Evie's nerves were already on high alert, so the moment he turned to look over his shoulder, the short girl instinctively flung herself into a nearby bush, rustling several leaves and banging her elbow painfully on the ground, sending a stilted jolt of pain up the nerve and numbing it.
She forced herself to bite her tongue and remain perfectly still despite the fact that she'd probably just given herself a bruise (again, as per usual), peering at Ivor through the leafy branches blocking her from his view, but allowing her to see him through the foliage.
After what felt like three centuries and a year but was probably in fact ten seconds of the man staring in her direction searchingly, Ivor turned back around, breaking into a light run and heading straight for the keynote.
Straightening up, Evie quickly dusted a few leaves out of her black hair before following after him, being careful to maintain her distance in case he was to turn around unexpectedly again.
Also, she maintained her distance in case she suddenly tripped or did something else equally stupid that would attract his attention. Maybe if she kept her distance, he wouldn't be able to tell who she was. She was fairly ordinary-looking, after all.
But, in a stroke of very good luck (for once), Evie was not spotted, and she did not trip and fall flat on her face, as she tailed Ivor into the keynote without him noticing once that someone was on his tail.
(Well, she did trip once, but she didn't fall flat on her face. That was something)
x.X.X.x.
Several minutes earlier, Jesse looked up in alarm at the sound of footsteps, just in time to spot Evie disappearing around the corner herself.
"Evie, where are you going?!" she shouted, but the girl was either already out of earshot or purposefully ignoring her. It wasn't like Jesse knew the slightly-taller girl well enough to pass judgement on her.
"Of all the dirty, underhanded tricks to pull... I can't believe that guy pulled one over on me!" Petra growled, slightly under her breath, still fixated on Ivor. "Do you think Evie was with Ivor? Do you think she knew about it?"
And now Jesse was backed into a corner. She didn't know Evie well enough to go either way. Evie seemed to be nice, quite polite, if not rather shy, and seemed to have a helpful sort of tendency. However, Jesse had only known her for the greater part of an hour or so, and even then she really didn't know anything at all about Evie. For all she knew, Evie had been pretending.
"Welllll," Jesse said slowly, dragging out the 'l' sound, "I don't think she was with Ivor on this... but seeing as she just ran off, there's a distinct possibility."
Petra shoved the lapis into her pocket after giving it another disgusted look. "Screw this-- c'mon!" And, just like Evie had a minute before, the redhead sprinted out of the alley, forcing Jesse to break into a sprint after her.
"Either I'm getting that diamond, or I'm getting my skull back," Petra nearly snarled as she ran full-speed down the alleyway.
"Or, you'll make him pay," Jesse added, her gaze hardening, before lightening a little as she gave Petra a small smile. "Right? Right?"
Petra either decided to ignore Jesse's attempt at calming her down, or wasn't paying enough attention to it to be calmed down, because she just said, "C'mon," and turned back to the front as she sprinted out.
As they emerged from the alleyway, the redhead looked around, rapidly. "Do you see them anywhere?" she asked, eyes narrowed.
The two of them scanned the entirety of Endercon from where they were, but in the mess of color and people, Ivor would've just blended right in. And Evie, who wore a t-shirt and jeans and looked as ordinary as anyone else Jesse knew? You'd have better luck throwing a gold ingot down into a well and hoping you'd get it back again.
"We lost them!" Jesse said, frowning.
"Then we'll just have to find them again. Keep an eye out for both of them, okay?" And with that, Petra darted off into the crowd, leaving Jesse to the booths that lined the pathways. Jesse stepped into the throng of people, pushing past gently (gently) and looking around. Excluding a rather obnoxious group of three who seemed to be complaining loudly, she didn't see anything out of the ordinary.
She stepped forward, catching a glimpse of Gabriel the Warrior walking through the crowd--
Before getting shoved aside as eager fans flooded towards the man and his bodyguards like moths flock to a light. "Gabriel! Gabriel!" a fan shouted eagerly, before the bodyguard turned around to block the way as Gabriel disappeared from sight.
"Step aside, please!"
"I have just one question!"
"Hold all of your questions until the keynote."
"But the keynote's sold out!"
"Hold all your questions anyway!"
Jesse nearly snorted at that, but kept walking forward anyways. She didn't have time to worry about it-- she had to worry about finding Ivor and Evie.
And figuring out exactly what Evie had been doing when she'd run off.
"Hey."
Jesse started, looking up to see Lukas leaning against a booth and giving her a friendly, slightly awkward wave. "Oh-- uh-- 'sup?" Jesse asked, coming over and putting a hand on her hip lightly.
"'Sup."
"Nothing. 'Sup with you?" the black-haired girl asked, brushing a stray lock of hair out of her face.
"Nothing. 'Sup with you?" Lukas parroted back.
Jesse blinked, removing her hands from her hips. "I... just said. Nothing."
