Some Very Cool Space Club; Out in Space; Dimension FH-001; Saturday Evening [07/20].

[somethingwithturquoise]

On Wednesday, Summer had learned that today was Harley's birthday, and Harley had learned that there clubs in space, and so naturally, the two of them were putting one and one together and taking Harley out to go space clubbing for her birthday, because, like, obviously.

And also dragging Atton with them, because hilarious. And the crossover between people who were apparently supposed to think he'd been iced in space and those who knew for a fact that he hadn't been was very slim, and Summer was going to take advantage of those spheres aligning as much as possible.

So there they were, in a space club. It was very cool, but also very space-y, especially in the fact that they were in the minority as far as looking distinctly human went, the music was crazy but had a good beat you could definitely dance to, and literally every single drink glowed, because that's what drinks just did in space clubs, duh. And even though Summer didn't know Harley too well at this point, she felt it was a good idea to at least let the bartender know that they were working with human digestion here and to restrict accordingly, but also she'd arranged for a special birthday drink with, like, cool space sparkles or whatever, to be brought out to her at some point.

But, either way, it was definitely more interesting that just hopping to the mainland, and they'd taken her ship here, too, so if this club ended up sucking, they could just head somewhere else instead. But she'd always had good vibes at this one, and there was a minimum of people likely to drop in that might also facilitate a hasty exit.

[[ mostly for the birthday girl and that old man, but, hey, you wanna be at a random space club, get in contact, nudge yourself into an invitation, I'm so not gonna complain....too much. And NFB for distance, obvi ]]

Comments

[suitably_heroic]

"Yeah, but probably also not the best way to celebrate a birthday," Atton said, giving her an amused wave. "Oh, happy birthday, by the way."

[totalwildcard]

"Thank you!"

That was loud and cheerful and complemented by a giant grin. Also kind of bouncy, but everything Harley said or did right now was.

"I didn't know if you'd actually come."

[suitably_heroic]

"Why wouldn't I?" Atton said, his own answering smile only a little perturbed in the face of Harley being so-- Harley. "Two of my favorite women want me to come along on a birthday club night? I'm game."

[totalwildcard]

Oh, Atton, you just wait until Harley got proper drunk and started oversharing!

Right now, though, she blinked at him.

"... Am I really that high in the rankings, or is your life just really sad?"

[suitably_heroic]

Atton eyed her. "Do you always ask for receipts when someone pays you a compliment, or am I just special?"

[totalwildcard]

"I'm just surprised!" Harley replied, spreading her hands. "I get to do that, it's my birthday!"

She was going to be using that one a lot.

(Also, no, sadly he wasn't special. In this regard.)

[suitably_heroic]

Atton shook his head. "Okay, one, I'm taken, so not sad," he said, "Two, I know a lot of women. Some of them I like, some of them I don't, you wound up on the list of the ones I really like, so you're 'one of my favorite women'. Can you live with that?"

[totalwildcard]

"Sure!" Harley said. She could beam about it, too! At least for the two seconds before another thing she needed to say overtook it, complete with an eye roll: "Although bein' taken does not automatically mean someone's life is not sad, take it from me."

Not getting into that, but just saying.

Anyway, her expression was brightening back up again already, with a big ol' smirk and raised eyebrows. "But, taken by who? What? Gossip!"

[suitably_heroic]

If Atton had a nickel for every time he told a female friend about that and got that response...

"Nobody you know," he said, and took a sip of his soda. "Okay, sorry, that sounds like 'I have someone in Canada'. Nobody on the island. I'm dating my guitarist back in NYC. It's nice and drama-free, which is what I've missed for the past forty years of my life, so I'm excruciatingly glad I don't have big gossip to share."

[totalwildcard]

"But that is the big gossip!" Harley retorted, and no, those eyebrows weren't coming down, nor was she going to smile any less. "That you got something that's nice and, I'm assuming, happy."

[suitably_heroic]

Atton gave a little shrug, mostly to cover up the vague discomfort he still felt in talking about it. "I don't have a great track record," he said. "My head wasn't screwed on right for a long time."

He brought up his glass of soda. "If this were happening five years ago I'd probably be living under a different name in a different galaxy by now."

The joys of chronic self-hatred and a flight-oriented stress response.

[totalwildcard]

Harley waved a hand with a great big 'pfft'. "Oh, who's got their shit together in their thirties, anyway?"

Lots of people, actually, she just didn't happen to know any of them.

"You made it through."

[suitably_heroic]

"I did," Atton allowed.

He sipped his soda. Thought about whether he should say something. Went back on the thought. Went back to the thought. "You know, a month ago, I was sitting on a beach in Long Island with a drink and the guy I'm seeing and I suddenly realized that everything was fine. That I could just sit there, and enjoy my damned day, and not think about what could go wrong. And that felt insane. But also pretty good."

[totalwildcard]

Harley sipped her own drink as he spoke, then gave a nod that was genuinely understated, not just by her standards.

"Sounds lovely," she murmured (well, whatever passed as murmuring at a loud enough club), without a single hint of irony in her tone.

[suitably_heroic]

"Yeah, now I just have to stop worrying about screwing it up," Atton said.

He blew out a breath. "Anyway, enough about me," he said. (Ah, look, there was the point where the discomfort took over.) "How're you doing, anyway?"

[totalwildcard]

Harley's grin was instant and automatic.

"Oh, I am grand," she said, like she wasn't now actively repressing a memory of someone worrying about fucking up with her, to her face. "Gettin' to spend my birthday with fun people in a fun place, can't complain! Nice to get a little further off the island sometimes, too."

[suitably_heroic]

"It does get a little cramped after a while, doesn't it?" Atton said. "If you're used to bigger."

[totalwildcard]

"It's not Gotham, that's for sure," Harley replied, with something of a wistful sigh. "And it's definitely no New York."

Would she ever say 'New York' without her accent going full-tilt Brooklyn? Doubtful.

[suitably_heroic]

"Nice place to figure yourself out, though," Atton said. He took a sip of his soda. "Just as long as you get out enough."

He eyed his glass.

"You know, I think it's time for me to move on to something that actually has alcohol in it. You want anything?"

[totalwildcard]

Harley also eyed her own, almost empty glass in response.

"Just ask 'em for something strong but sweet?" she said, only narrowly not emphasizing the 'strong'. "I'd go for glowy, too, but they make all of 'em do that, so I don't really have to worry about it."

Worked out for her, since it was her new favorite thing.

[suitably_heroic]

"Oh, I bet you're one of those people who goes wild about the glitter at school functions, too," Atton griped good-naturedly. But he raised his glass. "You got it, though."

[totalwildcard]

Harley gestured to the absolute fuckton of sequins she was wearing, like did he assume he was being clever?

Then she made a little shooing motion with the same hand, and grinned. "Well, off you go!"

[suitably_heroic]

No, Atton was just really good at complaining.

"Fine, fine," he sighed, demonstrating that talent. "Back in a second!"

And he took off for the bar.

[totalwildcard]

"Thank yooou!" Harley called after him, then focused on finishing her existing drink.

And not heeding the sudden urge to dig her phone out.

[suitably_heroic]

Atton returned with two drinks: the most simple, dignified, blue-thing-in-a-glass-with-swirls for himself and some spectacular concoction that looked kind of like the Milky Way for her.

"There you go," he said, holding it out for her. "I'm 99 percent sure it's okay for humans to drink."