Jak let out a wide yawn as he woke up only to wince, his wounds flaring with painful twinge in response. They had already healed nicely but it would still take a full day more before they would be gone with only the scars remaining. Sliding out of bed with a stretch he let a small grin play over his lips.

“I bet they will look great.”

The image of himself wrapped in a dark hood, face obscured by the shadows, played through his mind. Then he would cast back his hood to reveal his scarred face with a deep frown, intimidating anyone who had dared to approach. Now that was something to look forward to! Jak chuckled lightly, only to let out another sleepy yawn as he stumbled his way towards the bathroom. His scars twinged again.

He stepped out into the hallway. And Myra came out of the bath.

Jak hadn’t considered her waking up before him. Jak also hadn’t considered that she would take a shower first thing in the morning. Jad had definitely not considered that said peppy bunny cat would be skipping through the hallway, body nude and skin glistening with the odd water droplet still trickling down her curves. Jak hadn’t even dreamed that she wouldn’t even bother with a towel to cover herself.

Unwittingly Jak’s eyes flitted over her sleek build, getting caught on her generous bust and other, notable lower details. A light blush dusted his cheeks and he peripherally noted that her normally gloved hand looked surprisingly normal. He had kinda expected it to be covered in burns or scars or similar, to be honest. Then Jak swallowed nervously and readied himself for the worst as Myra blinked. She had finally noticed him.

“Oh, morning, Jak! The bath’s free if you need it.”

Myra waved with a cheerful grin before she skipped past him. She hadn’t even blinked or given him a teasing wink. Just nonchalantly leaving him speechless as her steps made certain parts of her figure bounce prominently. Her fluffy tail bounced behind her as well, all puffed up after her shower.

Jak wasn’t a prude by any means, not after everything he had seen around the slums -…and school- but her casual display had his face burn brightly. Especially since she was around his age, maybe a bit older, and she was in his home. Awkwardly he managed to press out a response.

“…okay.”

Then Myra was already through the door behind him and he was left alone in the hallway. For a few seconds he continued to stand frozen in place before quickly fleeing into the bath.

———

“Ah, that felt amazing~”l

Myra sighed in satisfaction as she stepped back into the main room, stretching herself wide. For a while she simply basked in the remaining warmth of the shower and the feeling of being clean before relaxing with a heavy exhale. She hadn’t been able to get refreshed like this since she had arrived in Dampfstadt and that shower had really been a godsend.

To the side of the room laid the bundle of her clothes and gadgets. They had been easy to clean before her shower and thanks to her tech everything was already nice and dry. So she didn’t feel too reluctant as she slipped back into them, letting her mind wander.

“Huh, I wonder why Jak looked… so… flushed…”

The amused smile on Myra’s lips froze as her words trailed off in realisation and the cautionary words of her grandfather echoed through her mind. It was fine for her to run around naked around their own home, but she shouldn’t do that elsewhere. He had reminded her numerous times, generally just as she had come out of the shower with his face hidden behind a large newspaper. It had become such a routine Myra thought her gramps was just being shy… but apparently not. She blushed embarrassed.

———

“… and that’s why I completely forgot about that. I just though gramps was being shy…”

“Interesting problem.”

Jak sweatdropped at Myra’s apology, the girl scratching her cheek under a sheepish laugh. The two were sitting back in the main room of his little hideout, near the torn piping, with a few Numeryuu bouncing cheerfully around the background. She had already been fully clothed again by the time he had returned from the bathroom and had immediately started apologising fervently.

Honestly, Jak was just glad that he didn’t have to try and explain why her going around nude had been so embarrassing for him. He was pretty sure that would have been even more mortifying.

“Right, where are you actually from? I kinda buried that question yesterday, I think…”

Which was the reason why he was eager to just brush past this incident, giving her an asking look. Myra silently cheered that he had clearly accepted her apology and smiled brightly in answer.

“Oh, I’m from the Tinkerer’s Coast! It was just me and my gramps since I can remember, and some weirdos who come by every once in a while to bother us.”

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

Her eyes narrowed lightly at the mention of these weirdos.

“Tinkerer’s Coast… Don’t think I have heard of that place before... Where is that?”

Jak mused, tapping his chin in thought, before turning back to her. Only to get a cheerful “No idea~!” In response. He sweatdropped.

“You don’t know? How did you even get here then?”

“Oh, I Teleported. There was an old pad in my gramps basement that send me through a bunch of them before I landed in some underground hideout around here.”

Myra nodded solemnly during her reasonable explanation and fiddled absentminded with her glove, testing its circuits by pushing various currents through it. Jak blinked startled.

“W-what…? Your gramps had an illegal TelePad?”

His mind whirled at the implications, especially since it had actually managed to connect into Dampfstadt.

“Eh, gramps got a ton of weird stuff. But I think that thing that tried to do you in yesterday’s a bit more important right now…?”

Myra offered tentatively with an awkward shrug, trailing off at the end.

