Manhattan Portalocity Station and Beyond, Wednesday Afternoon

[suitably_heroic]

Coming here always made Jack restless - maybe because half the time, he was picking someone up from a different place and a different life, and as much as he was trying to do the healthy thing and not let the whole two-worlds-two-lives thing mess with his head, it still made him jittery.

Anyway.

It was just Cade. What was the worst that could happen?

(Probably a lot.)

He waited outside the station, wearing a jacket and hoodie and jeans and, probably, looking more genuinely relaxed than Cade had ever seen him. Even with the jitters. Even with the way his foot kept jumping.

Space. This was probably a bad idea...

[[ for that guy ]]

Comments

[shutupandkillsomething]

"I'll take that," Cade said, refilling his tequila.

[suitably_heroic]

Atton watched him with the tequila for a second. Then: "You think there's anything that could make you put down the whole flying around, causing trouble, running outta town with your pockets full of credits life?"

[shutupandkillsomething]

"Getting killed," Cade said. "It's not like I went to college. This is what I'm good at."

[suitably_heroic]

Atton shrugged.

"You've always seemed very clear on that," he said. "Maybe I was a little jealous of that, back in the day."

[shutupandkillsomething]

Cade snorted. "My clarity of thought?"

[suitably_heroic]

"You know who you are and what you want out of life," Atton pointed out. "Not everyone can say that."

[shutupandkillsomething]

Cade shrugged. "Fair enough," he agreed.

[suitably_heroic]

"Sorry if you thought I was spitting on that last year," Atton offered. "I wasn't."

[shutupandkillsomething]

Cade shrugged again, then sipped his glass. "It was a long time ago, so even if you were, I wouldn't care all that much."

[suitably_heroic]

"You sure?" Atton said, arching an eyebrow. "Because you seemed kind of pissed."

[shutupandkillsomething]

"I have good memories of our last year," he said finally. "Didn't know you didn't."

[suitably_heroic]

Well, mark that as the first time Atton vaguely wished he had a real drink in his hands.

"It's complicated," he said finally. "They're not bad memories, exactly. But I was imploding the entire time I was in school. The best I had was walking after you and Sparks and acting like I fit in."

[shutupandkillsomething]

"We were your good examples?" Cade asked. "Kriff, that's grim."

[suitably_heroic]

Atton shrugged. "I know," he said. "Though in retrospect, of all the people I hung out with back then, you were probably actually the least stressful. Who knew."

[shutupandkillsomething]

"And now?" Cade asked.

[suitably_heroic]

"You?" Atton shrugged. "I dunno. Talking to you at the bar last year was kind of a wake-up call. Didn't realize I'd made you collateral damage in my catastrophic break-up with... well, everything that came before."

[shutupandkillsomething]

"To live here," Cade said. "Or is this just a stop on the way to somewhere else?"

[suitably_heroic]

Well.

Good question.

"I don't think so," Atton said. Slowly. "I think-- maybe this place works for me."

He glanced towards the door. "Though I can never shake the feeling I'm gonna die back in our galaxy. Probably somewhere remote and terrible."

[shutupandkillsomething]

"There's a lot of remote and terrible there," Cade agreed, "but also really kriffing great."

[suitably_heroic]

"Maybe in your time," Atton snorted. "In mine, everything's falling apart. That's why it was so easy to just keep fighting: I'd take a break next time, after I doused this one last fire..."

[shutupandkillsomething]

"Oh, the Sith are getting feisty again," Cade said, "but I stay off their radar."

For now.

[suitably_heroic]

"Feisty how?"

[shutupandkillsomething]

"It's always the same play, isn't it?" Cade asked. "Attempted galactic takeover."

[suitably_heroic]

Atton shrugged one shoulder. "Feels different when you're on the inside."

[shutupandkillsomething]

"How so?" Cade asked. "Just in case I land on the wrong planet."