#i tried my hardest this is very obviously not how i normally draw. nor do i draw Limbs or Bodies

[the-gayest-sky-kid]

and of course my favorite: YUUKO!AU WAN‼️‼️‼️🎉🎉🎉

[thr-333]

Drastic Measures- Part 2

@daminette-december2019-2020

~Swordplay~

To summarise: I will have the love square one way or another!

Ao3

First >Next 

--------------

As far as homes go it’s pretty good” Adrien stretches out, Plagg curls up next to him.

“Don't get too comfortable we’re going to be on the move,” Marinette types furiously at her computer.

“I will try my hardest,” Adrien stares blankly at her, sat atop a pile of grubby blankets next to a broken window. Marinette loses connection to her computer and slams it shut with a huff.

“Get some sleep I’m going to find an internet cafe,” Marinette stuffs the cheap laptop into her bag, amazing how something she bought at a hole in the wall place for thirty bucks didn’t work well.

“Who needs sleep when you can have coffee,” Adrian stands up, ready to follow her.

“Sleep Chat,” She pushes him down by the shoulders, “I need my partner fully operational,”

“Yeah kid, take a break, we worked hard,” Plagg yawns, turning over.

“You also worked hard Bug,” Adrien lets himself be pushed back onto the blankets.

“I won't be able to sleep until I know how everything is in Paris,”

“Neither can I,” Adrien protests, already half asleep.

“Sure you can, night Chat,”

“Night M’lady,”

Marinette leaves the same way they came in, though the window. She has to slide down the gutter to get on the street, Tikki hiding away in her bag. She has to go pretty far in town to find a suitable cafe, too far from Adrien to be comfortable. Marinette pops in her earbuds before opening her computer to let her talk to Tikki freely.

She doesn't immediately search up missing person cases. Looking instead at Paris tourist destinations and guides. Switching to the dangers of traveling to Paris; the only mention of Akuma being on obscure question and answer sites. She looks at kidnapping potential and then moves onto missing person cases. Adrien's is the first to come up, obviously. 

There was lots of outcry among his fans. Many were throwing around accusations of foul play on Gabriel's part from abuse to locking Adrien away from the world. However, Gabriel was also fiercely looking for his son. Adrien hadn’t left behind any sort of note. Well only to Nino, which Adrien had told Marinette was asked not to mention to anyone.

Marinette then feels safe enough to look up her own case. It was smaller, although was gaining attention as Jagged proclaimed it to high heavens; more so asking what they did wrong and how they could fix it and asking for any sightings of her. That could be a problem if her picture was already around. Marinette pulls her hood up higher. They might have to get haircuts and wear disguises… on second thought wearing suspicious disguises in Gotham might cause more problems.

“Tikki they seem really worried,” Marinette watches the videos Jagged posted, her parents in the background running around talking with police.

“Of course they are Mari,” Marinette feels a light tap on her side, “But you're doing the right thing,”

“No I’m not,” not when she’s watching a video of her parents crying,  “I’m doing what needs to be done, this is my responsibility, no matter what a certain someone thinks,”

She spits with venom. Maybe Adriens rant last night rubbed off on her.

“He’s the hero here,” Tiki says non accusingly, “Imagine if another hero came to Paris without asking you… remember Volpina?”

“Ah now that was an actual villain,” Marinette hadn’t trusted her from the start,  “Plus she was akumatized,”

“Marinette,” Marinette can’t bring herself to feel guilty, even under tikis scolding.

“Right but that still doesn't give him the right,” Marinette huffs, “After all would he attack Marinette? No!”

“Are you implying you would attack Lila?”

“......... no,”

“Marinette,”

Marinetti smirks to herself instinctively looking around for Adrien to share her joke. Then Marinette froze. The cafe was empty, not even a barista. How had she not noticed!?

“Wait,” Marinetti says out loud before Tiki could talk, “I’m going to have to call you back, something just came up,”

Something was watching her from the kitchen door as if she couldn’t see them. Marinette tries to act normal going for the pepper on the table and putting it on her food. They move at the same time. The attacker runs towards her, Marinette throws the shaker at- Robin?! It hits him square in the forehead, with a curse he touches his bleeding forehead.

“I am so sorry!” Marinette panics, “That was meant to explode in your face!”

“How is that better?!” Robin runs forward, sword drawn. Marinette ducks behind the table grabbing her plate and frisbeeing it towards him, he manages to dodge this one, “Draw your weapon coward!"

“I don’t have a weapon!” She grabs the table cloth ready to take the vigilante down, “What is wrong with you?!”

He doesn't answer lunging at her again with the sword. Marinette kicks up the table then kicks it towards him in one swift movement. With the impact of the table he drops the sword, Marinette jumps up landing on the table which pins Robin down to the ground with its weight and hers, with the legs sticking up.

“I knew it,” Robin spits and she presses her weight into the table to keep him pinned.

“Excuse you,” Marinette catches his wrist as he tries to pull a dagger on her using the table cloth to tie it to the legs of the table, then does the same with the other, “You attacked me,”

“-Robin!” she hears a faint call, no one is around so it must be from his communicator, “-Robin report back to the cave!”

“I’ll take that~” Marinette sings songs ignoring how he growls at her. She rolls her eyes stepping off the table she needed to get out of here now.

She steps out of the cafe throwing the communicator and likely a tracking device too on the roof of a passing car then sprints in the opposite direction. She heads for the alleys looking for an area with no cameras as she runs. When she finds a spot Marinette transforms running back to their base with record timing.

“Adrien wake up!” Ladybug jumps through the window, barely avoiding landing on him, “Batman’s after us,”

“What?!” He sits bolt upright, Ladybug pulls him onto his feet.

