A Small Bar in Lucca, Tuesday Evening

[suitably_heroic]

"This'll do okay."

The bar was small and cramped, but it had seats outside - one of which Atton dropped himself into. This was one of these weeks where the lines between what he did and what he pretended to do were kind of blurred, the practical side-effect of which being that he'd already had one or two drinks before coming here.

Which... probably explained why he'd been stupid enough to ask Sia to come along with him. Whatever. What was done was done, and at least out here he could always just stalk off (or better yet, make her stalk off) if he really didn't want to deal with any of it any more. "I take it you'll want something neon."

[[ for that girl ]]

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[notconflicted]

"Laying on a beach isn't lazy if you have a book?" she asked.

[suitably_heroic]

"Nope," Atton said.

'Cause that was how it worked.

[notconflicted]

"What if I slept instead? Technically that is doing something," Sia pointed out.

[suitably_heroic]

"No, sleeping is pretty much the apex of nothing," Atton said. "Eyes closed, ignoring everybody, not learning or accomplishing anything." Beat. "Sleeping's great."

[notconflicted]

"What if I were to just lay there, staring out at nothing?"

Apparently vacation kept Sia in a good mood.

[suitably_heroic]

"That would work as 'doing nothing'," Atton said, sipping his wine again. "If you manage that for more than an hour, I'll buy you another bottle of wine."

[notconflicted]

"Done." It'd drive her nuts, but she was stubborn enough to do it.

[suitably_heroic]

Which Atton knew by now. Be glad he didn't use that for evil.

"Is it just me, or do we spend a lot of time looking at old rocks when we have these trips?" he asked.

[notconflicted]

"You mean ruins?" she asked. "I believe they call it 'culture.'"

[suitably_heroic]

"You can't have culture when it's dead and broken," Atton replied. "Rocks are just rocks."

[notconflicted]

"Yes, but they used to be something. And that's the important part," Sia shrugged.

[suitably_heroic]

"Is it?" Atton sipped his wine. "I'd say what they build on top of it matters more."

[notconflicted]

"You're talking to someone whose home could very well be in ruins in her lifetime," Sia pointed out, and if she took a bigger drink of her wine there than necessary, well. "Besides, they didn't build anything on top of it here. And I think they usually don't."

[suitably_heroic]

"So if you get back, what are you going to do?" Atton asked. "Stand around, staring at the ruins? I don't think so. You pick up and you start building something else."

[notconflicted]

"Somewhere else, possibly. It'd depend on whether there was anything left to build upon," she said. Oh hey this was getting depressing.

[suitably_heroic]

"See, you can't stop and fixate on the past. It's not healthy, doesn't make anything better," said Atton, who was a living, breathing expert in the field of running away from things so hard you left a cartoon hole in the scenery. "You rebuild and move on with your life."

[notconflicted]

"Maybe." Sia wasn't sure she could do it. "Still, it makes for very nice pictures."

[suitably_heroic]

"Didn't think you were the type," Atton said, shooting her another glance.

[notconflicted]

Sia shrugged. "It's a thing people do on vacation, right?"

[suitably_heroic]

"I'm not sure there's really a guide for that."

[notconflicted]

"And yet that was how I was making my relaxation plans." Lies.

[suitably_heroic]

"Pretty sure sixteen year old girls aren't supposed to be hanging out with twenty-two year olds drinking wine," Atton replied. "Or at least, you're not going to find that one in a tour guide."

[notconflicted]

"Of course not. And it would worry me if they were that specific," she said.

[suitably_heroic]

"You're a real rebel, Si," Atton said, half-mockingly holding up his wine.

[notconflicted]

Technically, yes she was! She lifted her glass and said, "Besides, I don't hang out with you to relax."