa's chin. He brought her face back to look at him, as if to tenderly convey that he meant business.
"Lookit," Zed eased softly, over Lickity's quivering, "You need to calm yourself before you can calm Lickity."
"I can't," Tessa whimpered as she pleadingly gazed into Zed's eyes, her exhausted demeanor nearly begged for answers.
"Yes you can," Zed smiled with one single dip of a nod. In one small movement, he lightly let go of Tessa's hands and lost skin contact with her. In the few seconds of separation, he let the palm of his hand softly come alive with his dark blue coding, an inviting getaway he was hoping to convey to her. He caught his brilliant eyes with hers and hoped to gain her interest, though not for romance's sake, this time around. He raised his eyebrows lightly and gave her an honest look, "You ever wonder why you have this weird, glitching ability, of yours? Ever wonder if you can be tender and fragile with it? Bring good, to others?"
Tessa remained silent, though she nervously hiccuped a few quips of trembling air through her nose as tears continued to run her cheeks. She could feel Lickity's hot breath on her knees and legs, her dragon continued to lightly panic. Tessa gripped her eyes on Zed's hand, which was calmly ablaze with circuits, beautiful hues of welcoming blues and cyans. She finally gripped her eyes back to Zed's and gave him a questioning look.
"You can practically teleport, burn things, turn into an apparition at will," Zed quickly listed off, though he gently gestured his hand closer to hers, "But, as much as it can be something to use, in an aggressive manner, it can be used for comfort... C'mon, you know how it goes..."
"Zed," Tessa uttered nervously, she knew exactly what happened the last time they had a romantic fit of an exterior swap. Zed rolled his eyes and lulled them closed in a bashful manner, though he finally braved his feelings and exhaled a soft laugh.
"C'mere," Zed chuckled as he finally eased his palm closer to Tessa's, "I'll show you."
Tessa nervously tried her hardest to quell her racing heart, though she felt as if against her own thoughts, her mind quickly let her palm come to life with her purple coding. She furrowed her eyebrows and felt her face get hot, though as soon as Zed gripped her hand, the two jolted in a fit of mild nervousness. She exhaled a soft gasp and peered hard into Zed's eyes, as if the last time they did this, they left off on a cliffhanger. She finally choked a small laugh of relief and slumped her shoulders; the coding on their connected hands and arms threw a bit of a hissy fit, a nervous pop and crackle of silver specks that just so happened to banter their way to agreement. Their circuits finally lulled to the pretty, marble swirls of silver they had come to know and wonder about. She scoffed a small noise and shook her head as every single last fiber of Zed's soothing demeanor seemingly downloaded to her soul, as if their non-permanent connection was quick to act, on the small amount of time that they had. Tessa's light, over head, flickered in a sense of urgency, as their opposed codes made Sugar Rush question just what was going on.
"Easy," Zed breathed as he squeezed her hand. She finally slumped her shoulders, once and for all, and relaxed in the divine feeling of their lightly combined exterior codes. She raised her eyebrows in kind surprise as she could feel her cheeks heat up, though they were still soaked with tears. He cocked an eyebrow lightly and gave her a bashful, though dominant smile, "Lickity is just fine... See how easy it was to become calm in the midst of comfort, that... Well, sort of goes a notch beyond the physical?"
Vanellope remained frozen and eagerly watched the situation before her; she smiled a proud smile and curiously fixed her eyes on Zed. She lulled her arms crossed, over her chest and wondered just how he became so well-rounded in the glitching realm.
"Your glitch is a fantastic tool, Tess," Zed said deeply as he finally cupped his other, live wired hand in hers. She inhaled a sharp breath as more of his coding flood her cheeks a bashful red, "It's healing... Sometimes, the body and mind don't understand what it needs, to calm down. The circuits, underneath your skin, are going crazy. No one knows how to calm them, but those with a glitching ability. Like a mental connection, a wireless way you can transfer calming thoughts to and from."
"A-Are you sure Lickity won't hurt me?" Tessa whimpered as she finally emit a glow about herself, as if she had finally gained her senses, "I-I... You see how much our coding disagrees. Lickity is a user-made gamer, right?"
"Just try it," Zed gently motioned towards Lickity, who continued to lightly shake and panic, with puffs of nervous whimpers of hot air that coated the room. Zed tenderly let go of Tessa's hands and, within a simple swipe, their silver glowing connection easily zipped back to the color of their original coding. Zed gestured to Tessa, in a fit of mild caution and continued, "Just... Make sure you're thoughts are clear of panic. You want to calm her down, with your own coding. The mood under your skin can't be that of fear, or panic, either. Or else it'll cause her to panic even more so."
Tessa breathed in a breath, to steady herself, and slowly let it out. She nodded once and, as gently as she could, she hovered her hand over Lickity's snout. She began to feel a knot of nervousness gather in her stomach, though she lightly flinched once Lickity easily shoved her snout into Tessa's hand, as if to beg for relief, of any kind. With the small gesture, Tessa raised her eyebrows in surprise and felt a wash of protective, loving nurturing come over her. As softly as she could, she let the coding on her palm come alive, which slowly made Lickity's snout sprawl with thick, large strings of curiously winding circuits. Tessa beamed a befuddled, small smile and, as gingerly as she could, she wrinkled her fingers on Lickity's snout over and over. She felt a wave of surprise come over her as her and Lickity mentally connected. She let her eyes get lost on the beautiful, delicate purple circuitry that lined Lickity's snout. She figured, that because they were not of the same species, their codes curiously got along, as if they were too far different to argue about anything.
