After Friendship

My email seemed to be totally against submitting this chapter since it decided to die on me before I heard back from my beta, but here it is against all odds! ;) I’ll bet you didn’t think I would update this quickly, me neither actually. I guess I felt inspired, I must credit the people here at AFF for that. Your encouraging reviews really gave me a boost!

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Sej: Wow, long review. You make me feel bad, I must get better at writing longer reviews (and longer chapters!) And your dreams now make mine seem much more normal, lol. XD

Daxter in an over-sized t-shirt, now that’s a cute image. Jak would love it.

It was a very special moment for both Jak and Dax in the last chapter so I’m relieved to see that people thought it was ok. I really didn’t want to screw it up.

Still no Tess in this chapter but it’s coming, I’ve already written some parts of it, so stay tuned for chapter four. :)
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Robin: Thank you! That makes me really happy to read. I thought for the longest time about the best way to write Jak’s reaction. It couldn’t be something like just a pat on the back, “you’re human again, that’s nice, lets go.” But still, Jak is not the world’s most emotional guy either so I went with some restrained emotions because he do cares deeply for his little Dax!

Oh, and the romance will come, it will be quite a change for Jak to suddenly have a very human Daxter instead of a little ottsel, prepare for hormones on the loose in this chapter. XD

The cute little moments with Dax can really make you melt. :3 I should have him wear Jak’s clothes more often.
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VeryNaughtyOttsel: Aww, thank you very much for your lovely review! *hugs*
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MasterJak: I still can’t believe that people actually enjoy my action scenes but it makes me very happy. :) Thank you for the review!
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Heh, that was a long author’s note, let’s get on with the actual story!

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Jak sighed and rubbed his aching forehead. It had certainly been a trying day, to say the least. He was relieved to finally be back at the familiar surroundings of the headquarter. He was even more relieved that he had been able to get to their rooms without running into someone. He just wasn’t up to that kind of excitement right now.

After Daxter had passed out he had hurriedly carried him back to the zoomer and was lucky enough to not run into anymore metal heads on the way. He had been painfully aware of what a perfect walking target he was with his hands full of an unconscious elf.

Daxter’s sudden collapse had of course worried him at first, and he thought his heart must have stopped for a second when seeing him fall to the ground. But he soon discovered that the scrawny little elf was ok. Exhausted and a bit sore, but nothing that a good night’s sleep wouldn’t take care of. The light eco seemed to have brought his body back exactly to its original state, which meant any injuries he might have obtained in the fall had been healed. Even that nasty old scar on his left leg that the ottsel had gotten from a metal head claw about a year ago was now gone. He wondered just how badly hurt Daxter would have been if he had not ended up in a pit of white eco. He probably wouldn’t be alive at all. An option he rather avoided thinking about. Jak was most grateful that Daxter hadn’t been awake for the examination he hastily had done with blushing cheeks. There was something very different about looking over your ottsel buddy for injuries and examining your almost naked human friend.

Back at the zoomer he had carefully placed Daxter in the passenger seat and, to his relief, found an old blanket to cover him with. His tunic hadn’t really covered very much of the naked elf. Daxter continued to stay unconscious, and except for a small groan at a particular violent jostle when Jak hit a bump in the ground, he stayed still and quiet which made the ride home a silent affair. That had given the hero some well-needed time to think things through. The day’s events had been quite overwhelming. First he had almost lost the ottsel, and then instead of finding his still body as he had feared, he had found a very much alive human Daxter. After all this time his wish to bring his friend back to normal had come true. That itself was just purely amazing. And now he could finally let his guard down and enjoy that wonderful fact.

He leaned forward in his seat and stroked an unruly tress of hair away from the pale face of the elf lying tucked into their bed in a deep sleep. Daxter’s mouth was slightly ajar and showed a hint of his protruding buck teeth. Jak smiled when a wheezing snore left his lips; he hadn’t heard that sound in a long time. As an ottsel, Daxter was a silent sleeper. He hadn’t realised just how much he missed those little sounds Daxter used to make in Sandover when he was still human. He would enjoy re-remembering little things like that. Though, he was at some level going to miss Daxter’s ottsel habits.

