MCA #4, Wednesday Morning

[suitably_heroic]

'Twas the night... uh, the morning... before... uh, after Christmas that Atton came stumbling back into the apartment, three days late. There was a package sitting in front of his bedroom door. He picked that up, squinted at it, and muttered something about Alenko that might have been not entirely, but definitely largely, a complaint.

He considered opening it.

Decided that took too much energy right now.

And staggered back to the sofa, on which he collapsed.

"I have never realized," he announced, to no one in particular, "How much I've been taking central heating for granted."

Maybe in a few hours, he'd even feel his fingers again.

[[ open! ]]

Comments

[myownface]

Sparkle wandered out of his bedroom with a yawn and a stretch. And a blink. And a tilt of his head.

"You look a little bit like you've been run over by Santa and all eight of his tiny reindeer."

Welcome home, Atton!

[suitably_heroic]

"Ice planet," Atton muttered, squinting up at him. "Santa--? Oh, right."

[myownface]

"Soooo... you managed to avoid the power outages here and all the eco-terrorist snowmen, just to end up assigned to an ice planet at home?" Sparkle was having difficulty biting back a smile as he started toward the kitchen to put on the kettle. "Coffee or hot chocolate? We have both."

[suitably_heroic]

"Both," Atton said immediately. "In fact, if you can just pipe some hot water right into my veins, go ahead and do that. I can't feel my feet."

He was not moving from this karking couch.

[myownface]

"I'll get you the really big mug," Sparkle promised, making a small detour to the linen closet to pull out a blanket and chuck it Atton's way before vanishing into the kitchen. From there, he called back, "The forces of evil can't strike somewhere on like a nice tropical resort planet or something?"

[suitably_heroic]

"Oh, I had that happen once, too," Atton called. "It's not as much fun as it sounds! Too many rich people!"

[myownface]

"Uuuuuugh," Sparkle called back before his head peeked back around. Water was on, coffee was on, just had to wait for them both. "Rich people."

There was a difference between people who had money and rich people, Sparkle found. The ones who thought of themselves as rich were a special sort of insufferable.

"That's way worse than ice, gross."

[suitably_heroic]

"Whining the whole time while I was taking blaster bolts to the face," Atton groaned. "Never again."

[myownface]

"They should really equip you with a selection of corks and muzzles for rich people missions," Sparkle decided. "How are you supposed to get the job done under thos circumstances?"

[suitably_heroic]

"I don't know, but next time I'm dragging Mical with me," Atton said. He finally had enough feeling back in his hands to reach for that blanket and just... yank it all over him. "... shoulda taken him to the ice planet, too..."

[myownface]

"Taking him with you might not have kept you warm, but at least you could've shoved snow down the back of his robes as revenge," Sparkle chuckled. The kettle whistled, and he disappeared into the kitchen for a moment, emerging again a little bit later with a big mug of hot chocolate, offering it to Atton.

Yes, it was coffee crisp flavoured. He had a few bags of the stuff.

"Actual coffee will be ready in another minute or two. For now, have hot chocolate with bonus junk food flavour."

[suitably_heroic]

"When I finally crack and take down the whole galaxy for being a bunch of useless mynocks with no other goal than causing me misery," Atton said, taking the cup in both hands, "I'll let you live."

[myownface]

Sparkle gave a solemn nod in reply to that.

"A wise choice," he replied. "I have both 'sidekick' and 'minion' on my resume, after all."

[suitably_heroic]

"Does that mean we need to get you your own set of 'sidekick Jedi' robes?" Atton said.

He sipped his drink. Ah, blessed warmth.

[myownface]

"... Is that even a thing?"

Sparkle sounded dubious. And yet, curious.

[suitably_heroic]

"I mean, there's no other Jedi left, I don't see why we can't make that up," Atton said, shrugging one shoulder.

[myownface]

Sparkle squinted for a few moments in thought.

"Figure Mical'll shit bricks if we try it?"

Because Sparkle was all for anything that made Mical shit bricks. Even if it involved wearing scratchy robes.

[suitably_heroic]

"He'll probably look Very Concerned," Atton mused.

[myownface]

"And then all the Padawans will want a sidekick too," Sparkle added, smirking.

[suitably_heroic]

"Wouldn't it be nice if Mical's Padawan had a little cape?" Atton mused. "And maybe some Mical branding..."

[myownface]

"A waterfall," Sparkle said immediately. "A stylized waterfall. Any Padawan of Mical's needs to be able to wear a tiny little waterfall around with pride."

[suitably_heroic]

That got an actual laugh out of Atton. "Or the lyrics to 'Waterfalls'," he suggested.

[myownface]

"I mean, that's what Mical gets for not sticking to the rivers and the lakes that he's used to."

Sparkle, that song is older than you are. How do you even know TLC?

[suitably_heroic]

Probably the same way Dante had memorized Cyndi Lauper's entire back catalogue!

"Ahhh," Atton sighed, "It's good to be home. Nobody expects me to be nice about Mical."

[myownface]

Sparkle laughed a little.

"Must be awful back there for you, huh?" He glanced back into the kitchen to see if the coffee was done yet.

Hurry up, coffee. Sparkle wanted you too.