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drifting-pieces-blog-blog · 2 years

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Moon Phase Series - Third Quarter

Summary: Moments in the life of the Moon Knight system.

I don't know how many chapters this will be. Not really connected so if you pick one up randomly you should be fine. Mostly feel good, maybe a little sad, maybe a little comfort. I wanted to explore little moments of them just being.

Warning: Light mentions of self harm.

Word Count: 2366

Part 7: Jake accidentally interrupts date night and is cornered into a conversation on love and life. Does Jake feel guilt? What does Jake want? Love is strange.

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Love is complicated.

Marc should have known better when he thought that he could have had a chance at happiness. At normalcy. How was he tricked into this? How did he trick himself with his need and want to be loved?

And when the guilt was too much and the perfect life was more than he could handle, he had tried to throw it all away.

Now, things were better. Things were smoothed over. He and Layla had talked things out and the attempted divorce was a thing of the past.

Things were…Complicated.

Did he like the idea of sharing Layla? Not really. But if it was Steven, then he knew she was being taken care of. In moments when he couldn’t be there, she was in good hands.

Steven really loved her. He was utterly enamored by her. And she was so struck by him… They were perfect. They were better for one another than Marc was… Here he was grasping at straws when they were…

He shook his head. He wasn’t supposed to think this way anymore. He wasn’t supposed to feel so useless. So… empty.

Layla had her reasons to love them both. He had to keep telling himself that. Even still, they had an agreement that at least once a week each would get their own alone time with Layla. No spying, no watching from the back room, and no interrupting if they could.

Marc was fine with this. He didn’t want to see Steven and Layla together. He didn’t want to see how in love she was with Steven. He also didn’t want Steven to comment on his own awkward moments. There were still accidents. Sometimes there were bad days and holding front was not always easy to do or wanted.

The hard part that made things so complicated, was the new guy. Marc still thought of him as ‘the new guy’. Though Steven speculated that Jake might actually be more mature in mind than either of them were. Marc saw him as someone to share more things with. To have to divide time with. To be less of because he was so broken that-

“Not thinking like that.” He muttered to himself.

“Hm?” Layla looked away from the TV to gaze up at him.

“Nothing. Just thinking out loud.” Marc offered a reassuring smile and draped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close.

He tried to turn his focus back to the show they were watching. Something she enjoyed. Campy and full of jokes. It was something Steven would probably enjoy. Why couldn’t he enjoy this sort of thing? Had he ever tried? Did he remember watching much television? He frowned and couldn’t remember ever sitting down to watch anything. It seemed like something he might enjoy?

He could recall sitting on a couch a few times. Something was on… Something he enjoyed? It was dramatic and ridiculous and… It wasn’t in English.

You watched Telenovelas?

Marc called out into the headspace. Steven was doing as agreed on and was nowhere nearby. Jake had never made any agreements. It was part of the complication. Jake was a complication.

He found communication with Jake to be difficult. Not because they couldn’t get along, but because Marc honestly just didn’t know what to say to him. He didn’t know how to acknowledge him. How to look him in the eye and face what Jake stood for.

Steven seemed to get along with Jake fine enough, though Steven often complained that getting memories and explanations from Jake was terribly frustrating. Jake kept everything locked down so tightly. Marc could guess why and it only made talking to him more difficult.

Marc felt a shift and change of places. Another complication. He had figured out how to communicate with Steven perfectly. They knew how to switch in and out and only had a few problems during emotional instances or if one was feeling more out of it than normal. Jake still had not figured out how to exist with Marc yet. It was all or nothing for him.

“Mierde.” Jake jerked to full alertness as he found himself wrapped up around Layla.

Layla sat up quickly as soon as she felt the change in posture and stiff arms.

Jake sat up and pulled his arm free. “Hermosa. I didn’t mean to…”

“No, it’s fine.” She gave him a gentle smile then looked down. “What happened?”

