AN: Hello! Before we start, I'd like to explain something. In this story, Jesse is a bit- okay a lot- more nervous than she is in game. That's because of two reasons; one, I had played a run with this in mind, and two, I wanted to try writing something a bit different from the usual Jesse personality. With that said, I hope you enjoy!
Man, it was a good day for a competition. The sun was shining through the canopy of leaves above, warming the forest in patches. Olivia was perched on the roof of their little tree house, redstone coating her hands as she ran a line from a daylight sensor she had bought only a few days prior. It was tricky; the redstone had to run to the edge of the roof, where a redstone torch was. The block between them should cause the redstone torch to deactivate until the daylight sensor turned off. As she ran the last of the line, the torch, sure enough, stopped glowing.
She shot a glance up at the canopy a final time, then jumped down and slid through the open window. Her boots meeting the floor startled Jesse out of her thoughts from where she sat on the crafting table, and she blinked for a moment, before smiling.
"Hi Olivia." Jesse gave a tiny wave. "How's the redstone thing going?"
"Fine. The torch went out when I connected the line to it's base block, so it should work." Olivia tried to dust the redstone off of the windowsill, but only succeeded in smearing more onto the wood. She made a face. Glancing behind her, she noticed Jesse had zoned out again. "Hey, which would you rather fight?" The other woman glanced at her curiously. "A hundred chicken-sized zombies, or ten zombie-sized chickens?" The other woman's gaze turned thoughtful, and Olivia continued as she walked over to the lamp she was working on. "Keep in mind, you wouldn't have any weapons or armor. So you'd have to fight them with your hands."
"Probably… The zombie-sized chickens," Jesse said somewhat thoughtfully. "They're just big chickens. You wouldn't have to worry about them attacking you." Olivia nodded.
"True…" She started working on the line again. "So, I put a daylight sensor on the roof…" Jesse hummed. "And if I did this right, this lamp should turn on once it gets dark." Another hum. "Y'know, because I didn't wanna leave Reuben here with nothing."
"I was gonna bring him along, a-actually." Jesse slid off of the crafting table. Reuben, who had been headbutting an armor stand, came out from behind it and looked between them curiously. Olivia looked from Reuben to Jesse.
"Really?" Jesse nodded, and Olivia looked back at Reuben. "I thought we were gonna leave him here again. We haven't taken him in a few years."
"Yeah, b-but I hate leaving him behind. Besides, w-we can keep him close to us while we're there." Jesse moved over and pat Reuben on the head. The little pig snorted happily, then turned and jumped up onto the windowsill, despite the red smudges. "He's my best friend."
Olivia raised an eyebrow. "I thought I was your best friend."
Jesse flinched slightly. "Y-you both are."
"Alright. I didn't say he couldn't come." Olivia went back to what she was doing. "I just… I hope no one calls us losers for it." She glanced back at Jesse. "I'm tired enough of people laughing at us as it is."
"Who cares what they think?" Jesse placed her hands on her hips. Olivia made a face.
"I do." She sighed. "It wears you down."
Jesse didn't respond for a moment. "Y-you say you aren't a loser, Olivia. So win." Olivia blinked, watching her for a moment, then glanced down at the circuit she was working on. She then looked back at Jesse, letting out a breath and allowing a small smile.
"Okay. Fine." Jesse grinned.
A strange, muffled hissing noise sounded from below them. Olivia looked around a moment, then tensed, glancing at the trap door. The only things that hissed around the area were creepers. They couldn't climb ladders, could they?
"D-do you hear that…?" Jesse glanced nervously at her, then inched towards the trap door. Olivia held her hands up defensively as Jesse leaned down. The second her hand touched the trap door, though, it shot open, hitting the floor with a loud crack.
"Boo!"
Jesse screeched, reeling back a few steps until she ran into the wall. Olivia let out a scream of her own, grabbing the shelf beside her and putting the other hand to her chest. Reuben squealed, rearing up on his hind legs and tumbling off of the windowsill and onto the floor. Through the trap door came a creeper head, snickering wildly as broad shoulders followed it, covered by a green sweater. For a few seconds, Olivia's mind was reeling too much to register what had happened. Then, as the masked figure pulled himself into the house, still laughing, she managed to register the scenario. Axel had put on a mask to scare them, and damn had it worked.
