Unexplored Wooded Area, Monday Afternoon

[suitably_heroic]

Atton should've left the island. If he'd had a single brain cell left in his head, he would've, too. But that was the problem with hangovers: they didn't leave you with a lot of your wits.

So instead he'd wandered off into the woods. Why? Well, it kept the sun out and it wasn't the dorms, that was why. He could sit down on a rock under a tree and zone out without anyone running straight into him or yelling at him or whatever, which was all he really wanted right now anyway.

As the hangover began to clear, he became more aware of the rock digging into places it really shouldn't be digging into. But he was sitting here now and he was planning not to go.

[[ open. ]]

Comments

[notconflicted]

Sia and Syanna hadn't been trying to find him, exactly. They'd just been out and knew he was around, so they went for a walk, and if they ran into him...

"Interesting place to run into you," Sia greeted him.

[suited2conflict.livejournal.com]

"I think this is the first time I've seen you enjoying nature," Syanna added lightly. "Normally there's a lot more complaining about bugs."

[suitably_heroic]

"Can't you two just leave me alone?" Atton asked, shutting his eyes in frustration.

They were just lucky he wasn't in any state to run right now.

[notconflicted]

"Apparently not," Sia said. "You realize this is a temporary situation and you're making it much worse than you need to."

[suited2conflict.livejournal.com]

"Ah," Syanna said, "But that's logic."

She was being snarky because frankly, his attitude had put her off ease and she didn't exactly want to broadcast that to the world.

[suitably_heroic]

"I can make this as difficult as I want to!" Atton declared (he wasn't wrong about that). "...Wait, did you just call me irrational?"

Well, yes, Atton. She did.

[notconflicted]

"With extremely good reason," Sia nodded.

[suitably_heroic]

Atton glared at Syanna, who just crossed her arms and refused to budge.

"I'm not irrational!" he snapped. "I'm also not anybody's dad! Now or two or five decades from now!"

[notconflicted]

"Well, in her universe, you are," Sia pointed out. "Most of the island has had this happen but you're the only one I've heard of behaving this badly. It isn't fair to Syanna, and the truth is, you're misding out,"

[suited2conflict.livejournal.com]

That made Syanna feel better, but she wasn't about to mention that. "The universe isn't going to collapse in on itself just because you say hi to me."

[suitably_heroic]

"Why?" Atton shot back. "I don't know who you are, and I sure as hell can't figure out how the hell you even got into the world. So I'm not missing out on anything."

[notconflicted]

Sia was doing a the glaring now. All of it. "Atton, stop acting like a child for ten seconds and say hello."

[suitably_heroic]

"Sia, come on," Atton said. "She's going to be gone tomorrow. What's the point?"

[suited2conflict.livejournal.com]

"I don't know," Syanna said, clamping down on something not-so-fun clenching in her insides. "That might be the point."

[notconflicted]

"She's here now, and she's terrific, and she shouldn't have to take this memory of you back with her."

And Syanna was right there, jeez, Atton.

[suitably_heroic]

He'd done a lot worse to people who were right there, Sia!

"Everybody gets some bad memories to deal with," Atton said, and if he'd actually thought about what he was doing or how he was feeling or whatever for five seconds instead of ignoring all of it, he'd be... well, he'd be more aware that his emotional state had kind of hit 'tranquilly hysterical'. And that that wasn't a good thing. "Besides, she's got you, right?"

[notconflicted]

"You're better than this."

She said it, but she didn't really believe it right now.

[suitably_heroic]

"If you actually knew me, trust me, you wouldn't be saying that," Atton said.

[suited2conflict.livejournal.com]

Syanna brushed some of her hair behind her ear. It was hard to reconcile this man with the one she knew he'd become. Well, in some ways. In other ways, not as much.

Still, it was odd.

"I know you," she pointed out. "You're just lashing out because you don't know you."

Might as well go in all the way since he wasn't going to spare her a friendly word anyway.

[notconflicted]

Sia didn't say a word, just looked to Atton for his reaction. If she spoke, it'd just give him a reason to address her and continue to ignore Syanna.

[suitably_heroic]

And here Atton had been relying on Sia to keep him angry so he wouldn't actually have to think about anything.

Space, if anything, it was Sia's silence that unnerved him.

"What?" he called, because yeah, the unnerving thing had to stop. "You don't have anything to say? That's a new one."

[notconflicted]

Sia didn't respond to that, either. She looked to Syanna now, because she was the one he had to deal with.

[suitably_heroic]

Atton rubbed at his face with both hands. "Why don't you both go hop into a hyperspace drive and scatter," he muttered.

[suited2conflict.livejournal.com]

There was only the faintest air of triumph on Syanna's face. She knew capitulation from her father when she saw it. "Nobody's asking you to parent me," she said. "A conversation'll do."

[suitably_heroic]

"Fine," Atton snapped. "But that's all."

[notconflicted]

Sia was still going to be genuinely mad over this for a while, but at least now she might get over it a little faster.

"That's all we ask," she nodded.

[suitably_heroic]

They could add it to the list of things she was genuinely angry at him about. That thing was growing pretty huge and Atton didn't exactly want to stop and talk about it.

"Fine," he repeated. "You been staying at Sia's this entire weekend?"

He wasn't sure what else to say.

[suited2conflict.livejournal.com]

"It's been interesting," Syanna said evenly. "Seeing mom at this age."

Seeing him at this age had also been interesting. In a completely different way that, considering what she knew of his history, she really should've seen coming.

[notconflicted]

"It's been interesting on this end, too."

Because she'd been called 'Mom' all weekend, mainly.

[suitably_heroic]

"Feeling old?" Atton asked her.

He still felt weird asking Syanna anything. So sue him.

[notconflicted]

"Of course not," Sia said. "It's just different, hearing what things must be like there."

[suited2conflict.livejournal.com]

"Mom doesn't get older," Syanna said, a little dryly. "Just more determined."

Beware, Atton.

[suitably_heroic]

"Stubborn is more like it," Atton muttered.

[suited2conflict.livejournal.com]

"Yeah," she replied, "That's what you usually say. Sometimes more colorfully."

[notconflicted]

"That does sound about right..." Sia agreed.