MOAR! Please review when you're done

Iason stayed in his room the rest of the night. Daryl left a meal outside the door, but even when he went back in the morning to check on him the food was untouched. The Blondie was lying on his bed, but he didn't sleep a wink. He kept having odd visions of Riki somewhere in the room. And ever time he had a vision it would cause his head to throb.

In the morning when he was supposed to go to work he was holding what was Riki's pillow and burying his face in it. There was a familiar scent that he couldn't place his finger on, but it was comforting. When Iason snapped out of his little daze he sat up and tossed the pillow back, unsure of how he got to be like this. "I don't fall in love with filthy mongrels." He grumbled to himself before getting out of bed.

Daryl had a small breakfast prepared for Iason. The Blondie kept glancing over to Riki's chair, but when his head started to hurt he stopped. Perhaps when he was at work he could take his mind off of the mongrel.

He was able to forget Riki for a little bit. At work there was nothing to remind him and he was glad the headaches were gone for the time being. But of course when Raoul came in to visit and play billiards with him the aching returned. So Iason figured it wouldn't hurt to ask about Riki.

"Why was my mind erased?" He asked Raoul. The question didn't phase the other Blondie and he broke the balls with a loud crack, though none were sent into the pockets.

"Iason, we've gone over this. If I told you then it would defeat the purpose of erasing your mind."

The head Blondie took his position and was able to send two balls to the pocket. But he didn't let up on his questioning. "Was it because of a mongrel?"

That made Raoul stop. "Who told you that?" His voice was serious and even.

Iason shook his head. He knew Jupiter was watching so he had to word his sentences carefully. "Ah, nobody. Just a dream I had." But he would be sure to invite his friend to dinner so they could talk in the privacy of his home.

They played out the rest of their game in relative silence, just making small talk when they could. Iason ended up winning, but not by much. "Come to my home tonight." He said with a warm, friendly smile. "Daryl is an excellent cook now, I think you'd enjoy if he made you something."

Raoul thought for a moment, then he nodded, a small smile on his lips. "I'd be delighted to." With that he left for his own office. Iason sighed. He hated how formal they always had to be. Perhaps that's why he liked Riki so much.

Where did that thought come from? 'I don't fall in love with mongrels!' He thought to himself, angry that everything was turning out like this.

Riki went the next few days in a sort of daze. He couldn't think properly and found it hard to concentrate on any of the housework. He didn't even have lunch ready when everyone came home. "Sorry, Kaeri." The mongrel mumbled when she complained about Riki doing nothing all day.

"I understand why you're like this, Riki. But you need to move past it and keep functioning, if only for your children." Kaeri was stern and the kids knew to stay away when she was like that, so they were in the backyard playing.

"I'm really sorry. But… I just miss him. And now I know that he doesn't even remember me. It's hard. At least your partner died. He never stopped loving you. And you're probably the last person he ever thought about. But Iason… he doesn't know I exist." There was nothing she ! could say to that. Because it was true.

"Just don't worry about it. You've gone the past four years just fine. You'll survive the next four. And the four after that. And the four after that." Riki nodded. Kaeri was right.

He was starting to recover. Riki had gone back to living and doubled the work he did every day to take his mind off of everything. But one morning after the kids had gone off to school there was a knock at the door. When Riki opened it he was pleasantly surprised to see Daryl. "What are you doing here?" He asked with a smile.

The furniture shook his head. "I'm afraid it's not pleasure. Iason is… well, something's wrong. I think you could fix it if you tried. But you need to come with me please."

Riki frowned. "What's wrong?" He went into the kitchen so he could write a note for Kaeri, explaining the situation. Daryl followed him, trying to explain the best he could.

"Iason's stopped functioning properly. He just… goes to work and when he comes home he won't do anything but sit in his room. He won't even eat or drink anything except glasses of water to take with headache pills."

The mongrel bit his lip. He felt horrible that he might have somehow contributed to Iason's behavior. "Fine, then let's not waste any more time." The two of them left the house and got into the hovercar. Daryl didn't wait for Riki to buckle up, he just took off at high speed towards Tanagura.

Riki rushed into the apartment, not waiting for Daryl to open the door. He didn't want to wait to see Iason. The mongrel went into the bedroom and was shocked to see the great Blondie laying there as if in his sick bed. "What happened to you?" He whispered softly.

Iason looked up at the voice. "Riki? Is that you? I… I think I remember." He sat up. "I don't remember much, but I think I know who you are. It hurts though. Whenever I think about you it hurts so much I can't see." Riki bit his lip to hold back tears. Iason sounded like a little child. "Why does it hurt? Can you make it stop?"

Without even thinking, the mongrel kissed the Blondie hard on the lips. To both his surprise and relief, Iason didn't pull back.