Fun and Games

 

AN:  Let’s hurry up and get started quickly, before school starts up again.  Come on everyone, on to chapter two, quick!

 

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Sione: Yes, it is a very mean thing to say.  Unfortunately, people in Sandover seem predisposed to dislike the little redhead.  Maybe if he laid off the wise remarks… Too bold for his own good sometimes! Hehehe.

 

Sej:  Thank you so much, sweetie-darling! *hugs*  I’m glad you liked it.  Good luck with your own writing, and I hope we’ll have time to chat together soon!  I can’t wait to start our little (or not so little…) project in earnest.

 

Mazu:  Here’s your update, and thanks for reading :)

 

Illyric:  Thanks much!  Hopefully the balance of cute and angsty will stay pretty even.   Or maybe cute will manage to win out.  That wouldn’t break my heart, if you know what I mean…

 

JunkCollector:  Yes, yes… FAG it is and shall be.  Your entire review was right on the money, you insightful little thing, you.  Thanks so much for all the kind words, praises, and inspirational presents!  It was my utmost pleasure to add freckles and such for you. *curtsies*

 

VeryNaughtyOttsel:  Thank you kindly!  I agree about there not being enough Precursor Legacy stuff floating around.  Just doing my part to remedy that, wink wink.

 

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Characters:  Jak and Daxter, and Sandover Village, and all the other characters mentioned belong to Naughty Dog, Inc.

 

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     “Thirty… thirty seven, I think.”  With an immense yawn, Daxter stretched hard.  As he did so the grass beneath him bent and twisted, the fragrance of its crushed blades fresh and sweet in the cool night air.  “That sound right to you, Jak?”

     The green-blonde next to him just smiled and poked his drowsy friend in the side.  Then he tapped a thin shoulder twice.

     “Okay then, thirty nine.  Jeez, that’s a lot’a shooting stars!”

     Jak nodded, rolling onto his back once more to gaze up at the night sky.  The shooting stars had been coming uncommonly thick and fast that evening.  It had been a great idea to climb the bluff over the big falls to watch them, if he did think so himself.  Tucking his arms behind his head Jak glanced at the redhead by his side.  Views like this were especially nice when seen in good company.

     “It’s too bad Keira didn’t come with us,” Daxter mused, already sleepy and thus unusually quiet.  They had been running hard most of that day, chasing a bigger than average flock of seagulls back and forth across the beach.  The stack of nervously shed feathers they had collected was impressive.  “She’d think this was awesome.  Y’know, Jakkie-boy, sometimes I think ol’ Green doesn’t trust us with her.  Otherwise he’d let her come along with us at least some of the time, right?”

     Jak chuckled. 

     It was true that lately the Green Eco Sage had been keeping a much more wary watch on the three of them when they were all together.  Jak supposed it made sense, in a way.  The only three teenagers in Sandover were bound to think up more and more creative ways to get into trouble the older they got and the less content they grew with their tiny village life.  And then there was the whole “girl” thing…  No way in creation Samos would let his precious daughter wander out at night, in the dark, far away from parental supervision, in the company of two rambunctious boys.

     The young adventurer sighed in mild annoyance.  It had been so much simpler when they were too little to care about such inane details as gender.

     “Hey, don’t worry about it, Jak.”  The redhead was quick to mumble a reassurance.  “If she really wanted ta come that bad she would’a went off ta bed like a good little girl an’ then slipped out the window.  It won’t break her heart.”

     Jak nodded slowly.  Dax was probably right.  Keira didn’t let much stop her when she put her mind to doing something, least of all her father’s huffy puttering.  She probably just had some inventive little project she was working hard on and didn’t want to be distracted from that evening.  Maybe those “scout fly” things she had been so excited about recently.  From the way she talked, they would be pretty impressive gadgets when finished.

     Smiling again, Jak rolled to face the redhead.  He was on the verge of indicating that they might head back down to the village and take a peek at the Hagai hut, just to see if Keira was possibly still awake.  If she was, she might show them how her inventions were coming along.  But then Jak paused. 

     Daxter had fallen asleep.

     Letting his reaching hand fall limp, the green-blonde gazed at his friend in bemusement.  While he, Jak, was generally a laid back kind of guy, Daxter was usually as full of energy as a blue eco vent—until he decided it was time for a nap.  Then the little guy could be out like a light whenever or wherever struck his fancy.  Lulled by the warm sun, he had once fallen asleep on top of a briefly exposed sandbar at low tide and been in for a very rude awakening with the onrush of the first returning waves.

