Story Time

Title: Story Time
Author: Amaronith
Rating: PG-13
Summery: When Jak has trouble falling asleep, Daxter takes it upon himself to tell Jak a story…
Warnings: This actually originated in an rp I did with a friend of mine. Pure speculation on Daxter’s backstory based solely on the fact that everyone in Sandover seemed to treat Daxter like crap, even going so far as to not even bothering to remember his name, and the fact that it was really clear that he had no parents to speak of. Again, this is purely speculation so…yeah. Also: Slashy. So very, very slashy. Fic takes place during Jak 2.

Huge, huge thanks to Torsui, who actually wrote some of Jak’s lines in the middle of this, which I only tweaked a little here and there.

--

Jak fell back into his bunk in the Underground HQ, his Morph Gun at his side and Daxter curled up on his chest. Torn had ordered him to get a few hours of shut eye before he ended up taking out metal heads and KG by collapsing on them, and Jak was just too tired to argue with the man. Not that Jak slept much these days without having nightmares of his time in prison, and being experimented on.

After a long moment, Daxter spoke up. “Jak?”

“Mm?”

“You asleep?”

“No.”

“Having trouble sleeping?”

Jak lifted his hand to pet Daxter, something he had found himself doing a lot of since his friend broke him out of prison. The feel of Daxter’s weight on his shoulder was once again as familiar as it had been two years ago, his body’s adjusting to Daxter’s shifting weight was as natural and automatic as breathing. “Yeah.”

“Want me to tell you a story?” Daxter asked, his voice soft.

Jak snorted, glancing down at his friend with a wry twist to his lips. “A story, Dax?”

Daxter scowled, “Hey, if you don’t want me to, just say so.”

Daxter’s voice kept him sane for two years. “No, I want to hear. Talk to me, Dax.” Tell me your story.

Daxter settled back against Jak as his friend continued to pet him, shifting so that he could reach up and stroke Jak’s hair in return. “Once upon a time, there was a boy. Real gangly punk of a kid, all knees and elbows.... just plain funny looking when you got down to it. Didn't look like anyone in his village, and didn't even have a memory of what his parents looked like to make himself feel better about the fact that at least he had looked like them. No one would tell him, either way."

Jak paused for a moment, turning those words over in his mind, before resuming his gentle strokes. “Go on.”

"So this kid pretty much lived on his own, found food when he could, either out in the forest or begged off his neighbors; he stole it when times were desperate and his neighbors couldn't be assed to help a little kid out. His neighbors were kind of dicks, just making sure the kid had a roof over his head that kept him mostly dry. Then one day, the sun came to his village."

He hadn't heard this before. Not like this, anyway. He'd known that Daxter was an orphan -- they'd exchanged a little of their histories over the years back in Sandover -- but none of the details. “... the sun?”

"Well, okay, not literally the sun. The kid’s village was on a beach, after all, it was always sunny. A boy like the sun. Everyone loved this boy," Daxter stroked Jak's hair as he spoke, keeping his voice soft. "But the sun boy was mute. Didn't talk to anyone, and while it worried people at first, they just sort of shrugged their shoulders and moved on - what did it matter that the sun boy couldn't talk? He was perfect in every other way."

Jak shifted to look at his friend. “Dax, no-“ He wasn’t perfect; not then, and most certainly not now…

"Who's telling the story here, huh? Don't interrupt." Daxter poked Jak's nose before he returned to stroking Jak's hair. "The real problem was that the villagers just didn't know how to listen, much like they didn't know how to do anything, really. They kept the kid away from the sun boy at first, not wanting their golden child to be tainted by the likes of a runt with a dirty face and sticky fingers."

Jak kept quiet under Daxter's hand, eyes half-closed and dark as he listened.

"But the kid had learned to be smart where the villagers were not, crafty and cunning in ways a kid never really should've had to be, and one day, he finally got to talk to the sun boy. And for the first time since before he could remember, the kid was warm."

His uncle had been off on an expedition and Samos had been attending to something or other and didn't want him underfoot, so he sent him outside to play...

"You see, no one ever really paid attention the the kid before. At least, not unless he had done something wrong - which he seemed to do a lot, according to the village. But the boy who was like the sun? Hung onto his every word like it meant something, like it wasn't just noise some obnoxious brat was making, like this kid maybe wasn't such a waste of time like everyone else seemed to think he was."

... because he wasn't. Because Daxter's words followed him everywhere and led him through the dark places. Jak turned his face into Daxter’s stomach, nuzzling the soft fur there.

"They became best friends pretty fast. Which is understandable, really, it wasn't like there was anyone else to be friends with except a girl in the village, but she never wanted to do anything fun, and God forbid she ever spoke to the kid before he became friends with the sun boy."

Partially Samos's fault, partially on Keira herself. Then again, Keira hadn't talked to Jak much either, all big eyes and hiding behind Samos's leg at first. Until she'd stumbled across her first Precursor artifact and then the floodgates opened.

