A/N: I have fan art for this chapter, on my deviantART, titled 'Talking Body' if you guys want some yumminess ;)

Song Listened To: Talking Body by Tove Lo

*Chapter 84*

"I think it's safe to say, Oliver's assumption was right," Zed said through a soft sigh as the two pushed into his room.

"What do you mean?" Tessa wondered over her shoulder as she lugged her bag, for Academy, into her chest.

"I mean... Y-you're staying the night, aren't you?" Zed wondered with a curious, bashful smile that crept over his face, Tessa lightly set her bag on Zed's bed and, in the whirl of her a

ction, she gave her boyfriend a curious, shy smile.

"Well... If you'll have me," Tessa said politely, though she furrowed her eyebrows and idly gazed away as she stood up straight and put her hands on her hips, "Oliver DID say that, didn't he..."

"I don't know why," Zed shook his head and lightly cracked his door. His room was only gently illuminated by his ceiling light, which was set to a calm glow, "You've never spent the night here, before. Does he somehow think you have, or something?"

"Maybe," Tessa frowned and looked down, "I'm just surprised he got so upset... A-am I in the wrong, here?"

"Well," Zed furrowed his eyebrows and lightly shrugged, "I-I don't think there's really a right or wrong, in this situation. It's your life, you've gotta live it the way you want to. The only thing Oliver is worried about, is losing you, which... W-we know how to avoid."

"But he doesn't know that," Tessa inquired as she looked down in contemplative worry.

"You've got to do what you want, but it would help to be sensitive to the others painfully watching on the sidelines," Zed eased as gently as he could; he was thankful Tessa lightly nodded.

"I'll talk to him tomorrow," Tessa inquired, "Maybe before Academy. Surely he'll be in a better mood, then."

"Ralph and Vanellope won't be mad, that you're staying away from the castle tonight, will they?" Zed worried as he grew closer to her. Her gentle, inquisitive stare caught with his.

"I doubt it," Tessa lightly shrugged, "I hate to pull the 'grown gamer' card, but..."

"You're pulling it anyways?" Zed chuckled, which reeled Tessa into his contagious laughter. She nodded once and gently peered down to her book-bag.

"It's harmless. I have good grades, I eat dinner with them every night, I stay out of trouble," Tessa listed, though she heaved a calming sigh through her nose and gave Zed her kind, alluring attention

"It's raining, anyways," Zed gestured to his windows, which were currently being splattered with the heavy rainfall that continued.

"Then, it's settled," Tessa sighed, though she gave Zed a gentle smile, "Thank you...I'd much rather be here, for the night, anyways."

"You're always welcome, here," Zed assured as he softly sat down on his bed, which cued Tessa to do so as well, though she lightly crawled to the middle of his bed and sat with her legs criss-crossed.

She leaned over, reached for her bag, and brought it to her lap. Zed gave her a curious smile and slowly followed her lead. He crawled to the middle of his bed, like her, and sat a foot away from Tessa, with his legs criss-crossed as well. His eyes remained trained to her hands as she rummaged through her bag. The two had come into his room in hopes of helping Tessa study for the few finals she had, coming up, though he couldn't help but get lost in her alluring self, the way her crazy hair fell in uneven ringlets over her body. The small, baby hairs that peeked from the base of her neck, the ever so faint splash of freckles that lined her cheeks and the bridge of her nose; Zed was certain trying to study with her was futile. Every last pixel in the room coated their existence in tender, soft knowing, as if Zed was positive the storm, that was passing through, played a big part in why his code suddenly felt heightened; he wondered if she felt it, too.

"What finals do you have coming up?" Zed wondered, he hoped to keep his thoughts on the ground.

"User, a few," Tessa said through a grunt of a sigh as she finally pulled a notebook out of her bag. She slumped her bag to the end of Zed's large, unmade bed and plopped her notebook in her lap. She held her hand out, only slightly, and began to list off the points on her fingers, "Let's see... I have a final for Arcade History, Game Science, and Grid Physics."

"You only have three finals?" Zed furrowed his eyebrows softly, his curious eyes lightly swept her arms, "Don't you have seven classes?"

"Yeah, well, for some reason, we're not having a final for Applied Coding," Tessa gently shrugged and gave Zed a confused smile, "Lunch hour doesn't count, study Hall isn't a class, so no final there, and, I'm too new to AP Circuit Structure, so I'm waived from the final, this time around."

"That was nice of Lucky," Zed raised his eyebrows and peered down to Tessa's thick, heavily used notebook, "I'm sure you'd ace that final, though."