He knew he had to report to Torn soon, but it could wait for a while longer. Selfishly he wanted the moment to last awhile longer. That’s why he had preferred to sneak into their room without anyone noticing them. It would probably cause quite a commotion when Daxter suddenly showed up as a scrawny elf. Everybody at headquarters had never seen him as anything else than an ottsel, and most people even doubted Daxter when he told them that he had been a human once. Now he would finally be able to prove them wrong. Jak smiled, Daxter would have a glorious time when he woke up. And he was going to enjoy seeing him bask in the attention

The only problem now was that he was so used to having his friend as a fuzzy little animal and carrying Daxter in his arms back to the headquarters made it very clear that he was anything but anymore. He wondered what would happen now; should they just continue as usual? Well, that wasn’t really an option because he couldn’t of course carry him around on his shoulder anymore.

Then there was these strange feelings he was having. He looked down at the slightly rounded face of his friend, the slim neck and the hint of collarbone that lay naked where the blanket had slipped away. He was beautiful, in his own special way. Nobody could really call Daxter a classic beauty but there was something about him. He was still wearing Jak’s over-sized tunic and in the blonde’s opinion he looked adorable small and cute in it. With heated cheeks he looked away. Was it appropriate to think your best friend looked cute in your clothes? He doubted it.

He didn’t remember feeling this way when Daxter was human the last time. It felt awkward and strange. With embarrassment he remembered his earlier behaviour when Daxter stumbled into him. His mind had gone blank and he had just stared. Having the petite elf pressed against him had felt strangely nice. He didn’t know what to think of the situation but it must have been his hormones running loose or something. He hoped that he could avoid any further embarrassment in the future. This was certainly not the time to act like some horny teenager towards his newly returned childhood friend.

He kneaded his still slightly acing arm, which was pretty much healed and well again. He had used a small amount of the green eco they had stored in their room for minor injuries. With a sigh he got up from his chair. Daxter would probably be sleeping for awhile longer so he might of well get something done while he waited. First off he should report back about their mission, to avoid a cranky Torn later. He would definitely be interested in the light eco. And it probably would be wise to mention that Daxter wasn’t looking entirely like himself anymore. He knew Dax would have loved the chance to surprise Tattooed Wonder himself but if Jak knew one thing about Torn, it was that he didn’t like surprises. His stomach suddenly growled loudly; maybe some food wouldn’t be such a bad idea either.

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The first thing Daxter’s brain registered when he woke up was the wonderful feeling of being warm and lying on something soft. He stretched lazily and burrowed himself deeper into the wonderful smooth beddings with a groan of appreciation. He was in heaven.

When his brain slowly started to catch up with him he registered that he was not lying on his regular sleeping place, which was usually the pillow or Jak’s chest. A big grin spread across his face when he remembered why, he wouldn’t fit on any of those places anymore. He was human again. God that felt good to say, it was worth repeating. He slowly opened his eyes and peeked out from under the covers, but quickly retreated to his dark cocoon when the blinding light hit him. He laid there in the darkness for awhile just listening to the silence of the room. He wondered where Jak was. He wasn’t exactly worried for the big guy, since he was lying in their bed; logically Jak must have been the one who brought him there, so he should be alright. He was surprised that he actually managed to stay unconscious the whole ride back to the headquarters. He still felt a bit out of it, but he definitely felt a lot better than before.

He decided that it was about time that he left his little nest of warmth so he peeled off the covers and gingerly sat up. He looked around, and as expected, the room was empty. He noticed that he was still wearing Jak’s large tunic. Daxter hoped he would get some new clothes soon which would be both better fitted and without dried metal head blood on them. A shower and some food wouldn’t be too bad, either. Luckily, one of his wishes was granted in that moment when Jak walked in with a tray of food.

“Good, you’re awake, just in time for dinner,” Jak said when he found the dishevelled redhead sitting up in the bed.

He sat the tray down on the edge of the bed and took a seat beside it.

“So how you’re feeling?” he inquired.

“Can’t complain.” Daxter inhaled the wonderful smell of food.

