The Perk, Saturday Morning

[stykera]

In the past week Stark had spent 2 days barely moving from his couch, 3 nights trying to drink his feelings away, and 1 very odd evening with Anakin. It hadn't been a very good week. He didn't have very high hopes for today.

Still, he was trying not to just hide out in his apartment, no matter how tempting that was, because he did know that wasn't going to help. He wasn't sure what would help, right now, but at least if he was outside somewhere there might be a friendly face or two.

The barista had suggested the pistachio coffee so he had one of those and some sort of breakfast sandwich when he found himself an open table by the window. He was occasionally taking very small bites of the sandwich without really tasting it. But at least he was eating something, unprompted, this morning. Of course, he was also occasionally shredding a napkin into increasingly smaller bits without realizing that. Hopefully he wasn't going to end up accidentally eating that.



[Very open for caffeine and sad glowy alien needs. It's still negative temperatures outside here. Ugh. Winter.]

Comments

[thedadalorian]

Well, hopefully an adorable, alien child would help him feel better. Because Din and Grogu were there to get some breakfast as well and that meant the kid was immediately toddling on over to say hello.

"Stark," Din said with a little nod.

[stykera]

An adorable alien child wouldn't hurt, at least. Even if that adorable alien child and his dad were forever linked in Stark's mind to the person responsible for his current state. It was a small island. Nearly everything was linked.

"Hello, Din."

Grogu almost got a smile. It was a less sad look, at least. "And Grogu."

[thedadalorian]

The smallest of islands, Stark!

"How... are you doing?" He was doing great at being emotionally available here.

[stykera]

Too small. He might need to leave or he'd just be sad forever.

"I'm..." It was almost tempting to say fine but there was really no reason to lie to Din. "Not well. But I'm here."

[thedadalorian]

"Want a breakfast... thing. The kid loves them." Ergo Stark had to like them, right?

[stykera]

Stark's taste in food did tend to coincide with that of children for the most part.

"I have..." Stark frowned, looking down at his plate which seemed to be a mess of crumbs and tiny napkin bits. Had he finished the sandwich or had he crumbled it up or was it a combination of the two? "I thought I had one. I haven't been eating much."

Not even when Anakin brought over enough food for days. The island's nonsense had gotten in the way.

[thedadalorian]

"I'll get you one," Din promised, giving the kid a look to stay in place and not wander off into danger somehow.

Not that he really needed to, because now Grogu was trying to give his leg a hug.

[stykera]

Stark's leg (much like the rest of Stark) could use a few good hugs.

"Thank you." Unclear if that was to Din or to Grogu or both.

"Do you want to come up?" That was definitely to Grogu. Who, if he did get picked up, was going to have serve as an emotional support kid for a bit and suffer through being held.

[thedadalorian]

Grogu made the universal grabby hands sign up 'up' at him as Din went to order things for the pair. And something for himself once he got to the privacy of home.

[stykera]

Hopefully Stark's general aura of miserableness wasn't too much for a tiny Force-sensitive alien because Grogu was getting carefully picked up and placed on Stark's lap.

"Did you know I needed company?" he asked very quietly.

[thedadalorian]

Well, he was basically an emotional support alien toddler. There was that.

Grogu just reached up like he wanted to pat Stark on the cheek.

[stykera]

Sad, lonely, space men needed support sometimes.

"Thank you," Stark said very seriously, leaning his head down a little.

[thedadalorian]

Which was when Din returned with croissants. Filled with chocolate. Because the kid liked them, you know.

So, enjoy that, Stark.

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

It was rotten out, yes, but Jon had been spending far too much time at home this week. And with the way he was feeling, he might have to spend more time at home soon. So he might as well come out for some decent tea today.

He nodded at Stark as he passed by. "Good morning."

[stykera]

Good wasn't how Stark would describe it (or anything right now) but sure.

"Hello, Jon," he said, returning the nod.

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

Occasionally, Jon was optimistic. Or just really good at repressing.

He got a London Fog today, then turned back to Stark as he waited for it. "I hope you've been doing well."

[stykera]

"No," Stark said with a sad little headshake. "Not well. But I'm here."

He'd live. He was, at least, very sure of that fact.

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

"Oh." Jon had...no idea what to say to that. "I'm sorry. Is...um." No, talking about it to him probably wouldn't be good. "If there's something I can do for you, please let me know."

[stykera]

"There's nothing to be done," Stark said, looking down. "Too late now. But thank you."

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

"Oh. Um. I'm...I'm sorry to hear that," Jon offered. He fidgeted for a moment, wondering if he should try to be nice or just leave.

Beholding was super unhelpful when it came to figuring out human interactions, so Jon was left with his own instincts. Which were just about as helpful.

[stykera]

Was it really human interaction if one party was 100% not human?

"So was I," Stark said. "I'm...trying to keep going." Because there wasn't much else he could do.

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

Well, the other party's humanity was...debatable at best, too, but Jon was stubborn.

"That's...um. That's hard sometimes," Jon admitted. "I...I haven't figured out a way to do it except for just...just not doing anything to stop, and...um. Waiting. It's...I helps if you're stubborn."

[stykera]

"It is," Stark agreed. "Hard."

It was going to be hard for quite some time.

"I'm trying," he said again. And he was. It was just that right now trying looked like just blankly going through the motions. "And eventually, maybe, it gets easier to live with."

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

"Maybe," Jon agreed.

Not yet in his experience, but he was told it did.

"If you...um. I'm probably not a good person to listen, but if you ever want to just have...tea, or...or drinks, or something, you could stop by."

Because loneliness was awful.

[stykera]

"You make room for the pain," Stark said quietly. "That doesn't mean it goes away."

That was going to be a lesson for his class one of these weeks.

"I...it is easier not being alone. Sometimes."