Olivia was concentrating, trying to ignore as Jesse makes fighting noises behind her. Jesse can wait, she has a project to finish.
She quietly closes the chest, arms filled with redstone dust, and makes her way across the room. She finishes up the circuit, dusting off her hands and clothes, leftover specks of dust floating to the floor. She turns and leans against the wall, crossing her arms as she watches her friend.
Jesse steps back, as the armor stand leans forward, blocking with their sword. They push back roughly, following with a swing as the stand leans back. Another lean, another dodge. Another lean, another slash. It almost looks like a violent kind of meditation, their rhythm never faltering.
Olivia shakes her head. "Hey, Jesse?"
"Hmn?" They dodge again, swinging back harder. They narrow their eyes. "Did you say something, Olivia?"
She chuckles. "Just like you, to tune out while you fight."
"Hey! I don't tune out when I fight, I tune out when I- oof-" They stumble, as they lose their rhythm and take the hand of the armor stand to the chest. They grumble quietly, shoving it back before they start again.
"You tune out when you spar, I know." She smiles again, before she returns to brushing the redstone off of her clothes. "...Hypothetical question time."
"Hit me." They barely dodge a forward movement from the armor stand. "Hey! I meant her, not you!"
"It's a 'would you rather' question."
"My favorite. What is it?"
"If you had to, which would you rather fight? One hundred chicken sized zombies, or ten zombie sized chickens?"
They seem to be considering this, as they continue to dodge and attack the stand. "...I'll take the giant chickens. Not because I think they'd be easy, but because they'd be an abomination."
"Just imagine their weird feet..."
"Like I said," They stab at the stand. "An abomination."
She nods, watching for a minute longer, before she pushes herself off the wall. "...So, I've put a daylight sensor on the roof..."
"Mhmm..." They've tuned her out again, fighting even harder against the stand.
"And if I've wired this up right, the lights should go on when it gets dark."
"Mhmmm..."
She sighs. "I just didn't want Reuben to be stuck in the dark while we're at the convention."
Jesse stops mid-slash, turning around with a baffled look on their face. "He's coming with us."
Reuben steps away from the stand, watching it sway for a moment.
Olivia blinks at them. "...Not that I mind him coming, or anything, but...don't you think it's weird that you take him everywhere you go?" She sighs again, rubbing at her face, leaving trails of redstone dust.
"No!" They cross their arms. "Reuben's my best friend, of course we'll go everywhere together!"
"I thought I was your best friend."
"You both are!" They throw their arms into the air, before they sheath their sword back in their inventory. "I wouldn't leave you here while I went off to Endercon."
"You would if you got excited and distracted." She smiles, though, as she pushes off from the wall. "...I don't mean anything by it. I'm glad he's coming. I just wish..." She shakes her head. "...Nevermind."
"That people would take us seriously?" Jesse offers, walking forward. "If they're gonna make fun of us, they'll do it with or without Reuben being with us."
She sighs again. "...I know. I'm just...I'm tired of it."
"Hey, one day we'll win, and then they'll never make fun of us again." They grin.
"Those two things aren't related in any way." She grins back. "But okay, Jesse."
A sudden hissing sound starts up at the trapdoor, causing the three in the room to turn and look at it.
Jesse groans. "Don't tell me a creeper climbed the ladder again...We don't have the time to repair the floor, right now! It always takes hours!"
"Only one way to find out, Jesse..." Olivia stays at her spot at the side of the room, waving Reuben over.
They sigh, rolling their eyes. "Just once, I'd like to be the one who doesn't throw themselves blindly into danger. You know, just to mix it up."
The hissing returns.
"Tick tock, Jesse..."
"Ugh...fine." They sigh again, before lifting the trapdoor.
A creature with a creeper's face stares back at them.
For a few moments, Jesse just stares in shock and fear, wondering how Olivia and Reuben are gonna split up Jesse's stuff after they're blasted into dust.
And then the figure shouts, "Boo!"
Jesse lets out a startled shout, stumbling backwards and falling to the ground. Reuben squeals, running over and tripping onto Jesse.
Olivia flinches backwards, but as she sees the figure climb up, she glares. "Axel!"
Axel laughs so hard, he nearly falls off the ladder. "Man! You should have seen your faces!" He fully climbs into the room, the trapdoors closing behind him. "That was the best!"
Reuben snorts, offended, pushing himself off Jesse and running over to Axel. He slams into his shins.
Axel grunts, glaring down at the small pig. "...Great." He rolls his eyes. "Now I'm gonna smell like a pig at Endercon."
"That's what you get, Axel." Olivia continues glaring, crossing her arms.
"Axel, you scared us half to death!" Jesse finally pushes themselves to their feet, glaring as well. "You deserved that, this time."
"I brought you good times, and now I'm being punished for it?"
"Axel." Olivia moves between her two friends, trying to diffuse the situation before the two try to brawl. Again. "Did you bring the fireworks?"
After a moment, he calms down, grinning. "Of course I did." He reaches behind him. "I even brought something for the little guy!" He pulls out a costume from his inventory, white-grey fabric draping down. "Come here, porkchop!"
Reuben looks concerned, for a moment, before he oinks and runs over.
