|Spargus|
During the trip back Valentine had managed to doze off, leaning her head against Jak's shoulder while the vehicle jostled in the air. The new upgraded vehicles could make the trip in half the time the original ones had, making the ride not nearly as daunting as their journey to Haven had been.
Jak's gentle nudging woke her up with a start from a dream she was having about Damos and Ma'al getting opera tickets. Though random and slightly disturbing Valentine had an inkling the dream was a lot better than reality was going to get.
Thankful they had been dropped off just outside the city gates the three of them trotted back to the city. Before they had gone far something large and dark swooped down, knocking her face first in the sand.
"Meta!" Valentine cried out, wrapping her arms around the Scout's long neck.
Crooning the animal responded, making clear with an abundance of licking - and added saliva - just how much she had missed her best friend. Meta pressed her skull gem against Valentine's forehead, giving the woman an idea about what had been happening these past few days.
"I missed you sweetie!" Valentine responded. Before she could talk further someone grabbed her ear and forced her back to her feet.
"And what do you think you have been up to?" Damos asked, keeping his adopted daughter's ear pinched between his fingers. Valentine cried out in indignation as she tried to pry her ear loose from his grasp.
"Ouch ouch ouch! I can explain, I swear." Sure, the explanation started out seemingly simple only to deteriorate in a jumbled mass of time travel and good intentions. And the yanking on her ear did not help her to sort out her thought process.
Of course any inkling of trying to explain herself any further went down the mental drain when her king looked straight into her eyes, jaw set in a way that could make Precursor steel look soft.
"You can explain yourself after seeing to your duties. Which you can do after your punishment." His voice was slow and controlled, the only indication of anger the way his fingers pinched even harder around her ear.
Her heart sank deeper in her chest when she realized how much trouble she was in. Sure, she had expected some anger… but at the same time she had been secretly hoping Damos would be willing to tone it down a little bit.
"Sir… father? I'm still quite attached to that ear for now, so if you don't mind?"
Damos let go of her, turning his attention to Jak who snapped to attention the moment he was being scrutinized. "And you…"
Damos' voice turned just a shade more deadly. Valentine swallowed, trying to decide if she should try to intervene or not. The way Meta cowered on the ground seemed to indicate that if Jak wasn't in any immediate danger she'd do best to lay low.
"You were supposed to protect my daughter! No harm is to befall her and you drag her to the middle of a war zone!" Jak visibly paled under the words, his mouth moving as if he wanted to say something in his defense.
"Don't. Both of you are lucky I don't kick you out of the city to leave you to the desert."
"It wasn't her fault, I-" Jak was stopped short by Damos' glare which alternated between the different parties.
"I know fully well to what lengths she would go to if she gets an idea stuck in her head. Neither of you are getting off lightly. Valentine, report to the Arena. Mihko will know what do to with you. And you…" Damos glanced at Jak once more, clearly not very forgiving. "Kleiver will have some tasks for you. Both of you will be forgiven after sufficient penance."
"But there's -" Valentine tried once more to say something about the Dark Makers, about Mar or anything else that was important.
"Dismissed!" Damos snapped at the both of them, striding towards the city at the exact same moment two of his assistants caught up to him. Though he didn't look back it was clear he wanted them to follow after him though the prospect was highly unappetizing.
Daxter let out a shaky sigh, dropping himself on Meta's back. "Well, now I know what Lurker bait looks like. You two got off easy though, I was expecting at least one person to die."
Valentine breathed, a shaky wisp of air that seemed to come all the way from her toes. "Dead might still be on the table for as far as we know. He did not seem happy."
She tossed a quick glance to the backpack Jak was carrying for her, motioning for him to hand it over. Slinging it on her back - the sharp corner of a photo album managed to dig into her back just at the most painful spot - she quickened her pace in order to keep up with Damos.
"Be careful out there. I don't know what you'll need to do for Kleiver but if it's punishment…"
"We'll be fine. I don't think anything they throw at us now could wear us out. We just fought Erol in a huge floating factory." Jak's easy smile showed he believed his words to the letter, mirrored by Daxter who didn't seem fazed in the least.
