Day 235 - Thursday, August 13th

[papalobo]

[...No answer? He waits.

Maybe he was insensitive with that one. But doesn't he have a right to protect his pride as someone who was dumped? He waits.

It's not like Ash is the only one he can't fuck. Blanca will come to mind as surely as Ash himself any time he tries not only with a partner (Haha. Ha ha ha ha. Real funny. Not into a humiliation kink so that ain't happening.) but even just trying to bust a quick nut to some porn or something. He waits.

He's done being gay, straight, anything. He's practically Eiji, now. He waits.

He waits, and he hopes Ash breaks off with Blanca, too. For such a sexy bastard, Ash leaves a lot of people in his wake Max is pretty sure will never fuck again. Eiij's not the best representative since he came in a virgin, but he's not a writer anymore, the details aren't so important. He starts to type a 'good night' that this time is properly, fully erased, and never sends. He sleeps.

By morning, Nima is up, showered, shaved, and going to pick up Max and the kitties because they're all going to have breakfast together. Ben doesn't quite think it's worth showing off with Ash's own cooking prowess, but the truth is he's a little proud of his capacity for pancake art cartoons and the fact that he can flip flapjacks really high in a pan. Rusty, for his part, is very proud of his ability to roll around in front of Ash and show off his stomach for pets.

When Nima returns with Max, she also has a very small parting gift, an oversized sleep shirt that reads 'World's Best Grandson'. It is just a sleep shirt, he's not expected to wear it in public but one can never have too many sleep shirts, she insists.

Rusty wants to smell the cats. Kuroneko is terrified of both the dog and his nose. Asher dutifully remains in front of Kuroneko and meows loudly in protest, which Rusty takes as a greeting and happily barks back. He tried to pull Ash to the cats, either because he thinks Ash needs to see them, or maybe because he wants Ash to take them out of the carrier so he can play with them. They are toys for him, right? Since he brought Ash his Santa last night?]

Comments

[papalobo]

You're wrong.

[jadedlynx]

At what point does it become 'long'?

[papalobo]

'bout two weeks.

[jadedlynx]

It's definitely long before the two week mark. The bar is too high.

[papalobo]

You feel like you spent a lotta time in Ireland?

[jadedlynx]

Kind of. It felt like there was a lot more stuff to see. It's a big place.

[papalobo]

Hn...

[jadedlynx]

[ There's work to be done in the silence. Ash gets the car and helps Max inside after letting Alex know he's back in town.]

Are you hungry?

[papalobo]

Nah, but you go ahead 'n eat.

[jadedlynx]

I'm good.

[ But it's lunch time. Even if Max had breakfast, he should be hungry again.

He won't push it right how. He'll make something once they've made it home. ]

[papalobo]

[Max's eyes narrow. He's willing to push it.]

...We gonna be in some fucked up codependent cycle of eating to make the other guy eat?

[jadedlynx]

[ Ash steals a quick glance before looking back to the road. ]

What part of that said I wouldn't eat without you? I'm going to make something at home.

[papalobo]

[Silence again.]

[jadedlynx]

But I am making you a portion there.

[papalobo]

Make it good.

[jadedlynx]

If you're not going to eat anything else, you better eat it even if it's burnt.

[papalobo]

M'not eating anyone's shitty cooking unless I'm in love enough it tastes good.

[jadedlynx]

[ It's that what it's going to come back to? A constant reference to their new relationship. This is definitely a step down from their original post-prison relationship. They were able to talk and do things for each other just fine without kissing and having sex.

But Ash does notice the wording. It wasn't that Max wouldn't eat bad food if he wasn't dating somebody, it's that he wouldn't if he didn't love them enough. Ash won't eat bad food at all so that's not judgment so much as the first time Max has said that feeling is already fading. That's good. A human part of Ash hurts at that, but it's no good if either of them stays in love.

Either way, Ash is good at the things he does. ]

[papalobo]

[There's no going back. Maybe that's why, after that first kiss, both of them were all in. It had to be all or nothing. Neither of them could accept nothing. Right now, they're kidding themselves. It would've been better for Max not to have come back, not to have been found, to have just left a note that he was alive and let some other mechanic get paid to run things. Ash has money. Anything he can do for those kids can be done by anyone else.]

[jadedlynx]

[ They'll be home soon enough. There aren't many bags since Max decided he was going to be a nomad and Ash had only packed for the night so the first thing he's going to do is let the cats out to play. ]

Get settled in.

[papalobo]

[No. Kuroneko's first move once free is to jump on and try to climb Max, meowing. The message is clear: No more leaving. Kuro also looks to Ash. He must not let him leave.]

[jadedlynx]

I'm trying.

[ Ash sighs. ]

But it's something you have to say to him.

[papalobo]

[Max looks rightly confused at Ash's ability to apparently talk with cats.]

[jadedlynx]

[ It's Max's ability to miss it that seems more confusing. It seems pretty obvious. ]

You can stay with him as he settles in.

[papalobo]

Which one of us're you talking to?