“Move! Now!” She grabs their bags, Adrien transforms and they take off over the rooftops.

“What happened?!” Chat shouts as the runaway, “Is Batman chasing us?”

“Yes, well kinda-- Robin tried to kill me,”

“He what?!”

“As Marinette,” She adds, slowing down as they should have put enough distance between them.

“Did they figure us out already?” Chat Noir slows down into a walk then collapses on the rooftop,

"Probably,"

“This is the worst wake up call ever!”

“Well, it's about to get worse,” Ladybug cringes feeling the distinct trace of magic she was all too familiar with.

“Akuma?”

“Akuma,”

“Great, perfect,” Chat complains standing back up.

“At least we’re not at school,” Ladybug shrugs, launching herself over a roof.

“No you’re right being chased by a masked vigilante is a massive improvement,”

---

Wow

“Robin! Get your head out of the clouds and get over here!”

Damian breaks out of his trance, regrettably tearing his gaze away from Ladybug to the much less awe inspiring sight of Batman trapped under a car. They shouldn’t be wasting their time worrying about these established amazing hero’s and worry about that assassin on the loose. Who knows who she was after. She could be planning Batman’s demise at this very moment; if she was close with his mother then surely she knew their identities which was far far more dangerous.

Ladybug could handle herself as evidence by her going toe to toe with the newest villain. In a matter of minutes, the villain was down for the count with no help on their part. 

“Ladybug!” He calls before she leaves again, maybe she could help him convince his father that he was being an absolute buffoon.

“Oh it’s you,” She says surprisingly coldly, “What do you want now?”

“Now?”

“Are, you here to attack me again?”

“... I didn’t attack you?” He had spent all morning tracking down a dangerous assassin.

“... Oh! Of course, you did- haha I just ummmm-- there must have been an… Akuma! Yes! There must have been an Akuma earlier that looked like you,”

“An Akuma was impersonating me?” Robin growls.

“Yeah, they do that sometimes,” Chat Noir pipes up, “It’s annoying,”

“Yes and if you’re here, that uh… that means the Akuma is still out there so we gotta go deal with that so-bye!” Ladybug swings off closely followed by Chat Nor; off to go save his name and reputation.

---

“So you really think that was an Akuma?” Adrien asks as they transform back.

“Maybe- I don’t know it was just an excuse so he wouldn't figure out my identity,”

“Well at least he doesn't know it,” Adrien shrugs as they walk through the alleys in search of a new place to rest that night.

“If he doesn't know then why would he attack Marinette?” She asks, “And if it was an Akuma that means Hawkmoth knows my identity which is so much worse!”

“Is it tho?”

“Chat,”

“I mean back in Paris it would have been bad,” They both cringe, “But here we have no home, no family, no friends! He cant use any of that against us now!”

Adrien beams his contagious smile.

“You always manage to find a bright side,” Marinette smirks punching him in the shoulder.

“So that's why,” They both turn around, staring in shock.

“Batman?!” Turning back their way out is already blocked by mister boy wonder. Who, by the way he is glaring at her, was not an Akuma this morning.

“I can't believe Talia called me because some teenagers were eloping,”

I know that name- WAIT!

“Eloping?!” Marinette chokes, “We are not eloping!”

“As in not at all,” Adrien blanches, “And I mean no offense Marinette you are literally the sweetest person but I can’t imagine anything more horrific!”

“Oh god, same!” At least now, “I mean once when we were younger…-- it was a silly crush!”

“Wait you had a crush on me?!”

“Yeah, well, you had a crush on me!”

“... oh god… I did, didn’t I?!”

While Adrien is dealing with that little revelation Marinette looks around for an escape. There isn’t much opportunity since both have their eyes on them, partly out of morbid curiosity at their little freakout. Well if you don't have a distraction homemade is fine.

“AKUMA!” They both look, predictably. 

Marinette grabs Adrien and runs. She goes for the side Robins guarding, sweeping his legs sending him crashing to the ground.

“I’m not sorry!” Marinette calls as they sprint down the alley.

Marinette heads for the main street, enough of a crowd to camouflage. As they are walking through as casually as possible Marinette sweeps them both for bugs putting any she finds on random passerbys. They walk sometimes ducking into busy shops in hopes of losing their trail. They come across the mall which works perfectly for them. They stay until it starts to approach closing time, it’s easy enough to avoid security and so they get locked in for the night.

“So what do you want to do?!” They walk through the empty halls Adrien skipping along and looking at each display. Marinette stops outside an electronics store, the tv’s still on and displaying the news.

“Make a plan for a way to deal with that,” On-screen are the two of them, a video of Ladybug throwing a car at Batman, “This is taken completely out of context!”

“What’s the context?” 

“Batman was being a little bitch!”

“I’m sure that will hold up in court,” Adrien laughs taking a seat in one of those massage chairs, “Besides what's the problem?”

“The problem?!” Marinette yells, “The problem is that now all of Gotham is going to hate us!”

“So? Do we really need them to like us?” Adrien gets up to stand by her, rubbing her shoulder.

“They did in Paris,”

“We’re not in Paris anymore,” Adrien says quietly, leading her towards the seats, “We have a chance to start new again, everyday something we haven't done before, a couple of pals living day to day on the edge, isn’t that exciting?”

“I just--” want to go home, “I’m tired,”

“Take a break,” Adrien sits her down in the massage chair with a kind smile, “I’ll keep watch,”

“.. ok,” Marinette curls up in the chair Tikki coming to lie beside her. With not much strength to fight it, Marinette falls asleep while she can.