"Hah! Oh man, you should've seen the look on your face, that was awes-!" Axel pulled off his mask as he spoke, only to be hit in the leg by Reuben's head. He let out a muffled "oof", putting a hand to his thigh. Olivia narrowed her eyes as Jesse pushed herself away from the wall, rubbing the back of her head.
"Axel, what is the matter with you?!" She stormed forwards, swatting his arm with her hand. Redstone dust stuck to his sleeve, and he grumbled, wiping at it.
"Great." He glanced down at Reuben, who huffed at him. "Reuben made me smell like a pig right before EnderCon."
"That's what you get for scaring us so bad, dumbass," Olivia snapped, snatching a rag from the table by the window and wiping her hands. Axel mock-glared at her. She rolled her eyes and set the rag aside, moving to undo her vest so she could change into her clean one. "Did you bring the fireworks?"
"Of course I did." Axel walked away from the door, stopping next to the armor stand. "I even brought something for the little guy." As Olivia undid the belt around her waist and pulled off the vest, revealing the light pink shirt underneath, Axel pulled two things from his inventory; an Ender Dragon helmet, and a pair of wings to match. Jesse grinned excitedly, while Olivia raised an eyebrow, draping her dirty vest over a post in the corner to wash later.
"You brought Reuben a costume?" She tilted her head, reaching for the vest that sat neatly on a shelf.
"Um, we're goin' to a convention." Olivia slid the vest on as Axel knelt down and started hooking the wings around Reuben's middle. "Somebody's gotta wear a costume." He slid the helmet over the pig's head, and Reuben squealed excitedly. He started running around in circles; Jesse quickly shut the trap door before Reuben fell through. Olivia finished clasping her vest closed and pulled a new belt around her waist as she watched him.
"Well, as long as he's happy, I'm happy." Jesse placed her hand on her hips as Reuben jumped up on a shelf. He snorted at her, then jumped back down and waddled over to Axel.
"Are you happy?" Axel looked down at him, and he snorted once. Olivia grinned, shaking her head slightly in amusement. "Well zippity-doo-dah." Axel grinned, leaning down and patting Reuben on the head.
"You definitely brought the fireworks, right?" Olivia pulled the trap door open again.
"Yes, I'm ready." Axel moved to follow her. "Waiting on you guys." Olivia glanced at Reuben, then at Jesse.
"If he was really your best friend, you wouldn't let him go outside dressed like that." She quirked an eyebrow. Jesse shrugged.
"The only thing harder than putting a costume on a pig," she paused, making a face, "is trying to take it off." Olivia forced down a giggle.
"Hurry up and grab your stuff." Axel approached the door as Olivia lowered herself onto the ladder.
"We'll meet you downstairs, okay?" Jesse nodded, and she started down the ladder.
"Okay." The other woman called after her.
Olivia quickly descended the ladder and stepped aside so Axel could get down as well.
"You-" Olivia started as Axel stepped back from the ladder.
"Yes, Olivia, I have them," he said firmly. Olivia cracked a grin.
"I'm just messing with you." She muffled a giggle with her hand. Axel rolled his eyes, a smile tugging at his lips.
"Wow, thanks." Olivia's giggles couldn't be muffled with just one hand. It took a minute to stop laughing, and when she had, Jesse was halfway down the ladder, Reuben under her arm. Jesse hopped off the last couple of rungs, letting Reuben down, and he trotted towards the path a few steps. She turned sending them a grin.
"That's everything." Olivia placed a hand on her hip, returning Jesse's grin as the other woman nodded.
"Let's roll." Olivia glanced at Axel as he motioned towards the unofficial path.
"Yeah, dude." Olivia rolled her eyes, allowing her hand to slip down to her side again. "Roll."
AN: And after a month of writing, and ending up with like 12 chapters, the first chapter is up! Updates will hopefully be daily, assuming I can keep caught up that is.
Until next time!