After Friendship | By : Sione Category: +G through L > Jak & Daxter Views: 5912 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0 |
Disclaimer: I do not own Jak & Daxter, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story. |
Jak was practically wearing a hole into the floor with his constant pacing. He was undecided. Should he go out looking for Daxter or wait for him? He would be out the door in an instant if he just knew where to look, but since he had no clue it seemed neither wise nor very productive to try and search for Daxter in the dark streets of Haven City. He could basically be anywhere, and it was quite an area to cover. And if he was in his ottsel form it would be even harder, even almost impossible to find him.
Especially if he didn’t want to be found.
Jak didn’t like the thought of that one bit. But if Daxter wanted some time alone then he shouldn’t disturb him, right? He would most likely return soon by himself anyway, he probably wasn’t even very far away. He had let his imagination run wild and was worrying over nothing. Daxter had probably accidently fallen asleep curled up in a corner somewhere. It wouldn’t have been the first time, either. Daxter was a master of being able to fall asleep just about everywhere. He had found the ottsel in the most interesting sleeping places over the years. Like the time last year when he had frantically searched the whole damn Headquarters for the little orange fuzzy thing just to finally find him curled up in the laundry basket.
So why couldn’t he stop picturing Daxter lying injured or dead in some dark alley?
Jak sat down on the bed with a heavy sigh and forced himself to calm down. ‘Everything is fine, he will be home soon.’
Daxter was safe somewhere, he just didn’t want to see Jak right now, that was all. Not a very reassuring thought, but it was a lot better than the other scenarios that had been going through his painfully imaginative mind.
For the hundredth time that night he wished that he hadn’t kissed the little redhead. Not because the kiss itself had been bad, it had been surreal but wonderful. But if this was the price to pay it would have been better to keep things as they were, then none of this would have happened. He wouldn’t have freaked Daxter out and they would be in bed sleeping right now. Everything would be as it should be. Maybe not exactly as he wanted it, but he could live with that, just as long as Daxter was by his side he was alright. Jak buried his face in his hands; this was such a mess.
His ears perked up when he suddenly heard soft footsteps outside the door. He looked up warily, not wanting to get his hopes up, it wasn’t the first time that night he heard someone walking through the corridor without result. The hallways of the Headquarters could be quite busy during the nights too.
But to his surprise and great relief he heard keys rattle in the lock. He was on his feet in a heartbeat and by the door in a second. It opened slowly, and when a mop of red hair peeked out from behind it, Jak let go of a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding. But his relief was short-lived, and quickly turned to anger. Didn’t he understand how worried Jak had been? He pulled in a startled Daxter by the arm and closed the door with more force than he had intended, a loud bang erupted in the hallways.
“Where the hell have you been?!” He leaned over the redhead who had backed up against the wall. He tried catching his eyes, but Daxter quickly averted his gaze down to the floor.
He wasn’t quite sure were all this anger came from, but although Daxter was flinching at his harsh words he couldn’t stop himself.
“Oh, just out walking…” was the quiet reply.
Frustrated by the vague answer, Jak grabbed him by both arms and shook him.
“Dammit Daxter, you could have been killed! How could you even think of such a stupid idea? Alone, at night, and in Haven City of all places!”
“I don’t know!”
Jak was surprised when Daxter suddenly, violently tore himself free from his grip and backed away a couple of steps. He quirked his head to the side in confusion; Daxter was acting strangely.
“I was confused, I just wanted to be alone for awhile, to think.” It didn’t sound like Daxter one bit, there something desperate and haunting in his voice. He didn’t like hearing that; Daxter should never sound like that.
‘I’m acting like a brute. I need to calm down, I’m scaring him.’
“I know, I’m sorry Dax… But alone in Haven City at night, you know it’s dangerous.”
The redhead had put some distance between them and was now standing in the middle of the room hugging himself, his hands gripping his arms tightly. He still refused to meet Jak’s eyes, and stubbornly looked down at the floor.
”I got lost,” he spoke quietly.
Jak was stunned when a violent sob suddenly shook Daxter’s small frame.
More gently now, he cautiously approached him and with two finger under the Daxter’s chin tilted the trembling elf’s head so he could get a view of his face. That’s when he truly took in Daxter’s appearance.
He was a mess.
