A/N: And so regular updates begin, finally. Here you go.


Thank the Precursors that I only had to wait to get Dark Eco for a few hours.

Even at that point in time, I was beginning to get impatient, but it wasn't anywhere near as bad as it could have been.

I had been laying in bed ever since Samos had done what he could to heal my side, staring at the wall across from me. I made small talk with Teko, but we never managed to find anything to make a meaningful conversation out of. Mostly we talked about the Citadel, Dark Eco, and how much we wanted to go back to the simpler days of getting yelled at by Samos for not obeying his orders.

It was right after we finished that exact discussion that Jak and Daxter returned.

Jak was hauling a large cannister of something, and Daxter had a much smaller jar of what was obviously Dark Eco. He seemed very wary of it.

Jak grinned at me, "More where this came from." He said almost proudly.

I smiled a little. Daxter carefully scuttled over to me with the jar. "Here. Figure this will be easiest to start with."

"... Thanks, Dax." I said to him quietly. Of course I was rasping, despite the recent conversation with Teko.

"No problem, Izzie." He grinned at me, "S'long as it gets you out of your terrible mood I'll help Jak get as much Dark Eco for you as you could ever possibly need."

Teko giggled. "That's so sweet!"

I'm not sure, but I think Daxter may have blushed under his fur. He seemed bashful for a brief moment before waving his hand dismissively at her, "I just don't wanna get killed today." He said. "I value my life enough to venture into the freakin' jungle and collect about 12 of those -" he motioned to the canister, "full of the junk that turned me into a furball."

"Makes sense," Teko shrugged, "But it's still sweet that you think she'd actually kill you."

He looked at her strangely, as did I. What did she mean? I'd kill him if he pissed me off enough! Or… Maybe I wouldn't. I looked away, tilted my head, and made an odd face. I was confused - before leaving the Citadel, I wouldn't have second thought killing Daxter if he got in my way. Now…

I was hesitating. Second guessing myself. I didn't like it.

"She likes you now." Teko said, though I barely heard her, "Now that she's over the 'scrawny dweeb' comment, she likes being around you." I looked to her, wanting to argue, but finding I couldn't. "Consider yourself lucky. That doesn't happen to most people."

That part I could agree with. To this day, I'd still kill Torn and Ashelin if they got in my way. Probably Keira too, to be entirely honest. But Jak, Daxter, Teko, and Samos? They were special to me. I saw Jak as the brother I'd never had, Teko as a sister, and Samos as a father. Daxter? I wasn't sure how I saw him. But at that moment I realized that he certainly did mean something to me.

Daxter had taken a moment to register what she'd said. "So… what? I'm part of the family now?" He asked slowly.

Teko looked to me for confirmation before saying, "Pretty much."

Daxter blinked. "Oh." He looked at me, "Seriously?" I merely nodded in response. He grinned. "Awesome!"

Jak, who had left at some point in order to get the rest of the Dark Eco, returned with another canister. Daxter bounded over to him and hopped onto his shoulder. "Hey dude, we can cross Izaya murdering me off the list of ways I'm probably going to die."

Jak raised an eyebrow, "Oh? Alright then." He chuckled, "What did you do to get off her shit list?"

"Not sure." Daxter said, and I didn't hear the rest of the conversation, as Jak left to get the next canister of Dark Eco.

I looked at the jar Daxter had brought to me. I glanced at Teko, who gave me an encouraging look, and a small nudge, and then quite literally dumped it on my own head. Teko retreated to a safe distance when I lifted the jar, and luckily wasn't splashed with any of it.

All of the spare globs Dark Eco that landed on the bed were quickly attracted to my body and swept off as if they'd never been there.

I felt so much better already. I reminded myself to thank both Jak and Daxter for going out to get this stuff for me - it must have been dangerous. And, knowing how much of a coward Daxter can be sometimes, he obviously valued his life very greatly to have risked it getting this, just to avoid risking it just by being around me. And he obviously realized that falling into Dark Eco would lead to a much less agonizing death than being around me when I was out of Eco and impatient would.

