Jesse smiled and gave a nod, the spider hybrid's lowest set of arms allowing her to lean back a little while her middle set was wrapped around Reuben and her upper set rested on her knees. (Well, more like Reuben's knees, but close enough.) "I liked it!" she said pleasantly, red-and-green eyes crinkling up cheerfully, "Definitely an improvement on some of the earlier versions you read to us."
Reuben was squirming a bit, having gotten slightly bored after over an hour of Lukas reading to them (he certainly had the attention span of a thirteen year old, Jesse thought with amusement, even though she was pretty sure he was way shorter than the average one), but quickly straightened up at the sound of Jesse's voice. "Uh— yeah, it was pretty fun! I liked it!" He paused, a thought having occurred to him. "Even though I... missed a big part of it when Cassie took me to the bathroom."
"Uh... sorry about that, kiddo. I'm still not really used to the bathroom placements." A few steps down from where Jesse was sitting on the top step, Cassie Rose smiled sheepishly, running a hand through her long red hair. She'd abandoned the habit of wearing beanies— Jesse suspected it had something to do with how Winslow would crawl under it whenever he panicked and scratched Cassie— and just left her hair down. Winslow was back at home in Bad Luck Alley, apparently. Her black-rimmed glasses were still the same as always, and she'd started wearing dark gray cardigans. Although she still usually wore shorts and sneakers. Some things didn't change.
And one of those some things was avoiding letting Reuben know about what Cassie had done as the White Pumpkin. Reuben often asked why Olivia and Axel still seemed a little wary around Cassie, because all he'd gotten when Jesse had gotten him back seven years ago was that they'd met her on their adventures. He'd since put down Axel and Olivia and Lukas and Petra and Ivor's wariness as being wary of a new person that they didn't know anything about, but after two or three years he'd gotten a little suspicious of how they still continued to avoid her in the hallway if possible, or of how they'd awkwardly try to end any conversations with her if they could.
Honestly, they still were quite wary of her. Lukas seemed a little more trusting, and Axel and Olivia hadn't been there so they were gradually relaxing around her, but Petra and Ivor hadn't changed their opinion about her too much. After the necessity of teaming up with her wasn't a necessity anymore— they'd brought her along partially because she was Jesse's old friend, partially to keep an eye on her, and partially because she could be use—helpful, well— they had just started trying to avoid her if possible. Jesse wasn't sure if any of her friends would ever actually trust Cassie Rose.
Honestly, she wasn't entirely sure if she trusted Cassie that much.
They would eventually have to tell him about it, but Cassie figured that that could wait until he was 14. Personally, Jesse was pretty sure Cassie was going to say it could wait until he was fifteen when he turned fourteen, but she figured they'd cross that bridge once it came to it.
If they ever even arrived at it.
The part that Reuben had missed, of course, was the bit where Lukas was talking about the White Pumpkin Mansion, and the minute Lukas had started that portion of the story Cassie had taken Reuben to the bathroom, making sure to take him to the one that was the farthest away from the actual Order Hall. Jace had been very 'helpful' in stating that he didn't remember where the nearest restroom was, although his ears had twitched upon saying that and made it pretty clear that he was lying.
Speaking of Jace, Jesse glanced over at her wolf hybrid brother. His brown wolf ears were perked up a little now, and he was leaning forward and nodding pleasantly at Lukas. He'd been listening quite attentively to Lukas's writing, even though he had to have heard the draft about thirty times by now. Jesse had once joked that the reason that he listened so attentively to Lukas was that he had a crush on the blonde.
Her brother had proceeded to chase her around town for an hour until they were both out of breath and called a truce.
Jesse still thought it was worth it. She had years of teasing her brother that had been taken away from her by Hadrian (she scowled at the thought of that name) that she had to make up for.
"Yeah, it was pretty good, Lukas. You've definitely gotten better at writing the action scenes. They sound more energetic," Jace said agreeably, tail beginning to sweep the floor in a bushy, wagging motion.
Olivia tugged at her ponytail before glancing over and jabbing her elbow into Axel's ribs. After a couple years, she'd switched out her pigtails for a more 'mature' ponytail, although she'd kept the green beanie and goggles. Over the years, squinting at redstone and poor handwriting had taken its toll, and she now wore a pair of wire-rimmed glasses to help with her now-rather-poor-eyesight. She also wore an unbuttoned red labcoat over a black suit with a white shirt and purple tie, and with her (honestly rather intimidating) height and the purple, glowing eye, she definitely looked a force to be reckoned with.
Not that she actually was, she was still the same old Olivia Jesse had always known.
Axel was less intimidating somehow, wearing green plaid flannel and a black, unbuttoned shirt with a skull on it. Even being the burly guy he was, compared to Olivia he looked like a teddy bear.
Until he exploded. Both figuratively and literally. Then you had better start running.