-------------------------

Taglist? nope don’t have one, horrible at keeping track of them sorry~

[mentiuntur-blog]

what are the stages of yori's relationship with uta?

@inter-se-solus - cause your uta’s involved!!

hello anon!

h’okay so– there’s a lot to go through but i’ll try to sum it up all fancy-like.it still might be pretty long so, please, grab yourself a comfy chair and prepare to bare with me!

basically the stages go like this:

yori seeing him as some sort of savior/god-figure

yori realizing that there’s more to uta than he lets on

yori realizing that, oh shit, he has a bit of a crush on uta

yori then realizing that, aw fuck, it’s more than just a bit of a crush

yori coming to terms with it and gradually getting over it

yori actually, finally being on good terms with uta

so! that’s actually a lot of stages i’m realizing but… i’ll try and write a couple of words (though, it’s gonna be a lot. whew.) about each stage! keep in mind that this is liable to change as ramona and i do more developing, exploring, and writing about it! it’s actually changed a little bit since we first conceived the idea!

“yori seeing him as some sort of savior/god-figure”

this all starts because of uta and itori rescuing yori from certain death, honestly. i feel like this one’s a bit… easy to gather just from the simplified nutshell? but honestly it’s basically just that. he’s offered a second chance by those two, but he acquires a sort of persona after joining the clowns. and it causes for him to gravitate close to uta because it just starts out as a basic “i’ll annoy him because it’s fun!”, but of course there’s a lot more than just that when it comes to yori. i definitely think, some way or another, that yori views uta in a very… strange light. he thinks of him as a sort of unreachable person in this stage of their dynamic, and he copes with it the only way he knows– by being silly and basically forcing interactions between them.

in addition, i think by this time yori wanted to see uta as a friend. he didn’t know what all uta was or who he was for that moment. he knew of him as a somewhat cryptic, if eccentric, person that the rest of the clowns, for some reason, seemed to be more than okay with. i think he just went along with the rest of the herd and assumed that this was normal. at this time, as well, he would not have known about yomo or of any of the other “outside” relationships the members would have.

“yori realizing that there’s more to uta than he lets on”

and then it leads into this one! this one, whoof, it’s a bit of a mess in my honest opinion. yori, prone to narcissistic “episodes” (i know that’s certainly not the best term, but it’s one that he’d use for himself.), was not a fan of being excluded. with everyone else in the clowns, he knew at least a handful of information of. he could name a few quirks of each of them, including roma. with uta, though? it’s a bit of a wild card. i wouldn’t say it frustrated him, but it definitely concerned him some way or another. uta’s sort of a blank slate for yori but, unlike a blank slate, you’re unable to draw anything on it. uta sort of… seemed like he wanted to remain as one to yori.

and that’s probably what encouraged yori to push and push more. he doesn’t do it to upset nor provoke him (that’s just a bonus.), but rather does it to get something– anything out of him. it’s this sort of thing they share where they both know uta could kill yori yet he doesn’t because there’s something about yori that prevents uta from pulling the trigger. and, honestly, yori doesn’t know what it is. he assumes it’s a pride thing for uta, meaning that since he rescued him then he just wouldn’t want to kill him. it’d be a bit of a waste, wouldn’t you say? but again, yori truly has no idea! and he’s kind of okay with that!

this would be around the time yori would have more knowledge in the “outside”. he’d be aware of kaneki, yomo, touka, and the like. he wouldn’t know of their connections to the individual members of the clowns but, certainly, would feel that something is off. additionally, this is… around the same time as yori discovering what uta’s truly like, if only just getting a little taste of it. this would be when yori’s curiosity grows somewhat ravenous and kind of… melds into something, in his opinion, haunted.

“yori realizing that, oh shit, he has a bit of a crush on uta”

here’s where things get kind of messy. generally speaking, i think that… yori never was truly in love with uta. it’s merely a crush and nothing more– sort of like puppy love. innocent in nature. but because of that, it’s haunted him and made his life a bit harder than what it should’ve been.

now yori can’t pinpoint exactly when it started, but i wanna say it started sometime before our thread of uta forcing yori to eat ghoul meat. he’s seen too much (or that’s what he feels.) of uta’s actual person, and it makes him uncomfortable. he wants to try and act like things were once before all of that other junk. the situation itself is more-so because, initially, yori went along with the weird dynamic they had with one another (yori serving as uta’s wingman and them indulging in a bit of play, but obviously fake, flirting.) but… well, he started to believe it from his side. but he thinks he can handle it. he looks at this from a rational perspective and tells himself “no. i can handle this. i’ll get over it. it’s because i’m lonely. that’s all.” which is… ah, kind of true.

he’s a very lovesick man, though, and i think that only made matters worse for him.

“yori then realizing that, aw fuck, it’s more than just a bit of a crush”

then it just… gets really messy. at this point, yori’s both uncomfortable and shattered by the realization. he tries his hardest to keep it hidden away from uta (so we all know how well that goes.), and, obviously, it’s not the best kept secret. certain clown members take note of this behavior change, particularly donato and it just kind of… spills out i guess. yori comes to terms that, yes, he has a crush on this man. he also understands that nothing will ever blossom from it because of several factors.

these factors? well, by now, yori is well aware of yomo and uta’s odd relationship. he doesn’t wish to interfere nor does he wish to negatively influence his standing with either of them. he may be sick and hungry for love, but he’s not going to ruin his friendships for sake of that. so he keeps it bottled up. he doesn’t expose this to uta. this would also be around the time he meets nori. he develops a crush on him, too, but it’s different. it’s actually a much different feeling than the one he has on uta but it… scares him. it’s a very pleasant, warm, and tender feeling he feels for nori but he’s scared of it. it’s alien. it’s different. it’s very scary. so he tries to stifle it even if he does find himself thinking of excuses to “randomly” bump into nori.

and for a while, it goes well. it’s quiet and peaceful enough, but uta definitely knows what’s going on. that’s something that’s always scared yori– the way uta just… seemed to know things. here he thought he was doing such a good job but, no, uta’s one step ahead of him. and i don’t think uta exactly calls him out on it, but it’s definitely exposed in a way that yori doesn’t like nor want. and it makes him panic. he freaks out and withdraws himself out of embarrassment, thinking he’s ruined everything. and nothing’s even been done! they just talked and that’s it, but yori’s thinking the worst’s happened and it’s only, somehow, going to get worse.

