MCA #4, Tuesday Evening

[suitably_heroic]

The upside of relatively short missions was that you could squeeze them in between psionics class on Monday and the day before class day on Thursday, at least if you were properly motivated. This one had been criminally short, what with chasing down Coruscant's Most Wanted in just a few hours time, which meant Atton was back home even sooner.

The downside was that coming home after spending most of the day running around while somebody shot increasingly huge weapons at you, well, sleeping wasn't as easy as you might've thought it would be when you'd grabbed the red-eye portal on Monday evening and hadn't slept since.

Atton was tired. Totally wiped, in those stages before his body'd decide that if he had to go on for another twelve hours it might as well wipe the sleepiness back off his brain. But he was also keyed up and full of adrenaline, which meant he couldn't actually sleep. So now it was evening, and he could sensibly go to bed if he wanted to, except the two times he'd tried to go to bed already he hadn't even been able to lay still, let alone sleep.

But there was also the danger he'd pass out any minute if he went out and tried to burn the excess energy, so he was kind of stuck. Walking. One side of the apartment to the other, like he was back with the Sith and their endless exhausting storages of angry-predator energy. Maybe he could call Mira again, but he'd already done so once today and he was kind of worried she might've run out of 'being nice to him' for the day, so.

Pacing. Lots of pacing.

"Come on, island, of all the days to not give me something to shoot..."

[[ method RPing because I've been driving myself nuts for two hours. open. ]]

Comments

[electrocynic]

Someone kicked his door.

Twice. In case he didn't hear the first one.

(She had a good reason for not knocking. Promise.)

[*pesters*]

[suitably_heroic]

Oh, space, it was her. Atton pulled a face at the door. Nobody would blame him if he didn't answer the kicking.

... then again, maybe this meant there was something to shoot.

He ripped open the door before she could kick a third time. "What is your problem this time?!"

[electrocynic]

"Oh, cool your knickers," Sarah replied, rolling her eyes. Which was about all of her that was visible over the pile of takeout cartons from Ching Tai. "Delivery bloke screwed up. I need you to take half of these."

Because reasons.

Reasons do with the fact that the fear she wouldn't fit into her costume soon was real.

[suitably_heroic]

"Yeah, well--"

Atton stopped. Tried to come up with some reason to complain about the free food. Had nothing.

He snagged a carton off the top and stepped aside. "--Fine."

[electrocynic]

"Thank you."

For not making this unnecessarily difficult. She strode past him, careful not to drop any of the cartons. Mostly because she didn't feel like getting yelled at.

[suitably_heroic]

Atton shut the door behind her. Then he opened up the carton and gave it a critical once-over. "You're welcome. I'm a giving kind of guy."

[electrocynic]

Sarah snorted, but didn't let that stop her trek to his kitchen, where she unceremoniously dumped the cartons on the nearest available surface.

"More like taking, under the circumstances."

[suitably_heroic]

"Hey, you were the one who said you needed me to take the food," Atton said, tugging idly on the edge of his tunic. He was still buzzing with tired energy. "So it works out as a good deed all around."

[electrocynic]

"Okay, I'll take that." She wasn't feeling very argumentative today. Or right this second, anyway. She shifted through the containers until she found something she'd actually been trying to order. "Bask in the glory of your goodness, space boy."

[suitably_heroic]

"I'll be sure to do that," Atton said.

He opened up a drawer and rummaged around until he found something that closely resembled cutlery.

He was not going to ask questions. Or push his luck on the argumentative angle when he could feel exhaustion prodding at him from behind a veil of restlessness. Frankly, social interaction wasn't high up on his list at all - or he might've gone looking to see why he was sensing Sparks back on the island.

He snagged a noodle out of his carton instead and leaned back against the counter without another word.

[electrocynic]

Sarah wasn't feeling very proddy, either. She grabbed herself a fork to attack her food with, but that was about it.

Maybe it was because Jenny had talked her ear off earlier in the day.

[suitably_heroic]

"The Chinese place always screws up delivery," Atton said, after a couple minutes of quiet eating. "You want to stick with Pizza Planet or Taste of Thai or something."

[electrocynic]

Sarah scrunched up her face a little. Was a bit milder than usual. "So what am I s'posed to do when I want Chinese?" she wondered. "Actually go to the bloody restaurant itself?"

[suitably_heroic]

"Or find some schmuck on the mainland who's willing to deliver here," Atton said, shrugging lightly.

[electrocynic]

"Too much effort." Of course it was. "Might actually be easier to find a schmuck here to go to the restaurant for me."

[suitably_heroic]

"Talk to the pony and convince her you're her friend," Atton said, "That'll get you set up for life."

He shoved the last few noodles into his mouth.

[electrocynic]

Sarah paused.

Don't mind her, she was just trying to calculate how well practically a lifetime's length of a friendship with Jenny would have prepared her for swindling takeaway deliveries from an overactive pony.

[suitably_heroic]

"She does live in our building," Atton said.

He put the carton aside. Rooted around his pockets for his packet of cigarettes. The adrenaline was draining away, now.

[electrocynic]

"That's both a pro and a con," Sarah noted. She poked at some of the cartons (there were about three that had nothing but fortune cookies, because of course), then glanced briefly over. "Looking for something?"

[suitably_heroic]

"Yep."

Come back tomorrow morning for the usual overabundance of wisecracks.

He finally dug up the pack and held it aloft briefly in demonstration. "Stupid planet got me in the habit."

[electrocynic]

Sarah picked up a fortune cookie with one hand while patting a familiar-looking rectangle bump in her pocket.

"Never thought to blame the planet."

Just her parents.

[suitably_heroic]

"Not as much smoking going on where I'm from," Atton said lightly. "But hey, that means when I'm back home, there's less screeching about lung cancer."

And it was a lot easier on his head than alcohol.

[electrocynic]

Sarah shrugged a shoulder, cracking the fortune cookie open.

"Well. Nice for you."

[suitably_heroic]

"Yep."

Atton reached out to snag another carton. He had no idea what was in it-- more fortune cookies. Of course.

[electrocynic]

"Teamwork: the fuel that allows common people attain uncommon results," Sarah intoned, having smoothed out the little piece of paper. She snorted. "Okay."

[suitably_heroic]

"You weren't much of a team player, right?" Atton said. "Who were you complaining about again, last time?"

[electrocynic]

Sarah shrugged. "Am I supposed to remember?"

She complained so very much, you see. But, despite that, she had a fairly good guess.

"It was probably Alex. I was never in a team with him, though, thank fuck."

[suitably_heroic]

Atton shrugged. "Eh, teams are okay," he said, "If the idiot-to-competence ratio is high enough."

If the others were here, they'd probably crack a joke about him upsetting that ratio thoroughly.

[electrocynic]

"Well, when I was in LadyTrouble ––" Yes, really. "–– it wasn't, so. Fuck working in teams."

Honestly, it had been almost entirely idiots and no competence.