Running into Vee at the TC Gear Club had been near inevitable, not that Jak had known that. Still, he would probably preferred it if this run in hadn’t turned out to be quite so literal.

It had been just as he and Myra had entered the back of the club, wanting to take a look over the arena for Jenny and her friends from the cat walk, when Vee came up the stairs. Neither saw the other, the light difference blinding them both for that deciding moment, and then promptly ran right into each other.

“Woah! Hey!” “Agh, damnit!”

Startled, the two exclaimed with varying degrees of annoyance as they crashed onto the floor. Jak stumbled and sprawled over Vee as the chameleon weasel managed to quickly cushion her fall with her tail. Not exactly a comfortable position to be in, in any shape or form however.

“By the Abyss! Can’t you look where you walk…?!” Vee growled out in aggravation as she pushed Jak off of her, still not recognising him thanks to his still bandaged face.

“Yeah, yeah, I could say the… same…”

Jak rolled his eyes only to blink and trail off as his mind took a second but then connected information and details into place with a snap. From one second to the next he recognised Vee’s voice and then gaped at her like a deer caught in headlights.

“W-wha…?! Vee?! What are you doing here?!”

He knew how stupid his question was before he had even finished talking, facepalming as he remembered clearly that she had been talking in great detail about her Tinkerer Crab Monty just the day before. Ugh, all that Demon and Haggard business had completely pushed her out of his mind! Another reason to curse that asshole.

Now it was Vee’s turn to blink stupefied, finally recognising him under those bandages. And then she actually registered the fact that his face was indeed all bandaged up.

“Jak…? What the Abyss happened to your face?!”

Any answers she may have gotten was lost to time, however, as the reunion was immediately broken apart by Jenny.

“Why didn’t you tell us that you had a girlfriend?!”

Jenny shouted, bursting into the moment without concern for the mood or ceremony with even more questions. Leaping at Jak, she clung to his back. Behind her, Mina rubbed her temples with a groan while Geen chuckled awkwardly, scratching his cheek at the far too typical actions of their friend.

“Gah! Stop that…!”

Jak flailed, blindsided by the sudden appearance of his adoptive sister. The kiddie squad had been right behind Vee the whole time and had been ready to tear into whoever was bothering their new idol when it had been revealed that it had been actually Jak. Said wolf cat also finally managed to catch his balance again, catching the young fennec mouse and plopped her back down to glared annoyed at her.

“How in the Abyss would I have been able to?! It only happened yesterday!” He exclaimed, throwing his arms up in the air.

———

“Yeah, nothing here…”

Graam nodded as he kneeled within Haggard’s room, having inspected every nook and cranny within it. As an ex-pirate and now owner of a Back Market store with some Black Market dealings, the old shark knew his way around hiding spots. There had been a particularly well hidden trapdoor in the back, only the smidges in the dust alluding to something, but it had been empty as well.

Pushing himself back up, Graam dusted his clothes off while Hailey let out breath of relief, hand clutched over her chest. Still, what he didn’t say was that he had been able to feel the malice that had been clinging to the room. It wasn’t something that he would have noticed years ago, but dealing with Demons, you started to get a feel for such things. Definitely would have saved his ass a long while back

“Phew, that’s a relief.” The lemur girl sighed before huffing annoyed.

“But I should have known he would be hiding stuff! Always sneaking out at night! And now this? Ugh, we thought he had at least gotten somewhat better after Jak left…” Her voice trailed off, a grimace playing over her face.

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“Seems to be a story there… don’t actually know the whole gallop that happened back then. Mind telling me…?” Graam asked and snorted derisive. “Jak’s not exactly the most talkative about that crap.”

“Sure, not that there’s much to say. Haggard was a bully, plain and simple. Primarily physically but more about shoving and the like, not actual injuries. Which changed with Jak just suddenly one day. The poor kid had come back from the park limping once, too stubborn to say much of anything. Things escalated too quickly and the Head had just planned Haggard’s punishment when Jak just up and ran away. And then Haggard mellowed out… as much as that was possible.”

Hailey sighed, arms crossed as she leant against the doorframe. Her long, prehensile tail snaking agitated through the air before curling up around her legs and hips.

“Still was rude. Didn’t play nice and cut off all social interactions. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if he cut out of school entirely as well. I know he started going out at night, too bad that the Head wants concrete evidence… which is great normally, but here it just grates on my nerves!” Hailey hissed out, clenching her fists.

Graam nodded slowly at her words and sighed.

