A/N: Gah, me and updates fail when we're supposed to work together. And Word apparently doesn't like to finish writing stuff even after I ask it to nicely.
But I think I've taken far too long in adding something new. Like I really should. I already told myself I was going to finish the first story I put here, and that last chapter's only half-way done. (Gah, fail again.) (Oh, and speaking of which, I've decided to split 'Stuck' 's Chapter 3 into two-parts. Maybe that'll mean I'll finish it quicker. WOO! I'm so excited you have no idea. xD But I'm sad too.)

Hmm. Like I really need to be adding another unfinished project here. I'll finish this though, it's only a two-shot. (That originally started as a one-shot but got too long. ;P)

My title here is debatable. Why can I never think of titles for Jak & Daxter stories?! :L ....It's a metaphorical title. If you get it then, um.....you get a cookie. :D

Staring: Dark Jak. (mwahah :D)

Because I was playing with Dark Jak in Jak II and now I want to unlock Unlimited Dark Jak but I need more orbs to do it because I feel like you don't get to play with Dark Jak long enough with that little bit of dark eco you collect and I love Dark Jak and I want to play as Dark Jak and...

-Ahem.- Hey, all you really gotta know for this lil' story is that I'm a die-hard JakxKeira fan (or DarkJakxKeira, if ya wanna see it like that. ;D), aaaannnddd...

Heat: typically describes an animal that is in a state of... 'excitement' and ready to breed. (MWAHahaha XD)

Yes. Indeed. (I debate if this shoud be 'M' instead. It's just innuendo, and nothing really happens, so...)

The Term 'Awkward' Just Took On A Whole New Meaning...

"You've got to be kidding me."

Jak's face was soon buried in his hands, accompanied by the not so delicate thwack of the skin of his palm coming into contact with that of his face. Torn let out a deceivingly neutral "huh-huh" while the younger released his breath both loudly and exasperatedly. The furriest of the three situated around a dimly-lit table in the equally dim establishment vainly attempted not to snicker at his friend's ordeal.

"It's really not that funny," Jak muttered after a moment, wanting to cut off the laughter before it truly began. One of his hands left his face to drum its appendages on the table for lack of anything better to do –though it may also have merely been to keep himself preoccupied- while the other rose from his cheek to his forehead, the heel of his palm poking into his eye before he moved it.

"No, he's right." Torn said after clearing his throat a few times. Daxter gave him a pointed look with a smirk clearly still on his face. The blond boy was about to utter an appreciative "thank-you" before Torn spoke again. "It's actually hilarious."

Daxter let out the roar of laughter he'd been withholding as he plopped down on the table of the booth, nearly knocking his drink over. The tattooed man had to set down his to avoid the risk of spilling it as he chuckled to a slightly lesser degree than the ottsel. Jak stared down at his own glass, folding his arms on the surface of the table, attempting to set fire to the liquid with his irritated gaze.

Only a week after he'd managed to destroy the Dark Maker-ship –for all they knew, and now this? Precursors, couldn't this have happened earlier, or better yet, after this whole ordeal was over with, seeing as there were still rouge robots and Metalheads? No, couldn't it not have happened at all?

Not only was this, well, uncomfortable, to say the least, but he had expected some helpful advice or some 'well, sorry to hear that' look from the other two. In the long run however, he knew he should have seen this coming.

But still.

Daxter's appendix threatened to burst as he laughed uproariously. Torn was the first of the two to calm himself enough to speak again. Jak could sense that inwardly, he still wanted to continue laughing at what the young man had told him.

"So," He took a breath as he cracked a smile, forcibly taking another deep breath. Daxter chose now to be a good time to cut in.

"Wait, you've had this thing for 'bout three years, and just now this, ah," He paused, unsure of what words to use. "Other thing," He nodded, that seemed to fit for now. "Shows up? Why didn't it before?"

"That's a good question." Torn mused, evidently having swallowed most of the guffaws he originally wanted to release. "Why hasn't it? I mean, it's not like this sort of thing only happens every few years. I'm pretty sure it's annual. Like once a year maybe at the most."

"Doesn't explain why though." Daxter offered, his words partially interrupted with his shaking.

"Look," Jak began, picking his head up from where it had been resting on his arms. "I don't know why, I don't know when, and I can barely begin to explain how-"

The looks he received from his comrades were anything but supportive. In fact, in that instant, he was wondering what would happen if he knocked their heads together. They were probably hollow, so there would presumably be an echoing noise. Torn soon shrugged and cut in, seemingly unbothered.

