The Perk, Monday Afternoon

[suitably_heroic]

You know, Atton had spent a lot of time thinking about the whole concept of 'hiding that he wasn't from Earth' and how it related to his life in New York and how and if he might tell anyone and the various ways people could find out without his consent and-- all of that. And yet. Somehow. At no point. Had he considered that his incredibly weird bassist would just figure it out on his own.

('Well, first I thought you had to be an undercover vigilante, considering you keep showing up with bruises and cuts and won't explain why', Trent had said. 'Nevermind all the scars.'

'... Uh huh,' Atton had said.

'But then I realized sometimes you curse with words Google Translate doesn't know', Trent had continued.

'... Uh huh,' Atton had repeated.

'And then one day I heard you say 'space' instead of 'shit' and then it all made sense.'

Atton had not known where to start.)

The helicopter flight above the city had been nice, though. And then he'd come home and booked a portal back to Fandom because he definitely needed time to process... everything about that day, and now he was here, at the Perk, sipping a coffee, trying to make sense of his life.

Somehow, even the raccoon bursting in and doing a lap around his table before leaving through the back door seemed more explicable than whatever yesterday had been.

[[ open ]]

Comments

[single_man_tear]

While Atton processing his life Dean however was in dire need of caffeine. It wasn’t that Dean had forgotten that there was an eclipse coming. He was thrown off from not being on Earth and how much time had past.

So for the last 24 hours Dean had been tracking any weird news article, weather pattern, or strange occurrences to make sure that monsters, cults or stupid teenagers with a book on the occult don’t try and end the world.

Getting a cup and heading to the table he sees Atton and gives him a curt nod. “‘Sup Atton?”

[suitably_heroic]

Atton barely managed to keep himself from visibly jerking in surprise. He'd sensed Dean coming in, of course, but he wasn't as focused as he could have been.

Between that and Trent, he wondered if he was losing his edge.

"Eh, it's a Monday," he said, deliberately pacing his glance up so he didn't seem startled. "Just starting to wake up." He lifted his chin. "Made it through in one piece so far, huh."

[single_man_tear]

Dean had already flipped his laptop open and gave a look up to hear Atton's reply. "Yeeeeah. Monday's suck all right," Dean agreed.

A ping came from his computer. Huh. Cattle mutilations in South Dakota. Dean pulled out his disposable phone and sent a link to the article to Jody and Claire.

"You doing all right after the other week? I remember it wasn't a good time for you."

[suitably_heroic]

"I'm used to it," Atton said lightly. "I'm just too stubborn, I guess."

He picked up his coffee and took a sip. "Work from the coffee place day? I didn't know we even had those kinds of jobs around here."

[single_man_tear]

"What I do is not usually an office job," Dean admitted.

Lightning strikes in Minnesota. Dean forwarded that on to Donna and immediately got a response back of 'Thanks for the link. Who is this?'

"This is more of a work-where-you-can and drive around all day kind of job," Dean said ignoring Donna's message. Two more messages came in from Jody and Claire which he also ignored.

"Eclipses are kind of a big thing where I'm from. It can get a little nasty when they come about."

[suitably_heroic]

"Yeah?" Atton said, grabbing on to this distraction from his thoughts with both hands (metaphorically; physically they were wrapped around his mug). "Like how?"

[single_man_tear]

"Typically the worst magic or rituals happen during a planetary event," Dean said with a sigh as he got a blip on a teenage girl being kidnapped in Wisconsin. Dean sent that out to Garth and immediately got a Thanks Kemosabe. I don't hunt much any more but I'll pass it along in return.

"You know. Stars align. Comets appear, every magic nerd tries to take advantage of it. So it can vary between a jerk summoning a demon to someone trying to harvest the energy from the liminal space created by the eclipse to tear open the fabric separating the realm of the living and the realm of the dead."

[suitably_heroic]

Atton lifted his coffee pensively, with the air of a man who had not been There, exactly, but had certainly Been There. "That sounds like a pain in the ass," he commented.

[single_man_tear]

"Major pain in the ass," Dean agreed. And now his phone was getting more messages from Jody, Claire and Donna asking too many questions. He flipped the cheap phone open and snapped it in half. "But once this is over there's not another one until 2044 so it's a nice break in the action."

He let out a long sigh.

"So just a few more hours of this and I can crash. So what's on your docket today?"

[suitably_heroic]

Atton shrugged. "Not much of anything," he said. "Getting an early start on a lesson plan, maybe take advantage of the quiet to work on some songs. I spend half the week at my place in New York and between apartment sizes and the roommate it gets crowded, you know?"

Not actually the main reason he'd come back here a day early, but close enough.

[single_man_tear]

"So you're a musician and a Jedi?" Dean asked. "And split your time here and New York? How do you jump back and forth all the time?"

[suitably_heroic]

"Retired Jedi," Atton said, which was the first time he'd said that out loud, and man, it felt weird. He took a sip. "I used to portal back and forth a lot. Really racked up some frequent flyer miles for the Order."

[single_man_tear]

Dean had bent over to his bag to pick out another disposable phone from his bag and started to open up the packaging. "Retired? You look a little young for the early bird special," he noted.

He paused for a second. "Wait, we have access to portals here?"

