MCA #4, Tuesday Evening

[myownface]

Sparkle was frowning at his phone as he looked, not for the first time, at the text that Atton had sent him yesterday. It said, ever so helpfully, a nice, straightforward, NOT DEAD. Sparkle, being Sparkle, had texted back and equally straightforward, ASSHOLE. Because goddammit, Atton, you didn't have to fucking scare him like that, okay?

At least today he had a pretty good distraction all lined up. Company to cook for, which meant that he was at least somewhat distracted from his worry by things that needed to be chopped and simmered and actually watched, because like hell he was going to burn down the apartment the very first time he decided to cook something for Leto.

It wasn't anything super fancy. Not really. He was a decent cook but he was no Dr. Lecter or anything, after all. And honestly, he didn't trust himself enough tonight to try anything more complicated than a pasta dish. But spaghetti was hard to mess up, and chorizo made anything good. Mostly anything good. It definitely made spaghetti good, anyway.

He looked at his phone again and screwed up his face at it before he tucked it back into his pocket. Leto would probably be here soon, and there was sauce to stir.

[OOC: Expecting one!]

Comments

[future_sandworm]

Leto didn't have much experience with apartment kitchens, but he just leaned against the wall, not really out of the splatter zone. He had been helping with the cooking in Sietch Tabr together with Hania; it wasn't like he couldn't deal with that.

"Should we start drinking that now?" he asked, gesturing at the bottle. "Or is it supposed to strickly go with the dinner?"

[myownface]

"I think since it's just the two of us, we can make up the rules as we go," Sparkle decided, detouring briefly to pull two glasses from the cupboard. "I'm curious about it, and where's the fun in waiting, right?"

[future_sandworm]

Leto hardly thought Sparkle would ever consider that kind of etiquette important, so he had assumed they would agree on this. He reached for the bottle and looked around for a corkscrew.

"There's nothing fun in waiting, is there?" Leto smiled, half to himself.

[myownface]

"Well, some waiting can be fun," Sparkle noted, and then gestured with his stirring spoon to the drawer with the corkscrew in it. "It just depends on what you're waiting for. And how you frame it."

[future_sandworm]

Sparkle was right in that, of course, but it was more fun to question it. "Oh? And what would you like waiting for?" Leto asked, rummaging through the drawer and continuing to open the bottle.

[myownface]

"Oh, you know," Sparkle mused, taking the lid off the sauce so that he could give it a stir and turning a smirk toward Leto over his shoulder. "Anything with a worthwhile payoff. A little bit of suspense makes that sort of thing a lot more enjoyable, you know? Like you had to earn it."

[future_sandworm]

Pouring the wine, Leto grinned back at Sparkle. "Yes, I suppose. But how do you know it's worth your effort?"

[myownface]

"I guess I have to keep good faith that it will be," Sparkle laughed. "Or keep company with the kind of people who make it worth the effort."

He set the spoon down again and turned to grin at Leto outright.

"Fortunately, I do know people who are good at that."

[future_sandworm]

"That is fortunate." Leto returned that grin, offering Sparkle a glass of wine.

[myownface]

Sparkle accepted that glass with a grin, and immediately lifted it into the air.

"To people who are worth the effort?"

[future_sandworm]

"To people who are worth the effort," Leto agreed, smiling at Sparkle. "I know a few of those myself. And I suppose I can be patient when I have to." He sipped the wine and took a moment to consider the taste.

[myownface]

"See, sometimes worthwhile," Sparkle decided, and then took a sip of the wine, himself. "... That's not bad."

A beat.

"Maybe if we let it breathe for a bit?"

Something else that was made better with patience, right there.

[future_sandworm]

"Breathe? Clearly I know even less about wines than I thought," Leto said. "But I will trust your judgement. And rely on your patience," he added with a laugh, putting the glass down on the counter, and peeking into the pan while casually wrapping an arm around Sparkle's waist.

[myownface]

Sparkle smiled and hummed a little at that, leaning back against Leto while he stirred.

"See, it's nothing really fancy," he shared. "It's just simmering now, to let the flavours mix. And the noodles are..."