“Marc drifted.” Jake sighed and glanced around, taking in the drinks on the table, the dishes by the sink, and the bowl of mixed candies next to Layla. “I’m interrupting date night. Give me a minute. I can get him back out.”

“Wait.” Layla sat forward and looked at him, catching his eyes. “Jake… Can I talk to you for a moment?”

Jake gave her an alarmed look. “I can just… Marc is very close by. If you just give me a moment…”

“You don’t like me, do you?” She sat back, looking down at the candy dish.

Jake exhaled slowly and ran a hand through his hair, pushing it back. If he was going to do this, he might as well be comfortable. He sat back and crossed his arms. He briefly debated on giving Marc a not so gentle shove, but what good would that do? Marc had suddenly settled back just out of reach and given Jake the floor.

“That isn’t it at all.” He looked ahead at the flickering television. It was not really his sort of show.

“It’s okay if you don’t.” Layla pulled her hair back. Jake knew that body language. It was her own way of putting up walls. To close herself off. “You are your own person and I don’t see you as just an extension of Marc. I got lucky with Steven. Maybe even a little spoiled.” She smiled to herself slightly. “For all you care, I’m just a stranger you have to put up with.”

“You are no stranger.” He watched how she chewed on her inner cheek. A way for her to hide her emotion. To keep control of her facial expressions. “I…” He didn’t want to admit it. Not with Marc there listening. “I’ve been around you longer than Steven.”

That got her attention. She looked at him very carefully and he could see the moment it clicked. “How often did you talk to me and pretend to be Marc?”

“A few times.” He couldn’t look her in the eye. “Sometimes after a mission with Khonshu he had trouble holding and Steven was being kept away… Sometimes I took him home. Sometimes if he was having a…A flashback I had to stop him from hurting himself…or you.”

She took a slow breath. “And he didn’t know.”

“No. He couldn’t know.” Jake felt her stiffen as she searched her memory for any traces of something being off. She was smart. She would be able to pick out a few, but not all. Jake was good at not being seen.

“Have you ever been…” She hesitated and took another breath. “Were you and I ever inadvertently…intimate?”

Jake looked at her in surprise. “No!” He flushed and nearly got off the couch to put more distance between them. “No. I would never… None of us would ever… If there was even a possibility of one of us switching out we would stop. I swear. I would never touch you like that.”

She nodded then sat back, drawing her knees up. “So do you hate me then? You know me and still you won’t talk to me. You flinch when I touch you. When you switch in you can’t wait to switch back out and get away from me. Did I upset you?”

“No.” He whispered. “I could never hate you.”

“Then why?” She was fighting back tears. He could hear it in her voice. He knew she would never show him those tears. It was part of the way she handled things. She and Marc had more in common than Marc realized. “Why won’t you just…talk to me?”

Jake looked down, his hands twisting and pulling at the fabric in their shirt. His leg bounced nervously. “You are not mine. You were his. He loves you so much. You brought him so much happiness. So much love. You were everything I wished he could have. Every time I had to shut him down and face you, I was taking him away from you. I took away every opportunity you had to know him. To know his pain. Every time I…I had to stop him… Perhaps you could have been the one to… To connect.”

This was not easy. Jake was not an open book. He had never spoken about this before. Never spoken about his guilt. About how it felt to look into Layla’s eyes while Marc screamed inside and broke down. To not be able to tell her why her husband had woken up screaming and suddenly was fine. To not tell her that her husband had been about to…

She hugged her knees for a moment then nodded. “Do you want to? To find love, I mean. Do you want to go date someone? To find your own love?”

Jake nervously dug his nails into the palms of his hands. This was normally enough for him. He had said his peace and it would be time to leave. To let Marc enjoy the rest of the date he had just ruined. To maybe dig Steven out and beg him to fix it.

Yet he felt stuck. Layla had finally captured him and he had nowhere to run.

“Dating does not appeal to me.” He flushed as he felt Marc almost seem to sit up and pay attention in the back. “I don’t… I’m not one for intimacy.”

