A/N: This is a story I have been working on off and on since 2005. (Cripes, I'm old) I did have a beta for several chapters, but I kind of disappeared on her due to some seriously heavy depression. She was wonderfully patient with me for the few chapters she had beta'd. Although she did not beta me through the entire story, she still needs mentioned. Sedgehammer, thank you. 3
This story is a resubmittion (is that even a word?), but has completely veered off course from what I had written nearly ten years ago. This is a very long story - It is an eventual Torn x OC. The focus for the first couple of chapters will not be on Torn, but it does set up the story. Please read, and leave some feedback. :) I made the name Mar into a surname, and several of the characters have last names now.
~Oly~
"What do you want, Fae?"
Fae stood in the office entryway, her closed fist hovering over the door frame to knock when her employer spoke. The question startled the young woman; no matter how often this interaction occurred, Fae could never get use to it - unnerving how aware the Crime Lord was at all times, even knee deep in conversation.
The secretary willed herself to step through the threshold of the cramped quarters; she never liked entering the office. It smelled of sweat, liquor and cheap cigars, permeating from the furniture and walls. Likely from the less than savory men and women the Crime Lord entertained at all hours of the day. Fae knew how powerful Rayn truly was, and yet for reasons unknown, she will not forbid her associates from their vices excluding hemo. That product was never allowed any where near Rayn's residences - with good reason.
Rayn looked up from her paperwork, a frown tracing her features when Fae remained silent, standing in front of her desk appearing nervous and twitchy. She had lost her patience more than once with the younger woman; from the looks of it, today wouldn't be any different.
"Well, spit it out already. I don't have time for your foolishness."
Fae jumped slightly, and nodded, holding out her hands for Rayn to see. "I-I'm sorry Miss Rayn, but this arrived for you earlier today from Haven City."
Rayn glanced at the item in her secretary's hands. It was a plain package wrapped in brown paper and twine. She curled her lip at the seemingly innocent parcel; she was no fool and would not open it herself. Noting the time from the clock on her desk, Rayn sighed tiredly and returned her attention to the mounds of paperwork laying in front of her. "I'm sure it is harmless considering you decided now to bring it to my attention instead of when it arrived three hours ago, but better safe than sorry I say." Rayn glanced up at Fae once more with a smirk playing across her lips, "You know the drill."
Fae wanted to protest, knowing her words would go in one ear and out the other, she gritted her teeth and nodded at her employer before leaving the room with the package in hand to open it herself. To Fae's surprise, the tiny box appeared on the doorstep while she was out to lunch. The mail carrier arrives early in the mornings - Fae knew this as fact, and he knocks if he has a package for her employer. Earlier, the guard sitting against the wall next to Rayn's office door shrugged when Fae asked about the mail before stuffing his face back into his magazine.
Useless. Fae thought bitterly, glaring hard at the top of the guard's balding head from behind her desk. She carefully set the box onto the desk and exhaled heavily, a knot forming tightly in her stomach. She knew checking all packages was part of her job, but knowing didn't make the act any less stressful. Shouldn't this had been in the guard's job description? It would be very interesting for Fae to put in her resume "parcel checker - explosives" as part of her job experiences.
A peaceful silence fell over Rayn's office allowing the woman to concentrate on business at hand, but her peace did not last long. Five minutes passed before she heard a vague familiar voice coming from the foyer. Rayn stood and walked to the doorway to view her secretary standing above the hologram of her late father, Krew.
"What is this? Why didn't you come and get me?" She stepped further into the room to view the hologram from the other side of the safety glass, the explosives room was set in the corner of her office entryway for occasions such as this. The guard moved to stand next to Rayn, grinning foolishly at Fae's ridiculous costume.
"Bring it out here." Rayn looked over at the guard, pointing toward the front door. "You. Outside. Take a cigarette break." The guard frowned in annoyance, snatching up his newspaper and left the room. "Imbecile." She muttered before returning her attention to Fae.
Fae ventured from the makeshift room, and set the hologram on her desk. "It was playing as soon as I opened the box." She stood before her employer in a bomb suit that was obviously far too large for her. She pushed the helmet up and leaned back to view Rayn before stepping away from the desk to strip off the gear.
"-The book tells of a vast collection of-" Rayn walked up to the desk and pressed the play button again, looping the message back to the beginning.
