He hadn't meant to spook her like that. In all honesty, she scared him when she ripped his jeans off.

How did he even get inside? The last time his eyes were open, Petra and Jesse were helping him up the staircase. He vaguely remembered leaning on Jesse's shoulder before he had to close his eyes again. The world had been spinning so much and he didn't want to fall backwards. And now he was here.

He only woke up because it felt as if something was unbuckling his armour. At first, it was a blessing – they had been weighing him down ever since he fell into the lake. But then he felt his shirt come off. And then his jeans.

Jesse held them away from her face as if they were a wild animal trying to scratch her. He blinked at her, looked at his drenched trousers then back to her face. He caught her eyes flash down to his bare chest when she thought he wasn't looking. If it wasn't clear by her frozen stance as to what she was thinking, then her face did. Utter and complete embarrassment.

She wasn't the only one.

He raised an eyebrow as a deep blush spread across her face. "You're blushing," he said quietly.

It must have been the wrong thing to say because the redness only intensified. She suddenly jumped away and threw his jeans onto his face. "Don't look at me!" she screeched, as he heard her land onto the oak floor.

When he had thrown his jeans off his face, Jesse was sitting several feet away, covering her guilty eyes and burning face. "I could say the same to you!" he huffed, wrapping his arms around himself. "Why were you undressing me?"

"Petra told me to do it so you wouldn't get colder and your hypothermia would ease up, but then she went to get blankets and you were freezing and…ARGH!" She scuffled behind a large, oddly shaped couch in the centre of the room. He could make out her turning her back to him and hunching over into a ball of shame. "Just kill me now," she muttered into her knees.

"Wait. Petra told you this?"

"Yes! You were awake when she said it too."

"I was? I can't remember."

"Well, you were."

Now that he thought about it, he did remember Petra saying something along those lines while they were walking up the staircase. Yes, and he thought that she was joking, or that he'd misheard her. Sometimes it felt like nothing could faze Petra.

A mischievous grin spread across his face as an idea popped into his head. "So, ah…d'you like what you see?" He laughed as she groaned loudly, her voice carrying across the room.

"Oh my gosh, really! I only looked when you woke up, and even then it was barely looking."

"Really. Because that's not what I remember."

Oh yeah. She was definitely embarrassed. And he would burn in hell for teasing her like this.

He heard her huff into her hands. "Alright, I'm going to change. If I catch you peeking, so help me I will throw you back in that lake with only your boxers."

"And how do you know I'm wearing boxers? I thought you said you barely looked."

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

"Of course not," he smiled to himself smugly. "Why, that would make me a monster."

"You are a monster. One that's clearly taking too much pleasure from my discomfort."

Lukas gasped dramatically as he huddled closer to the fire. "Oh, Jesse. I'm hurt. Wounded."

"Good."

He smiled at the fire, letting the heat restore life to his frozen body. A series of metallic clanging echoed across the room as Jesse let her armour fall onto the floor. Suddenly, he spotted something in the corner of his eye. Something big, white and fluffy.

"Whoa!" He instinctively reached for his sword, only to find it was gone. Jesse must have removed it while he was unconscious.

"What is it?" Jesse sounded extremely confused.

"Where's my sword?" he said quickly.

"What?"

"There's a yeti in here!"

He kept his eyes fixated on the monster, waiting for Jesse to see it too. This was fine – he just needed to make sure it didn't grab him. Or Jesse for that matter. The fact that she was taking her time to respond didn't ease his nerves.

"Don't worry," she said after a long pause. "It's just taxidermy. The room is full of them, in case you hadn't noticed."

Lukas furrowed his brow and squinted at the yeti. Oddly enough, she was right. He caught sight of the rest of the animals scattered around the room, staring back at him with their unnerving glossy eyes.

"What do you think I'm changing behind?"

"I don't know, a couch?"

"A couch? It's a mooshroom! How did you mistake a mooshroom for a couch?"