Three hours later Valentine found that there were things that could still wear her out, and at the top of the list was a training session devised by Mihko. The tall man had a boot on the small of her back as she had to do push-ups, sinking to the ground and getting back up in an irregular rhythm. Not that she didn't see the importance of some muscle, it had saved her ass only a little while back, but she would have liked some breathing time. Or the chance at changing into something more Arena appropriate.
Sweat glistened on her body as she kept her breath steady, determined not to cave in until Mihko told her she could stop. Every inch of muscle felt as if it was on fire, the hot air inside the Arena threatening to suffocate her. Others were also in training though they had the pleasure of going at it on a more leisurely pace.
"How long am I supposed to keep this up?" she finally asked, nearly caving through her arms. She hoped for Jak's sake the Marauders had been keeping quiet and that he wasn't going through something worse than she was.
"I've got you until two hours before the sun sets." The Arena manager replied as he flipped through the papers on his clipboard. He lifted his foot from her back, indicating she could stop for now. Immediately she caved through her arms, not caring if dust would stick to her moist skin. For the moment being able to taking a breather was the most important thing.
"I'll give you fifteen minutes, then you have hand to hand combat with some of the other citizens." The lanky man told her.
She thought about making a snide comment but her brain was too preoccupied with resting up. Fifteen minutes? That was all? Damos really was pissed at her if he was working her into a sweat like this. It was the best way to punish her while still making sure she didn't die. And meanwhile Jak was his real son and he got sent out in the Wasteland without a second thought.
"I need to talk to Damos. Where is he?"
"Nowhere you can get to in under seven minutes. You're staying here, he'll call you when he's ready to listen to excuses." The answer was vaguely disinterested as Mihko scratched the back of his head.
"Right, the transport you came in had a few communicators on board. One of them has been ringing non-stop for about half an hour. Some guy named Torn, wanted to talk to you. Feel like taking that call?"
Valentine nodded, hoping the movement would be discernible as she lay sprawled like a lizard. What did Torn want from her that couldn't wait until after her lifelong sentence of being grounded? The sleek, silver communicator floated down to her level, Torn's voice so clear she could have sworn he was standing right next to her.
"Valentine, explain yourself!" Torn commanded at once.
"Well, the average body is made up from several components, most importantly-" she started, deciding some snark was the best way of dealing with all of this. The Precursors knew she wouldn't be able to give Damos a hard time so she had to do it with someone else.
"I'm talking about those damned pink Death Bots the factory spit out before exploding!" the previous KG commander sounded as if he was foaming at the mouth. If the world ever turned into a truly peaceful place there was a chance Torn would never find a chance to unwind. She should start thinking of a fun hobby for him to do.
"What? They're not killing anyone, are they?" Valentine asked, slightly worried. She hadn't had a lot of time to input a new directive for the bots but there shouldn't be a real problem.
"No casualties, but those things keep stalking my people around. What the hell did you do that for? How do we make them stop?"
"Tic Tac Toe." She replied, sitting up. She ran a hand across her cheek in an attempt to wipe off the dirt. Gross.
"Wha?"
"The game? You played it tons of times with me when we were stuck keeping a lookout? If you win the game they'll look for hostile Death Bots and attack them." Valentine suggested, realizing she was only rubbing the dirt more on her instead of off her.
Torn took a deep breath on the other side of the line. "We are in the middle of a war and you decide the best way to lighten up the mood is have us play a children's game with Death Bots?"
"Pink Death Bots, with a cute floral pattern." She clarified as if the paint job made all the difference.
"Why on the world pink?" Torn asked, his voice accompanied by the sound of paper being torn up.
Valentine shrugged even though there was no optical feed on the communicator. "I like pink, it's a pretty color. More importantly, I wanted it to bug the hell out of Erol."
"Fair enough." Torn replied before barking some new orders to the people who were undoubtedly also in the room.
"What's the status over there?"