His face was pale, more so than usual, and there were dirty streaks running along his cheeks. His eyes were red and puffy, had he been crying? What alarmed him even more was the red swelling forming on his left cheek and pale miscolouring on his throat. When he glanced down he also noticed the missing t-shirt under his dirty jacket and small red markings on his bare chest.
He was starting to regret the firm grip he just recently had on those thin shaking arms.
“Come.” He led the shivering Daxter to the bed, and made him sit down.
“What happened?” he implored much more gently, to avoid frightening him any further. He was ashamed that his earlier action had upset the already distressed Daxter even more. He carefully placed a comforting hand on the quivering shoulders.
“I—” he choked on the sentence, and pressed himself closer against Jak’s side. “I shot someone.”
“What?” Jak hand that had been soothingly rubbed the redhead’s back froze.
Suddenly Daxter was clinging to him, sobbing loudly into his chest. “I shot him.”
Jak was both a bit confused and alarmed, but wrapped his arms around the crying elf, and tried to soothe him by awkwardly patting his shaking back. He did still have the gun when he left the shooting range, but shooting someone? Had he met up with the Krimzon Guards?
“Sshh, calm down, tell me what happened. Are you hurt?”
Daxter pushed his head deeper into his chest like he couldn’t get close enough. “I didn’t mean to, it just happened,” his voice muffled by Jak’s shirt.
“I know you didn’t, now tell me what happened,” he repeated once again, trying to keep his voice steady and calm even thought he felt anything but.
“I was lost. I tried to find my way back, but then this asshole showed up and grabbed me. He wouldn’t let go of me.” He could feel Daxter’s grip on his t-shirt tighten. “I just wanted him to leave me alone. I didn’t mean to shoot him, but then he scared me and the gun went off.”
He was silent for moment, and Jak could hear him breathe deeply into his chest like he was working up the courage to continue.
“There was so much blood, I think I killed him,” Daxter added with a wavering voice.
It wasn’t a very detailed version but probably the only one he would get of the distressed elf at the moment. He could read between the lines anyway, and by looking at the state Daxter was in Jak had a pretty good clue of what happened. He really felt like he wanted to tear something apart, but instead he took a deep breath. He needed to stay calm, for Daxter’s sake.
“It’s alright.” He stroked the red and golden hair softly. “He was going to hurt you, right?”
“Yeah.”
“It was just self-defence Daxter, you did the right thing. You had to defend yourself in any way possible.”
He sniffled. “I guess.”
“Where’s the gun now?”
“It’s still in the alley, sorry, I just sort of dropped it.”
“It doesn’t matter, don’t worry about it.”
He could feel the redhead relax against him. His shirt was now a wet mess at the front were Daxter had drenched it with tears. He let the moment of silence grow between them before he continued.
“Did he hurt you?” he asked softly.
It needed to be asked. Of course he had hurt him, his friend was crying mess, and just by looking at Daxter’s face and miscoloured throat he knew the answer to that. But he needed to know how much, how bad? Did Daxter manage to stop him in time?
“Nah, but he got a pretty good right hook.” He touched his swelling left cheek gingerly. “I kneed him in the crotch though.” A small but still noticeable smile played on Daxter lips.
It was good to see, Jak gave a smile of his own.
“Good for you,” he gave the golden-red hair a good ruffle.
Then his face grew serious again and his hand slipped down to gently trace the line of swelling with two fingers, a frown of concern marred his features.
“Go take a shower, I’ll get you something cold for it.”
It would be alright, they would get through this.
“And food, I’m starving!” Daxter yelled on his way out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Clean and with a comfortably filled stomach Daxter felt a bit better. He was sitting on their bed leaning back against the headboard with an ice filled towel pressed against his aching cheek. He was tired, so damn tired, he let his head fall back against the headboard and closed his eyes.
He had been such a mess before.
His head was still in an uproar but it felt better now; he was home, with Jak, and that made all the difference in the world. And it did help him look at what happened in a new perspective. Yes, he had killed a man. But it was a man who had had every intention of raping and probably killing him if he hadn’t done something. No, he hadn’t wanted to kill him, but maybe it wasn’t so bad how it turned out after all. If the gun hadn’t went off who knows what could have happened. He wasn’t sure he would have had the guts to pull the trigger and the man sure didn’t seem very scared of it. What’s the use of a gun if you can’t pull the trigger and the one you’re pointing it at isn’t scared of it? The thought of what could have happened if the gun hadn’t gone off was starting to give him some serious nasty mental images.
