Author's Note: Hello all & welcome to chapter... what is this... 37? Yeah, welcome to chapter 37! Sorry about last chapter being boring (or at least that's how I felt about it), but hopefully this one will be better! Also, sorry for this chapter being late, but my schedule has been pretty thick with events, mostly from after school Band occasions that are for grades that I can't get out of...
Stuff I own: My OCs, Meldalvyna's house in the woods, & plot idea... Stuff I don't own: All Jak and Daxter & Spyro characters, the places these characters originally live in, & the music used in any & all chapters they appear in.
Jak's POV
I can still feel the adrenaline rushing through my veins from the ride Meldalvyna gave me as we rush into the back of the air-tran, an excited, happy smile on my face, not caring if anyone saw the scars on my gums from Dark's fangs. The door closes behind us as we lift into the air, Meldalvyna taking down her hood with one hand, the other wrapped around mine. Looking to Meldalvyna, a smile remains sitting on her face, pure happiness glittering in her forest green eyes. Meldalvyna's smile widens when she looks at my face, squeezing my hand a bit tighter as her lips reveal her marble white teeth, each individual tooth coming elegantly to a beautifully sharp point.
"It is a wonder how we do not end up cutting ourselves on her teeth when we kiss her," Light says, an amused tinge of curiosity to his voice.
"No kiddin'... I know I have no room to talk, due to my fangs, but I don't think I'd want to accidently run my tongue over those," Dark comments, his tone matching Lights. I chuckle at the two's comments, earning a curious smirk from Meldalvyna, her lips recovering her teeth.
"What's that laugh for?" Meldalvyna asks, releasing my hand to cross her hands over her chest, still smiling in her curiosity.
"Light said something about wondering how I don't cut myself on your teeth when we kiss, & Dark followed up with saying he didn't want to accidentaly run his tongue over them," I answer as flatly as possible, though I can feel my lips involuntarily curling into an amused smirk. A loud laugh bursts from her lips, one of her arms gripping a side, two extra sounds of people laughing echoing from the cockpit, making the both of us jump out of our laughter.
"Oh hey Carl & Luke, forgot you were in here," Meldalvyna says, some of the laughter still in her voice, though now mixed with a tinge of shyness.
"How could you forget that? Were are in the air," Carl says, a chuckle in his voice when he looks back at us, seeing Meldalvyna sticking her tongue out at him, a shit-eating grin on her face while she's doing it.
"And we know you guys are dating, but you don't have to talk about the details out loud!" Luke laughs, keeping his head facing out the front of the transport zoomer, earning a shy laugh from Meldalvyna, covering her mouth with her hand.
"We could get worse if you're not careful," I threaten with a dark chuckle, a smirk on my face as I look at Meldalvyna through the corner of my eyes, a curious & entertained smile on her face, an eyebrow raised in inquiry. Carl & Luke look between each other before taking turns looking back at us with a curious yet dreading look on their face.
"You both know you can't do THAT in here, it's against Freedom League Code!" Carl shouts, his eyes wide in horror, his face an expression of disgust. I can't help but start to laugh, Carl's guess at what I was going to do very far off. A second later, a look of realization flashes across Meldalvyna's face before she also starts to laugh, shaking her head with a disbelieving smile on her face.
"I wasn't suggesting that far! This is what I meant," I say, waltzing up to Meldalvyna & grabbing her around the waist, not hesitating to give her the largest kiss I could, earning a groan from the two pilots. I feel Meldalvyna smirk at the two's sound of amused disgust, & I can't help but grin at their reaction as I pull away slowly, making it a bit more dramatic, a skill I unwillingly learned from seeing Daxter & Tess do the exact same thing.
"We need to put a wall or something between you two, I swear we're going to need one," Luke mumbles loud enough for everyone to hear, causing Meldalvyna & I to laugh again before it is cut short my the air-tran slowly coming to a stop before descending.
"See you two later!" Carl & Luke shout as the door opens & the interior of the transport zoomer fills with the loud static of countless questions from the sea of news reporters outside as the air-tran comes to a landing. Before I can turn around, Meldalvyna flings her hood up & rushes past me, grabbing my hand & pulling me behind her as we run through the crowd to the doors of the Freedom League HQ. Once inside, we come to a screaching halt as we almost run straight into Torn.