     Jak snorted quietly, partly in annoyance and partly in amusement.  So much for their half-formed plan of staying awake all night to see all of the shooting star shower and then watching the sunrise from the bluff.  Silently he studied his friend, curled up on his side snoozing away.  Daxter looked deceptively calm and innocent like that.  His head of wild red hair was pillowed on one outstretched arm, the other arm hugged tight to his chest.  One long ear flickered slightly as Jak watched, a rapid twitch before going motionless once more.

     With a sigh, Jak flopped back down onto the grass.  It looked like they wouldn’t be checking up on Keira’s tinkering that night after all.  Though…  He looked back up at the vastness of space in time to catch sight of yet another falling star before it winked and disappeared.  It was a beautiful night to be up where they were.  Shame to waste the half an hour’s climb it took to see all this.

     The sky was a blanket of deep black velvet, studded with a million bright stars.  A brilliant white moon hung fat and full over the sea, much higher now than it had been when the boys had first climbed to their current perch.  A pale halo of light surrounded it, muting the surrounding starlight in a wide ring, and wispy clouds were beginning to eddy around it as they crept across the sky.  It had been clear just a bit ago.  The wind was picking up.

     The night and the moon and the stars and the sea…  Jak took a deep breath of cool, fresh salt air.  He had foggy memories of having lived somewhere else once, long ago and far away.  Compared to what he remembered of that other place, wherever it was, Sandover was an earthly paradise.  The young adventurer smiled.  All was right with his world.

     Beside him, Daxter shifted and murmured in his sleep.  Jak in turn scooted closer automatically until they were shoulder to shoulder, his larger frame shielding the smaller somewhat from the rising breeze.  They couldn’t fall asleep there all night, he knew.  Without a tent they would be cold and soaked with dew by morning.  But for now, it wouldn’t hurt to let his friend doze for just a little longer.

     Tentatively Jak inched closer still, until he could roll to his side and drape a careful arm over the redhead.  That was even better.  Their combined body heat that would have been unbearable just a few hours ago in the heat of the day felt wonderful now.  Still, despite how nice it was to lie so close to his friend, Jak remained wary.

     In the week since they had shared a windowsill seat and an incredibly intense bonding experience, the green-blonde had gone out of his way to maintain as much physical contact with Daxter as he could.  He wasn’t sure quite why exactly, but he had begun to crave it.  He had even started having strange dreams starring the little bucktoothed nuisance in roles normally much better suited to Keira, or other nicely endowed girls.  It was enough to make anyone blush, which Jak did slightly just recalling.

     The latest dream, the one he’d had only the night before, was the most vivid and startling.  In it he had been playing chase with a cute little redhead.  Jak still wasn’t sure at what point in the dream he had realized it was Daxter he was pursuing with romantic intentions and not a slight, willowy girl, but that didn’t make him want to catch the other any less.  Far from it.  There had been no embarrassment when he had finally run down and grabbed his quarry, spun him around so they were face to face.

     Dream-Dax had grinned hugely, like they were sharing a joke.  “Whoops!  Guess I’m not a babe after all, huh?  No boobs!”  He had placed his hands on his own flat chest, as if to prove it—then slid them to rest on Jak’s chest instead.

     The young adventurer’s blush intensified as the remembered dream images recapped themselves in his mind.  Both boys had been laughing, the redhead almost petting Jak’s well-defined chest through the blue cotton tunic, when suddenly their lips were meeting.  It had felt right.  Natural.  As had grasping thin upper arms and pulling the smaller body closer immediately after, pressing them firmly together from chest to knees…

     Jak groaned quietly and squirmed.  Thinking about it now was having largely the same effect on him as it had that morning.  Only, this time he wasn’t jolting up in bed—hard, sweating, and panting wildly—then throwing a silent tantrum when he realized that the object of his nighttime fantasies was soundly asleep and blissfully unaware downstairs instead of there beside him waiting to act out the dream experience.  This time he was lying pressed up against the warm body of his friend, and being forced to hold himself almost motionless.  Maddening. 

