The cell was fairly clean, as far as jail cells went. Well, Llidya had seen much worse, not that she saw much of this one. As this was her first real night in New Orleans after driving for hundreds of miles and having her emotions toyed with, she slept like a baby on that poor excuse for a mattress of a cot.
Hours later, she awoke with the sun, a bit stiff from sleeping in such quarters, but nothing that didn't go away after a moment's thought. She pushed herself up on the cot, and rolled her shoulders, finding that she had a foolish grin on her face. By now her booking paperwork should be fully processed and she would call Caine. She'd decided to give him a night to himself, even if she did get arrested, only then she realized she didn't have his phone number. Well damn.
So Llidya sat in the cell, contemplating on how she was going to get bailed out, and could only hope that Caine or someone would eventually come looking for her. If ever in her life she needed a knight in shining armor, she needed one now, if not in shiny armor, armed with an American Express card.
Ash had left the Masquerade Ball on the tail of Llidya being dragged off by the police. It had been an unexpected twist to an already strange evening. Whatever the gold glitter had done to him was probably temporary, but that hardly made a difference considering the past that was already there between the two of them. Magic from the strongest Master Vampire he'd ever met had brought them together so it was probably just fate that similar magic at the council's ball had returned the favor. What had happened in between was all theirs and it was that part of the equation that sent him chasing after the cop car like a cheap lawyer.
The drive towards the station gave him plenty of time to think about everything that had happened both between them and in the time that she had been gone. Yes, convenient though forgetfulness might be at times Ash remembered that Llidya had left him in Rome, not the other way around. It wasn't the first time either, but at least on this occasion she wasn't returning to him trapped inside a jade statue. He had hoped that the police at the station would be only too happy to take one look at his badge and let Llidya out of jail, but apparently between Mardi Gras and the supernatural influx for the Ball they were up to their armpits in paperwork and inmates.
When Ash finally got to speak to someone he was told that no one with the name Llidya Chapman was in the system and that they couldn't do anything until her paperwork went through. That was the rub. He might well be able to get the charges against her dropped and have her released, but not until their system showed that she was there in the first place. That meant that he got to wait......and wait.....and wait some more. Watching the endless parade of human debris that filtered in and out of the police station Ash made a home on one of the benches in the waiting room. Fingers had long ago loosened the severe knot in his tie and undone the buttons on his black shirts collar so that he was a bit more relaxed as the hours ticked by.
Lightning kissed eyes were still alert the next day when finally, in the early morning hours, they took him to find her. There had never been a time in his entire life where he was so happy to have a badge, and the fact that he had only just resumed his former status made him feel as though some kismetic force was behind this. Walking down the rows of barred temporary cells he already knew which one she was in and could feel the beat of his heart threatening to leap out of his chest. Just before they reached the cell he grabbed the other officers arm and brought the man to a stop so they could talk in hushed voices. Promises were made, a credit card was passed over to take care of processing fees, and then the officer walked away to go take care of payment promising to come back to unlock the cell.
Ash was so close now to where Llidya was and somehow he couldn't take those next steps. He could stare down the biggest and baddest without batting an eye, but facing this woman who he had loved and lost made him want to run. Strange how the world works. Still, as much as he might want to run it was not in his nature to do so. Passing the few cells left he came to a stop again in front of the iron bars to Llidyas cell and lifted his pale tattooed hands to grip the bars between them.
"In all the jails, in all the cities, in all the world....she walked into mine."
He didn't try to sound like Humphrey Bogart, it never would have worked with his crisp british accent. Still, he knew Llidya would understand the reference and the ways in which Casablance somewhat mirrored their own situation. Ash watched her closely, matching every inch of her with the woman from his memories and trying to see if anything had changed. Business, that was probably the safest subject for now, the rest they could talk about when they were away from the clink. Then again, maybe he just wanted to talk business to hide the emotions stirring up inside him.
"I've got a guard processing a payment for your release. We should be able to leave soon, and since the full moons tonight....well, it would be best if you weren't here for that."
The implication being that whether she wanted to leave with him or not it would probably be for the best. Lowering his voice to maintain distance from others who might be eavesdropping he found his eyes drawn to hers, staring at her like he couldn't believe she was real even as he spoke to her in that cool distant way.
"There are some of us going hunting. You can join us if you'd like......I'd like that very much. And then, maybe we can find some time to talk, if you want."
They didn't have long before the portly guard was interrupting them and Ash had to step back from the cell bars to let him unlock and open the door. The credit card was handed back to him and he slipped it into his pocket. Right now he just didn't give a shit about money. He wanted to scream at Llidya or kiss her or knock her bloody head clean off her shoulders, but of course he wasn't going to do any of those things at the moment so instead he simply lived beneath that indifferent veneer and dead expression that were so natural to him.