“Do you want to be with men?” Layla let her knees slip back down and she sat up, inching a little closer.

Jake hesitated. “Hermosa… I do not want to date men. If I dated a man it would be one man and it would not be for what you think.”

Jake blushed deeply as Marc popped up in the reflection on the coffee table. His face was one of confusion. He would never figure it out in a million years. Yet Layla was bright.

“Ah. Jean-Paul. Do you want to be with him?” She almost seemed to relax at the idea of someone she was familiar with. He couldn’t place if it was for her own comfort or if it was because she was suddenly feeling protective of Marc and Steven getting hurt by someone else she didn’t know.

Marc’s furrowed brows only got worse as he was suddenly trying to make sense of that statement. Jake rolled his eyes at how oblivious Marc could be at the best of times.

“We are close. Very close. But I still do not find certain acts…appealing.” He shrugged. “It’s all talk. A show. Fun maybe…”

She nodded. “You don’t enjoy intimacy. I get it… You seek emotional closeness. Familiarity and maybe gentle flirtations.”

Jake smiled and gave her a light wink. “Bingo.”

She seemed to consider for a moment. “Do you want to be my friend? I could use one… Especially when my husband is being difficult. You can always talk to me, Jake. About anything. I don’t want you to feel guilty for helping him. For protecting me…Even if it is from him.”

Jake looked at her. She was very beautiful. He enjoyed looking at her so much. He enjoyed being near her. Waking up to find her hair in his face as she nestled into his chest. He enjoyed how wonderful it felt to feel her relax and give her full trust into him. He enjoyed feeling her hand gently touch his sometimes…

He reached out and took her hand. He looked at her slim yet strong fingers. Her creases and curves. She was warm and soft. He traced a finger across her palm then gently ran a thumb over the back of her wrist. “I could use a friend.”

Her eyes lit up as she smiled. The hidden tears catching the light and sparkling softly. He would like to know her. To have someone to talk to. Someone to share with.

She smiled and took his hand, bringing it up to kiss gently. “Amigos?”

Jake grinned. “I love the way you say that. Amigos…”

“So we are going to have to work out a deal with you. I want one day with you, Jake. We can do anything you like.” She meant it.

Jake nodded. “Thank you, Hermosa. You should finish your date with Marc. I am sorry I interrupted it.”

Layla laughed. “Please, he was not paying attention. I think if it is alright with Marc, we can go do something different tomorrow. I should have known this was not exactly his thing.”

Marc almost seemed to sigh in relief like a child that was just told he didn’t have to take a test.

“What do you like to watch?” She sat back. “If this isn’t your thing, maybe send Steven out. We can work your day in later too, if you like.”

Jake reached over and grabbed the remote. He fiddled with it a moment then found the station he was looking for. He adjusted the subtitles to English for her then sat back.

Layla stared at the television for a moment then sat back, leaning into him slightly. “Who is Juanita?”

“Her Tio owns the building that Carlo is renting out of. But her Tio doesn’t know that Carlo is dating Juanita, because she is engaged to his best friend’s son, Julio. Juanita doesn’t know that Carlo’s sister is actually Juanita’s cousin.” Jake leaned into Layla and relaxed little by little.

Layla nodded and moved to place the candle dish between them. “I am going to need you to get me caught up on this because we are going to be watching more of this.”

Marc shook his head in the back of their mind and sighed before he slipped further down, giving them their privacy. Love was complicated. Maybe that was a good thing.

#Moon Knight #Moon Knight fic #Jake Lockley #Marc Spector #Layla El Faouly #Steven Grant #Jean-Paul Duchamp #Jake is Aro #I ship Jake and Frenchie aro so hard #They hang out on weekends and shit talk their idiot mutual Marc #Frenchie would have ruined Marc if Marc wasn't such a himbo #Headcannon Jake Frenchie and Layla all hang out together for lunch and get catty together #Steven went once and could not handle that level of sass condensed into one place #Does anyone even read this stuff down here?#Why do I always post so late at night?#What's a queue?

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