Another Corner of the Park, Saturday Afternoon

[unborn-renegade.livejournal.com]

Dude. Dax was here. This meant that they had to do so much stuff while they still could! Like... looking at the castle! Eating! Talking to other people! Or, you know, less boring things like racing through the park, which was exactly what Jak was doing, Daxter on his shoulder. Closer and closer to the pond, they ran! This was fu--

Hey, that was one massive cloud of pink.

That was not only a massive cloud of pink, it was a very, very interesting cloud of pink, so far as the little orange Ottsel was concerned.

"Seagull?" Daxter Freakout Mode in 5... 4... 3... "Jak! Wouldja lookit the size of them funny pink seagulls? I gotta get'em! Gotta get'em and chase 'em and show 'em who's the boss of this pond! That'll teach 'em to be here, and pink, and--" If there was more to be said, it was lost in the pitter-patter of psycho Daxter feet, because he was off like a rocket after them.

My, they were somewhat tall for seagulls.

... Jak was pretty sure those were not seagulls. Dax and him had chased plenty of seagulls in their time, and they were a lot-- whiter, and, uh. But hey. Chasing birds! He barreled off after the psychotic rat, bare feet pushing off against the grass. It was weird, kind of, how Dax managed to achieve more speed than him when it came to--

--massive, curious-looking pink seagulls, who turned slowly on their stilty feet to stare at the menace that came thundering at them.

If you asked Dax, they were not taking flight because they were stupid, stupid birds, and it had nothing to do with the fact that he barely came up to their knees, and why weren't Ottsel feet properly equipped with a set of brakes, and... and...

"Jaaaaaaak!"

Now the game had shifted from 'chase the seagulls' to 'ten-pin pink bird bowling,' because Daxter had gone into the most spectacular bright orange somersalt the world had ever seen, directly into the domain of the enemy.

And here Jak had just been trying to avoid Samos.

[[ open for anyone who wants to gawk at the blond elf chasing the crazy orange rat chasing flamingoes. or just wants to use the park for their own activities. and of course for the rat himself. co-written with the awesome slacks_issues ]]

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[slacks-issues.livejournal.com]

"Jaaaak! They're gonna eat me!"

Why yes, that was the horrified cry of an Ottsel who had bitten off far more than he could chew. Where he was actually located was anyone's best guess, because the birds-who-should-have-flown were now the birds-who-were-angry, and yes, they were, in fact, trying to swarm him.

[unborn-renegade.livejournal.com]

Yeah. He'd have to find Dax first. Dodging and weaving like the best of them... with his head, at least... Jak tried to make heads or tails of the whole-- well, heads or feathers. Or... something.

Dax? Dax?

Eyebrows were going up. Um... forwards, then!

One of the birds lunged at Dax unexpectedly. It was just an intimidation technique. Really.

[slacks-issues.livejournal.com]

Well, it was working! Daxter let out what was possibly the most undignified screech he'd made in at least... well... how long had Jak been gone, now? Weeks?

... No, it probably hadn't even been that long.

And a moment later, Daxter had found the strength he needed to actually bowl one of the birds over, fleeing for his life with the one who had lunged at him hot on his floppy orange tail.

"It pecked me! It pecked me, Jak!" And it was chasing him, pink and black wings flapping overtime to help it keep up. Oh, there was no way that Dax here was going to make an escape on its watch.

[unborn-renegade.livejournal.com]

Right. Right. Uh. Jak was kind of torn between two extremes, one of which being finding this kind of ridiculously funny (which found its way into Jak's expression) and the other being kind of worried that Dax would, you know. Get an ulcer or a heart attack or somehow be swallowed whole by a large pink seagull.

Which found its way into Jak's feet, as he sprinted off after the bird in question and... gained on it, easily, because his strides were still larger.

Keeping up with it to the point he could do something about it without accidentally turning the bird back into its component ecos? Slightly more of a problem. He kicked off a little more speed, reaching sideways and grabbing.

It was not the most elegant or fool-proof solution. Maybe if he patted his shoulder enough, Dax would materialise on it?

[slacks-issues.livejournal.com]

Dax would love nothing more than to be on Jak's shoulder right now, yelling angry something-or-others at the pink balls of feathery rage. Alas, that was not the way of the world at all, and the seagull-that-was-not was most certainly gaining on him.

And so, Daxter, in a moment of sheer brilliant desperation, zigged when he ought to have zagged.

The splash as he went tumbling head over tail right on into the duck pond was astounding.

[unborn-renegade.livejournal.com]

It was astounding enough that it splashed both Jak and the pink not-a-seagull in the face, leaving both standing there in stunned silence for all of two seconds - which was when the not-a-seagull remembered its quest and ran, dripping wet and angry, back into the pond.

...Dax?

Jak was just going to stand here and... hope Dax surfaced.

[slacks-issues.livejournal.com]

Well, bubbles surfaced. Now and again. Here and there.

...

Hey! A few more bubb--

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH IT'S GONNA EAT ME!"

Have you ever seen an Ottsel run on water? Apparently all it took to cause that particular sort of miracle was to let it run face-to-face with whatever horrible creature lurked underneath the water's surface.

