A/N: Alright guys! I got at least a dozen of you only requesting a certain 3 scenes. So, because only these 3 scenes seem to be exactly what you guys want to see, I've decided to turn these into painterly requests! I will paint the three scenes you guys really have been itching for, and that is the scene where Oliver and Tessa have that massive fight, the scene with everyone/Tessa at the shooting range, and the scene where Tessa turns Zed's hair hot pink xD
The drawing requests are still open, and I will likely be doing a whole sketchdump anyways, because there are a few of you that are, indeed, asking for spoilers and other various scenes! Though, the three scenes I listed above will be painted and in full detail, because you guys have been requesting them left and right, which is so rad xD
Thanks again, guys! If you have any more requests for the sketchdump, feel free to leave them in the reviews, or personal message me, and I will let you guys know when everything is uploaded to deviantart :D
Song Listened To : Subhanallah (Pritam) please enjoy my random Bollywood music lol
*Chapter 101*
"Can you believe that just happened?" Tessa hissed with a wide grin as her and Zed clumsily stumbled out into Game Central Station, as if they were quickly escaping Sugar Rush, like their luck would run out if they stayed in the game for too long.
"Hardly," Zed choked with a small laugh as the two softly bumped sides and tripped over each other's feet. They both clumsily caught themselves and exhaled a hard few quiet laughs. Zed straightened his shirt and messed his hand through his cyan blue hair before he inhaled a reviving breath, "Y'think maybe they're up to something?"
"What do you mean?" Tessa panted with a wide smile as, she too, tidied her clothes and hair. She ran her fingers over the inch short hair, on the left side of her scalp, though she easily found the long strands that draped the right side of her head and shoulder.
"I don't know," Zed chuckled as he finally caught his breath. He gestured his arms out to his sides before he slapped them back to the sides of his hips, messily; he gave Tessa kind, curious smile, "Like maybe they'll leave, and they've set up something drastic to happen to see if we ACTUALLY have what it takes."
"What, like the test dummies thing I was talking about?" Tessa giggled as she pulled her long hair over her right shoulder and began to comb her fingers through it.
"Yeah," Zed shrugged, "Maybe, they'll arrange catastrophic meteors to come crashing down to the castle, and then we're royally f-"
"Screwed?" Tessa largely interrupted, she gave Zed a knowing side eye with a wide grin.
"Same thing," Zed laughed as he shook his head and furrowed his eyebrows.
"They won't do that," Tessa gestured, "C'mon, be excited. They're not going to mess with us. That stunt they pulled, in the Loft, was to see if we could REALLY handle ourselves. I think we did well, yeah?"
"Yeah, though next time, try not to panic so much," Zed said as kindly as he could, though Tessa largely wrinkled her nose and beamed an incredulous smirk.
"I did not panic," Tessa protested as she began to attempt to messily braid the hair on the right side of her body.
"Y'panicked," Zed said in a dull tone; Tessa slapped her arms to her sides, dropping her messy, half done braid in the process.
"Fine, it was only slightly terrifying," Tessa blurted as she began to take a few steps away, though Zed largely pushed agile footwork to catch up with her.
"I won't let anything bad happen to you!" Zed urged in a playful tone as he largely scooped his arms around Tessa's center, lugged her into him, picked her up and twirled her around once or twice; he was successful in getting her to genuinely laugh.
"I'm sure you won't!" Tessa laughed as she finally slapped her arms around Zed's neck.
She scrunched her shoulders and rested her head against his as he slowed his playful action. He tenderly set her bare feet back down to the tiles underneath, though he continued to hold her tight. She easily accepted his warmth and let her eyes lull closed. Tessa exhaled a calm breath and shook her head lightly, as if to not totally believe everything that had happened, this day. She smiled into the softness of Zed's shoulder and neck, the feeling of his strong arms around her only tightened. She noticed him hovering near her ear, as if he had questions, inquiries, notions beyond anything he could properly express. He finally inhaled a solid breath, as if to signify he was brave enough to endure his quivering heart.
"Did you really mean what you said, back there?" Zed inquired as quietly and gently as he could; his deep, honey-sweet voice drenched her existence into a dreamy oblivion she never wanted to find her way out of.
"I always mean what I say," Tessa replied with the same tenderness, though she was surprised to feel Zed just barely back his head away, to get a look into her eyes once and for all. He lovingly held her around her waist.
"You really think I'm King material?" Zed wondered innocently, his adorable smile remained just that; Tessa beamed a bashful smile and looked down to Zed's collar.
"Of course," Tessa breathed, "... That one night, at the Academy ball, when I told off Selka and his friends, I-I even told them that Zane would make a better King than any of those fools."
"You said that about me?" Zed wondered quietly, his deep voice remained, though Tessa could sense he wanted to explode with the brightest, most obnoxious grin; he contained himself, however.
"If I was feeling that way about Zane," Tessa cocked an eyebrow and lightly gave her line of sight back to his, "Imagine how I feel about Zed."
Zed smiled down into her eyes, though they were just close enough to where eye contact was almost near impossible. His eyes softly droned to the bridge of her nose, he coat her cheeks a bashful pink with his hot breath. He let his teeth finally show through his mouth, as if he couldn't help it any longer, and he shook his head in disbelief. His warm fingers traced the middle of her back and messed with the curls at the end of her hair. He was delighted to feel her get just a smidge deeper into his embrace.
"Would you let me propose to you?" Zed wondered above a whisper; the station was such a solid amount of silence, he was certain anyone, from any distance, could hear his deepest secrets. His heart jolted as Tessa's eyes finally braved his, yet again.
