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 just hummed, smiled crookedly, and took another mouthful of his beer.

"I mean, that said, you're welcome to fling her at me any time, too. My stupid shit isn't Sith stupid shit, but there are bits of it that I get, if you start to get that crawling-out-of-your-skin feeling about it."

[suitably_heroic]

"I've told you a million times, nobody needs me being responsible for impressionable young kids," Atton said. He nodded tersely at the waiter. "Scotch? Whatever you've got."

[myownface]

"She's not that young," Sparkle pointed out. And paused a moment. "And I'd say if Mical's approach isn't working, she's not that impressionable, either. Pretty sure her head's at least half as hard as yours."

The temptation to reach over and knock was strong.

[suitably_heroic]

Atton still pulled another face anyway. "I am not," he said, "Adopting a teenager, all right?"

[myownface]

"Nah," Sparkle agreed. "You already did that once, and see how that turned out?"

He lifted his bottle in a small salute, and then took a swig.

"Nobody's telling you to adopt the kid. Just point her in a direction that isn't disaster. She asks questions you can't answer, tap someone else in. You've got people who'll give it their best, you know. And she's got..."

Well.

She had nobody.

[suitably_heroic]

"She's got a Temple full of people who want to work their asses off for her," Atton said quietly, "and who actually know how to go from there."

He sank back in his seat. "Different topic. This is getting depressing, and I would know depressing."

[myownface]

Sparkle hummed a little, but didn't comment. Wasn't entirely convinced it was so easy, but if Atton needed his space, he needed his space.

"New topic," he agreed. "Bullshit or real life stuff?"

Look! Options!

[suitably_heroic]

"Real life stuff," Atton decided, after a moment. "I've been talking about my own bullshit for long enough."

[myownface]

Sparkle bit the inside of his cheek for a moment, and then nodded.

"I hired a guy," he said, looking with pretty firm interest at his bottle, "to look up precedent for arson cases in Ontario. The sorts of sentences people get depending on their situations and motives and shit."

Could've done it himself. It wasn't exactly a difficult google, even. But doing so had made him queasy, and a good chunk of change was fair compensation for at least that much peace of mind.

[suitably_heroic]

Sparkle's feelings about the situation bounced around Atton's skull, and he was grateful when a glass of scotch arrived on the table.

"Good step," he said. "Has he found anything yet?"

[myownface]

"It's looking like I stand a pretty good chance of not having to do prison time," Sparkle offered. "I mean... It's not a guarantee, and there still could be years of community service, but... Like... That's not as bad?"

He didn't do captivity well.

[suitably_heroic]

"That's just work they can get away not paying you for," Atton said, nodding. "Not bad at all. Prison is the worst."

He had spent way too much time in prison.

[myownface]

"Pretty much," agreed Sparkle, nodding a bit. "And, like, the getting there is gonna suck. I fucking hate courtrooms. But I'm kinda clean slate before this, that was all juvenile charges, it won't be added to this sentence, I don't think. And then, um." Fidget. This was the real hard part. "Then I want to maybe take Lew to court and watch him burn."

Maybe.

He hadn't completely settled on whether he could handle that or not.

[suitably_heroic]

"I mean, I have no problem with that at all," said Atton, who still dearly wished he'd punched Lewis, "You think you're up to it?"

[myownface]

"Don't know," Sparkle admitted, and threw back another good mouthful of beer. "It's not a thing I need to figure out right away, but... Fuck. He... Like. You know?"

Sparkle was well aware he'd need to put words to it if he took things that direction. But right now? Nope. Nuh-uh. Busy drinking.

[suitably_heroic]

"I'm still mad I didn't get to punch him," Atton muttered. "If you want, we can just set this up so it looks like it's happening, but it's really just an excuse for me to show up and punch him."

[myownface]

"I mean, ideally, both?"

That was Sparkle's preference, anyway.

"But if I only get one, I'd see that asshole do prison time. They'd fucking destroy him in there, you know?"

[suitably_heroic]

"I know, it's less an either or than a 'if all else fails and you can't do it, I'm more than happy to rough him up a little'," Atton said.

Beat.

"Or a lot. Space, I hate that guy."

[myownface]

"I think you're at the top of the really long list of people who hate that guy and wouldn't mind roughing him up a bit," Sparkle replied, smiling wryly. "But you get in line after me, there. I get the first swing, and if I blow that chance, then you get to step in and rearrange his face. But I want to watch."

He really wanted to watch. He would probably be a wreck but hey, at least it'd get the point across.

[suitably_heroic]

"Of course, that's half the point," Atton said, taking a sip of his scotch. "Maybe three quarters of it. Space, get someone to grab a phone and record a video."

He looked at Sparkle, a thoughtful expression passing over his face briefly, but he said nothing else.

[myownface]

Don't think Sparkle missed that look either, Atton.

"... What?"

Given the current conversation, he kind of had to ask.

[suitably_heroic]

"Nothing," Atton said smoothly, and took another sip of his whiskey. "Look, it's-- never mind."

Not so smoothly.

[myownface]

Yeah, there went the smooth, right out the window.

See Sparkle. See Sparkle just quick an eyebrow and look at Atton expectantly.

[suitably_heroic]

Atton sighed.

"Look," he said finally. "I know I haven't been the steadiest this year. But you haven't-- I try not to listen in because it's rude, but I pick things up, and you've been squirrelier since spring. Doing some big, important things I am really proud of you doing, but sometimes it's like you're a little-- smaller--"

He made a frustrated noise. Tapped the rim of his glass.

"If there's anything I can do to help besides sit here and threaten people, tell me, all right? You didn't use to avoid telling me anything, but after that whole-- thing a few months back-- are you okay? With all of this? Outside of the island losing its karking mind, I mean."

[myownface]

Sparkle fell silent for a moment, looking at Atton and chewing the bottom of his lip. Forgetting, at least for the moment, about his beer.

"It's been a weird year," he allowed. And... didn't want to stop there. Knew he really shouldn't, considering. Took a breath. "Have you ever... like... looked back on something you didn't really think of at the time, and let yourself finally process just how fucked-up it actually was? And, like, it's a million fucking years ago and there's nothing you can do to change what it did to you and how it meant you lived your life, not really, but maybe you can sort of... like..." He flailed a hand around a little. "God, I hate looking at it. At what I can bring myself to do and what I can't bring myself to do and why and like, you know how many of those cookie pizza things I have mowed through just dealing? It's stupid. I'm gonna get fat on cookie pizzas, Atton."

That... probably had a point. Somewhere in there.