"Well, anyway," Jesse said at last, giving Stacy and Stampy a friendly smile, though still slightly awkward, "I didn't expect to see you guys here!" Wink was still running in circles around Jesse and Cassie, having apparently not sensed the tense atmosphere around them.
Stacy gave a shrug and a slightly lopsided grin. "Thought we'd give this town of yours a try."
"It's quite lovely!" Stampy agreed instantly, giving a slightly brighter grin than Stacy.
"Yeah– and I can't believe how many people are here!" Stacy added, giving the crowds of people meandering past a slightly wider grin.
Jesse clambered back to her feet and dusted herself off a little, giving them a slightly brighter grin as the little puppy kept running around and around her. "Well, it's so great to see you!" she said happily. "We need to hang out sometime!"
"Oooh, can I join?"
Jesse rolled her eyes with a grin. Judging by that very familiar voice, and the iron clinking on the floor with every alternate step that Reuben took forward, the two boys were back. "Yes, Jace, of course you can join," she drawled back cheerfully, the pig hybrid drawing level with her and doing his best to haul her sword along behind him.
"Oh, who's this?" Stampy asked curiously, tilting his head at the wolf hybrid and letting the slight wariness on his face be replaced by surprise.
"Ahh, that's right, you guys haven't met Jace yet. Stacy, Stampy, this is Jace– he's my twin brother," Jesse introduced the excitable wolf hybrid, who flailed his arm in a cheerful wave. Cassie, who'd started standing up, had to duck right back down as his hand sailed through the space her face had been about to occupy. "He's a wolf hybrid."
Stacy perked up significantly at that. "A wolf hybrid?"
"Oh, I didn't know you had a twin brother! It's lovely to meet you!" Stampy chirped before Jesse could reply, patting the wolf hybrid on the shoulder. Jace's eyes lit up, and his tail started wagging away.
Cassie smirked a bit as she straightened back all the way this time, running a hand through her getting-very-long red hair. "Careful– if you pet him too much, he's going to start following you around all day."
Stampy grinned back at that, although his smile dimmed slightly and was tinged with nervous energy. "Ah, really?"
Jesse gave her eyes a cheerful roll, making the two YouTubers (she still didn't know what a YouTuber was) chuckle a little at her. "Oh, you've got no idea. You know how Lukas likes being petted? This guy is so much more high-maintenance." Absentmindedly, she reached up and started stroking his hair. The wolf hybrid's shoulders immediately lost all tension and his eyes drooped a bit, dreamily. A low rumble formed in his chest, a sort of muted, pleased growl.
Radar finally drew level with them, making Jesse snatch her hand back from Jace's head and making him snap out of it and stick his tongue out at her playfully. "Ah, Radar– this is Stacy Plays and Stampy Cat," she introduced again, gesturing with her arm and being careful not to move around too much and accidentally step on the still-running-in-circles-around-her Wink. Stampy and Stacy both waved at him, smiling pleasantly at the 16-year-old.
Yes, Jesse had a 16-year-old as an intern. She'd only been seventeen when she'd defeated the Witherstorm. What was the issue with that?
Radar beamed cheerfully, nodding back at that.
Stacy let out a long sigh as Wink kept skipping around Jesse. "Oh, Wink... here, Jesse. Give him a bone and he'll calm right down." And Stacy passed three bones to Jesse, who took them before crouching down, the puppy skidding to a halt right in front of Jesse and panting up at her in excitement. Jesse's eyes gleamed cheerfully as she reached out and patted him on the head, the puppy's body going still before he insistently butted his head into her hand, practically nuzzling into it.
That escalated quite quickly from there until the puppy was literally lying on his back, letting out little cooing sounds as Jesse rubbed his tummy.
"Huh. I guess you didn't need the bones at all," Stacy said cheerfully, the grin she now gave Jesse a genuine one, "he likes you."