He whirled around to glare at Jesse. "Hey, it's dark alright! Anyone could make…that…"

Crap. Holy crap. In his frustration, he had completely forgotten about his promise not to turn around. Now he was paying the price, getting a clear view of Jesse's bare back as she took off her wet T-shirt. Luckily for him, she was too busy to notice his staring.

"Make, what?" She dropped her shirt to the floor with a loud splat. Lukas quickly spun back around just as she looked over her shoulder.

What did she say would happen if he looked? He didn't dare to move in case she saw the deep blush returning to his face. "What?" He asked innocently, pretending that he hadn't heard her.

"You were saying something and then you just trailed off. Like you." He could almost hear the gears in her head work away, putting the pieces together. "Saw something."

I will throw you back in that lake with only your boxers. Those were her exact words. He could already feel the icy water lapping around his ankles.

"Lu-kas?" Jesse drew his name out in a menacing tone.

He was dead.

"Yeah, I…uh." He rummaged through his head for something to say, but all he could think about was the sight of her skin.

"Yes?"

"I…" he suddenly spotted the pair of ocelots near the window. "Saw the ocelots." Please let her buy it, please let her buy it. While he doubted that Jesse would throw him outside, she would definitely do something. One only had to remember the fates of everyone who had crossed her. The old Order of the Stone – forced to publicly admit lying to the world. Aiden – imprisoned and left stranded in another world. Cassie Rose – left on a platform surrounded by Endermites. Jesse was not one to be trifled with, and while she was one of the nicest people he knew, she had a knack for delivering justice as she saw fit. She wouldn't go easy on him just because they were friends.

The room fell into complete silence. He was certain that he was heading to an early grave until Jesse replied back. "Oh, yeah. I'm sorry about them, Lukas. I know how much you like ocelots. Just try to ignore them."

It hadn't been a complete lie. The sight of those poor ocelots did tug at his heart. Regardless, he was relieved that he had managed to come out of that conversation unscathed. Well, mostly – it would be a while until he could get that image of Jesse out of his head.

"Actually, something's been bothering me about the taxidermy," he said, after spotting a zombie posed like a mannequin.

"You mean other than the fact that it's just plain creepy?"

"Other than that, yes. Animals and monsters always poof when they die, just as we do. I wonder how whoever built this place has managed to keep them like this for so long."

"That's actually a fair point. Maybe they used some kind of potion, like a Potion of Regeneration?"

"Then why are they frozen like that? I'm pretty sure they're dead."

"Yeah, that's true." He heard Jesse's footsteps coming up behind him. She passed him, laid her clothes by the hearth and dropped her armour by the door. "I wonder what happened to the owner. I mean, this is a pretty nice cabin. Why would someone build something as extravagant as this in the middle of nowhere, invest so much time into decorating it with the paintings, tapestries, and those monstrosities," she waved her arms at all the monsters and animals in the room. "If you were going to leave anyway?"

She sat down next to Lukas and stared into the fire, crossing her arms over her chest in an effort to cover herself. Neither one had the guts to look at each other directly but stole split-second glances in the other's direction.

"Maybe they got lost in the blizzard or a yeti got them?"

Jesse shook her head. "They managed to kill all these creatures and there's probably a generous amount of crafting materials in here. That would indicate that they lived here a while. They would have known not to go out in a blizzard."

"We knew the same thing, and we still did it."

"That's because we needed to find Petra before she got herself killed."

Lukas ran his fingers through his hair, trying to sweep the lingering dampness from his head without having to shake his tangled mop like a wet dog. "There could have been more than one person. It's certainly big enough for at least seven people."

"You may have a point there." They listened to the crackling embers as one of the logs collapsed, sending a shower of sparks rising up the chimney. "So," Jesse fumbled with her words, rubbing the back of her neck. "Are you feeling a little better?"

Lukas rolled his shoulders and placed his palms on either side of his body. "A little. I still can't entirely feel my legs, but I'll survive." He paused thoughtfully and let the heat thaw his face. "Thanks for what you did back there," he added in a gentle voice.

Jesse raised an eyebrow, finally summing up the courage to face him. "But you said it was crazy."