From a box. Sparkle didn't make spaghetti from scratch, no. He wasn't fancy enough to have the equipment for that just yet. Either way, he was dumping them into the boiling water in the other pot, there.

".. On the way."

[future_sandworm]

Leto had only eaten take-away pasta before, so even cooking noodles from a box was a new experience for him. "It smells good," he said, smiling. He felt happy, comfortable, present in the moment; the way he usually felt in Sparkle's company. Leaning close, he gave Sparkle a quick kiss on the neck, just to express that feeling.

[myownface]

And Sparkle gave a bright little grin, leaning his head back a bit just to look at Leto and share that smile with him.

"Well, good," he decided, resting his head back against Leto's shoulder. "Hopefully it tastes as good as it smells."

[future_sandworm]

"I see no reason why it shouldn't." The closeness felt good and Leto made no sign of moving away. "Did I tell you that Ghani is home for the summer?"

[myownface]

"Oh, hey, I didn't know that," Sparkle replied, his smile mellowing out a bit. "It must be good to have your sister nearby again, huh?"

It also, he realized, meant that Leto had one less reason to visit the island more regularly. He wasn't sure how he felt about that, though the fact that Leto was here right then helped alleviate some of the immediate worry. Actually, now was the best time to tell him that sort of thing. It was difficult to slip into old abandonment issues when the person in question was leaning up close like that.

[future_sandworm]

"Yes," Leto said with a smile. "Yes, it is." He was about to elaborate on that when he thought he sensed a reaction in Sparkle. He didn't know whether it was a conscious one or not, so he didn't ask, but he brushed his lips against Sparkle's cheek again.

[myownface]

Sparkle gave a happy little sigh at that, relaxing a little bit when Leto kissed him. Right, okay, he was being weird, that was all.

Still...

"So, uh, I know it's silly to ask if you'll keep visiting when you're standing right here..."

But see above re: abandonment issues.

[future_sandworm]

"Why wouldn't I?" Leto asked. If he hadn't noticed something before the question would have surprised him, for exactly the reason that he was here, and Ghani was on Dune.

He guessed, however, the reason for the question. It was a sign of trust that Sparkle asked. "I don't make new friends often and it would be stupid of me not to visit them," he added, hoping that would be comforting, and squeezed the arm he had wrapped around Sparkle tighter.

[myownface]

It was a comfort, actually. Sparkle nodded a little, processing that, and then sighed and leaned against Leto that tiny bit more.

"I figured that was what you'd say," he decided. "Sometimes I guess it's just good to hear."

[future_sandworm]

"And you do have an invitation to visit," Leto added. "Which I look forward to." He did. Sparkle always looked at things in ways that surprised him, so apart from good company there would be that too.

Sparkle's question made him think though, and after considering it for a moment, he added: "Is something bothering you?" There was, he knew that, with a friend dead and Atton missing, but he was referring more to other things, and hoped Sparkle would understand what he meant.

[myownface]

There were always other things, but in this particular case, the dead friend and Atton vanishing were just bringing out old issues. Sparkle pursed his lips a little, and then straightened up and looked down at the sauce. Yeah, that needed another stir right then, even if it didn't.

"Kind of? I mean, I guess. I know it isn't something that's really... like..." He frowned, trying to put words to it. Leto was one of those people on the very short list of people that Sparkle didn't want to lie to, but that didn't make it any easier to admit out loud. "Fuck, I don't even know how to explain it without sounding needy. And I'm not that. God, I am so not that. I just overanalyze things sometimes. Look at all the ways the good things might fall apart. You expect the worst, you can't be disappointed. Even if you know better, I guess. Hard habit to break."

[future_sandworm]

Leto was most likely also the person on that list that was most difficult to lie to. Not that he would question if Sparkle did. Everyone was entitled to their secrets. That Sparkle didn't was a sign of confidence, of showing vulnerability, and Leto considered how to respond.

What Sparkle described was very familiar, although not as much from his own experiences as from all the memories inside. Fear of loss had followed humanity for a long time, after all.

And there had been his father.

"What did you lose that you don't want to lose again?" Leto asked. The more abstract response wasn't hard to guess, but Leto wondered if Sparkle wanted to share the details.