"Now, see, the kid had always known that he loved the sun boy. The boy was like the sun! Practically was the sun to the kid, and the kid's love for him was deep, deeper than he even felt for the not-memory of his parents. He didn't think much of it though. I mean, they were best friends, what was so wrong with loving your best friend?"

Jak shook his head a little. Nothing…

"It wasn't until the sun boy first smiled- really smiled - that the kid knew he was in trouble. Not because he had any doubts that the sun boy would even think about him like that - which he did, because the girl in the village was awful pretty and wasn't even really all that bad as far as girls went - but he knew he'd have to get permission from the sun boy's guardian, who hated him, and from the spiritual leader of the village, who unsurprisingly also hated him, to marry the sun boy. Now, okay, before you start laughing Jak, cut the kid some slack - he was, like, seven and had no idea how things worked, just that a guy always had to ask for his one true love's hand from their guardian, and that the spiritual leader always had to perform the ceremony."

Jak just scritched Daxter behind his ears, turning this new information over in his mind. Wait… “So, what, that made the kid the ‘guy’?”

“Yes. Shut up. The sun boy couldn't be the guy, the kid didn't have any parents to ask. It is the logic of a seven year old, what do you want from my life?” Daxter scowled at Jak, “Stop interrupting me. So, anyway, the kid was pretty bummed out for a while. How could he tell the sun boy how he felt when they would never be allowed to do anything about it? So he kept quiet. Kept quiet for years and watched as the pretty girl slowly, slowly started taking the sun boy away from him."

Because Keira was smart and pretty and interested... Jak continued to skritch Daxter behind the ears.

"Then one day the kid decided he was gonna tell the sun boy how he felt. He couldn't take it anymore, being quiet. It wasn't the natural order of things for the kid to be quiet about anything. He had it all planned out, too. He'd lead the sun boy to their favorite spot, right around the time when the sunset was at it's prettiest, because that's the way the love confessions always went in the stories. He even found a really pretty crystal to give the sun boy as a sort of engagement ring, even though the sun boy couldn't actually wear it. It went off with out a hitch, too! Going to their favorite spot, the sunset, everything! Except for one tiny problem the kid didn't even think of until he was about to open his mouth."

There were plenty of days where they'd hung out on the cliffs over Sentinel Beach to watch the sun set; Jak didn't recall any particular time that stood out and he was pretty sure he'd have remembered if Daxter tried to propose to him.

"Just as the kid was about to tell the sun boy what he felt, a thought hit him: What if the sun boy didn't feel the same? What if telling him would change things, and not for the better? And the worst thought: What if the sun boy didn't want to be his friend anymore if he told him?"

Jak closed his eyes. Oh god, Dax...

"So the kid kept his mouth shut, and didn't even give the sun boy the awesome stone he found - when he went home that night, he ended up burying it in the floor of his hut. 'Maybe some other time,' he told himself. Then the next day, the sun boy and the kid stole a fisherman's boat and went to a forbidden island, but that's a completely different story."

“ ... yeah.” Jak had heard that one.

"The kid and the sun boy stayed friends, though, and had awesome adventures together. They even saved the world, once.”

“...Dax?”

“Hm?”

“Did the kid ever tell the sun boy how he felt?”

Daxter glanced at Jak, “Well, if he doesn't know by now, the sun boy isn't as smart as the kid originally thought.”

Jak's mouth quirked at that. “Maybe the sun boy is just waiting for the kid to come out and say it, rather than dance around the subject.”

Daxter stared at him. “...Jak?”

“Maybe the sun boy was always in love with the kid, but didn’t know what it was until the kid told him how he felt,” Jak buried his fingers in Daxter’s fur as he stared up at the ceiling. “The kid has always been there for the sun boy, after all, and the sun boy never really thought about those sorts of things before.”

“The girl and the sun boy nearly kissed that one time, though.”

“That was more her idea than mine, Dax.”

Daxter flinched. “Jak-“

“Dax, listen to me, okay? I’m going to find a way to change you back. And after you’re human again, we’ll talk about it.”

“But what if we never find a way to change me back?” Daxter asked quietly, “What if I’m stuck like this forever, Jak?”

“We’re going to find a way, Daxter.” Jak shifted, leaning up on one elbow to look intently down at Daxter. “Even if I have to go all the way to the Brink to find it, we are going to find a way to change you back. I promise.”

Daxter stared up at Jak, blue eyes wide. “…okay Jak.”

Jak settled down again, settling Daxter on his chest. “Good.”

“…think you can get to sleep now?”

Jak chuckled and stroked his fingers along Daxter’s back. “Yeah. Thanks Dax.”

“I’m pretty good at this story telling stuff, huh?”

“Mm.”

“Think I could get a book deal?”

Jak snorted. “Go to sleep, Dax.”

“Goodnight, Jak.”