"Heh, yeah, I guess so." Jesse ruffled his fur as she stood back up, Wink rolling back over and skipping back over to Stacy with a happy series of yaps. The spider hybrid looked at the bones in her hand, rattling them a bit, before holding them out towards Stacy again. "You want the rest of these back?"
Stacy shrugged and made a gentle waving motion in her direction. "Nah, hang onto them. I've got TONS. Never know when you're gonna need to tame a wolf."
Jesse shrugged back, giving Stacy a wide grin. "Well– thanks!" she exclaimed cheerfully, pulling out one of the bones and waving it in Jace's direction. The wolf hybrid snatched ahold of it with such eagerness that it actually made Jesse's hand sting a little bit, biting into it with such excitement that it was actually quite cute, tail wagging so furiously that he could've swept a floor with it and left it nearly spotless.
"I imagine you're terribly busy, so we won't keep you guys," Stampy said kindly, "but, you should come and see what we're working on because– it's pretty cool!" His voice turned into a sing-song at the end.
"Yeah, what Stampy said," Stacy agreed cheerily.
"Anyways, our place is by the gate," and Dan gestured over his shoulder in the general direction of the gate.
"Will do!" Jesse chirped, grinning at them. "See you guys later!"
The two YouTubers grinned, Stampy getting off the wall, before the two of them started walking towards their place. At the last second, Stampy twisted around and walked backwards for a bit, waving furiously at them. "Bye Cassie! Bye Jace!" he chirped. "Bye, Reuben!"
Cassie looked a little cheered by the parting, giving Jesse a small smile. "Well... that went a lot better than I'd expected."
"Darn right!" Jesse replied cheerfully.
Reuben blinked blankly at them, hefting Jesse's sword up and trying to hand it back to her. "Did something happen while I was getting the sword?" he asked, blinking innocently up at them.
Cassie and Jesse exchanged a look.
"... not really."
"Yeah, not really."
Starting up the walk again– after Jesse quickly picked up her sword and sheathed it– the five of them came to a halt next to a monument for Reuben when he was still a pig. Jesse had built it ages ago, and she supposed she could've taken it down after Reuben was back, but she couldn't bring herself to do it, so she'd just left it up.
Reuben abruptly wrapped his arms around her, making Jesse blink down at him. He rarely hugged her this tightly anymore, since he was a 'super mature thirteen year old' (his words, not hers) and he felt it was embarrassing to hug his 'mom'. (He'd slipped up and called her this in public one time.) "Love you," he mumbled into her side, so quietly she almost didn't hear it.
But she did, and as Reuben's sort-of mom, it was her obligation to embarrass her technically a teenager.
So she grinned and, using one of her middle arms, ruffled his hair. "Awww, love ya too, kiddo," she told him cheerfully, making him let out a little whine in her direction and bury his now-rather-pink face in her side.
"Ohmygosh it's you!" And a guy– presumably the owner of three little pigs snuffling around on the ground– practically danced over to her, beaming in joy. Reuben looked up at the guy who was approaching and blinked.
"Oh, yep– it's me," Jesse told him, smiling cheerfully. "What are you doing here?"
"Oh, wow, this is actually perfect." His grin grew with excitement. "For Founding Day this year, we're picking a pig to play the part of Reuben on the float!" And he gestured at the three little pigs oinking away behind him.
Radar beamed, clapping his hands a little bit. "Oh, that's really cute!"
"Right? Eh, would you two–" The guy grinned and looked from Reuben to Jesse, "be interested in... maybe helping me pick? I mean, who knows Reuben better than Jesse and Reuben himself, right?"
Cassie hummed thoughtfully at the idea. "Haha, yeah... talk about knowledgeable casting."
"It would be an honor to say that the pig was hand-chosen by Jesse and Reuben for the casting part," the guy continued, literally gushing.
Jesse looked down at the little pig hybrid, who was still hugging her tightly. "Y'alright with that, kiddo?" she asked, cheerfully.
Reuben hesitated for only a moment, cheeks pinking– he wasn't used to so much pomp on his part, even after six or seven years of it– but he finally nodded. "Mmhm."
