Ajax smiled a little at the scene of the dog and the human on the ground. Awww, now he wanted to return to Rex. And okay, fine, he admitted it, even Binx. And he wanted.. well, he wanted to get a lab puppy, because that's what Mercy had wanted. But he had to remind himself- this wasn't Mercy. This was a remnant of her. A whole new life. This was Astoria. They had different lives, were almost different people. He ignored the look from Will and had to choke down despair as he reminded himself again. He was never going to get Mercy back. She was... a little ironically... dead to him. Closing his eyes for a second and sucking in a breath, he walked inside.

Astoria wiggled out from beneath her dog, scurrying to catch up to Ajax, looking breathless and happy. "Just leave me in the dust, why don't you?" She huffed teasingly, setting a hand on his shoulder to stop him before they went inside. She tilted her head at him quietly, her expression shifting to that of worry now that they were alone. "Are you okay?" She asked quietly, glancing through the door to her right. No one was there or listening. "You seemed... seem- I dunno. I know I don't know you very well, Ajax, but I do want to be your friend. And I do want you to know you can tell me anything you want to." She added softly, a slight frown tugging at her lips as she looked up at him.

Ajax glanced back, his unfocused eyes sharpening slightly again as he smiled faintly at her words, which quickly spiraled into nothing as soon as she spoke again. "I... you won't understand, believe me. The most I can say will confuse you to no abounds, but here- do you believe in angels and demons?" He inquired quietly, determined not to say any more and mentally cursing himself for saying that much. It was too much. He shouldn't have. Yet too big of a part of him hoped, wished, even prayed, which was ironic, for her to say something that would hint she remembered something.

I'm thinking that maybe instead of a word or phrase bringing back her memory, it was a feeling? Like a kiss, eventually? I figured once he thinks its hopeless and decides to leave for good, he gives her a goodbye kiss and it brings back her memories? Just an idea :) ))

Astoria frowned. "I understand more than most people expect me to." She countered. She tilted her head at the question, her eyebrows furrowing. "I mean, yeah, to some extent. Why?" She asked, now too invested to back away. She was about to keep talking when Sam poked his head out the door and started rambling about how they couldn't eat without everyone at the table. Astoria glared at him and waved him off, looking back at Ajax and softening. "We'll talk later." She nodded quietly, guiding him into the house quietly.

(Yeaaaahhhh, that's a good idea. I'll go with that. PLAN MAKE WILL ANGRY IS A GO-))

lol)

-

Ajax snorted slightly at that. No way would she understand this. That same feeling of desolation that had been lingering settled down into his chest. "Doesn't matter..." He mumbled as Sam poked his head out. Ajax steeled himself to be normal again, forcing his face back to the same it usually was and walking inside. The desire to leave had upped, but he wanted to be with her so badly. However.... he wanted to be with Mercy. Not Astoria. He didn't know Astoria. He only knew Mercy. He followed Astoria inside, into the dining room. At this point he was mentally freaking out and knew he would actually freak out soon, which wouldn't bode well for his sanity -what sanity- and wouldn't help any relationship with Astoria or Sam. For their sake, he decided not to ditch on the dinner- that'd be rude- and just hold it together until he left.

2 weeks later Ajax had pulled WAY too many strings and figured out how to get Sam and his family a trip to see some jets. A day after that he was somewhere (cafe? He just needs to be able to tug Astoria away to talk to her alone lol) with Astoria and (Sam?). He had been struggling through the time, keeping his calm, and not acting TOO weird, with the help of going home to cuddling with Rex and Binx each day. He could tell the cat missed his owner. Ajax had sworn to himself a couple times now that if he could only get Mercy back he would cuddle with her for eternity and never want to leave, but he had also told himself a couple times he needed to let her be. It was slowly tearing him apart, and right now, although he was okay on the outside, he was ripping and straining on the inside, ready to break.

Astoria was teasing Sam about something or another to do with a girl as they settled in the cafe, grinning. She offered Ajax a loose smile. "Why so thoughtful? You look like you're pondering things. What, if I may ask, are you pondering?" She joked, tilting her head at him and taking a sip of her tea.

Ajax had been staring into blank space. He had gotten good at hiding the emotion in his eyes. As Astoria spoke he glanced sideways, his eyes clearing. "Oh- I'm not quite sure. I wasn't really thinking anything. That painting is REALLY abstract though." He gestured at a painting on the wall that looked like a five year old and dumped a couple buckets of paint on it. However, even this distractionn couldn't distract him or fix anything. He sighed slightly. "Can I talk to you alone for a second?" He asked quietly. When Astoria agreed, which she obviously did, he stood and went right outside the cafe, though slightly hidden partially in the alley. "I know you won't understand any of this, please don't try to. I'm so sorry. I am torn, but I can't stay here any longer. You mean too much to me for me to wreck your life now. I won't be coming back this time. Thank you, so much, for the times you have given me. Goodbye. I love you, Mercy." His voice a slightly hoarse whisper, he leaned in and kissed her, savoring every millisecond before fleeing.

Astoria offered him a light smile, snickering at his commentary on the painting. "I didn't realize you were an art connoisseur." She teased, tilting her head at his question with slight concern. "Yeah, of course." She nodded, standing and offering Sam an easy smile as she followed Ajax.

Once outside, she tilted her head at him ever so slightly, frowning slightly as he spoke. "Ajax, slow down. Who's-" she broke off speaking completely as he kissed her, melting into it almost immediately. It was so different from when Will kissed her. So much more familiar and warm. Real. In fact, warmth was flooding her mind, washing through her like a drug that made everything float.

She tangled one of her hands in his hair, the other settled on his abdomen by the time their kiss was over. Of course, her brain came crashing down with a feel of disorient and a flood of memories too great and too intense to understand much of in the moment. Still; she understood enough. "Ajax, love, stop- hold on- please," She started, panting as she gripped onto his sleeve, about to speak more when the itchy feeling of being watched crawled up her spine. She glanced to her left to find none other than Will; staring at them open-mouthed as though he had seen everything.

Ajax was definitely heart wrenchingly ready to leave forever. The pain of that being their last kiss, and she didn't even know- it was never going to leave, and he knew it. It was going to be like hell on earth. His ears were ringing so much he could barely hear, but faintly he heard her voice and felt her grip onto his sleeve. Why did her voice- why did she call him *love*!? The slightest, faintest sliver of hope threaded it's way through his cold heart, like a fire finally being lit again after seemingly thousands of years of being empty, without fuel. His eyes wide, pained yet hopeful, shocked, and when he saw Will- almost sick, landed on Astoria. He couldn't wait. He needed to know. Needed to. He had been waiting months, been trying to keep it in. He couldn't any longer. "Mercy do you remember me?" He asked a bit hoarsely, a quiet whisper, ignoring Will for the second. He just hoped poor Will didn't try to murder him because THAT wouldn't go well.