"S-sorry Torn, sir!" Meldalvyna immediately apologizes, nearly sprinting straight into Torn herself. Torn blinks a few times, allowing himself time to take in what she said after being nearly bowled over by us.
"It is okay Meldalvyna, there's a crowd out there, I understand. I imagine you two will be able to finish talking to the remaining squadrons about the situation?" Torn asks, looking between us with a single raised eyebrow.
"Yess'ir, we should have it done, or be close to it, by the end of our shift, most likely in a few hours," I answer, counting off the remaining groups in my head, finding out there to be fifteen squadrons left. Torn gives a single nod before passing us, his hands behind crossed behind his back, his eyes returning to the cold disciplined stare as he walks off, a typical expression from him. Before we can walk into the conference room to begin the first session, Torn whips back around & catches up to us.
"I almost forgot to tell you, I sent these groups in last because they may be the hardest to convince... they ask me why I send them on parol in certain areas, & I end up spending nearly ten minutes on just that," Torn says quickly before continueing on in the direction he had originally been headed.
"So a stubborn group of new recruits in other words?" Light ponders in the back of my mind.
"What do you think, dumbass?" Dark sneers, making Light groan at his vulgarity.
"It was a rhetorical question, you imbecile," Light scorns back, making me inwardly groan at the two, Meldalvyna looking at me out of the corner her eye with an eyebrow raised as my two alters continue to argue.
"I'm NOT an imbicile, ya fuckin' winged pansy-ass," Dark growls back, his tone making obvious he is getting ready to fight.
"Will you two shut up? You're making me look strange," I think to the two, effectively making them pause their bickering.
"What's with you?" Meldalvyna says, surprising me with her question, finding myself just outside the mission briefing room.
"Dark & Light are fighting," I answer, shrugging the curious question off with a flat expression, silently telling her that it is a normal occurance. Meldalvyna shrugs before turning her eyes back to the door, setting her hands on it, ready to push it open, taking a deep breath. I come & stand next to her, placing my hands on the door even with hers, shoving open the door as I take a deep breath of my own, starting the grueling process of convincing other soldiers of Meldalvyna's trustfulness again.
"Torn wasn't lying when he said these guys would be harder to convince," Dark groans as a single rookie asks a question that had been asked not even a minute before, tired from having to listen to the exact same speeches & questions for the fifth time today.
"Torn has no reason to lie to us, Dark, unless it is to protect us, like the time with Ashelin when Baron Praxis was still alive... if what you two told me about the event was accurate anyhow," Light says, digging through not only my memory, but Dark's as well, the action feeling like an itching in just underneath the skin on the back of my skull.
I look up when Meldalvyna answers the question for a second time, hearing a slight, barely audible growl in her voice, the deep, annoyed sound sending a shiver down my spine, the hardly sensational rumble too reminiscent to Cynder's to be comfortable. Looking to the person receiving the answer, I notice that he had apparently heard the growl too, suddenly becoming more tense in his stance, his eyes locked with Meldalvyna's, no one else seeming to have noticed the near silent snarl. I can't help but smirk at the soldier's reaction, even though I am feeling a lesser version of what he is.
"Anyone else not yet fully convinced, or have any questions?" Meldalvyna asks, smiling when no hands raise into the air.
"You may take your leave," I say after I too scan the room for elevated hands, finding none as well. Watching as they leave & the doors close behind them, I sigh in relief, sitting down on a chair close to me, Meldalvyna walking up to just beyond the reach of my knee. Looking up to her, I grin tiredly, feeling a pang of hunger, not unaccompanied by a silent quake from my stomach.
"You want to take our lunch break now?" Meldalvyna asks, setting a hand on my shoulder, her other hand rested absentmindedly across her own stomach. Nodding, I stand up & we head out the door to the cafeteria area of the HQ. Too soon did we finish our meals, Meldalvyna's appetite again surprising me. Walking back into the conference room, we begin yet another set of persuading consultations. A few hours & conferences later, a single person raises her hand, looking to be near our age, a look of genuine curiosity on her face.
"Yes? What is your question?" Meldalvyna asks, trying to hold back a look of exhaustion & boredom, though failing considerabley to hide the expressions.