“yori coming to terms with it and gradually getting over it”

so they finally talk about it. of course, this is after yori tries to isolate himself. he actually tries to take a break from the clowns at this point, but obviously he doesn’t nor can he. he’s caught at a weird time by uta, and they talk it out. it’s basically yanked out of him that he’s had “feelings” for uta for a long time. it goes through the whole spiel that he expected (nothing would’ve come from it.), and even though yori knew this… it still kind of upsets him. it does comfort him, but i think it still wounds him that uta tells him this anyway.

it’s that sort of feeling you get where you just know what’s going to happen, it happens exactly the way you envisioned it to, but you’re still somehow disappointed. that’s what it was for yori. but not because he believed that anything could’ve happened but, rather, because he didn’t want to hear it. he knew it would happen so why did it have to be confirmed? it’s that sort of crushing, hopeless feeling that just reaffirms itself.

but he still goes through with it. around this time, i think yori… starts to feel a bit more relieved? he’s not tense around uta but definitely tries to keep his distance, because he doesn’t want the feelings to flair up. he’s kind of forcing himself to fall out of “love” with him. he probably spills the beans about nori too, and i imagine uta might’ve found this an interesting tidbit of information? i don’t know, honestly, and i’ll probably talk to ramona more about that! but nonetheless, yori’s more-so encouraged to do things at his own pace and it’s handled somewhat… civilly from both sides.

and, during all of this, yori doesn’t hold any ill will towards uta or yomo. he sees them both as friends, even after this, and i do believe yori felt that they belonged together. he may have been betting on the when and how they’d rekindle with one another with the other clowns.

as well, he pushes himself to spend more time with nori. he struggles at first, because he’s unsure if the feelings are genuine or not, but… it works out. slowly but surely, it works out. and he’s, for what feels like it’s been since forever, happy with the idea of being in love.

“yori actually, finally being on good terms with uta”

then there’s the now!

by this time, yori’s adjusted. he still shares an allegiance with the clowns and definitely keeps in contact with the rest of them when he can. he hears word of uta and yomo’s relationship going surprisingly well and, well, he’s happy! he’s overjoyed for them and has no problem in supporting them in whatever way he can! he enjoys seeing uta content, and it kind of feels like a bit of a dream for him. i think, at this point, yori’s at peace with his feelings for uta. he’s overcome them and, honestly, he’s cried once he’s realized that… finally, he’s over it.

it’s a very relieving feeling for him. not only that, but he feels more comfortable spending time with uta. he doesn’t feel like he’s going to muck it up because of a misstep or a wrongly placed word. more-so, he feels like he can just be.

and he kind of hopes that’s what uta can do, too. he doesn’t expect the same amount of trust be put into him (that’s asking just a bit too much out of uta, he feels.), but he hopes that uta knows that he’s open to the possibility. he extends this gesture of goodwill to a point where he invites him, yomo, and the rest of the clowns to his and nori’s wedding should they want to attend.

regardless, though, he tries to quickly discard any conversations pointing to his previous feelings towards uta. it’s seen as a sort of phase to him, and it’s still very embarrassing to him. he’s capable of laughing about it, but it reminds him too much of the bad and not enough of the good. he doesn’t want to accidentally make a fool out of himself nor does he want to joke about it in poor taste. he’ll tolerate a conversation or two about it, but he doesn’t want to dwell on the past.

he’s always preferred living in the now, after all.

[shielddrake]

Rebel of Sky City Ch. 7

Chapter Seven

 Life was going pretty well for Lukas.

 In the weeks following the Spring Festival, things seemed to settle down into a routine.  He still hung out with Petra and Aiden, since Petra’s guard training hadn’t started yet and Aiden was around as usual.  His dad’s petitions continued to be denied, but that was nothing new.  Milo had his hands full with other, secret things, which only served to distract him from the rejections.  Meanwhile, Lukas avoided Hadrian and Mevia like the plague.  After the egg incident, he didn’t want to incur their wrath anytime soon.

 Of course, the best thing about life was Jesse.  Lukas was both relieved and pleased that she was able to sneak away from home every couple of days, and she always made her way to Milo’s inn first thing.  The two of them would spend the entire day together, frequently accompanied by Petra and Aiden.  Milo was always welcoming to her as well, and often told her that she should stop by more often.  He wished it was more often, but he could tell be Jesse’s expressions and words that she was coming as often as she could manage.

 Lukas was learning more and more about Jesse every day.  She loved hugs and seemed to give a different one to each of her new friends.  She later told him that she catalogued the hugs that each friend preferred.  She was a vegetarian (something that made carnivore Petra’s jaw drop) but did not force it on other people, and her favorite food was potatoes.  Despite being horribly clumsy (she stubbed her toe seemingly on nothing at least once per visit), Lukas was amused to find that Jesse was also ambidextrous.  She was quite the juggler when she was given a couple apples to throw around.