Tessa finally exhaled a shaky breath and felt a wave of Lickity's fear suddenly flood her being. She let her eyes daze as images quickly flashed before her eyes, as if she was merely sat in a dream. She flinched and, the only decipherable thing she could gather, was the sudden flash of an angry black whip, crashing down to her eyes and face, over and over. Tessa continued to lovingly stroke Lickity's snout and, with all of her mental might, she began to push the gross, disturbing images away. As if she was simply cleaning up a room, she visited every single dark corner of Lickity's tragic past, and flood it with warmth and sunshine. She tenderly leaned down and pushed a few warm smooches to Lickity's snout before she relaxed her cheek on the bridge of Lickity's nose. Her live-wired hand softly moved to Lickity's cheek as she continued to sooth her dragon with the silence of her coded thoughts and warmth. Lickity whimpered and finally began to settle, her crazed eyesight came back to Arcade in a sense of clarity. Her wings and limbs continued to lightly shake, though her heavy, uneven panting and whining slowly died. Tessa tenderly shushed Lickity and lulled her into a gentle bubble of loving care. She easily stroked Lickity's cheek with her larger thumb, just under her closed eye.
"It's in the past, Lickity," Tessa whispered, as she too, closed her eyes and slumped her shoulders, "No one is going to harm you, anymore... I-I won't allow it."
"If only she could talk," Zed said through a sleepy sigh as he let his caring hand meet the middle of Tessa's back. He gently began to rub up and down her spine, as if the chain of comfort would somehow get stronger and stronger with more people added.
"She would probably have a whole lot of stuff to say, that's for sure," Oliver muttered as he finally pushed closer to Tessa, Zed and Lickity, as did Vanellope.
"Good job, you guys," Vanellope said softly as she knelt to Tessa's right. As softly as she could, she reached a loving hand out and began to pet the side of Lickity's neck. She gave Zed a kind, though curious smile and tucked her long, black hair behind her ears, "You handled that well... Thank you."
"You're welcome," Zed eased as he looked down to Tessa with a bashful smile, "Welp... At least now we know how to calm Lickity down, if you ever run into Orph, again."
"I won't let that happen," Tessa muttered darkly into Lickity's skin, in which she didn't remove herself from; everyone flinched as Vanellope let out a scoff of a laugh.
"Oh, Tess... Try becoming a new mom," Vanellope laughed gently, though her tender grip continued to love on Lickity.
"Alright, lemme get right on that," Tessa quietly volleyed in an annoyed tone as she wrinkled her nose; Zed raised his eyebrows in dewy, blashful concern and felt his face get hot.
"I'm saying... You can't protect Lickity from everything," Vanellope eased, "Sooner or later, you're going to meet back up with this... Orph, character. You can't let the fear of what could potentially happen, keep you from living."
"I won't have to run into Orph, sooner or later," Tessa blindly muttered as she opened her eyes finally and sat up, though she kept her live-wired hand to Lickity's skin, like a life-line.
"You will once Zed gains his memory back," Vanellope motioned towards Zed and gave her daughter a confused look, "What, you'll eventually gain five brothers, in law, and you won't want anything to do with them?"
Tessa raised her eyebrows in stunned surprise and gazed at her mom in pure disbelief, though she kept her mouth shut, for she knew just when to stop arguing with the Queen. She finally slumped her shoulders and averted her curious gaze down to Lickity, who easily began to nuzzle harder into Tessa's tender loving care. Tessa exhaled a hard sigh and felt her cheeks grow a bashful pink with just what her mother was insinuating.
"I'm sure we can reason with him," Zed tenderly eased to Tessa as he continued to rub her back.
"He DID look sorry, for accidentally hitting me with his whip," Tessa muttered as she kept her tired gaze to Lickity.
"Take it from me," Vanellope started as she scoot a little closer to Lickity and got comfortable, "Before our upgrade, Taffyta hated me... Though, look where we are now."
"Taffyta hated you?" Zed wondered with a growing, curious smile.
"Of course," Vanellope hissed through a small giggle and a furrowed expression, "She wanted nothing to do with me. Though, here we are, aunt's to each other's children, and running this whole kingdom alongside each other."
"That's different," Tessa dared as she furrowed her eyebrows, though she felt her skin grow cold as her mother's stare caught hers.
"It most definitely is not," Vanellope protested quietly, "Family is family... No matter your differences. Things always, eventually, get settled. It's not like you can go anywhere, you're a part of the same game, as them. You run game days together, you're programmed practically the same."
Zed and Tessa held their curious gazes to Vanellope, though she lightly wagged her finger and gave the two a curious smile.
"I'm willing to bet, that only Orph was one to give you trouble," Vanellope said to Tessa, "How about the other four boys? Surely they were nice to you?"
"...Yeah," Tessa muttered as she looked down to Lickity in a fit of defeat.
"It's six gamers, against Orph," Vanellope chuckled and shook her head, "Even the sourest of gamers can be convinced... Just look at your uncle Rancis."
Lickity finally breathed an inhale of relief and settled, once and for all. Her limbs continued to shake a little bit, though she finally looked as if she was ready to continue on getting a good night's sleep. Tessa gave Lickity a kind, nervous smile and let the coding, on her palm, finally dim back to it's normal, hidden state.
"My brain hurts," Tessa mumbled sleepily.
"I'm sure Lickity's hurts the most," Oliver chuckled as he largely plopped back to Tessa's bed; their mixture of blankets puffed in a confused array of a poof.
"Thank User us gamers have tomorrow off," Vanellope groaned as she finally stood and took a few slow steps towards Tessa's gaping bedroom door, "I'm beat. Get some rest, you guys."