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He'd been living here full-time for almost two weeks now. It was starting to settle in a little bit, though that general sense of lightness hadn't quite vanished from him yet. Atton wondered if it would by the end of the summer, when he planned to start looking for an apprenticeship and work his way up to a Real Jobâ„¢, but for now that was a distant prospect.
Anyway, Summer had threatened to come over, and he had threatened to let her, but they hadn't actually set a date and he was vaguely worried they'd just let it slip past them-- one of those (un)comfortable situations where a friendship just petered out on its own due to lack of maintenance. He woke up with vague thoughts on the matter that morning, and decided to just do something about it.
And now he was sitting here in a pleasantly chaotic little Hong Kong-style restaurant at a cheap-ass table, the kind where, he had learned, you tended to find the best possible food. Checking his phone. Waiting.
She probably wouldn't get distracted by anything on the way here, would she?
[[ expecting one. ]]
Anyway, Summer had threatened to come over, and he had threatened to let her, but they hadn't actually set a date and he was vaguely worried they'd just let it slip past them-- one of those (un)comfortable situations where a friendship just petered out on its own due to lack of maintenance. He woke up with vague thoughts on the matter that morning, and decided to just do something about it.
And now he was sitting here in a pleasantly chaotic little Hong Kong-style restaurant at a cheap-ass table, the kind where, he had learned, you tended to find the best possible food. Checking his phone. Waiting.
She probably wouldn't get distracted by anything on the way here, would she?
[[ expecting one. ]]
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Date: 2024-05-20 08:57 am (UTC)"Okay, first off," she, looking decidedly more brunette that usual at the moment, said, "don't ask about the hair. Secondly, hiiiiiii, how's it gooooing? And, last but not least, do you know any good tattoo artist around here?"
And the she sat like that was a completely normal way to greet a person because obviously, how else would you?
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Date: 2024-05-20 09:11 am (UTC)Beat.
"And yeah, sure."
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Date: 2024-05-20 09:18 am (UTC)She herself would probably not uphold those rules, but that was beside the point.
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Date: 2024-05-20 09:22 am (UTC)He leaned back. "Which leads me to two, did someone take you hostage and shove your head into a tub of hair dye or something?"
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Date: 2024-05-20 09:53 am (UTC)"No," she admitted, "I did this to my own damn self, but at least dye isn't permanent. I just have to decide if I want to just ride it out or impatiently just dye it back to red again. Also, yeah, a big important lesson on how to not fuck with nature."
He looked at Atton for a moment, squinting as if deciding to anticipate any other questions or just cover all the ground just to get it out of the way.
"There was a party," she offered, "at Kitty and Clint's, and we played 'I Never,' and of course I'm going to throw out a hair color question because I've only ever been a redhead and it's a great way to get most of the other people in the room to drink, and either be mad about it or cheer you for it. But then the idea just got stuck in my brain, and I thought, 'you know what? It wouldn't hurt to try it.....'"
She pouted, gesturing toward her head.
"But it does hurt. Like, on a spiritual level."
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Date: 2024-05-20 10:09 am (UTC)But he was going to be good and stick to that three minute window! Look at him, not asking further questions!
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Date: 2024-05-20 10:31 am (UTC)"I hate it with every fiber of my being," she stated, just so everyone was absolutely clear on that. "I should have brought a hat...but anyway." Yes, officially time to move away from the hair, and if the hair color was throwing him any, maybe the familiar was in which she tilted her head and smirked would at least help pull him a bit out of the uncanny valley of her current palette shift.
"How is it going? And what's good here?"
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Date: 2024-05-20 10:43 am (UTC)He glanced towards the menu like he hadn't been here often. "As for me, I'm still fine. Somehow. I don't really understand it, but I wrote a whole thing about it last week, so it's got to be true."
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Date: 2024-05-20 10:50 am (UTC)Please tell her you had a diary, Atton, she would die.
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Date: 2024-05-20 11:02 am (UTC)Or whatever the same thing was for 40 year old men.
"We went to Long Island last week to hang around at the beach," he said. "Just to kind of wrap my head around everything. So I started writing it down. Not for this first record, that's all 'wow, my life used to be fucked up' stuff."
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Date: 2024-05-20 11:08 am (UTC)Summer would not recommend it, though.