Rayn's father flickered into existence once again, his large frame set in a hovering chair, fanning himself haughtily. He glared into the recording hologram, and for a moment his daughter felt like he was alive once again, his grating personality looming oppressively in the room.
"Rayn, it has been well over a decade since my death. By now, you have more than likely established yourself as the Crime Lord of our beloved Kras City, and have many associates throughout our world. I know for a fact that you are successful; you share my blood after all, hmm?" Krew paused to chuckle and breath heavily from the exertion of speaking.
"You probably assumed that you had received the last of your inheritance years ago at the circuit races, but I do have one last thing for you to acquire, ey? This project will be incredibly immense, but when it is all over, you will also have control of the largest dark eco reserve left in the entire world."
At his last statement, Rayn's heart dropped into her stomach in sheer excitement and disbelief. An uncovered dark eco reserve? What were the odds? Rayn looked over at her secretary standing by the desk, chewing on her fingernails while listening intently to the message.
"Are you writing this down?" Rayn snapped her fingers in Fae's face. Fae jumped, nodding as she sat at her desk, and began setting up her computer to dictate the message. Concentration set on her face as she tried to catch up on the information being handed out.
"You will need to assemble a team to retrieve and study a book, ey? The book tells of a vast collection of dark eco hidden somewhere near Haven City. It was written hundreds of years ago by an eco sage. You can go into the details with a bibliographer. I was in the process of harassing the best of the best regarding the book, but alas, my time has been cut short. I know I will be going to my impending death within the next hour. This is the last recording you will ever receive from me."
"The book has been retired to the Kras City Museum. You will need to acquire it from the museum's archives located in the bowels of the building. I specifically requested it be placed there for safekeeping until you are ready to retrieve it. Most likely, you will not be allowed to adventure into the building freely any longer."
"Within this hologram is a picture of the book, and a map of the museum. I do hope they haven't moved the archives within the last decade." Krew paused fondly in thought. "But, knowing our dear city, they wouldn't have been able to afford it, ey?" He smirked calmly, fanning himself in the process. "This book was actually the last treasure I had my team retrieve from deep within the sewers of Dead Town. It is a very rare, irreplaceable book so do handle it with care hrmm, my dear? All my love."
The hologram shut itself off momentarily before starting again, displaying what appeared to be a large leather tome. It was hard to depict the title with the old technology her father had used to record the message. Moving in front of the sunlit window to cast a shadow on the hologram, Rayn was able to able to see the faint scripture etched across the front of the book.
"The Precursor Legacy." She mumbled out loud. "As told by the Blue Eco Sage of Rock Village."
The book disappeared from her view, and was immediately replaced by the building plans of the museum. The layout looked simple enough for your average thief, but Rayn knew better than to doubt the security of the building; especially with much of the old precursor technology now residing within its walls. She would need to find someone capable of disrupting the doors, force fields, and cameras- She knew she would require the services of a hacker.
As she paced the small carpeted area in front of her secretary's desk, the plans were falling in place like pieces of a puzzle. The team would be small. No more than six dedicated people, including herself. She hadn't personally been involved in acquiring any of her collection in years. Quite frankly she was bored, and the job seemed manageable enough. Rayn smiled, a wave of ideas forming in her head. If this book was as important as her father deemed than she could not delay in planning to retrieve it.
She had so many questions, but none that could be answered by anyone but her father, and he was far from being alive. Why did he not tell her about the book in his will? Why was it in Kras City Museum, and not already in her possession? Oh, but the answers were obvious to her: It was her father's last ditch effort to challenge his only heir, just as he did when she was younger; when her mind was still easily molded by his influence.
Who was she kidding? Father still had authority over her years after his death, especially in her handling of the family business. What would father do? Would father approve? The woman turned away from Fae's desk, her heels clicking faintly in the hallway. She promptly ignored her secretary trying to speak to her as she left the room.
Closing the door to her office, Rayn leaned against its cool surface, organizing her thoughts. Truly, Krew's influence has lead to Rayn's success in the criminal's world, but it did not mean it would last forever. Momentarily, doubt planted its seed in her mind. Would this object of her desire really be worth the trouble?
She chewed on her lower lip, a nervous habit she had unknowingly picked up over her lifetime. The answer weighed heavily on her shoulders. She needed to do this; not only because she was bored, but she knew the power she once had over the city was waning, thanks to Haven City's witch of a governor, Ashelin Praxis- now ironically Ashelin Mar, and her Commander, Torn Nolan.