[suitably_heroic]

"I'm forty years old, but thanks."

Space. Atton felt ancient.

"And yeah." He raised an eyebrow. "Never heard of Portalocity?"

[single_man_tear]

"Uh, No," Dean said as he activated the new phone. "Still new here. Just found out we had a weapons shop a couple of days ago."

And now there was reports of people belching smoke in Nevada. Great.

"I'm assuming I just book a portal to wherever? Do they have an app for that?"

[suitably_heroic]

"Yeah, it should pop up in the app store if you're on a Fandom network," Atton offered, sipping his coffee. "Not all universes are available and sometimes things shift around, but they carry a lot of eras and worlds, as far as I can tell."

[single_man_tear]

"Time and space? That's not dangerous at all," Dean commented, "But handy if I don't want to drive across the country. Thanks for the tip!"

Ugh. Charlie was the only one close by and Dean was not going to let her track him back here. He texted Charlie and then immediately snapped the new phone in half again.

"Any recommendations for somewhere off planet that a clueless tourist from Earth can handle?"

[suitably_heroic]

Atton snorted. "Not really," he said. "I can point you to all the fun places to play cards, get drunk, and get robbed, though. You'll want to ask Summer about the 'clueless tourist' places. She's been around."

[single_man_tear]

"Okay, I definitely want your list before I hit up Summer," Dean said grinning for the first time this day. "Because that's my idea of a vacation."

[suitably_heroic]

"Well, in that case, Nar Shaddaa is the place for you," Atton said, snorting. "And a variety of Coruscant's less reputable levels."

[single_man_tear]

Dean was scribbling that down and no doubt misspelled it horribly in his journal. "Anything there not fit for human consumption?" he asked. "Water safe to drink?"

[suitably_heroic]

"Lots of things not fit for human consumption. You're probably better off checking if it is," Atton said, leaning forward a little. "There's some bars where even the atmosphere isn't breathable without an air filter."

[single_man_tear]

"So basically New York City intensified," Dean said leaning back in his chair. "Thanks for the recommendation. I'll have to give a try sometime."

[suitably_heroic]

"Yeah, it's why NYC seemed like a natural place to settle down," Atton said, considering his coffee. "All the comforts of home, with only half the terrors."

[single_man_tear]

"So just because I'm curious and if you don't mind me asking, Why'd you retire?" Dean asked.

[suitably_heroic]

Atton eyed him. That was a turn for the serious, space.

"Because if you do this job for too long, eventually you have to choose between dying in a blaze of glory or finding a way to live with yourself," he said. "And I picked the latter."

[single_man_tear]

Dean pursed his lips in thought and nodded in understanding. "Yeah. I get that. Of course there's also just a stupid death which means nothing," he said with a nod. "You made a good choice."

[suitably_heroic]

"Thanks," Atton said dryly. "I really needed that validation."

He finished his coffee. "If you stick around for long enough, you'll meet plenty of Jedi who made a different one," he said. "I'm in no rush to get where they're going."

[single_man_tear]

"Yeah, well I'm just saying I know the choices. Even if my validation means zip," Dean half-chuckled. "And so far I've met three including you."

[suitably_heroic]

"Which ones?" Atton said, putting his mug down. "Let me guess. Skywalker, and...?"

[single_man_tear]

"No Skywalker," Dean said shaking his head. "Rey and Cal."

[suitably_heroic]

"Huh," Atton said, blinking. "Well, you'll meet Skywalker soon enough. He's the sadistic Dean at the school. Don't really know either of those people. Cal's new, I take it?"

[single_man_tear]

"Well, that'll be highly unlikely," Dean replied. "I haven't stepped near a school in years. I doubt I'll be on his meet and greet list."

[suitably_heroic]

"Just wait until summer," Atton said dryly. "Every single Wednesday, he likes to torture as many people as possible."

[single_man_tear]

"... Just so we're clear: that's just figure of speech, right?

[suitably_heroic]

Atton looked at him for a solid moment.

"I'm going to go get another coffee," he decided, getting up. "You want one?"

[single_man_tear]

"Sure. Just black," Dean replied. "I'm just going to assume that's a no on actual torture."

[suitably_heroic]

"It's not a no," Atton called, as he walked to the counter.

[single_man_tear]

"So he's what? The pink lady from Barry Plodder books?" Dean asked. "Lovely."

[suitably_heroic]

"You'll know it when you meet him!"

The barista squinted at Atton.

"Skywalker," he said. The barista and all his colleagues started nodding in unison. Big eyes, all of them. "...And two black coffees."

[single_man_tear]

Was Dean taking notes now on this Skywalker guy?

Yep. Of course he was.

[suitably_heroic]

Atton returned with two coffees a moment later, setting one down by Dean's side. "My advice?" he said. "Try not to be here on Wednesdays in summer."

[single_man_tear]

"Noted. Any weaknesses?" Dean said still scribbling in his journal.

[suitably_heroic]

"His ego, and his hair products," Atton said, settling back down.

[single_man_tear]

Oh, so he's like Crowley and Sam mixed together.

"Sounds like a real jerk," Dean replied. "Thanks for the caffeine.

[suitably_heroic]

"No problem," Atton said easily. "Always happy to help a newbie out."

That was a lie. Dean just seemed all right.