"I've just been effectively grounded for the first time in my life." Valentine didn't know how to handle that. Whenever Torn had tried it she'd pretty much walked straight through him in a show of adolescent 'I know better than you'. Not that she'd had anywhere to go other than uncle Vin's place.
A raspy laugh was the reply. "That should keep you busy. Have you told Damos about the Day Star yet?"
"He wouldn't listen to me. I don't think the thing will be coming down just now but… I dunno, the sooner I can talk to him the better." Just not too soon. There were too many things going on to just casually start a conversation with her adopted father.
From the other side of the Arena she spotted some women raising their hands towards them. Looked like her fifteen minutes were up. "I've gotta go. Keep me posted if something big comes up?"
"You mean other than a war?" Nobody could do sarcasm like Torn. One day she hoped to be as fluent in it as he was.
"Like when you've beaten your first Pink Bot. You really sucked at that game."
|Evening|
Jak rolled his shoulders before taking a seat in the stuffy bar. The Marauders hadn't kept quiet while he had been gone, prompting Kleiver into sending him and Daxter out to do all the dirty work. There had to be a better way to get those guys out of the Wasteland. And then there had been that small storm - how one could call a storm in the desert small was beyond him. After clearing sand from all of the awkward places he felt like a new and positively bored man.
"Missing your honey already?" Daxter teased him in a break in the conversation he was having with the bartender. The two had been swapping secrets of the trade which had looked an awful lot like drinking tiny amounts of liquor.
"No." Jak replied immediately before he slumped in his seat. "…maybe."
Daxter rolled his eyes at the reply, tossing back a new drink. "Can't get to her with all those bodyguards running around. Remember what they told us?"
"Nobody is to disturb the Lady Valentine until King Damos says so." Jak groaned, holding up a hand so he could get a beer. Seriously, all he wanted was to spend some quality time with Val that didn't involve nearly dying or running away from things.
He looked at Daxter who seemed to be highly amused by the situation. "Well, you're the superhero around here. Why don't you try sneaking in? What are they going to do, force you to find more Marauders? They're gonna run out sooner or later."
He considered the idea as he took a sip of the beer. Now that Daxter mentioned it, it wasn't like security was that heavy. And technically speaking he doubted him visiting would be disturbing to Val in the least, though that would be a flimsy excuse if he got caught.
"Then what are you going to do?"
"Sig is going to swing by later. He wants to know what we've been up to and he was going to tell me what kind of stupid shit Ma'al got himself into since we left. I never thought I'd say it but Metal Kings can be really entertaining." Daxter said, grinning like a maniac just thinking about all the juicy gossip he would be getting his hands on.
Jak considered his options for a moment. He could be responsible and not get himself into any more trouble… but on the other hand he could be alone with Val without people barging down the door every five seconds. But he also wanted to catch up with Sig. Then again he didn't want to be stuck listening to stories about Ma'al in all of his naked glory.
"Go. We'll be fine without you." Daxter encouraged him, waving a hand towards the door. Jak hesitated for a moment longer before making a beeline for the door. If Sig had anything life-changing to say Daxter would be sure to fill him in.
|Palace|
Valentine ran a finger across the cut on her forehead, just above her eyebrow. For the most part it was straight, only turning slightly ragged when it swooped down to the side of her head. Waggling her eyebrows she realized she'd gotten lucky she hadn't cracked her skull head-butting Erol like that. It looked like it would heal without leaving a scar, provided she left it alone.
"He did have a hard head though, even before being Mister Roboto." Valentine announced to Meta who was sitting next to her in the sofa. It wasn't every day she got to battle someone like that. She laid the hand mirror to the side, casting a glance down her legs. She had a bruise on the inside of her left calve and another one right above her foot. And then there were the ones forming on her back from the training Mihko had put her through.
She stood up in a brisk movement and walked towards the window, Meta trotting behind her obediently. The Metal Head had kept close vigil on Valentine for the majority of the day, providing a recap of everything that had happened in town while she had been gone. Nothing too interesting except a lot of images of Damos being so angry he'd nearly taken one of the buggies to follow them to Haven.
