>	"Jason, I know T'rell, it will do him no good to be 
>alone right now."
 
>	"He's never alone, he has Flerrion."  Jason added.
 
>	"I'm glad he has Flerrion, but he needs more."  she 
>said.
 
>	"Mari....I wouldn't...." Jason started.
 
>	Mari was obviously not listening to the man that sat 
>with her and jumped up and headed toward the woman that 
>walked in the door of the dining hall.

	Jason buried his face in his hands and groaned. He 
truly felt sorry for T'rell, but even more now. Breaking 
up with Mari would have had to have been tough for him 
and the one thing he didn't need was certain females 
'distracting' him.

	He thought briefly about warning T'rell, but decided 
to leave that course of action for the moment. He might have 
more success in convincing Marialla to leave him alone. Of 
course, the convincing part would have to be innovative, 
but Jason was never short of interesting ideas.

	But Jason brought himself up short. Apart from that 
one brief moment, the relationship between Marialla and 
himself had never really gone past the 'close friends' 
stage. Sure, she had made a choice of whom she wanted to 
be with, but Jason wasn't all that convinced that the 
choice was all it looked like being to either of them.

	He had been in the warren long enough to realize that
such relationships had a habit of being temporary and no 
matter what T'rell thought she was like, Jason couldn't be
sure that Marialla wouldn't eventually find someone else
to play with.

	Jason had rarely been in a permanent situation in his 
life; coming to Daere was his first exercise in such a thing;
so a casual relationship wasn't something that didn't appeal 
to him. But, he thought to himself, better to live and learn
than not live at all.

	After woolgathering for a few minutes, Jason got his
mind back on the problem at hand. Mari by herself wouldn't 
have been much of a problem, but now she was recruiting 
helpers. Since Jason couldn't be in two places at once, he
had to find someone to help him with the task at hand. Fast.

****

	"If you've had enough of organizing T'rell's life for
him, maybe you would like a break?" Marialla looked around
and spotted Jason looking in at her and Sharee, a light smile
on his face.

	"It's probably time I left anyway," Sharee said quickly, 
"I've got some things to do."

	"Don't forget what we talked about," Marialla told her. 
Sharee grinned.

	"Oh, I won't. Don't you worry about that. Speak to you 
later" She flashed Jason a quick smile then walked out the door.

	"You're going to try and convince me not to do anything
about T'rell, aren't you?" Marialla looked at Jason suspiciously,
but his face was the picture of innocence.

	"Why would I do that? You are obviously committed to it, so
it's probably best for me to stand back and assess the damage 
afterwards."

	"Hmmm," Marialla mused, still not entirely convinced of his
sincerity. "So, did you have anything specific in mind?" Jason
shrugged.

	"Not exactly. Maybe a walk outside?"

	"Sounds good. Give me a minute and we'll go." Jason 
smiled to himself as Marialla disappeared into her bedroom 
for a moment.

	"Time for step two."

****

	"I'm glad you asked me to do this," Marialla said 
as the two of them walked hand in hand, taking in the 
twilight that was descending on the warren outskirts. 
"I've been wanting to talk to you about a few things."

	"Me too," replied Jason, "but I felt that I had to 
clear things up with T'rell first." He looked at Marialla 
meaningfully. "Speaking of which..."

	"I thought you weren't going to say anything about 
that?" Marialla objected. 

	"So I lied," Jason said blandly. "But seriously, I 
really feel you should leave the man alone. He's had enough 
to deal with lately without having 'distractions' foisted on 
him."

	"He shouldn't be alone Jason," Marialla told him. 
"It's my fault that he is and I feel I should do something 
about it."

	"Well you're wrong on both counts there," Jason noted. 
"First of all, it's not your fault. Secondly, he isn't alone. 
Flerrion is with him and I think that's about all the close 
company he can handle at the moment."

	"Jason..."

	"If you don't change your mind," Jason interrupted her, 
a smirk on his face, "I may have to take steps to convince you."

	"Oh?" Marialla arched an eyebrow in question. "And just
what might those steps be?"

	"Can't tell you," Jason replied, smirking some more as he 
stepped behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. "It's 
a trade secret. I can, however, drop you some hints." The first
of which was a series of slow kisses working their way up her 
neck.

	"Well," Marialla breathed, "I think I get the idea. However,
it will take a lot more than that to convince me."

	"Care to bet on that?" Jason asked, enfolding her in a tighter
embrace.

	"Perhaps not."

****

NRPG: Short, but I thought Dianne's post deserved a suitable response
<G>
No fear, John, Jason is on the case <G>

Submitted by,
             Jason and Starfire
		Daere Warren 	


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