The bed dipped down beside him and a warm body pressed up against him, it was a welcome interruption.
“Feeling better?”
“Mhm, much better.”
‘If I could just get my brain to stop taking a trip along the “all this sort of shit could have happened to you-road”.’
“You should rest.”
“Uh-huh, I will,” he answered but made no effort to get under the covers. It was just too much effort.
A sigh filled the silence of the room and suddenly hands took away the ice pack and were pushing him down in a laying position. The covers were pulled up to his chin. He felt fingers gently combing through his hair. An unruly tress was stroked out of his face and the hand settled for a moment on his forehand. It felt nice. Jak was warm, Jak was safe. He could forget about tonight for awhile.
The nasty images faded from his mind, and he could feel his thoughts getting cloudier and his body getting heavy.
“Sleep.”
It was a good idea, so sleep he did. All through the night to the early morning hours when he was jerked awake by livid nightmares. Comforting warm hands gently pushed him down under the covers and he was pulled against a firm chest. Even though his human nose was dull in comparison to his sharp ottsel senses he could still smell the familiar sent of Jak. He clutched the worn-out t-shirt the big guy always wore to bed as he soaked it with tears. The wet tracks on his cheeks were gently wiped away by a calloused thumb. His rigid body grew soft, and his breathing evened out.
The soft voice of Jak and the touch of a hand stroking through his hair lulled him back to blissfully dreamless sleep again.
It was light outside the next time he woke. Daxter wasn’t sure what had woken him but the wonderful smell of food could definitely have something to do with. His stomach growled loudly to confirm it. He rubbed his eyes sleepily and sat up gingerly. He winced when the sudden movement reminded him of last night’s mistreatment. The left side of face felt swollen and his body ached.
“Hungry?”
He turned around and saw Jak standing by the stove and stirring in a saucepan.
‘Jak can cook?’
He must have caught Daxter’s look of disbelief, because he continued.
“You slept through dinner, I’m warming some leftovers I managed to get hold of from the kitchen.”
“Oh.”
“How are you feeling?”
“Fine, I guess.” He really did feel much better after getting some well-needed rest. But he couldn’t believe he slept for so long! He had a vague memory of waking up; yes, it had been from a nightmare. He had been crying but he had been lulled back to sleep by gentle hands that made him feel safe again. His cheeks turned a bit red at the thought. He was such a cry-baby, but he guessed he had a good reason after all. And Jak didn’t seem to mind, hopefully.
He probably should be feeling a bit guiltier than he did, he had killed a person, but now in the light of day he could easier see it in Jak’s point of view. The man had attacked him, and he defended himself. There was nothing else he could have done. He was going to do horrible things to him. Daxter shivered at the unpleasant images that assaulted him. Luckily he was jerked from his gloomy thought by the voice of Jak.
“Dinner will be ready soon, get dressed.”
Sitting at their gangly table in an oversized sweatshirt he nervously played with a fringe on the hem. It wasn’t his shirt actually, that’s why it was so big on him. He could have taken one of his own, but spotting it on the laundry basket he grabbed it and slipped it on. It still smelled of Jak, it was nice. He occasionally looked up at the big guy, not sure what to do or say, yesterday was kind of hard to sum up in words. And they hadn’t really talked yet, about anything… So he stayed where he was, watching the hero silently while he prepared a plate for him.
Jak came over, took the seat opposite to him, and placed a plate of some sort of fish stew in front of him. Not his favourite. But he was hungry and beggars couldn’t be choosers. He grabbed the fork and started to shove it in. For awhile all that was heard was his enthusiastic chewing.
“Why did you leave?” Jak suddenly asked softly. His face was expressionless, but Daxter could sense the insecurity.
“I don’t know,” he answered honestly.
‘Not a good answer, really not a good answer. Where is my wonderful vocabulary when I need it?’
“If you want we can just forget it happened. I won’t do it again, I promise.”
Daxter was surprised to see the slightly haunted look in his friend’s eyes. He put down the fork on the table.
“Well, I think it could be kind of nice if it did.”
He did, he really did.
But Jak was already on his feet, “It was wrong of me and—” Jak froze in midsentence, and turned to look at him with a disbelieving expression. “What?”