 Jesse was also a very generous person.  She shoved some coins at Lukas to pay for the cake he bought for her at the Spring Festival, and absolutely would not take no for an answer.  Lukas had to put his foot down when she offered to pay Milo for food every time she came to visit.  He didn’t want her to think they needed the money, although the inn wasn’t bringing in the revenue they often needed for basic things like clothing (hence the reason Milo’s clothes were a bit tatty).  However, Lukas occasionally found a few coins hidden here and there on the bar or in his pockets, coins that he was positive hadn’t been in those places previously.

 How in the world does she sneak money into my pocket without me noticing?  Jesse, obviously, always played dumb when he asked her this question.

 Jesse did seem to have secrets however.  She refused to let either Lukas or Petra follow her to her house, even when the sun was setting and Lukas wanted to make sure she got home safely.  She was very vague on the topic of her parents, although she was willing to share that she had no siblings.  The extent she was willing to share was to talk about how restrictive her mother was, which was why she had to sneak out to see them in the first place, but Lukas already knew that.  She seemed to alternatively know things he had never heard of before, such as some crafting or brewing recipes, but then she wouldn’t know something like how to make small talk…or how to recognize flirting.

 Whenever they were in the same place, Aiden was a completely different person with Jesse.  He would ogle her and try to impress her, and seemed to touch her more than Lukas was comfortable with.  The time Aiden put his arm around her waist, Lukas’ chest burned, and he couldn’t place the reason why.  Aiden was especially pushy with her when talking about building, an ability that Aiden was more than proud of.  Most of it seemed to go over Jesse’s head and Lukas was glad for that naiveté, though it might have more to do with her simply humoring Aiden.  Lukas could only hope so.  She clearly knew more about building than either of them did.  

  “Do you want to tell him or should I?”  Petra once asked him.

 “Tell him what?” Lukas inquired.

 “That Jesse’s off limits.”

 “What?”

 Petra face palmed. “Seriously?”

 Lukas gave her a bemused look.  “What are you talking about?

 “Lukas, you know I’m not into sappy stuff,”  she said with a frown.  “But even I can see the dopey eyes you give her when she’s not looking.”

 “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

 Petra scoffed.  “Right.  And I grow flowers for a living.”

 Weeks came and went, and Lukas tried his hardest to not make a fool of himself in front of Jesse.  She didn’t seem to mind any of his quirks, like his interest in writing and his compete lack of talent at any sort of combat.

 The seasons were getting colder when Milo decided to initiate another big change in Lukas’ life.

 “Lukas, come on! What’s going on?”  Jesse asked as Lukas dragged her to his father’s inn.  “You’re really excited today!”

 “It’s just going to be a good day,” he answered, beaming at her and refusing to let go of her hand.  “Trust me.”

 “Something’s going on,” she insisted, smiling as well.  “I’ve never seen you smile like this.”

 “Just wait and see!”

 Milo was already standing in the middle of the inn’s lobby, his hands held behind his back, when the two arrived.  Philippe closed the entryway door and locked it, and Lukas saw Jesse watch him do so with a confused face.

 “Okay,” she said, drawing the word out.  “Something really secret then?”

 “Very secret,”  Milo answered.  “Jesse, we’ve known each other for a while now, and I feel like you are an open-minded and trustworthy individual.”

 “Thanks?”  Jesse glanced at Lukas with a raised eyebrow.  He just crossed his arms and continued to grin.

 “As such, I believe you are honorable enough to keep certain information confidential,” Milo continued.

 “Oh, you have no idea,” she muttered, barely audible to Lukas’ ears.

 “Such information that could have horrifying consequences if it were to become common knowledge,” Milo said. Lukas rolled his eyes at the recitation. He did this with every potential new member.  “Revealing it would not only put myself in danger, but everyone else involved as well, including my son.”

 “Dad, will you stop being dramatic?” Lukas scolded with an exasperated sigh.  “He’s always does this.”

 “I still have no idea what’s even going on,” Jesse stated.  Her eyebrows had practically disappeared into her hair.

 “Oh, very well.  You take all the fun out of it, Lukas.”  Milo shrugged his shoulders and pretended to look disappointed.  This was clearly an act, if his immediate return to his normal self was any indication. “Jesse, before I reveal this to you, you must take an oath.  An oath to never divulge anything of what I’m about to show you.  Do you understand?”

 Jesse glanced at Lukas, who just nodded.  “I understand.”

 “And do you swear?”

 “Milo, whatever this is about,” Jesse said, holding her right hand up.  “I solemnly swear that I will never tell your secret to anyone else.”

 Milo’s smile brightened. “I was hoping you’d say that.”

 “Philippe?”  Lukas signaled to the barman, who flipped a switch hidden beneath the counter.

 An opening appeared behind the two men, with the stone sliding down to reveal a larger room inside. Jesse jumped a little at the sound.

 “Right this way,” Milo said as they walked in, the entrance immediately closing behind them.

 Lukas watched as Jesse’s eyes darted around at the sight before them.  The room was two stories high, indicating that the lower floor had been dug into the ground beneath the inn.  The upper floor was open to the bottom one, with a wooden rail keeping anyone from falling over the edge.  Tables and chairs were scattered about the room on both stories, with the tables marked off to appear like crafting tables, although they couldn’t function as one. There were a couple true crafting tables, but they were few and far between.  Red rugs lined the floor and there were various paintings of items hung on the walls.  Redstone torches provided light for the people there, along with a collection of glowstone on the ceiling.

 Lukas couldn’t be sure, but it looked like there were over two dozen people there.  Many of them were going around and practicing crafting recipes. There was a substantial amount of noise from the conversations going on, and a few cries of joy when someone managed to successfully craft an item.