Though you definitely couldn't see that bit of his personality now, Jesse thought as she hid her smile as Axel jolted awake. "Whowhahuh? What part are we at?" he asked groggily, blinking the sleepiness out of his eyes, "am I being awesome?"
Rolling her eyes at the creeper hybrid, Olivia returned her attention to the ocelot hybrid, whose ears were twitching rather anxiously. "We thought it was great, Lukas," she told him, before pausing and tilting her head a little at him. "Though... not always entirely... accurate." The addition was a little softer, and more tentative.
"Yeah, well, I mean—" Lukas's cheeks turned a little pink as he reached up and rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, taking a deep breath as if gathering his thoughts. "I definitely exaggerated here and there, but— it was for the drama." Even though his voice was level and calm, his ears and tail were twitching madly. He'd gotten back into the habit of wearing his old outfit, although the jacket didn't have an ocelot on it anymore, and he had metal shoulderpads. (Or, that might not be the correct term for it... never mind.)
"I mean, it made us sound cool, and that's a good thing," Axel said with a nonchalant shrug, clearly not seeing an issue.
Jace grinned at Axel's comment, tail still wagging away at a prodigious rate. "Well, a little exaggeration never hurts... but there were some points where it kinda seemed like the truth was getting stretched a little too much."
"It..." Olivia rubbed her head a bit, accidentally upsetting the green beanie she usually wore and having to readjust it, "might make people think we did stuff that we didn't actually do."
Jesse just gave a nonchalant shrug, all six of her shoulderblades going up a little bit and then relaxing again, letting Reuben finally crawl off her lap, "Well, you're the writer, Lukas. I know you'll make the right call."
Lukas looked pleased at Jesse's comment. "Thank you, Jesse. I had been hoping to have it ready to read at Founding Day, but, uh..." The ocelot hybrid shrugged, ears giving a little twitch as he did so. "Next year."
Olivia leaned back, making Cassie shift her legs aside to avoid having Olivia lean back and squash them. "I can't believe it's Founding Day already. Sneaks up on me every time."
"Congrats, Lukas," and Jace flopped over a little and grinned at the ocelot hybrid.
Jesse nodded at the ocelot hybrid herself, giving him a cheerful smile and finishing Jace's sentence for him, "I'm proud of you for finishing it. That took a LOT of work."
Axel made a little face at the fact that Jesse and Jace were finishing each other's sentences. Even though they lived apart (Jace actually had built a house back at the lab. They needed somebody to keep an eye on the now-falling-apart facility and make sure no one was resuming the experiments), Jace and Jesse had developed the odd habit of just finishing one another's sentences. Whenever they were actually with one another, it only took about five minutes of conversation for the habit to kick back into effect.
Lukas grinned at the two of them, ears perking up as his tail began to twitch around cheerfully. "I'm glad you guys liked it," he told them sincerely, before his cyan eyes flicked over to meet Jesse's. "You did so much, Jesse, you're... a real hero."
Jesse felt her cheeks turn slightly pink. She always felt awkward when people said stuff like that. It wasn't like she ever did that much. All she'd done on Sky City was basically talk to people. It was the same in Crown Mesa and the Old Builder's world, and the stuff she actually did do she couldn't have done without her friend's help.
"Yeah, Jesse's great!" Reuben exclaimed, gently butting his head into Jesse's shoulder. The thirteen-year-old usually avoided too much physical contact with his 'mom', but he still had habits from when he was a pig that he just kept.
Jesse started tickling him.
"But... we all did, right?" Axel asked hesitantly, over Reuben's squeals and giggles. Jesse was very good with her hands, whether it be petting someone or tickling someone or poking people.
And yes, she'd poked enough people to say that confidently.
"Yeah." Olivia nodded in agreement with Axel's statement, glancing back at Lukas and letting her lips twist up a bit uncertainly. "We were all there."
"Well, not me and Jace," Cassie corrected, "but definitely Axel and Olivia."
Jace grinned a little as he adjusted his red suspenders over the dark, long-sleeved shirt he was wearing. He'd been playing around and mixing and matching styles lately. He usually looked pretty good, actually. "Well, aren't you the humble one?" he teased Cassie, green eyes sparkling gently. For some reason, Jace was actually really okay around Cassie. In fact, he occasionally visited her in Bad Lucky Alley and made a point of just talking to her a lot. Jesse supposed having being essentially raised by Old Builders had kind of desensitized him to the whole thing.
It helped that Soren seemed to like Cassie as well.
Cassie rolled her eyes at Jace, but she perked up visibly. "Oh, hush, or I'll tell Petra you were flirting with me."
"It's not like Petra and I are dating."
If Jesse had been drinking any water, she would've snorted it out. Jace and Petra had a joking 'flirting' thing going on, probably just to embarrass the other one from how casually they 'flirted' with each other. Jace was currently in the lead, being extremely hard to embarrass and having been taught many, many pick-up lines from his sister. If Petra was hoping to embarrass him, she would really have to go for it.
