The back of an oil stained hand wiped over an equally grubby cheek, smearing black lines across fair skin. Grease tipped fingers pushed a stray lock of teal hair back behind a large pointed ear. Then the hand returned to the pile of metal and wires sitting on a bench in front of its owner. Actually, if you looked closer it appeared to be some sort of small engine device, though mostly dismantled with screws, washers, nuts and bolts strew across the bench around it. After working for a few moments both hands drew away from the device and back up to the face, grasping both sides of the goggles covering the green eyes and lifting them down and away from the face, left to hang around the neck.
Keira sighed and closed her eyes for a moment, before opening them again to look down at her work. After she gave a small shake of her head she turned away from the bench and walked over to a small hand basin attached to the garage wall, turning on the tap to let cold water stream down over her sweaty dirty hands. As she washed away the grease, she looked up at the small mirror that hung over the basin and realised that her face was nearly as grimy as her hands. Pulling a face at her reflection, she picked up a hand towel and wet it under the water before beginning the task of cleaning her features.
As she was rubbing at a stubborn mark on her chin, she head a soft knock on metal behind her. Still holding the wet cloth to her face, she turned around to see what it was. Over in one of the wide doorways to the garage stood a young man with short blonde hair, green eyebrows and goatee, with large brown strapped goggles covering most of his hairline. He was dressed in a white top, blue jacket, pants and shoes, with a yellow stripe and brown patches accenting parts of the outfit and metal parts covering the elbows, knees and shoulders.
"Oh, hi Jak," Keira said surprised, continuing to rub absent minded at her skin with the cloth while looking over at her friend. His awkwardness of unintentionally barging in on her, as well as simply being in her presence, was obvious in his expression and body language. Though he had always been like that around her, the inability for him to express his feelings as easily as others after his change in prison made it even harder for him. However, Keira was not offended by this behaviour, in fact she found this awkwardness in the battle hardened warrior rather endearing.
Jak went from looking apprehensive to amused at the sight of Keira's still smeared face. "Hey Keira," he began, walking further into the room towards her, "I was urr… wondering if you would like to… come and watch today's race with me?" he question was halting and awkward, and he returned to looking apprehensive, his gaze falling to the ground.
A look of surprise crossed Keira's greasy features. "But you… you mean you're not going to race?"
Jak looked up at her face again. "Hey, I don't wanna win every race, I gotta give the others a chance," Jak said more confidently in pretend arrogance, giving a small smirk. "Besides, I wanted to… spend some time with you…"
A soft smile spread across Keira face. "Well then, I would love to come Jak," she said gratefully, but then paused. "… but first I better finish washing up," she giggled slightly, which brought a smile to Jak's own face.
"Okay, I'll just wait for you outside then," he turned and walked out of the garage, turning around the corner to go outside.
Keira turned back to the mirror and started vigorously scrubbing at her face, rubbing off the marks as quickly and as best as she could. Once her face was as close to clean as she was going to get, she wiped the grease off the locks of her hair which had got in her way when she was working. Finally she gave her goggles a quick wipe over and then dropped the now mostly black cloth into the sink. She looked down at her clothing, decided it wasn't too dirty, and quickly walked out of her garage, following the way Jak had went.
She stepped into the sunlight of the world outside, which was the stadium section of the city, recently rebuilt after it was destroyed in the war. Keira spotted Jak standing with two small orange ottsels standing near his feet. The female ottsel with a head of blonde hair was squeezing the male one who was adorned with small goggles in a tight hug. Jak hand on hand on his forehead and was shaking his head slowly. Keira smiled as she approached the group.
"You know how I love the races my little snookiepoo!" Tess exclaimed in a patronising voice that one might use when speaking to a baby or pet animal, swaying back and forth with Daxter clutched firmly in her grip.
The male ottsel managed to free his arms from the hug and then prised his over affectionate partner off him, pushing her gently away from him with one hand. "Well, you should come and see me race again one day, Tess-baby!" he announced arrogantly, pushing a furry thumb into his chest fur to indicate to himself. "I'll totally whoop those wimpy guards on the track," he gave her a huge grin.
"I am sure you would, my hero… oh, but you mustn't go in those dangerous races, you might get hurt!" Tess exclaimed in distress, quickly grabbing hold of her partner again in a protective hug.
"Psshhh, these races are cake walks compared to those in Kras city," Daxter stated as he tried to untangle himself again. "Tell her Jak!" he looked up at his human friend.
"Why do I have to deal with these two," Jak said wearily, before turning to Keira who had been watching the scene with quiet amusement. "We should hurry up and get to our seats, the race will be starting soon," he explained, tilting his head towards the direction of the stadium entrance. Then he looked down at the two ottsels again, Tess attempting to cover Daxter in kisses. Jak sighed and reached down, swiping Daxter from his partner's grasp and sticking him on his armoured shoulder.
"Heeeey!" Tess complained, crossing her arms and pouting as Jak began to walk away with Daxter. Before she could say anymore Keira knelt down beside her, smiling. Tess smiled back and leaped up onto Keira's shoulder, and began to chat away as they followed the boys.
Jak and Keira edged past the knees of seated citizens in the stadiums tiered seats, headed towards an open spot on the bench. They finally sat down next to each other, Daxter and Tess hopping off their shoulders to sit next to them, the two ottsels holding hands and making lovey dovey noises, which the two human companions tried to ignore. They looked out over the race track, watching as the racers on zoomers pulled up into position on the starting line. Keira turned her face to Jak, looking at him in quiet adoration. Jak saw her out of the corner of his eye and turned to face her as well, smiling at her look.
