Hannibal's house, Monday evening

[sharp_as_knives]

Pizza, Jono wanted for class. So here Hannibal was, testing a number of different cheeses and assorted ingredients to see which went best with the garlic rosemary flatbread he had made for a crust. He was hoping for something palatable, at least.

It probably wouldn't be what you'd had in mind, Jono, but if you knew Hannibal at all, it would be what you expected.

He was going to be nice and bring beer with it, but for now he was drinking wine. Because honestly, pizza!


[OOC: Expecting one, but open for calls, e-mail, and whatnot!]

Comments

[myownface]

"Shaken, yeah, but they didn't touch me," Sparkle replied with a shrug. "Few bumps and scratches and I twisted my ankle getting the hell away from the grenade Atton took the tough one down with, but, yeah. Rescue came before try could vivisect me or whatever."

Sparkle? Not a big fan of being brutally killed. Funny that.

[sharp_as_knives]

Not many people were; that was why it was so much fun to convince them.

"Why were they looking for him?" He wasn't going to ask why Atton had a grenade. This was, after all, Fandom.

[myownface]

"He used to be one of them and deserted, I guess? There was... some sort of war, and I think he joined them because the other guys, the so-called 'light side' left them for dead while their homes were being razed and families were being killed or... something."

He was kind of going with what he'd managed to piece together.

"But those fuckers are crazy, too."

[sharp_as_knives]

"So, there was a war, and both sides did terrible things." Which rather seemed like the definition of a war to Hannibal. "And then Atton left his side. Did they want him back, or dead?"

[myownface]

"Back, I think," Sparkle replied. "But they weren't the only ones. That's where the Jedi guy came in, looking to bring him in to put him on trial for war crimes."

The tone in Sparkle's voice said quite a bit about how fair he thought the trial would probably be, considering the reaction the island's Jedi had to the word 'Sith' alone.

[sharp_as_knives]

"Did he say what those crimes were?" Hannibal asked. "Or what sort of trial he would get?"

[myownface]

Sparkle shook his head a little.

"It was a bunch of other-galaxy history that everyone but me understood," he replied, miserably. "Skywalker made it clear that he wouldn't tolerate any accidents on the way to his trial, so..."

Sparkle didn't have much faith that was going to be respected.

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal frowned. "He had reason to think that was a possibility? How does he intend to make certain it doesn't happen?"

Trust but verify!

[myownface]

"Dunno." Sparkle looked even more miserable, reaching for one of the closest pieces of pizza and picking at it. "Like... Atton came to school on the island for two years. He saved my goddamn life like half a dozen times and I'm supposed to be satisfied that there's some sort of fucking justice going on, here."

There were other things eating at him about this, things that gnawed deep and left him feeling sick, but that was the easiest one to get across coherently.

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal didn't much care for the idea that someone could simply be given up to face justice somewhere else - imagine that!

It wasn't even entirely selfish; children should be protected when possible, and Atton was still a child.

"Tell me as much as you know, please. I will need to speak with Dean Skywalker, I think."

[myownface]

"I don't know, like, anything about the Jedi who took him away," Sparkle grumbled, picking off a piece of crust and stuffing some into his mouth.

Mm. Garlic.

"I just... I mean, I always kind of knew he was hiding from something. He'd tell stories of the nasty shitholes he had to live in before he found his way to the island. But I didn't know he was involved in any war. Not until last week. Skywalker," because Sparkle wasn't going to call him by any sort of respectful moniker again, not after that, "said something about a world burning, Atton said something about his home still on fire. But I don't know. I don't know what role Atton played exactly in any of it."

He scuffed a toe against the floor, and then shifted his weight around so that he was kind of balled up cross-legged in the chair.

"He said something about Revan, and how he followed him. This man who left the Jedi to fight for Atton and his people when they were being slaughtered, because the rest of the Jedi wouldn't lift a finger to do it. I can't blame him for that. Nobody can blame him for that, can they?"

[sharp_as_knives]

"I certainly can't," Hannibal answered honestly. He shook his head. "Whatever crimes your friend may have committed, it worries me that he was surrendered to anyone with so little guarantee of his safety. It would seem to me the school has a duty to him to do better."

Not to mention, he was quite curious about what Atton might have done.

[myownface]

"Right? Like everyone always goes on about how the island is this fucking wonderful place to go for a fresh start, but when that's what people are actually there for, they'll get thrown to the wolves on the say-so of some total stranger."

