A/N Around the beginning of last year, I had the idea to make a few MCSM ship oneshots based off Dechi's MCSM AU. Though through time, I got busy with schoolwork and such as well as new stories to write. Second, I sorta dropped out of the MCSM fandom several times and even until now, I consider myself to be "dropped out" of the fandom. Though every now and then, I enjoy to write MCSM-based stories. I had fun writing this one since I got to use some non-beginner phrases and I loved writing the dialogue between Jess, Jesse & Petra in general. I also apologize for the late oneshots being published!

Requester: Me

AU belongs to: Dechi_Megami

Note: Takes place at no particular moment in the book.
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Jesse's POV
The gang and I returned from the underneath. We left off Xara to deal with Romeo but it looked to me that she will certainly do no harm to him. Sure it may just be apologizes and forgiveness but it looked rather sincere in my eyes. That's what gave me the motivation to leave the redhead with someone like Xara. Sheesh, With the serious-like expressions she pulls off every now and then, she looked more like a "player"-killer to me. Ofcourse I kept those thoughts to myself since not many people in our group were aware of the "out-of game" terms. The only people who only really understood its meanings were me and Jess. I tried explaining it to Petra and Lukas once though they barely been understood what the "log out" term meant. It couldn't be helped.

We were returning back to our homes for it was close to sunset. After our recent encounter with monsters and such. The team and I decided to take a break from such hostilities. Ahead of me were a good dozen of colourful wool houses. Those were houses built and inhabited by my citizens. It makes me smile that people still decided to remain citizens to Beacontown despite all the irritable encounters we've had. From an invasion of monsters to something like the admin. But worst, it was the incident of the "files" as well as the gem Jess used. That one certainly put me on edge for several hours. I just couldn't stop thinking about it. I had Rueben back as well as the others as well.

My eyes lowered down to the three people in front of me. I had enough of staring at the same orange-red skies for over 5 minutes. I wanted to see something else. It so happened that my greens eyes were now fixed on its new target. A girl with orange-hair accessorized with a lovely but definitely tomboyish bandana in which my eyes didn't bleed from the inconsistent colour palette of it. She was walking in a quick manner as if she couldn't wait to return back in her room in the order's hall and rest for the time being. However to m'y disappointed, a pair of similar emerald eyes noticed my sudden eye contact with the beautiful girl. That person was none other than the black haired girl that was supposedly a copy of myself but gender-inverted. A tad shorter than me and wore navy jean overalls. She whistled and gave me an unimpressed expression on her tanned frontage.

"Ewooo, stalkerish-much?" Jess whispered to me, coming closer to close the gap between us. Behind us was Jack and Nurm. So she made sure to respect my privacy and stay quiet so that the two adventurers behind us wouldn't hear a thing. I nudged Jess's left elbow and glanced away. I felt a hot blush blossom on my cheeks. "Y-you've got the wrong idea.." I whispered back in a retort. Jess chuckled at my reply and gave me a small grin. She tapped my shoulder. "Come on, Jesse. It's obvious as a zombie villager passing by for an ordinary one. You really think that we're that oblivious about all this? Heck, the only oblivious one here is Petra herself!" She exclaimed but I immediately leaned forward and used my hands to cover her mouth. We slightly stepped out of line, much to Jack and Nurm's concern. I growled and Jess laughed. I felt her lips moving on my palms. It didn't help that her laughs were muffled ones. Great, now we'll catch everyone's attentions. They'll think something is wrong.

"Not too loud. Are you nuts? " my pupils shot open and I sighed. My cheeks were still remarkably red which led to the fact that Jess wouldn't set this topic aside. She grinned and placed her two hands behind her back, leaning her body forward to give off a cute-pose. I continued the conversation much to my discontent. I knew that if I used an excuse and saved that conversation for next time, Jess would surely remind me in the worst times. It could been be when me and Petra are literally in the middle of a talk. Jess was surely the equivalence to that one nagging little sister most people have. It didn't help as well that she was what we called: "a main character". She had access to the game's files and had my intelligence since she's basically a genderbent version of myself.
She could use the most complex of vocabularies.