Which, knowing Daxter, could be anything from a giant man-eating squid right on up to a minnow.

[unborn-renegade.livejournal.com]

This? Was Jak, wincing, ducking instinctively, the siren cry of-- well, the warthog's cry that was Daxter in any kind of vague danger elicting a response that was pretty much programmed in at this point.

At least it startled him into action?

The flamingo was very perturbed to find that there was a very tall elfboy suddenly running alongside it again, then past, driving more water into its face.

Dax, just calm down, Jak is on his way--

...He kind of hoped this wasn't a Lurker shark--

--and gaining on him, despite Dax's miraculous and sudden turn of the messianic.

[slacks-issues.livejournal.com]

Daxter, in another fit of brilliance, was now actually running in circles on the water's surface, screaming and flailing his wee little arms in his air, and using words which were somewhat unbecoming of a wee little guy like him.

Words like, "AUUUUGH GAAAH HURRRGH SAVE ME SAVE ME SAVE ME."

Such language!

... He'd probably be very easy to grab, now, yes. For pink seagulls, Jaks, and mystery underwater beasts of unknown origin alike.

[logforahead.livejournal.com]

Over the years Samos had, unfortunately, developed a sort of Jak and Daxter Are About to Break Something Important radar.

And it was currently drawing him toward the park.

He was not surprised.

That was sort of depressing.

And... they were about to get eaten by very tall pink birds. Well... that was new-ish.

[slacks-issues.livejournal.com]

It was a very soggy, cranky but not as cranky as Samos Daxter who looked up to see ol' Loghead.

At which point, his epic raspberry-at-the-flamingo kind of piffled out, leaving his tongue lolling down over his chin for a moment before he pulled it back in, and then nudged at the side of Jak's face with his elbow.

Gently. Truly.

"Looks like we got an audience, big guy."

[unborn-renegade.livejournal.com]

Audience? A good one?

Jak perked up--

--then immediately perked back down once he spotted Samos. Oh boy. Busted?

[logforahead.livejournal.com]

Samos was in that quite-familiar-by-now exasperated stance. "What are you two doing?"

Like that wasn't obvious.

[slacks-issues.livejournal.com]

Daxter reached down to give Jak a reassuring 'don't worry buddy, I got this' pat on the shoulder. Really. He was a professional.

He hopped down to the ground, sauntering over to Samos with his arms crossed over his chest. Oh yeah, he totally knew what was what was what, here. As he dripped and continued to reek of soggy weasel.

"Well, you see, my buddy Jak and I, we were running around, doing our usual heroic rounds of this new and unexplored island, and these evil pink things decided that they were going to..."

Tooooo... Something....

"Hatch evil schemes of world domination! Needless to say, I leapt fiercely into action, to save the day!"

A pause.

"Jak, too."

[unborn-renegade.livejournal.com]

... Unsure Jak was unsure. Unsure Jak was waving at Samos, grinning in a way that was too cheesy (and embarrassed) for words. Unsure Jak was... shooting Daxter an offended look about the 'fiercely into action'. Seriously, Dax?

[logforahead.livejournal.com]

Samos was not unsure. He knew exactly what was going on here. At least in general terms. The specifics, when it came to Jak and Daxter, rarely mattered all that much.

Unless there was Dark Eco involved.

"That is the best story you can come up with?" He'd come to expect better, or at least more creative, stories from Daxter.

[slacks-issues.livejournal.com]

"And then there was the giant monster with tentacles under the water?"

It was a very hopeful addition. It was also possibly the only truth to his entire spiel.

[unborn-renegade.livejournal.com]

Yes. The tentacled monster. That was a big thing!

Unsure Jak was nodding. And less unsure, as he pointed at the pond. There had been something... scary there!

Of course, it was Daxter, so it could've just been tuna.

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

Dinah was out for her morning run. There had been a lot of sugar last night, and she'd crashed hard after staying up way too late talking to Barbara and Helena. But now she was buzzed again, and running off excess nerves at Barbara meeting her teachers (Helena, pretend to be a responsible adult and talk to them? yeah, right).

At least, until she saw the old guy who had to be Samos. Now she was slowing down, and looking hopeful. "Mr. Samos?" Wait, wasn't he... "Sage Samos? Right?"

[logforahead.livejournal.com]

"Sage Samos," he agreed. He didn't sound at all surprised that she knew who he was. After all, he was famous.

"And you are...?"

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

"Oh! Sorry! I'm Dinah Lance. I'm a friend of Jak's." She held out her hand to shake, and the hopefulness on that smile might suggest friend was not entirely accurate. "He told me all about you, and Sandover, and I met Dax yesterday, and he'd said you were visiting too."

[logforahead.livejournal.com]

"Friend," Samos repeated. He eyed her hand but didn't take it.

"I see."

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

Dinah looked a little downcast, then shrugged and pushed her hand through her hair, la la la, meant to do that! "How are you liking the island so far, sir?"

[logforahead.livejournal.com]

"It is surprisingly not on fire or blown up." And both Jak and Daxter were there.

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

"Well, it is Parents' Weekend, the Island can behave sometimes..." Dinah paused, then said, "Unlessss you meant something else. In which case, good thing, hunh?"