>	This is what life's about, he thought.
>	"This is what life's about," Kailan mumbled contentedly.
>	"Hmm? What, Kailan?" she asked, rolling a little closer to 
>him.
>	"Uhh..." he frowned. Come to think of it, he didn't know 
>where the thought had come from. Oh well. I'll improvise. "Being in 
>love, of course. Being in love with you, Vhyara."
>	She frowned suddenly, and looked at him, eyes narrowing in 
>suspicion and confusion. "My name's not Vhyara," she said, crossing 
>her arms over her chest in the way that meant bad things were 
>happening soon.
>	Unless I think fast... "Of course not." Kailan laughed. She 
>didn't. "I was just joking with you... Sireem?"
>	He'd guessed wrong. "My name's not Sireem." She glared at 
>him, and suddenly the room seemed to get a little chillier.
>	"Uhh... my apologies, dearest. I've been so overwhelmed with 
>your charms that I can't think straight. Forget my own head next, 
>you know. Hold on..." He put a finger to his lips in a pantomime of 
>deep thought. "What's my name again?"
>	She pulled away from him, shaking her head reproachfully. 
>"How could you, Kailan?"
>	"Kailan? Who's Kailan?"
>	She smiled, despite herself, and shoved him lightly. "Gods 
>consume you in the Eternal Chasm of Fire, Kanchestar. May your flesh 
>be seared off by the flaming blades of The Divinity."
>	"The Divinity, eh? Like you, my celestial one?" He leaned a 
>little closer to her, grasping her hand and raising it to his lips. 
>She pulled it away, but not without a little hesitation, he noted.
>	She's coming around, he thought with a trace of smudginess. A 
>textbook setup. A little humor, a little flattery, and they'll 
>forget just about anything. Lucky for me, huh? If it weren't for 
>this, I'd probably spend a good many of my nights alone.
>	However... He grinned.
>	He slipped an arm around her shoulders, moving to kiss her. 
>She pushed him away vaguely, lacking almost all of the conviction 
>she'd had not thirty seconds ago.
>	"Kailan... please, Kailan... stop... I... Kailan, stop... God 
>damn it, Kailan, stop!"
>	Her voice crescendoed to a scream, and she accentuated her 
>final word by slapping him full across the face. There was a long 
>pause as the echoes of the shriek died down. She looked almost as 
>surprised to have slapped him as he did to have been slapped. She 
>hugged herself tightly after a time, rocking quietly, her face 
>tinged with regret.
>	"I feel bad for having done that, Kailan, but that doesn't 
>mean I'm sorry. You know... I really should hate you now. How many 
>girls do you have now? Three? Eight? Twenty? Hells, man, how many 
>houses do you visit each night?"
>	Kailan opened his mouth, but found himself unable to speak. 
>For the first time in his life, he was tongue-tied in the presence 
>of a female.
>	"I trusted you, Kailan. I don't know if I loved you, but I 
>certainly could've eventually. But I guess 'eventually' won't be 
>coming around, now will it? Not for us. Hmm?"
>	Kailan could only shake his head. There was a strange pain in 
>his chest.
>	She turned away suddenly, eyes downcast. "I guess I loose, 
>then. When you leave tonight, you'll just look up some backup 
>girlfriend and be as happy as you would've with me. And I'll be 
>here, sad and lonely and bitter. Does it make you happy, Kailan?" 
>She wheeled on him, eyes blazing with pain and anger. "Do you think 
>it's fun to take and use women like... desserts? Eating one until 
>you loose interest, then casting the half-devoured remains aside and 
>picking a new one?" She wiped her eyes fiercely. "Damn you- now 
>you've got me lecturing and making crappy analogies!"
>	What is this pain? Kailan thought.
>	She took a deep breath, composing herself. "It's pointless 
>for me to lecture you, isn't it? You're probably not hearing 
>anything I'm saying. You're probably just looking at me and 
>thinking, 'Mmm.... breasts....' Right?"
>	Kailan winced, touching his chest gingerly. He didn't know 
>anything could hurt this much. What is it?
>	"That's the price you pay, Kailan. That's the price you've 
>paid for hitting on anything that wears a skirt. You'll never fall 
>in love, because you'll never see women as anything more than- than- 
>a pastime! A hobby! And you can't love someone you can't talk to; 
>that you can't listen to. It's about friendship. It's about respect. 