She rested against the window still, enjoying a pleasant breeze. In a few hours the desert would be cold as ice but for now she could enjoy the refreshing tang of salty sea air. The town spread out below her, warm lights starting to flicker in windows, spreading a pleasant golden glow over the area.
Valentine directed her gaze up, immediately fixating on the source of most of their problems. The Day Star loomed above them, decidedly bigger than she remembered it being. Not that she'd spent a lot of time looking at the stars. That had been Seem's field of expertise.
She twirled a strand of hair around her fingers. Seem should have told her about what the thing really brought instead of that whole 'remaking the world' bull she had told Damos. Had the monk really believed they would be able to escape the destruction of the world?
Meta let out a worried whine, sending an image of Ma'al through. Valentine nodded absently. "We could use his help. Will you let him know we could use his help if things get worse?"
No matter what the Dark Makers would throw at them, Ma'al in his true form would be an unexpected challenge. Meta nodded and took flight through the open window, blowing Valentine's hair back from her face with the take-off.
Valentine ran her hands through her hair. Would wishing a meteor could just strike the Day Star be too much? They didn't even know what the Dark Makers looked like, though she was willing to bet from what she had seen back at the volcano they weren't sweet and fluffy critters. Before she was finished with her agonizing she could feel a sudden gust of wind from behind her. Without thinking she lashed out.
Her fist was caught in Jak's hand. He seemed to be a little surprised at the sudden attack though an easy smile showed all was forgiven. Her surprise on the other hand wasn't forgotten so easily.
"Jak? What are you doing here?" Valentine blurted out. She had been under the impression that being grounded included no visits from the boyfriend. At least that was what Haven's abominable television programming had led her to believe.
"I… stopped by?" he suggested, his smile growing more lopsided as he spoke. "Just wanted to see you to be honest. Things have been getting more hectic lately."
She nodded even though she couldn't believe he had just been able to walk in like that. "And nobody tried to stop you? I mean, I didn't think they'd let anyone pass through."/
Jak rubbed the back of his head as he looked back at the door with an almost guilty look plastered across his face. "I might have used Light Eco to get in here. Orders were pretty specific about not anybody getting to disturb you."
Valentine grinned when she heard that. Of course Jak would take a chance to experiment a little bit with his powers if he got the chance. With the same grin she gestured to a small pile of flasks lying on a low table. "Well, if you need to replenish your Eco, Seem's monks have continued making the medicine while we were gone. I didn't really have the time to let them know it wasn't necessary anymore."
The blond immediately looked as if he had tasted something foul when she mentioned the medicine, clearly remembering the taste. With a laugh she pressed a kiss on his cheek, the soft stubbles stinging slightly against her lips. He ran a finger across the cut on her head, looking less amused than she was.
"He really got you good back there." He said, voice growing darker as he thought back to Erol.
Valentine shook her head with a smile. "Actually I was the one head butting him. I hadn't thought he would have metal in his head as well."
Jak breathed out, looking in her eyes. "I suppose me telling you to stay somewhere safe isn't going to make much of a difference?"
Only if you're prepared to knock me unconscious before locking me up somewhere."
He sighed, looking partly amused and partly worried. "That's what I thought. Then I won't suggest it."
"Good." She replied, slipping in his arms before he could suggest something else that would keep her from his side. She nuzzled her face against his neck, taking deep breaths. She hadn't realized she needed someone to comfort her until Jak had been by her side once more.
"What are we going to do about the Day Star?"
Jak pressed a kiss on the top of her head before he replied. "We find the weapon Samos was talking about and take care of things that way. They won't even come near the planet as long as we're on watch duty."
She chuckled, her eyes closed in the embrace. "That's a nice plan. Probably won't work though."
"Oh?"
She shook her head, pulling away from him for a moment. "Torn always said a plan lasts until problems start. After that it's a question of being the smartest, quickest person calling the shots."
