Demon Marcus, Sunday

[myownface]

"It's the most wonderful tiiime of the yeeear..."

It wasn't that Sparkle was in denial about what weekend it was or anything, really. Honest. Hell, it wasn't even that he was doing much better today than he had been in weeks. It was just that it was October now. Which meant that he had carte blanche to start pulling out the Halloween decorations. He was getting into the groove of it, here. Fake cobwebs, little glow-in-the-dark spiders to go in them... He hadn't gone so far as to replace all the mannequins with skeletons yet, but that was definitely on the docket.

Just as soon as he got some skeletons, mostly.

"There'll be trick-or-treat going, egg cartons for throwing, and hearts full of fear! It's the most wonderful tiiime of the yeeear!"

Just wait until he set up the big bowl of candy.

[OOC: IT'S HALLOWEEN. I mean, in a few weeks, but IT'S HALLOWEEN. Open, OCD-free!]

Comments

[myownface]

Sparkle's reach into the supplies stuttered, and he winced faintly as it did so. Right.

"Could be better," he confessed, quietly. "I guess it takes more than some background noise. Working on it, though."

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal simply nodded and held out a hand for something else to put up. Perhaps a spiderweb would be less messy?

"You know you're always welcome to visit. My office or my home."

[myownface]

Sparkle couldn't read minds, unfortunately, so Hannibal was being handed a few little cloth ghost lights to hang in the window, next.

They were kind of insufferably cute.

"I... Yeah, I know," he replied, the corner of his mouth twitching faintly into a tiny smile. "I guess I don't want to risk wearing out that welcome too badly."

[sharp_as_knives]

They were ridiculously cute, yes. Hannibal shook his head and smiled at them and Sparkle both.

"You never could," he assured him. "And should it ever be an inconvenience at a particular time, I promise I would let you know."

[myownface]

Sparkle nodded, and got right back to fidgeting.

"I don't doubt it," he confessed. "I guess... I don't know. It feels wrong that I can't do this. Like I'm falling short at something that we do like we breathe, and I shouldn't."

It was hard to ask for help with something that he was supposed to be programmed to do with ease.

[sharp_as_knives]

"You're having a problem that is not uncommon, particularly among those who have experienced traumatic episodes," Hannibal corrected, "and you don't have to handle it alone."

He set the ghosts aside carefully and unbuttoned a cuff to roll his sleeve up past the scar. "I don't believe I've ever showed you these before."

[myownface]

Sparkle blinked up at Hannibal, and then... well, then down at the scar. And then he sucked in a breath between his teeth.

"Jeeze... no," he agreed, frowning a little. "That's a new one to me..."

Though it clearly wasn't a new scar, so much.

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal rolled up the opposite sleeve to show the matching scar. "A man tried to kill me. He set me on a wobbly bucket with a rope around my neck, and slit my wrists. In the end, he left me hanging." He smiled ruefully. "Jack Crawford saved my life."

[myownface]

"The one who crashed your last wedding," Sparkle said, his tone growing a little distant as he looked over the stars. "He didn't know yet, then."

Wasn't it great to have a timeframe for those traumas? He chewed his lip for a moment, and then looked up to Hannibal's face again, frowning faintly.

"The guy who got you... he wanted to torture you before you went."

You didn't give somebody a bucket to stand on if you didn't want them to think about what was happening to them.

[sharp_as_knives]

"Jack suspected, but he wasn't certain," Hannibal said. "And I don't think the man who did this knew what he wanted." He waved it off. "He thought he was doing somebody a favor."

He met Sparkle's eyes. "But my point in showing you these was only to say - anybody can experience a trauma. And nightmares, trouble sleeping, as a result. I had both friends and a therapist to help me through it."

He'd still mostly done it on his own, but they had been there if he'd wanted.

"So do you, if you would like the assistance. There is no weakness in asking for help."

[myownface]

Sparkle chewed on his lip. And then nodded a little.

"I... yeah... I think I would. I mean, I think I need it. I'm clawing my way to functional again, but the going is slow."

Painfully slow.

[sharp_as_knives]

"It often is," Hannibal said. "But you're definitely on the right track." He held up the (frankly adorable) ghosts, smiling over them. "Find joy in everything you can."

[myownface]

"Including Halloween decorating," Sparkle mused, and then smiled faintly and reached for a few rubber bats on little strings. "It's the gift that keeps on giving."

Or, at least, it was less disappointing than most other holidays ever were.

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal flicked one of the bats, making it bounce. "For as long as you like."