“Hm… Well, not exactly any more info than I already knew.”

“Heh, I was still an orphan myself, back then~” She winked playfully and shrugged. “That’s all I had really caught while keeping up with my studies”

She pulled away from the doorframe and gave him a curious gaze.

“What were you looking for anyways? Half expected you to just half-heartedly look around and declare whatever you wanted here so I could throw you out, but nah, you actually knew what you were doing. At least it looked like it to me.”

Hailey laughed sheepishly, coughing into her hand and scratched her cheek.

“Anything, really. Could have been bombs, drugs, maybe some restricted Amber Tech. An artefact, now that would have been really dangerous.”

A small smirk played over Graam’s lips as he answered, stepping out of his room.

“Artefacts, huh? Never really looked much into those…” Hailey mused.

“Bah, they can be anything! A spoon that can scoop up Amber like water, Blades that cut anything but flesh, Collars that bind you forever. All that fancy stuff that makes the news and not the actual useful shit, I can tell ya! Sailors would pay a fortune for one of those ancient engines! Heh, though the new stuff is probably getting better than those now, admittedly.”

A teasing smile played over Hailey’s lips.

“Speaking as Captain Graam, there~?”

“Aye, ya landlubber!” Graam laughed, holding his rippling belly.

———

Vee and Myra were left forgotten as Jak and Jenny bickered loudly with each other, butting heads against each other as the young girl stubbornly refused to accept his words. Mina and Geen could only groan, the parrot girl facepalming in exasperation while Geen sweatdropped.

“Well, at least she’s okay…” Myra exhaled amused but relieved, though the sudden talk about girlfriends was a bit surprising. Then She blinked as Vee was suddenly before her, the chameleon weasel narrowing her eyes at her.

“So, who are you?” Vee asked brusquely.

“Oh! I’m Myra, Jak let me sleep over with him after last night and now I helped him look for his sister.” Myra explained brightly, deciding to not bring up the Demons and other dangers. She completely missed the dilation and twitching of the other girl’s eyes.

“Hm, how long have you known him…?” Vee dug deeper, trying not to let her jealousy show but failing hard. Well, she would have failed if Myra wasn’t completely oblivious. The bunny cat was painfully innocent in regards to romance and any problems involved with such. Social interactions. Just social interactions in general.

“Since last night, I got him out of a pinch and bandaged his wounds and now I repaid him for giving me a place to stay for the night.” Myra happily answered before looking at her curiously. “So, you’re his girlfriend? It’s nice to meet you!” She grinned back, holding out a hand. Her gloved hand to be exact.

“… r-right.” Vee awkwardly replied, accepting the hand with a light shake. The wind had been taken out of her sails as it suddenly became very obvious that the bunny cat had never even thought of Jak that way. Okay, now she felt actually a bit guilty.

From the side Hanak smiled satisfied, limping back behind the counter as his worries had been assuaged. And nearly tripped over his own feet as a loud cry suddenly echoed through the air.

“W-what happened to your face?!”

Jenny finally had taken notice of the quite visible bandages wrapped around Jak’s face. The wolf cat gave her a deadpan stare, cutting his nth exasperate explanation off for even more exasperation.

“Now you notice…?” He drawled, staring at her blandly.

“W-what? The girlfriend thing was more important…” Jenny justified herself, averting her gaze embarrassed as she flushed hotly and her voice trailed off in a mumble. Annoyed she puffed up her cheeks with a pout, crossing her arms.

“I think you have already talked enough.”

Mina sighed and pulled Jenny back by her ears, the tug was gentle but by the agonised outcry from the mouse fennec you would think she was getting tortured.

“Oh, quit being so melodramatic, just let him explain why he’s here in the first place.” Mina rolled her eyes nearly as exasperate as Jak was.

Jenny’s startling outcry was just the distraction Vee had been wishing for as she was able to pull herself away from the awkward, at least for, silence that her conversation with Myra had fallen into. Happily she turned around, pushing a serious look on her face and her eyes narrowed at Jak.

“I would like to know about that and you wounds as well.”

Blinking startled, Jak looked over at Myra for help. The girl in question just blinked confused and pointed at herself in wonder. Huh? Don’t ask her! She didn’t have a clue what she would say here either! You’re the one who knows her better. Jak sweatdropped. Ehehe, he didn’t actually know her much more better.

Awkwardly he sighed and then quickly shook his head to get back into gear.

“R-right, where to start…” Jak began, searching for the right words.