"I'm well aware that Petra already knows that I have my eye on her." I responded a tad disappointed but was somewhat relieved either way. Jess let out a hum then gave me wide eyes when she processed through what I just said. She sighed and placed her hands on her hips. "Good grief. You're  the worst at being stealthy then. Feelings are like a dairy for example! Would you want people to have access to your dairy everyday?" She inquired. I rubbed the back of my head and noticed that we just passed by Stacy and Stampy's desert stand. We were 2 meters away from the order's hall. "I never really owned a diary so I don't really know how it feels. But no, it would be embarrassing to show it to everyone. You could get easily judged based on what you write in there. But Jess, isn't feelings and a dairy the same time?" I responded to her and in exchange, I asked a question myself.

She nodded. I smiled at that. Finally I was able to understand two pretty simple comparisons. "That's right. Though feelings are way more in debt with sincerity. You can express it better than writing them out in a plain-old book. Who said that you didn't copy it from the greatest of 'Soap-operas'? The dramatic ones, Ooh. I like those." Jess joked and waited for my response. Despite being annoying with her teasing, i liked Jess. She was one of the only people in which I could have a proper conversation with. Since we were both characters of this so called game, we could use "out of game" terms that others wouldn't even be aware of. In a way, it was like our secret language. "Being honest here. I don't think I would ever have the guts to confess to Petra." I said with honesty. I clenched my fists afterwards and Jess sighed. Her green eyes lowered slightly at what I said. "It doesn't take guts to confess to someone. It's more like an obligation." She paused since I so happened to have uttered out in curiosity: "Obligation?"

She raised a finger and nodded. Now she sure did look like she was about to pull of a teacher's pose stunt. "That's right! An obligation because you can't really hold off feelings forever without feelings stressed or impatient? Everyday that you hold off these feelings, there's a chance that you'll lose your loved one. So with all the time you're with them, please tell them how you feel. Go for it!" The finger she Raised was Lowered and instead, she raised her thumb. I was about to answer to her suggestion when she said something else. It hit me afterwards that what she said next sounded really human -like. Like we were currently discussing in the real world. My heart pounded. For some reason, it hurt. Jess stopped in front of the order hall's path to the main entrance and shut her eyes, a big smile on her lips. Under her were the night stars. It had just turned nighttime. Our walk took that long huh? "That's life! You gotta feel Oy! Sure it's just a game Jesse. But you can't deny love. Despite Petra being an 'NPC', There's nothing wrong with that! Besides, it's love! Love can come at any form it wants. So Please do confess! That's all. Don't disappoint me."
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It was around 10PM. I couldn't sleep. I tossed and turned for the past 30 minutes and I couldn't get my mind off what Jess said to me before entering the order hall's. I know that, that girl was probably asleep. It always did surprised me when I found out she had an early sleeping schedule. Doing what I wonder? But oh well, if I stepped in and knocked on her door, it would be too late anyways. Besides, I wouldn't want to earn a scold from Jess when she's all sleepy and grouchy. I wanted to talk to someone about these thoughts of mine. I placed my hand on my chest and exhaled. No, they weren't just ordinary thoughts. It was love. However, it was already late. Most of the inhabitants of the order hall were fast asleep. Jess and Radar were the early birds when it comes to sleeping. They were out at around 7PM. As for Lukas, he slept an hour before. Around 9:30PM I believe. That left me with one option. The girl that had an irregular sleeping schedule. Petra.

I walked out of my room and walked along the hallway to her room. It was the one in the middle of the two rooms doors' on the mere left. Carefully not to make noise, I clenched my knuckles and tapped them on the wooden door. "Petra..?" I whispered very quietly not to make my voice and gestures audible to the rooms right next door. I sighed and continued. "If you're awake, I'd like to talk please." After that, I stepped back from the object separating me from her room. I waited for several minutes before quiet-barely audible footsteps were heard approaching the wooden door. Seconds after my realization, the door opened and I saw Petra with an eyebrow raised. Her arms were crossed as well. I gulped and waved at her quietly. A low gasp escaped my lips as I was right in front of her. There was nothing but silence going on between us at the moment.

