I'm good at shooting people, cracking wise, and pretending to know how to fight.

Atton hadn't been kidding when he'd told Sparkle he was busy-- he didn't even have the time to linger on the island after the end of his class. A portal back to Coruscant, then two briefings about the pirates - one to him, one by him - and the rest of the afternoon had been spent coordinating their next moves with the various Republic agencies that, at least hypothetically, were going to pitch in for their effort to clear out the major trade routes.

Tomorrow, he'd be making a quick scouting run to make sure everything was on the up and up. If he was lucky, and nothing terrible went wrong, maybe he'd have the 24 hours after that off. Then he'd be back on the trade lanes, trying to find connections to possible pirate headquarters on Coruscant and around the Mid Rim, and...

... basically, he should be sleeping, now that he had an hour or six to himself.

Instead, he was crossing lightsabers with Her Royal Jedi Highness Bastila Shan again.

( Read more... )

[[ establishy. references, sigh, the novel revan, a pox be on its house. ]]

Atton was just back from a two-day engagement with a bunch of pirates who had turned out to be only the start of their piracy problem. Tomorrow, he was going to drive a damn bus. You would think that at least today he'd catch a break. But no. No.

Mical was stalking him through the Temple.

"All I am saying is that we are actively attempting to find new recruits, and it would be useful if you took a Padawan--"

"No."

"You are one of the best lightsaber combatants currently in the group, surely you have valuable insights to--"

"No."

"I realize you do quite enough already, but we must keep the future of the Jedi Order in mind--"

"No."

"But why not?"

"Do you really want to give me some impressionable teenager to deal with on a daily basis?"

"You're a teacher, aren't you?"

"No!"

"You're... not a teacher?"

"...Yes! No! Yes! You know what I mean! No teenagers! No Padawans!"

"Isn't your best friend technically an impressionable teenager?"

Atton spun around. "You get two if you like them so much!" he barked. Then he spun on his heel a second time and stalked away.

He'd been spending too much time with Skywalker. That flounce was epic. The only thing he was missing was the robes.

[[ establishy. ]]

Finally, finally, the last of Gaunt's influence had ebbed out of Atton's system. No more thunder, no more death, nothing but the sky and the sense of billions of lives milling around him. It was nice, a relief, a giant weight off his back: almost as nice as Dxun had been, after he'd led that successful mission into the jungle.

He kind of wanted to chase that line of thought, nail it down. After Dxun, for this short window of time, he'd felt... okay. Like maybe after years of being this poisoned thing, and years of trying to get lost, he was actually capable of being useful. Helping someone good. That his decision to embrace the Force hadn't been the wrong one, and having this awareness in his mind was a boon, not another way to make him vulnerable.

He really wished he could feel exactly that way again. As far as he could tell, though, this feeling - relief - was as close as he was going to get.

He stretched his legs out across the steps. There was a reason the Jedi Temple had been established in the middle of Coruscant, he realized that much now. How much more plugged-in to life could you get, short of Nar Shaddaa? Sitting here, outside on the steps, the sun on his face and all of Coruscant thrumming through his bones, it was like plugging yourself into a live wire. A good one. A living one.

He hadn't bothered texting Sparkle or reminding him of their training sessions or anything. He figured the kid wasn't up for it, anyway. And if Sparks chose to show anyway, then he chose to show, and they'd figure it out from there.

As it stood, he was content sitting on the steps in the sun, a single figure surrounded by marble, and beyond that, the life of Coruscant.

[[ open for calls/visits/what have you, yes. ]]

So Sparks wasn't showing up.

It'd been several hours and several text messages, and nothing. And as far as Atton had been able to tell from his own observations and from Jessica last night, the island was fine. ... Okay, maybe not fine, but not overrun by anything nasty or losing parts of itself or zapping anyone to another dimension or possessing anyone, or anything else that would set off her senses.

But, you know, okay, fine. He wasn't Sparkle's keeper. If the guy didn't want to put in the work, or show up to class, that wasn't his problem. Especially since the kid was clearly still on the island and breathing-- at least as far as the Force could tell him.

