Day 264 - Thursday, September 11th

[papalobo]

[Max sleeps; has as he'd thought, he achieves nothing, and he's not even a small-talk source of comfort or somebody to soothe Ash's nerves before his two AM meeting with yet another Chinese teenager. Something about Chinese teenagers seems to always spell trouble for Ash, and now he's in a mess involving no less than four of them.

But Max doesn't move. If Ash comes to see him, setting that pill counter and the note about the smoothie, he may notice he hasn't so much as shifted a finger. Ash has had to turn to painting, but there's no need to lock that room before, or even for a long while after. The only one in this house besides him is a breathing corpse.

But Shawn's ready and waiting for him at one, prepared to be decked out a wires that Ling's likely to hang him with if he finds out about them.]

Comments

[jadedlynx]

[ A bombing?

He'll find out once he's at the bar. Instead of going for Shawn, he'll look up the news to see if it mentions Yut Lung or how it happened. ]

[papalobo]

[It was believed to be the work of Ash's gang, according to the news. Those sirens begin to close in around his territory. It seems Ash--an unknown blonde--had broken in to a Chinese man's house the night before and engaged in a violent robbery and kidnapping, and Ash's gang is, according to the news, currently launching a violent attack on Chinatown.]

[jadedlynx]

[ Tch, a pain in the ass, but he isn't so unprepared for an assault be it from the cops or another gang.

His men start to receive the text. Some stay exactly where they are, others don't. Those taking care of the unit kids have alibis. Some can behave around cops. Some can't. Some are too strong to leave. Some are too weak to stay.

The kids can be moved once the cops aren't directly on them. For now, he has to grab Shawn. ]

[papalobo]

[Shawn is recovering, cleaned, more patched up by now, and in a new set of clothes.]

Looks like they decided to go all in today, huh?

[jadedlynx]

Don't worry. After getting your territory hijacked once, you learn a few things.

But I need you to come with me. It's the downside to being the only Chinese guy here.

[papalobo]

Well, I'm kinda in terrible pain and drugged up, but you're in luck, I like your company.

[jadedlynx]

Don't worry, you're just going to be riding in the car for a little bit.

How's your vision?

[papalobo]

[He blinks in surprise, realizing he hasn't really stopped to consider when it was the darkness began to lift again. He looks to his hand, pulling it further and closer to his face, then looking to Ash. Yup, still hot. Not just remembering the hot.]

Normal by now, I think.

[jadedlynx]

Then let's go. If they catch me, I'm definitely being held for a long time.

[ Trusting Shawn to follow and his men to obey directions, he tosses the keys Shawn as he gets into the passenger side. ]

They hadn't set up a blockade yet, but it'll be safer if you're driving.

[papalobo]

Where to?

[jadedlynx]

Chinatown. We have to play dress up before we make our next move.

[papalobo]

Any useful new info?

[He is ready to drive.]

[jadedlynx]

A little. I know where Ling's headquarters were, but I can't be sure they're still using it.

The Ling's set you up. Knew we'd meet, assumed you'd remind me of Shorter, we'd be best friends, I'd do more whore thing and sleep with you, and you'd be so into it you'd agree to rule New York and let them have Chicago.

[papalobo]

[He does have to stop at that. That's... a lot to suddenly dump on a guy. He blinks slowly, wondering if maybe he's still more drugged than he thought.]

[jadedlynx]

It's the first time I've had my enemy trying to play matchmaker, too.

[papalobo]

I did flirt with you, but... I mean, most people do. Look at you.

[jadedlynx]

He made it clear you didn't know about it. I got along well with Shorter so it's reasonable to assume we'd get along, too. Their intel had me sleeping around. It seemed like a good idea in their minds.

[papalobo]

I think they got crushes. They were asking me a lot about the princess's sex life too.

[jadedlynx]

Outside of the big guy?

[papalobo]

My guesses were him and Sing.

[jadedlynx]

Probably. He's another one they accused me of seducing to my side. If we're just whores, we didn't have to be smart or dangerous, we just had to spread our legs.

[papalobo]

Dunno where they get the idea you can't be both. I guess they don't actually talk to whores on the mainland.

[jadedlynx]

[ Ash smirks, but his mood isn't really that high right now. Things are tight, and Max is missing. Even if he found Wu... ]

It's the first time I've ruined somebody's plan by being too much of a prude.

[papalobo]

That's a lie. A lotta people look at you and form a dirty bunch'a plans. And you gotta go being all classy and decent.

[jadedlynx]

A plan for a night's fun is different than a complete territory switch.