Sparkle totally wasn't putting himself in those shoes. Honest. Much.

[sharp_as_knives]

"I will speak to Dean Skywalker about it," Hannibal promised. "While it's likely there will be little we can do about your friend's arrest, I should feel better with some assurances as to his safety and the fairness of his trial. At the very least, his friends should be able to visit him and speak on his behalf."

[myownface]

Sparkle was pretty sure that wasn't how it worked with the Jedi. The guy hadn't exactly left a forwarding address or anything, and between what Atton had told him about them and what he'd seen just before the inquisitor had marched Atton away, they really didn't strike him as the sorts to care much about outside opinion.

"You'd probably get better luck getting anything out of him than me," Sparkle mumbled. "I don't get it. Missing the history and all."

It was pretty clear from the bitter note in Sparkle's voice as he paraphrased Sia snapping at him that he really didn't give a rat's ass about history. Not where Atton was involved, damn it.

[sharp_as_knives]

"I doubt I will, either," Hannibal answered with a shrug. "But often people in a position of authority are more willing to speak with other adults, unfair as that may be. And I can be very persuasive," he added.

[myownface]

Sparkle nodded miserably.

"You're not some snot-nosed city punk who'd been up all night hiding on a warehouse floor with a best friend who was bleeding out nearby but wouldn't accept any help," he mumbled. "You're... you know. A teacher."

Sparkle would not say 'one of them,' because there was a box he couldn't bring himself to put Hannibal into. Hannibal was most certainly not one of them. Hannibal actually gave a shit.

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal was not "one of them" for a whole host of reasons.

"I would thinking the bleeding friend would have given you extra clout," he noted, scowling, though he wasn't mad at Sparkle for that. "And I am a doctor, you know. You could have called."

[myownface]

"There were armed assassins prowling the streets," Sparkle replied, frowning up at him. "We had to loot a corpse so that Atton could play dress-up as it was. People coming in and out of the warehouse would've gotten us all of the attention we didn't want."

And besides that, Atton didn't trust Hannibal in the least. He'd already shared his opinion of the man with Sparkle. These were things Sparks wasn't going to share right now, though.

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal reluctantly conceded. "Perhaps I should teach first aid next. Did nobody else notice these armed assassins?"

[myownface]

"You mean besides all the Jedi crawling around the place? I don't think so. Cade. Skywalker, Sia. I guess they can't resist a Jedi."

The black-and-white of it was maddening. It's like either side went out of their way to be as little like the other as was absolutely possible. And then they both proceeded to fail at it. Hard.

[sharp_as_knives]

"And what were they doing, while you and your bleeding friend were sleeping in a warehouse?"

Honestly, couldn't they find and kill a few murderers before they got to Sparkle?

Granted, he knew the answer to that, but he was behaving himself.

[myownface]

Sparkle shrugged.

"I don't know," he admitted. "Cade found us by morning and patched Atton up, at least. Cade's good people."

Cade was among Sparkle's favourite people, in fact. Cade could stay.

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal grimaced. "Well, I will certainly ask Dean Skywalker about that as well. I'm aware the island is frequently dangerous, but I should like to think that we are doing everything we can to keep our students safe."

Which included not getting them arrested, if at all possible.

"All of our students."

[myownface]

"Yeah, apparently they draw the line a day or two after graduation," Sparkle grumbled. "Good to know just how fast I'll have to take off after I get my useless piece of paper handed to me next year."

[sharp_as_knives]

"I should hope it isn't useless, nor that you will feel the need to leave," Hannibal answered. "Although after this, I would certainly understand if you did. Still, I will speak to Dean Skywalker. And please know, whatever the school may decide, I have no intention of judging you by past mistakes."

[myownface]

See? This was why Hannibal was pretty much the best teacher in the school, if you were to ask Sparkle.

Ender and Electroclash were closely tied at second, because they both seemed willing to give him a chance to... to whatever. To Sparkle. But Hannibal was there. He hadn't left, and he knew Sparkle well enough to know exactly what challenges he needed thrown at him, when.

"I'll probably stick around for a bit after grad," Sparkle relented. "It's not like I don't have work to keep me occupied or anything. But... you know. The island isn't this safe place to start over that everyone says it is. Not when it doesn't suit the judgment of one person who doesn't agree with where you've been."

[sharp_as_knives]

Please; once Hannibal decided he liked you, the problem was in getting rid of him!

"I'm glad to hear you'll be around." Hannibal nodded. And he would definitely have a word with the dean.