"I've been watching the news lately, & there is a rumor started by the press that you & Commander Jak are a couple... is that true?" the soldier asks as she looks between us, her voice gentle & shy in her curiousness. Meldalvyna visibly tenses, & I can't help but take a deep breath in surprise. The rest of the room's eyes widen, only to turn on us, the same question in their eyes.
"I... I mean that it wouldn't be a surprise, considerring how you two have been pictured together in the security footage... & how you are supporting each other now..." the woman stumbles, trying to make the question sound less harsh, less prying, a shy, appologetic, & forced half-smile.
"Yeah... it'd be kinda obvious if you two were... considering the audio of the video, & what the shop keeper says about you," another voice calls out, adding to the number of nodding heads in the room, all motioning to have the question answered.
"What is your opinion on it... if we were to answer positively or negatively?" Meldalvyna asks, her voice cold & calculating, the sound almost haunting, a tone I've never heard from her before, the voice of a dangerous predator tricking its prey into feeling comfort, or contrarily trying to scare it more.
"Uh... I guess if you were to say yes, we'd be slightly surprised, & ask why... and if you were to answer no, then we'd have nothing to ask," she answers, shifting her weight between her feet nervously beneath Meldalvyna's intense stare.
"Is that true for everyone else?" Meldalvyna asks harshly, snapping her eyes away from the woman & to everyone else in the room, her eyes almost frozen, exactly like her mother's when I first saw Cynder. All the heads in the room begin to nod, their eyes wide with a combination of expectance & nervousness.
"If that is the case, then I must answer... yes, Jak and I are a couple," Meldalvyna says with a tone of finality, making it clear to everyone in the room that she is done explaining herself for now. A long pause of silence takes over the room, the air thick with tension, Meldalvyna glancing at me to dismiss them. Just as I open my mouth to give the command to leave, a single hand raises out of the crowd, this time a man, a frown forming on my & Meldalvyna's faces as the hand elevates.
"Yes?" I ask, unable to keep the tone of annoyance out of my voice, a forced smile on my face.
"Miss Meldalvyna, you said you are a hybrid earlier. I know this is a sensative subject, but may I ask, is your father human or dragon?" he asks, his voice gentle & genuine. Glancing over to Meldalvyna, I watch as Meldalvyna struggles to a conclusion, her face twisting into expressions of surprise & concern.
"H-he's dead, he died before I even had the chance to see him at all... he was human, I do have a dragon stepfather though," Meldalvyna answers, her voice shakey & cautious, her eyes almost flat with depressed thought, she most likely thinking about missing out on her father.
"She's more like us than I originally thought," Light says, his voice sympathetic, having gone through losing Damas as I did.
"I wonder what happened to her actual father... Meldalvyna's looking pretty upset right now, we need to call off this meeting to let her calm down," Dark adds, paying more attention to our love than the curiosity of her missing father.
Meldalvyna's POV
"H-he's dead, he died before I even had the chance to see him at all... he was human, I do have a dragon stepfather though," I answer, trying to keep my voice level, though I knew it wouldn't be long until I broke down.
"Why am I choking up like this? It's not like I ever knew him, & my mother didn't even know him... he died later that night... I never got the chance to even see his face once," I think to myself while looking downward, the thoughts slowly dwindling into missed chances to be with my biological father, the memory of the day my mother told me that Spyro wasn't my actual father filling my mind.
"I was so young then... how soft I was then... I still haven't hardened in that aspect," I think to myself flatly, my mind becoming emotionless.
"You all have your leave," I hear Jak say, though his voice sounds like it is far away, like he's behind a glass wall, & I on the opposite side. Slowly, everyone but Jak & I leave the room, the sound of feet a nearly silent thumping, almost a low, quiet hum. When the room finally goes silent, I feel Jak's hand on my shoulder, feeling his eyes on my face, smelling his concern, everything numb but the feeling of splitting, melancholy pain in my forehead.
"Are you okay?" Jak asks as I feel myself lowering into a seat, finding Jak's hand on my chin, lifting it up so that he can see my face, even though he is crouching between my knees, a look of sad worry in his eyes.