Jak froze mid thought. He had been so preoccupied with Myra sudden exhibitionistic tendencies that that creepy thing had managed to slip out of his mind. And more importantly, that Haggard had been working with it.

“Scheiß Siebenfacher Scheibenkleister!”

Jak hissed out in anger, more curses and insults following soon after. Many directly at Haggard.

Myra’s looked startled at Jak as he started cursing like a sailor, morbidly fascinated by his ever increasing originality as he went down the list. Until finally he took a deep breath and exhaled heavily. He ground his teeth and clenched his fists painfully tight. Jak trembled. Not just because he was angry at the danger his old bully had become. But because he was angry at himself for not realizing the danger as soon as he had woken up.

“Haggard… right, you mentioned him…”

Myra had picked up one of the rust slimes during his tirade and stroked it gently in her arms, the small mollusk purred happily in response. A small grin flitted over her lips, some thing really were just universal, hehe.

Jak, however, didn’t really listen and prowled restlessly up and down the room, gnawing on his lip as his mind raced. There was a feeling of helplessness and uncertainty that agitated him. It reminded him of the last months he had spend at the Maisen Orphanage, entirely at the mercy of Haggard’s ever present harassment.

Myra spoke up again, finally bringing him out of his funk.

“You said he worked for that thing’s mistress, right?”

“Yeah, but it’s the way he acted around it. Like it was beneath him, a ‘mere wretch’…”

Jak grimaced lightly, not really liking how the word echoed with the twisted and hateful disdain of his ex-bully. The creature had been terrifying… how could he use these words to describe that thing in any shape or form?

Myra eyes widened as she drew a completely different conclusion from these words.

“So, there are more of them?!”

She hugged her Numeryuu tight against her chest, making it squeak cutely in surprise before snuggling happily into her. Jak blinked at that idea.

“Maybe? I don’t know. I just know that I thought Haggard was just some small time crook getting used by one of the gangs around here… and now there’s some weird, Abyss damning shit going on!”

Jak growled angrily, slamming his fist against the pipe that his hand burned and the metal rung. A loud clang echoed through the system before quickly growing quiet again.

That thing, it had been there at the orphanage. He had felt it back then, creeping in the darkness. Or maybe it had been a different one, if there really were more of them. A cold shudder washed down his spine in horrified realisation. Jenny, she was still at the mercy of Haggard if he went back to the orphanage! The assurance of a gang keeping Haggard in check from doing any worse suddenly felt like wishful thinking.

“… and he knows it was me.”

Jak mumbled with slowly widening eyes as a terrifying thought rose to the surface of his mind. After he had left the orphanage Haggard had been able to just ignore him. Jak didn’t even want to deal with him, after all. The most he had done was spur the other orphans on to prank him. But now he had seen something he shouldn’t have. It would be foolish to think that Haggard, or his Mistress, didn’t want to silence him. And they didn’t have to look far for the perfect hostage just waiting for them at the orphanage.

“Damnit! We can’t just stay here, doing nothing!!”

Jak exclaimed in agitation, whirling around where he stood. He was only moments away from just rushing out of his hideout and dragging Jenny back here from wherever she was. A deprecating smirk flitted over his lips as he knew that Jenny would be ecstatic to finally see his hideout.

But an exasperate Myra once again startled him out of his troubled thoughts with a reproachful stare. He had completely forgotten about her.

“And do what? You’ve just been running around while mumbling under your breath without telling me anything. I can’t exactly look into your head, Jak! So, I’m asking you to tell me exactly what’s wrong because that actually works with people. Unlike when building stuff…”

She grumbled annoyed at the end. Under her breath she muttered about stupid inventions hiding their problems from her, narrowed eyes continued to glare at him.

“R-right…”

Jak nodded awkwardly, feeling thoroughly chided. Though that was a weird analogy, he sweatdropped. Myra blinked confused as she returned back into the here and now before remembering what she had actually been talking about. Her eyes stared into his own and she nodded firmly.

“So, tell me what I can help you with. I still have to repay you for giving me a place to stay at, after all.”

“… saving me wasn’t worth that much then?”

He couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow at her comment, making her grin playfully wide with a wink.

“Nope! Didn’t expect a reward from you, after all~”

“Great, now I have to find another way to pay you back.” Jak groaned exasperated, a chuckle escaping him despite everything. This was going to turn into a never ending circle of favors, wasn’t it? He shook his amused head and took a deep breath.

“Okay, I’ll summarise then…”

And with hard voice he explained everything to her. The problem. The danger. The goal. To save Jenny from being taken hostage, hiding away and maybe even fleeing from Dampfstadt.

“That’s the gist of it.” He finally ended with a dry swallow. Myra had nodded along in understanding, arms crossed, and now rose to her feet and met his eyes. A determined grin glowed on her lips as she she punched the air.

“Okay! Then let’s get a plan ready and grab your little sister out of there!”

Her declaration echoed loudly through his hideout and he smiled grateful in response.

Neither of them noticed the warm giggle to the side, a pair of unseen hands tickling a number of very confused but happy Numeryuu.