( Other Jedi release their feelings into the Force, Atton prefers playing with lightsabers. )

[[ nfi, nfb due to distance. also, star wars fans are awesome: Djem So vs. Juyo well, nominally, the dude with the green 'saber seems to be more Ataru than Djem So and oh god i've been looking at lightsaber videos too much ]]

Not every dining establishment on Coruscant had the privilege of being housed on the top level; the Nerf Nest was hidden away in a street some two levels down. It was nice, though. Sunlight still reached this place. Also, the slightly longer walk was good for Sparkle, considering Atton had slightly toned down the workout today.

He had to make up for that somehow.

He felt a little lighter, being back here. It was weird. This week had felt like he was sliding back into whatever hole he'd been in last year, with an extra dose of weird paranoia. Kinda like the island was tired, and it was taking it out on Atton, or something.

Whatever. It was good to be out of that for a minute. He was having a hard enough time repressing the fact he was turning thirty today without the island messing with his head.

"I like this place," he said, as he stepped into the restaurant properly. "Doesn't get all pretentious about the layout or the music, but the food's great."

[[ for the kid. ]]

"--there's a trade dispute on B--"

"Seriously? They're sending us trade disputes? Do they even know we literally have two field agents right now?!"

Mical sighed and lowered his datapad. "Yes, they're aware," he said. "This simply does not seem to stop them from asking us to deal with enough problems to occupy at least twenty Jedi. But since I am not the one going on these missions, I should not have final say in their choosing."

That... was actually surprisingly nice to hear from Mical. Even if it meant the onus for making these decisions was now on Atton. "Well, no trade disputes, unless they're in active danger of getting hairy," he said. "We're still at the stage of putting out left-over fires here. The Republic can be diplomatic all by itself."

"Not the trade dispute, then," Mical said, fiddling with the datapad. "Cadomai, then? The Snivvian population is protesting against some new measures imposed on them by their government, and there is a risk of the government lashing out... inappropriately."

"I could play checks and balances," Atton said easily. "I know Cadomai. I mean, not as well as I know some of the old Sith planets, but I've been there."

"The next protest is tomorrow night," Mical said. "With Atris' trial scheduled for tomorrow morning, that may be cutting it close..."

"Hey, I haven't put the Hawk through her paces since the crash. She can use some cutting it. Don't worry your blond little head off."

Mical shot him a Look, because was that genuinely necessary, Atton? ... Of course Atton would think so. "I hope you're not planning on using this as an excuse to--"

"I'll be there for Atris," Atton said, rolling his eyes. "Don't worry about it. I'll even practice my Serious Jedi Face and everything."

"I thought you didn't consider yourself a Jedi."

"Shut up and don't get smart with me, all right?"

[[ can be open to phone calls, etc. nfb, though. ]]

Thump thump thump.

Atton made a noise under his breath and turned back into the warmth barely an inch away from him. What time was it? Middle of the night? Felt like middle of the night.

Tee-oooo-uiii.

He reached over to swat in the direction of his nightstand. Alarm. Had to be an alarm. Why did he set an alarm? Whatever.

Shhhhhhh.

( Atton, we had scheduled a meeting in the council cham-- ohhhh, you're not alone. )

[[ i don't even know. nfb, nfi! ]]

The sun was setting over Coruscant.

Well, this chunk of Coruscant, anyway. The problem with living in a city the size of a planet was that it was always sunset somewhere, and if it happened to be where you were, well, it happened.

Or something. The waiting was making Atton's thoughts tend toward the philosophical, and he wasn't sure he liked it. The sunset, he could see perfectly over the city's skyline here, because the Portalocity station was on the topmost level of the planet, much like the Temple. Looking at the giant window that covered most of the back wall of the waiting room, he wasn't so sure that wasn't the point, actually.

Coruscant wasn't his favorite place in the world. But, after spending a couple of days here, he had to admit it was a lot better than Dantooine. There were actual take out options here, for one, and if you were sick of those, there were a couple dozen food trucks and diners in the vicinity of the Temple. Also? Actual craftsmen in the area, so they had most of the power and water in the Temple back up and running.

Yeah, okay, clearly Coruscant was never going to be home sweet home the way that corrupt pile of poodoo back in Hutt space was, but it was a lot better than what he'd gotten used to.

Now if only Sparkle would show up so he could get out of this waiting room. The Bothan across from him was giving him the eye, he was pretty sure.

[[ expecting one, but open for phone calls etc. ]]