After Friendship

I’m really sorry to keep you waiting so long for this but I’ve been very busy. March was a terrible month for me, it felt like the teachers were planning to suffocate us with work. And at the middle of all the chaos I’ve also tried to get a job for the summer. So it’s been kind of difficult for me to keep my muse happy, or just find the time to write. But now things are looking better, I got a job, a really good one it seems, and I have finished the two courses that have been slowly killing me this last month. I actually have a little free time before I start my new work. So hopefully my writing will not be too neglected. :)
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Robin: Poor Daxter is getting so little love, well at least he has Jak, and Tess of course too. I’m glad you enjoy their cute little moments. I’m sad to say this chapter has so little of it, I’m feeling slightly fluff-deprived. I’m not even sure if it will be any in the next chapter either, well maybe I can squeeze something in. XD
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AlphaOmegaPsi: Thank you! Sorry to keep you waiting so long for the next chapter.
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Dee: Yes, I would say that’s the main reason why he misses it. I think he enjoys being human but he doesn’t want everything to change because of it.

Heh, yeah I guess people are so used of Daxter being such a sucker for attention so they just tries to ignore him, poor thing. XD
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He had had much worse hangovers, but this could definitely qualify as one of those really bad days, Daxter concluded miserably while staring out at the buzzing street through a dirty window of the bar. When he had woken up that morning he had found himself alone in bed and with a pounding headache. Jak, like the morning person he was, was already up and dressed. Daxter had valiantly tried to hide under the covers in an attempt to stay in bed all day, but Jak had been irritably insistent on chasing him out of there.

Come to think about it, Daxter was not entirely sure exactly how he ended up in their warm, cosy bed in the first place. He hadn’t really been conscious enough for it. He had a vague memory of getting back from the bar, but it ended somewhere around when they arrived at the headquarters. After that it was pretty much blank. He was actually starting to get a bit worried that he could tolerate less alcohol now than before the transformation.

That sure was a scary thought.

But Jak had reassured him that it had probably just been a combination of fatigue and alcohol. He certainly hoped so. It would be a sad day when just a couple of drinks would bring him under the table. And while he had not been required to spend his morning hanging over the toilet seat, he still suffered from a persistent headache that certainly didn’t help to lighten his already sour mood.

Jak was gone.

And that little fact was more annoying than any hangover. The big guy had left for a mission in the sewers a couple of hour ago, and he was now ditched at the bar. He didn’t know any more details, just that the hero expected to be back that afternoon.

‘Oh, joy.’

Jak had been quick to leave that morning, too, maybe so he could avoid any further complaints from the still half-asleep redhead. He had fetched them some breakfast which had been eaten in silence with the occasional interruption of Daxter’s grumbles and complains. He was not a graceful morning person after all, especially if he had a few drinks the evening before.

After breakfast he was quickly, too quickly in his opinion, ushered out of bed and dragged to the Naughty Ottsel. Well, at least the big guy was determined to make sure he got there safely.

‘I guess I should be touched.’

But then Jak was off again just as swiftly and here he was leaning over the bar disk and watching some tiny dust particles fly through the air. ‘This sucks, big time,’ he thought with a grumble. There wasn’t much for him to do either, since it was only midday, and the first customers wouldn’t start to drop in for a few hours.

“What’s with the sour face, Dax?” Tess came up to him and sat down at a stool in front of him. “Still feeling ill?”

Daxter tore his eyes away from the whirling dust, and glanced at her. Then on second thought, he peeked down at her very visible cleavage. But then sighed, and looked away; not even that would do the trick today.

“I just don’t see what I’m doing here when Jak is out there.”

“You’re still thinking about that? Come on, help me clean this place instead.”

And that’s how he ended up cleaning up after last nights customers. Not a very pleasant job, but at least it kept his mind off Jak for awhile. It was irritating to realise just how hard that task really was. He was like a perfect little Jak-stalker. ‘He’s not thinking of me so I will not think of him,’ he thought irritably, and violently attacked the same spot on the floor for the third time with the broom.

It probably took longer than it should to sweep the floor since Daxter was mostly using the broom to get out some suppressed aggression, but finally it looked decently clean. He leaned heavily on the broomstick and wiped his damp forehead on his sleeve; sweating was definitely one of the downside of being back to human.

