The Perk, Thursday Morning

[suitably_heroic]

Getting coffee shouldn't be such a daunting prospect, but after having functionally locked himself in the apartment for a few weeks - and after talking to Sia - to Atton it felt a little like physically pulling out his own teeth for no reason.

Which was... probably a good sign that he should.

So he showed up to the Perk at some reasonable hour of the morning, hands in his pockets. He nodded his way through an exchange with the barista - she knew how much sugar to shove into his cup.

And then he sat down by the window, and tried not to look like he was brooding.

[[ open! ]]

Comments

[myownface]

Sparkle was going for a walk this morning, dammit. Just walkin', enjoying some of the morning quiet, maybe he'd stop for a coffee before heading to... he didn't know. The park? Maybe the park.

He paused as he noticed Atton in the window. And then he walked across the street, leaned in, grinned at him, and flipped him the bird.

Good morning, Sunshine! Your roommate had found you!

[suitably_heroic]

Atton rolled his eyes, frowned, and then returned the gesture with every grumpy bone in his body.

Screw you, roommate.

[myownface]

Was that an invitation? Sparkle was taking that as an invitation, slipping through the door, getting himself a coffee concoction that was coffee only in that some might have accidentally splashed near the cup at some point, and then making his way over to slide into the seat across from Atton.

"You know," he mused, "I think your choices in drinking establishments has actually improved over the years? This one smells way less like piss than I remember."

[suitably_heroic]

"I'm going to take you to Nar Shaddaa and leave you there for a few weeks," Atton informed him, bringing his drink up for another much-needed dose of sugar.

[myownface]

"I will... probably not do anything too stupid there! Maybe!"

He wouldn't last an hour.

"But who am I kidding? I can barely manage that much here." Sparkle took a slurp from his own cup. "We could go to Nar Shaddaa again sometime if you want, though. I mean, my calendar is basically whatever it needs to be."

[suitably_heroic]

Atton squinted at him over his coffee. "I just had a shower this week," he said. "If we go to Nar Shaddaa again, I'm going to have to have three showers and I don't like it."

[myownface]

"I could shove you in a fountain somewhere," Sparkle offered. "A fountain somewhere that we really don't like."

A fountain that would then also smell like piss.

[spectre_alenko]

Kaidan's effort at leaving the house today involved coffee. Possibly enough coffee to drown himself in.

"Atton," he greeted as he made his way to the counter.

The barista started typing something in the moment she saw him, preparing some sort of Sparkle-esque concoction because Kaidan was almost just as bad. He shook his head at her. "Just black coffee. Large. One of the mugs that looks like a soup bowl, maybe?"

The barista stared at him, jaw going a little slack. Then she shook her head and deleted what she'd been typing, putting the correct order in.

[suitably_heroic]

"Don't confuse the baristas," Atton called. "That never works out well for anybody."

He was still only at about 25% wattage, but hey, that was better than 12.5%.

[spectre_alenko]

He was making an effort instead of staring blankly into his cup. That was an improvement.

"I like to shake things up every once in a while," Kaidan answered, smiling at the barista, "Keeps 'em on their toes. Today I need the caffeine." She handed him a large paper cup of black coffee. It held more fluid ounces than the cappuccino mugs did. Kaidan paid and added a tip to the jar.

He looked over at Atton. "Do you have your cards on you?"

[suitably_heroic]

"Always do," Atton drawled. "What, you turn into a card shark while I wasn't looking?"

[spectre_alenko]

He shrugged a shoulder, "It's something new. It's an effective way to keep my brain occupied and beats staring at the walls, but playing it solitaire is less fun."

He'd been playing it more or less constantly, because it was new and concentrating on recognizing all of the possible patterns gave his brain something to focus on. A reason to stfu.

[suitably_heroic]

Atton snorted. "If you think you can beat me because you played a few rounds, you're kidding yourself," he said, reaching into his pocket for a pazaak deck.

[spectre_alenko]

Kaidan arched a brown and took a seat opposite Atton. "I play for the fun of it. Beating you isn't the point."

He took a sip of his coffee and then set it to the side. "I don't know anyone else here who plays this particular game. Sparkle, probably, but it'd be hard to play cards with wet nails."

[unusual_sith]

The coffee in this place wasn't quite caf, but it was good enough, and some of the flavors were interesting.

Lana walked in, asked the baristas for something different and new, and left with something called a pumpkin spice latte that was a little sweet for her tastes, but nicely spiced.

She nodded to the other patrons as she looked for a place to sit.

[spectre_alenko]

Kaidan glanced up at the new patron. It was the girl he'd seen at the beach. He offered her another polite nod - then saw her eyes and offered her a smile as well.

Kanan's new student. The one that had originally freaked him out and then broken his brain by being entirely reasonable.

Good for her.

[unusual_sith]

Lana nodded back, wondering at that smile. "Hello."

[spectre_alenko]

"Hi," Kaidan replied, "How's school treating you?"

[unusual_sith]

Lana eyed him a little warily. "Well enough. Should I know you?"

[spectre_alenko]

Kaidan shook his head, "We haven't been introduced. I'm Kaidan. Friend of two of your teachers, Kanan and Hera. I hired three of the other new students, process of elimination left me with you and 'the sleepy kid'."

The one who thought a Twi'lek was a cosplayer. Simon.

[suitably_heroic]

Atton couldn't help himself. He sensed something off about the girl who just entered... and turned his head swiftly to look her way.

His eyebrows shot up.

[unusual_sith]

Lana caught the motion and looked back at him. "Is there something I can help you with?" She didn't think they'd met, but he was strong in the Force. Maybe one of the other Jedi Kanan had mentioned?

[suitably_heroic]

"Who are you?" Atton asked, making sure he didn't sound too accusatory about it. "You got some Force deal going on-- aaaand, eyes."

[unusual_sith]

"That would be because I'm Sith." Lana tried not to make that sound too defensive. "Lana Beniko. And you are?"

[suitably_heroic]

A host of different expressions crowded Atton's face for space across a very short stretch of time.

Somehow, after a moment or five of desperate battle, they managed to agree to fuse together into one placid ocean of calm. "Atton Rand," he said, "Be careful who you say that to around here."