"Y-yeah... I'll be fine," I answer, trying to blink the fuzzy image from my eyes & refocus them on Jak. Jak's eyebrows crease into a furrow, his eyes almost displeased.
"I didn't ask you if you would be fine, I asked if you were okay," Jak says, his tone annoyed, though his face & scent is worried & sympathetic.
"Fine, I'm not okay... that last question got to me... I don't know why either," I lie with a faux tone of confusion, knowing exactly why I started reacting like I had.
"No your not, I may not be able to smell sadness, but I can see it, it's all over your face... can I ask what happened to your father? I know he didn't die from something natural by the way you're acting," Jak says gently, pulling up another chair to sit next to me, a hand on my knee.
"By answering that, you'd learn something about me I don't want anyone outside my parents & double stepuncle to know, & for good reason," I say in return, trying to convince Jak to leave the subject alone & untouched.
"I love you Meldalvyna, nothing will change that. And because I love you, I want to know about what makes you act so ...empty... like that, because I never want to see you like that again," Jak argues softly, yet again trying to convince me to tell him. Taking a deep breath, I decide to tell him, though every instinct in my body is telling me otherwise.
"He died the same night he met my mother... he was delusional & speaking in tongues, & died from bloodloss overnight while he slept," I say, trying to avoid the main part of why I hate the subject so much.
"He had a lethal concussion when he & your mother... well, ya know? Was your mother... uh... social... when she was younger?" Jak asks, obviously trying not to offend me or Cynder at the same time, rubbing the back of his neck.
"No... my mother was not 'social'," I retort, involuntarily growling at Jak.
"Sorry... then how did you get here?" Jak asks, still not giving it up. This time, I can't hold my mounting anger in any more.
"Fine! You really want to know?! My mother was fucking RAPED BY A DELUSIONAL MAN WHO WOULD DIE FROM AN INTERNALLY BLEEDING HEAD INJURY LATER THAT NIGHT! I am the worthless, unplanned product of a rape victim! Are you happy now?! And it's all because my mother decided to try to save the damn man's life," I sneer out, standing in my rage, staring Jak straight in the eyes the entire time. A look of hurt come over Jak's face, leaning back & away from me in surprise, his scent flooding in a mixture of fear & slowly mounting sympathy. I collapse back down to my seat, burrying my face into my hands & letting my stress out through tears. After a few moments of sobbing, I feel Jak's hand on my back as he pulls me against himself, his head pushed into the corner of my neck, refusing to release me, even when I try to pull away.
"I'm sorry about putting you through that, I didn't know it would be that sensitive... I shouldn't have asked that... will you forgive me?" Jak asks, his voice soft & oddly shakey, his scent overpoweringly sympathetic & sad.
"Y-yes, of course I will... I understa-and that you needed t-to know, I j-just didn't expect to have to t-tell you this early... I-I thought it'd make you think less of me," I stutter, holding back as much tears as I can. Jak pulls himself away from me to look into my eyes, an expression of disbelief on his face.
"Why would I ever think less of you for something like that? So what if that's what you feel you are, it's not what I feel. Like I said before, I love you for who you are, not who you pretend or try to be. I'm not perfect, & you know that, yet you still love me for who I am, right?" Jak asks, making a point with his question. I nod, unable to speak from the combination of held back tears & surging, relieved happiness.
"See, that's why I love you, you love me for who I am, flaws & all, so of course I'll love you for the same reasons, & more," Jak says, attempting to pull me back to him, but I hold my place, the last part of his sentence making me curious.
"And more... what do you mean by that?" I ask, completely confused by what he meant, though I have an idea at what it is.
"Well, you are unique for one. No one else in this entire city is anywhere close to you... you've made me smile, laugh, frown, worry, & love and want to be with you even more in a single day... you are smart, strong... frightening at times, which makes you even better in my eyes... beautiful, & so many more things that I can't even list them all, & I still have things I want to experience with you," Jak says, looking between different points on my face, as if he was painting my face in his mind, before bringing his dark ocean blue eyes to mine, a soft, loving smile on his face. I can't help but smile at him happily, pulling myself into him, snuggling the side of my face against his.