He watched Tess coming out of the storage room with a frown. This was the first time that morning that Daxter had seen her with anything less than a happy face. Well, she was more than welcome to join his “let’s-glum-all-day-club.”

“What’s up, sugar pie?”

“We ran out of beer last night. I thought we had some left in the stockroom. I really need to get my hands on some more before tonight’s business.”

She crossed her arms and tapped her foot thoughtfully against the floor. Then she glanced at him with a calculating look, and once again that damn happy smile was back on.

“Dax, could you be a darling and watch the bar for me, just for a couple of hours?”

He should have seen it coming.

“Sure, sweet cheeks, anything for you,” he said with as much enthusiasm as he could muster, which wasn’t much.

“Thanks Daxie!” Tess leaned over and gave him a quick peck on the cheek than rushed passed him, but stopped at the door.

“Oh, and by the way, could you wipe the bar disk while I’m out? A guy puked over it last night.” Before he had time to reply she was gone.

Daxter glanced at the bar disk sceptically, then sighed. “It’s not like I have anything better to do,” he muttered forlornly.

He ended up scrubbing angrily on a stubborn old stain on the counter, yet another way to get some built up frustration out. This was not what he had in mind when he was turned into a human again. Was this how it was going to be, he being ditched at the bar or the headquarters every time Jak went on a mission? Then he might as well have stayed in his ottsel form. Because if Jak wasn’t there to enjoy his new body with him, then what’s the point?

‘Wow, I’m really in an emo mood today. Damn, it’s Jak that’s doing this to me!’

Sounds from the front door suddenly brought him out of his gloomy thoughts. He looked up, hoping to spot some early customers that he could talk to. But the ones that walked through the door were definitely not any people he wanted to make conversation with. He gasped, and quickly dived behind the bar disk. Three heavily armed Krimzon Guards had just walked in through the front door.

‘Shit!’ This just wasn’t his day.

Though, come to think about it, that was what he had said about yesterday, too. Maybe this just wasn’t his week.

‘Go away, go away,’ he pleaded silently. But, instead of leaving, he heard the sounds of heavy boots coming closer to his hiding place. He was in so much trouble. A crash made him wince and huddle closer to the bar disk.

“It seems empty,” a gruff voice said.

“Let’s just have a look around.”

‘No, no, go away!’

Daxter’s breathing was becoming closer and closer to hyperventilating. He forced himself to take a deep breath just to avoid passing out. Yes, he admited it, he was scared. He wasn’t brave like Jak; the Krimzon Guards scared the shit out of him. Really it was a logical fear, he told himself; any sane person would want to avoid any type of close contact with them. Especially if you, like him, were part of the underground and were best friend with Jak. Not a very good combination if you wanted to be popular by the rule in this city.

He knew it wouldn’t take long before he was found; they would be stupid if they didn’t look behind the counter. Although, you could never be too sure when it came to the Krimzon Guards. But with his last days of luck he shouldn’t count on it. He frantically begun to search for a better hiding place, and almost was about to head for a stack of boxes before he realised that he was way too big to fit in them with his current body.

The irony almost had him laughing. The one time he could really benefit from being small and fuzzy, he had to go and change back into human the day before. Someone up there must really hate him. But then again, there was the fact that if he was an ottsel he wouldn’t even have to be in this situation in the first place.

He would be with Jak, on his shoulder, where he belonged.

‘Being safe my ass, I would be safer with Jak right now. We’re the Demolition Duo, we should stick together no matter what.’

He shouldn’t be here all alone, he should be with his buddy. So even though Daxter loved his newly returned body he couldn’t help but to think that being an ottsel wouldn’t be so bad, at least sometimes. This was definitely one of those moments when it would come in handy.

‘I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I really wish I was an ottsel right now.’

Daxter almost screamed out loud when his body started to tingle and a sudden burning feeling spread all over his skin. He suppressed most of it but he couldn’t stop the squeak that left his lips. Luckily it came out muffled because there was suddenly something big and suffocating that had landed on top of him, almost like an enormous tent.

“What the—”

He struggled to get the big thing off him but with little success.

“What was that?” he heard the guard with the gruff voice say.

