Fandom Island Counseling Services and Psychiatry, Wednesday

[sharp_as_knives]

It was amazing how dull some of the problems of residents here were, but Fandom did at least offer some unique solutions.

"I'm not at all certain what the legal ramifications of permanently stranding your cheating spouse on another world are; I would suggest you contact a lawyer about that. Why don't we discuss how it makes you feel?"


[Open post in between NPC patients! No OCD.]

Comments

[myownface]

Another Wednesday, another... Wednesday. Nothing special, really, though Sparkle was starting to get antsy around the apartment, and it took him far too much time to realize that half the reason he'd been so anxious lately was that things had been too damn quiet these days, with Atton in another galaxy doing... whatever he was up to, lately.

He realized some time in the mid-afternoon that maybe he just needed some company, and the list of people that he felt comfortable bothering on no notice was somewhat on the smallish side. But, so long as Doctor Lecter didn't have any patients at the time...

He lingered in the front yard, keeping company with the flamingos kind of awkwardly, until he saw somebody - likely a patient - leaving Hannibal's office. And then he made his way up and gave a little knock. At least if he caught him between appointments, he wouldn't be interrupting anything. And it wasn't like he was difficult to chase off if someone else stopped by.

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal opened the door and smiled. "Sparkle. How are you today?" He held the door partway open. "I have drinks in here, or if you're hungry, we can go into the house."

[myownface]

Sparkle gave Hannibal a relieved little smile. Of course he knew Hannibal was in there. He had just been worried that he'd interrupt something, or get sent away or...

Or whatever.

"There's no way I'm going to turn down food if you're offering," he replied. "I was just kind of hoping for company for a while, though."

In case Hannibal for whatever reason thought that Sparkle was inviting himself over for dinner or something.

[sharp_as_knives]

"Food it is." Hannibal smiled. "I'll never turn down an audience, either." He stepped out and closed the door behind him, squeezing Sparkle's shoulder as he headed toward the house. "How have you been?"

[myownface]

"I've been..." Sparkle shrugged a little as he fell into step behind Hannibal . "I mean, not bad? Things have been quiet, though, with Atton away. I'm not very good with the quiet, I guess."

He sighed.

"Shitty trade-off is that I'm not very good with the outside, either."

Which was so, so weird for him.

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal smiled as he ushered Sparkle in. "You're always welcome to spend more time here, you know. Speaking of which, your cat-sitting was much appreciated."

[myownface]

"Well, I appreciated sitting the cats," Sparkle countered, smiling a little bit. "They make good company, you know? I miss having one around."

But that would end badly, probably. Maybe if he had one in the clothing store? But even then...

[sharp_as_knives]

"Come and visit ours whenever you like," Hannibal said. He led the way back to the kitchen. "Coffee or beer?"

[myownface]

Sparkle hesitated for a moment, and then sighed and settled on, "Coffee, please. I'm not awake enough to do beer and food without, like, needing a nap on your couch after."

Sleep and Sparkle were in an off-again relationship, these days. He was working on it.

[sharp_as_knives]

"Coffee, then." Hannibal got down the beans and began preparing it. "We can't have you napping on the couch." He gave Sparkle a little smile. "There are guest bedrooms, after all."

[myownface]

Sparkle gave a soft "heh" of a laugh, and then shrugged his shoulders a bit.

"It's a really comfortable couch, though," he pointed out. "I mean. I might have kind of crashed there a few times while I was watching your cats. They did that thing where they start purring and kneading. I think it was probably a trap."

Cats were good for that.

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal chuckled. "They are always looking to trap somebody. Although Beethoven can be picky; you should consider yourself honored."

He got out the beer after all, along with a good cut of meat and a number of other ingredients, and started cooking.

"How have your plants been doing? Still glittery?"

[myownface]

"Sooo glittery," Sparkle agreed. "Not that I'm complaining. I mean, I kind of have a theme going and all."

And the plants didn't respond well to pyrotechnics, so glitter had to do.

[sharp_as_knives]

"There, you see?" Hannibal said. "I can care for living things. Even those that don't need sleep," he added, a little pointedly but not unkindly.

[myownface]

Sparkle managed to look slightly chagrined, but that wasn't going to stop him from shrugging his shoulders and attempting to soldier on regardless.

"Plants totally sleep at night," he shared. "When they stop photosynthesizing. Not quite the same thing, but it counts. I mean. Scientifically speaking."

... He watched a lot of Discovery Channel.

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal just gave him a look; it wasn't the same thing, no. "In that case, the only difference between you and them is that you appreciate my cooking far more. And a bed of something other than dirt would do you more good."

[myownface]

"And that's why the couch is so awesome," Sparkle maintained, with just a hint of stubbornness. "No dirt, bonus cats."

Human company. More exits. Better lighting.

[sharp_as_knives]

"There are three suites upstairs," Hannibal said. "Each with its own bath and plenty of room."

Also large windows, for both lighting and emergency exit as needed.