"It was crazy. And reckless. And impulsive. And clearly not thought through. But we both know that I would have fallen in by the time Petra gave you the lead. And I know, without a doubt, that I would have drowned. You saved my life."

"Aw, stop it," Jesse gave his arm a playful shove. "You would have done the same for me."

Lukas smiled to himself. If only she knew. He would have done the same, maybe even faster than she did. Just like that time in Soren's fortress.

As he recalled, they had to leap across several podiums to get to the other side of a gaping chasm. He had been halfway across when he heard Jesse cry out behind him. She had misjudged the distance between one of the podiums and landed on the edge. When he had turned around, part of the podium collapsed beneath her. He caught a glimpse of her overalls before she disappeared over the edge, as her startled yells echoed across the chamber.

Reuben had landed a short distance away from her and immediately ran to the spot where she fell, squealing hysterically while he inspected the crevice for his friend. Lukas had jumped back the way he'd come to join him. After he'd peered into the darkness for any sight of Jesse, Reuben had firmly gazed up at him before leaping after her. His message had been clear: Come with me if you're not too chicken. So he did.

Jesse had been lucky; it had been a long way down. While she hadn't sprained anything, he still noticed a slight limp in her left leg until they had reached Ivor's laboratory.

Back in the present, Jesse rubbed her shoulders and looked towards the door. "What's taking Petra so long?" she said with a frown.

Lukas didn't need to be told that he'd gladly put himself in harm's way if it meant protecting Jesse. And if what happened on the lake said anything, he knew that she would do the same for him.

The door burst open, causing the whole room to shake. Petra stepped through the doorway with bundles of blankets in her arms, staring at the two of them with huge, excited eyes. "You guys are never going to believe what I just found," she said with a wide grin, as the door shut behind her.

Jesse didn't seem particularly impressed by her entrance. "Where were you? I thought you were just getting blankets."

Petra casually waved her off and dumped the pile of blankets onto her lap, before heading to a corner to undress. Jesse still didn't look very happy by her tardiness but accepted the offering regardless. She took a blanket and threw it over Lukas' shoulders.

"I was," Petra said, leaning against the wall as she pulled her boots off. "I went all over the cabin looking for those. Believe it or not, they were in the basement! Who puts blankets in a basement?"

"Stay on track, Petra."

"Right, right. So while I was collecting all the blankets I could see, I spotted this huge cover draped over something on the back wall. I went and pulled it off, thinking 'It's a little dusty, but we could all easily fit under there and have room left over.'" Petra returned to them and put her armour beside Jesse's.

"That was quick," Jesse pointed out.

"I've had more practice than you." Lukas turned away as Petra whipped the rest of her clothes off and left them by the fire. "You can look now, Lukas." She said cheerfully. When he did, she was staring at him giddily, fidgeting like a child on Christmas day. "But anyway, guess what was underneath it?"

"More taxidermy?" Jesse said dryly, earning a confused look from Petra. She jerked her head to the large yeti to her left.

Petra looked at the yeti with disgust, which only intensified as she surveyed the rest of the room. "Uh…no." She shook her head as if to shake off her unease, and brought her smile back onto her face. "A portal."

Lukas straightened his back. "A portal? As in, the portal?"

Somewhere in the cabin, outside the room, several floorboards creaked as if someone had put pressure on them. They all ignored it, their minds having latched onto Petra's news and the trove of information it held.

"So this cabin was built by the Old Builders?" Jesse mused aloud.

"Seems so." Petra leaned against the polished mantel above the fire. She didn't look as cold as they were, no doubt due to her thicker armour and the fact that she hadn't fallen into a frozen lake. "I also found some Potions of Regeneration while I was searching upstairs. I've already given one to Ivor, and there's enough for the rest of us too. They should reduce the time Ivor and Lukas need to recover to a few hours or so. Then it's just a matter of stocking up on the supplies in the cabin and–"

She was interrupted by the sound of the door opening. Jesse was the first to look at the doorway. "Oh my gosh, Ivor!" she yelled, covering her eyes with both hands.