"I don't know, I'm not the expert here. You could try to figure it out for yourself, I guess, but look where that's gotten you." Jak didn't feel like answering that. Where had he gotten? No where. Two of the few people he thought he could trust in the entire world let alone the crumbling city had listened to what he'd said and laughed at him. That's where he'd gotten.

"Maybe you could…" Daxter gazed at the ceiling, waving one hand in the air as he thought up some hair brained scheme while the other sloshed the ottsel's drink around dangerously by the front of Jak's tunic. The ottsel's fingers snapped as he pointed at his best friend. "Go for it. See what happens. It could be worth a laugh or two, or you could, you know, actually get somewhere."

"And hey," Torn supplied, a small smirk on his thin lips. "In a week you'll look back on this and laugh."

Or I'll be buried six feet underground thanks to an angry, short, green man. Or turning over rocks and other random places looking for the dignity I'll end up losing. Definite win-win, eh buddy?

"Yeah," The orange half-weasel continued, as if the tattooed man next to him hadn't said anything. "And there might just be the chance that you won't be, laughing alone, if ya know what I mean." He winked, excluding the 'hint-hint, wink cough' ending they all knew was there.

Partially. Jak knew Daxter well enough to know that it was a not-so subtle innuendo. He just didn't know if he wanted to understand the rest of it.

There was a fairly sizable thump as the hero's head came into contact with the table, the impact significant enough to jostle the single pendant lamp hanging above their heads, causing his cohorts to glance up at it as the bulb flickered. He was given a pitying 'what can you do?' look by the orange fur ball before he took a swig, looking around his bar in a haughty manner.

Hadn't he told the Tattooed Wonder to get his war junk out of there? Sure most of the maps and such had been taken down, and the eco-powered weapons and ammunitions had been replaced by the artifacts that had originally resided in the same area, yet there were still a few other trinkets lying about. And then there was the communications and hologram board taking up most of the floor space to be accounted for.

What about the giant Metalhead head? Where was Kor's ugly mug? Used for target practice? Or taken down simply because it was too hideous or was starting to smell because it was, after all, a decaying head that had not been properly prepared for hanging on a wall?

Breaking out of his reverie Daxter looked back down at his best friend, who was currently lamenting his woes and plastering his face to the table.

"Sucks to be you, huh?" Jak groaned in response to his companion's muttering. The ex-Krimzon Guard shook his head, taking a drink of his own, thinking of some 'words of wisdom' to offer to his best fighter and close friend.

"Maybe it's because you're calmer now." Torn considered, appearing to have chosen his words carefully while Jak tested his theory of 'if one pushes their head hard enough against a table, the table with engulf their head and possibly the rest of their body.' By the time the older man finished his statement the boy had peeled his forehead away from the sticky surface.

"How am I calmer now when I have no idea what the hell is going on and I just blew up some gigantic ship that was threatening the entire planet -no maybe the universe even- a week ago?" The young man growled before his nose was once more mashed into the table. "How am I calm when right now all I want to do is find her and-"

He thought it safer not to finish the rest of that sentence. Torn continued on as if what Jak had said held little importance.

"No, that's true." He stroked his jaw with his hand. "What I meant was now that there are only a few Metalheads and Deathbots left you don't have much to do, other than rebuild the city, which you may or may not be doing. Last year you were either running around the Pumping Station shootin' everything or hanging out in the gun course, shooting everything else." Torn paused as Jak forced his nose back into shape. "Honestly, you live kind of a sad life." He continued speaking through Jak's glare without missing a beat.

"And earlier this year you were shipped out into the Wasteland by yourself, more or less-" A thin hand was waved in Daxter's general direction with an irate glare from said ottsel. "-And spent most of your time there shooting things when you weren't here in Haven shooting our enemies while you were trying to save the world, nevermind our 'fair' city."

"Plus," Daxter decided it was time to add his two-sense, albeit this time it seemed as if rational thought had actually been given, a shock really. "You never really saw her during the second war here. The first one, sure, and even a little bit after that, before we got our butts banished. You did see her every time we went to the HQ; don't think I didn't see the way you were looking at her then." He added the last observation coyly, poking fun at Jak's predicament. The hero would refuse to admit it, but there was no way to deny the slight blush that had spread across his nose and cheeks.

"Do you just shoot everything?" Torn inquired, thinking back to what he'd said. Either Jak chose to ignore this or didn't hear it, as he'd been dwelling on what his childhood friend had said.