Jesse looked back up at the pig guy, giving him a warm, genuine smile. "I'd love to! Seems like the least I could do. And since it's okay with Reuben..." She let the grin grow.
The guy looked as if he could've danced for joy. "Oh, that's fantastic! Thank you so much."
The spider hybrid nodded and turned to the pigs, who were all lying on the ground or doing various piggy things. "Alright, let's see 'em!" she said cheerfully, the pigs jumping to their feet at Reuben's little oink in their direction and lining up in a straight line facing Jesse.
"Okay, piggies," the pig guy practically sang, "show Jesse your good side!" He then strolled along behind them, indicating each pig as he did so. "That's Esteban..."
Radar tilted his head at the pig, squinting at it a little.
"Smushy Cutecheeks..."
Cassie snorted loudly at that, finding a floating cloud nearby utterly fascinating.
"And Lord von Thunderpork VI."
Now Jace was starting to titter, and even Jesse was valiantly fighting a grin as she scrutinized the pigs. Most of them looked... identical (honestly), but Smushy Cutecheeks and Lord von Thunderpork VI looked pretty cute. She looked over at Reuben, lips twitching slightly. "Well, what do you think, Reuben? I like Lord von Thunderpork and Smushy Cutecheeks right now," she told him, cheerfully, trying very, very hard not to burst into giggles.
Reuben carefully scrutinized the pigs, before saying, with a completely blank expression, "I like Lord von Thunderpork VI the best. He looks super regal."
Jesse excused herself to go laugh in the corner.
After the guy had thanked them all profusely, and Jesse had stopped giggling hysterically in the corner, the five of them moved on. Jesse paused next to a patch of sugar cane and broke some off, grinning at it cheerfully. "Sugar!"
Don't ask me why she randomly broke off some sugar.
Cassie grinned all of a sudden, looking extremely amused for some reason. "Don't let Jace eat it."
"Okay, I wouldn't just eat raw sugarcane-" the wolf hybrid protested, but Jesse wasn't fooled- she could still see his grin.
Reuben moved off on his own, Radar's eyes following the little kid carefully, as Cassie teased the wolf hybrid, "Well, I dunno, I wouldn't put it past you."
He slugged her on the shoulder and stuck his tongue out at her. "You're mean, ya know that, Cassie?" he told her, pouting at her in this playful way. You would've felt bad for him if his eyes weren't sparkling, and if you weren't Jesse and realized that that was the same teasing pout he gave Petra when he was attempting to fluster her.
Cassie just grinned back at him.
Reuben came back and popped an egg into Jesse's lowest right hand.
Jesse looked down at the egg, bemused, before back up at Reuben with a quizzical grin. "Uh, thanks kiddo, but what's the egg for?" she asked, confusion peeping into her voice.
"The chicken over there laid one. I didn't wanna waste it," Reuben replied, cheerfully.
"I am telling you, Stampy- it needs to be pumpkin pie."
Jesse blinked at the accidental interruption, before looking over to see Stacy and Stampy having a sort of faceoff. They weren't mad at each other or anything, but their arms were crossed and they were both making squinty eyes at each other.
"But cake is the best! Stampy argued back, "and I would know, I have it every morning for breakfast!" Stacy rolled her eyes at that statement.
"That does not sound healthy," Cassie muttered, making Jace grin.
"Uh, there... some sort of problem here, guys?" Jesse asked, looking and sounding slightly concerned as she and the rest of the group approached the YouTubers. (Cassie somehow managed to put the rest of the group between herself and the YouTubers in the span of three seconds.)
"Hello, Jesse!" Stampy greeted her again cheerfully, "we heard about this Founding Day celebration of yours and we thought we'd make some sweets!"
"Yeah," and now Jesse looked over to see Stacy putting her hands on her hips and shooting Stampy a look, "and NOW I'm trying to convince Mr. Stampy here to make the right decision and pick pumpkin pie."
