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 cheap motel. He can trust Shawn to find one and beyond the two words, he doesn't have a preference. He just needs sleep. Ash keeps his eyes closed. ]

[papalobo]

[He finds one, keeping it relatively in-town, though the traffic is heavy, and there are swarms of police. It's probably good Ash isn't in the driver's seat.

He'll get a single bed room when they pull up, rather than risk anyone thinking about who his second is.]

[jadedlynx]

[ Ash waits until he's back before following behind, hood up. Sometimes, being this blond is a pain. He'll have to get a wig if he doesn't want to stand out like a sore thumb.

Inside, he all but falls into the bed. The singles are Queens, usually, so it doesn't matter if they have to share. He's taking a nap. He does remember to set his alarm for a couple of hours. ]

[papalobo]

[Shawn ends up snoring an hour in. When he awakens to check his phone, many roadways have been closed; the city is largely on lockdown after the terrorist attack. No news on Yut Lung's status is yet available.]

[jadedlynx]

[ He frowns at his phone. But, admittedly, he didn't know where Max was hiding, and he possibly had a difficult time moving around town.

Allowing Shawn to sleep, Ash does some online shopping before waking him to do the pick up. ]

[papalobo]

[Shawn wakes up and is obliging enough to do any shopping runs he's sent on. He's not enough of a known figure to the police to be in much danger.


The news is 24/7 coverage wondering about the international implications of the bombing. Politicians are already discussing war, seeing it as retaliation on the Chinese-American congolomerate for their allying with the US to find those responsible for the earlier attempts. Others are calling for gun control. Others still are calling attention to how foreign agents are pouring in and taking advantage of disenfranchised youth, referring to the Lynx gang's presumed involvement, ties to local small time gang territory disputes.]

[jadedlynx]

[ And still no Max.

Shawn's also supposed to bring back food. Ash does need to eat. He's smart enough to ask for soup to make it easier.

He'll follow the news as he waits for Shawn's return. ]

[papalobo]

[Shawn returns.]

It's pretty bad out there. You're 9-11 two-point-oh now, you know?

[jadedlynx]

It's even more complicated than you know.

[ He urges Shawn to sit down in front of him. The cosmetic changes start there.

He also begins to pull out makeup from one of the bags. ]

Officially, Ash Lynx is dead. Ash Golzine is the adopted son of Dino Golzine and not connected to the gang leader at all.

[papalobo]

Gonna be a hard one to keep up now.

[jadedlynx]

Probably.

[ Which means no more college. Ash Lynx was wanted for a lot of murder. ]

But they're the only ones who can confirm Ash Lynx.

[ Time to start on the makeup. ]

[papalobo]

Looks like the Lings might get your territory out of this, too.

[jadedlynx]

Are you that sure I'm going to lose?

[papalobo]

At this point it's not about win or lose, it's about getting out of this alive and with a new identity, isn't it?

[jadedlynx]

I'm not giving it over to them. My men risked their lives for it.

[papalobo]

I don't see any way out of this that doesn't end with you in jail the rest of your life.

[jadedlynx]

It won't be the first time. Last time, they were nice enough to fake my death for me.

I discredit the people who claim they saw me. Then Ash Lynx stays a ghost.

[papalobo]

What about an alibi?

[jadedlynx]

For the bombing? I actually have one.

[ He should have been near Nadia's when it happened. ]

[papalobo]

Well, I guess we can worry about the after, after. First thing's getting Wu back. Second thing is getting a hint on Sing, I guess? Still all dead ends on him.

[jadedlynx]

[ It feels very much not like being in a gang. He's adding contour to Shawn's nose and eyes. ]

Ling wasn't even running his own operation. One of his brothers still might have him.

[ And Max still hasn't texted. ]

[papalobo]

If he had a reason to keep him alive.

[jadedlynx]

If he's alive.

[ Ash does know that's a possibility. Emotionally, he's preparing for it. Emotionally, he's doing his best for when or if it comes. He doesn't want for him to be dead. He doesn't want for him to be tortured. ]

Maybe he's dead. Maybe he's wishing he was.

[papalobo]

The princess might be, too. He's the one who'd be in the best position to get revenge for him. Us striking back at mainland China's not possible.

[jadedlynx]

He's more than likely suffering.

[ Ash knows that. Even if he heard of his death, he'd assume it was faked. ]