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It’s night time where the town of Beacontown falls asleep. Except for Jesse and his friends. They, along with Petra, were done with exploring the other areas outside of their hometown. New people to meet, along with new mobs to defeat.
Speaking of mobs. “There seems to be more mobs than usual.” Jesse muttered as he looked through the window of the tree house. Zombies were definitely in the bottom of their tree, creepers are the next thing that are near to them, and spiders that are clinging onto the branches. And even endermen are not so far from them as they are hiding below the other trees.
“You know, we can do some farming with all of these mobs here at the moment.” Axel commented, as he’s heading to the chest to grab his sword. Olivia slaps his hand then uses her hand to shut the chest closed.
“With this amount of rain pouring in? I would rather stay here than risk both my clothes getting wet and my vision being blurred by the water.” She retorts. Jesse hears the conversation and lets out a little chuckle.
“We can always go to Lukas’ house and steal his goggles. Then our combat won’t be interfered with as much.” He joked. But it’s not a bad idea to consider. As long as Lukas agrees to him. Thinking about that guy makes Jesse wonder how he’s doing at that god forsaken house.
“Horrible idea, Jesse.” Disagreed Oliva.
“You’re right. I don’t want to interact with either of the other ocelot members.” And thinking about them leaves a bad sting to Jesse’s brain.
Axel laughs. “Pfft, you’d probably get Aiden to come to one up you. He’d even make a competition along with that.”
Jesse lets out an arrogant-like smile. “But I’ll win because I would’ve stolen Lukas’ goggles before the competition started—”
Before Jesse could get any more cocky, there was a knock at the trap door. And the conversation died down. No one said a thing. A few seconds later the trap door was busted open by a new person.
It was Lukas.
“Lukas! What are you doing outside here! Mobs are going to get you!” Jesse exclaimed in concern. Before Lukas could respond there was a zombie below him. He let go of his left hand and kept his right hand holding on the ladder, then using the sword he let out, he stabbed the zombie’s head. It let out a meaty sound before it poofed out of existence.
Jesse didn’t hesitate and grabbed Lukas’ right hand, pulling him inside the tree house. Lukas turns his head around and immediately uses his leg to shut the trap door.
He looks up to Jesse to face his eyes. “Is it okay if I stay here tonight?” He heaved while continuously panting from what happened before.
Jesse nods his head then replies. “Yes, just wait, I’ll get you dry clothes.” He says, then leaves to get new clothes.
A few minutes later, Lukas was then changed to a more comfy attire, then sat on a couch, eating an apple he found along the way to the tree house. Jesse decides to sit next to him, letting his arm rest on Lukas' shoulder. Lukas felt… butterflies…
“Soooooo, what happened? Why are you out here?” Jesse asked. Lukas takes a huge bite out of his apple, then speaks.
“Ai’en an’ ze o’ers ki’ed me ou’.” Which sounds like he’s saying ‘Aiden and the others kicked me out’. Jesse looks at Lukas surprised and in confusion.
“Woah, woah, woah, woah, woah. Didn’t you make that house?”
Lukas swallows his apple and continues his rants. “Yes! I went out for a while, a few hours later, all my stuff is outside the house, and the ocelot banners have been changed to blaze rods!” He then took another large bite from the apple.
By the looks of the apple’s bite marks, Lukas is not having it.
“Blaze rods? What kind of name is that?” Jesse questions.
“That’s what I’ve been saying!” Lukas exclaimed. He threw the apple at the wall, as it then slid to the trash can in perfect aim, and face palms in frustration. The apple as assumed to be consumed whole but Lukas might had forgotten to eat a side of it. Jesse notes to clean the wall tomorrow.
He’s never seen this side of Lukas like that ever until now. And it’s not one he’d like to see again. So he places his hand on Lukas' back and rubs it around. His breathing has slowed down a few seconds along with his posture being less stressed.
Jesse was the first to end the silence with a question. “Lukas, where is your stuff?”
“I, uh, I dug it under your guy’s treehouse.” He replied. Jesse would rather not question how it’s possible to do that with a ton of mobs outside. Even if he wanted to know so badly. “I’ll get it out tomorrow, promise!”
“Okay, but Lukas, why did they kick you out?” Jesse asked. Lukas sighs as he directs his head back down to face the floor, looks back up at the apple smear at the wall, and back to look at Jesse’s face.
Lukas quickly stands up from the couch. “They said that I was getting ‘too soft’ nowadays, along with Aiden saying I was following you around like a dog. Which is not true.” Lukas scoffs at his own commentary. Jesse looks back at the apple smear, which oddly looked like a blaze rod.
It’s not true. Lukas can be mean when he wants to. He’s just gotten open to people he’s comfortable to.
Jesse doesn’t understand why the Blaze Rods don’t want to see that side of him.
“I gotta give it to Aiden, that statement is true.” Axel comments. Both Lukas and Jesse flushed red in embarrassment, with the knowledge that Axel and maybe Olivia had heard them. Not that they can’t. There is only one room in this tree house.
“No it’s not!” Lukas yelled back, while carefully trying to not sound like he took full offense.
Jesse scoffs before looking back at Lukas. “That’s besides the point. You going softer? Lukas, you’ve been soft since I saw you!” He said while smiling at the taller guy.
