A/N: Uh-oh…seems Keira has some competition. But don't worry; I won't put Ashelin with Jak.
,O,
"Come in," called Jak groggily. He heard the door creak open then shut gently. Nimble footsteps padded towards him. He smelled a gently sweet perfume hanging in the air around her. A cool, slim hand slipped into his own, which was hanging limply off of the side of the bed. Jak's head buzzed pleasantly.
"Are you okay?" asked Ashelin in a concerned and serious voice. Jak nodded. "Look…I heard about the incident in the Racing Sector. I was worried about you…" Ashelin sighed. She knew quite well that she was "Torn's unofficial girl", but instead she found herself gradually falling steadily in love with this brave, handsome man. "Oh, Jak, you really have to find out a way to put that anger under control!" she exclaimed suddenly. "That hot head of yours is going to get you killed!" 'That head is hot in more ways than one,' thought Ashelin.
"I know, okay?" snapped Jak. He didn't like being lectured. "I appreciate your concern, but I can handle myself!" Ashelin huffed.
"You should try being a bit more open…there are people who care about you out there…like me," she hinted rather unsubtly. Jak was surprised, but he didn't show it. Instead, he tugged the covers up over his wounded arm.
"Uh, thanks, Ashelin," he said hesitantly. "I really should get some sleep."
"Yes, I think you should," she said, placing a soft hand on his rough cheek. She gazed longingly into those beautiful blue eyes…it would be so easy to steal a small kiss… Jak shifted uncomfortably. The close proximity of her quite prominent cleavage was unnerving him. Ashelin backed away and smiled at him. "Bye, Jak."
"Bye," he muttered. He replaced the pillow over his face and heard the door softly open then shut.
xXIXx
Erol was perched on the rim of the sink in the Hip Hog Saloon's bathroom, deep in thought.
'I am such an ass to be considering things that would break her heart! I'm her friend; I've known her for three and a half years! But I think I-'
"AAAAAAAHHHH!" A blood-curdling shriek came from the back room. It sounded like Keira. Erol slid down from the sink to go see what was wrong, but slipped on the slick floor tiles and landed on his rear. He groaned. Maybe Torn was right about his klutz curse…he got up and reached for the door handle, but tripped again and hit his head against the hard door with a dull 'thunk'. Black crept into the corners of his vision, and he fell unconscious.
xXIXx
"Oh Mar," said Tess, looking for the tweezers frantically. "I thought we had gotten all of the light bulb shards out! Oh, here they are. Now just hold still…"
"AAAAAAAHHHH!"
"Hold still, Keir!" Tess swiftly pried the thin shard from her bloody flesh. Keira took great gasping breaths. "I think you might have to rest back here a bit longer until you can walk properly." Keira sighed. She would get so bored in the quiet back room. Luckily, Krew never went in there; he couldn't fit through the door frame. Suddenly, she heard a dull 'thunk' from the bathroom. Torn, who had been talking to the wastelander Sig outside, hurried in.
"Are you okay?" he asked. "I heard a scream and a 'thunk'." Tess shrugged.
"Keira screamed when I removed a piece of light bulb that we missed, but I think that the noise came from the bathroom. If I were you, I wouldn't worry about it. You hear thumping noises all the time here," said Tess casually. Torn frowned.
"I guess so," he said. He was about to walk back out to Sig, when he stopped and slapped his forehead. "Erol's been taking a long time in that bathroom," he said, before running to the bathroom door. Keira propped herself up on her elbows and looked at Tess. Tess only sighed.
"Knowing Erol, he was probably-" she was interrupted by Torn coming back in.
"Tess, can you help me open the door? It's stuck. Krew just gave Sig a mission, so he left," said Torn. Tess nodded, starting to get a bit worried. Together, they left the back room. Keira lay back down. She felt like crap. Somehow, the concept of Jak becoming a dark eco monster seemed unreal to her, yet she had seen it with her own eyes. She still loved him, yet she felt a jolt of fear when she remembered that horrible scene in her apartment…her brilliant green eyes widened. Her apartment! Thieves might be stealing her racing trophies and other belongings at that very minute! She sighed impatiently. What was taking Torn and Tess so long?
xXIXx
"Come on, Torn! Push harder!" growled Tess, ramming her shoulder against the door. Something large was blocking it…like a body. Tess fidgeted nervously. "Erol? EROL? EROL!" she yelled, rapping sharply on the wood surface with her knuckle.
"I'm trying," Torn said through gritted teeth. "Now why don't you start helping again!" He looked up, and noticed a small vent above the door. He nudged her and pointed at it. "Why don't you get on me, and maybe you could reach-"
"Whoa!" came a loud voice from behind them. "WHAT in the world are you two doing!" Tess, who was climbing onto Torn's shoulders, looked behind her, only to see a small orange ottsel. "Oh, hey babe! It's you! It kinda' sounded like you two were getting busy!" Tess rolled her eyes. Obviously, this creature was a bit on the perverted side.
"Hi Daxter," she said. "What are you doing here?"
"I came to see you, angel cheeks!" Tess giggled. Torn grunted.
"Tess, if you're not going to look through the vent, could you please get down?" he said.
"Oh, right," she said. She stood as tall as she could on his shoulders and peered through the dusty vent. She blew some of the dust away and saw a sink and garbage can in the corner, and two stalls on the side. Then she looked straight down in front of the door and saw…she squinted. Orange hair! "Erol?" she called down. "Are you okay?" No answer. "Okay, put me down, Torn!" Torn bent down and she jumped off.
"What did you see?" he asked.
"Wait a second, here! What's going on?" asked Daxter. Torn sighed.