"Thank you Jak... I don't know what I would've done if you hadn't been there to get the squadron out... Ancestors, I don't know what I would've done with myself since I met you if I hadn't that day," I say against his cheek, giving the area a light kiss of gratitude. I feel Jak's chest move against mine, a chuckle escaping his throat less than a second later.
"I'm glad I made you feel better. Our shift ends in two minutes, we could go & tell Torn we couldn't finish them all, & we could do them tomorrow... do you want to stay, or go home?" Jak asks, kissing me back on the cheek. Leaning back up & into a proper sitting position, I think about the options Jak gave me, but only for a second, my answer immediately popping into my mind.
"Let's clock out, I don't think I could handle another break down like that," I answer, honestly not wanting to have to go through that situation twice in the same day. Jak nods & pulls me up gently by the hand, leading me through the conference & mission briefing room doors & down the path to Torn's office. We tell Torn what Jak had proposed earlier & clock out, rushing through the waiting sea of paparazzi & into the already hovering air-tran. Once inside, the back hatch coming to a close as we leave our back to the cockpit, watching the door close for once. Turning to face the front of the transport zoomer, I see Carl standing just to the left of Luke's seat, his upper half bent down & towards the inside of the seat, his head completely hidden behind the seat.
"Carl, Luke?" Jak asks, loud enough for them to hear. Carl whips into full height, a look of surprise on his face, helmet not on his head, his cheeks red & a guilty look on his face, his hair slightly ruffled in the front.
"H-hey Jak, Meldalvyna, didn't hear you two come in," Luke says, turning to look at us, his helmet off as well, the same red cheeks & guilty expression on his face, his hair untouched & nothing out of place.
"Yakkowshit, how'd the door open & close for us then?" Jak says with a smirking, calling them out on their supposed lie. Taking a deep breath through my nose, I pick up on the scents of affection, nervousness, & truth.
"Jak, he's not lying," I say, my words causing Jak to look at me, a skeptic expression on his face until I tap the end of my snout with a single finger, reminding him I can smell emotions & tell if someone is lying or not through the scents.
"Yeah, we went & had motion sensors installed for opening & closing the hatch linked with recognition software today while you two were inside," Carl says as Luke opens his mouth to talk, only to close it again as Carl speaks for him.
"Okay then... so what were you two doing just then?" I ask, though I have a sneaking suspicion what it was. Both Carl & Luke seem to fidget where they are, both going to put on their helmets, the scent of shy guilt wafting from them as they pull the things over their heads, hiding their faces.
"Nothing, just talking... lets get you two into the forest," Luke says, turning to face the front of the air-tran, his face & body disappearing back behind the seat as Carl sits in his seat, flipping switches & starting the transport zoomer, lifting us into the air a second later. The ride goes in tense silence, no goodbyes as we get off the large vehicle at our drop-off point. Beginning to walk down the path leading to my house, the chill of the fast approaching fall night nips at all & any of my exposed skin.
"I wonder what they were doing when we turned to them... hey, do you want to do the thing we did earlier this morning?" Jak asks, bailing out on the first subject he started, a hopeful smile on his face, obviously wanting my answer to be yes.
"I have an idea on what Carl & Luke were doing, but I don't want to say anything incase I'm wrong... & yes, let's do that, but it won't be as fun, no diving off cliffs anyways," I answer, the first part of my answer making Jak look at me with a curious expression on his face before it it replaced with a smile. Walking infront of me as I slow my pace, Jak holds his arms out level with his shoulders, like I had him do earlier this morning.
"That won't be necessary, I'll just lower myself to you this time since you know what I'm going to do," I say as I lift myself into the air, hovering just behind & above Jak's back, positioning myself to pick him up. Lifting him up & against myself, I wrap my arms around his chest & my legs around his before taking off full power towards my house. Minutes later of flying at half speed, we land just outside my house, a smile on both of our faces.
Author's Note: So, I hope that chapter was more entertaining than the last one... anyway, I'm pretty sure the next chapter will be pretty entertaining (in a gross sort of way)! Again, sorry for this chapter being so late, but honestly, it's my Band instructor's fault for scheduling football games of Fridays & contests the day after, along with practices on Tuesdays, resulting in a lot of homework with less time to do them... so, in the end, blame school in general for these late chapters! Until next time, tigerdj98 out!