There was a slightly awkward pause as Lukas processed the fact, before he rubbed the back of his head slightly. "Uh, so... congrats on the win." And he gave her a friendly smile. "I mean, I still think our beacon was amazing, but... you... guys did a good job, too."
Jesse blinked at Lukas again in surprise.
Was...
Was Lukas complimenting their build?
"I mean, I thought the whole monster theme was cool, but... fireworks, too?" Lukas continued babbling on, looking more and more nervous with each passing second, "It was... sorta cool."
"Thanks," Jesse said, a little slowly as she gave him a little smile herself, "your beacon wasn't too shabby."
"You don't have to do that, okay?" the blonde replied, giving her a wry sort of smile, "you guys won fair and square."
There was a moment of pause where Jesse toyed with the idea of asking Lukas for help. On one hand, he was the leader of a team whose members basically bullied her team... but on the other hand, he never participated in the bullying.
"Hey... you didn't happen to see a creepy guy with long hair and a beard roaming around, did you?" she finally asked, narrowing her eyes at Lukas a little bit. "Oh, or that girl that Aiden was bothering at the entrance to the building competition earlier?"
Lukas's brow creased as he frowned thoughtfully. "I don't think so... no, wait, I did see her pass by a minute earlier, but not the guy." He paused. "Why?"
"He kinda... scammed Petra out of a diamond earlier. And Evie-- the girl," Jesse added, upon seeing Lukas's slightly blank expression, "went running after him. I don't know where she is."
Lukas's eyes immediately widened at that. It was a well-known fact that you didn't mess with Petra in town. "Whoa-- everyone knows you don't mess with Petra." He paused, glancing at the ground and narrowing his eyes a bit. "Not if you know what's good for you," he added, in a bit of an undertone, before looking back up at Jesse and giving her a friendly-enough nod. "I'll keep an eye out for both of them, okay?"
"Thanks," and Jesse returned the friendly-enough nod. "I appreciate it."
An awkward silence passed. The rivalry between their teams, and the unspoken tension between most of the other members didn't make the pause friendly, or smooth over the situation.
"So, uh..." Lukas rubbed the back of his head, sheepishly. "We're cool?"
"Yeah." And Jesse gave him a polite-enough nod in return. "We're cool."
"Cool, cool."
Jesse paused, before smoothly stepping in with "Cool beans."
"Cool-o-rama," Lukas replied, without even cracking a smile at that. Jesse did, though, and she let out a light laugh at the reply.
"Ha! See you later, Lukas."
"Yeah, see ya," and he gave her a quick nod and a little wave as she moved off into the crowd again.
Passing a DJ, she drew level with Axel, who was standing in front of some sort of weird chicken machine. Up above, a chicken stepped onto a pressure plate, and the block below was whisked out from beneath it, dropping it into the pen below with the rest of the chickens.
"Thought you could wiggle out of that trap, huh?" Axel taunted, clearly enjoying himself with watching the chicken machine, "well, wiggle as much as you want. You're not going anywhere."
"Axel, listen up," Jesse said urgently, noting how the burlier boy turned to face her a little, "any chance you've seen a creepy-looking beard-y guy or that girl who was at the entrance to the building competition earlier? Anywhere?"
Axel shook his head, eyes still fixed on the chicken machine. "Nah, Petra told me what happened. I'm keeping an eye out for both of 'em."
Jesse arched her eyebrow, giving Axel a look that clearly read that she didn't believe him. Especially since both his eyes were focused on the chicken machine.
After a moment, Axel's shoulders came up in a helpless shrug. "Okay, so I got a little distracted. It's just that this machine presses all my buttons-- unnecessarily complicated and mean to birds for no reason. It's just, when something like this calls, you just gotta answer."
"We really need your help, Axel," Jesse said insistently, "if we don't find the guy soon, we might never find him. And Evie, well..." She trailed off. What was she supposed to say? She was curious about what the girl was going to say? She wanted to know if Evie was actually a nice person or not?
Well, she sure hoped Evie was actually a nice person.
"I was looking," Axel protested, "I just got distracted."
Jesse paused, glancing from Axel to the machine herself, before back at Axel. "Hey, have you seen Reuben anywhere?" she tried. "I was hoping that he made it to town while I was distracted."
"Haven't seen hide nor hair," Axel said, vaguely. "But I'm sure he's fine. He's a tough little ham."
"Axel." This time, Jesse wasn't using her usual friendly tone-- she was using her stern voice. And when she used her stern voice, she meant business.
"All right, all right," Axel groaned, playfully enough, "I'll look." He paused, before raising his eyes back up to the top of the machine. "As soon as I watch one more chicken get owned."
Jesse rolled her eyes, turning back to face the rest of the crowd-- just in time to spot someone with brownish clothing and long black hair walking through the crowd. "Ha!" Her eyes narrowed a bit victoriously. "I see you now, weirdo."
She moved forward to follow Ivor-- only for Aiden to pop out from behind someone, making her stumble back to avoid clonking her head into his, a nasty sort of smile on his face. "Well, if it isn't Team Trashbag!" he sneered.