With Haven's help, the newest Governor of Kras, Tyro, had begun stealing her territories from under her feet. Rayn couldn't count on one hand how many goons she had lost over the last five years, and how much money and control she had lost from the city.
What hurt her business the most was the racing circuit: the city took control of every aspect of racing that had earned her money; cutting her and other crime lords from participating in the gambling and funding of racing teams. She had to resort to more drastic and risky business plans. The most dire was the introduction of intravenous injections of dark eco, more commonly known on the streets as hemo. If she were able to find the dark eco silo, her drug trade would blossom, allowing her to push it farther than her reaches of the tri-city trade route.
Her power of the trade would be exponential as no one would be able to compete with her near endless supply. Slipping away from the door, Rayn returned to her desk where her communicator laid charging. The decision was final. It was time to contact her team.
The days following Krew's message were filled with a frenzy of closed meetings between Rayn and her chosen operatives. A failed plan is one not studied from all angles, and not back by another. She would not fall victim to defeat as she had on the eco trade route raid conducted the year before. Of course, anything involving the damned freak and his precursor seemed to always doomed to fail.
She knew the dark warrior didn't take too kindly to her past lies and schemes which made Jak and his obnoxious pet all the more aggressive when they showed up on her raid. With sheer dumb luck, she caught Jak off guard as he changed from freak show back into his normal self, shooting him twice, in his abdomen, and in the shoulder. While he writhed in pain on the ground, his blood soaking into the sand, she made her escape in her dune buggy with only a hint of regret on the back of her mind for what she had just done. All that matter at that moment was her escape.
Many of her soldiers weren't so lucky, unfortunately. Some were still locked away, and some were dead from Jak's crazed tirade. Thankfully her favorite muscle, Finn, had returned to her services. He would be at her side the day of the heist. If Jak did decide to show his face at the museum, she would be more than ready, and Finn would definitely be waiting for a rematch.
Rayn once again sat behind her desk, this time studying her secretary situated across from her. Fae's glasses slipped down her nose, strands of her dull brown hair falling in her face, she nervously twiddled her thumbs in her lap. Rayn's crazy idea to include Fae in the plans was just that: crazy, but her options were vague, and Fae fit the bill of the timid, unnoticeable scientist. She relied on Fae more than many of her associates; the girl was smart, and Rayn trusted that she would get the job done the first time around.
Rayn leaned back in her chair, sighing and looking slightly weary, preparing herself for the incoming frantic questions Fae was about to unleash on her. "You're fired." She finally managed to clip out, internally wincing at the idea of Fae no longer working directly under her. She knew it was a fallacy on her part, but the idea of temporarily hurting one of the few people she cared for didn't sit right with her. Rayn steeled her will, and waited for Fae's reaction. Her darling secretary had to grow up sometime, what better way than putting her through a bit of stress?
Fae's jaw dropped, her eyes nearly bulging out of her skull in disbelief. "I-I'm- come again?"
"You're no longer my secretary. As of today, you will go undercover for me as a conservator at the museum. I will pay you double what I pay you now, and once your mission is completed, you can return to my services or... be on your way. The choice is yours, Love."
Fae stood up, resting her palms on the surface of the desk, she leaned forward, voice near quivering in anger and frustration as she spoke. "I didn't ask to be included in your scheme."
Rayn gave the girl a tight smile. "You weren't given a choice." She stood and moved to her bar, stooping to pull a chilled glass from the freezer below the counter top. She began making her favorite drink, a vodka martini. As she pour and mixed, she continued her speech, "I pulled you off the streets, gave you employment, and a roof over your head. I believe that doing this job for me will be an adequate repayment-" Rayn returned her gaze to Fae, searching her now emotionless face. What a facade. Rayn knew a storm of anger and doubt brewed in that pretty little mind of hers. Oh, she looked forward to bringing out the vixen in the girl. "Don't you think?"
"Why me? You have all these people under your control, and yet you choose me who is more than likely to fuck up and ruin everything." Fae tapped her fingers to her chest, emphasizing her lowly stature on Rayn's totem pole. "I'm a clerk - the roach under your shoe. Some days, I don't know why you pulled me out of the slums. I-"
"Because I see potential in you." Rayn interrupted. Calmly, she explained herself, trying not to throw the drink in Fae's face with the child's utter lack of gratitude. "To be better than the mousy little girl that you are. I took you in, and now I'm giving you an opportunity to change the direction your life is going. What do you say, Love?" She returned to her seat, sipping on the drink clutched in her hands. " Are you in?"