"I let you today, didn't I?" Tessa smiled, in a snarky kind of way, though she wormed her arms tighter around Zed's neck.
"Prom-posal... We should probably wait until we get the additive, in my coding, removed, before we... take any farther steps," Zed wondered down to her, almost in a sad tone, though he made sure not to lose any ounce of hope the two had.
"Probably for the better," Tessa eased with a gentle shrug, though she too held onto the twinkle of hope in her eyes.
"So, can I propose a proposal?" Zed wondered with a growing smile as Tessa's eyes grew a bit confused.
"Like, a pre-proposal?" Tessa wrinkled her nose, though her heart fluttered nervously; she knew exactly where this was going.
"Guess you could call it that... A promise that, when everything lines up, all additives removed," Zed droned on softly, as if he didn't know how to conclude his mini speech; Tessa waited with baited breath and a girly look of glee, "Maybeee... It would include a pretty ring... A blue-haired jerk on bended-knee."
"Sounds like you're onto something," Tessa eased softly, to hopefully relieve his tension; she felt her heart swell with her success as he choked a small laugh and looked down to Tessa's shoulder. Before too long, he let his eyes re-pierce hers, with gentle, devoted determination.
"Will you marry me?" Zed's innocent voice dipped to the softest decibel possible, though it still held the necessary bite of confidence he had.
"Yes," Tessa said with ease, though her voice cracked with girly delight and a small giggle. She wrinkled her nose and gave Zed a curious look, "Though, don't you mean to ask 'will you say yes when I ask you to marry me?'"
"That too," Zed softly nodded and shrugged, though his excited smile held true.
"Hmm, but I have to weigh in the factors," Tessa suddenly chimed in a curiously teasing voice, in which made Zed's confident demeanor shrink to nervous, kind wondering.
"No hook, line and sinker for me?" Zed grimaced playfully.
"Well, think about it," Tessa smirked as she softly moved out of his arms and slunk away, though not without giving Zed a teasing side-eye, "Can you imagine me, of all people, in a wedding dress?"
"I can imagine it on the floor," Zed suddenly dared, almost under his breath, though he felt his heart jump as Tessa whirled around and gave him a beyond bashful, incredulous gape.
"Alright, two sides to every coin, I see," Tessa crossed her arms, rested on one leg and cocked an eyebrow; she looked Zed over, in an obvious manner, as if to express that she quite enjoyed where this was going, "Y'got a daring side I don't know about?"
"No one knows," Zed casually shrugged his masculine shoulders and sunk his hands into his pockets; his tidy button up shirt was unbuttoned a few ways down, to reveal his thin undershirt, as well as his strong collar bones.
"Oh, so I'm the very first lucky duck that gets a good seat to that event?" Tessa said in a sly tone as she began to ever so slowly circle Zed; he swallowed nervously and scrunched his shoulders to his head, almost out of bashful insecurity.
"Depends," Zed casually shrugged and tried his hardest to keep up with Tessa's sharp wit, "Do you want a floor seat... Or a balcony seat?"
"Hey, wherever you think I'll get the greatest experience," Tessa put her hands up and looked down, in an exaggerated way, though she crossed her arms and finally stopped directly before Zed; the two pierced each other's eyes with ever-growing, painful tension.
"Think you can delete the additive before the night we rule Sugar Rush?" Zed suddenly dared; he felt his heart jump at just how forward he was being, though he figured he was safe with Tessa. This new-found, playful, sexual banter, they swiftly began to sink into, made his head swim with growing delight.
"Why, you want the whole Kingly packaged deal?" Tessa didn't miss a single beat; she gave Zed a kind side eye and bit her bottom lip, as if she knew she was slowly cornering him, "Being King for one night suddenly earns you the right to map out every circuit in the game?"
"I'll accept whatever Sugar Rush has to throw at me," Zed's deep voice eased, though he tilted his head down and just barely cocked an eyebrow; his smolder flattened to that of serious delight, a tight-lipped notion he knew conveyed the utmost sincerity. His eyes honed in on Tessa's soul, he was glad to catch her whole entire mental existence, once and for all, as he continued, "Program a thunderstorm and find the silver lining..."
Tessa raised her eyebrows and finally felt as if he had stumped her at her own game. She felt her heart jump at all of their growing insinuations, though she knew, even though he was a tender and broodingly sensitive guy, he still held a dark undertone of unmatched competitiveness. Her smile softened, to match Zed's demeanor, as if they both knew this situation was all fun and games until they got to the very bottom of the barrel. She met his brainwave and finally side-eyed the station to her left. She sucked her bottom lip into her mouth, under her top teeth, as she inhaled a baited breath through her nose. She finally unraveled her sticky thoughts, though Zed's unbeatable soul was as sharp as they come.
"Something tells me storm chasing is on the agenda, during our rule, no?" Zed chimed quietly, his voice was dark and delightfully mysterious; he wormed his way around Tessa and began to head towards his home game, though he gave her a kind smirk over his shoulder, "Sleep tight, Tess."
Tessa turned heel, to face him, and opened her mouth to attempt to get any sort of bashful notion out, though as soon as she decided on a few words to utter, he opened his light cycle, revved the engine, and was off in a flash. Tessa largely flinched and felt her face heat up at the intensity that had just been splayed out before her. She gaped, through an incredulous, almost annoyed smile and scoffed a breath of surprised anxiousness. She finally shook her head and crossed her arms; she knew, with ultimate confidence by now, that sparks were bound to fly. She knew running a kingdom single-handedly was going to be tense as it was, though adding a spit-fire of amplified, anxious electricity to the mix was bound to land her in much wanted trouble.