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]

And I'm Kelly!

[She likes this game.]

I'm a Virgo, and I like listening to Chris Daughtry! I'm also single.

[jadedlynx]

[ At least she's interested. ]

As a Virgo, you know loyalty, right?

[ Reading newspapers means he runs across a lot of useless things. ]

Then maybe you'll understand. My friend has been missing for the last few days, and I'm worried he's fallen into the wrong kind of crowd so I can't call the cops yet. He hasn't even been home, but I'm told he was seen around here right before he disappeared. I need to see who he was with. Does your store have cameras?

[papalobo]

[The veer into the favor, a serious conversations, makes her eager smile fall to a frown, but she is paying attention, and it's not long before the frown is because of the topic.]

Mm... We do, but I can't get to them. It'd be a problem for the boss if I could just erase the data or something for what happened on my shift, right? So that'd be a manager thing...

[jadedlynx]

I would trust you, but I get it. There's probably no manager working tonight, and I doubt they'd be in a good mood if we woke them.

I know it's a lot to ask, Kelly, but if you could speak to them in the morning... or ask them to speak to me... He's a kid over his head. You know what the wrong kind of people could do to him.

[papalobo]

Yeah, that'll be easy enough. We leave notes for the boss if we think something happened, in with our cash drop for the night when we switch shifts. But you'll have to give me your number for him to call?

[jadedlynx]

[ Ash nods. ]

Yeah, of course.

[ He rattles off a number to one of his burners. ]

Leave a note to text if I don't pick up. I'll turn my ringer off through some parts of the city tonight to keep from drawing attention to myself.

[papalobo]

You're gonna go walking around NYC alone at night looking for clues yourself?

[jadedlynx]

[ Ash shrugs with a smile that says 'i know'. ]

I can't wait at home. It's been three days so it's already this dangerous...

[papalobo]

I'm gonna end up calling you and you'll be missing now, doing crazy stuff like that...

[jadedlynx]

[ It's her manager who's supposed to be calling, but he is trying to get on her good side. ]

I'll do a dumb thing as smart as I can, but the sooner I find him, the sooner I can stop looking so if you could have them call me, it'll help.

[papalobo]

As smart as you can, when doing something dumb, means you can't be very smart. All that's pretty worrying.

[jadedlynx]

I'm smart enough to know hours can make a difference. Thanks for the help. I really do appreciate it.

[papalobo]

You're good looking, the type they'd love to make a TV movie about when you go mysteriously missing, but the type they'll have a hard time finding anyone actually attractive enough for the role. Be careful?

[jadedlynx]

If the interview you, play me up.

Be safe, Kelly.

[ That leaves the gym. Maybe he'd have an easier time getting tapes from them. ]

[papalobo]

[The gym is closed at such an hour of the night.]

[jadedlynx]

[ So much for hoping it'd be a 24 hour gym.

He really is at a dead end for now. PM has become AM so Max may or may not be awake. As he heads to the bar for a quick shower and nap until morning, he'll send him a text. ]

A lot of threads are dangling. I'm staying at the bar tonight.

[papalobo]

k

[jadedlynx]

[ There's no more text. Ash decides there won't be any more texts before he's finished. He's reached out more than once, and Max is pouting. He's too tired and frustrated to baby him.

maybe it's harsh. It probably is. He doesn't care.

After the shower, he crashes in his old bed, but he's on high alert for the sound of his phone, and the alarm is set for 9. ]