     It was all very odd to Jak, and yet at the same time it wasn’t odd at all.  He was better friends with Daxter than he was with Keira.  Was it so strange that once the seed of the idea had been planted in his head, it had grown into an almost immediate attraction to the redhead?  He didn’t much think so.  Thus, it had stung a bit when Daxter seemed to completely forget that their night in the window had ever happened.  A week later he still hadn’t mentioned it, while Jak…

     Jak was left wondering about all sorts of interesting new things.  Namely, what it would be like if they were touching one another instead of simply touching themselves in close proximity.  He was willing to bet a tidy stash of Precursor orbs that it would really be very good.  There wouldn’t be any difference between Dax’s hands on him and those of any girl, after all.  Someone else touching you was someone else touching you, and therefore undoubtedly better than self-service.

     Now all he had to do was get Daxter to quit pretending that what had happened didn’t matter and participate in his idea.  And therein lay the difficulty.

     Without fully meaning to, Jak tightened the arm he had draped over the redhead and sighed heavily.  His breath ruffled the fine hair at the back of Daxter’s neck, causing what seemed to be an involuntary shiver.  Dax squeaked softly and curled back against Jak and his warmth.  Surprised, Jak quickly stilled.

     Whoa there.

     Tentatively, the green-blonde leaned forward the slightest bit and blew lightly.  Another shudder from Daxter, another unconscious squirm backwards until his back was firmly pressed against Jak’s front.  Jak slowly grinned.  Well, well.  Dipping his head, he put his lips to the soft skin at the nape of Dax’s neck.

     “Mmmph…”

      Jak was hard pressed not to chuckle with slightly evil amusement at the sound.  That the redhead liked what he was doing, at least on a subconscious level, was clear.  Therefore, it was alright if he continued.  Daxter had inadvertently been the one to start their last such encounter.  Jak could be the one to initiate the next one, couldn’t he?  Of course he could.

     Gently, so as not to bring his friend fully awake, Jak tugged at the brown strip of supple leather around the redhead’s waist.  It came loose fairly easily, as did the bright red sleeveless tunic under it.  In a matter of minutes Jak was able to covertly slip a hand under a final barrier, Daxter’s white shirt.  The high collar of said shirt tickled his chin as he continued to nuzzle the back of the redhead’s sensitive neck. 

     It was difficult not to give in to temptation and move too fast with all the response he was getting from his unwitting friend.  Dax was shifting fitfully under the touches as Jak petted and stoked his stomach and lower chest, making all kinds of interesting sounds.  Quiet, almost continuous muttering was increasingly interspersed with soft whines the longer the petting went on.  Other noises were in there, too, little coos and whimpers that sounded almost like they could come from some sort of small animal. 

     All of it made Jak smile and fight back a laugh.  It was almost as if he were playing some sort of friendly prank on Daxter.  Remarkably sweet was the fact that Daxter had been the very one to teach a shy, abnormally quiet boy what a prank even was, all those years ago.  What a way to pay him back. 

     “Aanh…”

     It was an honest to goodness moan, and it had Jak hiding a huge grin in his friend’s fragrant hair.  He took a breath there.  Mmm.  Herbal soap and fresh grass.  Very nice.  Even nicer when Daxter suddenly moved the hand that had been clenching against his own chest, bringing it down to clutch at Jak’s wrist.

     Jak jumped.  He wasn’t sure if Daxter’s unconscious grab was an effort to stop him or encourage him.  Despite the grip on his arm, though, or maybe because of it, he began to slide his fingers lower.  They traced the ties of his friend’s loose white pants before moving down, ghosting across… exactly what Jak thought he was going to find. 

     Though he was excited, more than eager, the green-blonde had to pause.  It was one thing to have a hand under his sleeping friend’s shirt.  If he were caught, it could still be played off as a failed attempt at a surprise tickle attack.  It was something else entirely to be palming his friend’s growing erection through his pants, and knowing that he, Jak, was entirely the cause of it.  That was a pretty damning thing to get busted at.

     Well, there was no going back now.  He had been thinking about this for a whole week, hadn’t he?  He wanted to do it.  Surely Daxter wouldn’t mind too much, at least after he got over the initial surprise.  After all, they were best friends forever, closer than close.  Dax had said so himself.  Resolve strengthened, Jak gently tightened his hand.

     “Nnh!”  The redhead noticeably stirred, then arched against the overly friendly caress with a sharp gasp.  His grip on Jak’s wrist contracted convulsively.  “Ahn… Jak…”  Suddenly Daxter went completely rigid, frozen in place.  “J-JAK?!”

     Knowing his pal was now undisputedly wide awake, Jak had to laugh.  He nodded happily against Daxter’s shoulder, all warmth and reassurance—for the two seconds before he was knocked flat on his back.  He let out a startled “oof!” as he registered both the unexpected smack and the redhead’s body heat immediately disappearing from his side.  What in the world was this about?

