Strike #9

[solittleeffort]

[Maia's spent the past week or so holed up in her room, only bothering to venture out when she needed food or drink. She had been feeling...tense.

Those words she had heard on the top deck in the previous week were still quite fresh in her mind--You were supposed to help Gol. You were supposed to take care of him, Maia--and since then, Maia has

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[shadesofeco]

[Jak meanwhile, is brooding about Torn and Ashelin being back.

They're his friends, they're good people. But as far as they're concerned, he's still a traitor, a liability, and an emotionally unstable Eco Freak.

Okay so maybe they're not totally wrong on that last one.

But it's frustrating to keep doing this again and again, watching friends leave and having them come back without a hint of their old memories. He didn't even understand how this worked, but it pissed him off anyway.

Despite his promises to Daxter, he sneaked out when the ottsel was asleep. A towel slung around his neck, dressed in loose pants and a grey sleeveless shirt, he'd spent some time beating up equipment in the gym. Now, damp with sweat, out of breath and fully into the workout routine he'd devised, he takes out his anger and frustration on a punching bag, completely oblivious to anything else around him.]

[commentlog]

[solittleeffort]

[It isn't long before Maia decides to make her way to the gym - it might not be as good as beating the living daylights out of a living, breathing creature, but it still serves as a good distraction. Violence is violence, after all.

She freezes shortly after entering, though...there's someone else in here, and there's something very familiar about him. First is the hair and the relatively short stature...she smirks to herself. Good things really do come to those who wait.

However, the second familiarity is what intrigues Maia the most. Dark Eco - the boy is brimming with it.]

Hm. Your hair is shorter than it was when we last met.

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[shadesofeco]

[The voice makes him jump, and Jak whirls around. His eyes widen as he sees who it is, and the punching bag bumps into his back, almost knocking him forward a step.

His eyes narrow, and he glares at Maia.]

What do you want.

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[solittleeffort]

[She laughs.] So the hero can talk, after all! And here I was, thinking that your pet was the one who spoke for both of you.

However, it's interesting that Samos would want someone like me to be our world's savior. [That's right, Jak. She knows exactly what's flowing through those veins of yours.]

You weren't like this before. Tell me - what happened? I'm very curious.

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[shadesofeco]

You and your brother weren't exactly good conversation.

[Jak folds his arms and rests his weight on one hip, glaring viciously at the Dark Eco Sage.]

It's none of your business.

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[solittleeffort]

[A change in attitude, too...which Maia doesn't mind, really. She likes it far more than that wide-eyed, innocent nonsense.]

This is Dark Eco we're talking about, Jak. It's my business whether or not you want it to be.

[She had been on this ship for the past month, and exterminating Jak was her one goal...but this? This changes everything.] You know, I think we can learn quite a bit from one another.

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[shadesofeco]

From you?

[Jak snorts.]

I've got nothing I need to learn from you.

Ffff gotta sleep. WILL TAG BACK IN MORNING. <3

[solittleeffort]

Nothing at all?

[She flashes Jak a cocky smirk.] Then I suppose that means you've already learned how to control it. No more outbursts, no more nightmares, no more of that irrational fear, no more pain...[Remember, Jak, Maia's gone through this, too...the only difference is that hers was a much more natural process. If it could even be called that.] Or am I wrong?

Nite nite darlin' <3

[shadesofeco]

[A muscle in Jak's jaw twitches, and his expression darkens slightly.

He doesn't say a word.]

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[solittleeffort]

[She'll take that silence as a definite 'yes', Jak.] Don't worry, it stops eventually.

[No, it doesn't. But Maia's always been a good liar.]

It just takes time, a decent amount of training, and a good teacher. [She folds her arms over her chest and grins.] And I can tell you right now that anything Samos taught you about Dark Eco won't be much help.

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[shadesofeco]

And you think you can teach me.

[Jak rolls his eyes, then points at her with two fingers.]

Even the Precursors couldn't control Dark Eco by itself.

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[solittleeffort]

And look where they are now. [Well, one of them is on the ship, but Maia doesn't know that.]

Dark Eco is always going to be a part of our world, my dear. Better to try and understand how it works than to constantly live in fear, no? [She sighs and gestures towards Jak - this clearly isn't the Jak she had known, but any questions about that can wait.] Besides, it's not all bad. Exactly how much have you achieved with the aid of these powers?

[Maia doesn't know about what happened to him in Haven, Spargus, or how he saved them - but she knows that it would be stupid to think that Jak wouldn't try to use those powers to his advantage at some point or another.]

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[shadesofeco]

I didn't want these powers.

They could have--

[Fuck. Why is he even talking to Maia? He KNOWS she's just trying to manipulate him.

Jak clamps his mouth shut and just glares.]

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[solittleeffort]

You may not have wanted them, but you have them, anyway. There's nothing you can do about that.

[She begins to circle Jak, looking the boy up and down.]

Let me tell you a secret, Jak - I didn't want these powers, either. I wasn't even supposed to be a part of Gol's research!

[Oh, Maia remembers when those changes began to set in.

What's happening, Gol?!
It hurts!

She quickly shakes her head.]

All it takes is acceptance, and then the learning can begin.

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[shadesofeco]

[Feeling a little like a piece of meat being sized up by a Grunt, Jak follows Maia with his head as she paces around him.

Her "secret" does make him pause though. It had honestly never occurred to him that Maia was an unwilling participant in Gol's research. But it made sense. Even Samos seemed surprised.

It lowers his guard, just slightly.]

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[solittleeffort]

Not everything works the way you think it does, Jak. [Dark Eco, for example.] Sometimes we need to shift our perspective in order to better understand what's around us.

If we were still in our own world, it is very likely that you and I would still be enemies - but things have changed, and perhaps our views of one another should change as well.