"I guess I am, considering I have no other choice." Fae muttered, she looked down at the floor in uncertainty, sinking further into her seat.
"Chin up, Fae, and for precursor's sake, sit up properly." Rayn barked. "You need to learn to be more aggressive - more confident. Trust me, with a bit of time and practice under your belt, you will be able to fool the museum employees into thinking you're one of them. Now, moving on - one of my most reliable contacts was a curator at Haven's University, until he recently hooked himself on hemo. He quit his job the month before because he's come to realize that he can't hide his addiction any longer. Truly tragic." Rayn paused to sip her drink again, uncaring at the idea of the Curator struggling with a drug that she created. " He will be relocating to Kras to train you, and he will help me rig up the paperwork required for you to get hired on with the museum."
Admitting Fae was way under qualified, and not to mention, scared of what Rayn wanted her to do would not phase the Crime Lord. Instead it would incite a spew of choice words in her direction about 'manning up', and 'taking one for the team'. Fae sighed, defeated and feeling more like an indentured servant than ever before. "I'm ready when you need me." The words came out of her mouth without thought, and she silently fumed at the satisfied look on Rayn's face.
"Good, until the Curator's arrival, you are going shopping. Time for a makeover, Lana."
Eight months later
"Seriously, Ashelin? You're really going to make me wear this?" Jak stood next to his wife, gazing into the mirror at the emerald colored cummerbund adorning his waist. He tugged at the uncomfortably tight collar; a black bow tie fastened around his neck. He felt ridiculous in the get up. Not to mention his feet hurt already from the pinching dress shoes.
His wife was invited to a charity ball, and of course, he had the unfortunate luck of having to attend with her. He hinted at making Torn her date as he was in the public eye more than Jak, but Ashelin would have none of his begging or excuses. To Jak, there was nothing more painful or boring than dealing with the higher class. He was thankful to have Daxter and Tess tagging along; at least Daxter would keep him entertained.
"Yes." Ashelin clipped earrings into her earlobes, and pushed her hair over her shoulder, studying her features in the mirror. She turned to a pouting Jak, his gaze was concentrated on the mirror in front of them as he listened to his wife's words of reason. "I'm sorry to do this to you, but that's what you get for marrying the leader of the city." She placed her hand on his back, smoothing the wrinkling fabric of his dress shirt as she winked at him. "You're royalty anyway. The great hero, Mar, attending a charity is serious P.R. for Haven."
"That doesn't count. We all know people only interact with me because they have to." Jak grumbled before stepping away from his wife's reassuring embrace in search of his suit jacket. He had it sitting on the bed, and now it had mysteriously disappeared. Maybe it was a sign he didn't have to go. His moment of victory was crushed once Ashelin spoke again."Your jacket is in the closet. I didn't want it getting wrinkled so I hung it up."
Jak walked over to find his jacket exactly where she said it would be. He pulled it off its hanger and swung it around his back, pushing his arms through the sleeves. He tugged down and forward on the coat to adjust what little comfort he had in the abomination of fabric.
"How the hell do you do that?"
Ashelin looked up from the mirror and blinked in confusion at Jak. "Do what?"
"Know exactly what I'm looking for?"
Ashelin smirked. "When you've been married to the same person for over a decade, you tend to know them better than they know themselves."
Jak shrugged his shoulders and gave a nod in agreement. He couldn't argue her claim because she was right. Some days he wondered how in the world he survived his teenage years in the city without his wife around to snap at him to clean up. He shuddered at the thought of his apartment and the mess that had accumulated in it when he had only himself and Daxter to take care of- take out and clothes everywhere. Then again, he would fall into bed every night exhausted from long hard days, not caring where his shirt or boots were flung to only to repeat the process again the next day. Being busy was enough of an excuse for him.
He glanced at the clock situated on the nightstand. Unfortunately for him, it was nearly time to be dragged to Kras City Hall. "I'm going to call Keira and make sure Aiden hasn't blown up the house yet."
"I'm sure she would have called us if that were the case." Ashelin replied nonchalantly as she began applying eyeliner. Jak watched, fascinated and amused at the faces Ashelin had to make to drag the coal colored liquid across her eyelid in a straight line. Ashelin blinked slowly, and studied her appearance before meeting Jak's gaze in the mirror. "You shouldn't be worried, Jak."
