Day 261 - Monday, September 8th

[papalobo]

[Max isn't awake early enough to be shocked by how early in the morning Ash can pull it together to text, nor is he shocked by waking up first and alone. Although that he's going to be in a good coma with the pill and his exhaustion probably isn't a great cause for concern for Ash in not getting a response. It's around 11:00 AM that Ash gets a thumbs up emoji as an answer.

In actuality, things are not thumbs up. Max wakes up alone, and his mind combines the dream with reality to quickly determine Ash has left him to finally take that flight to Japan; unaware he's awake, even while aware that's not very realistic, he lies there looking at the empty space not even occupied by cats, for several minutes, before the need to use the bathroom finally gets him moving enough to come back to reality just a little more, to process that all of it were dreams, that he has no right to get depressed, to blame Ash for any dreams. Nor for any realities. He told him to take on Blanca. He's urged him to take up Eiji when he's ready.

Ash had to go without breakfast today. Probably. He'll check the kitchen for signs of cooking before realizing the texts he read about Ash leaving last night weren't part of the dream, but were real; so he's living that double life, away from him now. Things are dangerous, and Max... sits at home and worries about food. Things are hazy. Maybe the good parts of yesterday were a dream too; at best, they were a delusion that really physically happened, he realizes.


He could call Alex and ask for a full update on the situation. He could probably ask Ash directly and get one.


Instead, he tends to his own work e-mails. He'll be on a few major shows soon, after all. Time to get his data together, time to follow up with some of those politicians, time to get with Charlie about how the lawsuits and investigations into The Unit are going.


Time to reach out to Shawn, since he does have his number. In confidence.

Misplaced confidence. At 12:30 Ash is texted by Shawn.]

Your old man's a drug addict~~

[Also today, the girl who is not presently covered in twigs but still looks as if she's been rolling around on carpet for static, frizzy hair and clothes meant for painting a house more than actually going out, glares at him bitterly through class, even during a test that should have her more distracted by it. But Ash is surely too busy to deal with that.

All the more when at 2:00, Wu is calling him. He's more of a caller than a texter.]

Comments

[papalobo]

[Soon enough, his coworker is on speaker phone. He'll also give Ash a free coffee while they're talking, if he'll take it. His coworker remembers the kid had came in and seemed a little lost, like the type who hadn't ever actually had coffee before and didn't know how to act, waiting for someone, then left with some brown haired white guy who looked around the same age. It didn't seem to be under duress or anything, at least from what she could tell. But she did remember the funny kid who was probably too young for coffee, yeah.]

[jadedlynx]

[ Did they keep any video cameras? He probably sounds over protective, but he's worried his friend might have gotten into some trouble. He hadn't been home, and he wasn't answering his phone... ]

[papalobo]

[Unfortunately, the security cameras here only show the register and neither of them came to order anything, but as long as it means he can put a hand on Ash's back while guiding him, the clerk is willing to take him to the backroom to let him see the security tapes. As they say, Sing doesn't come into view on it.]

[jadedlynx]

[ Brown hair white boy didn't narrow it down.

Then, he could check the buildings around the alley and try to track him from there. Ash is willing to flirt with the whole damn street if he had to. ]

[papalobo]

[And a happier street it is; men and women, boys and girls, the working cast of that particular strip of New York enjoy every excuse to touch his shoulder, stroke his hair, gaze lovingly, deeply into his eyes.

Until finally, one girl describes having seen them go into an alleyway, able to describe the brown haired boy as looking about Sing's age, 15 or so, his white t-shirt, his jeans, and that he left alone, but in a different colored shirt, which she had thought was kinda weird, but maybe it was a drug deal or something to dodge cameras. But Ash doesn't seem like a cop, so she can let him know to ask for anyone who saw him leave in a black hoodie and khaki cargo pants.

And that, through another round of flirting, can finally catch him on camera. Which may not do much good if Ash doesn't know every single face of The Unit.]

[jadedlynx]

[ Every single? No. A lot? Yes. He'd been feet on the ground for them too, trying to work through their issues and figure out where they could go from here. Still, if it was someone more unassuming, he's been betting on a Unit kid from the start. A quick text to Alex to have his men search for him can happen as Ash heads that way.

What did they do to him? Deliver him up on a platter? ]

[papalobo]

[It can be narrowed down to one of the younger residents, a 13 year old by the name of Conner Dunlap. There are no special reports of him seeming to be a problem. He was in The Unit allegedly for arson, trying to burn down a gas station.]

[jadedlynx]

[ A kid.

It was a kid. Sing. Where are you?

Ash has to interrogate a kid.

He sends word to have him at the bar when he gets there before texting Max. ]

I won't be home for dinner.

[ Since he's bothering to reach out, it means he's not doing it to be petty. ]

[papalobo]

[Isn't he?]

Gonna eat?

[Going away when Ash is mad is just what he does.]

[jadedlynx]

[ Going away. He doesn't usually bother to text. ]

I'll grab something when things aren't so active.

[papalobo]

[He does, now. Just like he stayed at the beach, but still ultimately went away, saying as much.

But if he says things are active, it's less likely he's run into Blanca's arms while sick of dealing with Max.

No, come to think of it, at times like these, it's Blanca he's probably contacting. Max is just a courtesy for his feelings. Which should matter. But it'd be better to actually have something to offer, a reason to matter.

He keeps writing, texting Ibe now, at an early hour of the morning in Japan, to ask if Eiji was ever asked to take photographs or given similar useless busywork.]

[jadedlynx]

[ Meanwhile, Ash goes to pick on a kid.

Eiji, when asked, will sheepishly tell him about the photos that Ash insisted were useful. ]

[papalobo]

[He'll assure him they were, spin some bullshit about how Ash was into landscapes and arc or something these days.

As for Conner, he's surprised at Ash of all people coming to his room.]

Huh? You know who I am?

[jadedlynx]

[ Ah... More than that, they were of people going into the building. ]

I know who most of you are.

[ While it's true, Ash slides the phone over. It's the picture of himself and Sing. ]

I'm looking for him.

[papalobo]

[He doesn't actually seem very worried about it when he asks.]

Am I in trouble?

[jadedlynx]

I don't know what happened yet.

[ He's a kid. ]

But you probably got involved in something again. Just tell me where he is.

[papalobo]

Some guys told me to set up a secret meeting. In that alleyway by there. That's all.

[jadedlynx]

I need more than that. What guys? What happened in that alley?

[papalobo]

I dunno, I don't speak Chinese.

[jadedlynx]

You don't need to speak Chinese to see what happened.

[papalobo]

[His nose wrinkles, as if Ash's persistence is a little annoying.]

I guess he owed them money or something? I dunno, your guy was talking to them in English. They told me to change clothes and leave so I didn't get tracked. Sing told me to go ahead too.

[jadedlynx]

[ Too bad. He's being pressed. ]

What was my guy saying?

[papalobo]

Said he didn't speak Chinese. Mostly seemed annoyed they wouldn't talk while I was there, I think. Private stuff. None of my business, like?

[jadedlynx]

But it's mine. Did he give a name? A place? Anything useful?

[papalobo]

Uh-uh.