Another accident, another day...
It was a few days after Eyghon's attack and the bruises on Gil's throat had started to fade a little by now. But the fear of being attacked still sat in him, which is why Lorne was out shopping this time and not him.
While Lorne was out, Gil tried to keep himself busy with doing chores. He cleaned up a bit around the house, though that could only last for so long, it was practically spotless to begin with. But there had to be something else he could do... Perhaps he could practise his spells? The few he knows anyway. And perhaps they could somehow be used if he was attacked again.
Gil found the wand Lorne had given to him, retreating to his own room and tried some of them out. Ethan had said once that wands were old fashioned, but he quite liked his anyway.
When Lorne came home, laden with bags, he noticed that Gil wasn't in any of the main rooms. Thinking that the other man may be taking a nap, he didn't call out, not wanting to disturb him. He hadn't been sleeping well the past few days.
After he'd put the contents of the bags away, he went upstairs to check on Gilderoy. Opening the door quietly, he peeked in to see if he was sleeping.
Gil didn't notice Lorne opening the door, waving his wand with a flourish, trying to concentrate on the spell he had recently remembered. “Obliviate!”
The spell hit Lorne with full force and he stumbled back a few feet, hitting the other wall with his back, then sliding down it to sit on the floor. Lorne blinked and shook his head.
Gil gasped, rushing to Lorne's side at once. “Oh god... I didn't mean to, I didn't see you! Please be all right!” He looked into Lorne's eyes, clasping his hand between two of his.
Lorne sat there dazed for a few minutes, still blinking and rubbing his eyes with his free hand. “Gil?”
He sagged with relief. “You really scared me there; I thought I'd harmed you. I'm so glad you remember me.” Gil smiled at him. “Come on; let me help you up... You look a little dazed there.”
Using both Gil and the wall for support he got up. “Did you get the number of that truck that hit me?”
He couldn't help laughing to that. “I'm very sorry, I was just practicing... I didn't expect you home so soon, you know.”
“Home... home from where?” Lorne just looked confused.
“Erm... Home... from shopping? You know?”
“No... no, not really.” He rubbed his head near his horns, dazed.
“What? Oh no...” Gil led Lorne to his bed, since it was closer, and sat down with him there. “You remember me, but you don't remember where you just were? What else do you remember?” The worry had returned again, for sure. What had he done?
“This place... this place is hazy. Falling down stairs... but I don't remember why... Wes and Fred drunk...” He put his finger up in the air. “Gods, I embarrassed them.”
It was not a complete memory wipe then, nothing at all like what happened to him. But it should never have happened in the first place; he had never meant to hex Lorne. How much was gone? “We live here together and we have a puppy as well. Do you remember Missy?”
“Missy? Big ball of white fur?” He shook his head again as if trying to jog his memory. “The name... it feels wrong, yet right...”
“Well, you call her Mishu, but she looks like a Missy to me...” He kept a calm tone, as much as he was able to. “Do you remember when I first met you?”
“Mishu, that sounds better.” He continued to rub his head though; it felt like something was missing. “No... I don't.”
“...What do you remember about me then? Just my name?”
“I remember… That you are a good person. We live together and you're the best friend I have. Other than that... it's rather blank.”
“And.... what do you remember about yourself?”
“I work for Angel Investigations... don't I?”
“Oh... no, you don't. You quit your job and now you're just here with me.” Gil took Lorne's hand in his again. “I like that you are, but you did talk about wanting to start your bar again. Do you remember that?”
“And have them blow it up again? I don't know if I'm ready to chance that. Though having my bar again...” Lorne smiled. “Wait a minute... what happened to Jasmine?”
“...Jasmine? Who is that then?” He really wished he knew more than he did about Lorne. But it was a good sign; Lorne seemed to remember a lot after all.
“Jasmine, the goddess... Cordy gave birth to her...” Lorne shook his head. “No... You would have known her. Gil... what's the date today?”
He told him the date “...I don't know any of your other friends that well, really. But I'd remember meeting a goddess, I'm sure... I only know of Eris.”
His eyes grew wide at the mention of the date. “But that's a year from now... isn't it?” He thought for a moment. “No, Eris is a Greek goddess... Jasmine wasn't from this world.”
“Oh... you've lost a year then...” Gil looked rather miserable. “I'm so sorry... I should have paid more attention, and then I might have seen you there.”
“What did you do?”
“...Erm, I... accidentally wiped some of your memories.” Gil chose to be honest about that. “I'm a wizard, you see, and I was practicing, you opened the door and... Well... I didn't mean to.”
“Oh...” Lorne looked confused for a few minutes. “So I've lost some of my memories... well, that would make sense about the time, and why I really don't recognize this house.” He shook his head again. “I take it I moved here recently?”
“Yes, we both did.” Gil wasn’t going to mention anything bad that had happened to Lorne, certainly not if Lorne couldn’t remember it himself. “And I think we both like it here, it's nice and quiet... Less traffic, you know.”
“Mmm... must have been why we choose it then. More quiet.” He thought for a moment. “Are we still in LA?”
“Yes, we are.” It was not as bad as it could have been. Gil tried to tell himself that.
“So... if I don't work, am I working towards building the bar again?”
“Not yet, I think. At least you haven't told me about it. But I want to help you if you do decide to do that.”
“I would appreciate the help if I do.” Lorne smiled. He needed something lighter to talk about, his head ached. “So where is this puppy you talked about earlier?”
“Um… She's probably downstairs, taking a nap or... chewing on someone’s shoe again. She does that a lot.” Gil smiled a little.
“Little darling must be teething then.”
“I think she is, yes. The very first thing she ate was one of my slippers.”
“Oh dear.” Lorne actually laughed. “How old would you say she is?”
“Oh, I don't know...” He tried to remember how long ago it could be. “Maybe around four months old? We spoil her a lot, but that can't be helped. She is so cute and cuddly.
“Perhaps you could introduce her to me again?”
Gil nodded and called for Mishu. It didn’t take very long before she appeared at the door, happily rushing over to them with one of her toys in her mouth, dropping it at Lorne's feet and wagging her tail. “She wants you to play with her.”
“Well of course you do, don't you darling.” Lorne leaned over and scratched behind her ears before picking up the toy. “Is this what you want? I bet it is...” He tossed it out of the door and watched her hightail after it.
It didn’t take any time at all before she was back, doing the same thing all over again and barking playfully at Lorne, very happy to be played with, it was ever so much fun.
“You're just full of energy aren’t you?” Lorne beamed at both Mishu and Gil.
“She always seems to be. And we love her lots and lots.” Gil picked up the toy, lured her closer so that he could snug her quickly and then tossed the toy out the door again.