Hannibal's house, Friday morning

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal had gotten the distinct impression that Atton didn't care for fancy food. He might have gone all out for Sparkle regardless, but today he wanted the focus on the conversation, not the meal. So, he had stuck to a fairly simple frittata with sausages and fresh fruit on the side, and coffee. A lot of coffee.

It was also somewhat later than he generally ate himself, but neither of his guests this meal seemed to be morning people.



[OOC: For the guest, the invited, and the partner if he feels like it!]

Comments

[suitably_heroic]

Atton was perfectly capable of being a morning person, but he liked to give people the impression that he wasn't, so the later time was fine with him. He didn't want to be here any longer than he needed to be, anyway.

So he showed up there exactly five minutes late, jabbing the doorbell once.

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal came to let him in, and nodded politely but briefly. "Please, come in."

[suitably_heroic]

Atton held up the bag. "Got his stuff," he said. "Thanks for getting him out."

At which point he did actually go in.

[sharp_as_knives]

"Thank you for getting that," Hannibal returned. He led Atton to the dining room and nodded him toward Sparkle. "Coffee?"

[suitably_heroic]

"About a bucket of it, if you have it," Atton said, with a sigh.

He needed a second to collect his rage in, like, a not Sithly fashion.

[sharp_as_knives]

"The largest mug I have," Hannibal promised.

Which wasn't saying much, since all his mugs were matched, but the intent was there.

[suitably_heroic]

Atton paused. "...I'm going to need two," he said.

Both for him. Sparks wasn't getting anything today, nope.

[myownface]

Sparkle was... quiet, this morning. Still tired. Processing, mostly. Yesterday had been a long day, and yes, that was his own fault, but it still left him kind of sitting and staring at things.

He was mostly waiting to be yelled at. It seemed easier at the moment than wondering, "What now?"

[suitably_heroic]

Atton dumped the bag of Sparkle's stuff in front of him. "You're an idiot," he snapped.

At least he wasn't going to make Sparkle wait for the getting yelled at part?

[myownface]

Sparkle's jaw clenched just slightly at that. Come on, Atton, tell him something he didn't know already.

"For which part?"

All of it? Was the answer, 'All of it?'

[suitably_heroic]

Atton thought about it for all of five seconds. "Oh, I don't know, everything starting from the part where you set the house on fire. Which, if you were going to do that, you could have at least waited until the heat was off!"

Honestly, he wasn't sure whether he was upset about Sparkle committing these kinds of crimes in general or just not executing them well in particular.

[myownface]

"And wait until after Lewis had sold the place? Fuck that," Sparkle ground out. "We wanted people to know exactly what it was about. That was half the point!"

Which didn't make it any smarter, but at least explained the timing, somewhat.

[suitably_heroic]

"Oh, so you wanted to go to jail," Atton said. "Well, that changes everything!"

No, it didn't. Besides make it even more stupid.

[myownface]

"Yeah, that's exactly what it was," Sparkle snarked. "I wanted to go to jail. Which is why I'm actually in Toronto right now, sitting in a jail cell, waiting for shit like court dates and having heart-to-hearts with my lawyer."

... He had a lawyer. Like, a real one, that cost money.

There were so many things about this that had him baffled.

[suitably_heroic]

"You set fire to a house at the exact time you knew everyone would know it was you, then you stuck around to watch it burn," Atton snapped. "What part of that is not 'angling to go to jail behavior'? And over what? You think those old rich people are going to sit around feeling bad about what they did now? They're probably patting each other on the back for getting a bunch of rotten arsonists out of town before anything worse happened."

[sharp_as_knives]

Sparkle might argue with that, but Hannibal wouldn't. He was, however, going to take the opportunity to set a mug of coffee on the table in front of Atton and move the cream and sugar closer. Perhaps the interruption would give him time to regain a bit of composure.

[myownface]

"Because he wouldn't even talk to me," Sparkle yelled back, ignoring the coffee, feeling everything just boiling up in his chest until he had nothing left but the need to yell. "Because he told the entire fucking world that he went to bed at night thinking about what he wanted to do to me, he cost everyone a home, and when it was all over, he wouldn't even acknowledge I was fucking alive! I don't care about the rich assholes down the street! They were congratulating one another already, it isn't like this is going to change that!"

For Raine, maybe it was about making a statement.

For Sparkle, it was more like a scream.

[sharp_as_knives]

"Drink your coffee," Hannibal prompted him.

[myownface]

"I can do that," Sparkle replied, nodding and reaching for his mug. "Sorry... I'm sure it's great. I just kind of..."

He had a lot on his mind. That.

[sharp_as_knives]

"I won't take it as a judgement on the quality," Hannibal promised. "Would you like to talk?"

[myownface]

Sparkle was quiet for a few more moments, trying to find his voice again. Where to even start?

"I don't know what to do."

... That was better than nothing, anyway.

"Can't go back, can I?"

[sharp_as_knives]

"You can," Hannibal corrected. "You have two options." He sipped his own coffee. "You can return and stand trial; with this lawyer, you stand a fair chance of escaping with minimal or no jail time, although of course it isn't certain." He raised an eyebrow. "Or you can remain here, and if you ever do return, it would need to be under an assumed identity, as you will be a fugitive. But they are unlikely ever to find you so long as you don't return to that world."

[myownface]

"... Oh."

God, he sounded small to his own ears. So, so damn small. This was what he'd banked on. This was what he had done to himself, and so long as Raine was safe...

Now it was beginning to feel like maybe not such a great plan.

"Fugitive. That's... Yeah, that's a word..."

[sharp_as_knives]

"It is," Hannibal agreed. "There are other words as well. Home is one. Freedom is another. Certainty is a third. How much value do you place on each?"

[myownface]

"Freedom..." Sparkle shrugged. "I used to know. Spent enough time in juvie I figured I'd rather die than go back to jail again. Home is a really nice concept. I hear there are people out there who actually have a place they think of as that one."

Certainty, though...

"Nothing's really certain, is it?"