Petra and Lukas looked over to see what the problem was, and instantly regretted it. "Whoa!" they said together, putting their hands to the sides of their faces to block their line of sight.

Lukas could make out Ivor's footsteps as he walked towards Jesse and then to the yeti, followed by the sound of clothes being dropped onto the floor.

"Ivor," Petra said through gritted teeth. "I thought I told you to stay in the tub."

"I thawed out ages ago and the potion you gave me got rid of the frostbite almost immediately. See, no skin damage anywhere!"

"Yeah," Lukas muttered, closing his eyes in embarrassment. "We all saw."

A strangled noise came out of Jesse's throat. "Why are you naked?!" she cried mournfully.

"Well, I'm not anymore." Ivor sat down next to Lukas with a blanket wrapped around his body like a weird burrito. Thankfully, it was large enough to cover anything unpleasant.

"But why were you?"

Ivor stared at Jesse as if she had sprouted an extra head. "Petra told me to. I'm not going to wear wet clothes."

"And you didn't think to, oh I don't know, knock on the door and give us a heads up?"

"My arms were full; I didn't want anything to fall out of my robes. Stop shaming me!"

"You are not the victim here! Just…why, Ivor? Why?"

"Oh stop being so childish!"

"I'm going to have nightmares for weeks!"

"Honestly, you'd think that this was the first time you've seen a naked person."

"It is!"

"What, really?" He shrugged and nestled into his blanket. "Well, there's no time like the present."

That prompted a collective groan from all three of them. Lukas cringed as images of Ivor naked floated around his mind. "Not for that there's not. Never for that."

Petra tossed Lukas a regeneration potion before going to Jesse's side, patting her on the back reassuringly while she kept her eyes covered. He gulped down the contents and threw the empty vial over his shoulder.

"I don't see why you're all ganging up on me," Ivor continued, pointing an accusing finger at Jesse and Petra. "The two of you should be ashamed of yourselves, flaunting around with only the bare minimum on. There are blankets available – use them!"

"At least we have something on!" Jesse shot back, splaying her hands onto the floor. "Which is more than I can say for–UGH!"

Lukas raised his eyebrows as Petra grabbed one of the blankets and shoved it into Jesse's gut, knocking the wind out of her. Jesse hunched over and clutched the blanket with her arm while gasping for air.

"Alright," Petra said firmly, taking a blanket for herself and sitting on Jesse's right. "This conversation is over. The next person who brings it up again is getting a punch in the stomach. We all clear about that?"

Lukas and Ivor bobbed their heads up and down in a daze. "Clear." They both mumbled. Jesse gave a thumbs-up, still winded from the attack.

They all sat in front of the fire and huddled into a tight line, silently watching the dancing flames and breathing in the smoky air. It was dark outside; the glare from the fireplace passed through the windows and bounced off the miniature snow dunes forming by the windows, as the snow clouds dropped a fresh blanket over them. The wind rattled against the windows – another storm was coming. The sharp contrast between the light from the fireplace and the darkness engulfing the rest of the room made Lukas' eyes hurt. He fought against the heaviness in his eyes that threatened to pull him to sleep.

On his left, Ivor curled up on the floor, rested his head on his hands and went to sleep. Petra copied him. She lay down on her back and closed her eyes with her blanket draped over her legs. Jesse pulled her knees to her chest and pulled her blanket over her shoulders. Her head kept jerking upwards whenever it started to droop.

"Tired?" Lukas asked with a smile.

Her lips thinned out as she stifled a yawn and rubbed her eyes. "No. Just resting my eyes."

Lukas looked back at the fire and yawned behind his hand. "So I'm thinking we should stay here until we're certain that everyone's okay. I know Petra wants to leave as soon as possible, but I'd feel better if we could use the time to rest. That way we'll be at our best for when we go into the next portal." He rolled up his blanket and lowered himself onto his back, slipping it underneath his head as a makeshift pillow.

"Mmm-hum," Jesse mumbled.