"Thank you for this Jak I… appreciate it," Keira said softly, a small blush coloring her cheeks. Jak returned the blush, and started moving his head closer to hers. Keira tilted her head up, her lips parting slightly as he approached. She closed her eyes as their lips touched…
Suddenly applause erupted from the audience and a loud voice sounded over the speaker system, "Look at that score, nice job buddy!"
Keira and Jak suddenly broke apart, and stared back towards the stadium, seeing themselves on a big screen hanging above the race track, their image surrounded by love hearts. They both blushed furiously as they realised that they had been caught on the kiss-cam, Jak raising a fist to his mouth and coughing as he looked away.
"Hey, wait a minute," the loud voice of a commentator emitting from the speakers exclaimed, "Isn't that Jak? Hero of Haven and champion of the zoomer races?"
"I think it is Jerry, but why isn't he in the race?" a different voice replied.
"This isn't right: the champion should be there to defend his title. Come on down and race for us Jak! We have a spare zoomer for you!" the first voice urged. Surprise cross over Jak's face and the crowd started chanting his name. He quickly turned to look at Keira, who gave him an unhappy look. He turned back to the racetrack and raised a hand towards it, opening his mouth to protest. But suddenly two of the people sitting in front of them grab his hand and yanked him out of his seat. His body was passed across the crowd down towards the race track. He looked back at Keira with a desperate apologetic look, though she still frowned.
Jak was dumped down onto the metal walkway above the track, luckily managing to land on his feet. Rubbing one of his shoulders he looked up around him to see a sea of faces looking down at him, still chanting, and he was still being watched by the TV cam. He sighed, he shoulders sagging, but the he raised both hands, fingers out spread, to quiet the crowd.
"Okay okay, I'll race," he announced, trying to look a bit cocky for his fans. The crowd erupted in cheers once more as he dropped down onto the race track, mounting the zoomer they hand brought up for him. Testosterone began to pump through his brain as he tensed his body, preparing to race.
Jak glided casually across the finish line after his 5th lap, easily ahead of his competitors. He raised a fist of victory towards the cheering crowd, grinning confidentially as he eased his zoomer to a halt. As he waved to the fans, his eyes fell on the seats that he and Keira had occupied, but she was no longer there. Instead Daxter and Tess stood up on the bench, looking down the seat aisle. Jak followed their gaze and saw a figure disappear out the stadium door. Jak's face fell.
The crowd made uncertain noises as Jak ran out of the stadium, following his friend. Looking around outside he saw Keira stalking off towards her garage, her hands in fists by her sides. He jogged to catch up with her, catching her by the wrist the stop her.
"Keira, I am sorry, I didn't mean to-" he started but broke off when Keira whipped around to face him, a tear rolling down one cheek from a moist eye.
"Why does it always happen Jak? Why?" she asked accusingly, trying to control her wavering voice. "Nearly every time something gets in the way, usually saving the world or something. When can I ever have you to myself?" her tone changed to anger and frustration.
Jak was taken back, his mouth opening and closing as he tried to figure out how to reply.
"No," Keira interjected, not giving him the chance, "it's always going to be like this, isn't it? Jak the hero belongs to the city, and can never belong to-" she broke off with a sob, a hand rushing to her face as she looked away from him.
Jak looked at her with concern, feeling highly distressed about the situation: he didn't want to make her cry. "Keira, please, I don't mean for this things to happen, I didn't know you would be… affected… like this…" not knowing what else to say, he stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her.
Keira had a sharp intake in breath and her body stiffened, but then she melted into his embrace, wrapping her own arms around his waist and leaning her head on his chest. She was embarrassed and frustrated, but it really wasn't his fault, so she couldn't stay angry at him. She was never really angry with him in the first place, more simply angry with the world, for this wasn't his fault.
A small beeping sound broke the quiet of the moment, and Jak reluctantly pulled himself away from Keira to take the communicator out of his jacket. Keira wiped the tears from her eyes and the small device floated out of Jak's hand and expanded to its full size, floating in the air. The distorted voice of Ashelin sounded through the speaker on the device.
"Jak, we are having an emergency council meeting and we need everyone to be there. Can you come to the freedom HQ right away?"
Jak looked over at Keira, who had composed herself, and the turned back to the communicator. "Yes I'll come… is Keira invited?" he asked dubiously, his face set in a small frown.
"I was going to contact her, is she there with you?"
"Yes," he replied, glancing across at the teal haired girl again.
"Then bring her along too," Ashelin said affirmatively, "we'll see you there." The connection cut out and the communicator shrunk again and fell into Jak's hand. He stowed it away in a jacket pocket and turned back to Keira once more.
"Are you okay to go?" he asked gently, gesturing towards her with one hand.
"I… I'm fine…" she mumbled, looking down at her hands which were fidgeting in front of her. "I… I'm sorry for the outburst… I didn't mean it…" she sighed at herself.
"It's okay," Jak said dismissively, though he couldn't totally push it from his mind. He felt bad for failing her, even though it wasn't his fault. "C'mon, let's go and see the others."
"Hey! Don't forget about us!" a whiny voice exclaimed from behind Jak, causing him to turn around. Both Daxter and Tess stood with their arms cross, scowling at him. "Were you just gonna leave us here?" Daxter accused, pointing a finger at Jak. Before Jak even had a chance to reply, the ottsel had leapt up his arms and perched himself on his shoulder. Tess did similar for Keira.
"The city needs us again Jak, let's go!" Daxter smirked as he pointed towards the nearest hover car. Jak rolled his eyes and looked over at Keira, who was stifling an amused giggle.