papalobo | Day 265 - Friday, September 12th

Day 265 - Friday, September 12th

[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

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I tend to know before hand, enough to prepare.

What did you prepare this time?

You think this qualifies as "stuck in one place"? I did restock your kitchen, but that was really more about your household affairs than my own preparations.

I didn't mean a stake out, but you're staying in New York. You've seen everything to see here.

Ah, you're asking about entertainment? It's true enough I've seen every show of interest, but... Well. I've spent enough time truly stuck in one, uninteresting place for days that it's not exactly torture, to be domesticated here for a few days.

I have some books, but the library isn't that stocked yet.

[ One final stroke through his hair assures all traces are gone. ]

But there are worse places to be than on a beach.

Mm. I helped myself to one earlier. I'd figured the edict not to enter didn't really apply anymore, since that room needed cleaning, too.

The library is free use. It was just the painting room that was off limits, but they're probably sitting as evidence of my mental state right now.

Do you want them back?

It's annoying.

[ His hands leave Blanca's hair. He's well and cleaned. ]

I really don't care what they think about me, but it's like I'm telling them a lot of stuff I wouldn't usually tell them. I'm surprised they didn't bring them up.

[That's not altogether unsurprising, he doubts many lawyers were involved on any level, but that the police tormenting him weren't trickled down information to drive their interrogation.... He looks at the ceiling, thinking.]

[ Still naked, Ash moves away from the tub and toward a towel. He's tired enough that the conversation moves to a more idle tone. ]

[After draining the tub, Blanca stands up, pushing his hair back from his face and reaching for a towel, drying off. He'll continue to handle the unpleasant specific details once Ash is resting. Ash seems to sleep better with him about.]

Will you be taking medication, or trying to rest naturally?

Naturally.

[ He falls asleep fine. If he's up after that, it's because of nightmares, and Ash doesn't want to be stuck in those. ]

Are you ready?

[He pulls on the bathrobe for now; he can change into proper clothing when he actually goes out. He'll be working tonight, it seems.]

Yeah. There's a downstairs bedroom. We can sleep in it.

[Ash doesn't want him in the bed he shares with his actual lover. But despite having a downstairs bedroom, he makes Max sleep upstairs? There's something cruel about that. But he nods, obligingly.

Ash feels guilty about him being here. Nothing he does, or doesn't do, will change that he's simply not the man Ash is now emotionally entangled with, and even his attempts to bring him to the one he really needs had to be cancelled for the fact of being who he was.

It'd been quite some time since he'd distinctly felt an incapacity to be enough for a situation. When Ash had first thought he'd lost the man, of course he hadn't been enough to replace him, but he'd been enough to escape the grief at least temporarily. Blanca had been who Ash wanted, and who he could escape into. It's a bit different, this time, his existence itself being a niggling point of agony in Ash's already complicated web of thoughts and suffering. He wanted to soothe his suffering. If not completely, he wanted to be a distraction, he wanted Ash to enjoy making him look silly, wanted to bring Ash away from the world where that happened. But it seems he can't. Maybe because he failed to do so when Ash was younger, but the more likely reason is because Max Lobo will still have to come to know about it, meaning there's no escape, the future is always there. Max is reality, Blanca is a fun little fantasy fling.

Escapism's not enough.]

[ Blanca's not seen Max's pride.

But he does plan to sleep with Blanca tonight. The lack of a kiss is more because of trauma than for him not being Max. Still, when they two are in bed, if Blanca doesn't lay close enough, Ash moves over until they're practically chest to chest.]

[Blanca settles in supposing he should keep a respectable distance. Thus, when Ash moves over, it earns a visibly surprised look, rolling slightly onto his side as if to face Ash better, an arm scooping around him and still peering at him, as if wondering if that much is really welcomed right now.]

[ Ash's eyes don't need to be open to see the surprise. He can see it in his head. And if his eyes are closed, it won't be so embarrassing.

Not all of this stuff comes easy for him yet. But this is what Ash wants. He knows that he's safe with Blanca. ]

[Kind enough not to say anything, his hand almost uncertainly cradles the back of Ash's head.

He might be stuck in place for a bit, after all.]

[ Ash says something, even if it's a little something. ]

Night.

[Blanca's arm tightens, in a motion that probably seems reassuring, even if the man himself knows the instinct is possessive.

That's no good. He can't be the one who's with Ash every night like this. There's a reason they're not in the boy's usual, familiar bed, either. He reminds himself, even while holding him, of the duties he needs to take up at some point after Ash is asleep, that he's really here more to make things just a little easier on him, rather than to be selfish.

How unusual, to struggle with professionalism. But he wouldn't be here if he were a professional, would he, he chides.]

[ Ash's size can never compare to Blanca's, but he's a bigger weight than most women, than Yut Lung. He's also a very fast sleeper when he feels he can be, and soon, there's deep, even breathes coming from the tired body. Ash sleeps deeply so getting out wouldn't be too difficult, but the blonde sleeps assuming Blanca will be there. ]

[And he is, for several long hours. It isn't until 4:30 or so that, if Ash has had no signs of dreams, he begins to disentangle himself.]

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jadedlynx - 2023-04-25 22:52 (UTC) - Expand

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