 Jesse ran to the railing and grabbed it, looking around with bright green eyes and taking in everything she could.  Her mouth hung open in wonder.

 “Whoa!  What is this?!”  Her tone wasn’t reproachful at all.  Instead, it oozed curiosity.

 “This…” Milo paused, for dramatic effect.  “…is Build Club.”

 “Build Club,” she repeated. She turned to them with a wide smile. “A secret Build Club?”

 “We can’t go around declaring it’s here, can we?” Lukas joked.

 “Yes, The Founder is completely unaware that this club exists,” Milo explained.  “While I was in prison, I realized that just because building is risky, it doesn’t mean no one should do it.”

 Jesse gave an emphatic and supportive nod.

 “So, once I was released from prison, I decided that The Founder’s restriction on building wasn’t a good enough reason to not build at all.”  Milo led the two to a small set of stairs leading to the lower level.  “I found like-minded people, and together we started this Build Club.  Everything you see before you was built from resources that my people have saved or…obtained.”

 Which means we steal them, Lukas thought.  If Jesse wanted to say anything against that, neither her voice nor her facial expression gave it away.

 “And since you seemed to agree with our position regarding the laws,” Milo offered.  “I was hoping you would consider becoming a full member of our club.”

 If it was possible for Jesse’s face to brighten even more than it already was, it did.  “I would love to!  This is awesome!”

 Milo returned her grin. “Then welcome to Build Club!”

 “Come on,” Lukas said. “I’ll introduce you to some of my friends.”

 They descended the stairs, giving a better view of the small wooden stage beneath the upper deck, where a single crafting table was located.  A couple blocks of iron sat behind that.

 “Lukas!  Jesse!”  a voice belonging to Petra called out.  She waved them down from the far end of the room, where she sat with another young woman wearing an red outfit.  “Over here!”

 The pair quickly sprinted to the table and Lukas smiled at them both.  “Hey, Petra, Olivia.  This is Jesse.  She literally just joined.”

 “Bout time,” Petra said. “Sure took Lukas long enough to bring you here—”

 “Oh, who asked you?”

 “—but it’s good too see you.”  Petra waved to the girl in red.  “This is Olivia.”

 The girl waved.  “Nice to meet you.”

 “Same here!” Jesse declared, sticking her hand out to shake Olivia’s.  She paused.  “Wait, I’ve seen you before, haven’t I?”

 Olivia squinted her eyes, then realization came over her.  “Yeah, weren’t you the one who smacked into me at the Spring Festival?”

 Jesse rubbed the back of her neck.  “Uh, yeah. Sorry about that.  I was really excited.”

 “I noticed,” she laughed. “In any case, welcome to Build Club.”

 “Thanks.”  Jesse sat down next to Olivia, and Lukas took a seat next to Petra.  “So, what do we do here?”

 “Go over crafting recipes mostly,” Olivia explained, tucking her black hair back under her green hat. She gestured to the sticks and string sitting on the table.  “I’m working on one right now.”

 “Olivia’s awesome with redstone,” Lukas said.  “She wired up most of the lights here, and she made the secret entrance.  She’s probably the best of us with it.”

 “For all the good it does me.  I can’t get The Founder to approve my petitions for some,” Olivia revealed, and Jesse pressed her lips together.  “Right now I’m just trying to figure out the recipe for a bow.  I just can’t seem to get it right.”

 “And that’s saying something,” Petra commented.  “Olivia’s a braniac, so if she can’t figure it out…”

 “I’ll get it eventually,” the other girl protested.

 “I can show you, if you like,” Jesse offered.  Olivia blinked at her.  “Unless you want to figure it out yourself.  It’s good to experiment, learn on your own.”

 “Wait, you know how to craft a bow?” Lukas asked.

 “Well, yeah.”

 There was a pause before Olivia spoke again.  “Please, show me!”

 Jesse grabbed the sticks and string and headed for a crafting table.  The others followed, and Jesse waited until they were surrounding the table before placing the string in a straight line in one column.  She placed the sticks on the top and bottom of the middle column, and then the last stick went in the middle row of the left column, creating a curve of wood.  She pulled her hands away and waited for the table to pull the items together, and a bow popped into existence.

 The group except Jesse gave out a gasp, and Olivia took the bow to get a closer look at it.

 “Of course!  It’s so simple!”  she said.  “Now I feel really stupid for not figuring it out.”

 “You’re not stupid. You just didn’t know.”  Jesse gave her a pat on her shoulder.  “It’s not like I was born knowing how to build.”

 “Do you know many other recipes?” Petra inquired.

 Jesse blushed a bit. “I know a few.  It’s no big deal.”

 “Can you show us?” Lukas requested.  “None of us here know a lot of recipes.”

 “Well, uh…” Jesse nibbled on her bottom lip.  “I don’t know that much, but I can show you what I do know?”

 It was more of a question than an agreement, and Lukas chuckled.  She was so cute when she was nervous.  “We’re not here to judge you, Jesse.”

 “Yeah, this is about learning how to build and enjoy it.  That’s what everyone’s here for,” Petra announced.  She looked over Jesse’s head, and her mouth scowled.  “Well, maybe not everyone.”

 “What do we have here?” Aiden seemed to pop out from nowhere and gave Olivia a sneer.  “A loser with a bow?  Don’t know about that, Olivia.  That might be too sophisticated for you.”

 “Lay off, Aiden,” Petra warned as Olivia visibly deflated.  “I don’t see you crafting a bow.”

 “I could if I wanted to,” he declared.  “And I don’t need someone else to do it for me.”

