Day 265 - Friday, September 12th

[papalobo]

[A Chinese man who is definitely a mature adult and not a teenager checks in to the Hyatt, one of their more exclusive rooms, along with his half-white half brother who is also certainly not a teenager and most definitely not the notorious gang leader wanted on suspicion of a September 11th New York City bombing in retaliation for an angry rogue sect of anti-American zealots.

The entire suite floor has been rented out, and it requires a special key card in the elevator and on the stairs to enter that floor. But they can rent one of the still very luxe rooms directly beneath.

A familiar white limo is in the car garage, though the opportunity to gawk or investigate is slim, between the security cameras and live guards.

There's still no contact from Max, but the Department of Homeland Security has become involved, and has begun to enter Ash's territory with intent to arrest any known figures within his gang to bring in for questioning.]

Day 284, Wednesday, Oct 1st

Comments

[jadedlynx]

Couldn't you have sent him a recording pledging alligeince?

[sentimentalstoic]

But that would be a lie.

[jadedlynx]

You're not really a cop with bad skin, either.

[sentimentalstoic]

You've got me there.

[jadedlynx]

[ He's ready to stand and collect himself now. ]

He's like a fusion between Godfather and a high school mean girl. It's hard to have a conversation with him that doesn't include how trained you are for him. I hate the guy, but even I get some secondhand embarrassment.

[ Embarrassment; not sympathy. ]

[sentimentalstoic]

[A hand sliding from his head down his back tries to tempt him to stay down longer, not to hurry to pull himself together just yet. If they aren't visiting Max, they have all the time in the world. He'd hurried to get ready to make it in time to visit the jail, but now, they needn't settle for the lunch he'd made to be edible in the car.]

I apologize for making you uncomfortable.

[jadedlynx]

I didn't say I was uncomfortable, and I don't buy your apology.

It's just a weird shift. 6 months ago, the question was if I knew about Banana Fish. Now, people are making bets on who's the better lay in case I decided to sway you to my side.

[sentimentalstoic]

You should believe it. If it were entirely in my hands, you wouldn't know to be bothered by it. I don't particularly want others thinking of you sexually, either.

[jadedlynx]

[ Since Blanca has decided to block his ability to stand upright, Ash gives another jab at the fake layer of fat. ]

The problem is that it exists, not that I know.

I'm pretty surprised by him, too. A sex tape wouldn't be my Exhibit A when I'm meeting with my enemies.

[sentimentalstoic]

[Other than the lack of body heat to it, it's pretty convincing. Ash had enough fat men pressed over him recently to know, if he'd forgotten that sensation since Golzine had died.]

Genius is often unpredictable.

[jadedlynx]

Genius, huh?

[ Effective at the current moment, but Ash has to disagree with the genius. It plays into the very idea that he'd fought to battle: their power came from pretty faces. It lost respect for them and once they realized Blanca wasn't an issue, Yut Lung would not only seem much less dangerous, he'll be even more sexualized. ]

[sentimentalstoic]

You understand what it is, to make less than ideal decisions to survive the moment.

[jadedlynx]

You're not actually his trump card. The fact he's playing as if you are lets them know that without you, he's a lot weaker. When you don't start showing up when he's in trouble, they'll get bolder. Not that they need the excuse, but when they have him, it's going to be a lot worse now that they think sex is his strongest weapon.

Did you save him?

[sentimentalstoic]

Save?

[jadedlynx]

The text said they were moving forward with the plan against him.

[ He at least struggles enough to look up at him. ]

I used to know you wouldn't have, but you came here.

[ For him, Ash knows. ]

[sentimentalstoic]

[He'll let him, if he really seems to want to. With his face face, any expression he has to pull will have to be as intentional as a puppeteer moving a marionette's arm, meaning the face that stares down at him looks unduly cross.]

I suspect he saved himself. As far as I know, nothing happened to him.

[jadedlynx]

[ But it's funny. Ash can almost imagine the face Blanca would make, and seeing the juxtaposition over the 'officer's' face actually makes him laugh before he drops his head back down. This time, his eyes close. ]

Thanks for coming.

[sentimentalstoic]

[The smile is too faint to translate into his mask without intentionally doing so, as well. He strokes Ash's hair again, while on the outside looking as if he's about to bellow out a terse insult.]

[jadedlynx]

[ In spite of the disguise, Blanca is warm and solid. For the first time since he'd been pushed into the table and forced to take yet another man, Ash feels safe. Even the hospital wasn't safe. Now, in Blanca's lap, he's all but invincible.

Still, the sleep that takes him isn't intentional. ]

[sentimentalstoic]

[When Ash wakes up, his position seems unchanged, despite all of the signs that he must have moved. For example, Blanca is again Blanca; he looks like Blanca, he's dressed like Blanca in overly well pressed slacks that clash a little much with the soft t-shirt that's trying to be casual, he has the faint woody smell of one of Blanca's colognes. In his hand is one of the books from Ash's library. On the table are two glasses of warm brandy, along with the bottle. There's a weighted blanket laid over Ash to help him feel further secure in his rest. Such changes probably didn't happen without Ash having had to have been moved at some point.]

[jadedlynx]

[ His hair is a mess. As Ash pushes himself to a sitting position and wipes at the sleep in his eyes, his hair alone makes it obvious that he's had a nap. ]

Hn. What time is it?

[sentimentalstoic]

A bit after seven.

[His eyes flicker from the book to that hair, tempted beyond temptation to stroke it again, to make it messier still as much as to straighten it. It's a vulnerable and comfortable look at him. Ash is nothing if not desirable in every possible way. How he longs to keep him in a state of sleepiness, not yet letting the reality beyond his rest close back in.]

[jadedlynx]

[ No, he decides. His head falls back down. The words are mumbled into Blanca's thigh so they're a bit hard to hear, but it is Blanca.]

Got to take my medicine.

[sentimentalstoic]

[His bedhead of hair is there begging for his attention, but he remains cordial.]

Is it in your car on on your person?

[jadedlynx]

Car.

[ Ash's voice is stick thick with sleep. ]

Didn't trust the cop not to take it.