Outside a Metal Bar and Beyond, Baltimore, Thursday Evening

[suitably_heroic]

"Okay," Atton said, staring back at the door he'd just been thrown out through. "Okay, that could have gone better."

One of these days he was going to charm his way back into Linda's good graces. Damn it all. She'd yelled at him some more about being a jackass when he and Sparkle'd tried to come in acting like nothing had ever happened (what? It worked with Sia), but that clearly hadn't worked out for him all that well.

And okay, he did have some more aces up his sleeves if he wanted to use them, but he was... kind of trying not to do that.

"But hey, the night's still young, right?" Right.

The night was young! And cold. Very, very cold.

[[ for sparkle and misadventure. ]]

Comments

[suitably_heroic]

Let's pretend that was the right icon, shall we?

"You spend five minutes on Nar Shaddaa, you'll find yourself getting used to a lot of things," Atton said. Not that was where he'd picked up all of this stuff, but hey.

He dragged Sparkle out of the alley. "What, have you never done this before?"

[myownface]

I saw nothing!

"This is a new one for me," Sparkle mumbled, shuffling along with Atton miserably. "Well. The being tied up part, anyhow."

Generally, when he got caught places he wasn't supposed to be, he was faster than the guy trying to beat him down for it. Bad luck, tonight.

[suitably_heroic]

"I'll teach you how to get out of that later," Atton said. Then pulled a face at himself. Ugh, he was going soft.

"What's the worst trouble you've had?"

[myownface]

Sparkle was quiet for a long while before he finally just gave his shoulders a shrug.

"Stupid family shit," he replied, too sore and tired and shaken to even bother trying to come up with a story. "Cops had to get involved and drag us out 'cause it was getting... I dunno. Doesn't matter. Been in trouble with the cops a lot since, but at least when they slap you in handcuffs you know you're just gonna get dumped off on your social worker again anyhow."

[suitably_heroic]

Atton didn't actually care if he told the truth - he was just trying to keep Sparkle talking. Anything else was a bonus.

"Did that leave any scars?"

It usually did.

[myownface]

"Ever get that feeling like somebody's reached into your chest and grabbed your breath right out of your lungs, and then that feeling never actually goes away?"

There was his answer.

Of course it did.

[suitably_heroic]

"Yeah," Atton said.

Didn't elaborate on that.

[myownface]

Sparkle wasn't going to ask him to. If he expected Atton to elaborate, then he'd have to return the favour.

"Yeah." He was silent for a little longer before glancing back up at Atton. "You came to get me. They had guns."

That was meant to be something between a 'thank you,' and a 'you fucking idiot,' there.

[suitably_heroic]

"Lots of idiots have blasters-- guns-- whatever," Atton said. "That's the thing with people who think some weapon or skillset makes them invincible. You figure out which buttons to hit and they go down just as easy as anyone else."

Just one more street. Then he'd figure out whether he was feeling magnanimous enough to place a phone call.

[myownface]

"Guess they do." Sparkle was looking back down at his feet, now, but just watching the ground pass them by was giving him another fresh wave of nausea. He squeezed his eyes tightly shut. "Something maybe I should learn how to do sometime."

[suitably_heroic]

"If you're lucky, you'll never have to," Atton said.

He came to a stop in front of a door. "And here we are," he said, reaching out to knock on the door.

It opened a minute later, revealing a pretty brunette girl. "Wha-- Jesus, Eric! What the hell?"

"My friend here got knocked on the head by some burly jackass at the bar," he said. "He's from out of town and doesn't like doctors all that much, so... I was hoping to cash in on that favor you owe me. You got a second bedroom, right?"

[myownface]

"Hey," Sparkle managed, with a little smile that was still a bit on the unsteady side. "I'm a pro at the couch-surfing thing. Won't be in the way or anything, promise."

Because, really, he wasn't going anywhere on his own accord any time soon.

... At least he'd washed up before being cracked over the head and smeared with some other guy's blood. He could almost fake being a respectable human being, this way.

[suitably_heroic]

"Come on," Atton said. "We don't really have anywhere else to go right now. He's got a concussion. He needs rest."

The girl crossed her arms. "Aren't you supposed to stay awake with a concussion?"