He stood up and rounded the table. “I wouldn’t mind if you did it again.”
“You want me to kiss you?” he asked sceptically, and when seeing Daxter coming closer he backed up a couple of steps, very much looking like a wild animal trapped in a corner, looking for escape.
It was kind of cute, Daxter thought. It wasn’t often anyone got a chance of seeing Jak being insecure. He was probably the only one.
“Yeah.” He tried to keep the smile from his face.
Jak frowned. “Are you sure?”
‘Aww, always so fretful, big guy. Well, I just got to give you some help on the way.’
“Jak, this would be the time for you to shut up and kiss me.”
At least it seemed like he could take a hint because suddenly Jak was coming closer instead of backing away. He reached out and gently but still a bit unsure cupped his cheek. Daxter leaned into the touch. He smiled slightly, biting his lip.
“This would be your cue, big guy.”
It still felt a bit awkward at first when Jak pressed his lips against his but it was definitely a good feeling. Were his sleeping pants maybe starting to get a little crowded? Deciding that dinner table and making out was a bad combination, he started to back towards the bed while Jak followed like an obedient puppy, making sure their lips didn’t lose contact for longer than a second.
Daxter found Jak’s eyes straying towards the unfinished dish on the table but continued to drag him along.
“Forget it, I’m not that hungry.” He panted out, a bit surprised over his own neediness.
When he felt the mattress hit the back of his knees he obediently sat down and Jak joined him. He pushed himself higher up on the bed to make room for Jak, who hovered over him. Daxter welcomed him by wrapping his arm around his neck.
“Ok?”
Oh damn, was that hesitation he spotted in Jak’s eyes? Really not the time Jak, really not the god damn time.
“Yeah, definitely baby,” he answered reassuringly and before Jak got another chance to talk or hesitate he pulled him down for another kiss, their lips colliding almost brutally this time, but that didn’t matter. He felt Jak trying to pull away and determinately tightened the grip he had around his neck and sucked enthusiastically on the hero’s tongue.
Too bad Jak was stronger than him.
With a gentle but firm push he managed to separate them again.
‘Damn.’
“Wait. Isn’t this too soon?” Daxter was pleased to see that Jak was at least was looking a little flustered. “You’re hurt, you should be resting.”
‘Concerned, always so concerned.’ Daxter smiled, and placed a slender finger against Jak’s lips.
“Jak, really, I’m fine, please just be quiet for a moment.”
Slower this time, their lips met, and finally Jak complied. It was kind of hard getting in the mood when the other party wasn’t actively participating. But Jak sure could kiss when he wanted to, Daxter thought, dazed. Not that he had anything to compare to, but still, he knew mind-blowing when he experienced it. It would still definitely take some practice for them both, but the kiss lacked the clumsiness from before. He was quite sure that they were looking pretty damn hot right now, where’s a mirror when you need one?
Not able to contain himself any longer he let a long-fingered hand snake in under Jak’s t-shirt and caress a hard abdomen that shivered under his inquisitive hand. He felt pleased with himself when Jak moaned into their kiss when he pinched one of his nipples playfully.
He was confused when Jak suddenly drew back, worried that maybe he gone too far after all. But then he spotted the mischievous expression on his friends. He knew that look well. It was after getting that look he usually found himself dunked under the water in Sandover, or maybe tackled to the ground and tickled mercilessly.
Well, he sure hoped Jak wasn’t planning to do that now.
Fortunately he didn’t, instead he attacked him with his mouth and Daxter was suddenly the one moaning and squirming when Jak started to lick and nip his way down his throat. Occasionally he stopped to gently blow soothingly at Daxter’s abused skin, which made him shiver. He grabbed a hold of blond-green locks, not sure if he wanted to push Jak away or pull him closer. When his collarbone suddenly was sucked fiercely his grip on the hair tightened. Jak grunted.
“Sorry.”
He loosened the hold and decided to dig his fingers into the hero’s shirt instead. He felt hot and flushed, and he welcomed Jak’s probing hands when they started to remove his oversized sweatshirt. Jak’s own shirt soon joined it in a pile on the floor by the bed.
TBC
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I know very bad place to stop, but well I had to stop somewhere or this would have been a very long chapter which you would have to wait for even longer. I guess you can guess what will happen in chapter 10. XD I will try to write faster this time, until then please review!
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