Demon Marcus, Sunday

[myownface]

Sparkle was at work today!

Sparkle was not getting much work done, mind.

Sparkle was trying to figure out what to do about the gremlin that had parked itself behind the counter. Was it demanding a job? Was it one of the radio gremlins? Did it just really want him to go back there so it could bite him?

Who could know?

[Open, afk until the evening!]

Comments

[sharp_man]

Early in the afternoon, before he began to cook, Hannibal dropped by. He eyed the gremlin, then walked over to Sparkle, keeping an eye on it.

"Should I ask?"

[myownface]

"I mean, you can, but the gremlin probably knows better than I do," Sparkle replied, smiling crookedly. "It's not telling me anything and I'm not gonna be the one to try to oust it if it likes it there, you know?"

Sparkle did not want to start a war with the gremlins if he wound up having to stab the little fucker just to keep from getting bitten.

[sharp_man]

"I believe I'll pass." Hannibal shook his head. He eyed Sparkle keenly. "How have you been?"

[myownface]

"I mean... not too bad?"

...

"Hiding maybe a little."

[sharp_man]

"Only a little?" Hannibal smiled. "That's not bad. I, on the other hand, have been speaking to your boyfriend."

[myownface]

Blink.

Blink blink.

"You have?"

Another blink.

"Wait, which one?"

There were options! Though Sparkle would have to be baffled about how Hannibal might manage speaking to Leto, granted.

[sharp_man]

"Hernando," Hannibal assured him with a smile. "We talked about tea and nothing of consequence."

[myownface]

And now Sparkle was giving Hannibal a bit of a side-eye at that.

"If it wasn't anything of consequence, why are you mentioning it?"

He was on to you, Lecter.

[sharp_man]

Hannibal chuckled. "You've caught me." He'd made it so difficult. "We spoke about you, of course. Were your ears burning?"

[myownface]

"I think they are now, in hindsight. What were you two talking about?"

Did Sparkle sound wary? Yes. Yes he did.

[sharp_man]

Hence Hannibal's making light of it.

"I offered once to write a sort of letter of introduction to Carla, to speak of you and ask for her to meet with you again. Hernando has said you've been considering contacting her again; I wondered if you might want me to write that letter now."

[myownface]

Sparkle was quiet for a few moments before ducking his head a little.

Oh. Okay. Okay okay okay that was good, this was fine. He just needed to remember how breathing went, that ought to be easy enough. Right?

...

Right?

"I... I don't know," he admitted, slowly. "I mean, depending on how things go down, I might maybe need... something. Especially if she gets, like, contacted by lawyers out of nowhere or she reads about me in the paper or something?" A beat. "Something?"

[sharp_man]

Hannibal nodded and put a hand on Sparkle's shoulder. "I could mention that you are intending to bring charges against your former guardian, and your concern for her. It could serve as both a warning and another point in your favor."

[myownface]

And there was Sparkle, falling silent again. Eyes falling toward his toes.

"I'm afraid that might scare her off," he admitted after that pause. "That she'll read 'bring charges against' and just... like... I dunno. Panic. Nope out of it? It's going to be a fucking mess, you know. You know? A fucking mess, and the last thing she needs is to feel like she has to be there for a complete stranger who used to be her kid brother through it."

[sharp_man]

Hannibal shook his head. "Trust that I will be pleasant and discreet about it. She should know from one of us that it will be happening, rather than getting blindsided should a court official, or worse a reporter, show up at her door."

He kept a supportive hand on Sparkle. "If you still wish me to send the letter, you may read it before I send it. Or if you prefer, I will not. This is your decision."

[myownface]

"I'd want to," Sparkle murmured. "I really think I'd want to. Even if it's just so I know what it is I'm trying to live up to after she reads it."

[sharp_man]

Hannibal chuckled. "Nothing other than yourself, I assure you. I'm not about to make you into a superhero." There were quite enough of those in Hannibal's life these days.

"Would you like for me to write a draft and bring it to you?"

[myownface]

"... Yeah," Sparkle replied quietly. "Please?"

A lot?

[sharp_man]

"Of course," Hannibal said. He offered Sparkle a smile. "Do I ever offer anything I wouldn't be willing to do?"

[myownface]

"You haven't yet," Sparkle acknowledged, smiling crookedly. "You're a lot of things. That kind of person isn't one of them."

The kind of person who would totally eat the hell out of someone, sure. But the kind of person who offered something he didn't intend to deliver on?

Nah.

[sharp_man]

Hannibal had standards and morals! They didn't always align with other people's, but he did have them.

"I'll write it and bring it to you, and you can decide from there," he promised.

[myownface]

Sparkle nodded again.

... And then he was kind of oozing in for a hug. Because for all that he had 'eating people' under very much the wrong tickybox on the right and wrong alignment chart, Hannibal was a pretty good hugger.

And the gremlin behind the counter probably wasn't.

[sharp_man]

Hannibal would be proud to know that he'd grown to be better at hugging than a gremlin!

But for right now, he was simply going to give Sparkle that hug.