Daxter froze and his ears perked up.

“It came from behind the bar.”

‘Oh shit!’ He started to struggle even more vigorously to get free from the giant tent that had decided to make residence on top of him. Though, he had no actual plan on what to do after he got free. But to run seemed like a pretty good option.

However, before he could make his way out on his own, a hand was there to help him. It grabbed him painfully hard by the scruff of his neck and he found himself dangling in the air just before a Krimzon Guard’s helmet-covered face.

He blinked, surprised, a couple of times, trying to make some sense out of the situation.

‘Have the Krimzon Guards become giants or… Damn, are those my clothes on the ground?’

He looked down at himself, and was met by the sight of an orange coat.

‘When did Tess start to store dark eco behind the bar disk?!’

No, that couldn’t be it, he thought rationally. But did that mean that the eco from the cave had some kind of time limit, did he only get one single day as a human?

‘What kind of lame light eco is that?!’

Daxter was confused, to say the least, but this really wasn’t the time to ponder over it, which he soon discovered when he was violently brought back to present by a rough shake that had his head spinning. He gritted his teeth and was about to curse the stupid Krimzon Guard who seemed to think he was some sort of rag doll, but bit his tongue at the last minute. It wasn’t sure that they knew who he was. He could just be a strange orange animal to them, and he wasn’t about to tell them differently.

‘I’m just a dumb animal, that you can ignore.’ At least he hoped they would come to that conclusion.

“What is this thing?” the one holding him said, and brought the ottsel closer for inspection.

So they hadn’t heard of the Demolition Duo after all. Of course they must know of Jak, everybody did. But these guys definitely didn’t know about the ottsel the hero usually carried on his shoulder. Maybe his luck was returning after all.

“Looks like some kind of animal.”

“I can see that,” the man that was holding him answered irritably.

“Who cares what it is,” the third guard said, and walked past them. “Just get rid of it so we can search the place and get out of here.”

The one holding him shrugged. But if Daxter had been expecting to be put down gently on his feet, he was sadly mistaken. Instead he was tossed over the man’s shoulder, and with an audible crash collided with the shelf behind the bar disk. The violent impact sent the whole construction into motion and a wooden box that had been standing precariously close to the edge on one of the shelves tipped over and fell on top of the dazed ottsel. Daxter gasped in pain when the heavy load landed on him, crushing his right leg in the process. He bit his lip when he, at the last second, remembered to keep any loud curses to himself.

He tried to move to ease the crushing pressure, but the heavy box had him pinned to the ground. His breath was coming in short pants as he tried to get used to the fierce pain in his leg. All he wanted to do was to scream for someone to get the heavy thing off him. But that would only earn him the attention of the guards, and he didn’t expect any help from them. When he realised moving was definitely not helping his situation he lay back, gasping, and tried to stay still in hopes of easing the pain.

He just had to ride it out. Tess would return soon, she would help him. He just hoped the Krimzon Guards would decide to leave before then. He wasn’t sure what they would do to her but it would not be something good, and he wasn’t exactly in any position to help her.

He could hear the guards going through the bar, casting everything aside that wasn’t of interest. Tess would have one hell of time cleaning after they were done crashing the place. At least he knew they wouldn’t find anything useful. The Naughty Ottsel was a place for the rebels to hang out, but they weren’t stupid enough to leave any information there. He just hoped the guards would give up and leave.

A loud crash nearby made him wince, which was a bad idea since that made the pain in his leg flare.

“There’s nothing here, it’s just a waste of time.”

“Make sure to check the back, too.”

He could hear a couple of bottles crash when they went through the store room, but not too long after they finally left. They probably hadn’t been at the bar for much more than fifteen minutes, but it felt like forever for Daxter. He breathed a sigh of relief at the blissful silence. The guards’ exit didn’t exactly change his situation in any way, but it felt better to not be on edge all the time, and he was glad that Tess wouldn’t run into them.