Lukas did not reciprocate his reassurance. He looks back at the apple smeared wall solemnly. “Jesse, I was not a good person before and you know that. You know what I did before and after I… left you.” And there it is.
For the two men, let the memories that they’d remember so perfectly yet forget within seconds. While Jesse can forgive, Lukas won’t forget.
Lukas will forever remember him defending Jesse from bullies. Jesse returned the favor by nursing his wounds.
He will forever remember telling Jesse he would be there by his side no matter how people see them.
And he will forever remember leaving him because some other kids found him interesting with his defenses. And let them in their league to protect him. Only for Lukas to protect them later on.
Jesse gets up from the couch and holds both Lukas’ hands. “You did that because you thought it was the only way to defend yourself. And when people see that, they then— ”
“Turned me into a weapon. Why did I let myself get used so many times? The amount of times I’ve defended the Blaze Rods for the stupidest shit, I should’ve done the same for you.” He wished.
“C’mon Lukas, stop beating yourself with the past. You did what you thought will benefit the Ocelot- Blaze Rods - fuckin Blaze Rods and… you didn’t know that it will hurt me.” Jesse gently intoned.
“And that’s why I don’t like the past so much.” Lukas said. Jesse thought it would be the right time to hug him. As Jesse lets go of his hands, he lets his arms out, but he doesn't need to do any more gestures as Lukas hugs him.
Lukas held on as if there would be days passing on after this, where Jesse would hopefully stay by his side. Jesse hugs back.
After a few seconds, Jesse speaks. “Let’s change the subject, okay?” Jesse nods as both sit down on the couch once again.
“I want to build my own house in the morning.” Lukas said. He takes out items out of his inventory to show to Jesse, from different kinds of wood, planks, sand, feathers, and books. Of course he would have books in his inventory.
That’s some good news. “Lukas, that’s great! But where?”
Lukas motioned with his left hand, noting it as BeaconTown, then his right hand next to his left as his new house. He moves his right hand far away from his left. “Outside of BeaconTown,” he puts his hands down, “I want to live in solitude for a while.”
And that’s reasonable. By the looks of the items in his inventory, along with the chest below the tree house, he’s been wanting to leave BeaconTown for some time.
Jesse goes back to resting his arm on the blonde guy’s shoulder. “I support that, but expect me to visit you nearly every day.” Jesse said, his tone not hinting a single joke out of it.
Lukas smiled back. “I would like that… any why did you mention my goggles earlier?” He asks.
“Aw shit. Lukas, I have a good reason why I need to steal yours.” Jesse replied. Lukas lets out a loud laugh as the two continue to talk about an event that happened earlier.
After an hour of talking, Lukas lulled himself to sleep. After what happened earlier, Jesse was surprised how this guy managed to sleep so soundly; light, soft, breathing. A reminder that Lukas is here right now. Safe. A snicker came from behind, to which came from Olivia.
“Lukas is so into you, Jesse.”
“I agree.” Axel replied. Jesse is amused, not only Olivia thinks Lukas has a crush on him but Axel too? As much as Jesse wanted it to be true, they have to be teasing him.
Jesse denies. “No he doesn’t, he just happens to talk to me about it because he trusts me. Along with us being friends in the past.”
“Don’t say that as if he doesn’t write about you often in that notebook of his.” That’s because he copes- what?
“He’s what?” Surely, he writes about other people, right?
“Seriously, Lukas and I had a conversation and behind him I peeked and saw his journal entries. He is down bad for you.” Axel said. Jesse chooses to ignore that part where Axel has invaded that poor guy’s privacy. But to have a journal entry about him? He’s kind of intrigued.
Jesse shakes his head. Why is he thinking about this? He knows well that it’s wrong to look at another person’s journal.
But Jesse does remember the stories Lukas made him beta read about their Witherstorm journey. He notices the amount of description Lukas has written about him. As exaggerating and long as it is, he does notice the strange amount of admiration he put for the guy more than the others.
“What?”
“Now I’ve said too much. Oh well. The more you know, Jesse.” Axel said, then returned back to crafting more explosives for tomorrow.
No wonder why Aiden mentions Lukas following him around. He was the only person who allowed him to express so much. From childhood to now.
Childhood. How both can give him such joy yet as much pain when he remembers it.
Lukas was never a bad person. He was much colder back then but that doesn’t translate to being mean. Though he was a people pleaser, which makes the combination of it being worse. Wanting to please people so much, he defends them after they do bad things.
It's where he’s been stuck with the “bully” title for years. As years pass by his title has been changed to “leader”. A kinder title yet still intimidates others. But as soon as he wants to break away from it, he gets shunned from the people he’s been protecting for years.
But that isn’t to say without Jesse thinking that Lukas could’ve done all that for him instead. Of course he may be a little jealous that the Blaze Rods get his treatment, unlike Jesse’s group who are left to fend for themselves.
Though he feels bad. All Lukas wants to do is to feel like he is worthy. And he is. He’s too stuck in the past to realize he’s already redeemed himself. He’s gone a long way from a kid who’s done other people’s orders to being selfish and doing things for himself.
He was already enough to begin with.