63 Serenity Cove, Sunday, October 31, 2021

[sith_happened]

Anakin was feeling very smug about his choice to not eat candy last night in favor of stealing from his kids' bags tonight because he was Anakin shaped today, which was a good thing because he needed to be Anakin-shaped in order to correctly sabotage the ship of one Atton Rand, who had arrived for Homecoming looking like a sarlaac had spit him out and the refused to say why.

So Anakin would just ground him until he did. Very normal escalation! If you were Anakin!

"I'll be back in a bit!" he yelled theatrically, bounding a hydrospanner against the palm of his hand. "I have some things to do."

[OOC: For that couch surfer.]

Comments

[suitably_heroic]

"I don't actually care!" Atton hollered after him. "I'm literally just here for the free candy!"

At least he'd found some sliver of energy for that declaration of apathy?

[sith_happened]

"Don't turn into a monster!" Anakin said. He paused and turned, holding up a finger. "And if you turn this into an esoteric 'aren't we all really monsters' thing, I will beat you to death with a bag of stale candy corn."

[suitably_heroic]

Atton lifted his head off the couch just long enough to eye him. "Who do you think you're talking to, exactly? That cryptic Jedi Master of yours? Because I-- wait, what's with the candy?"

[sith_happened]

Anakin shrugged a shoulder. "Weird things happened at the dance, but not to everyone."

[suitably_heroic]

"Oh," Atton said.

He flopped back.

"Yeah, I didn't go to that."

[sith_happened]

"I'm shocked," Anakin deadpanned.

[suitably_heroic]

"It's been twenty years since I was a party guy, more or less," Atton said.

He was speaking to the ceiling more than Anakin.

[sith_happened]

"Well, I get overtime to go," Anakin said. "Why haven't you been a party guy?"

[suitably_heroic]

Atton pulled a face at the ceiling. "Because I went into the army when I was 16 years old and came out a screwed-up ex-Sith at the end, you know this story."

[sith_happened]

"Well, yes, but you look especially like poodoo right now."

Don't sugar-coat it, Anakin.

[suitably_heroic]

"You're not exactly a sight for sore eyes yourself," Atton said, because he was obligated to. "And my therapist says I'm doing much better than I did six months ago, thanks."

[sith_happened]

"Wow," Anakin said. "I didn't know you could look worse."

Thanks, Anakin.

"What happened six months ago?"

[suitably_heroic]

Well, so much for hoping he'd get out of having this conversation.

"Si told me to try therapy over a year ago and I finally did?" Atton tried, like a not-quite-lying-but-definitely-not-telling-the-whole-truth rug.

[sith_happened]

Anakin cocked his head and gave him a little look. "And the rest of the story?"

[suitably_heroic]

"I went to the imperial therapist or whatever his title is, had therapy," Atton shot back.

A pause.

"... a year ago."

So not the same therapist.

[sith_happened]

"So that's two therapists," Anakin said, because he was good at the passage of time.

[suitably_heroic]

"We had a personality clash and then Mical asked me to come back, run a few missions," Atton told the ceiling. "And I don't have to tell you about how often Jedi wind up in near-death situations."

[sith_happened]

"Most of the time," Anakin agreed. "Near death got a little close?"

[suitably_heroic]

"Ehhhh, I might have kind of tested the limits on how blase we're allowed to be about that kind of thing," Atton said. It was fine! "According to Mical. Who's Mical, so take that with a massive grain of salt."

[sith_happened]

"I'll take it with two, but suicide by job is...not ideal," Anakin said.

[suitably_heroic]

"I'm not--"

Atton sighed.

"Look, I maybe got a little reckless for a while," he said. "My therapist thinks Sparkle vanishing 'set off a dissociative episode', whatever that means."

He knew what it meant.

[sith_happened]

"And do you agree?" Anakin asked.

[suitably_heroic]

Atton threw his hands up.

"Look," he said again, and dropped them. He stared at the ceiling. "I haven't exactly had a healthy relationship with my identity since before I ever even came here."

[sith_happened]

Anakin sat down in a nearby chair and nodded. "I know the feeling. Go on."

[suitably_heroic]

"And maybe when Sparks vanished, or..."

Or whatever it was that had happened that meant there was still that one, horrific, grey tick mark under the last message Atton had tried to send him. Sent but not received.

"... whatever," he said, "I... started losing track of what was holding Atton Rand together. Scared the poodoo out of Si."