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

[papalobo]

[Max stares for a few long seconds, then leans back in his chair, gesturing with his hand for Ash to come over.]

[jadedlynx]

[ Why?

But without hesitation or the sigh he wants to release, he steps further into the room. ]

[papalobo]

Can't go to the store with you, so we'll pretend we're shopping together. Online.

[Ash can either use his computer, or sit down on his phone. But they should do it together while they're still together.]

[jadedlynx]

[ There's a small pause in his step. That's... an actual thoughtful gesture, not one that checks a box. It would have been easy for Max to just shake his head and say he didn't want anything. ]

That's going to make it harder for you to sneak stuff in.

[ So, he'll offer a joke instead of going through the motions himself. ]

[papalobo]

[His office only has the one chair, so the pat to sit on the arm of it (it is at least a comfy chair) isn't as flirtatious as it might seem.]

[jadedlynx]

[ Ash isn't going to assume that very much is flirtatious between them for a long time, if ever. He takes the seat. First is a nearby grocery store. The organic kind. Ash talks to him about the things that matter here and things that don't. It's scientifically proven that stress-free cows are more tender meat so this is where he gets a lot of their beef and so on. This cut makes good steaks. This chicken? It's been Ash's favorite so far. This bacon looks big, but the fat percentage means it fries down really small so this kind is better.

The vegetables really don't make a lot of difference.

Max probably regrets the decision pretty early on. ]

[papalobo]

[While pretty bored with the science lecture, Max can idly mention that when hunting, you want a quick kill, because even last-minute suffering and stress does make the meat worse. A whole lifeftime of free range venison can be made harsh if the last two hours of its life are running from hunters while bleeding out.

If he were shopping with Ash in person, he wouldn't feign interest in most of this, either. But he'd be there.

Admittedly, he's in enough pain the monitor would probably make him a lot bitcher and less willing to humor the fact that Ash doesn't just go to one grocer once a week on autopilot and call it a day.]

[jadedlynx]

[ Max is the biggest meat eater of the two. All of this was largely for him. Idly, as he adds to the cart - the bill is quickly adding up - Ash follows up. ]

You seem more like the racing guy than the hunting guy. You've done a lot of hunting?

[papalobo]

Nope. Never, actually. Some guys took a week off in school to go do it, though. Families gave out meat and stuff sometimes too.

M'gonna be ruined when we're single again and I'm eatin' $6 steaks pumped with filler and food dye again.

[jadedlynx]

I'm showing you what I buy right now.

[papalobo]

Rich show off.

[jadedlynx]

Says the guy with a Pulitzer Prize under his belt. You're not poor, you just never got good at being rich.

[papalobo]

Getting good at being rich sounds like a fast track to not being rich no more. Being in jail and missing most my big interviews and jobs's already a kick in the coinpurse.

[jadedlynx]

Most good journalists spend time in jail. That Peter guy seems pretty invested in you, too.

[papalobo]

M'not gonna tell a lone independent publisher to fund my organic free range meat addiction.

[jadedlynx]

Then that's not the definition of addicted.

[ The checkout at that store alone is three digits. ]

[papalobo]

Part of the addiction's a good cook working it too.

[jadedlynx]

It's not like you're a bad cook. If you were, I would've be above calling in takeout instead of eating your food.

[papalobo]

Yeah, but your cooking's your cooking.

[jadedlynx]

My cooking was reading a bunch of books and knowing you.

[papalobo]

Has anyone's cooking ever impressed you?

[jadedlynx]

Impressed?

[ He frowns at the screen. Even when using Blanca, Ash is hard to impress. Mostly, he's just annoyed at how easy it is for Blanca. ]

I guess when Dino first started training me with the fancy food. There was a lot of it, and it was like everything was so fine and delicate. After a while, that was just a lesson too.

For me, it's not about being impressed. I wouldn't want those cooks making my food every day.

[papalobo]

I'm not asking for you to cook every day. S'still special, when you go and whip something up personal. You do it a lot, and good.

[jadedlynx]

But it's not from them.

[ He types in the next store. It's pet specific. ]

Special, I mean. They're skilled, but so what? They do it for dozens of people every day. They get paid to do it. They don't know me. They don't care if I enjoy it. But if we're talking skill, who's going to be able to match them?

[papalobo]

So you just don't care? Since they don't.