>It's about..." She cut off abruptly, slamming her fist into a 
>pillow. "Fuck this! I'm not going to explain this to you because you 
>obviously don't care! If you cared, you wouldn't have forgotten my 
>name! Now get the hell out!"
>	Is it... guilt?
>	He just stared at her for a long time. He saw anger in her 
>eyes, and sadness, and hurt. But there was no love. No lust. Not a 
>hint of coyness or playfulness about her.
>	Then he picked up his clothes and left.
>
>	"... so I left. I mean, what else could I do?" Kailan was 
>slouched over a mug of... something... he couldn't even remember. He 
>fingered a two-days-stubble absently, grimacing slightly as he 
>remembered the events of that night, three days ago. The guy he was 
>talking to clapped him on the back, showing camaraderie and sympathy.
>	"That's rough, friend. Reeeeal rough. Well, women, huh? Hah 
>hah!"
>	"Yeah. Women." Kailan took a sip, wincing. He had absolutely 
>no idea why he'd ordered it. Oh, that's right. It's alcoholic.
>	"Thing is, though... I mean, it's strange. I've been chewed 
>out by girls before. I've been slapped by girls before. Hell, I even 
>had girls threaten me with divine persecution before. So that night 
>shouldn't've been anything new. But... damn, it hurt. Everything she 
>said just, like, tore into my skin. I can't explain."
>	Kailan's companion tried to think of some appropriate 
>response. "Uhh... well, women, huh? Hah-hah...?"
>	Kailan ignored him completely. "You know, I think I did love 
>her. Something in my head said 'this is what life's about' as I lay 
>there with her. I think that was my subconscious telling me I was in 
>love, and warning me not to screw it up. Huh. Wish it'd told me her 
>name instead."
>	"Ya still haven't remembered her name?"
>	"No, and it's eating me up. God... what was her name? If I 
>knew, I might be able to find her again someday. Apologize, or 
>something. Make it up to her. Even if we didn't hook up again, at 
>least I'd know I'd made amends, somewhat. That'd make me feel a hell 
>of a lot better."
>	The other man clapped Kailan on the back again, shaking his 
>head in sympathy. "It's a shame, friend. A reeeeal shame."
>	"Yeah, sure is."
>	"Yep."
>	"How about giving my wallet back?"
>	The other man started violently. He began to stand-
>	"Blade open."
>	Suddenly there was an awfully nasty-looking axe thing about 
>half a centimeter from piercing the man's protruding belly. He began 
>to sweat a good deal, especially after looking into Kailan's calm 
>eyes. Kailan spoke, voice ominously quiet.
>	"I've got nothing against thieves. Everybody's entitled to 
>enjoy themselves, and there are an awful lot of people in the galaxy 
>who need a little loss of personal property now and then to keep 
>their egos in check. I, however, am not one of them. So give me my 
>wallet and one good reason why I shouldn't beat your flabby ass to 
>the ground."
>	The man's perspiration output almost doubled. Kailan noticed 
>with considerable distaste that the sweat now beading on the bar's 
>grimy counter smelled remarkably like the liquid in his mug. "Hey... 
>now, look, fella... I-I..." inspiration came in a flash. "I used to 
>work with Freeza! Yes, yessir, I did, and when I was with him, I 
>heard about these mighty powerful balls... umm... dragonballs, they 
>was! On planet Earth! Grant you any one wish! Any wish at all, 
>friend! Think of that!"
>	Kailan blinked. Any wish?
>	What is her name?
>	He grinned. "Blade retract," he said absently. The man 
>wheezed with relief as the halberd head disappeared into the rod 
>Kailan carried. Kailan stood to leave, stopped, turned to the 
>pickpocket.
>	"That was a damn fine reason, friend. So good, in fact, that 
>I'm gonna give you a little reward."
>	The man cringed- but Kailan just tossed him a wallet and left.
>	The man could hardly believe his luck. I'll be damned, he 
>thought. I've gotta be the most damn lucky man in this whole damn 
>city! Wonder how much that little punk had on him...
>	He pawed through the bills, then stopped bemused. He felt in 
>his own pocket. Then he checked the galaxial ID card in one of the 
>side pouches.
>	It was his wallet.
>	On the streets of the city, Kailan laughed for the first time 
>in three days.