Daxter
"Wow Daxter, just what the hell was that?" It was safe to say that I had come very close to majorly screwing things up for Jak a second time that day. Forgetting his gift was one thing, but nearly getting into a nervous fit over a movie, which Jak innocently suggested, had almost made me turn Haven Day into Awkward Day for the both of us. I may have felt a lot less tired than before, but boy were my thoughts still messed up as ever, and I wasn't doing a good job at hiding it.
We were now leaving the Palace for the second time that day, this time I was dragging Jak along, metaphorically, perhaps a bit too excitedly. I noticed that by this time all the palace bedrooms were empty, as we passed them through the main Palace corridor. It looked like everybody was serious about getting ready for the Haven Day festival/party tonight, including Torn And Ashlien, which surprised me; I never really saw either of them as the "life of the party".
Keira had told us that she was going to be behind the "pyrotechnics" of the event, the idea was both as exciting as it was nerve-racking to everybody else but hey; you could always count on a party being a blast with a bit of background explosions, pun totally intended.
I took another breath of the smoky Haven air as we made it outside once again. It was noon already, I didn't need a watch to tell me that because boy was it hot out there. At its peak temperature, Haven could be half way to hell; sure it wouldn't be Spargus-hot, but it still made ya sweat and look for shade like there's no tomorrow.
For once, I was the one telling Jak where we would go, an unusually funny change I would say. I spun around to face Jak, who was surprisingly far behind. I would've waited for him, but I needed to show Jak that I was enthusiastic for his movie idea. Even if I had to dramatize my performance, I wanted Jak to know that he hadn't been shot down; this was his day for saving Haven, after all.
"C'mon ya big slowpoke!" I was cupping my hands to my mouth, I could hear my voice carry through the main entrance. "We gonna do this or what?"
"...oh yeah. Ok I'm coming." Jak had picked up his speed, as if he had snapped out of a long train of thought. He seemed to be thinking something over, uncertain and, maybe even confused. Perhaps the lack of sleep had just caught up on him, and he was finally getting tired after the Having Day shopping fiasco, knowing Jak, however, chances were that there was something more to it than just tiredness. He looked uncomfortable; heh, I suppose that made two of us. I recomposed myself, wanting to straighten things out with Jak first.
"Hey Jak! You ok, buddy?" I asked as casually as I could, trying to keep up my act.
Hearing me, Jak began to snap out of whatever train of thought he had going for him, shaking himself both physically and mentally. He opened his mouth for a split second as if to respond, but then hesitated, something was definitely wrong. I tried again.
"C'mon, ya big lump. Spit it out!"
It was rude, I know, but I knew that with a guy like Jak, the sooner you get to a problem and bit it in the ass, the less time for that problem to manifest into something much worse. I of all people knew that it was never good to let Jak deal with his problems alone.
Jak finally answered "Are you really sure this is what you want to do Dax?" He looked down at me uncertainly, with a hand behind his head. "There are lots of other things out here we can do..."
I flinched, "Damn, so he did notice..." I REALLY needed to work on my acting skills, I made a mental note to take some lessons in theatre later.
I tried to keep up my failing-act anyway "W-what do you mean Jak?" I had this completely fake smile going on now, and I now I was stuttering "I've always been m-meaning to go to the movies..." It was no use, as I began taking a special interest in the ground, looking away from Jak in the process.
Jak started to shift from his uncomfortable state to a more relaxed one. He kneeled down to level with me, and looked me in the eyes.
"Dax, if there's something wrong, I want to know..." Jak had a concerned smile on his face now, the same one he always had when he was worried about me.
I tried one last time to keep up my lie, trying to be stubborn.
"I-I'm fine Jak. There's nothing wrong. Really..."
I looked up at Jak, as if to prove it, and I was met with an unconvinced look.
"Oh really? It certainly doesn't look like it from where I'm standing..." Jak smirked, the bastard actually smirked. At this point I knew I'd lost the lying-game with Jak, he was my best friend after all, knowing me all to well.
I sighed "Yeah I know, you're right. I'm sorry," I took a deep breath, "I've just got a lot on my mind right now, okay?" It really sucks when you have to admit you're wrong.