"Our friend was using the bathroom, and we think that he somehow hit his head and fell against the door," explained Tess. Daxter grinned and puffed out his chest.
"Leave it to me, babe! I can get through that vent quick as lightning!" Tess's eyes sparkled.
"Really, Daxter? Oh, thank you!" Daxter grinned.
"No problemo, babe! Now if you could lift me up, that would be great." Tess picked the ottsel up and clambered back up onto Torn's shoulders. Tucking Daxter under her arm, she carefully pried off the old vent grid.
"Ready?" she asked, holding him through the opening. Daxter gulped. It was a long way down.
"Yep!" he replied. Tess let go, and Daxter fell down and landed with a muffled 'wumph' onto Erol's unconscious body.
"Are you okay?" asked Tess anxiously.
"Just peachy," he replied. He then proceeded to slap Erol's cheeks. "Hey, wake up!" Erol groaned and sat up.
"Where am I?" he asked, dazed. He looked around; a bathroom! Where was he? He noticed an orange rodent-like creature standing in front of him.
"You're in the Hip Hog bathroom, that's where!" it said. Erol did a double-take. A talking rodent!
'I must be crazy,' he thought. Then he remembered; the creature belonged to Jak. He looked around again nervously. With that thought, it all started coming back to him. 'Keira screamed…and then I fell and hit my head!"
"What's taking so long in there?" came a gruff voice from behind the door.
'Torn,' Erol thought. "I'm fine!" he called. He heard a sigh of relief from Tess. "Was Keira alright? How long was I unconscious?"
"Can you just open the damn door already?" asked Torn impatiently. Erol tried to get up but winced. There was something wrong with his right ankle. He tried again and succeeded, opening the bathroom door. Daxter scurried out.
"My hero!" squealed Tess, scooping him up in her arms. Daxter grinned at her.
"Keira's fine; she just had some remaining shards in her side, but that's taken care of. I don't really know how long you were out, but I'd guess 20 minutes," said Torn, answering Erol's question. "We'd better go back and check on Keira." Erol nodded. Suddenly, his face contorted in pain as a throbbing pain coursed through his leg. "What's wrong?" Torn asked. Erol shook his head.
"It's nothing; c'mon, let's go."
xXIXx
Keira sighed, fidgeting with her blanket in a bored manner. She had resolved not to think about all the horrible things that could have happened to her home while she was away; after all, there was nothing she could do about it. She had also decided not to think about Jak. It brought an odd stew of emotions to her head. This left her wondering what had happened to Erol.
'He's such a klutz,' she mused. It was funny most of the time, but he might have seriously hurt himself. She bit her lip with worry. He wasn't as near to her heart as Jak, but he was still one of her close friends. Suddenly, the door opened, and Torn, Tess, Daxter, and Erol entered. Erol was limping slightly.
"Hey, Keira!" greeted Daxter cheerfully. For Jak's sake, he didn't mention Dark Jak. "You sure don't look so good!" Keira rolled her eyes.
"Of course not, I just had pieces of light bulb pulled from my side!" She focused on Erol. "What happened? Are you okay?" Erol was slightly pleased by her concern.
"I fell," he said, a bit embarrassed. Keira had expected something along the lines of that. "I was unconscious, but Daxter got in the bathroom and woke me up." Keira beamed at Daxter.
"I was really starting to worry," she said, relieved. "Was something wrong with your leg?" Erol shrugged.
"I guess I must have hit it or something," he said. Keira nodded.
"Hey, Torn, Tess, do you think I could visit my apartment? I was a bit concerned…" she trailed off. Tess shook her head.
"You're in no condition to go anywhere, Keir," she said. "But one of us could go check on it for you." Keira smiled.
"Thanks, that would be great!" Tess smiled back.
"No problem, Keira. Now I think I should change your bandages; they're looking kind of icky," she said, gesturing to her side. Torn cleared his throat.
"I have KG duty right now, and so does Erol, but maybe he should take a day off because of his leg," said Torn. "So I guess I'll be going now. Bye." He walked out. Erol grinned.
"Wow, I haven't had duty for, like, two weeks! This is great!" he said, plopping down on the foot of Keira's mattress. "So, is there anything I can do to help?" Tess looked alarmed. She didn't trust Erol with an important job; chances were he would somehow screw up. What he was doing in the Krimzon Guard was beyond her.
"I don't think so, Erol," she said, grabbing some fresh bandages. He looked disappointed. Tess knelt by Keira and was about to lift her shirt. "Um, Erol? Could you…you know, step out for a moment?" Erol looked embarrassed.
"Sure," he said, walking out the door and closing it behind him. Keira tapped Tess.
"I don't want Daxter in here either," she said, glaring pointedly at the ottsel, who had been trying to be as discreet as possible.
"Aw man," he grumbled, waddling out to join Erol. Tess smiled.
"Okay, Keir, are you ready?" Keira nodded. Tess swiftly pulled off the bloody bandage, earning a pained gasp from Keira. Tess inspected the wound. "It's healing slowly; I'd say about another week would do the trick," she commented. Keira moaned. This whole healing process was a pain in the butt! If only her father were here, he could use some green eco, and get it over and done with fast. "Don't worry, it won't be that bad. You'll probably be sleeping a lot anyway." Tess changed the bandages and left to serve some drinks out in the bar. Sure enough, Keira soon found herself drifting off, Jak's ocean blue eyes floating around in her dreams.
,O,
A/N: Thank you Jak fan, Raiynn-chan, and merryb for the reviews. :) I will try to have Jak and Keira meet again in the next chapter.