He smiles, helping the pig into the fabric.
"Nice!" Jesse grins. "I told you he'd look better as a wolf, than as a dragon."
"Isn't there a story like this?" Olivia smirks, watching her friends. "'The Pig In Wolf's Clothing'?"
"I still think the dragon idea was cool." Axel finishes up the costume adjustment, kneeling down to place the head onto Reuben's. "There!"
Reuben oinks and squeals, running all over the room.
"Awesome!" They jump up and down, clapping.
"Thanks. It only took me, like, a million hours to build it."
"It looks great, Axel!"
"But you definitely remembered the fireworks, right?" Olivia raises an eyebrow at her friend.
"Yes, I'm ready. Waiting on you guys!" He starts down the ladder again.
She makes her way to the ladder, looking up at Jesse. "You know," She teases, "It he really was your best friend, you wouldn't let him go outside dressed like that."
They raise an eyebrow. "The only thing more dangerous than putting a costume on a pig, is taking it off." They smiles. "Besides! He loves it!"
She rolls her eyes, before smiling. "We'll meet you downstairs." She climbs down the ladder.
Jesse sighs, looking over at Reuben. "Hey, Reubs. Think we'll need anything else?"
He seems to be considering, for a moment, before he makes his way over to a chest. He nudges it open with his head, rooting around inside.
They snicker. "You know, you could have just said 'this one', and made me get it."
He stops digging through the chest, for a moment, before he snorts once and continues.
They almost double over, snickering. "Never change, buddy!"
He slips out of the chest, trotting over to them. He looks up, a proud look on his face as he drops a pair of shears, and a flint and steel, onto the floor in front of them.
They smile, picking them up and putting the items in their inventory. "All set, boy?"
Reuben nods, smiling and oinking.
Jesse picks him up, looking around the room one last time, before they climb down the ladder.
"Took you long enough!" Axel smirks, as he crosses his arms. "Thought you might have taken another nap, or something."
"Axel, they were gone for maybe five minutes!" Olivia rolls her eyes.
"Doesn't mean they didn't nap. You and I both know how fast Jesse can fall asleep."
"Axel, you have leaves in your hair." Jesse sets Reuben down.
"I told him, but I think he forgot."
"It adds character! It's like...an accessory, or something."
"Whatever you say, Axel." They smile up at him. "Let's go!"
As the group starts to walk, Axel grins, walking with a bit of a bounce in his step. "...So...I heard something exciting about the build competition this year. But you have to promise not to tell anyone."
"Okay, what is it?" Olivia looks at him as she walks.
"Okay, so...it's in two parts, each one more exciting than the last."
"Spit it out, Axel." Jesse narrows their eyes, but they're smiling.
"Part one, is that the special guest at this year's Endercon is none other than Ivor the Mage him-freaking-self."
Jesse's eyes widen, and they nearly stumble. "Woah!"
"What's part two?" Olivia is all smiles, now.
"Part two, is that the winners of this year's building competition are gonna get passes to his keynote! And it's been sold out for ages."
"He hasn't been to Endercon in, what, years?" They bounce from one foot to the other, looking down at Reuben. "Wouldn't it be cool to meet him, boy?"
Reuben oinks his approval.
"I heard, that back in the day, he would teach people how to make potions, and stuff, during his presentations." She adjusts her beanie. "It would be really cool to see his work." She looks...slightly disappointed, for a moment. "...Just him, though?"
"Yeah..." He looks a little disappointed, too.
"Hey!" Jesse turns around. "Ivor is amazing! They say his potions are the strongest anyone's ever made! His fighting style is a combination of training and improvisation! And, if it weren't for his extensive documentation, none of our maps would be even nearly as good as they are!"
"Woah!" Axel jumps back a bit, holding up his hands. "Dude! We're not saying he isn't super cool! We just..."
Olivia sighs. "We know Ivor's always been your favorite, Jesse. It just...would be cool to see our favorites too."
They blink, before they let out a breath. "...Right. Ellagaard and Magnus." They look away for a bit. "I bet they'll come back soon. They're just on an important mission, right now."
"They've been saying that for years. You'd think they'd be done by now..." He crosses his arms, sighing.
"They might just keep getting sent out to do things." She spins a strand of hair around her finger. "...Now that I think about it...The End is pretty vast, after all."
"I guess you're right. I just..." He sighs again, adjusting his well-worn hoodie. "I hope I can meet him, one day."
"Well, let's start with right now, and win that building competition!" Jesse grins, bouncing up and down again. "Do we have everything we need?"
He grins back down at them. "We could always grab a bit more."
"We'd better hurry, though." She smiles at the two of them.
"Come on, guys! This year, we can't lose! Cannot!" They hold out a hand in front of themselves. "Bring it in!"
Their friends smile, each placing a hand on the pile.
Jesse reaches down with their free hand, to take Reuben's hoof. "Okay, 'Dare to Prepare' on three! No- wait...'Preparing is Daring'- n-no, that's just the same thing...okay, 'Team!' on three. Ready?"
The others nod.
"One...two...three! Team!"
"Team!"
"Prepare!"
Reuben squeals, as they all run separate directions into the forest.