Unfortunately, Petra didn't know many pick-up lines, and she wasn't extremely good at flirting anyways. But she made up for it with the enthusiasm of a tiger waiting to pounce on her victim, and the fact that she'd somehow started learning how to start talking in the most sing-songy voice when she was 'flirting' with Jace.
Jesse blamed Em and Cassie for initiating the whole thing.
Axel cleared his throat, reminding Jesse of the topic at hand. "For, uh... for most of it, anyway."
Lukas hesitated, ears and tail going still for a moment. "That's... true..." A short pause as he processed this fact. "Um..."
Jesse straightened up into a standing position, gently setting a now-giggling Reuben on the step next to her as she casually smiled at her friends. "Hey, c'mon, guys. We all did it together. We're the Order of the Stone, after all— even Cassie and Jace!"
Lukas hummed thoughtfully at the remark, scribbling something down in the notebook using the quill. "It is a good thing to note, though... I'll keep that in mind when I'm editing." After a moment, scrutinizing what he'd written, he nodded and looked back up at the rest of the group, eyes crinkling up a bit happily. "Well, this has all been really helpful feedback, guys. Once Ivor and Harper get back from their adventures, I can add a chapter about them... and then it will finally be done!"
Axel hummed thoughtfully, tilting his head to one side. "Man, they've been gone a long time."
The door at the end of the hall suddenly started sliding open with the slight scrape of stone, and Olivia's eyes slid over to check who it was. "Ah. Jesse. Your intern."
A thin, adorable-looking young man walked in, wearing a green jacket over his gold shirt accompanied with a blue tie. His thin, long nose held up a gigantic pair of glasses, and his black hair stood up quite a bit on one side. "Jesse?" he asked nervously.
The spider hybrid grinned pleasantly at him, stretching a little bit. "Oh, hey, Radar!" she called to him cheerfully, Lukas quickly shutting his journal to avoid Radar peeking. He did that sometimes.
Radar suddenly stopped in his tracks, eyes growing wide and filled with stars in his excitement. "Oh. Gosh. Wow," he said, sounding as if he was in wonder, "I—I didn't know all of you would be in here. Heh. Olivia, ma'am." He began to bow to each of them in turn. "Axel, sir. Lukas, sir. Jace, sir." Jace saluted him with a cheerful grin. "Cassie, ma'am. So—so sorry to interrupt everyone."
Olivia grinned at the boy. "Awww... he is just adorable!" she whispered to Cassie, who grinned back. (And almost fell off the step when she realized Olivia was talking to her.)
Radar bowed again, looking rather nervous. "My deepest— sincerest, utmost apologies if I've caused any inconvenience."
Jesse just laughed, trotting down the steps and lifting all of her arms in a pleasant shrug. "Radar, don't be so formal!" she laughed, "cut it out with all the 'sir' and 'ma'am' stuff."
"Right-o! Right!" Radar agreed enthusiastically, before grinning to himself. "Awesome."
"I kinda liked it," Axel replied nonchalantly, simply giving a light shrug.
Jesse glanced over at her burly friend, before back at Radar with a cheerful smile. "So, what's up?"
Radar nodded rapidly. "Oh yeah— I got a message from Petra that she's on her way to the mines," he replied, nodding rapidly at the spider hybrid, "for that adventure you scheduled?"
Even though Jesse wasn't facing them, she sensed the way Axel, Olivia, and Lukas gave each other awkward looks, although she was pretty sure Cassie gave a nonchalant shrug and Jace seemed to perk up at the idea of scoring another point in their flirting competition.
Somehow, Jesse didn't think this adventure was going to go as planned.
A/N: You would be very correct, Jesse xD
So, this was a fun chapter to write! The next few should be pretty good, too. Next in the update schedule is The Fairytale Curse. X3
Episode 5 is coming out on Tuesday next week! Expect a playthrough from me for that very soon x3 And I might re-add A Pure Heart (Ninjago) to the update list, since I'm rewriting it! What do you guys think about that?
S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: (laughs) Yep, I'm back!
homeworkoverload: x3 Glad you like it.
Emily The Avenger: Yeah, squad-less. I figure hybrids are already enough of an addition xD
CamronXTheXGamer: Aw, I'm glad you like it!
AquaK13: I've watched that like a billion times xD
Rabbits rule: I'm glad you like it! And I'm glad to see you guys :3
InsaneAcrobat: Yeah, Composite's original wasn't the best. And I'm now getting back into a... remotely regular update schedule. No weekends though xD
LunarTheMooncake: Without the squad, but yeah.
Toni42: Yeah, this is going to be great x3
TheAmberShadow: Haha, you'd better believe it xD / I'm hoping I'll be back for a good long time now!
J.M.M.: Well, fourth's time the charm? I guess xD
andie: Sort of. I just ended up thinking I don't think I'll be able to write it properly, so I just decided to restart. (This is the last time, I promise xD)
x.X. A.L. X.x