 “Aiden, lay off, will you?” Lukas asked.  “We’re all friends here, remember?  Everybody being cool.”

 “I’m the only cool person around here,” Aiden argued back.  He cocked his head at Jesse and smirked.  “Well, maybe not the only cool person.”

 Jesse averted her eyes. Aiden didn’t seem to like this, as he quickly grabbed the bow out of Olivia’s hand, causing Jesse to look up at him in annoyance.  Olivia, meanwhile, let out a cry.

 “Hey!”

 “You know, I’ve never tried reversing the crafting process,” he said as he looked over the bow with a critical eye.  “Jesse, why don’t you help me figure out how to turn this bow back into sticks and string?”

 Lukas felt a growl in his chest at his friend.  Why is he acting like this?

 “Aiden, that’s not fair!” Olivia cried and moved to grab the bow again.  Aiden simply held it above his head, and his extra height over Olivia stopped her from reaching it.  She let out a sigh and went to sit down again.

 “Aiden, give that back, right now.”  Lukas was a bit stunned at the darkness in Petra’s tone.  “Or I will make you.”

 “Let me think about it…Nah,” he teased.

 “Aiden, you know how hard it is for us to get supplies,” Lukas reminded him.

 “Yeah, it’s not easy to come by some of this stuff,” Petra added.  “Stop keeping it all for yourself.”

 “Wait, he’s done this before?” Jesse asked, looking at each of them and stopping at Olivia, as if she had all the answers.  “Olivia?”

 “Well, yeah,” the dark-haired girl answered with a voice that was barely a whisper.  “It doesn’t matter—”

 “Yes, it does!”  Jesse professed.  She put her hands on her hips and gave Aiden a dark look.  “Taking resources from other people?  That doesn’t make you any better than Hadrian!”

 Aiden’s eyes widened at her declaration, but he quickly recovered and rolled his eyes.  “Resources should go to the people who can really use them.  I’m the best builder in Build Club, so I should get the best resources.”

 Lukas could practically hear Jesse grinding her teeth.  “Now you sound like The Founder.”

 “Come on, Jesse. Don’t be like that,” he said, putting his arm around her shoulder, and Lukas felt that burning again.  Jesse immediately pushed him off though, making Aiden give her a shocked look.  “I can show you how to build some pretty cool things.  Let’s go over here and try it out.”

 “No, thanks.”  Jesse clicked her tongue a few times.  “I don’t need you to show me how to build.”

 “Is that right?  I told you, I’m the best builder here.”

 “I think I know my way around a crafting table better than you, Aiden.”

 Lukas glanced around and noticed that they were starting to attract a crowd, including his own father. Everyone seemed to be watching them silently, and Lukas could only guess that they were curious if a fight was going to break out.  He had been so absorbed with watching Jesse that he hadn’t realized everyone else in the club had come over to watch the commotion.

 “Uh, Jesse? Aiden?”  he said.  “Maybe you two need to cool it a bit.”

 Aiden just ignored his friend.  “You think you can out-build me, Jesse?”

 She crossed her arms over her chest.  “I know I can.”

 “How about you prove it then?”  Lukas did not like the intense look in Aiden’s eyes.  “What do you say to a little competition?”

 “Competition?”  Now Lukas didn’t like the interest in Jesse’s tone. “A building competition?”

 Aiden glanced around at the rest of Build Club, who had started whispering to each other.  Who was this new member?  Did she really think she could build better than Aiden? She was one of the few who ever stood up to him.  Where did she come from?

 “Everyone, we’re going to have a build-off!”  The crowd cheered at his declaration.

 “Well, I didn’t expect you to do that on your first day here,” Milo commented.  Jesse gave him a helpless shrug and smile, and he just shook his head.  “I’ll go get some supplies from the storage.”

 Milo headed off to a corner of the room, followed by a couple other builders.

 “So, how is this supposed to work?” Jesse asked Lukas, turning her body to face him and away from Aiden, whose nose scrunched at the snub.  “This competition?”

 “Well, each person is allowed whatever supplies they want to craft whatever they want,” Lukas described. “The rest of us decide which of the items crafted is the best, based on a vote.  Whoever has the most vote, obviously, wins.”

 “Let’s not forget the terms,” said Aiden.  “What the winner gets from the loser.”

 “Okay.”  Jesse glanced back at Olivia before turning her attention back to Aiden.  “If I win, you swear to never bother Olivia again, and no taking her items or resources from her.”

 “I can agree to that.”

 “And if you win?”

 Aiden steepled his fingers, pretending to look like he was thinking, but Lukas recognized that expression. Aiden knew exactly what he wanted.

 “A date.”

 Jesse raised an eyebrow. “Huh?”

 “A date.  With me.”

 Olivia looked like she wanted to protest, and Petra simply was dumbfounded, her mouth hanging down. Lukas had to suppress the snarl emanating from his mouth.

 “Seriously Aiden?” he said, pulling on his blond hair.  “Jesse’s not—”

 “Okay, deal.”  Now the three were staring at Jesse, all of them astonished.  “Let’s do this.”

 “I get to go first, okay?”

 “Sure.”

 Aiden spun on his heel and headed for the stage, where Milo and a few other Build Club members had brought various resources and piled them on stage left.  As Aiden started picking out a few items out of the mound, Jesse turned to her friends.

 “Um, guys?”  she asked with a raised eyebrow.  “What’s a date?”

 “What?” Petra said.

 “A date?  What is that?”

 The group was silent. Lukas and Petra looked at each other with horrified expressions, and Olivia stared at her with openmouthed.

 “You…don’t know…what a date is?” Olivia questioned.