He grabbed one of the plates and placed it in his lap. He dug in greedily on the surprisingly tasty stew and took a large bite of the slightly dry, but still passable, bread. Jak had gotten hold of the good stuff this time.

“Where have you been?” he asked around a mouthful of food.

The blond took the time to swallow before he answered. “I reported to Torn and fixed us some dinner.”

“So what did Tattooed Wonder say this time?”

“Nothing much, but he seemed pretty interested in the eco of course. He will probably send a team to check it out as soon as possible.”

“Well, I hope you made that cheap old goat pay us enough at least.”

Jak rolled his eyes. “You’d better not say that so he hears it.”

Daxter huffed and took another large bite of his bread. “I’m not afraid of him,” he muttered. Which of course was a lie. More accurately, he was not afraid of Torn when Jak was around to protect him. Alone was a totally different matter.

Jak didn’t comment but lifted an eyebrow in disbelief.

Daxter quickly changed the subject. “Do we at least have the rest of the day off?”

“Yeah. So what do you want to do?” He was looked over with one of Jak’s typical worrying glances. “Or maybe you should just rest today.”

“Naaw, that’s just boring. I’m fine, big guy, let’s celebrate my new looks. How about you teach me how to drive?” Daxter wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Jak grunted. “Maybe another day.”

“Jaak,” Daxter whined but was ignored. “Fine, then I want to go shopping instead.”

Jak seemed to come to the conclusion that shopping was the lesser of two evils and went along with it. Besides, Daxter still didn’t have anything decent to wear so it was much needed. For the shopping tour he borrowed an old outgrown tunic and the smallest pair of pants Jak could find. With a belt around his waist he managed to get everything to stay up on his thin structure. He took a look in the mirror and grimaced; he looked ridiculous. He heard Jak chuckle in the background.

He growled low in his throat. “I should make you wear some of Tess’s clothes, than nobody would be looking at me.”

“They probably wouldn’t fit, but come to think about it, I think they would fit you perfectly.” Jak smiled smugly. “Maybe I could ask her, you would look cute in a dress.” He made an attempt to head for the door.

“You’ll regret that comment,” Daxter warned before he, with all the force he could muster, tackled the blond. Maybe for once he could actually get an upper-hand. He was no little ottsel anymore. Their play-fight during his ottsel time hadn’t really been much of a play-fight at all since Jak easily could have picked him up between his thumb and index finger anytime he wanted. But to think it would be much more different now, he quickly learned, was wishful thinking.

Jak hit the wall, at first taken by surprise by the weight that suddenly pounced on him. But their positions were quickly reversed, and Daxter found himself being the one pinned to the wall.

“You were saying,” Jak said with a haughty smile while pressing in closer. He gritted his teeth and tried to push away the annoyingly self-satisfied elf, but his flailing arms were efficiently caught by his wrists and pinned on either side of his head

Daxter was not someone to admit defeat easily so he bucked his hips in attempt to escape, which didn’t budge Jak one bit, but it did bring a moan from his lips. He stilled and looked puzzled at the hero, who had closed his eyes. Then he realised that he had practically rammed his groin right into the Jak’s. He blushed crimson, embarrassed not only by his action but by a part of his anatomy that really shouldn’t be reacting right now.

“I—” he started to say, but forgot what he had been about to say just as quickly. Jak had opened his eyes and was staring down at him. Was it his imagination, or had also leaned in a bit closer? His breath caught in his throat. Like a flawlessly imitation of a deer caught in the headlights he stood perfectly still, forgetting all about escaping. He felt Jak’s lips brush lightly against his cheek when the hero leaned forward and spoke in his ear.

“I win.”

Daxter shuddered and tried to form a coherent thought from the mush once called his brain.

“Yeah big guy, you win,” he finally managed to croak out and breathed a sigh of relief when Jak backed off. He quickly pushed off the wall. “I’m going to take a shower before we head out,” he blurted out before he quickly rushed to the bathroom leaving a surprised Jak behind.

‘This is wrong, this is wrong, this is so wrong,’ Daxter repeated over and over again to himself where he was sitting on the toilet seat with his head leaning heavily in his hands. He was now actually grateful for Jak’s big pants that had been able to hide the beginning of a hard on he had gotten after being pressed between Jak and the wall.

