Steps of the Jedi Temple, Saturday

[suitably_heroic]

Finally, finally, the last of Gaunt's influence had ebbed out of Atton's system. No more thunder, no more death, nothing but the sky and the sense of billions of lives milling around him. It was nice, a relief, a giant weight off his back: almost as nice as Dxun had been, after he'd led that successful mission into the jungle.

He kind of wanted to chase that line of thought, nail it down. After Dxun, for this short window of time, he'd felt... okay. Like maybe after years of being this poisoned thing, and years of trying to get lost, he was actually capable of being useful. Helping someone good. That his decision to embrace the Force hadn't been the wrong one, and having this awareness in his mind was a boon, not another way to make him vulnerable.

He really wished he could feel exactly that way again. As far as he could tell, though, this feeling - relief - was as close as he was going to get.

He stretched his legs out across the steps. There was a reason the Jedi Temple had been established in the middle of Coruscant, he realized that much now. How much more plugged-in to life could you get, short of Nar Shaddaa? Sitting here, outside on the steps, the sun on his face and all of Coruscant thrumming through his bones, it was like plugging yourself into a live wire. A good one. A living one.

He hadn't bothered texting Sparkle or reminding him of their training sessions or anything. He figured the kid wasn't up for it, anyway. And if Sparks chose to show anyway, then he chose to show, and they'd figure it out from there.

As it stood, he was content sitting on the steps in the sun, a single figure surrounded by marble, and beyond that, the life of Coruscant.

[[ open for calls/visits/what have you, yes. ]]

Comments

[suitably_heroic]

Oh, now you're just making it weird, Atton decided. The great outdoors are messing with your head, probably.

Or Sparkle was just a troll.

[myownface]

It's probably that, yeah. All this fresh air is screwing with me.

Or, yeah, Sparkle was a troll.

[suitably_heroic]

You know there's bears out there, right?

Man, they were finally past the non-shit-talking part. That was fantastic.

[myownface]

...

LIES.

Sparkle just googled it. It was entirely possible that for a half-a-second, he was legitimately concerned that he might run into a bear. He wasn't going to admit that to anybody. Ever.

The only bears in Indiana have, like, beards and ride motorcycles and wear a terrifying amount of leather.

[suitably_heroic]

...I thought bears were all fur anyway?

There was a lot of Earth terminology he'd managed to brush up on since coming back. Funnily enough, that one hadn't come up.

[myownface]

Oh, Atton. Sparkle was cackling again. Thank you for that.

Bear - Gay or bi dude that, like, embraces masculinity more than most STRAIGHT guys I know. Burly with beer guts and beards to their nipples and hair all over, that kind of thing.

The more you knew!

[suitably_heroic]

So basically worse than actual bears. Stay safe, Sparks.

Look, even if Atton wasn't, like, 95-to-5 in the gynephilia vs everything else-philia department, that would not have gotten anything more than 'ew.'

[myownface]

It's okay, man. I'm way more a twink than a cub anyway.

What? If Atton couldn't figure it out from context, Sparkle was just going to reserve the right to cackle some more.

[suitably_heroic]

What, covered in glitter, obsessed with make-up, and way too scrawny for your own good?

[myownface]

All of these things are pretty twinky, it's true.

Sparkle took it as a point of pride, really. Or at least he would while he could. Once he was back in Toronto around group home teens, he'd probably clam right up about it all over again.

[suitably_heroic]

Atton let out a little snort. (He kinda liked the make-up. It worked for Sparkle's whole aesthetic.)

Hey, look, I learned something today.

[myownface]

That's me, man. I'm EDUCATIONAL.

He actually sort of was! Just this once.

[suitably_heroic]

EDUCATIONAL. In the WOODS. So there might not be bears, hairy bikers or otherwise, but how many bugs? HOW MANY BUGS.

Think about your choices, Sparks!

... like how much complaining you were missing out on just because no one had talked Atton into going.

[myownface]

SO MANY FUCKING BUGS. Mosquitoes might have carried off one of the other campers, I'm not completely sure.

It was not yet that bad.

Well, except for the bathrooms.

[suitably_heroic]

See, this is what I mean. Who even goes into the woods for fun? We were stuck in the jungle on Dxun for a couple of days and half the team almost got run off by a couple of Boma...

Well, at least Sparks was getting the text-message version of the complaining.

[myownface]

It was kind of like Atton-lite!

... Which ones are Boma again?

Sparkle, boy, you didn't want to know.

[suitably_heroic]

Green beasts with flat faces and horns and thick scales, Atton wrote back sagely.

... There were a lot of things that could kill you, in his universe.

Ran into a couple of zakkeg as well, though I wasn't really running around on the moon myself...

What with Kreia blackmailing him into busying himself with fake 'repairs' to the ship, and all.

[myownface]

Are there ANY animals in your galaxy that don't want to kill and eat people?

Sparkle was at least mostly certain the answer was no.

[suitably_heroic]

Gizka. They're just REALLY annoying. Breed like rabbits.

Beat.

I actually think some previous owner of the Hawk had an infestation? I'm still finding bits.

[myownface]

... I want one.

Because if Atton thought it was annoying, it was probably an excellent pet.

[suitably_heroic]

You don't get ONE gizka. You get one gizka, and then two gizka, and then four gizka, and then eight, until your entire dorm room's full of gizka. And they eat EVERYTHING that isn't alive or nailed down. Sometimes even if it's nailed down!

[myownface]

OH MY GOD I WANT FOURTEEN GIZKA.

Yeah, now he was being a little shit again.

[suitably_heroic]

YOU ARE NOT GETTING A GIZKA. LET ALONE FOURTEEN. WHAT ARE YOU, CRAZY.

[myownface]

I THINK WE ESTABLISHED THAT I WAS, MAN.

[suitably_heroic]

Right, I am never, ever letting you near a Coruscant pet shop. If it's not gizka, you'll probably wind up befriending like a nexu or something, and I'm not carrying you to the clinic.

He probably would.