"What makes you say that?" Tessa subtly side-eyed him, as if she was unprepared to receive teasing from him, the last person she would suspect, though she had to wonder if this was merely the beginning of a coy game of 'who could endure code-swap jokes longest before something actually gets done about it'.

"Oh, nothing," Zed's expression fell to stunned shyness, which assured to Tessa that her initial belief was incorrect, "You're clearly made for the subject matter, I know you'd do great, no matter what."

"Oh, well," Tessa felt a kind smile grace her face, though she almost felt a wave of disappointment creep over her; a good game of 'catch me if you can' was something she was hoping was unfolding, "That's nice of you. Thank you."

"Of course," Zed smiled as he only barely glanced into Tessa's eyes, as if his buzzing thoughts were restricted.

Tessa bit her bottom lip and looked down to Zed's hands in minor contemplation. She knew she should shake her nervous thoughts and strictly stick to studying, though somehow, she had to wonder just how to pry Zed's playful side out into the light. She wondered if maybe he was toying with the same exact idea she was, though he'd never tell. Her eyes skillfully scanned Zed's hands and arms, she only lightly glanced to see where his line of sight was; she was thankful his eyes were bashfully glued to his dark sheets by his feet. She inhaled a slow breath and finally gave him a coy side-eye.

"I have a question," Tessa started; she was floored to see Zed's attention quickly glue to hers, as if they were secretly on the same, heated wave-length, though expressing such confession was against the rules.

"Anything," Zed breathed softly. Tessa only barely raised her eyebrows in poised surprise, it were as if he was just waiting for her to bait him.

"How come, whenever we... Well..." Tessa trailed off and began to feel her confidence slip. She exhaled a faltered breath and idly looked to Zed's doorway and around his room, as if she suddenly had to collect the words she thought she had all lined up and prepared, "Whenever we share exterior codes... You don't seem to shocked by it, anymore."

"Shocked?" Zed furrowed his eyebrows, though his face grew a noticeable shade of red.

"Yeah," Tessa shrugged, her black spaghetti straps eased with her bare shoulders, "L-Like... Remember the first time I glitched my code on yours? It was like, recoil-city."

"O-Oh," Zed scoffed a small chuckle as Tessa laughed bashfully. He smiled down to his lap, though he wrinkled his nose in a curious sort of way, "It's not that I'm not 'shocked', if you will... It still is a bit of a weird jolt, but, I think it's just easier to receive, now... I-Is it not that way for you?"

"No, not at all," Tessa blurted, which cued Zed to laugh and give her a curious, expecting look of wonder.

"Maybe it has to do with my coding?" Zed wondered gently, "I-It's always stated that user-made gamer's codes are a bit stronger than self-programmed gamers."

"Maybe," Tessa fingered her lip and looked up to Zed's ceiling in gentle contemplation, though her eyes slid back to his in a string of coy, girly curiosity, "That, or I'm just not hitting the right points."

Zed gently cocked an eyebrow and, as if he had heard incorrectly, he reran everything she had just said, in his mind, a billion times over. He choked a silent, faltered breath and gave her a curious look, as if to wonder just what she was insinuating. He opened his mouth to question, though he almost wondered if words would jumble their already extremely delicate situation. He finally side-eyed her, after a few moments of bashful contemplation. He wondered just how far she would go with this.

"You mean like, weak spots?" Zed wondered as softly as he could, he suddenly felt a wave of unfamiliarity wash over him. He knew he had dreamed of this moment coming true, though now that he was sat in it, he felt as if every wire in his brain was unplugged.

"Yeah," Tessa urged, Zed could swear she had upped her game, a coy display of just how to allure prey into a trap. He knew he was far beyond victim to it, from this standpoint.

"Well, if you can find 'em," Zed's gentle voice dared.

He gave her a look as if to inquire that two could play at this game. Tessa furrowed her eyebrows and gave him a small, smug smile, as if to reciprocate the notion ten fold. She knew she was succeeding in luring his inner demons out to play, though she wondered how far she'd have to go before she finally just threw in the towel. Zed continued on with his courageous, smug-smile competition he was suddenly in, with her, though he raised his eyebrows in growing surprise as she tenderly reached her hand towards his.

"Hmm," Tessa inquired as she furrowed her eyebrows; she gingerly ran her fingers, in a slow sweep, down the inside of Zed's lower arm and to the nervous, prominent, strong tendons on the inside of his wrist, "Are you ticklish?"

"No," Zed choked, though he knew point blank that Tessa could see right through that lie. He finally beamed an annoyed grin and grabbed her wrist as she wiggled her finger to his upper stomach. He barked an annoyed laugh and took one scoot backwards, "Don't!"

"I knew it," Tessa giggled as she only drew closer to him, she scoot the half foot of distance he had created between them, though she remained with her legs criss-crossed.

"Come on, I hate being tickled," Zed chuckled as he readied his hands, he prepared to catch any of Tessa's eager pokings.

"How else am I going to prove to you that my code is just as strong as yours?" Tessa giggled as she tried her hardest to get another jab at him, though he blocked her with a genuine laugh of nervous fear.

"I-I don't know, anything but this!" Zed chuckled, his eyes squinted with his wide smile as Tessa continued to tease him, though he suddenly felt his heart dip as she let the tip of her finger come alive with her electric purple coding.

Zed widened his eyes nervously as he caught glances with Tessa; everything about her demeanor read in a slow, luring dip of deathly delight. Her soft giggle caused his very existence to practically grip to hers, the hairs on the back of his neck stuck on end as he honed in on every single sound she uttered, as if it were manna from heaven. He tried his very hardest to switch gears, back and forth, as she remained in a playful fit of a seemingly naive game of impending foreplay. Zed laughed softly and grappled for her wrist, though he knew he shouldn't be surprised that she wiggled her arm free of his grip. He felt his strength weaken, as if her wrecking ability was the only thing she needed to prove she was stronger in every way shape and form.

"Hey!" Zed jolted as his mainframe suddenly buzzed a nervous bout of information down his spine and up to his brain stem.

He shook his head before he nervously peered at Tessa. In the whirl of her sudden, live wired poke, right as his side, he felt a sudden, heightened sense of urgency come over him. He knew, in this moment, the very spark that she had been searching for was easily beginning to snowball into something he wasn't sure how to approach.

"What, yah shocked yet?" Tessa inquired, though she teasingly bit her bottom lip through an excited smile and scrunched her shoulders.

She easily melted her finger into Zed's upper stomach, yet again. He laughed a small laugh as his stomach sprawled with confused, silver circuits that easily dipped back to it's usual blue color, though as soon as they snaked his skin, they vanished in a fit of nervous shyness.

"I-I don't think shocked is the right word," Zed uttered through a bashful smile, his face grew a heated shade of red over the course of the last few minutes.

"But we all know, that at the heart of every gamer, is the weakest point of all," Tessa stated in a sly tone, though she easily pushed her gentle finger into his chest, just over his heart.

With her live-wired touch, she easily set his code aflame, though she felt the circuits under his skin suddenly grapple for hers, as if to express that the teasing had gone too far, and if something wasn't done about it, he'd be sat in a game-over. Tessa gasped a small noise and yanked her hand away in kind confusion, though she flinched once Zed scoffed a startled choke. The circuits, just over his heart, eagerly sprawled, almost in an aggressive manner. Tessa nervously dart her eyes about the curious sight before she locked eyes with Zed. She raised her eyebrows in girly, apologetic surprise, though she felt her heart dip. Zed peered back at her in a stunned way, though she was floored to find that his circuits still held onto their silver coding, even though they weren't touching.

Tessa felt a wave of nervous contemplation come over her, as if she had to think fast. She eagerly glanced about Zed's chest, shoulders and face before she finally peered her eyes back to his. He just barely panted, in the whirl of it all, and gazed at her in an almost expectant look of anguish, as if to somehow express that the teasing had gone on for far too long. She felt a hard chill go down her spine with just how many worries, pleas and excited notions were conveyed just through his dark eye contact. She cocked an eyebrow, just barely, as if to question even questioning this moment. She felt her heart dip in a fit of cold knowing as Zed just barely shook his head, as if to beg her to rid herself of any worries or double-thinking she might have.

As if given permission to commit a crime, she felt every single muscle in her body tense into action. With a simple push, she leaned forward and caught Zed's jaw, and the side of his face, in her gentle palm. She eagerly pushed her lips to his and rushed to inhale his alluring, masculine scent. She felt her heart back flip in the whirl of it all, though her skin nearly unglued itself as she could feel Zed's determined hands gently grapple for her lower arms. As if merely running on instinct and instinct alone, Tessa tenderly pushed the tips of her fingers to the center of Zed's chest and hoped to User she wasn't being too pushy. As if this was something discussed, he slowly bowed to Tessa's request and shifted his body language to welcome her further into his secretive, nervous bubble.

In a sweep of an expert skill he wasn't sure how he acquired, Zed tenderly pulled Tessa closer to him with naively grabby hands. He raised his eyebrows in ever-growing surprise as the two gently tilted to deepen their kiss, though he could practically swear the whole room was spinning. With a gentle thud, his upper back pushed into his head board, though he was thrilled to feel Tessa press closer to him, as if any amount of distance between them was illegal. He exhaled a faltered, hot breath on her lips as they just barely parted, for a mere split second. His heart jolted as she pushed on his chest, as if to express that she had him trapped, though she softly hovered over him, just barely, to only lightly convey that she wasn't finished with him.

As if kidding himself was slowly slipping from his nervous thoughts, he knew to let this firework do as she pleases. He cocked an eyebrow, in the midst of their passionate kiss and wondered just exactly what was off limits, from this standpoint. As easily as he could, he slid his eager hands to the small of her waist and encouraged her to come closer, like she wanted. He felt his whole skeleton turn to goo as she fluidly moved into him, as if her programming was wired for this all along. He swallowed his insecurities and, with one simple sweep, he tenderly hooked his left hand on the back of her upper thigh and tugged. The entirety of his skin was plagued with angry, nervous goosebumps as she exhaled a soft, luring noise of inquisition through her nose. Her hot breath coated his face as their lips met in quick, teasing lures of sticky sin.

He felt his core surge as distant thunder could be heard. He wondered if the storm was aiding in their venture, their game of who will cave first, a battle to the death. Zed felt his hands begin to shake as he could feel Tessa gently straddle his lap and get comfortable. As if to dare her to try it, he softly nibbled her bottom lip, amidst their heightened, passionate kiss, though he felt a small, bashful chuckle want so badly to escape his figure as Tessa pushed down on his chest slowly, as if to express she was in charge. Tessa sunk into his body and felt a wave of confusion hit her. She knew, when this moment would present itself, she shouldn't be surprised, though somehow she couldn't help but feel just that. She furrowed her eyebrows and tenderly tilted her head amidst their gaping, skillful kiss. Her fingertips trailed up Zed's bare chest, and she could swear she could feel every circuit under his skin cry in delightful agony; the way his body just barely squirmed in anticipation underneath her.

Tessa lulled her hands back down Zed's chest in a slow, teasing sweep, though she felt her skin draw attention to Zed's curious hands as they slowly led from the small of her waist, to her hips, and then some. As if toying with fire, Zed dared to grip his fingers into the skin of her bare hips, just above the rim of her sweat pants. As tenderly as Zed could, he pulled Tessa's hips down into his, an act of dominance he was hoping would rival her royal position over him. He immediately felt as if he was sat mere inches from his own game over as Tessa exhaled a breath of a moan on his lips, as if to challenge his inquiry. He hungrily kissed her lips as they stirred, though he knew he was safe with his nervous, needy ventures. As easily as he could continue to muster, he lightly slid his hands to just under her rear and dared to gingerly pull her a bit harder into his lap. He felt his knees nervously buckle into a bent position behind Tessa, as if squirming would somehow alleviate this deliciously toxic feeling he was drowning in.

Tessa nervously cupped Zed's jaw in her hand and just briefly broke their kiss, though in the midst of a gentle, gaping inhale, she pushed back to his lips and eagerly tasted him, as if one thousand of their lingering kisses simply weren't enough. She felt her ears tune to his very existence as his throat rumbled a deep, inquisitive noise. His hands squeezed her skin in a draw of unfolding power he was worried to unleash. Just as he was about to push the limits, the sky easily let loose a loud crackle of thunder straight over head. He was surprised to feel Tessa continue on with their nervous, writhing stirring; he easily felt his code want to go completely ballistic as the heightened electricity, in the air, seemingly urged the two on.

Tessa gasped a raspy inhale on Zed's mouth, though she immediately felt her skin go cold. She lightly broke their kiss and, as the two heavily panted, she peered down at him through a renewed, albeit nervous kind of way. Zed kindly, yet curiously, furrowed his eyebrows, as if to question just why she would stop; why here, why now. Their chests rose and fell with the dizziness of the situation, though it wasn't until a certain, loud, floppy pair of scared feet could be heard, did they both immediately freeze with a knowing sweep of hard realization. Tessa pulled her head away from Zed and finally gazed down at him, through the clarity. She opened her mouth to utter a nervous, annoyed notion, though before they knew it, the massive, bumbling, galloping heap of dragon, as well as a lazy tail and wings, easily glommed down Zed's hallway. Tessa opened her mouth to speak, as Zed's shoulders suddenly scrunched with tense knowing. His eyes bulged in an annoyed, though startled kind of way as the two remained frozen. With careless tearing through the small hallway, Lickity's wings easily banged and clanked against the walls, though just before Zed could get out words, Lickity charged into Zed's room and skid to a halt.