Oh, for the love of-- "That's just the movies, kid," he said. "Can we--"

She released a very deep sigh and rubbed at her face. "Fine," she snapped, "But don't make any noise and hurry through. My parents are visiting."

"Thanks," he said, and dragged Sparkle inside.

[myownface]

Sparkle mumbled something that was probably his own thanks under his breath, letting Atton drag him along. This was probably better than crashing in an alleyway, and he didn't exactly have the money for a stay in an American hospital overnight.

He leaned on Atton until they were at wherever they were going, keeping his head down the entire time.

"Just wanna sleep forever," he shared. "After like a bath or something."

Because... because.

[suitably_heroic]

"You really want to take a bath like this?" Atton said, eyeballing him. "Some of you people put way too much stock in hygiene, you know that?"

Or he put too little. Either or.

"If you're serious? We've got a sink. Baths make too much noise."

And he could hear Sue making shit up to her parents downstairs.

[myownface]

"Man, I'm like covered in some guy's blood here." And, okay, at least some of it was his own. But still. "Your lady friend won't ever look at you again if that gets in the bed. Sink'll do. I'd probably pass out in the tub or something, anyhow."

Because staying awake was hard.

[suitably_heroic]

"Fine."

Atton was taking that backpack of yours, Sparkle, and shaking it until all the clothes fell out. "You might want to start by taking off that shirt."

Okay, did they have a phone here? Because if they did, he might consider calling.

[myownface]

Well, one tumbled out of the bag- a cheap little clamshell cell phone with a pay-as-you-go plan tossed onto it. And there was a phone by the bed, so there were definitely options in that regard.

Sparkle, at least for the moment, was more interested in trying to work his way out of his shirt. The going was a bit slow, between the concussion and the kick he took to the ribs, but he managed to stubborn his way out of the bloody mess he was wearing after a few minutes of struggling and hissing between his teeth.

"Victory."

[suitably_heroic]

"Great work there."

Atton had picked up the phone by the bed and was now eyeing it curiously. "Hey, what's the number for your law-enforcers again?"

Keeping Sparkle talking and requesting important information! Double whammy!

[myownface]

"Um... 9-1-1?" Sparkle balled up the bloody wad of shirt in his hands and glanced over at Atton, managing a little bit of a smile. "You... gonna call 'em?"

That... actually kind of made him feel better. Not that he was going to make a big deal of it.

[suitably_heroic]

"I got nothing better to do," Atton said, dialing the number with one hand while the other busied itself stripping the case off a pillow. "Let me know when you're ready to crash."

This was turning out to be the worst night out he'd had in... well, at least since he left Nar Shaddaa.

Nar Shaddaa set a real low bar.

[myownface]

Sparkle kind of wanted to see this Nar Shadda for himself someday. Not because he thought for even a second that he'd last long there. More because the more Atton talked about it, the more he wanted to know what the hell it was all about.

You'd think he would have learned his lesson by going through the door.

"Yeah," he replied, looking around for the sink. "Probably pretty soon now. Staying 'wake is kinda... Not easy." He wadded up the shirt a little more. "Thanks for calling, man."

[suitably_heroic]

"Don't get used to it," Atton said. "I just don't have anything else to do, and I got to stay awake."

He folded a layer of the pillow case over the phone and shifted the cadence of his voice some as he dropped off his message. Trace of blood leading down one street, worried, yadda yadda. It wouldn't keep the cops from stumbling onto the bar, but with any luck those idiots had been real mobsters and they wouldn't even try to stick around.

[myownface]

Sparkle kind of stood there, awkwardly listening to Atton leave the message before, deciding he was satisfied, making his way to the little attachment bathroom and starting to sponge himself off in the sink.

... That shirt was going to be a write-off, so he just left it in the little wastebasket next to the toilet. There wasn't exactly a better place to leave it, really.

And a few minutes later, when he felt slightly more human, he kind of wobbled his way out of the bathroom again and hung out in the doorway.

"So... sleep was a thing that you said could be a thing?"

... Thing?

[suitably_heroic]

Atton tossed the pillow case aside and eyed Sparkle over his shoulder. "Sure," he said. "I'll wake you up a couple times, just to make sure your brain hasn't gone funnier than I thought. But sleep is good."

Ah, well. He could hear Sue's parents getting ready to leave downstairs.