"There must be some mountain sheep nearby if the taxidermy is any indication. You and Petra can go hunting while I keep a watch on Ivor. Make sure he isn't lying about his condition just to make Petra happy."

"Mmm."

"It should only be for a day or two. If this cabin was really built by the Old Builders, then it's probably the safest place we've–OOMPH!"

He looked down to his stomach where Jesse's head had landed. She must have dozed off while he was talking. He hadn't even noticed her slump towards him. "Uh…Jesse?" He gently poked her in the shoulder but failed to get a response. "You still there?"

Soft breaths whistled through her nose and tickled his skin. Her body rose and fell with each breath, keeping in line with his own breathing. Her hair flowed past her nape, streaming across his body like a midnight sky. Of course, she's asleep. When would she ever do this on purpose?

He glanced at the others, checking whether they were awake to see his predicament. After the day's events, the last thing he wanted was for anyone to see this. Thankfully, they were already asleep. Petra's head was rolled away from him, while Ivor was lightly snoring on his other side.

He prodded her again, lowering his voice to a whisper. "Jesse, can you get off, please?" He knew she probably wouldn't hear him, but it was worth trying.

She moaned in her sleep and changed position, nestling her head onto his chest before swinging her arm over his waist. "No, don't do…ugh. Great." He groaned into his hand, feeling his face burn up again. Well, this certainly wasn't going to be awkward when she woke up. He could only hope that by then she would have moved away.

Then she started to talk.

At first, it was a jumble of slurred noises, nothing more than the nonsensical ramblings of someone asleep. But as he paid more attention, he noticed that they sounded like poorly formed sentences.

Jesse suddenly curled up closer to him and hugged him roughly. "R…Reuben…" she mumbled into his chest, "good boy…"

The next thing he knew his hand was on Jesse's head, tenderly stroking her hair as she stirred in her sleep. While he moved his hand in short strokes, he hushed her softly. "It's okay," he whispered. "It's just a dream." His voice appeared to soothe her. He could feel her body relax against his and she loosened her hug. Her lips curved into a faint smile as he continued to stroke her.

"Got a…carrot…for you."

He returned the smile before allowing his mind to fall silent and let his exhaustion consume him. "Sweet dreams, Jesse."

Petra didn't know who or what woke her up, but as she adjusted to her surroundings and felt a kink in her neck, she swore that if it was one of her companions playing a joke on her, they'd be sprouting bruises in places they didn't know existed.

She stared up at the ceiling, kneading her fingers into her neck, and sat up straight. The fire was dying at her feet, reduced to a warm glow underneath a charred log. The room was still warm, but it wouldn't remain that way for long.

She got up and stumbled forward several inches, plucked two logs from a woven twig basket, and chucked them into the fireplace. The charred log collapsed into a cloud of ash that rose up the chimney alongside several embers. The remains of the fire crackled in thanks as it engulfed the two fresh logs.

As she made her way back to her original spot and flopped onto the floor, she spotted a small heap of limbs and hair beside her. To her surprise, and mild amusement, it turned out to be Jesse and Lukas.

Jesse lay on her stomach and used his chest as a pillow, having managed to wriggle half her body onto him. Meanwhile, Lukas had wrapped his left arm around her, both pulling her closer and preventing her from rolling off. Jesse's blanket lay in a bundle on their left, forgotten and unwanted. They both had one hand on the other's body: Jesse's arm was draped across his body and her hand rested on his left bicep, while Lukas' hand was relaxed on her waist. The situation with their legs was another story. With Jesse's right leg curled in between his, she could have passed as a koala hugging a tree.

Petra didn't know what was more adorable. The fact that they had gotten into that position while asleep, or that they both had smiles on their faces as they nestled together.

"You dorks," she said to herself, curling up and closing her eyes. "Figures you'd only hug each other when you're both asleep."

Before she nodded off again, Petra hoped that she would be awake when Jesse and Lukas woke up. If she knew her friends, and she did, it was guaranteed to be the funniest thing she had ever seen.