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Demon Marcus, Sunday

Sparkle was having fun in the clothing store today, putting out a display in the front window with the mannequins artfully arranged in winter gear, having snowball fights with handfuls of carefully balled-up cotton. Mostly it was meant to showcase the gloves and mittens, the winter boots, the hats and scarves and winter jackets, but if he was being honest, he was mostly just having fun posing them out.

Especially the poor one hunkering down in the corner of the display, hands over its head, getting pelted with cotton snowballs relentlessly from the others. He'd almost feel bad for it, if it wasn't a mannequin and he didn't find it so funny.

[OOC: Open!]

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Hernando stopped by Demon Marcus with hope that Sparkle were back from his trip. It appeared he was. Hernando watched from outside the window for a few minutes with an amused smile curving his lips while Sparkle arranged mannequins.

And Sparkle was really in there, making sure that poor sucker in the corner was getting absolutely pelted with fake snow. It took him a few moments before he realized he was being watched, and finally he blinked up.

And grinned. A lot. And waved hello at Hernando through the window.

Hernando waved back with a laugh and went into the store.

"Hello Sparkle. You look like you are having fun. How have you been?"

"You know, I've been pretty okay?" Sparkle smiled and climbed out of the window display, holding his arms open, because hello, hug time. "Hauled Atton off on a vacation, and that actually went pretty well. Now it's back here to the island's weird... like... advent whatever, and that's not too bad either."

Just very festive. Ugh.

"How about you?"

Hernando stepped into the hug and immediately nuzzling in. "That is good to hear! You needed a vacation so I am glad it went well. I am also well. I had my first off-planet travel!"

He was so pleased with this. "Did Kaidan send you pictures? He said he was going to once he knew you were back so it did not eat your data minutes."

"Hey! Welcome to the club of guys from boring Earth who have walked on entirely different worlds and played with kids who aren't even a little bit human," Sparkle laughed, giving him a squeeze. "The pictures were basically the best things ever. I'm sorry I couldn't make it, Krogan kids are, like, stupidly cute. Sounds like you had a good time, though?"

"It was a good time," Hernando agreed with a smile, "Wrex and Bakara were very patient with all of my boring old Earth-man questions as well." His eyebrows went up a little, "Krogan have redundant internal systems. I found out what 'you've really got a quad' means and now I'm a little bit sad I cannot use this expression."

More nuzzling ensued. "Where did you go for your vacation?"

"I am now duty-bound to ask about the quad thing," Sparkle reported, grinning. "And if it's anything like 'you've really got a pair,' then I say you use it anyway, just to confuse the shit out of people."

Because really.

"And we went to a sort of aquatic resort world. Mostly, like underwater hotel rooms, sea life imported from Naboo. We didn't do much touristy shit until it was almost time to come back, but just, like, living in big aquarium situation and watching the sea-life go by while eating room service was pretty great, too."

"It is," Hernando said with a return grin, "exactly like."

Sparkle was terrible and Hernando wouldn't change a thing.

"Did you come home with another fish?" he asked teasingly, "It sounds like a lovely way to spend time. Aquariums are very relaxing." His lips twitched while he restrained a smile, "Usually."

Their last trip to the aquarium had been both relaxing and exciting. He supposed there was possibly less kissing on this particular trip. Though to be honest he felt Atton could use..

Nevermind.

"Ha! I knew it!"

Atton probably could use... but Sparkle wasn't going to be the one to say it. Especially not since Atton was kind of getting out of a second mourning period, courtesy of the island.

"You know, I managed to avoid coming home with a funky spacefish? But I really, really wanted one."

One of the big ones! Wouldn't have fit on the Hawk, though...

Hernando chuckled softly. "Of course you wanted one. I am only surprised you did not smuggle one back with you," he teased.

A big one would be a bad idea. "It was good of you to think of Milady's feelings."

"I think Milady would've taken exception to me potentially ruining the entire ecosystem of the planet or whatever," Sparkle sighed, rolling his eyes exaggeratedly. "Atton sure did. Spoilsport."

"You would not do this," Hernando accused playfully, "You enjoy the sea fishes too much to bring home a fish that would destroy their environment so it is good Atton was there to save you from yourself."