‘Naked Torn, no wait, naked Torn in a G-string!’ He thought vigorously and shuddered at the nasty image that popped up in his head. Slowly he felt his length soften. He was not going to jack off with his best friend in mind, his little problem was just going to have to go away on its own. It was just a combination of close contact and some crazy hormones, right?

He needed a shower, a cold shower.

Jak breathed a sigh of relief at Daxter strange, but blissfully, quick exit. ‘What’s wrong with me?’ What if Daxter had noticed?’ His trousers felt uncomfortably tight and he sat down on the bed in hopes of easing the pressure. He ran a hand through his mess of blond and green locks. If this was how it was going to be he really needed to try avoiding any close contact with Daxter. But when the redhead had bucked his slim hips right into his it had felt wonderfully good. Too good, it shouldn’t feel like that at all. Daxter was a guy, and his best friend for that matter. ‘This is so messed up!’ He groaned and flung himself back on the bed.

When Daxter returned from his shower the pressure in Jak’s pants had luckily eased and he prayed that it would stay that way. He smiled slightly at the small elf’s still rather comical appearance and his struggles to keep Jak’s pants in place on his slender hips. He got up from the bed and retrieved his gun; you could never be too careful.

“Ready?” he inquired.

“Ready whenever you are.”

Jak was thankful that Daxter decided to let the awkward moment from before slide.

On their way out they ran into Torn in one of the headquarters’ narrow hallways. Jak could almost see the former ottsel bursting with excitement beside him. But before Daxter even got a syllable out the old Krimzon guard made sure to destroy his fun.

“So this is the rat?”

“Heey!”

“He sounds the same alright. Too bad” he said with a snort and walked past them. He glanced over his shoulder. “Don’t be late tomorrow.” Jak nodded.

Daxter looked up accusingly at him. “Aww, you already told him Jak, you big party pooper!”

“I might have mentioned something about you not being your usual self anymore.”

“You’re no fun!” Daxter huffed and gave him a light punch on the shoulder.

Well, he could live with that. Better a disappointed Daxter than a dead one. He was likely to end up with a knife against his throat if Torn didn’t recognise him. Jak preferred to avoid any dangerous misunderstandings with the former Krimzon guard. Unknown people in the headquarters were dead people. Act first and ask later was Torn’s motto.

“So what’re you doing tomorrow?” Daxter asked while he, with quick strides, made his way towards the exit door. Jak hurried his steps to keep up with his friend’s joyful bouncing.

“Torn’s got a new mission for me. It shouldn’t take too much time. You could stay with Tess at the bar in the meantime if you want. She would probably like some company.”

Daxter stopped in the middle of another leap and glanced over his shoulder with a frown.

“I’m not coming with you?” His ears slumped slightly.

Jak winced at the pitiful expression that was directed towards him.

“Dax, I’m sorry, it’s just that—“

“I’m in the way, right?”

“It’s not like that. I just don’t want you to get hurt. I can’t keep you on my shoulder anymore, I can’t protect you.”

“I can protect myself.” Even as he said it, Jak could see that even Daxter knew it was a lie. He was in no way totally helpless, but he had never fought against Krimzon guards and metal heads on regular basis like Jak had.

He sighed. “Dax, you don’t even know how to use a gun,” he argued.

“You could teach me,” the redhead answered stubbornly.

“But not in one day.” He walked up to him. “Daxter,” he put his hand on a bony little shoulder. “Please just stay with Tess tomorrow,” he pleaded.

Daxter squirmed and finally heaved a big sigh. “Alright big guy, but just this once.”

At least he won this time, Jak thought with relief, but he knew this would just be the first of many battles. He didn’t know how many more he could win in the future. But he was not going to place Daxter in a dangerous situation, no matter what.

“Let’s go and find you some clothes,” he said and ruffled the flaming mass of hair which to his satisfaction earned him a smile back on Daxter’s face again.

TBC

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That’s all for this time but I don’t think you will have to wait for chapter four for too long, I’m having fun writing it right now. Please review and maybe my hands will type just a little bit faster. ;) And look no cliffhanger, I can end a chapter without them! XD