I have a weakness for well-written Jak & Daxter fan fictions but never dared to write one myself. But I've finally decided that I could at least give it a try. So here you have a short one-shot from Daxter's point of view. It's very short but I hope you will like it.

Title: Comfort

Author: Sione

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters, they belong to Naughty Dog.

Two years in prison changes you, two years pumped with dark eco, well that would make most people go insane. So if Jak sometimes needed reassurance from his little ottsel buddy I was up for the task. It was the least I could do after all. Nobody could say that the big guy hadn't been there for me, he always had to save my scrawny ass in times of trouble. And who else would put up with a big-mouthed ottsel on his shoulder all day? I know that I drive most of the people around us crazy with my chatting but not Jak, never Jak. He knows that the jabber is my way of keeping my sanity in place.

I'm not a very brave guy, actually I'm scared shitless most of the times during our missions. And you know what, chatter is a good distraction, you should try it sometime. Jak knows that I'm only there because of him, and if I need to talk through the whole damn thing he has no problem with it. But I guess if Torn didn't depended so much on Jak's goodwill he probably would have strangled me a long time ago, heh. Tattooed wonder can be a bit creepy sometimes, I tell you.

So anyway what I'm trying to say is that I was ok with being a comfort blanket for the big guy during the nights. Lets face it, Jak's time as guinea pig for the oh so charming Erol was definitely no vacation. I should know. The scars could give a guy nightmares, which of course Jak was a living proof of.

Therefore I stayed silent when a violent jostle abruptly woke me from my sleep. A shuddering breath reached my ears which wanted to twitch nervously but I forced them to remain still. Soon after, rough fingers dug into my fur and I felt his fingertips brush along the soft coat of my back in jerky motions. It wasn't what I would call a comfortable petting. The motion was too uneven and shaky, sometimes a bit too forceful which brought a grimace to my face. But it was ok, it was Jak, and he needed it.

I snuggled deeper into the folds of his tunic and noticed that it was damp with sweat. I didn't mind, though of course it wasn't exactly the smell of spring flowers. It was a bit too sharp to my sensitive nose but it was still Jak's scent and that made it comforting. I felt him shifting underneath me and a deep shaky breath filled the silence of the room. His fingers once again dug deeper into my fur like he wanted to make sure I was still there.

'I'm here buddy, I'm here', I silently repeated in my head but still lay unmoving.

His breathing had once again taken a slow and steady rhythm but since my position on his chest had my ear laying pressed flat over his heart I could still hear its erratic beating. It would slow down soon though. During these sessions of "petting" I would listen to its heavy beating and eventually it would slow down at the same time as I felt his tense muscles go soft underneath me. It's kind of captivating once you started listening. I don't think I could fall asleep without the steady beat of Jak's heart beneath me anymore. It's my personal ottsel lullaby.

I'm not sure if he's especially aware of what he's doing when he wakes up out of one of his many nightmares. Maybe he just reaches out to the closest thing and that happens to be me. But he's still always so incredible gentle. Yes it can be a bit rough sometimes but knowing Jak's real strength I knew it would be a lot worse if he wasn't watching his movements.

We never talk about it in the mornings. But what is there to talk about? I usually pretend to be asleep anyway, I don't know if he is fooled. He never says anything while petting me and I stay quiet. Chatter is usually my deadly weapon for everything in every situation but I have made this exception. I think Jak prefers the silence.

Instead of the awkward silence we probably would end up with if I announced that I was awake, I have chosen the easy way and pretended to be asleep. I know, I'm a coward but it has worked well so far. No unasked question hanging in the air. He coddles me for a while and when he has managed to calm down, his petting becomes sluggish before his hand usually falls to the side. Sometimes it ends up on top of me. Let me tell you that's too warm even for an ottsel. Besides it's kind of heavy. So when I'm sure he's asleep I gently push it off me. It earns me a mutter or two but he never wakes up. One thing I've noticed when he goes back to sleep after our petting sessions is that he becomes one heavy sleeper, I guess I must be a pretty good sleeping pill, huh?

But this night turned out to be different from the rest. His petting had for some time now turned into unhurried pleasant motions and the soothing action had almost brought me back to sleep. I knew he would soon follow, but that was when I heard him.

"Daxter." His voice was slightly hoarse and cut through the heavy silence like a knife.

I guess he wasn't so fooled after all. Well, not much point in pretending anymore.

"Yeah, big guy?" I looked up from my place on his chest and to my surprise saw that he was starring down right at me.

"Thanks." Just one word but that was enough for me.

Jak, always a man of few words. But I wouldn't have it any other way.

The End

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