     “Jak, what the hell are you doin’?!”  In the moonlight Daxter’s cheeks appeared impossibly dark, giving away a raging blush.  He had a fist half raised, as if he couldn’t make up his mind whether or not to take a swing.  “I almost knocked yer freakin’ teeth out, ya jerk!”

     The green-blonde blinked in surprise.  He propped himself back up on his elbows as Daxter scrambled further out of his reach, a puzzled frown creeping onto his face.  That certainly wasn’t the reaction he had been expecting.

     Jak gave his friend a hurt look.

     “H-hey, don’t go givin’ me the kicked crocadog eyes!  Yer the one doin’ weird stuff!”  Dax was several feet away by now.  His shirt was still hiked up under the gaping red tunic, clearly showing a thin, heaving chest as he panted.  The tent in his pants was also incredibly obvious.  “Jeez!  What the heck’s that all about, anyway?”

     Jak winced under the glare.  He didn’t know how to respond to that.  How had things gone downhill so fast?  He had been so certain Daxter wouldn’t be angry.  A little annoyed, maybe.  A bit embarrassed, even.  But really and truly angry?  Feeling lost, he simply sat up and shrugged uncomfortably. 

     “Ya don’t know?  What kind’a answer is that?  Ya just felt me up, fer cryin’ out loud!” 

     The disbelief in his friend’s tone just made Jak feel worse.  How was he supposed to explain himself if he didn’t even fully know what his motives were?  He liked Daxter.  They were best friends.  He wanted to touch the redhead and be touched in return, without the awkwardness of a gender difference or anything else between them.  They had a bond that was just… 

     Even in his mind, Jak struggled to put words to his feelings for Dax, how they were growing and changing, but in a good way.  There weren’t words, as far as he knew, that perfectly described what he felt.  How could he explain something like that, even if he did decide to verbally try?

     In the end he just sat there like a lump.  It was a more dignified alternative to stuttering stupidly, or playing charades in random directions until they were both frustrated.  It would only upset Dax more if he thought he didn’t know what Jak was trying to say.  The little redhead had been funny about that since they had first met.

     The longer they stared at one another there on top of the bluff in the darkness, the less angry Daxter became.  He seemed to deflate, his posture relaxing and expression melting from an upset frown into a confused one.  He even moved back to Jak’s side, if a bit hesitantly.

     “Wow.  Ya really don’t know, do ya?”

     Jak shook his head.  He wished he did.  Or at least, could translate his reasons better.  Tentatively he leaned into the redhead, until they were shoulder to shoulder.  At least Dax had decided it was safe to come near him again.

     “You, uh… ya look like ya got the same problem I do, at least.  Thanks fer that, by the way.”  The light smack he delivered to the back of Jak’s head did nothing to conceal Daxter’s nervousness.  “Misery loves company, I guess. Too strung up fer yer own good or somethin’?”

     Jak snorted.  Hardly.  One didn’t necessarily require company to take care of a problem like that.  He just really wanted some company.  Daxter’s company, to be precise, as well as his participation.

     “So, what, then?”  Daxter looked well and truly lost.  “Were ya tryin’ ta be funny or somethin’?  ‘Cause if ya were, let me tell ya, it’s not—”

     With an air of great purpose, Jak reached out and quickly grabbed his friend’s wrist.  He would get his point across, one way or another.  Now, if only the other wouldn’t completely freak out at what he was about to do…

     “Jak, what the—?!”  Daxter let out a quick yelp, but didn’t jerk away.  His eyes were wide with uncertainty, curiosity, and something else as the captive hand was firmly guided to rest over the green-blonde’s clothed erection.  “J-Jak?”

     Making sure he had the smaller boy’s undivided attention, Jak locked their gazes and delivered a very significant look as he slowly reached out to place his free hand back where it so obviously belonged at the moment.  Only when he felt the heat of the redhead’s arousal through the cloth wraps around his palm did Jak release the redhead’s wrist.

     It was obvious the second the meaning of it all dawned on Daxter.  His mouth fell open and his ears shot up vertical in amazement.  “Oh, holy damn.  You, uh… seriously?”

     Jak nodded.

     “Ta each other?!”

     Jak nodded.  It wasn’t that hard a concept to grasp.  Rolling his eyes, he gave a pointed rub to the still-covered flesh under his hand.  The noise Daxter made this time was obviously a barely-stifled squeak.  He jerked slightly under the touch… but did not pull his own hand away.  Jak considered that a point in his favor.

