myownface | MCA #4, Wednesday Morning

Entry tags:

MCA #4, Wednesday Morning

Sparkle had spent yesterday on a mission. A sort of home-base mission that had involved interspersing half-assed attempts at going through his usual daily routine with actual research, and now he had three destinations picked out; Nar Shaddaa was the obvious one. Something familiar where they could just go and get lost for a while, maybe do some drinking, make some bad life choices. The second, some mostly aquatic Outer Rim resort world, one that Sparkle had admittedly just chosen by closing his eyes and pointing at a list of resort planets. And the third? Just... empty space somewhere Mid Rim, not necessarily near anything in particular, but near enough to something in general that they could theoretically just pick a direction, go, and find something to do once they got there.

Armed with those three destinations, he was making his way to Atton's bedroom door, raising a fist, and knocking. Hard.

"Hey, Atton! Get your ass out of bed! Tomorrow's another stupid family and togetherness holiday and I fully intend to drag you up to your fucking ship and make you fly it somewhere before anybody thinks to invite us to dinner!"

Also, he was worried about you, Atton. Also that.

[OOC: For the one!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Just don't touch any of the buttons," Atton warned him. "She gets finnicky."

He stepped out the door into the hallway.

"Nooo buttons," Sparkle promised. "My button-pushing fingers will occupy themselves some other way."

He paused long enough to lock the door behind himself, and then took a few half-skipped steps down the hallway.

"Maybe I'll poke you all the way there instead."

He enjoyed having fingers. He would not.

"Do you have a death wish today?" Atton wondered. "Because it's starting to feel like you have a death wish today."

"I might have a death wish today," Sparkle replied brightly. He started up toward the roof, taking the stairs backwards as he went. "Or maybe this is actually an elaborate trap for my very own personal Thanksgiving, where I'm actually giving thanks to not be stuck on this shithole for the holiday, and I'm just really excited about that."

Or maybe he was going to wait until the ship took off before poking Atton with words instead of fingers and hope he didn't get blown out an airlock for it.

"I don't trust it," Atton informed him, but he was speeding up the stairs anyway. Decision made, he just wanted to get out of here, and being up on the roof with the Hawk at least felt like they were making some progress.

"Well, we both know I am not to be trusted," Sparkle replied, grinning. Hey, being up on the roof with the Hawk felt like progress to him, too. Every fucking time Atton made the smallest bit of progress, the island went and shoved his past down his throat? Well. Then they'd get the fuck away from the island.

It wasn't a solution, but maybe it could be a start.

"I could have wicked plans to have my horrible way once we get up there."

"Yeah, your horrible way ordering a ton of room service and putting it on my card," Atton said, unlocking the Hawk with a motion. "I'm on to you."

Sparkle smiled and batted his eyelashes at Atton at that.

"I mean, yeah," he said easily, "but I'm paying for the room."

ONE ROOM, RAND. ONE.

Which was possibly the other reason Sparkle had insisted on bringing the Hawk. In case Sparkle... Sparkled too much or something and Atton needed somewhere familiar to retreat to.

DAMMIT SPARKLE.

Atton glared at him, but he slunk into the Hawk anyway, stomping straight through to the cockpit. "Space, I'm going to be stuck with you in one room for days, there are going to be vegetables in my bedroom..."

"Yup!" Sparkle wasn't quite bouncing along behind him, but there was a spring in his step as he followed along, and then, yes, planted his ass in that copilot's seat, true to his threat. "All kinds of weird vegetables I've never even heard of before. Every five minutes I'll be like, 'Hey, Atton, this space-broccoli totally looks like a brain YOU GOTTA EAT IT."

Maybe just once.

Just for the look on his face.

"Someone has been punching you in the head too much," Atton told him, starting launch procedures with a few presses of the buttons. "I'm going to find out who."

The ship jerked as it came loose from the roof.

"Would you believe," Sparkle said, bracing himself at that jerk and then settling in comfortably again like he had been placed in that seat by the hand of God, "that nobody's been punching me in the head? Which, like, might or might not be a good sign, like either I'm getting better at not getting hit, or not enough people are trying and I'm gonna get rusty."

"My vote's for rusty, then," Atton said. He glanced over at Sparks. "Coordinates?"

Sparkle was absolutely taking a moment to stick out his tongue at Atton before looking at his phone and rattling off the coordinates, yes.

"I mean, like, it isn't for lack of trying," he added. "Maybe I'll join, like, a sparring club somewhere. That's a thing, right?"

"Sure, that's a thing," Atton said, inputting the coordinates. "Of course if I taught you well enough, people shouldn't be able to hit you in the head too much, and if I didn't, you'll probably die."

The ship pulled up through the atmosphere, speeding towards space.

"You taught me pretty well," Sparkle replied, glancing his way. "I mean, I think you did? Kinda hard to gauge how I stand when all I have to compare to is, like... Fandom."

Where even the people who didn't have superpowers were apparently habitual murderers and such.

"I mean, fair," Atton allowed. "I don't have nightmares about you getting beaten up by losers outside bars anymore, so there's that."

Of course he was only going to admit to worrying retroactively.

Yes, and Sparkle was going to take that admission and cuddle it close within his heart of hearts anyway.

"I mean, it was only that one... two... then I guess there was the guy in LA while I was out with every magical girl on the island..." Sparkle frowned a little. "Yeah, okay, point taken."

"You're just lucky you attract superpowered badasses like some kind of..."

Atton tried to think of an Earth simile. Failed. Tried again. Failed. Tried a third time.

"...lightbulb around a bunch of moths."

Sparkle smiled crookedly.

"Like moths to flame," he offered. "The saying is 'moths to flame.'"

And then he blew out a sigh.

"Been meaning to ask if we can get back to doing that," he noted. "The fighting thing. Like, Leto shows me how to work with knives when I'm around him and Kaidan's been threatening to teach me and Hernando how to fight, probably mostly for Hernando's sake. But... you know..."

He shrugged.

Atton was Atton.

There just hadn't been a good time for it. For months, now.

Atton blinked, surprised.

"Uh, sure," he said. "Any time that's not Caritas night or the morning after, I'm good."

Sparkle nodded a little.

"It's really hard to gauge, like... where I'm actually at. Like, on a scale of Sparkle to the island, sure, but just in general. I don't exactly have a normal bar to reach for," he noted. "But then I see other people who aren't, like..." He groped around for words for a minute. "I mean, I want to be able to hold my own for longer than three seconds with people who are more competent than the assholes waiting in bars with baseball bats."

For all that he tried to compare himself to people with powers, it was most often the people without them who tripped him up and took him out.

"Because there'll probably be more of those, eventually, no matter where I'm at."

"Well, you don't just need fighting techniques, then," Atton said, relaxing as the ship found its course and took most of the work out of his hands. "It's more about outthinking the enemy than anyone else. But I'll teach you some of the Echani techniques I know; they served me well when I was taking on Force users before I was... you know... a Force user."

"That'd be good," he replied, and then broke into a little smile. "I mean, I know I'd feel better about a lot of things, anyway."

Like about Atton! Having him up and doing something else when he could be hiding in his room some more? He'd feel better about Atton.

But also, maybe he'd feel a little bit less like that kid every badass with superpowers felt personally obligated to protect at all costs.

"I mean, I'm all for anything that keeps you alive," Atton said lightly. "I just figured you were done with it. The training, I mean."

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject