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"You know... It feels good to finally get away from that crowd," Lukas admitted, leaning against the wall opposite to the fireplace, looking outside the darkened windows. "It was getting a bit too hostile there, especially now with Sparklez..." He trailed off, mouth forming a tight line. Suffocating under sand was a sad way to go, he had to admit.
The rain fell hard against the glass, obscuring the view of the zombie-filled forest outside and providing a symphony of pattering sounds within the large dining room.
"Tell me about it," Jesse replied, from where they stood studying the large White Pumpkin portrait on the wall Sparklez was near. They wondered how the real one appeared and disappeared when the lights went out, and how exactly they got the Redstone to do… what it did. Something to idly think about, they internally sighed. "Those people have... things to work out."
"That's putting it lightly."
The hero turned from the painting, walking back to Lukas. "Well, think of it this way. They're in the same situation as us: stuck in a mansion with a mysterious killer. I'd be a bit upset, too, and I am." They shrugged, turning the chair closest to their friend to the side to sit in.
Jesse sighed, deflating in their seat. Lukas stood from his spot leaning against the wall to get closer to them, putting a hand on their shoulder and squeezing it comfortingly. "I think you're doing great, Jesse. You're helping a lot of people by stepping up to solve this. Real Order material."
"Thanks, but..." They adjusted the armor on their wrist to avoid eye contact. "I don't know. I love helping people, but it's..."
"Exhausting?"
"A little. I just want to get us all home. But I'm glad that I have you to help here," They look up at him with a small smile, before realizing what they said. Backtracking, they added, "and— Petra and Ivor, too!"
"Ha, yeah?" Lukas tilted his head quizzically. He taps a finger to his chin, recalling the other day. "Well, that ceremony for the New Order says otherwise." He sounded like he was joking, but there was an undertone of... something.
"What, seriously? You're still hung up about that?"
"Just saying. Would have been nice to stand next to the Jesse, leader of the New Order of The Stone." They could hear the laughter in his voice. Two could play at that game, they supposed.
"Hey, we all offered for you to get up on stage with us! You wanted to be humble, ocelot," Jesse added with a smirk, relishing in the sputtering reaction from the blond. "But hey, if you still want a spot, I'm open to... negotiations."
"Tch— you really had to call me that?" He sits on top of the grand dining table, bringing one armored leg up to rest his head on, the other swinging under the table. Lukas stares at the brunet, a smirk of his own forming.
He watched the ever-changing orange light from the fireplace flicker and shine over Jesse's face, creating a halo of light in their hair. "Negotiations, huh? Might have to take you up on that offer."
They laughed, but Jesse felt their face warm. "You look like you're about to pounce."
"Maybe I am." He managed a shrug from his position, locking eyes with the other.
Jesse’s laughs died in their throat, brought into a trance by that something, that determination in his aquamarine eyes. They gulped, glance flickering between Lukas’ eyes and mouth. It didn’t help that the lights from the room made the man in front of him all the more warm, his body welcoming. With the soft sounds of the rain hitting the large windows, it was easy to tune out everything else. They could feel their face burning now, but the hero found themself unable to look away, heart still flipping from within their chest.
A brisk knock from one of the entrances to the room startled them both, and they struggled to find a neutral position to rest in case the doors were opened. The rather annoyed yet worried voice of Petra sounded from beyond the iron. “Hey, you guys okay in there? How’s the investigation going?”
The two men fumbled, remembering why they were in the dining room together. Jesse’s tongue felt too heavy to answer their friend, mind reeling from whatever had just happened. Why had they short-circuited from just a comment? Well, a comment, a pose, a stare–
Lukas spoke up before the other could, hastily hopping down from the table and brushing off his pants to look busy. “All good, Petra! We’re almost done looking through everything!” He looks back at Jesse, just for a second, before coughing into his hand. “We should, uh, continue searching. I'm sorry.”
“Uh,” they stared dumbly, before shaking the thoughts out of their head, standing up from their chair to start looking around the room. Lukas was right, they both had gotten unfocused. This mystery wasn't going to solve itself. “Yeah… We should.”
The dining room was then filled with a stubborn, awkward silence, both men opting to look at opposite sides of the grand room.
Jesse went back to studying the White Pumpkin portrait, before deciding to lift it. With gentle hands, they tried to lift the canvas, but it was too big for them. With a swift tumble of the painting onto the floor, it revealed the White Pumpkin again— though it turned out it was just a decoy, something akin to a scarecrow strung up on an armor stand. “Makes sense it would be a decoy,” they muttered. “There must have been some mechanism that activated to show this earlier… A button or lever.”
Jesse caught sight of their friend checking behind large vases near the doors, face set in determination. There wasn't any way that someone could have triggered a lever or button behind one of those vases without making noise, or so it seemed from the wobbling ceramic, but they were glad he was helping out.
