The Ebon Hawk, Somewhere In A Hangar, Friday Afternoon

[suitably_heroic]

Every fibre in Atton's body hurt. His face was covered in dirt and he was pretty sure he was still bleeding a little from under this bacta patch. But the battle had been won.

At least there was that.

There were starship tracks leading out of this hangar that proved the war - which would hopefully turn out to be an exaggeration, but Atton was never pretty hopeful - had not yet been won. He had a malnourished Mira in the back, and a Visas who'd come within a couple of tendons of losing a hand.

Atton was not coming home any time soon. He knew that.

"Isn't Mical going to love this," he muttered, rubbing at his face.

"If you're complaining right now, I'm going to punch you," a voice drifted towards him from the back.

"You can't punch anything," Atton retorted, "Stop it with the posturing."

Right. Staying. Here.

Poodoo. He needed to comm Sparkle.

[[ for that guy. ]]

Comments

[myownface]

Sparkle had woken up early today. Had run around the apartment cleaning things that were already clean for like three hours and then he'd set himself down to work on the 'design something' homework that Sia and Iris had given to him. It was going pretty okay, if he did say so himself, though there were clear fiery motifs working their way into the embroidery that he was planning out, and--

He sat bolt upright as Atton's call came through, and then found himself scrambling to answer it.

"Hey?"

No way was he letting it go to voicemail.

[suitably_heroic]

Atton let out a sigh. "So I have some good news and some bad news," he said, "Yadda yadda, you know how the rest of this sentence goes."

[myownface]

"I hate that sentence," Sparkle informed Atton. "You know that, right?"

He bit his lip for a moment, and then sighed.

"Okay, hit me with the good news, first."

[suitably_heroic]

"I'm not dead and the Sith have left the planet," Atton said brightly.

[myownface]

"Those things are both good news!" Sparkle even managed to sound pleased about it. It was almost immediately followed with suspicion when he added, "So what's the catch?"

[suitably_heroic]

"The Sith have left the planet and I'm still alive," Atton repeated, "so the others want me to stick around for a while in case they pop up somewhere else."

[myownface]

"Ah, shit," Sparkle sighed. "Of course they do. And you're going to do it, aren't you?"

Because that was how Atton rolled. If he cared enough to go rescue them, he cared enough to stay.

[suitably_heroic]

"Can I bribe you to move into the Temple with me so I don't have to deal with Mical on my own?" Atton joked. "'Cause that's the real crime here."

... half-joked.

[myownface]

Sparkle was quiet for a few moments at that.

On the one hand, his last stay at the temple hadn't gone great.

On the other hand, it was one of the few places off the island that almost felt like something approaching home.

"Okay," he replied. "But I'm bringing my fish."

Why the hell not? What big commitments did he have on Fandom Island that he couldn't just portal back for?

[suitably_heroic]

"Huh," Atton said, blinking. "Okay."

He had not expected that to be that easy.

[myownface]

There was a pause, and then Sparkle made a sound that was something not unlike a laugh. Maybe a few breaths shy of one.

"You sound surprised," he noted. "I mean, it isn't like I have anything really tying me to the island. A few jobs I might portal back for. Classes are done."

There was another, longer pause, and then he added, "And it's been, like, two years since the last time."

Since that whole... thing.

[suitably_heroic]

"I'm just going to tell you this once," Atton said, "If anyone as much as looks at you and says the words 'go on this mission' or 'would you' or, actually, if they ask you anything, just say no and go somewhere else. Drinks on me."

[myownface]

Sparkle made a little snorting sound at that.

"Yeah, no," he agreed. "Anything more complicated than going for groceries is totally going to just get someone a side-eye. If it's Mical, it might even be a side-eye and a few fuckwords."

Sparkle was great at fuckwords!

[suitably_heroic]

"Make sure you use the best fuckwords," Atton told him. "If he doesn't blush, it doesn't count."

[myownface]

"No point in using fuckwords at Mical if he's not going to get flustered about it," Sparkle replied with a smirk. "I can probably get a portal out for like... tomorrow night? Maybe Sunday after work? I gotta clean out the fridge and find somebody to water the plants, or at least move the plants to Demon Marcus so I'm not running laps of the island if I head back to catch work shifts. But... like... I'm kind of..."

He trailed off, and then tried again. "Is it weird I miss the place?"

[suitably_heroic]

"Yes," Atton said. He pulled a face, even though Sparkle couldn't see it. "And it's disgusting that I missed it."

[myownface]

Okay, Sparkle felt a little better at that one, then.

"God, so we're both fucked up," he replied. "Go figure. At least we can be fucked up while making a point to check around the temple, loudly, to make sure Mical didn't fuck up any more plumbing."

Because messing with Mical was great, okay?

[suitably_heroic]

"First thing we're doing when you show up," Atton promised. "Gotta make sure he hasn't made any more waterfalls, right?"

[myownface]

"It's either that, or we deal with, like, no water pressure anywhere else in the building," Sparkle agreed. "Waterfalls just aren't worth that, decorative or not."

[suitably_heroic]

"And now I'm afraid to head in the sanisteam," Atton said, "What if the water pressure cuts out and half the common room floods, Sparkle? What then?"

[myownface]

"Then I think you might have to rinse out the rest of your shampoo in the common room," Sparkle mused. "Or the waterfall."

[suitably_heroic]

"And give everyone in the Temple a show? They wish," Atton said. "Hey, maybe that's Mical's plan. Pump up morale at the expense of me."

[myownface]

"He's been playing the long con all this time. Mess with the water, get Atton naked, and that's when the water system fails in the temple. It's actually kind of genius. If you squint."

[suitably_heroic]

Atton made an amused noise.

Yeah, the next few months would definitely be easier with Sparkle around.

"Nothing that guy has ever done is genius," he said. A pause. "Thanks. Don't tell anyone I said that. So I'll see you Sunday?"

[myownface]

"Sunday," Sparkle agreed. "I'm looking forward to it."

Hell. He actually was, too.