That was until the gingerhead moved to the left of the room and made sure not to stumble back on the dresser placed right next the door. Rather inconvenient but where else could she have stored her swords? She could have placed them in the place of the dressed instead however she didn't want them getting all scratched up. I entered the room and saw that the blades were all hanged on the walls. Some even dangled to the ground. They were that long, it surprised. I thought Petra wasn't a fan of long-blade swords.  "You wanted to talk? Jesse?" Petra shut the door  behind us when I entered. I nodded and pulled out the two stools that were ransacked but folded by the side of the dresser. I sat down and turned to the girl who joined me. "Yes, If that's alright."  I explained myself and waited for her approval. All the ginger-haired girl was giggle sweetly at me. "It's never a bother problem Jesse. So please, go on. What did you want to talk about?"

I didn't even know what has gotten into me that night. It was like my heart just couldn't take the fact that it was still beating until now despite the feelings I pushed under for these years to come. I felt my face turn red again and I softly explained myself. "Look Petra. I know it may be too soon for you to consider something like this. But we've known each other for a long time now, right?" I paused to chuckle. In reality, I was panicking at what I wanted to say. The order of what I wanted to say in my mind basically deceived me. But even so my informal beginning, Petra still listened. I continued as if seeing her interested expression through the darkness. "When someone believes that they love someone. They'd want to start a relationship with that person. They'd want to be with that person for all eternity. Protect them, cry with them, laugh with them, in general, be happy with them.." My cheeks flushed and I saw how Petra's beautiful moon-like eyes shone in the dark. The moonlight's glow descended to the side of her face. She was truly beautiful with this shade illuminating the room. Despite being an 'NPC', the ginger head caught on rather quickly. "Jesse do you-"

I nodded and grabbed her hands. "We truly are kindred spirits. I thought that ever since you saved me from that spider back at Endercon. I love you, Petra. Really. A-And you have no idea how many times I doubted myself to even tell you this...B-But no take-backs. I don't regret a single word said in this entire conversation!" I stated and finished my confession. I let go of her hands and saw her surprised expression. The entire time, she was just sat there, processing my words and trying to understand what she should do next. Silence fell and I waited for more than 4 minutes. I began to loose interest at the topic in general. I prepared to stand up. "I knew it, you believed Romeo when he said I'm a hacker right? You believed that I hacked our hearts' files so that our compatibility levels are strong? I can assure you, I'm not a hacker-!" I tried to catch myself in my words however, I heard the stool scratch against the cold flooring. Petra towered over me slightly. I was always the shortest one between us. I sorta dislike that. I chuckled and looked away. "You didn't expect something like that? Hu-" I was interrupted by a warm feeling being left on my right cheek. My eyes fluttered wide.

Petra blushed lightly and glanced away. "Did I do it right?" She inquired and I gave her a confused look but despite not understanding it much, I answered anyways. "Do what right? If it's a kiss, then yes. The best one..." I muttered the last part of the sentence quietly and smiled. I was lovestruck. I had to admit. Petra snapped her fingers and the blush away. That feeling of romance must have left her. She was an NPC, Ofcourse our moment would be over so soon but I wasn't complaining! Despite the kiss not being where I wanted it to be, it was still a kiss. And...it felt nice honestly. "So that's what it's called? A 'Kiss' huh? Certainly has a cute sound to it. I liked it. Jess told me about it. I didn't really understand much since she was talking too fast-not to mention screaming, but she did say that a kiss was used when you wanted to show someone that you deeply loved them. " she explained. I nodded as she was pretty much right. Though,mentally cursed at Jess for intervening.

Petra smiled and put the stools away. "I may not understand from your point view what love really is. But for now, let's just say I really care about you as well Jesse. Thank you for the talk. I've...wanted to talk about it too actually. This weird 'love' feeling but I never knew how to express myself." She mentioned. I gave a confused look but brushed it away instants away. "Hey it was no problem. I'm glad that we both have this off our chest. Am I right?" I giggled and made my way to the door. My palm clenched into a fist- but stopped when it was blocked by the door handle, I grasped it and opened it. "Well, good night Petra. I'll talk to you tomorrow." I gave one last smile and exited the room afterwards. I didn't have too much time to check if Petra was smiling back. But deep in my heart, I'll just give myself the image that she was.
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A/N Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed, please consider leaving a vote or comment down below your thoughts. Again, like Jess said, it's not always bad to speak up on some thoughts on your mind right? I'll be looking froward to what you have to say! Alright, I'll stop stalling around. Next up is Jaiden. Which is M! Jesse x Aiden. Since I received no plot, I'll choose one myself.