     “W-wow…  Uh, that’s… that’s pretty…”

     The green-blonde smiled, relieved.  With one more firm rub for good behavior, he reached for the ties of Daxter’s pants.

     Dax, however, seemed to require a little more clarification before he would return the attention in kind.  “So, uh, ya wanna just… play?”

     Pausing, Jak considered the question.  He tilted his head.  Elaboration, please.

     “Ya know… play.  Like, fool around.  Is that what ya want?  Help each other out?”  That explanation obviously seemed reasonable to the redhead.  He nodded slowly to himself, as if it made sense.  “We goof around together, both feel good, get a little practice in touchin’ somebody other than our own fine selves… that could actually work.  Is that it, Jak?”

     It wasn’t, really.  Not entirely.  Those were good points, but he was after a little something more.  Still, Jak didn’t have a better explanation at the moment, at least that he could readily share.  So he just nodded and offered an agreeable sort of shrug.  That would do for now, until he could better sort out his thoughts.

     There was a pause.  Then, unexpectedly, Daxter flashed him a smile.  It was obviously still a bit wary, even in the dark, but it was a smile all the same.  “I dunno how ta tell ya this, Jakkie-boy, but I think I might be a bad influence on ya.” 

     Jak was already laughing when the redhead pounced, the half-tackle not altogether surprising.  When in doubt or awkward situations, roughhouse.  He gamely allowed himself to sprawl and end up back on his back in the grass, but didn’t let Daxter have the upper hand for long.  There were other games he was more interested in at that particular moment.

     They tussled for just a short time, and gentler than they were used to.  Still, it was somehow more intense than usual.  When the impromptu wrestle was over, as suddenly as it had begun, they lay together warm, flushed, and panting.  Mere inches apart, so close strained breaths could mingle, their arousals were more evident than ever. 

     Jak lightly rested his hand on Daxter’s hip, this time waiting for concrete permission to do anything more.  And if the redhead reaching down and tugging at Jak’s pants in turn wasn’t permission then he didn’t know what was.  Jak plucked the ties loose easily, one hand slipping inside baggy fabric as Daxter did the same.  He hummed appreciatively; Dax let out a pleased murmur. 

     All things considered, there was an incredible lack of awkwardness when they got right down to it.  Eclipsing any lingering uncertainty was a new, bright rush of excitement and need.  Jak closed his eyes and sighed happily, shifting against his friend.  There was no fumbling with strange parts or fear of being too rough with the other.  No need for constant verbal communication or reassurance—they knew each other’s reactions much too well for that.

     The sudden sense of freedom was amazing, too.  So far from the village, up high and in the dark, no one could see them.  No one else would know what they were up to, no one could care about propriety, and so they wouldn’t have to face getting in trouble later.  Everything was right in the Land of Jak.

     He petted through the fine red hair that had so confounded him the week before, pulling a sound from Daxter that might have been smothered laughter.  Jak chuckled back, leaning forward to rest his chin on the squirming redhead’s shoulder as he explored.  He didn’t need to see to figure out what Daxter liked—the other’s little noises and movements told him all he needed to know and more.

     The hot, moist flesh felt good in his hand.  He played with it, rather carefully, somewhat distracted by the feel of long fingers learning him in the very same way.  The base was a good anchor to grip and start from.  A drop of fluid at the tip made things slicker and easier as he drug his fingers over the smooth head and down the length, feeling the skin, the veins, the curve of it.  The similarities he could distinguish between himself and the redhead just by feel were intriguing.  Jak felt he could quickly get used to this.

     “Uhn…  Ah!  Damn, that’s good!” 

     Another big plus to their seclusion—Daxter didn’t have to half kill himself trying to keep quiet when he was by nature gregarious to his very bones.  It seemed perfectly natural to hear him muttering feverishly in the heat of the moment, and Jak let the pleasure-filled sounds and nonsense phrases rush past his ears without trying to decipher what they meant.  He got the general idea.

     A particularly sure stroke earned Jak a small cry and the redhead’s hand tightened reflexively.  The green-blonde gasped, mouthing his friend’s name.  Daxter smirked, but warmly, and repeated the motion, nearly purring in Jak’s ear. 

     “Yeah.  Yeah, I bet ya like that.”

