Duskwood & Moonvale one-shots

A wave (Jake x MC)

If Polly's life was a sea, Jake would be a wave in it. That was the first thought when, on the morning after their first meeting, she was left alone in an empty apartment again.

Polly stood in front of the large mirror in the bedroom, burying her fingers in her hair and not knowing whether to cry or laugh. Was everything she remembered about that night even real?

Polly closed her eyes, bit her lip slightly, plunging into memories of a cautious knock on the door, a frightened look from green eyes, a timid "Sorry to bother you, I just-", about gentle and strong touches, the heat of which made her lose the remnants of self-control and forget to breathe.

"Why are you here?" She hugs him, trying to snuggle as hard as possible.

"I'm tired, Polly." She feels his fingers squeeze the fabric of her pajamas. "I am so madly tired of living in constant tension. With constant pressure of thoughts."

His whisper right in her ear makes her skin crawl. His warmth is so close.

"I see." She touches his cheek briefly with her fingertips. "It's been less than a month, and I have a feeling that I'm absolutely not coping, I'm just standing still, and everyone is waiting for something from me. It's scary to imagine how you feel after all these years."

His hair tickles her face, and his heavy breathing is felt on her skin. He's silent, just wrapping his arms around Polly like a drowning man grabbing a lifeline. And she hoped she could be a good support.

"Jake… You look strange today. Did something special happen?"

"Yes. To be honest… They almost caught me. I know it's so rash and dangerous to come to you in this situation," his whisper is so fast, "but I…"

"Jake…"

"I kind of have nowhere to go right now."

"Jake…"

"But I'll find a place, I'd better leave, yes."

"Jake, damn it!"

Polly can't stand it — she wraps her arms around his cheeks and looks into his feverishly bright eyes.

"My hacker, I already said that you can always count on my help, can't you?"

"You said it, but I didn't…"

"Shut up. Just go into the room and sit down. I'll make you some herbal tea and come back."

"Tea?"

"Yes. You need to calm down and at least get some sleep."

But tea doesn't help. Jake tries to appear strong and unshakably calm, as he always does, but she sees him shaking. She takes off his hoodie. Gently touches his shoulders, feeling the muscles tense even through his shirt.

"What are you doing?"

"I just want you to relax a little," continuing to massage his shoulders, she approaches and whispers in his ear. "Jake."

He flinches when Polly says his name like that, and his fingertips touch her palm.

"Polly, please… No need. When you do that, something wakes up in me…"

"If I need to wake up "something" so that Jake falls asleep, I don't mind."

She just smiles when Jake turns around and squeezes her waist, looking into her eyes.

***

And in the morning she is left alone. She presses his forehead against the mirror and laughs softly nervously. She was wrong: Jake wasn't drowning. He's a wave. A storm wave that appears and disappears suddenly, leaving behind devastation and sometimes real pearls among the stones. Her pearl was a shirt: a little worn, wrinkled, carelessly thrown by the bed at night and forgotten in the morning rush and still smelling of her hacker.

At least now she has proof that Jake was real.

The beauty and at the same time the nightmare of the waves is that sooner or later they come back.

Jake returns in a faceless voice from the mobile screen — they can talk all night, distracting themselves from the investigation, although both are sure that they do not know how to make small talk.

"Polly, can I ask you something?" Jake asked during one of the conversations.

"Please don't tell me it's something about an investigation," she moaned.

"No, no," he laughed softly, it sounded pretty creepy because of the voice-changing programs. "It's just… Could you turn on the camera?"

She blinked several times at the screen saver with Nym-os on the screen. Turn on the camera? This is the last request Polly could have expected from Jake, given his own reticence and concern for her safety.

"Why?" She squeezed the fabric of her new favorite pajamas a little.

"Well… I kind of... want to see you. I haven't been able to get you out of my head for the last few days, I can't focus on my tasks."

And although he was still speaking in a mechanical voice, in which there was no emotion, she was sure that Jake on the other side of the screen was smiling and blushing a little in an attempt to cope with his desires.

"If you do the same," she smiled. "I want to see you again, too."

"But, Polly, this is…"

"It's dangerous, I know,' she sighed. — Okay, enjoy yourself alone, — she smiled, pressed the key and after a few seconds saw herself in the corner of the screen. Jake coughed softly on the other side of the screen.

"Polly, you… Is that my shirt?"

"Yeah."

"Is that my shirt you're wearing?"

"Hehe, are you jealous? Are you the only one who can wear your shirts?"

"No, it suits you."

She heard tapping on the keys, and a dark room suddenly appeared on the screen instead of the avatar. She could only make out a computer chair and the silhouette of a man sitting in it. He climbed into a chair with bare feet and leaned back so that the backlight of the screen did not illuminate his face.

"Oh, I can almost see Polly giggled and immediately became serious. "Thank you for trusting me anyway. I really appreciate it."

"Thank you for saving my trust every time."

They were both silent, just staring at the screens for several long seconds. Polly shifted her position a little — the shirt was slightly pulled up, exposing part of her thigh. Jake jerked in his chair as Polly leaned forward in an attempt to make sure he was okay.

"Jake, is everything okay?"

"Yes… I haven't slept for a few days, now it's a little hard to control myself." He mutters hurriedly.

"I'd bite you now if we were around," she sighed. "Why don't you take care of yourself?"

"I have more important things to do. Especially lately."

"If you work all the time, you will only get sick. I thought you were smart enough to understand that."

"Yes, I got, Polly!" It's unexpected to hear Jake raise his voice. Polly raised an eyebrow. "I'm sorry, it's just… I'll take care of myself a little later when it's over. Would we change the subject?"

She frowned a little, then smiled.

"So your shirt suits me?"

"Yes, you look quite charming. So you're adorable without a shirt on.… In the sense-"

Polly couldn't stand it and burst out laughing.

"Gosh, Jake, you're so cute when you try to explain your emotions!"

A quiet beep and "connection lost" on the screen.

Polly smiled softly. Sometimes this hacker is really funny.