Jesse tried to edge around him to keep her eyes on Ivor, but Aiden just shifted each time so that he blocked her gaze. "How's your stupid pig? I hear that intense heat causes brain damage."
He paused a moment later. "Boosts the flavor something crazy though."
"Look, Aiden, I don't have time for this," Jesse snapped, her usual good temper deserting her. "I'm busy looking for Evie and this creepy guy, so if you don't mind waiting until later--"
"Evie? Who's that?"
Jesse was about to snap at the bully again, when she noticed that Aiden didn't sound sarcastic-- he just genuinely sounded and looked confused at the unfamiliar name. "Oh. Uh... Evie?"
No reaction. He was still staring at her blankly.
"The girl you were bullying earlier at the entrance to Endercon?" Jesse tried again.
Now she got a hint of recognition in his eyes. "Oh-- so that's her name," he murmured, celery-green eyes clearing up a bit in thought... before they narrowed again. "You said you were looking for her? Why?" he asked, sounding... almost defensive.
"So you have seen her?" Jesse jumped on his tone, but he waved his hand dismissively, brushing that aside.
"First tell me why you're looking for her."
"Long story short, Petra got cheated out of a deal by the creepy guy with a beard," Jesse said hastily, not bothering to use Ivor's name-- Aiden probably wouldn't know the guy-- "and Evie ran off after him. I'm just making sure she's okay."
And, she added mentally, making sure she's who I thought she was.
Aiden squinted at Jesse for a full minute, long enough for Jesse to debate pushing past him and getting moving, before he abruptly said, "Earlier she was hiding from a group of people that was passing through. I helped her avoid them and left her over past that corner," and he gave a vague wave to his right behind him. "Didn't see the guy you're looking for, though."
He paused, before adding, as if it was a second thought (and since it was Jesse he was talking to, it probably was), "Sorry."
"Oh," Jesse said, slightly taken aback by the sudden flow of information-- from Aiden, no less-- "I-- I see. Thanks."
"No problem," Aiden said simply enough, giving her a nonchalant shrug. And considering how he usually sneered at her, this was weirder than if Aiden had just started speaking in fluent French. Actually, Jesse would've been less surprised if he'd started speaking in fluent French.
Nice Aiden... did not really compute.
"Um... so..." Jesse rubbed the back of her head awkwardly. "Uh... bye."
Aiden lifted his hand and gave it a slight wave, stepping aside to let her pass with a more mild expression on his face. Not exactly a smile... but he wasn't sneering at her, at least. That was something.
Jesse gingerly stepped past him with an acknowledging nod, making her way after the person she'd spotted earlier. She'd lost track of him, but now that she was getting to a spot where the crowd was getting thinner, she spotted Ivor.
Or... was it? The hair was less like black and more like very dark brown. And the robes were of a more greenish tinge than she remembered. Besides, the robes-- if that was actually what this person was even wearing-- seemed to be more formfitting than before.
Now rather doubtful, Jesse paused, her brow creasing as she hesitated.
"That's not the guy you're looking for, if that's what you're wondering."
Jesse flinched so hard that she actually jumped a half-foot into the air. "For cheese's sake, Aiden, what the heck?!" she exclaimed, turning back to the member of the Ocelots and rubbing her collarbone absentmindedly. "Don't do that, you nearly gave me a heart attack."
Aiden's lips turned up at the corners slightly apologetically. "Sorry. But yeah, that's a lady. Not a guy with a beard. She runs the slime-ball booth."
"... oh." Jesse paused, before twisting to look at Aiden with an odd expression. "Why are you helping me again?"
Aiden shrugged. "If you're looking for Evie, I might as well help. It might speed up the process of finding the 'creepy guy with a beard' that you're looking for," he added, adding air quotes around the 'creepy guy with a beard'.
Jesse grinned, a teasing look coming over her face. She had years of teasing and mocking and bullying to make up for. Embarrassing Aiden was the best way to do it. "Why, Aiden, if I didn't know better I'd say you have a crush on her," she teased.
Aiden's cheeks pinked a little bit, but he huffed and rolled his eyes at the comment. "Please. Evie's just like a little kid. If she's somehow involved with a 'creepy guy with a beard', as you keep describing him, we probably shouldn't let her keep being involved."
"Uh huh. Sure. Keeping telling yourself that."
"Do you want my help tracking Evie down or not?!"
x.X. X.x
A/N: Haha, Aiden kinda deserved that. xD
But yeah... Evie's sneaking after Ivor, and Jesse has teamed up with Aiden (surprisingly) to go track her and Ivor down! Changes to the original MCSM! (I mean, obviously, if you add a character that actually gets along with Aiden and is also related to Jesse somehow, you're going to have to make changes to the interactions.)
This shall be continued... in the next chapter. xD
Don't really know if there's much else to say here, so see ya, so long, and g'bye!
x.X. A.L. X.x