I almost laughed, but something stopped me.

Maybe it was the flash of memory that went through my mind - a memory of why I was out of Eco and coughing blood. I felt shaky. Had I been standing, I'm certain I would have fallen. As it was, I had to curl up tightly and cradle my head to avoid fainting. I didn't know why I had a reaction like that - or even what, exactly, I was reacting to.

Teko didn't question it, she simply sat on my side and stroked my hair. It only calmed me down a little - I still don't know why I wasn't calm in the first place. Was I really that scared of Errol? So scared, the mere memory of what little harm he'd actually done to me rendered me helpless? I suppose I was.

When Jak returned to the room, he immediately came to check on me. I barely heard his hushed conversation with Teko, but I know they discussed my sudden shakiness. Daxter took on the job of scooting on the canisters closer to the bed and taking the lid off of it. I barely noticed until he gently peeled one of my hands away from my head. How he managed it without being forceful, I don't know. I stared silently at him as he smiled briefly at me, and then dipped my hand into the canister.

Power flowed through me. I felt stronger. The shaking slowly subsided.

After a moment, I sat up. It registered in my brain that it had taken Jak and Daxter a considerable amount of time to come back to the room I was in, and that they hadn't brought another canister. I watched as Jak picked up the untouched one and left the room with it. I tilted my head, looking to Daxter for an answer.

"He's literally going to fill up the bathtub with that goop." Daxter said, then laughed. "I just think it's funny that he doesn't remember what Samos had to say to me after I got changed into… Well… This." He motioned at himself.

"Probably something about a bath." Teko suggested, "In a bathtub full of Dark Eco?"

He nodded, "Yep. He say that to you too?"

It warmed me up inside to see them getting along so well. It was really nice to know that Teko had a friend aside from me in the world - she had only really ever gotten along with Jak and myself until now. And it was obvious what she felt for Jak.

I could see it in the way she would look at him now. She didn't bother keeping her pining a secret.

And speaking of Jak, he soon returned to the room. "Your bath is ready, sis." He quickly tried to correct himself by saying, "I mean… Izzie."

"... Sis?" Teko questioned for me, then snorted. "Didn't realize Izaya meant so much to you, Jak."

Daxter snickered, but Jak looked mildly uncomfortable. "Uh… Yeah." Was all he said before awkwardly shuffling back out of the room. I was now incredibly confused - I could have ignored such a slip of the tongue if he hadn't looked so uncomfortable about it.

"C'mon Izzie," Daxter said after a long moment of he and Teko making fun of Jak's slip up, "I'll show you to the bathroom."

I slowly sat up and swung my legs - which were thankfully no longer numb or stinging - out of the bed and onto the floor. Daxter scampered out of the room quicker than I could get up, but I managed to follow him at a decent pace. We passed a room with the door closed, and then came upon an open one. The bathroom.

To my amusement, despite knowing already, the bathtub was, indeed, full of Dark Eco.

Daxter pulled a towel out of a cabinet and sat it on the sink. "Here ya go, Izzie. And, uh… When you've gotten your clothes off, toss 'em outside, will ya? Samos wants me to wash them." He seemed uncomfortable.

"Don't worry," Keira's voice suddenly came from the hall. I looked to her - she was giving Daxter a reassuring look, "I'll take care of the more delicate clothing items." She glanced at me, "And Izaya, I have some clothes you can borrow until yours are clean."

I nodded my thanks, Teko ushered Daxter out of the room, and Keira closed the door for me.

Moments later, when I'd shed my clothes and tossed them out for Keira and Daxter, I approached the tub. I slowly sunk into it, sighing in relief. You'd think that Dark Eco would be uncomfortable in some way, but it wasn't for me. There was the usual insistent tingling sensation, but I had learned long ago that it would soon change from tingling, into warmth.

As I sunk further into the tub, I found myself feeling tired again. Maybe a short nap would be alright...