Don't think I didn't see the way you were looking at her… Maybe it's because you're calmer now…All I want to do is find her and-

"Once we finally came back to the city, it was like the first time you'd seen her in a year." Daxter said, placing his drink next to himself as he sat. "Maybe that started the whole grand-hoo-hah-ha rebellion your mind's got goin' on."

Neither Jak nor Torn fully understood what he'd just said, though they got the gist of it.

"Although, it might not be you're…er mindya know…" This had Torn all but sputtering out his drink in laughter. Daxter snickered continually as Jak forcibly restrained himself from plastering his face to the table once more. Torn was smacking his palm on the table as Ashelin and Tess made their entrance, the ottsel propped precariously on the red-head's thin shoulder, unaccustomed to not walking on her own two feet.

"What's so funny?" Ashelin inquired as Tess leapt to the hologram board in the middle of the room, finding a flatter surface safer than one of the governess' appendages. Sig had come in as well, although it was seemingly a random coincidence he was there -though it later turned out he had come to ask Tess for access to the gun course, something he wouldn't get around to doing until much later that evening.

"Nothi-"

"Jak's in heat."

The bulb in the pendant lamp flickered before it died as Jak's head left an indent in the table.

Daxter was going to die for that. Well, perhaps not die exactly, seeing how he was Jak's best friend, so he couldn't necessarily kill him. Maybe just hurt him. Very, very badly. A lot. The boy could dream, couldn't he?

"I thought only animals ever-" Tess was interrupted by Torn, who then received the brunt of her annoyed glare.

"Nah, it's not Jak exactly. More like that…" He paused, glancing at the bruise beginning to form on Jak's forehead. The pair of goggles splayed on the table next to him had curiously taking little damage, despite his repeated head bashing in the table. Daxter nudged one of the lenses unconsciously with his foot. "Jak's other half, quarter thing. Ah, who knows what we're calling it now." He muttered, turning his hand into a fist. "Jak's other half is in heat apparently, and it wants K-"

"I am not in heat." Jak shot back, his eyes narrowing at those who had laughed at him in turn, going from Daxter to Torn, to Tess, to Ashelin, and finally Sig, who's mighty shaking frame made it appear as if the Metalhead partial exoskeletons were laughing at him as well.

"Besides, that thing? It's still me. Me, myself, and I. There are no multiple-personalities, no being overshadowed, and yes, maybe sometimes I have to fight for control over it, but it's Dark Eco I'm fighting with, not some demonic mutant thing that wants to go on a rampage. Even though sometimes it might as well be, and I do think that you know, it actually might be… some other…thing I'm fighting with. Sometimes. It depends. I guess."

There was a pause as this registered in everyone's heads, including the hero's.

"Oh my god I'm in heat." Jak looked like some poor animal just before it was hit by an on-coming vehicle. And then promptly proceeded to look like it after the fact.

The gears began whirring once more after a few moments of Jak contemplating the fact yes, it did appear that he was 'in heat' as it were. Dark Eco may not have been the only thing injected into his bloodstream, they soon learned.

"Well, if he's 'in heat' like you say, then why hasn't he, you know," Tess coughed into her new 'paw' rather than hand while Ashelin uncharacteristically fidgeted under the scrutinizing gaze aimed in her and Tess' direction from the men in the room –minus one further bruising his head and sanity. "Come on to either of us? And what about you two? You've been near him for a while."

"Because he knows if he does, I won't hesitate to kill him." Torn honestly replied, making no effort to hide his threat. Jak couldn't help but feel slightly insulted at what Tess had said.

He wasn't some mangy crocadog or some other kind of animal. He had no unconscious plans to go around and well, do things to random strangers or inanimate objects. Honestly, what did they take him for?

And he also knew that he was as good as dead if he so much as tried to high-five one of the other women right then. Torn and Daxter would see to that. The former was still a bit perturbed over the exchange between Jak and Ashelin in the desert.

"It-I mean, I won't. I mean…" For the first time in days Jak found himself stuttering, unable to say what he wanted. "It …claimed her, sort of." From the looks he was getting this information was obviously not exactly sufficient enough for them, though that didn't keep them from snickering at him. Ashelin covered her mouth and coughed. "No, then- that means I, well no, it…It only wants…her?"

It was bad enough to have to admit that the only way he could get himself to realize he 'liked' a certain someone was by going through 'heat' like some animal. It was only worse when Daxter's jaw dropped to the floor and all but rebounded and smacked him in the face. Ashelin and Tess mimicked his expression while Jak was given a dumbfounded gaze by Torn and Sig.