They stared for longer than intended, and when the man turned, they met eyes. This time, it was enough for Jesse to quickly turn away, ignoring the burning feeling in their chest and going back to inspecting the table.
Their hand grazed a bump under the table, and when they looked, they found a button lodged into the clean quartz. It looked forgotten, but they supposed that was because it was meant to be hidden, so someone could use it without suspicion.
Triumphantly pushing it, the hero heard the mechanisms whir and pistons activate in the ground. It shook the table slightly, before the same patch of floor where the Captain had been prior was moved out of the way, revealing a large hole. Checking the ceiling, Jesse watched as a portion opened up, dispensed sand into the hole, and closed. Very efficient, they distantly thought. They saw the sand filter into the hoppers of the hole below.
Lukas had run up to watch the mechanism as well, standing next to the other. He placed a quick hand on their shoulder, but his expression stayed grim while staring at the death trap. “Nice one, Jesse. What happened to activate it?”
“Lukas, check the other side of the table for any more buttons or levers. There was one near this seat, so—”
The moment he had reached the other side the lights abruptly shut off, static glitching sounding from the armor stand in the uncovered wall compartment. The lights turn back on, bright blues and purples, and the crackling, booming voice of the White Pumpkin echoes throughout the dining hall. Jesse peers behind the decoy, spotting a jukebox.
“Jesse?” They hear their friend say, so they hold up a hand, looking at Lukas.
“Don’t worry. It’s just a decoy with a jukebox playing a recording of his voice, it's not real.” The voice continues to speak, glitching at the word murder.
“Wow. The White Pumpkin must have some amazing Redstone skills to rig up something like this,” Lukas taps a finger to his chin, thinking of the possibilities of his own, before frowning, “But why?”
“To scare us, if I had to guess.” They shrug, studying the scene with narrowed eyes.
“Hopefully something else in here can shed a little more light on the situation…”
The lights flicker again, and it's at that moment Petra and the guests of the manor burst through, exclaiming from hearing the villain's voice again. The two men’s friend ran and stumbled to be in front of them, holding out her shimmering golden sword. “Guys?!”
Stampy yelps from his spot near the other celebrities. “He's back! The White Pumpkin’s back!”
Jesse was quick to put a hand on her shoulder, pushing her sword arm down with the other. “It’s fine, everyone! No need to panic, it's just a dummy. A White Pumpkin costume on an armor stand.”
“Why?” One of the guests, Dan, judging by the bright blue hair, asked, stepping forward. Was it always that color? Wait, no— wasn't it just white?
Jesse pushes the thought away for now, giving a puzzling look to the celebrity, before opting to explain the significance to him and the others. “The trap that killed Sparklez, the whole show with the White Pumpkin… It was all triggered by a button on the table.”
Some of the guests bristle, shocked at the thought, but Lizzie is the next to step forward, a nervous hand constantly running through long, pastel pink hair. “But, what does that mean?”
The content creators mumble amongst each other, nervously awaiting a response. Stacy put a hand on the shoulder of Stampy, sharing a similarly panicked look. Dan stands straight, picking at the dead skin around his fingers. The hero met the eyes of each invited member of the manor with a grim expression. “It means that the White Pumpkin sat at this very table and pushed the button.”
A shock makes its way through the guests, all looking at each other and inching away ever so slowly. Stampy whips his head to look at each one of his friends, gesturing with his arms. The cat hood so stubbornly on his head nearly fell off with the motions. “Wait! So you're saying that the White Pumpkin… is one of us?!”
“That's right, Mr. Stampy. One of us… is a murderer.”
As if on cue, lightning strikes outside one of the windows, casting an eerie light on everyone for a moment, thunder booming and resonating within Jesse’s core. If anyone had noticed them jump from the sound, nobody mentioned it. From the looks of it though, everyone had startled, adding on to the stress already seeping into them from the previously revealed information.
Ivor speaks up from his place behind the rest of the group, ominously hovering near one of the chairs. He gestures to an off-color part in the quartz of the dining table. “And they sat right… here.”
The guests crowd around the man, staring at the revealed button. Jesse’s brow furrowed. They were right about their assumption that there could be more than one button, which meant the suspects may have doubled, tripled. A lot of Redstone would have to be hooked up to this table alone, even if only one of the buttons actually worked.
Distantly, they thought about Olivia; she would be marveling, stars in her eyes, about all the Redstone it took to engineer this, punching the shoulder of Axel as he threw a light-hearted jab her way. She would look to Jesse for support once he would start asking about bombs or food, and they would laugh, wrapping their arms around the two.
Their heart churned with longing for their childhood friends, but they quickly steeled their resolve. Jesse would get everyone home.
They had to.
But first, they had a few mysteries to solve.