     Unsurprisingly it was the redhead who soon took charge of the rhythm.  Jak was fine with that, so long as there was contact between them and moving, even if slowly, was allowed.  Apparently it was, and in no time they had fallen into an easy pattern of grip and thrust that had them both panting and writhing against one another.  It could have gone on all night… except for the fact that it couldn’t go on all night.  Neither of them had the patience for that.

     Jak rubbed his cheek insistently against Daxter’s shoulder.  He wanted to shove himself upright, roll on top of the smaller redhead for more friction between their bodies rather than just their hands and groins.  He might have if he hadn’t suspected a solid kick would be his reward.  Wisely he let it be, though he still wished at the very least they weren’t wearing so many clothes.

     “Oh, man…”  Daxter let out a harsh breath.  The rhythm he had set was faltering.  “Jak... are ya… c-can we…?”

     Jak nodded quickly, face buried in the juncture of his friend’s neck and shoulder.  He didn’t want the experience to end, per se, but couldn’t bear for it to go on either.  They were both going to go crazy.  Obligingly he tunneled his hand, pumping harder and faster as Daxter did the same.

    They came almost at the same time, soaking one another’s hands.  The green-blonde muffled a yell in Daxter’s shirt, but the redhead’s shout rang out loud and clear.  Jak was insanely pleased to hear his name.  Without thinking, caught in the throes of his own pulsing release, he lifted his head and placed his lips against Daxter’s. 

     For a moment, just a moment, there was hard, desperate pressure back.  Then he felt himself being pushed away.  What was this?  He blinked at the smaller boy in reproach, somewhat offended. 

     “Ya think I’m a girl or somethin’?”  Though mussed, sweaty, grass-stained, and still panting heavily, Daxter managed to look suitably counter-offended.  “Only kiss when it’s serious, dummy!”

     Jak quirked an eyebrow.  They were covered in each other’s bodily fluids.  That wasn’t serious enough for the little whiner?

     “Not this.  I mean… this is just fer fun, right?  Just foolin’ around.  This… this doesn’t count.”

     Though the other’s tone seemed a bit unsure, Jak let his ears slowly drift upward on a current of hope.  That sounded an awful lot like Daxter was allowing them a loophole.  Like swiping a pie off a windowsill wasn’t really stealing if they were really hungry, maybe touching each other this way wasn’t wrong, either.  They were both healthy young men, after all, and as such had certain… needs. 

     “So we’re cool with this, right?  We can do this kinda stuff when we get antsy.  Just between us.  Fer practice, an’ stuff.  And since we’re best pals.  But no kissin’.”

     Jak actively disliked that rule.  For some reason, he felt that future experiences might not be as fulfilling without a kiss or two.  However, he wasn’t going to push his luck and make the redhead refuse entirely.  Somewhat sadly he nodded. 

     “Good.”  Dax looked tentatively pleased.  “Now that we got that settled… how’re we gonna clean up, huh Jakkie-boy?  Any bright ideas?”

     It was a good question.  Jak considered their sticky hands and damp thighs, their position almost a full mile from the nearest fresh water that wasn’t cascading with incredible force down a huge drop.  Quickly dismissing a handful of half-baked notions, he absently flicked the tip of his tongue over his hand. 

     Huh.  Salty.  Not too terrible.  Not that bad at all actually—

     “Jaaak!  That’s disgusting an’—gross, ya nut job!” 

     The green-blonde didn’t miss the note of ‘hey, I’m grudgingly kind of impressed that you actually did something like that’ in the admonishment.  He grinned.  Not like he would be licking anybody else’s junk off his fingers, not in a million years.

     Daxter’s sigh was laced with fond amusement.  “Okay, look.  Rock-paper-scissors for whose hand wraps we use ta clean up this mess.”

     With a mock sigh of his own, Jak stuck out his hand.  He might never win at rock-paper-scissors, but with the promise of future late-night encounters in mind… he could let it go.  He’d had his taste of victory that evening, and the prize was more than worthwhile.  Four seconds later, Jak smiled cheerfully as he lost.

     He was also smiling when he snuck into a certain redhead’s makeshift bed much later that same night, tucking himself next to a smaller, already sleeping form.  He was smiling when he woke up the next morning, said redhead’s dozing arms wrapped unconsciously around him.  And he smiled more than ever as he stole a quick kiss from his blissfully unaware friend.

     Jak had a feeling he was going to like this game.

 

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To be continued…

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(2^nd)AN:  I really wanted to get this chapter done before winter break was over, but… bah.  A week later than that isn’t too bad, as far as meeting deadlines goes.  Maybe we’ll see the next one by spring break, who knows!