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]

[ He knows it's likely the low mood that has him questioning this. A nap was nice, but it doesn't erase the past two weeks. ]

Do you watch movies?

[sentimentalstoic]

Not often.

[Overly affectionate stroking of a hand along his arm is probably a little too obvious in now wanting to emphasize that he enjoys just having Ash there, that Ash is under no obligation to do anything to entertain or please him while he's here.]

[jadedlynx]

[ Ash expected the answer. ]

Can you shut your logical mind off when watching them, or do you thinking about how it should really be done?

[sentimentalstoic]

Often I can appreciate the research or thought I can see has gone into making something up well.

[Aggressively the latter, if said with a patented Blanca positive spin.]

[jadedlynx]

You'd definitely be judging it.

It can be pretty bad sometimes if you focus on those details.

[sentimentalstoic]

Watching movies about human feelings feel more natural. Everyone has some experience and sense of normalcy in those. And, there's more variability there in the hearts of men than in the trajectory of a projectile.

[jadedlynx]

Is that your way of requesting a romcom?

[sentimentalstoic]

When you think of feelings, you go to romance first? How unexpected of you.

[jadedlynx]

When I think of movies about feelings, it's the easiest to think of. I don't want enough to think of movies that deal with emotions outside of that.

Or war, but I'll pass on that.

[sentimentalstoic]

Then we've successfully ruled out Fullmetal Jacket.

Would you like to see Kids Return? It's a youth drama that was popular with young men in the mid-90s.

[jadedlynx]

[ Reaching for the remote, he turns on the television and begins looking through the streaming services. ]

How do you know about it?

[sentimentalstoic]

Cultural consciousness.

[It's better for Ash to assume in his travels he just comes to know various books and movies, rather than thinking how thoroughly he's been trained in understanding cultural and countercultural zeitgeists.


All the more because he's really not as hip with any such media that came out after he retired.]

[jadedlynx]

[ He sits back as the movie starts. Their first date was a trip to Ireland and a private jet over the most beautiful sky he's ever seen. This not-date is in a nice, but it's not as marvelous as the wonders Blanda treated him to.

The man knew Ash had a few sides. ]

[sentimentalstoic]

You should finish the wrap. There isn't much left.

[He half expects Ash to fall asleep against him again, as it is. It's been a difficult two weeks.]

[jadedlynx]

Thanks, Mom. I'm full.

[ He pushes the platter toward Blanca. ]

[sentimentalstoic]

I suppose you've proven you will still love me if I get fat.

[jadedlynx]

After the psych exam.

[ Blanca wouldn't let himself get fat. ]

[sentimentalstoic]

You want to do a Buzzfeed couples quiz?

[jadedlynx]

No.

[ It's an intentionally short answer before Ash hits play. ]

[sentimentalstoic]

[As a man who has administered psych exams, that sort of fluff seemed more entertaining to discuss. But he takes a bite of the wrap, again offering it to Ash to see if he won't take one or two more. It can be an indirect kiss.]

[jadedlynx]

I'm coming off IVs. Anymore and you'll have another cleanup job.

[sentimentalstoic]

I'd accounted for that.

[He thinks Ash can handle more. But he'll take another bite himself.

He had sought to make it especially easy to digest, with a balance of micro and macro nutrients. He would daresay his balance was on par with a direct IV's ratios for his needs.]

[jadedlynx]

[ But Ash didn't have to physically eat his fluids. It isn't an issue with Blanca's food. He's simply full.

And focused on the movie. There's a curious part of him who wonders what kind of story Blanda would suggest. ]

[sentimentalstoic]

[It's a Japanese film about two delinquent boys who bully and rob from their classmates and set their teacher's car on fire. A big, strong man is hired to swoop in and handle the two delinquent boys, and it sets one of them on a vicious path of revenge even as they drop out of high school... only to find out his friend Shinji, the more meek and subdued of the two hellions, is the natural boxer. While they had initially begun training to get revenge on the strong man, he's soon forgotten, as Shinji takes to boxing as a career, and Masaru to a more formal life of crime under the yakuza.

Only, the fun, glamor, and drugs of the prize fighter's life leads to Shinji self sabotaging and ruining himself and his career within two short years. Likewise, Masaru cannot seem to come to terms with following the rules of order and accepting rank if it means he must be below anyone, and the two are jobless and without prospects, connections, or degrees in their mid-20s as Japan faces another economic downturn.

The two ride around a bike on their old high school's P.E. lot oddly peppy for two who had lost everything in a quest to avenge their pride here at a school where anyone had known them had long graduated, and where students now only see some sad adults doing bike laps on the grounds. Supposing themselves never to have had any prospects or hope to begin with, things aren't really so different for them now than they were in high school, and they shall simply have to start again.]

[jadedlynx]

[ Ash manages to make it through the movie. Japanese, huh? He's intentionally avoided most Japanese things specifically to avoid the what might have been with Eiji. He's happy with Max, but when the world is dark and terrible, it's easier to imagine what life would be like in that magical land. ]

That had a lot of laughs.

[ He's not surprised that Blanca would choose something depressing though. ]