She was smirking, however, her attention more on Atton than it was the menu for at least that moment. "Can't wait to hear it, then," she said. "That, or the 'wow my life used to be fucked up' stuff. I'm so glad you guys are finally getting on board with recording stuff, that's an awesome step forward."
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Date: 2024-05-20 11:18 am (UTC)Enough so that even talking about it made him want to deflect the conversation back onto Summer and her life, but it was easier to muffle that urge now than it used to be. (It was also easier not to feelingsvomit all over the place, which, he was grateful for. Weird therapy phase, that.) "But that was kind of the point of this all along," he said. "I think I got into the singing part because when you're up there in front of the microphone, you get to tell your own story your own way."
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Date: 2024-05-20 11:23 am (UTC)There was a faintly wry smile.
"The stage at Caritas already misses you up there, man. Although I will say, Liliana did put up a good show last week to fill the void. Very different vibe, though, that's for sure."
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Date: 2024-05-20 11:43 am (UTC)He turned to the incoming server and ordered a soda. When that was done with, he added, "You're right, though. I don't know, it all just feels easier up there. I blame the guitars. Even back when I was completely lost and hanging around Fandom licking my wounds, the Caritas stage was there for me. Of course, my nights were mostly empty, so it was easier to get away with it."
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Date: 2024-05-20 11:57 am (UTC)So she decided to be a different type by asking for a hot green tea.
"She went very torch-singer with it," she then informed Atton with a nod. "Pretty sure Tino had to go get a mop for the stage afterwards."
And, in thinking a little about what he'd said, her head tilted again. "Probably feels a little different, too," she said, "having more of an audience. Don't blame the guitars, though. I'm sure it'd be the same even if they weren't there. though they probably do help."
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Date: 2024-05-20 12:03 pm (UTC)He sat up a little. "So, yeah. That's happening, and I'm feeling about three hundred percent less all over the place. Which I'm sure is a relief to you." She had met him in a particularly outwardly messy stage of his life. "How are things on your end? Besides making unfortunate hair dyeing decisions and dealing with Liliana."
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Date: 2024-05-20 12:24 pm (UTC)"As for me?" She shrugged her shoulders a little. "Same old, same old, I guess? I mean, you also missed me thwapped in the face with giant balloon animal dicks while trying to bunny hop across the island for Skywalker's shenanigans, so, I mean, at least I haven't been bored. And I'm also pretty sure I got to drink at practically every I Never at Kitty and Clint's party except one..." She nodded with a gesture of her hand. "That's where the tattoo part comes in."
Apparently, Summer didn't even need the island compelling her toward irony, she was just going to check those boxes on her own volition, albeit it with the compulsion canceling out her sometimes laziness about things like this.
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Date: 2024-05-20 12:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-05-20 12:45 pm (UTC)"I have been thinking about it for a while now, though," she added, lest Atton think she was just being motivated by the ability to check that off of some list, especially since a tattoo was a lot more permanent than a change in her hair color. "I've just never really just bit the bullet and done it. And, I mean, no offense to the guys at Ink & Holes back on the island, I'm sure they do great work, but since I'm already here, getting it in New York sounds so much cooler."
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Date: 2024-05-20 12:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-05-20 01:14 pm (UTC)(Although the temptation to see the look on his face if she said she was getting herself branded with And all my friends smell like weed or little babies was strong).
"What about rocket ships and planets and stars?"
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Date: 2024-05-20 01:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-05-20 01:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-05-20 01:44 pm (UTC)Because he was apparently taking her now.
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Date: 2024-05-20 02:07 pm (UTC)"Hmmm," she hummed as a bit for time as she looked a bit thoughtful. "Maybe. I mean, if those rice noodle rolls are their whole Thing, there's obviously going to be some of those, but then it's just a matter if I want to actually try to get real authentic with it or just be as basic as my hair right now and get the standard classics."
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Date: 2024-05-20 02:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-05-20 03:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-05-20 03:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-05-20 03:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-05-20 03:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-05-20 04:00 pm (UTC)"Now don't tell me that!" said Summer. "Because now I kind of want to ask what I could get that would get the best rant out of him, all so's you can go home and tell him and just listen to him go off for...how strong are we talking about? Fifteen? Twenty minutes? An hour? All night and possibly into the first thing the next morning?"
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Date: 2024-05-20 04:13 pm (UTC)He sipped his soda. "I don't think they serve the really touristy stuff here," he mused. "If you really wanted to set him off, I should've taken you to Panda Express."