The main question right now was just why he had ended up as an ottsel again. It had been practical of course, and even though he was in a lot of pain at the moment he knew it could been worse if the guards had seen him as a source of information. But still, the fact that he was small and fuzzy again almost made him want to cry. To get one wonderful day as a human and now be back to ottsel state again, that just wasn’t fair in any way. He quickly discovered that he might have glorified the whole ottsel state a bit too much. Being tiny and helpless wasn’t so much fun after all. He was pinned down by a damn box, a box that might have been heavy to lift even in his human state, but he would be quite capable of doing it. And sure he might have got a bruise if it had landed on top of him, but definitely not a crushed leg like he was experiencing right now.

‘I guess size really does matter.’

Time passed slowly for the ottsel, who was beginning to think that the box was determined to crush the very bones in his legs. It probably hadn’t passed much time since the guards left, but to Daxter it felt like forever. He was never very good with handling pain gracefully. This was ironic, since Jak on the other hand acted like he was immune to it. Which he probably was true in some ways; most things must seem pretty minor compared to his painful time in prison. At least he assumed it had been painful by looking at the scars. Jak never told him much, but the scars and the nightmares did it for him.

Daxter tilted his head back and glanced at the clock that he could just barely catch a glimpse of if he raised his head slightly. It had just passed twenty minutes; damn that was the longest twenty minutes of his life. But at least the pain in his leg had changed into a painful but dull ache, as long as he stayed still that is. He had quickly given up on any attempt of removing the box, since it only made the pain flare and it didn’t do him any good. It was just too heavy. He wondered how long he would need to lay there. He knew Tess was just as excited over shopping as he was, and if she had decided to drag Keira along with her… Damn, he was going to be here forever!

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Jak wiped a few sweat drops from his forehand with the back of his gloved hand. It was one of the warmer days in Haven City, which made it the worst kind of day to run around in the sewers. He was filthy, sweaty, and smelly. A cold shower seem very appealing to him at the moment. But at least he had made the delivery successfully, so Torn would be pleased. A displeased Torn was never fun to handle. He had also beyond a doubt made certain that he was still well sought after by Baron Praxis. The number of Krimzon Guards he had met during the day made him even more relieved that he got Daxter to stay at the bar.

They were definitely getting more insistent on capturing him, and he was beginning to worry about being seen with Daxter. His fiery red hair stuck out so much from the crowd, and he didn’t want people starting to associate him with a small redheaded elf. Daxter’s change of appearance could actually work out in their favour. The ottsel on Jak’s shoulder was starting to get well-known among the guards, but not a redheaded elf. Jak was a wanted man and he would rather not drag Daxter along with him. He had to be safe at all cost.

When he caught sight of a flash of red armour in the corner of his eye he sharply turned a corner and slipped into the darkness of a nearby alley. The two Krimzon Guards walked by on the main street, oblivious to his presence just a couple of feet away. Jak had had enough of encounters for one day, and he didn’t want to attract attention so close to the bar and headquarters. Right now he just wanted to get back to the bar, and to Daxter. A small smile grazed his lips at the though of his fiery little friend, and to his big embarrassment a totally different part of his anatomy decided to react as well. Damn, he had to get his head under control soon, or he was going to embarrass himself in front of Daxter in the very near future. Now he really wished that he never saw Daxter naked, the mental image was in no way helping the matter.

That was another reason why it was good that Daxter hadn’t been with him today; Jak probably wouldn’t be able to concentrate at all. Although he must admit that he had missed the ottsel’s constant chatter. It had felt oddly quiet without him on his shoulder. And too serious. Daxter just had a way of taking the edge off things, kept him sane through the whole ordeal. More than once today he had felt the dark eco creeping up on him under the heat of the battle. It wanted to come out, to roam free, to kill. It had taken him quite a bit of will power to suppress it. Jak hadn’t realized just how much Daxter had helped him restrain the dark eco within him.

After taking the way through a couple of less crowded backstreets, he finally arrived in front of the Naughty Ottsel. It was an anonymous place, designed to avoid attracting attention from anyone who didn’t already know about its existence. A worn paper sign with the word ‘OPEN’ written in thick black letters hung on the front door, however Jak doubted any customers had arrived yet.

He noticed that the door was slightly ajar when he got closer. Probably to let some air into the stuffy bar. The heat was at its worst now, and he removed his goggles from his sweaty forehead when he pushed the door open and stepped inside. Out of habit he tossed them at the small table by the entrance, but the different sound alerted him that they had instead ended up on the floor. Puzzled, he looked to the side and saw that the table wasn’t standing in its usual spot; it was lying upside down on the floor by the wall. He frowned and looked up at the rest of the bar.

