No matter what Arthur tried, Francis wouldn't wake up. He slumped down onto the bed with his head in his hands, tears beginning to prickle the corners of his eyes. It had been just over a month or so that Kiku had taken Francis to Arthur's home, and from the moment he had opened his mouth, Arthur had eagerly awaited the 6 week mark, so Francis could be taken away… So why was he crying now that he was broken?

He raised his head to look at the android. The annoying accent was gone, at least, but Arthur could feel his heart yearning for his smile, his blue eyes, his laugh… for him. There had to be something he could do.

Arthur rummaged through a cabinet until he found the paperwork that had come with Francis. He dashed back to the robots bedroom, and flicked to the FAQ section of the user manual.

"'Does your product emit a strange burning odour, or a black smoke?' I should bloody well hope not," Arthur muttered. "'Is your product behaving in a hostile manner towards you, another human, or another product?' Mental note; do not, under any circumstance, annoy or upset Francis." He skimmed the rest of the section, finding questions ranging from stupid, to extremely worrying, until he found what he was looking for.

'If your product fails to awaken from standby (sleep) mode, please contact technical support as soon as possible. If the product has been inactive for 12 or more hours, contact customer services. ' Surely, 12 hours hadn't passed yet, so Arthur grabbed his phone and hammered in the number for the UK technical support.

Half an hour later, his call was very important to them, his call had gone from 84th in the line to 87th, and the hold music was promising that it was never gonna give him up. Arthur cancelled the call, and speed dialled another number; it paid to have contacts within a compa- Okay, it was a little useless having contacts when their mobile went straight to voicemail. Arthur listened to Kikus message in Japanese, before another message played in English. He quickly noted down Kiku's work contact number ("for emergencies only", Arthur felt this was indeed an emergency.) and called.

The phone was answered by a woman, who spoke to him in rapid Japanese. "Hello? I'd like to speak to Ki- Honda Kiku-san," he told her, remembering Japanese name order and honorifics at the last minute, and praying she spoke English.

"Honda-san?" She repeated. "In the Technological Developments Department?"

"Yes," Arthur smiled, happy he was making progress at last. The receptionist put him through to Kiku's secretary. "Great," Arthur grumbled. "More bloody hold music…"

Kiku must have been a busy man, because 10 minutes later, Arthur was still on hold. Slowly, and hesitantly, Arthur slipped his hand into Francis', intertwining their fingers. Their hands fit together so well, like pieces in a puzzle. There was a slight warmth to the android… There was still hope.

"Japanese music is bloody awful," Arthur growled to himself. It had started raining a short while ago, and the heavy droplets battering the windows was making him even more agitated and Francis hadn't woke up yet and what was Kiku doing that was so important and why in the name of all that is holy would anyone listen to this drivel? Every phone line which needs to put people on hold should have the entire Queen discography.

Francis was still asleep. Without really knowing why, Arthur put the phone on speaker, letting the slow song ring out through the room, and lay next to him. The waves of blond hair lay on the pillow, circling his head like a halo in an archaic, religious painting. His long, pale eyelashes, his slightly parted lips… He looked peaceful. Arthur reached out slowly, and gently brushed his thumb along Francis' cheek, smiling at how soft he felt.

Arthur didn't notice he was leaning closer until his thin lips were pressed to Francis' ones, and his lids had slid over his mossy green eyes. He couldn't help himself; he was so beautiful, so enchanting, but how could Arthur admit that? He had to kiss him, like he'd wanted to for so long, and he had to do it now, so Francis wouldn't know. The stubble tickled his face slightly as he tilted his head to get a better angle.

His eyes sprung open as Francis' lips moved against his, and a long fingered hand ran through his hair.

He pulled back, gasping when azure, half-lidded eyes smiled at him. "F-Francis?" He spluttered.

"You saved me, cher," Francis said happily. "And judging by your expression, you didn't know that what you were doing would save me…" He grabbed Arthur by the waist, and pulled him on top, chuckling as Arthur yelped. "So, you kissed me by your own free will, non?" Arthurs blush grew and grew, and he looked away.

"Y-you need to shave," he grumbled. Francis laughed.

"Why, cher? Do you intend on kissing me more often?" That blush… It had to be the one Elizaveta had spoken about.

"N-no!" Arthur snapped back, mortified – and ever so slightly turned on – that he was essentially straddling a robot. "Are you… Are you feeling better?" He mumbled.

"Oui, merci," Francis smiled, noticing an ever so slight twitch of Arthur's eye whenever he spoke French. "Mais, peux j'avoir un verre de l'eau s'il vous plait? I think I swallowed some seawater." Arthur nodded. He got off the bed, cancelled the phone call to Kiku, and went to get some water for Francis before he malfunctioned again.