The Park, Friday Morning

[suitably_heroic]

The medic had freed Atton from his kolto bath again on Thursday morning. Another full day of observation, and he was good to go, with a bunch of patches in his pocket and an abdomen that still hurt if he bent the wrong way.

And then Mical had put him on the Ebon Hawk and sent him back to Fandom. (The Hawk was to make a point: stay there, don't come back. Otherwise Mical would've just kicked him through a portal.)

He wasn't planning to stay there. Not for long. Not with Mira out there, dealing with this problem that Atton was beginning to suspect was bigger than they'd anticipated.

He didn't bother to go back to the apartment - he didn't want to run the risk of running into Sparkle just yet - but stumbled down the stairs and walked down to the park.

That alone was probably more exercise than he should've given himself. He winced at the sound of his own breath as he sank down on a bench.

Space.

[[ open! ]]

Comments

[spectre_alenko]

"That would do it," Kaidan allowed, thinking about it, "I take it Force sensitive kids aren't just coming from Jedi lines, then."

[suitably_heroic]

"Most Jedi don't have children," Atton said lightly. "Bastila and Revan are an exception. Most of us just get born somewhere in the galaxy, and we either wind up with the Jedi, or we don't."

[spectre_alenko]

"So I've heard," Kaidan acknowledged, "They must have loved each other an awful lot. Bastila and Revan, I mean."

[suitably_heroic]

Atton shrugged. "They dismantled Revan's empire together," he said. "I guess that creates some kind of bond, taking on a whole army."

[spectre_alenko]

"Did you know them, or were they before your time?" Kaidan asked, mostly just curious.

[suitably_heroic]

"I know Bastila. She's a pain in the ass. Brings her kid to the Temple some days," Atton said, snorting. "Revan... vanished a few years ago."

[spectre_alenko]

Reciting history, were you?

Kaidan processed that, then snorted, "Hell, Atton, from you, I can't tell if she's actually a pain in the ass or if you like the lady."

[suitably_heroic]

Atton's part in this story was super complicated and thus not relevant. Ayup.

"She's a snooty damned schutta who thinks she's better than everyone," Atton said, pulling a face. "You probably know the type."

[spectre_alenko]

"Schutta?" Kaidan asked, distracted by the new word and mentally trying to spell it in Aurebesh, "But yeah, I know the 'butter won't melt' type. I have, after all, met Seivarden."

[suitably_heroic]

"It's a bad word," Atton said merrily, because he didn't want to make this shit any easier. "But yeah, think Seivarden, except she actually did something - invented a new Force technique at 18, then saved the galaxy - so she's worse."

[spectre_alenko]

"So at least she kind of has a reason for her hubris," Kaidan noted, filing away the bad word. He'd ask Kanan about it later. "Unlike my local pain in the ass."

[suitably_heroic]

"Who was probably just born with a silver spoon up his ass."

[spectre_alenko]

"Her," Kaidan corrected absently, "Apparently in her world, female pronouns are the default." Then he made a face, "I don't know why I bother."

[suitably_heroic]

"Right, her, sorry," Atton said. "... Why do you bother? I can't figure out why anyone tries with that one."

[spectre_alenko]

"I honestly don't know," Kaidan said, shoving a hand through his hair, "Maybe because I don't want to be like her. I don't want to make people feel the way she goes out of her way to, or, if I ever had cause to, I'd want it to be a deliberate act to their face and not just .." He shook his head, unsure how to even finish that.

"I've been on the receiving end of being othered. I try not to do it to people, when I can avoid it."

[suitably_heroic]

"Seriously, you're either what goes for a Jedi where you come from or a boy scout," Atton said, with a little snort. "Not that I'm trying to screw up the pronouns on purpose, here."

He wouldn't do that.

[spectre_alenko]

"What are the Jedi, to you? I mean, when you say that word, what is it that you mean?" Kaidan asked, tilting his head a little.

[suitably_heroic]

"And then you overshot into therapist," Atton sighed. "You know, the Jedi. Force-wielding do-gooders who are too cryptic for their own good and think they've got a monopoly on grave-voiced reflections on how to be a good person. And then they run into battle and everything gets set on fire."

[spectre_alenko]

"I don't have that good an opinion of them," Kaidan said flatly, "Which is why I wanted to hear yours."

[suitably_heroic]

"Yeah, well, you're talking to one," Atton said, rolling his eyes. "Even if I'm one who thinks the old Jedi broke more than they fixed."

[spectre_alenko]

"You're not the only one I've met," Kaidan pointed out, "And you haven't dropped any cryptic do-gooder shit on me. I mean, I'm sure you would, just to be as contrary as possible, but so far you haven't."

[suitably_heroic]

"Because I'm not a big fan of it. If you're want to spout random hints about the future, just go and play pazaak already," Atton said, rolling his eyes. "Thing is, you're not the first one to come in here, hear about the Jedi, and decide to get indignant about it. And that's the exact same behavior the Jedi are famous for, walking in and deciding they know what's good and what isn't."

[spectre_alenko]

"Like I said, I don't like to see my friends hurt," Kaidan repeated flatly. "I'm trying to understand why the Jedi would do what they do. So far, you've given me the most reasonable data. Whether or not it makes me indignant doesn't matter in the slightest. It's not something I could ever do anything about, except try to understand."

[suitably_heroic]

Atton rolled his eyes. "You wanted to know why I kept comparing you to the Jedi," he said, "So I'm telling you."

He took a drag from his cigarette.

"As for what the Jedi do, the Jedi do what they do because if you let Jedi continue to behave like emotional beings all over the place, you wind up with Exar Kun," he said. "The problem is that when you handle it like that, you wind up with Revan. And no one's figured out how to prevent both."

[spectre_alenko]

"I asked what Jedi meant to you. I don't need to know why you compare me to them. Either you mean it, or you mean it to get under my skin," Kaidan shrugged a shoulder. With Atton, it could be either or both all at once.

"Has anyone tried raising those Force sensitive kids to be good people, instead of training them to be ready to throw themselves on grenades?" he asked, sounding a little tired but also genuinely interested. "That's my main problem. They take kids, and they tell them that someday the entire weight of the universe might rest on their shoulders, so they have to be ready to act without emotion. They make children ready to be martyrs. The problems happen when they survive, if they give in to an instinct, or a command, to survive. It breaks them. It shouldn't, but it does."