The room was a mess.

Tables, chairs, and shards of glass lay in disarray on the floor.

Jak felt his heart skip a beat. He could only think of one reason why the bar looked like this; Krimzon Guards had been there.

‘Where’s Daxter?!’

Jak wasn’t one to succumb to panic easily, but now was definitely one of those rare moments. His brain was already going through a thousand scenarios, and none of them were very pretty.

‘What if they knew, what if they knew that Daxter was important?’

He took a deep breath when he felt his oxygen-deprived lungs started to complain. ‘Breathe Jak, and calm down.’ Logically they shouldn’t know, as Daxter had just been human for one day. There was no way they could know that he was Jak’s little ottsel. But that didn’t really matter, because they were still part of the underground which worked against the Baron. That was all it took to get a one way ticket to prison, or worse. It’s not like the Krimzon Guard ever cared much about evidence, either.

He reached for his gun and took a couple of steps into the bar, shattered pieces of glass crushed under his boots. He looked around. The place seemed deserted.

“Dax, Tess?” he called hopefully, but wasn’t really expecting an answer. So when he did get one, he almost jumped in surprise.

“Jak?” a weak voice answered him.

“Daxter!” He frantically looked around the mess of the bar, searching for his friend. He frowned when he couldn’t find him. “Dax, where are you?”

“Behind the counter.” The voice was still weak, but a little bit steadier this time.

He rushed to the bar disk and leaned over it.

“What are you doing—“ The rest of the sentence got caught in his throat.

He was going to have a heart attack if this kept up.

On the floor almost hidden by boxes and bottles lay Daxter, not in his human form but as a fuzzy little orange animal. That was a sight that wouldn’t have shocked him one bit any other day, but since yesterday he hadn’t counted on ever seeing that sight again.

He was so surprised that he actually forgot to be relieved to find his friend alive. But Daxter wasn’t about to wait for him to come around.

“I know Jak, Orange lightning is back! Could we please discuss this after you get this box off me?!”

Then he saw that one of the big boxes that were usually kept stacked on a shelf behind the bar was now lying on top of the ottsel’s right leg. He quickly went around the counter and kneeled on the ground. As gently as possible he removed the heavy load from Daxter. It still earned a whine from the ottsel, but also a sigh of relief.

“What happened? Why are you…why are you like this?”

“Beats me, unless Tess has started to store dark eco in the bar. I’m just as clueless as you are, Jak.”

‘Tess!’ He had almost forgotten about her in his worry about Daxter. “Is she alright, where is she?”

Daxter groaned and tried to sit up. Jak helped him with a steadying hand on the ottsel’s back.

“She’s alright, she went out shopping.”

“What happened?”

“Some Krimzon Guards came in and wrecked the place, and I turned into an ottsel.” He grimaced. “You get the longer version when we get my leg fixed up.”

Daxter was right; he was hurt, and explanations could wait until later.

“Let me have a look.”

Daxter complied and removed his paws from where they had been clutching at his legs. Jak was no medical expert so he wasn’t sure if anything was broken or not, but he did find a rather large patch of skin rubbed raw and bloody by the edge of the box just above the ottsel’s right knee. His conscience assaulted him; he should have been there to protect Daxter.

“Dax, I’m sorry.”

“Sheesh Jak, you gotta stop taking the blame for everything. It’s not your fault, so spare me the guilt trip.” He glanced up at Jak with clear blues eyes that bore in to his. “But next time, you’re not leaving me behind, buddy.”

Jak had nothing to say to that.

“Let’s get you fixed up.”

TBC

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Jak almost forgot about Tess, tsss Jak that's not very nice of you. XD

Did you notice that you got a slightly longer chapter than usual, no? Didn’t think so, but I can inform you that you in fact did, just to make it up for my long absence.

So I guess the big question now is, will Daxter be able to turn back to his human form? And do I hear a big sigh from the ones that were waiting for some action in the bedroom? XD Well, I guess you’ll have to be patient.

Feed my muse, please review!