A Touristy Bar Somewhere In Central Baltimore, Friday Evening-ish

[suitably_heroic]

Yesterday had wound up being a heavy day of drinking and carousing and... a lot of crying. Atton wasn't great with crying people. He'd done his damnedest to be there for the squad, but he'd be lying if he said it hadn't worn on him.

Especially with all their feelings seeping in through the Force.

So he texted Sparkle to meet up with him well over an hour after he'd already gotten to this bar, some tourist trap that was guaranteed not to want any trouble or have any crappy links with anybody who'd want to ruin their day. He needed the time. Ordered some food, had some soda.

Let out a few sighs.

At least this way, he'd feel like a normal person by the time Sparkle showed up. Or as close as he ever got, anyway.

[[ open, mostly for that guy ]]

Comments

[myownface]

Sparkle seemed to be doing pretty okay as he made his way into the bar today, wearing all-new clothes - he had bailed from the island with a fish and a houseplant and hadn't actually considered things like what he was going to wear day-to-day, and so shopping had been in order - and looking around to see if he could spot--

Aha!

"Hey," he said, nodding as he sidled in to take a seat. "You weren't waiting long, were you?"

It kinda looked like maybe he'd already done some being here, after all.

[suitably_heroic]

"Nah," Atton said. No reason for Sparkle to know he'd needed an hour or two to shake off the last of that crop of ambient emotions. "Got here about fifteen minutes ago, give or take. Who knew portals could be early? And why are they never early when it's convenient, anyway?"

[myownface]

"Because the gnomes are sadists," Sparkle said, with all the knowledge of a guy who used to basically so a regular portal commute between multiple realities. "Why would they ever do anything even remotely, like, convenient for people?"

He made a grab for a menu.

"Sooo, how've you been?"

[suitably_heroic]

"Same old, same old," Atton said. "I mean, there's still mud in places I don't want to think about, but that's something I can live with."

He nodded at Sparkle. "You tell me how you're holding up while I order something that'll kick your head in, okay?"

Sparkle's head. He was ordering a very impressive... apple juice.

[myownface]

Sparkle, meanwhile, was making sad animal sounds while slumping forward to bonk his face against his menu.

"I think I'm starting to get paranoid," muttered the guy who had always sort of been that way to begin with. "Like, like you know how turning into animals and crap can follow people away from the island? I've started to worry, what if the fucking monsters do? I'm in Baltimore because it's normal I don't want monsters."

That was kind of where his head had been this week, among other places.

"And... you know. The whole 'oh right I'm in Baltimore I'm teeechnically illegal I need to keep my head down and this isn't my favourite but I guess it beats getting snacked on,' thing."

[suitably_heroic]

"Well, if you get the police on your tail, you can always grab a portal to Coruscant or Dune," Atton said, waving over a waiter. "But we've lived on that island for how long now, and when have the monsters ever followed us?"

[myownface]

"I don't know," Sparkle muttered, and then closed his eyes and pointed at a menu item at random. Ribs.

... Nope. He tried again. Cheeseburger. He might be able to work with that.

"I don't know," he said again. "Nothing about that place makes sense right now. It's going off the fucking rails and nobody knows why, I wouldn't be surprised by anything anymore." He bit the inside of his cheek. "But yeah, there's always other worlds, if I have to. Probably Coruscant. It's as close to making sense as anywhere."

[suitably_heroic]

Atton was about to say something, but the waiter had shown up. Timing.

"Yeah, I'll have an apple juice," Atton said smoothly. "Cheeseburger for him, and the strongest..."

He waved at Sparkle to continue.

[myownface]

"... Whatever fruity beer you've got, whatever seasonal summery thing. I think I saw something about stonefruit on the way in? I'll have that," Sparkle said, and then glanced at Atton, smiling crookedly. "I'll work my way up. I've been at it since like Tuesday."

Hernando had taken away his Fireball.

This was probably for the best. Cinnamon whiskey vomit was... ungood.

[suitably_heroic]

"The strongest summery fruity beer you've got, I guess," Atton said, holding his hand up.

He'd been around drunk people since 4 PM yesterday. He was resigned to having drunk people feelings in his head for days.

The waiter wandered off to get their order, and he sat back. "I'll be there over the weekend," he said. "I can let you know how it's looking on Monday."

[myownface]

Sparkle gave a little nod.