[myownface]

Sparkle sort of bunched up in the shoulders at that, looking somewhere downwards, turning his head to the side so that he wasn't quite facing Hannibal.

God, he was bad at this. He blew out a breath, and then shrugged.

"Yeah, I guess there are. It's a big house."

Huge, even.

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal checked the meat and then came over to put a hand on Sparkle's shoulder. "It's merely an offer, not a demand. But an offer of a room with no prior associations, a bit of human contact, and cats."

He smiled wryly. "Possibly a bit more of the latter than you might enjoy. Also, my cooking."

[myownface]

"There isn't such a thing as too many cats," Sparkle said, wrestling some of the waver out of his voice. "Or too much of your cooking."

... Sparkle, if you only knew.

"Would it be okay? I mean... just for a night or two. I'm not going to, like, move in or anything, I just..."

He waved a hand around.

"God, it's too fucking quiet in the apartment. This, like, really loud quiet. I dunno."

[sharp_as_knives]

"I wouldn't offer if it weren't," Hannibal assured him. "Now, or whenever you like. To avoid the loud quiet."

[myownface]

Sparkle nodded, and turned a weak but grateful smile toward Hannibal at that.

"Thanks. I just... I don't know. I guess I'm bad at alone. Which doesn't even make sense. I am an alone pro."

He was going to ignore how sad that was.

[sharp_as_knives]

"You are very good at being on your own," Hannibal said. "Being set adrift is different. You've had a very traumatic summer; it's natural to not want to be alone."

[myownface]

Heaving a little sigh, Sparkle reached up a hand and kind of bit into the back of one finger. Yeah. Traumatic was definitely a good word for it.

"I haven't spent this much time feeling like a little kid since I actually was one," he admitted, though his words were sort of muffled into the back of his hand. "I hate it."

[sharp_as_knives]

"We can work on those feelings, if you like." Hannibal held up his hands. "The offer of a room remains regardless, with no pressure, but I do have other skills than cooking, and they are all at your disposal."

All of them. He'd even kill somebody if you wanted.

[myownface]

If the guy who was largely responsible for all of this wasn't already dead, Sparkle might even have considered it, this time.

But hey. Very thoughtful offer all the same!

"I... yeah?" He chewed the inside of his cheek. "I mean, I've never really... or I have, but... I always just sort of..." He waved the hand around that wasn't currently in front of his mouth. "I've always been kind of shitty to, you know, psychiatrists. I'm no good at talking like that. I can go on for hours about nothing, but the second it gets all, 'but tell me how you feel' I'm out."

[sharp_as_knives]

"You seem to be doing well so far," Hannibal said. "And in fairness, most psychiatrists are hardly worth the title. But I'm willing to listen to you, to offer coping strategies and unbiased opinions, and we can even try a bit of hypnosis and meditation as a form of calming, if you like."

[myownface]

"You're different," Sparkle pointed out. "I mean, like, I." Sigh. Some words were much harder than others, weren't they? "I trust you."

There was a very small number of people he could say that to.

"Does hypnosis even work? I thought that stuff was mostly for, like, gimmick stage shows and making people think they're chickens or something."

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal smiled a little at the declaration of trust, then gave Sparkle a mild look. "I have no intention of making you think you're a chicken.

"Hypnosis on its own merely calms the mind and opens it to suggestion. The subsequent suggestions can involve such things as remembering the calm later, or an increased awareness of your distance from the things that are causing you problems."

It could, of course, do a lot more than that, but Hannibal had no reason to. Yet.

[myownface]

Okay, but you had to admit, Sparkle would make a fantastic chicken.

He bit the back of his finger again, but he was clearly thinking that over, working his way through the applications of something like that. Little suggestions. Distance. Calm. Those all sounded... not bad.

"Maybe I'll keep it in mind," he settled on, "in case talking doesn't help, you know?"

It seemed tempting. And too easy.

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal nodded. "Whatever you like." He pointed his spatula briefly at Sparkle. "No chickens."

Even if he would be a good one, yes.

[myownface]

"No chickens," Sparkle echoed, wearing a little smile in spite of himself. "They probably have way less on their minds, but the trade-off is that they're delicious."

Sigh, Sparkle. You were never gonna learn.

[sharp_as_knives]

"After which, they have much less on their minds," Hannibal pointed out.

[myownface]

"That's going to just end in me being jealous of fried chicken," Sparkle sighed. "That's a situation that nobody should find themselves in, you know."

[sharp_as_knives]

"It is," Hannibal agreed. "Just remember that fried chicken also has no cats, no music, no fashion, nothing but that taste."

He poured Sparkle a cup of coffee and put out the service with it. The steak was halfway done and smelling lovely.

[myownface]

Sparkle nodded a little, murmured his thanks, and then set about to doctoring up his coffee.

"Yeah, I guess that's kind of a rotten trade-off," he admitted. "I already miss cats, I mean."

[sharp_as_knives]

"There, you see?" Hannibal said. "So, no envying the meat."

You were better than them, Sparkle.