"W-well, hey," He rose his hands in an attempt to persuade them back to his side. "It's not like I'm going to-"

"-There you are." There was a collective hush as Keira coincidentally made her entrance through the Naughty Ottsel's constantly opening front door very few Haven citizens seemed to use. Each footfall of hers seemed to take eons as Ashelin gauged Jak's reaction. By the time Keira reached the hero's side Tess thought she'd faint from holding her breath for such an extended period of time.

"I've been looking for you everywhere." Keira continued, placing her hands on her hips. "Never mind the fact that half of the Industrial Section looks like Daxter's room on a good day." –Daxter interjected a quiet 'hey' as she said this.- "Anyway…You called earlier and said your JET-board was having a few problems, so I thought you were-"

Sig wasn't the only one who's noticed Jak's eyes go black.

Keira, on the other hand had been adjusting the wrappings on her arm furthest from the boy, unable to see Jak's eyes with her head turned away.

It was hard to ignore the devious glint in his blank eyes, the fact that a corner of his mouth was beginning to rise in a smug smirk, or the way that he was preparing to pounce on the unsuspecting girl not even a foot from him.

"Hey cherry-" Sig called out to her, causing her to turn her head toward him, wanting to get her out of range of the 'predator' partially restricted to the booth he was sitting in. Torn took this opportunity to take Jak's drink and throw it in his face, hoping to causing a diversion that would either bring the boy back to his senses or give Keira enough time to run.

The blond man blinked; the black shrinking back into his pupils as his irises returned. Keira turned her attention back to the aforementioned man, obviously not overly concerned with the fact that in the right light Sig could make one of the Metalhead skulls look like it was winking.

"Um, that's interesting- Whoa, what happened to you?" She quipped, looking down at her 'best friend' with an eyebrow rose in question. Liquid dripped from the tip of his nose and onto the front of his now mostly soaked tunic, revealing that his glass had been mostly full. Torn coughed.

"I sneezed." He said quickly, hoping to cover up the incident she'd failed to notice. Surprisingly, the Tattooed Wonder hadn't gotten Keira wet, save for the small splattering on one of her gauntlets. She made a face when he said this, a mix between confusion and slight disgust. He began stuttering then, not overly anticipating her suspicion. "Really hard. And uh, my drink. It exploded. But it was really quiet, you probably didn't hear it. Oh. Well. Yeah, sorry."

"Well, gesundheit then." She replied, a smile pulling at the corner of her mouth. She kept speaking to him, but Jak's attention was elsewhere, namely her lips, her eyes, anything other than her words really. Even her ears. Had he mentioned that her hair looked especially nice today? What if he could just smell it or- Oh geeze.

"Smooth Casanova." Orange Lightning muttered to his friend, eyeing Keira and judging both of their movements. He looked back at his drink, quietly mourning the monetary loss he'd suffered from a lack of customers and his friends drinking all of his booze and what not for free. Pfft. Ah well, at least Jak wasn't going insane or about to attack Keira, so maybe there was a chance that he'd been able to calm down. Or maybe nothing weird was going to happen, so, ah. Well. At least Jak wasn't trying anything, so maybe he wasn't going to-

"-and hey, what happened to your forehea-"

"Jak no!"

Oh. Maybe was.

A/N:Hmm... meh... blah. Yeah. Don't ask how I came up with the idea, because I really don't know. All I can say is that I was bored and this came to mind. (Haha.)

So! This was just a joke really, because I'm pretty sure that Dark Eco was in fact the only thing that Jak got into his system in prison, and there really is no way Jak would go into heat now if he hadn't before. (I'm pretty sure it's annually, but I really don't know and like I said this story is jsut a joke.) "Maybe it's because you're calmer now." --That is my defense, thanks to Daxter. And I was bored, that's my back-up.

And it's another way of my saying (Dark)Jak totally wants Keira. Meheheh. xD (Because animals claim their mates -normally by smelling weird to us, but somehow 'awesome' to others. Ah well.)

(I apologize for any confusion about the ending! I went back and changed a few things, so now it's, sort of worded better. Basically at the end it was supposed to be Daxter assuming that Jak wasn't going to ...'pounce' on Keira after all, seeing how Torn had already thrown a drink at him and sort of calmed him down.
But of course, Daxter's theory was wrong.)

So.... yeah.

XD