Damn him, here I thought I was going to be the one trying to make Jak's day go well, but now I've gotten him all worried about me.
"Really? Like what?" It seemed like Jak really wanted to get tot the root of the problem. Like I said, he really could be overprotective of me at times, and boy was he stubborn at doing it!
"It's hard to explain..." Heh, it really was. How the hell do you explain to your best friend that you've snooped through their most personal, and private, diary, only to discover that they have a crush on you, leaving you all dazed, confused and not sure what to think?
Jak had an even more concerned look on his face now. But after a couple of moments passed, Jak greeted me with a smile, he didn't seem so worried now.
"Well, if you can't tell me now, that's fine by me, but I won't let this ruin our day to relax and enjoy ourselves..." He put a hand in my shoulder "I know you'll sort it out eventually, but let's try to have some fun today, ok?"
I didn't know what to say, the tables had really turned here, but Jak was giving me an easy way out. It was weird, I thought Jak would've been more stubborn than that. And now he's trying to get me to relax!?
"I thought I was the comic relief here! What's the world coming to?" I knew that I needed to sort my own thoughts out, before I started acting like an idiot again.
"I..uh...thanks, Jak." I awkwardly sputtered. It'd certainly been a while since Jak and I had one of our "deeper" conversations.
"No problem" Jak replied, any sign of uncertainty Jak was having before had vanished, and now I was the only emotional wreck in this conversation. God, I was never great at emotional encounters when it was directed at me. I mean, sometimes they're GREAT and all, but I always have this fear, a fear that I might say something that might completely ruin my reputation or something. I needed to break the ice.
"OK OK, enough'a this emotional crap!' I snapped, bluntly. "We gonna be heading to the movies or what?" I practically leapt onto Jak's shoulder, this time I was actually eager to get going.
"Alright, alright, we're going!" Jak chuckled, amused. We began heading towards the nearest zoomer "If you behave like a good boy, I might even get you some popcorn..."
"HEY!"
"Ok, we're bickering again...things are getting back to normal..." I let out a silent sigh, just enough so Jak couldn't hear me.
We began heading towards the nearest zoomer, and unlike many other times, this one actually belonged to us. As we got on, I still had an uneasy feeling inside of me, and I wasn't even sure why.
It didn't take long to get to the movies, but whether it was due to the zoomer's speed capabilities, or Jak's risky driving, I wasn't sure. The Cinemaplex was massive, and I mean MASSIVE. I knew that the construction of the place had taken months but, wow; it had only been open for a couple of weeks and you could tell. It was very easy to spot among the dull buildings next to it, with unlit neon signs of different colors everywhere. They even had this fancy rotating door, I don't see how you would need one, but it looked pretty fancy.
We got inside to find exactly 3 people inside the entire Cinemaplex, all of which were employees engaged in conversation, with the rest of the place completely deserted. Jak and I looked at each other, we weren't really sure what to do.
"I guess it's not surprising," Jak grinned sheepishly, as if it was his fault "with everybody out and about getting ready for tonight, I should have guessed this place was going to be empty!" Frankly, I was surprised that the place was even OPEN on Haven Day.
"Well at least there ain't any lines or crowds!" I responded cheerfully, this was a nice change of pace, it was an entirely different atmosphere to what had happened outside. At least here I wouldn't run the risk of being stepped on. We walked up to the guys at the counter to ask for movie recommendations, you could tell how surprised they were to actually find customers, even more so when they recognized who we were.
"Oh wow...it's really you two!" One of them said, rather excitedly. He turned over to his co-worker "Alright Jess pay up! I knew we were gonna have some customers this afternoon, but none other than the Demolition Duo themselves!" The guy seemed nice enough, so we struck up a conversation with him.
His name was Finn, he told us, and explained that his father was the manager of the entire Cinemaplex, and had left him and his two siblings, Jess and Redd, to run the place, while he was out Haven Day shopping.
"Wow, that must be...really boring" I said, somewhat amazed "Your old man must really hate ya, if he's making you spend Haven Day all cooped up in here!"