"I figured she'd call by now - that's why I'm worried." He picked up his communicator from the bureau and dialed Keira's number. It rang several times before a young girl's voice belted through the speaker in sheer excitement.
"Dad!" Jak gave Ashelin a quizzical look at the sound of his daughter's oddly cheerful voice. More than likely, she was up to no good. She wouldn't have answered the communicator so sweetly if she weren't.
"Aiden, why are you answering Aunt Keira's phone? What are you up to?"
A soft giggle echoed through the speaker before his eleven year old spoke again as only a pre-teen could: with as much snottiness laced through her words as possible. "We're playing hide and seek, duh."
The ottsel standing on the young girl's shoulder began making attempts to steal the communicator from her grasp, stuffing her paw in Aiden's face, and tickling her ear with the tip of her tail. "Stooooop, Dee." Aiden whined, rubbing her ear against her shoulder from the irritation, she glared hard at Delilah. "I'm trying to talk to my dad."
"I want to talk to my dad too, ya jerk." Delilah crossed her arms, and sat on Aiden shoulder dramatically.
"He didn't call, you turd. My dad did."
"He's probably with Uncle Jak! Let me talk to him."
"Girls! Stop the arguing. Put Keira on the phone now.""I don't know where she is." Aiden smirked at Delilah, knowing fully where Keira was located, but where was the fun in revealing the truth?
Jak knew better than to trust the words that spilled from his rule breaking child's mouth. "Aiden." Jak warned. "Where is your Aunt?" He could almost see the exaggerated eye roll from his young spawn.
Aiden huffed, "Fine. I'll get her." He heard whispering; moments later, muffled yelling, and finally a door being opened. "Dad's on the phone." Aiden's voice chirped and echoed through the speaker.
An exasperated Keira retrieved her communicator before she frowned down at the adolescent and her very tiny, fuzzy friend. They both gave Keira an innocent, confused look. "Aiden, go in your room with Dee until I'm done on the phone." The mechanic snapped harshly at the girls.
"Keira?"
"Jak." Frustration very noticeable in her voice."When are you coming home again?" Jak almost felt sorry for his impromptu babysitter considering she not only had to deal with his brat, but Daxter's as well. The two together promised hell on earth, but Keira agreed to this, so he really didn't have that much sympathy.
"We haven't even been gone the entire day. What did they do to you?"
Keira leaned against the wall ticking off the list with her fingers. "Oh, well you know - put a mysterious brown substance in my boots, cut holes in my brand new jacket and just locked me in the bathroom. Only the usual."
"So you haven't learned your lesson yet about leaving stuff out for them to get a hold of?" Jak mused. "And how in the world did she lock you in the bathroom? The lock is on the inside."
"Oh, I'm sorry... I thought her parents would have taught her to respect other people's property by now. " Keira snarled back. She looked at the bathroom door to her left, noticing scratches around the door handle. "The girls ran upstairs earlier. They told me they were going to watch a movie. I'm thinking they switched the doorknob around for the sole purpose of locking me in-" Keira paused in thought and sighed heavily, "You know what, Jak? I think this is the last time I'm going to watch them. My wits can't handle this anymore."
"Keira, calm down. Listen, I'm really sorry. She shouldn't be acting this way. I'll handle it when we get back from Kras tomorrow night. I'll pay for your coat too, but you're on your own with the shoes. If she gives you too much trouble, call us or Dax and Tess. And don't forget, you have our permission to correct her and Delilah."
"Fine. I'll probably talk to you later tonight. Have fun at the ball." Keira mocked knowing fully that Jak was not happy to be stuck at a party. She secretly hoped he was as miserable as she was.
"Heaps" Jak replied dryly. "Later, and good luck." He tossed the communicator on the bed and sighed. They really needed to figure out what to do with Aiden. She seemed to be getting worse and worse every time they turned around, and no form of punishment or reward system seemed to be working. Between fights at her school, the constant tricks she pulled on everyone who crossed her path - Jak was beginning to think they created a monster in the form of a blonde eleven year old elf. Delilah's constant goading didn't help matters either.
"She really does need to go to military school."
Jak looked up sharply at his wife, his brow furrowed in surprise at her unexpected statement."What? I thought we were trying to avoid her getting involved with the system?"