"Then we'll still win. We're the best combination out there." Jak reassured her, taking her with him as he walked towards the couch. She nestled in his lap, one foot hopping up and down as they talked.
"Has anyone ever told you that you have too much confidence?" she inquired, flipping his nose in a loving gesture.
He shrugged, rolling his eyes in the progress. "Maybe once or twice. It's not that bad though."
When she opened her mouth to say something else he pressed a quick kiss on her lips. Not that she let that deter her. "I'll make sure to keep you with both your feet on the ground. You need someone to take care of you."
He groaned, rolling his eyes once more. "Honestly, I'm not a kid anymore."
Valentine looked him over, realizing once more that the boy she had once known really had faded into the man she loved. "I know that. Sometimes it's easy to forget though."
"I'll help you remember." He promised, pulling her close to him. Pressed against his body, strong arms around her Valentine couldn't help but respond to the sudden kiss. Jak's skin was warm, seeping through her own clothes and making her shiver. Sometimes she still couldn't believe that after all that had happened Jak was here, holding her close. Even if he had a clean scent now, there was still the vague undercurrent of gunpowder and oil, things that were as much a part of him as the Eco.
"I won't ever let you forget me." He added, pressing light kisses on her cheeks, her nose, moving to her neck and then back to her mouth. Her arms wrapped around his neck, head tilted just so he could have easier access.
"Jak…" she muttered against him. Should she still call him Jak? Or would he prefer Mar?
He seemed to sense the inner turmoil she was experiencing. "It doesn't matter. No matter what you call me, I'll always come back to you."
"You always know what I'm thinking." She said, almost wondered out loud.
As he chuckled hot breath played over her neck. "That's because I know you, Val. I've always known you."
He kissed her hand, kissed each finger in turn. Valentine felt her heart pound in her chest at the sight, knowing that she probably looked flaring red at the moment. "Really? Then what am I thinking now?"
He whispered in her ear, the words making her feel so weak in the knees she was glad to already be sitting. "That's just a very lucky guess." She mumbled against his ear.
"I can be lucky that way." He replied in a smug tone.
She flipped his nose again. "Modesty is becoming in most men."
"Not my style. Want me to keep guessing what you want instead?" he suggested, almost sounding too innocent, especially when paired with the wicked grin he had.
Coquettishly she flipped her hair back. "Sounds like a fun game. What's the time limit?" She nearly gasped when he put a hand on her breast, biting her lip instead.
Jak pressed his lips against her jawline, tracing up so maddeningly slow she thought she might lose any shred of sanity she had. The heat from his hand alone could be enough to drive her insane. "Can I have until morning?" he asked her, sweetly.
All she could do was nod.
Hello once again everyone ^^ We had some technical difficulties for this text so let me know if anything seems out of place. Other than that, not much is going on other than me trying to complete my pokedex (I'm so close!). Seeing as how timetravel is sort of a theme in the J and D universe, I might recommend an anime for the people here that like watching those. It's called Steins Gate and I just finished it and it was great. Kind of slow to start but I'm so happy I stuck with it. Also had one of the biggest up you's I've seen on a romantic level (I can learn from that)
OptimusPrimeGirl213 : Thank you for your kind words, it does mean a lot to me^^
LadyAmazon : if you ever want to go a bit more classic with your insults, I've found "off is the general direction in which thou mayst fuck" also a good one. A bit on the mouthy side though.
Oblique Strategies : Ack, I'm still kicking myself for missing a chance on going more in depth on how Erol looked. You really had a point with that one I'll keep shout-outing you for a while so better get used to it xD
Dear Guest : I'm happy you liked the action scenes, they can be a bit challenging to write. Just keeping track of which body part goes where can be pretty unnerving at times. So yeah, happy you liked it ^^
ayylmo : weren't you ayylmao before? :o Anyway, thanks for the feedback as usual ^^ Right now Sage is helping me with the insults and things. Though 'fuck' is half my vocabulary at some times during the day, I hardly ever get further than that T.T Though Shakespeare had a few golden ones :o