Lukas made a confused noise, perking up at the older’s words. “Wait. But that's not where Jesse found the button before!" He looks to Jesse for guidance. The hero pushed down that fluttering feeling in their stomach before nodding grimly. “Yeah, there’s more than one.”
The archer nodded back, “I’ll see if I can find all of them.” starting to check around the table with a newfound determination, he marks each spot hiding a button with an arrow lodged into the tablecloth. The guests start to disperse from around the initial button, grouping in pairs and whispering amongst each other, casting wary glances across the room. The tension was thick and suffocating.
Petra and Ivor walked to Jesse, who let out a shaky sigh once the attention of the room was off them. The ginger smiled at them, clapping a hand on their back. “Nice work, Jesse.”
“Yes, I must say, I’m relieved to know that there’s a logical explanation for what the White Pumpkin’s been doing…” Ivor trails off from beside them, and it’s unusual for his voice to sound… proud. They shrugged sheepishly.
“Hate to say this after we’ve made some good progress, but,” Petra crossed her arms, looking at the groups spread around the long dining room, narrowing her eyes when she heard their rushed whispers and frantic gossip, “What now?”
Jesse ran a hand through their hair, squaring their shoulders with another sigh. “We have to continue looking for clues before we can start accusing anybody.”
Their companions both nod, wishing them luck. The detective cracked their knuckles and took a breath, preparing to get the attention shone on them once again.
It had felt like hours of interrogations.
More realistically, Jesse thought, hours of pinning the blame on each other, sharing petty drama and grudges, and generally not getting anywhere. They learned what they already knew: Dan, Lizzie, and Stampy were all viable suspects to be the White Pumpkin— Lukas was out of the question to them— as well as the fact this White Pumpkin was good at Redstone, potions, and was willing to resort to murder for the flint and steel.
Those celebrities really had things to work out.
They were on their last nerve now, sending Stampy out with hands messaging their temples. Jesse sighed, staring into the big, crackling fireplace of the library, relishing in the warmth. Petra knew not to disturb them from her “post” as guard.
Though it seemed they could never get a break.
The door was pushed open by one of the guests— Cassie Rose— who was escorting Lukas, holding his arms to his back tightly. The blond squirmed in protest, but she didn't let up, biting out that, “all suspects should be interrogated.”
He pushed her off him, throwing a glare but walking over to where Jesse stood watching. Both watched as Petra in turn escorted Cassie out, but not before throwing them a knowing, and rather pitying, look. Only a moment passed when the door was shut; they assumed the woman would be keeping watch outside with Ivor.
Lukas huffed, rubbing his wrists where they had been grabbed, before turning to the other man. The brunet couldn't find it in them to care, crossing their arms and staring into the fire. “Ahh, my final suspect,” they spat sarcastically, yet bitterly, watching embers fly off the burning wood. It was easy to tell their nerves were frayed from so much nearly useless interaction, “Here to point more fingers and blame more people, I’m sure.”
The archer looked at them strangely, but worry was etched into his face. “I didn’t push the button, you know.” He said softly, guilty that he couldn't help enough.
“I figured,” they deflated, arms hanging uselessly at their sides. Jesse wanted so badly to lean onto the other for support, but they stubbornly stood in place, unwilling to commit, “Thanks though. I'm sorry for getting hostile.”
“It's alright, Jes. How's it been going in here?” he puts a quick hand on their shoulder, oblivious to their flushed face in reaction to the nickname. A frown found its way to Lukas' face as he thought about how strung up each of the guests have been since the interrogations started. His hand was brought to rub around his other wrist out of worry. “I mean, it is just non-stop whispers and rumors out there. Me, Ivor, and Petra have been pretty much sticking to ourselves. It can't be much better here.”
The detective continued to stare at the fire, a beat of silence in the room before they responded. “It’s been… really rough.” they admitted, tearing their gaze away from the embers to look at Lukas. They met eyes for a second, and the blond could see just how tired they were. Exhaustion lined their face and was noticeable in their posture. He was about to suggest they open a window, but the hero let out an annoyed huff.
Jesse found the energy to pace around the small library, listing off their woes with growing irritation. It almost made the blond want to hide.
“‘Rough’ is an understatement. These people have so much drama going on. It’s hard to tell what’s about the flint & steel, what’s about the White Pumpkin, even outside grudges…” they throw their arms into the air with a groan. Their tealish armor weighed them down. “It's like we've barely even gotten anywhere! I'm right back to square one, and I'm tired of people dying in front of me, counting on me to do everything around here, or acting like I’m the one who did it!”
“Jesse,” the archer grabbed their arm before they could start to spiral, calmly leading them to the couch of the library, “breathe.”