"I know." Ashelin picked up her pocketbook and wrapped a shawl around her shoulders. "At this point, what other option do we have? Since Torn took over command of the school last year, maybe he can help us."
Jak was silent for a moment, processing the idea slowly. He agreed with Ashelin. He just hoped it would actually work for their benefit. If not, the last thing they could do is to wait out Aiden's obvious troublemaker phase, but Jak's level of patience wasn't that great to begin with. He didn't know how he'd be able to handle a few more years of disrespect.
Ashelin interrupted his thoughts. "We'll just have to discuss it at a better time. How do I look." Ashelin twirled slowly for Jak to examine. She was dressed in an emerald colored chiffon dress. Her dreaded hair was styled and pulled back over her bared right shoulder. The diamond necklace Jak had given her for their fifth anniversary accentuated her tattooed collarbones.
As always, she looked unbelievably stunning. Jak knew he was one lucky man to have Ashelin Praxis for a life partner. "Wow," Jak spoke appreciatively. "You are absolutely beautiful."
"Less like a man?" Ashelin smiled coyly which prompted a light chuckle from her spouse. As a toddler, Aiden once asked Ashelin if she were a man as she had never seen her mother dressed in anything but leather and guns, nor did her mother act like your typical feminine woman. Ashelin could not understand where she had learned of gender stereotypes; she then realized that all of the women in Aiden's life worked in what society would deem as "men's work". Television was very limited for the youngster after that fiasco.
Jak slinked up to her and wrapped his arms around her waist, enjoying the warmth of her curves. "I, for one, know you are definitely not a man." He kissed her on the lips softly before pulling away with a slight frown at a random thought popping into his head. "There isn't going to be dancing is there?"
Ashelin laughed. "Yeah, sorry tough guy. I'll have to subject you to a couple of songs. Please don't stomp on my feet."
"I can't promise anything."
"I don't get it - You are the most flexible, coordinated person in the world, but get you on the dance floor and you trip over yourself. It's a mystery."
"My reintegration into society never involved table side manners, or dancing - Just violence and shooting shit." Jak quipped, a wire grin set on his face.
Ashelin rolled her eyes at the blatant fib. She knew he would do fine with the crowds. It didn't take long in their relationship for Ashelin to refine Jak's nasty attitude with people. A knock on the door interrupted the conversation. The voice of Daxter filtered into the room through the door.
"Yo Jak! Let's get this party started, big guy."
Ashelin looked over at Jak with a small scowl on her face. "He is not drinking tonight."
Jak put his hands up defensively, "Hey, I'm not charge of him any more. Tess will deal with him just fine."
"She'd better. Family or not, if he embarrasses me tonight, I will throttle him, then you'll be next."
Jak ignored her threat and walked around her to open the door. Both men eyed each others suits and laughed. "You look ridiculous." Daxter exclaimed, making his way up to Jak's shoulder to lean on his head. "Nice bowtie, big guy." He stuck his foot out and nudged at Jak's bow to mess with him.
Jak pushed Daxter's paw out of his face, observing Daxter's outfit carefully, his eyes narrowed in question. "Where are your pants?"
"I don't want to talk about it." Daxter mumbled.
"Hmm, I sense a child with claws has something to do with your lack of pants." Jak mused, a smirk crossing his face.
Daxter pulled his coat down as far as he could over his tail. "I said I don't want to talk about it."
"Sorry we're late." Tess walked into the room behind Daxter, wearing a pink haltered dress and a matching bolero jacket. "I just talked to Keira. That poor girl is suffering." She pouted slightly.
"We know. Those girls are going to make us all go gray before we know it." Ashelin replied. "But, Keira knows she can discipline if need be. I'm not going to worry about it right now. Let's go and enjoy ourselves for once. Limo should be here by now." She bent down at the knees and allowed Tess to step onto her hand.
"Jak," Daxter whispered into his best friend's ear. "Kill me now. I'm not allowed to drink. How am I going to entertain myself at this snoozefest?"
"Do what you do best, Dax: talk my ear off. It'll keep me having to bump elbows with these socialites. . . Just don't embarrass Ashelin. She told me tonight that she'll kill us both."
Daxter frowned and suddenly looked very depressed. "Sheesh, everyone's a party pooper. Is it over yet?"
"Sorry, bud. Not for another five hours."
"Ashelin can kill me now if she wants."