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

[sentimentalstoic]

I'd rather have an eternity of seeing you at the other end of that spectrum, but it seems over the years I have grown more decadent in taste.

[jadedlynx]

At this rate, I'm thinking I might make it to 22 if I'm being generous.

[ Maybe less if the Lings try again. ]

An eternity is a little too far out.

[sentimentalstoic]

Thank you for offering a part of your remaining limited years to me.

[jadedlynx]

It makes them a limited-time item.

[ Ash would say they're also exclusive, but... ]

[sentimentalstoic]

Most things are.

[jadedlynx]

[ Ash smirks. ]

Limited-er time.

[ He does know that's not the actual way to say it. ]

[sentimentalstoic]

But does this style of living make you happy?

[Blanca could, is tempted to lecture him, to inform him what he already knows: if he hadn't been trying to juggle a regular life with this, likely, he would now be above the law as much as Golzine ever was. This happened because he needed to return to normalcy, which meant going through that system he was meant to look down upon as a mere toy.

He doesn't disagree that this really can't last as long as a normal human lifespan.]

[jadedlynx]

The way it is right now, no. Things are too strained with Max.

Usually? Yeah.

[ Head leaning back against the tub, his eyes stare at the ceiling. ]

If I can get out of gang life, that's the side I plan to leave behind. If I can't, I know it'll have been a better run when it's over. What's the point of living 80 years when you're not enjoying it?

[sentimentalstoic]

[So he believes things will go back, does he?

He continues to massage that hand, as good an excuse to hold it as any.]

And enjoyment is its own reward? How hedonic.

[jadedlynx]

[ He believes it might. Ash does know how screwed things are right now. ]

As opposed to what reward? Another year? It's not a video game with a high score.

[sentimentalstoic]

If one has a one in one hundred chance of enjoyment every day, one has approximately three and a half enjoyments per year. Even if those odds reduce by year at some point, there is always the chance for more per "score."

[jadedlynx]

If you thought every choice brought the same chances of enjoyment, you'd be in the Bahamas, not here playing nurse to me.

[ Ash splashes water at him. ]

You get it, too. Maybe not the choices I make, but why I make them.

[sentimentalstoic]

Yes. For you, at least, "enjoyment" isn't what you're really looking to maximize.

[As for himself, he's in a fluffy white bathrobe in a scent bathroom with a gloriously attractive naked blonde whom he can pet almost freely, in a beachside mansion.]

[jadedlynx]

Quality.

[ Blanca can fill in the blank of 'over quantity'. ]

I'm going to remember Ireland and that sky for most of my life.

[ Ash has never pretended not to be enchanted by their date. ]

But I'm not going to forget that you came here for me, either.

[sentimentalstoic]

Eventually, I'll have been over so many times you'll have lost count.

[jadedlynx]

[ Finally look back at Blanca, his head tilts to the side, allowing still-dry blonde hair to hang to the side. ]

You came because you were worried about me.

[sentimentalstoic]

Close enough.

[jadedlynx]

You. Were. Worried. About. Me.

[ Each word is emphasized as if it's something embarrassing, but with more of an aim to tease than actually insult. ]

[sentimentalstoic]

[He tries not to giggle. He's entirely too grown, too stately to giggle, and yet, between giggle and chuckle, the noise he makes is decidedly just a bit closer to the formal.

An Ash who is teasing is an Ash more in his element than one trying too consciously to relax.]

Close. Enough.

[jadedlynx]

You like me enough to worry about me.

[sentimentalstoic]

Indeed, I do. The reason I wasn't worried this time has nothing to do with liking or not liking you enough.

[jadedlynx]

You were worried I'd be too stressed if you weren't here.

[sentimentalstoic]

[He blinks at that, as if realizing he'd missed an opportunity to say it and tease Ash further about his fondness in return.]

As fun as that is to imagine, you're not that delicate.

[jadedlynx]

Why would that be fun to imagine?

[sentimentalstoic]

[Finally letting go of Ash's hand, he reaches to muse the top of his head delicately, as if he had an injury there to nurse as well.]

Imagining you going from flustered to at ease over me is very appealing. It's almost a shame my turn towards decadent entertainment hasn't completely weaned me off of reality, and that I like the you here more than the you in my own mind.