"Sounds like it's not too bad during the day, but fuck, even just the constant smoke and ash is getting to my head," he muttered. "For... you know. Stupid not-monster reasons. It's like this whole week was designed to creep into people's brains. Like here, have this reckoning for that one time you kicked some guy's shin, and now this guy's shin has come back to eat you, still attached to the guy, but now he is all shin and his shins have teeth."

... Sparkle was rambling. Yes. He was aware.

[suitably_heroic]

"Space, you're going to make me want to order a real drink," Atton muttered. "... Wait, did you get ambushed by a shin?"

[myownface]

"I'm not sure it actually had shins. I'm not sure what it was," Sparkle muttered. "You haven't seen this stuff yet, right? You're in for a treat, man. I swear."

... 'Treat.' For a certain meaning of the word.

[suitably_heroic]

"I haven't," Atton agreed, "But the island has to work pretty damned hard to one-up anything I've seen back home over the past few years, and yadda yadda protecting the innocent is the duty of the Jedi yadda."

[myownface]

"Okay," Sparkle said, sounding faintly dubious. "But, like, our Airbnb has a pull-out couch if you need it, okay?"

Look, he'd spent a night in it. He could fight, but he wasn't a fighter. He was still kind of in awe of people's inclinations to go diving back into the shit once they knew it was there. Even the ones who made it their job.

[suitably_heroic]

"Thanks," said Atton, narrowly avoiding pointing out that he'd probably prefer facing a hundred creepy shin-monsters over the potential awkwardness of sleeping on Sparkle-and-Hernando's couch. "So you found a place out here?"

[myownface]

Sparkle's shoulders hiked up a little.

"It's still close to the island, but without all the almost getting eaten," he explained. "It seemed like the best way to split the difference between the Earth I know, Arrakis, Coruscant, and Fandom. I just can't... like... do much here. It's not really a long-term solution, but it's... something?"

He looked a little at a loss.

"Until it all inevitably goes to shit, I guess."

Most homes did.

[suitably_heroic]

Atton took a deep breath. "Well, this mess can't last forever," he said. "Sometimes summers are weird."

The waiter put down their drinks. Atton reached for his juice. "But hey, being in Baltimore doesn't have to mean the cops showing up, either."

[myownface]

"Yeah," Sparkle agreed. "I just have to keep my head down. Behave myself. Be the perfect neighbour or whatever. I can fake being a functional human person pretty okay these days, I think."

He reached for his beer.

"Can't work here, though, so I'll have to head back to the island at some point, anyway. I mean, I've got a whole business there I've been neglecting."

[suitably_heroic]

"I'm happy to play bodyguard any time I'm around," Atton offered.

He'd just... kind of... quietly... lost the ability to be traumatized by much the island did besides exposing him to what had already happened to him years ago. "Look, if it helps, and the playing mr. Nice Guy thing starts to make you want to scream, we can probably find you an actual apartment on Coruscant. Something nice and cushy and miles from the Undercity."

[myownface]

Sparkle nodded a little. The suggestion had its appeal, it really did. And here he was, feeling torn between worlds and a little upside-down at the same time, trying to split the difference in every direction. Atton, Leto, Hernando. Toronto, even if it wasn't really an option. Fandom, even if it terrified him a little more every day the summer wore on.

"I need to spend more time in Coruscant again anyway," he noted. "I miss the kids. They must be getting big, huh?"

[suitably_heroic]

"Pretty big," Atton agreed. "Even the little ones are starting to pick arguments with Mical now, which is hilarious."

Sometimes he hated being Force sensitive. Sparkle was giving him vertigo, and not in the fun way.

[myownface]

"See," Sparkle said, putting on a big grin. "And there's something I need to see. I bet he has no fucking clue what to do with that, either. Little kids have their own sense of logic that only sometimes has anything to do with the real world, and there's no arguing with it."

It was one of many reasons he would fucking kill to protect those kids.

[suitably_heroic]

"It makes history class a fun watch, I can tell you that much," Atton said, reaching for his glass. "I think I also just tripped and fell into teaching Mira's Padawan."

[myownface]

"... Huh," Sparkle said, considering that. Tilting his head a little.

Finding himself approving of it. Asida needed direction. Atton didn't have a Padawan and had eeled out of every possible opportunity Mical had seen to try to throw one at him.

It seemed like a good match for them both.

"Yeah? How's she doing?"

Not drawing attention to any of those thoughts. Just casual conversation, really.