“I am.” They snapped, sitting down harshly on the plush sofa, before looking guiltily at Lukas. “Sorry. I know you're trying to help, I just—”
“It's alright.” Voice ever so soft, Lukas smiled warmly, a comforting feeling emerging within the brunet contrasting the sticky heat under their armor caused by close proximity to the fireplace. “Look, I know you can do it. Just take a break for right now, okay?”
Jesse’s eyebrows furrowed, a refusal on their tongue, since a serial killer on the loose was something that needed to be handled quickly, but the other man’s expression made them falter. Inwardly, they scoffed; how did Lukas know his puppy dog eyes were so effective?
So instead, they sighed, leaning back into the comfortable velvet, tension quickly releasing from their shoulders. Maybe he was right, a break was due after so much time up and about solving a mystery.
Lukas sat next to them, similarly sinking into the cushions, knee touching Jesse's own from the shift. It seemed to burn where their bodies met. “See? Just for a bit, then we can continue. Petra and Ivor can keep the others safe.”
The hero nods in response, unclasping the heavy armor from their shoulders and letting them rest on the floor. Against their better judgement, Jesse leans into the other man's side. “Thanks, Lukas.” they whispered.
“Yeah.” He said quietly, tense from the sudden contact, but that feeling was quick to leave, replaced by a faint warmth in his chest and on his cheeks. It didn't take long for Lukas to wrap an arm around them, bringing the two even closer.
Both men allowed themselves to relax in the company of the other. Jesse sighed, closing their eyes and savoring the soft, private moment. No arguing, expectations, or conflict. Lukas lightly massaged their shoulder from where he had wrapped his arm around it, while also leaning his head to be on top of theirs.
He prayed he wasn't overstepping any boundaries when he had placed a featherlight kiss onto dark brown curls.
Jesse's eyes opened as their breath hitched, just registering the contact, which seemed too good to be true. Their heart fluttered in their chest, all warm feelings that bubbled and settled much like the arm around their shoulders. They thought back to the dining room, where they had shared that look with Lukas, which the hero finally understood was longing, yearning for something in between.
They rose from where they had almost fell asleep on the other man to look him in the eyes. Shocked brown met teal, the latter of which looked nervous, like an ocelot that's been caught, and an apology was on Lukas' tongue before the brunet giggled. One filled with giddiness and love that easily spread to the other. They studied each other so closely now, and Jesse wondered how the Creators could make someone so beautiful. Warmth emitted off of them in waves, and they were sure they were just as red as Lukas seemed to be getting.
Lukas smiled, albeit awkwardly, and whispered, “Again?”
Jesse blessed him with an answer in the form of a hand cradling his face and a soft kiss overflowing with adoration. It was returned, sweet and deep, and it was then that the archer felt accomplished, smiling into the kiss and thinking about how right it felt. The two pulled away with smiles and a charged energy swirling around them, ushering them to do it again.
They were about to, but a thud sounded a bit too close for comfort, causing the two men to distance themselves, embarrassment burning on each of their faces. It seemed to have come from the far wall, where an ominous painting depicting a rabbit with… no eyes? Jesse’s eyes narrowed, an idea starting to form, but his attention turned back to Lukas, who started to stand up. He was beet red, and frantically trying to fix his messy blond hair. He looked to them, and mumbled a small, “I'm sorry.”
The brunet took that chance to stand up as well, latching the spiked pauldrons back onto their shoulders, before grabbing the other's hands and holding them in their own, staring into teal eyes with determination. “Don't be, Lukas,” Jesse could feel their face burning, but they pushed it aside as they rubbed circles into his hands with their thumbs. “I liked it. I liked— like— you.”
Lukas' eyes shone with wet emotion, and he gave a wobbly smile. “I… like you too, Jesse,” he moved his hands so that the two men's fingers interlocked. He gazed around the room, eyes watching the fireplace, then the rabbit painting, then the door. “But, uh… what are we going to do about this?” About us?
Jesse hesitated, looking down at their intertwined, armored hands. “When we get home, we'll figure it out, okay?”
“Okay.” The blond’s eyebrows furrowed, like he had something else he wanted to say, but the thought made the pink color dusting his cheeks to intensify.
The hero huffed out a laugh, freeing their hands to put one on his shoulder. “Come on, Lou. I know you have something to say.”
“Ah, well… Is it okay if…” he brought a hand to scratch the back of his neck, and his eyes refused to move from the floor. “Just one more kiss? For the road— if, if you uh, want to.”
“You don't have to ask.” They smiled, placing a short kiss onto his lips, having to reach up to do so. Jesse laughed, placing a hand in between his shoulder blades and starting to lead him towards the door. “Come on, suspect. Time to return to the others.”
The two walk out of the room, a new energy between them, into the grand hall of the manor. Sets of eyes focus on them, but Jesse finds that they can deal with it. They can solve this mystery.
With that, they put on the best leader voice they can manage, and pointedly ignore the knowing smirk Petra gave them.