"Nah, I understand, he needs the fresh the air anyway!" Finn replied "Besides, I like the quiet, it's usually very busy here, so it's nice. You guys want something to eat?"
A few seconds later, Finn had brought us some popcorn and drinks, and I decided that I liked the guy. Who knew there were so many nice people in Haven? I could only remember the amount of times we've been scowled at for trying to help this place, but it was good to know people like Finn actually appreciated our help.
Jak already had the orbs in his hand to pay Finn, but he shook his head.
"Just pick any room, and Redd'll get a movie started up for you" Finn smiled "Don't worry, it's on me. Just don't tell my Dad, ok?"
Yep, I definitely liked this guy. "What's the movie?"
"I'll surprise you"
Finn pointed our way through to a viewing room and we settled ourselves in. Jak sat in his own seat while I, due to certain height problems, opted to remain on his shoulder, trying to find a comfortable position to sit down, making sure the popcorn was within reach.
I'm not the type of person who enjoys staying still for long periods of time, that includes sleeping, but I was actually enjoying this movie. It was about this guy who discovers he has the power to turn back time for up to a day, as tries to use this power to get this chick to fall in love with him. The romance was a bit sappy, yeah, but I also found myself laughing near to the point of falling off of Jak's shoulder, so you could say I liked it. I ended up rooting for this guy to get the girl, strangely enough, especially during the 'sad' parts of the film, I swear I felt a pain in my chest when the guy realized the girl was in love with somebody else. I guess I'm a hopeless romantic after all.
Halfway through the movie, I noticed that Jak on the other hand, was way out of it. He was looking at the screen, but he wasn't really looking at the screen, as if he was watching the movie. It's hard to explain, but it seemed like Jak was in his own world, deep in thought.
"Hey Jak..." I whispered in his ear, not like there was anyone who could hear us, but it's a habit you develop after countless movie nights. Jak didn't seem to hear me though, so I tried again "Hey Jak..EARTH TA JAK! DO YOU READ ME?"
Whatever trance Jak was in, he snapped right out of it, blinking twice "Oh sorry Dax...what's up?"
"I could ask the same question." I replied, folded arms and all "What's the matter with you? You've been acting up all day..." I couldn't take it anymore, I knew something was up with Jak, and I wanted to nip this mystery in the ass as soon as I could.
"It's certainly not the movie bothering him...or maybe..."
Oh. My. God.
The diary...a trip to the movies...a romantic comedy about a one-sided romance...
I'm an idiot, I really am. Why didn't I guess this before?
Of course Jak was gonna feel uncomfortable with going to the movies, much less a ROMANTIC comedy, cause that's what couples did, GOD was I stupid.
By this time Jak had an answer "Yeah, sorry Dax, I was just daydreaming again..." That confirmed it, the irony of it all was getting to him. I had only imagined something like that happening between Jak and Keira (god that would've been HILARIOUS for me), not with me, of all people!
I could see that Jak was uncomfortable now, which begged the question: how was I feeling about this? I hadn't even considered my own feelings since reading that diary, too shocked at the fact that my best friend had a crush on me to actually think about myself. This entire situation was surreal, I definitely couldn't remember seeing any 'hero falls for his best friend and side-kick' romantic movies, that's for sure!
We left the Cinemaplex shortly after the movie finished. Jak had wanted to thank Finn for the free movie, and gave him and his siblings a pass to the special Haven Day party inside the Palace.
I was gonna need some time, maybe even some help, to figure this situation out, or more specifically, to figure myself out. Sure, I felt weird and all, but I didn't feel particularly bad about it either.
Maybe it was just the movie, maybe...
So...I've been really distracted, obviously, and instead of blaming it on school exams and other fandoms (thanks a lot, GOTG and Ben 10), I must ask for your forgiveness! I have no proper excuses, but hopefully this chapter makes up for it! I'm thinking of writing the next chapter in a new POV, besides Jak or Daxter, but that could also depend on what YOU guys prefer, so anything goes.
Those who are following this, you have amazing patience and are absolutely awesome! Please keep up with the criticism, god knows I need it, and have a fantastic day!
Ladies, Gentleman and Others, The Sheep is OUT!