 “Never heard of it…well, other than what you put on a calendar, but I don’t think that’s what Aiden means.”

 Lukas coughed into his sleeve, trying to gather his thoughts of how to explain this.  Well, as knowledgeable as Jesse was, he shouldn’t have been surprised she didn’t know what a date was.  She didn’t know what a high-five was when they first met, after all. Just another thing she was naïve about.

 “Okay, Jesse, here’s the thing,” Petra answered at last.  “All you need to know is you need to build the best thing you can think of.”

 Jesse gave a nervous laugh. “That bad, huh?”

 “Yeah, that bad,” Lukas agreed.  “Petra’s right.  You need to build like you’ve never built before.”

 Jesse’s green eyes darted back and forth between them and started biting her lip again.

 Aiden was finally ready to start his build.  He was allowed to either build something with blocks or craft something on the crafting table provided on the stage.  The important thing was that whatever he built had to be watched by everyone else, to make sure he actually made the item and didn’t jus get it from someone else. Lukas glanced around, seeing that everyone in the club had moved to watch the competition.  A few people even climbed the stairs to the second floor to get a better look from the railings.

 Lukas couldn’t see exactly what Aiden was crafting, but he was using sticks and string, just like Jesse did with the bow.

 No way he’s just going to make another bow, he thought.  Everyone else just saw Jesse doing it.  That wouldn’t prove he’s a better builder.

 His curiosity was sated when Aiden finished placing his items on the table and he heard the telltale sound of an item being created.  He lifted it up above his head so everyone else could see, and the audience burst out into applause.

 Petra coughed.  “It’s a fishing pole.”

 “Not like we go fishing very often,” Olivia commented, her lips pressed together.  “But not a lot of people know how to make that.  Man, Jesse’s going to lose.”

 Jesse gave her a confident smile.  “Faith, Olivia.”

 “What?”

 “Just a little?  I mean, a fishing pole?”  Jesse scoffed and blew a raspberry.  “Let me show you something really cool.”

 Jesse headed up to the stage, passing Aiden as she went.  He smirked at her and said something, but Lukas couldn’t hear it.  Jesse shook her head as she reached the pile of crafting supplies.  She shifted them around a bit, but quickly grabbed two iron ingots and a single stick.

 “What’s she building?” Petra wondered aloud, to which Lukas could only shrug.

 “No idea,” he responded. “She knows a lot about building though, so she could be making anything.”

 “Where did you say she learned how to build?” Olivia asked.

 Lukas opened his mouth to answer, but he found himself pausing.  “I didn’t say.  I don’t know.”

 No one could see the pattern of the recipe Jesse was using, but it wasn’t more than a minute later that she had finished and an iron sword appeared on the table.  She swung it around a few times before lifting it above her head so everyone could see.  The club members that didn’t let out gasps of awe were instead staring at it with mouths agape.

 “That’s a sword!” someone called out.  “That’s what the guards carry around!”

 Milo walked up to Jesse to take a closer look at the weapon.  “How in the heavens do you know how to craft that?  None of us figured out how!”

 “It’s a simple recipe,” Jesse replied.  “I can show you.”

 “Please do!”

 Cheers from the audience continued as Jesse held out the sword to Milo.  He tentatively took it and swung it once, getting a feel for its weight.

 “Amazing!”  he cried.

 “You can keep it, Milo,” she offered, and Milo’s eyebrows rose at her.  “As thanks for trusting me, you know?”

 “You don’t need to repay me for that, Jesse, but I thank you nonetheless!”  Milo turned to the other members of Build Club.  “All those in favor of Jesse’s build, raise your hand.”

 Lukas shot his up first, followed by Petra and Olivia, and soon nearly everyone else in the room.  Aiden held his fishing pole at his side and frowned, his furrowed brow clearly showing he wasn’t sure how to react to losing so badly to the newest club member.  Jesse descended from the small stage and walked over to him.

 “Remember the deal,” she said seriously.  “Don’t bother Olivia, ever again.”

 Aiden huffed but nodded stiffly.  “Fine. Just remember, I don’t give up that easily.”

 He then turned and walked away, heading to the stairs leading to the upper floor of the club. Jesse just shrugged, apparently not sure what to make of that.

 “Sorry, Jesse,” Lukas said as he joined her.  “I really don’t know what’s gotten into him.  I mean, he’s been cocky before, sure, but now he’s just being…I don’t know…”

 “A creep?” Petra suggested.

 The roars of the crowd finally began to die down.  Milo went to Jesse and patted her on her shoulder, nearly knocking her down.

 “Well, Jesse, on your first day at Build Club, you not only showed off your crafting skills, but also managed win a competition hands down against one of our best builders,” he teased. “You sure know how to make an entrance.”

 Jesse just shrugged again, her teeth glistening in the light of the redstone torches.  “No big deal.  I’ll share all the recipes I know.”

 “We are in your debt if you do, Jesse.”

 “Yeah, nice one!” Petra congratulated her.  “Bout time Aiden got put in his place.”

 “What else can you make?” Lukas asked, his blue eyes brimming with the desire to learn.  “I know how to make levers, buckets and some special blocks, but I’ve never tried something like a sword before.”

 Jesse’s cheeks turned pink. “I, uh, well, let’s start with something basic.  Do you know how to make a shovel?”

 “No.  Show me how?”

 “Okay, okay, but before we officially induct you into the club,” Olivia interjected, holding up her index finger.  “There’s one very, very important question you need to answer first.”

 Jesse’s expression became perplexed again.  “What’s that?”

 “Would you rather fight a hundred chicken-sized zombies, or ten zombie-sized chickens?”