Stampy sighed, turning back to Stacy again, ending right back up in the face-off position. "There you go with those leading presentations again."
"Just..." Stacy let out a sigh. "Not everyone likes cake, Stampy."
"Oh, and pumpkin pie is the universally loved food? I think not."
"I, uh," and Radar gave a friendly little cough, "I'm a cookies man myself."
In perfect unison, both Stacy and Stampy slowly turned from their little face-off to deliver a fierce glare in Radar's direction.
Jesse's intern looked suitably cowed. "Sorry," he whispered back, shrinking back behind Jesse.
The spider hybrid decided to rescue him and casually sidestepped, blocking him from view. "Why don't you make both?" she asked, offering what she certainly thought was a plausible solution. Certainly the argument couldn't go on for much longer if they made both.
"I mean, it's a wonderful idea," Stampy exclaimed, "but we don't have enough ingredients."
"Probably a good thing. Jace would just get hyper on sugar," Cassie grinned at Jace teasingly. He proceeded to punch her on the shoulder.
Stacy gave her head a solemn shake, ignoring Cassie. (Which... Jesse supposed was at least better than outright hostility.) "It's true. Here." She reached into her pockets- and abruptly threw a cloud of ingredients into the air.
Before Jesse even knew what was going on, her six arms shot out and caught various ingredients smoothly, putting them away and reaching out to catch the next one so quickly that she had all the ingredients safely tucked into her pockets within the span of 2 seconds.
Jace and Jesse high-fived without even looking at each other.
Cassie gave an impressed whistle at the display, Radar golf-clapped his hands together furiously, and Stacy and Stampy grinned at the impressive display. Even Reuben was hopping up and down with slight excitement.
"Uh, sorry about the- cloud of ingredients I just threw you," Stacy chuckled, grinning sheepishly at Jesse, "but... yeah. As I was about to say before that, why don't you choose what to make?"
"Yes, I fear we're going to be debating in circles all day otherwise, heh," and Stampy gave a sheepish grin and shake of his head.
"Y'know," Radar said softly, as Jesse moved away from them, so as to not have the two of them overhear what he was about to say, "I think you might have enough ingredients with that egg and sugarcane that you got just now. I bet you have enough to make cake and pie."
"Ooh, y'think?" Reuben perked up. Ever since becoming human, he'd developed quite a sweet tooth. He preferred the natural sweetness of pie to the sugary and creamy texture of cake, but he liked both quite a bit.
Jace put his hands on his hips, giving Reuben a gentle scowl. "You only get one if Jesse can make both, young man," he said, in his most official manner.
"Like you're only going to eat one," Cassie joked to him quietly.
"I am a role model, unlike some people. I shall show some restraint in this matter," Jace said, in such a lofty voice that Cassie immediately broke down into a giggling fit, Jesse had to slap two of her six hands over her mouth to stifle her laughter, Reuben and Radar both started giggling, and even Jace started chuckling after maintaining his lofty air for about a minute.
Once Radar and the others had mostly recovered, Radar adjusted his glasses and squinted a bit before nodding. "Yeah- I think you might just have enough to make both."
Jesse hummed thoughtfully with a nod, squinting her eyes together. "I don't have a lot of time..." and her eyes flickered to the mines, only meters away, "but..." She smiled at last, a grin coming over her face. "I'll see what I can do."
A/N: Who knew being detailed could yield longer chapters? It's a miracle! xD
MY MINECRAFT STORY MODE SEASON 2 GAMEPLAY HAS ALL BEEN POSTED TO YOUTUBE! FINALLY!
Replies to reviews:
LunarTheMooncake: Yes, she does xD
AquaK13: (clears throat) / Pffff xD / No, it's fine, that was so cute xD!
Guest: What does 'I a d' mean? xD
J.M.M.: Haha, right? That was so funny. / In HCM, they collectively agreed to call the world that Cassie Rose was in 'Twin Moon(s) World'. In the actual Hybrid/Composite, they eventually also adopt this name.
x.X. A.L. X.x
