[ic] [Ash] Awkward Phone Calls

[lacroix_styles]

The combination of lingering jet-lag and an impressive amount of sleeping pills to avoid the onslaught of nightmares had left Lacroix blissfully dead to the world for several hours. He very rarely slept deeply, or well, but drugged enough he could pass out for long enough to feel rested, and that had been his plan the evening following the trip to

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[asher_embry]

Just as Lacroix assumed the caller must have been Hector, the man on the other end assumed the person that picked up must have been Ash. He didn’t identify himself; quite a few of Ash’s clients felt very self-important, had all confidence that Ash would know them just by the sound of their voice... but on the contrary, Ash had an Excel spreadsheet of all of his clients to keep them straight and to refresh his memory before each new session, because he really didn’t remember all of them. In fact, unless they were a repeat client who’d shelled out a good amount of cash multiple times in the past, Ash generally didn’t remember their name.

This wasn’t a repeat client; he’d met with Ash once, and it had been his first ever session with a professional dominant -- perhaps that was why he was fixating on Ash, and had ignored his request not to receive calls while he was away on vacation

[lacroix_styles]

Nothing like waking up to a little weird and disturbing, right?

Lacroix just blinked, slowly, entirely certain he hadn't even heard the words correctly, and he knew for a fact that the voice on the other end of the line was not Hector calling to check up on him.

"Huh?" It really was just about all he could manage, very fully confused at first by thinking he must have misheard the words and then hearing more clearly the longer the voice continued in that desperate tone.
"Excuse me?" Lacroix didn't know what to say, he had no idea who would be calling him period, aside from Hector the only people that had his number were Ash and Senri; and he was more than certain that it was neither of them.
Since even a practical joke from Senri might have been odd but not that odd, plus it was easy to recognize his friend's voice by the accent to his words in English

[asher_embry]

The caller still thought that Lacroix was Ash, just because he’d only ever heard Ash’s voice as cold and domineering before -- never sleepy like this. He assumed Ash must sound different off-hours. That ‘excuse me?’ was interpreted as indignation from Ash, so in returned, he doubled his efforts. “I know I’m not worthy, but please, Master, take pity on me.” He was begging by then, sounding altogether pitiful.

“Whatever you want me to do -- I’ll do it,” the caller continued; even if he was new, he was educated enough to know that requesting something specific in-scene would have gotten him verbally berated by Ash for trying to run the show. “Please don’t hang up on me -- whatever pleases you, I’ll do it.”

The shower finally turned off in the bathroom, but Ash would still be a few minutes getting dressed. If he knew what Lacroix was being subjected to right now, he’d have probably freaked out -- he did not want Lacroix knowing about this.

[lacroix_styles]

It had to count as the strangest wrong number call Lacroix had ever gotten in his entire life; but really any conversation with a desperate person begging and calling someone master really should have been high on that list.
Once it became clear that the guy on the other end of the line was going to continue that conversation in spite of his obvious confusion Lacroix was just baffled.

"I think-" Lacroix paused long enough to scratch the side of his neck, some of the things the guy was saying left him perplexed and feeling a bit awkward attempting to deal with it.

Wait.

Lacroix looked at his phone for a moment, slow clarity and reason sliding over his scattered thoughts. The small device in his hand didn't look quite right; it wasn't his phone.
That just added another layer of utter confusion to the moment; who would call Ash like that