Tessa and Zed jolted in their curious position as they flew their attention to Zed's bedroom door, which loudly banged to the wall as Lickity barged into the room, clumsily. Tessa sat up and nervously peered at Lickity through the whirl of confusion and exhaled a hard gasp. Zed just barely sat up as well, to remove his back from his headboard, though he lightly held his hand on Tessa's hip as the two eagerly peered to Lickity for answers. Lickity suddenly exhaled a hard whine of a noise, as if to express being scared awake from the thunder.

"Lickity," Tessa complained with a confused breath of a giggle, though she raised her eyebrows in hard surprise as Lickity suddenly bound over to the two and whimpered a few noises of fear and the ultimate show of puppy-dog eyes, to beg to be pampered and catered to.

Tessa furrowed her eyebrows in confusion and waved her hand lightly, as if to gesture for Lickity to slow down, though much to her dismay, Lickity largely budged into their bubble and pushed Tessa off of Zed with her snout, in hopes of having a good cuddle with her two favorite people. She whimpered a hard noise and nuzzled into the two, as if she was blissfully unaware of the impending, passionate importance she had just interrupted.

"User, almighty," Zed grumbled as he finally slumped back into his headboard. He lulled his head in a lazy fashion and ran his hand through his hair as Lickity's massive weight joined the two on Zed's bed.

"Lickity, you hold the Arcade record for best timing, there, girly," Tessa said through a hard grunt of a sigh as Lickity's large, bumbling paws came around Tessa's middle. She largely nuzzled her snout into Tessa's center and shut her eyes, though Zed grunted a noise of surprise as Lickity's wing lightly hooked around the dip of Zed's back, to hug him close as well.

"So was that good for you?" Zed barked in an annoyed tone, though he gave Tessa knowing smile through his sarcasm. Tessa beamed a wide, bashful smile and exhaled a hard laugh.

"You're such a baby, Lickity, the thunder won't hurt you," Tessa grumbled, "Maybe next time we should close the door..."

"She'd probably break it down, if she were that determined," Zed grumbled as he slowly was beginning to get lost in Lickity's wing, as she snuggled deeper into the two.

Tessa exhaled a hard groan as she laid on her back, diagonal on Zed's bed. Lickity's chin firmly planted to Tessa's center and chest as her large, clingy paws hugged around either side of her. Lickity's right wing continued to squeeze Zed into the side of her neck, for added comfort. It wasn't until she lulled her hind legs onto Zed's bed, and swung her large tail around the three, did Zed finally exhale a reviving sigh through his nose. He scoffed a small laugh and shook his head in disbelief, though he eagerly peered his attention to Tessa. She lay on her back, with Lickity's large head on her center. She lovingly rubbed her snout with one hand while the other rested above her head, on his bed. Her messy hair sprawled lightly, her chest rose and fell as she seemingly caught her breath. She lay with her eyes closed, though Zed was certain she was mulling over everything that had just happened. Zed smiled gently and felt his face get hot; he had to wonder if they were brave enough to finally bring all their worries to their knees, if Lickity hadn't have interrupted, if they would have followed through with everything society was telling them not to.

"That was fun while it lasted," Tessa grumbled as Lickity remained solid on the two, as if to express she wasn't budging. Zed laughed and leaned into Lickity a little; he knew his selfish reasoning wanted to kick Lickity out, so badly, though with the few moments of clarity the two suddenly had, he figured it was likely for the better, for the time being anyways.

"This gives blue balls a whole new meaning," Zed muttered as he looked down to Lickity's scales, though he flinched as Tessa largely lifted her head and gave Zed a wild, incredulous look.

"Oh for crying out loud!" Tessa laughed as she propped herself up on her elbows, "Inviting Lickity wasn't MY idea!"

"I know, I'm kidding!" Zed gestured his arm as the two were lost in amused laughter.

"Maybe try and hold my hand," Tessa teased in a sarcastic, dull tone as she struggled to outreach her hand in a playful way, "Maybe we can bring the magic back."

"Oh yeah, totally," Zed grumbled, though he smiled through and through.

"Well, now that we're stuck here," Tessa said through a hard sigh. She grunted a noise as she finally swiped her notebook from underneath Lickity's paw, "Wanna help me study?"

"You didn't finish this final," Zed uttered as he gestured to himself, though he choked a hard laugh as Tessa rocketed her large notebook at his arm and shoulder.

"That one doesn't have a deadline!" Tessa barked with a bashful giggle as her face turned beet red; Zed nodded and lightly grappled for Tessa's notebook, of which flopped onto Lickity's back.

"Touche," Zed agreed through a reviving sigh.