*Rachael's POV*
I walked outside on an abnormally chilly morning. Hidden warmth would melt any snow that dared to form, but the chill was still enough to give me goose bumps.
I climbed the hill when it hit me like an oncoming wave: I had nothing to do today. Well, nothing else to do, that is. Nothing else but the one thing I had been putting off. Yes, I had to admit, I was procrastinating on it. Something about the guy didn't sit right with me. He was slightly attractive… but not someone I'd ever fall for.
Steve.
He had come to my castle, instantly trying to woo me. Although he didn't quite have the right keys to my heart, I made him the promise that I'd visit him. Besides, the fact that he seemed to like me in that way made me feel as if I had any sort of beauty whatsoever. The guy had boosted my self-esteem.
I owed him this visit.
I looked to the map in my hand, sprinting over hills and caves toward the northeast corner of my world. With each step, my stomach grew tighter and tighter. I had not a clue in Minecraftia what was going to come out of this. Depending on how I was feeling, I was the type of person whose plans could become completely unpredictable. Who knew? Maybe Steve'd completely creep me out, and I'd have to try my best to excuse myself as kindly, or as quickly, as I could. Or mayhap, he'd completely put me under some sort of spell with his eyes, his voice… anything but those disgusting abs and biceps… and I'd end up waking up in his bed the next day, if you know what I mean.
Well, I knew that'd be highly unlikely. I still had that non-tangible thing everyone's born with, and it'd take great audacity to give that to someone like Steve.
Then again, even the impossible was possible in my philosophy.
Anyway, though, I gulped when I saw that I was directly in front of the house. I must say, his place was quaint, yet elegant. It was about four times my size or so. I wasn't really sure.
I peeked around and saw the door. Could I go through with this? I froze up, almost like an iron golem in-progress.
I walked up to the door, peeking in. Nobody. He had to be around…
I walked away and looked around… unfortunately provoking a Creeper in the process. It was almost too late before I spun around and saw him walking toward me.
This was twice as risky. Who knew if that was Bill or not? Mark had the iron bar, Kim had the makeup, Scrooge had the monocle, and Bill… nothing, at the moment, that stood out.
"Bill? Is that you?" I asked.
Not a word. He just made the beeline toward me.
"If you're Bill," I said, running a distance from Steve's house. "Stop."
The Creeper did not stop. Somehow, I knew that this was not Bill.
My sword had Knockback I. This was going to be a snap. Once the Creeper got close enough, I hit it, knocking it back a few times, having it give an ominous hiss every time. Bill definitely would have spoken up by now if it was him.
As the Creeper keeled over to the side, giving me 1 gunpowder, I knew that I had nothing to worry about.
"Hey!" someone called to me. I looked up from the gunpowder in my hand seeing that Steve had returned from wherever. He was walking up to me, looking really happy.
"Hello!" I said.
"Thanks for taking care of that Creeper," Steve smiled. "I was coming back from a mining trip when I saw it starting to creep up to you… and my house."
We both laughed.
"Don't mention it," I said.
"You seem really cool," he told me. "Wanna see my house?"
"Sure!" I smiled.
I followed him to the front door. He held it open for me. I walked in, looking around and seeing that the place was actually of a design I thought to be rather neat. There wasn't much extra space, but bookshelves stood quietly against some walls. Downstairs was an enchantment table and a couple of chests. Upstairs was a couple of beds (together as a double bed) and the essentials (crafting table, furnace, etc.) Windows were plentiful. The place was definitely bigger from the inside.
"Neat place," I said.
"Why, thank you," said Steve. "…But I really like your castle. It has a lot of room for you to stretch out and implement features and stuff like that."
"Yeah, but your place is quaint," I replied. "Simple, yet nice."
He started toward the upstairs level. I followed him, and we both sat down on the bed.
Now, I know what you're thinking. And NO is all I have to say for now.
We sat and simply… talked. About life, about friends (turns out he'd made friends with a Zombie named Alex). Stuff.
However, all that it did was veer me away from the idea that he was a creep. He was actually a very kind and loving dude.
However, as much as I knew he was into me… he still didn't have the keys to my heart.
Soon enough, the night moon rose from the eastern horizon. And there we were, sitting there… on a double bed…
"Here," Steve said, getting up, opening a chest, and grabbing a diamond. "I got this and renamed it for you."
He handed it to me, and I looked at it.
Very clearly, its title in my inventory was "Rachael's Diamond."
"Aww, thanks!" I said. "That's so sweet!"
"Why, of course!" Steve chuckled, sitting back down. "That's why I knew that you deserved it."
I just wasn't sure anymore. This diamond sparkled with a different glimmer than I had ever seen from any other diamond. I want to say it glimmered with desire. The same type of… *ahem* desire I could see in Steve's eyes…. For your information, I couldn't quite tell if it was that kind of desire or not. Don't worry about it. Please… don't ask.
I couldn't bring myself to just walk out on him. But still… the whole thing with the abs and the flirtatiousness… I dunno…
"Well, I really should get going," I told him, standing up.
"Aww, okay," he replied. "Come again, if you'd like. Oh, and be safe!"
"Thanks," I smiled, walking downstairs and back outside, exchanging the diamond for my sword, making the mad dash toward home.
I soon found my castle and went inside to find that Scrooge was there. He was just walking around.
When he saw me, he walked up to me and said "Hey. Where've you been?"
"I… went to visit someone," I replied. "…He made me feel weird… not, like, that weird, but weird…"
And every word of that was the truth. I definitely did feel different.
Author's note: Even I, the author, have been left with a feeling of uncertainty… which brings me to the question!
Question for the readers: I'm really curious. Which shipping do you like better? StevexRachael, or ScroogexRachael?