"There was this reeeeeally big thing that was like all mouth," Sparkle whispered. "Like, it wasn't a dragon but it was so cool, Hernando. The animals in Atton's galaxy are fucking insane."

He wanted all of them.

"It sounds a little of the deep sea creatures from here writ large," he mused. "Though large also sounds a problem if your ship is not large enough to transport a tank with all that water and a fish."

Hernando wasn't surprised.

"Yeah," Sparkle sighed, "Atton's ship is big, but it isn't that big. Probably for the best. I'd have to feed it..."

Get eaten. He'd get eaten. Inevitably, really.

"It probably does not eat so convenient a food as flakes," Hernando agreed. He nuzzled Sparkle again with a smile. "You will have to help me pick out other, much smaller fishes from boring old Earth instead."

"I think somehow I'll be able to cope with boring little Earth fishes," Sparkle laughed. "That's fine. They're way cuter anyway."

There wasn't really much from that galaxy that was considered 'cute.' And if it was, it was probably considered a pest.

"I thought an aquarium would be my Christmas present to myself this year," Hernando explained, "Perhaps a small one to start."

Not everywhere could have Siberian flying squirrels.

"Since I have mentioned Christmas, have you plans for Christmas Eve yet? I am having an informal dinner gathering for friends. Smörgåsbord style where people may come and go as they wish. You and Atton are of course invited if you wish to come."

Ah, the holiday invitations began. Sparkle smiled wryly; he'd known it was only a matter of time, after all.

"No plans yet," he replied. "But there's usually a small flood of invitations closer to the day. Christmas Eve?"

Hernando didn't say what he thought of people who left invitations so late. He examined Sparkle's smile for a moment before he answered.

"Yes," he said, "I thought a nice, low key event like Thanksgiving."

A small grimace, "I am not allowing Kaidan to cook. I will have some catering brought in."

They did not need more pies.

"But there was so much pie," Sparkle protested with a soft laugh. "It was great."

There was a moment's pause, and then he leaned his head back in thought. To just suck it up and go with it? Or...

"Can I be, like... really honest about something stupid?"

"Please, I still have pie in my freezer," Hernando shook his head sadly.

He frowned a little bit. "I should hope you always felt you could be honest. If you need my permission for this, then you may have it."

"Sometimes I'm bad at honesty." Sparkle hiked his shoulder up a little. "I'm usually kind of bad at Christmas, too."

He paused, pulled in a deep breath, and then clarified, "I hate it. I've never been given a reason not to hate it. It's a holiday built around big expectations for what always amounted to sweet fuck-all. And, like... maybe two people on the whole damn island have ever figured that out. Halloween? Candy and pranks. Easy. Thanksgiving? Too much pie and nothing good on TV, sure, I can deal. Saint Paddy's day? A little green in the beer never hurt anybody. Christmas? Christmas is, like... it's fucking family. It's school assignments gluing macaroni to tin cans to give to nobody and letters to some imaginary fat man who only comes to kids that somebody gives a fuck about. And it's like two days of the month, but it's the whole damn month and even the island gets in on it and it's everywhere."

But tell the man how you really feel, Sparkle.

"As long as the problem is not such that you think I would wish you to be dishonest for my sake," Hernando said after a moment, "because I do not."

He listened to the small rant and heard the echo of past hurt in it. Much of it resonated with him. Much of it was why he organized such small gatherings for the holidays.

"It is," Hernando began quietly, "an evening of food with friends. People who have no family traditions for the day because perhaps they are not from a place with such a thing as Christmas; perhaps because they did not or do not have families, like I do not. Perhaps as a way to remind myself that I am no longer the kind of kid that, as you say, nobody gives a fuck about. Perhaps as an escape from an entirely too Catholic upbringing where this holiday was made sternly religious."

"Nevertheless," he continued, searching Sparkle's eyes, "It is an invitation. Not an obligation. If you do not wish to attend, I will not be offended or hurt. I will certainly miss your company but that is only because I enjoy your company and would simply arrange a different day to spend time with you."

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Demon Marcus, Sunday

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