MCA #4, Tuesday Morning

[myownface]

Sparkle had fashioned a little trauma fortress out of the bathroom. It had every houseplant he could carry, his stuffed cat, a fish, and a small mountain of Pop-Tarts, which had mostly been left untouched since he'd hauled them in with him on Sunday night so that he would have something to snack on while he cleaned. And how he had cleaned. He'd cleaned all Sunday night on into a chunk of Monday morning, and at the rate he was going the mirror was going to be so polished that it would develop the ability to see through time or something.

And then he'd settled in for a shower. He hadn't even taken his clothes off, he'd just kind of stumbled into the tub around noon on Monday, and he'd stayed there, scrubbing blood off his hands, off his face, out of his clothes, not really satisfied, not ever feeling clean enough. If he looked at his hands, he could swear there was still blood under his fingernails, and he was filthy besides, and then he'd have to clean the blood out from the tub, too, and--

It was an ugly cycle. He hadn't even thought twice about falling asleep in a ball under a stream of water, fully dressed with the fish tank tucked into the tub next to him, out of the shower's path. It would have been hard to think twice, anyway, since he hadn't really slept in days, by that point and fatigue had finally taken the wheel.

Someday, if he looked back on this year, it would go down as the one where he'd basically given up on trying to function.

[OOC: For one in particular! I'd say open for phone calls, but let's be real, his phone is probably dead in his pocket.]

Comments

[myownface]

Sparkle gave Atton a look that suggested that he was entirely unsurprised. This? This was his not surprised face.

"I mean, veggies are cheaper," he noted, helpfully. Like, the veggie dishes? Cheap. Cheap to make, cheap to buy. Unless you're getting, like, tofurkey. But god only knows why anyone would get a tofurkey."

Hey, he was babbling.

"... Thanks."

[suitably_heroic]

"Don't use the word 'tofurkey' near me ever again," Atton said, waving his phone at Sparkle. "That's all I ask."

[myownface]

"Deal," Sparkle replied, holding up his hands in a little gesture of surrender. "Tofu and turkey can continue living in separate dishes entirely, for all I care. One should never resemble the other. That way lies madness."

[suitably_heroic]

"Tofurkey is the perfect symbol of all the bad poodoo people in this universe do to each other," Atton said. "The only thing that's worse is when they stuff real birds into each other. Get a room, right?"

[myownface]

"I have no idea what it was that the chicken, the duck, and the turkey did to deserve that," Sparkle admitted, frowning a little, and then shaking his head and sighing. "Scratching turducken off the list of words I ever get to say again, too?"

It was fortunate that it weirded him out about as much as tofurkey anyway.

[suitably_heroic]

"Yes," Atton said, with deep commitment. "Just because there's meat involved doesn't mean we have to lose our collective minds and do something that just isn't natural."

[myownface]

Sparkle went kind of quiet again at talk of losing collective minds. But at least this time he was putting on a game little smile.

"I mean, if I have any say in the matter, my mind is gonna stay right where it is. No mind losing over here. No folding one animal into another animal to cook it, unless we're talking about wrapping everything ever in bacon."

Because bacon.

[suitably_heroic]

"Bacon doesn't count," Atton told him resolutely. "Bacon's like... a condiment."

[myownface]

"The only condiment that can really carry a meal all on its own, too," Sparkle mused. "I'd way sooner eat a plate of bacon than a spoonful of mayo."

Even really good mayo.

"... I'm tired."

[suitably_heroic]

Why wouldn't you eat a spoonful of mayo? You heathen.

"I can tell," Atton said, sighing.

He eyed the door. "Food should be here in under half an hour," he said, "Get some of that in you and then go sleep for the rest of the day, all right?"

Shh, mother hen.

[myownface]

Because Sparkle was Canadian, and the Canadian version of mayo was... uh... better served with things.

"Sounds good," Sparkle sighed. "Haven't had a real meal in..."

He squinted a little.

"... Can't remember. Wednesday."

[suitably_heroic]

"I'm going to be a good person and assume that's because the island was a mess, and not because you've been skipping meals," Atton said.

He pushed away from the counter. "You want anything to drink?"

[myownface]

"Tip gave me a granola bar, and I had, like, some of a can of ravioli with Dr. Lecter," Sparkle mumbled. "Apparently there isn't much to eat after the end of the world unless you kill it or grow it yourself."

Or manage to scavenge up a body for jerky. Oh god, he hoped he didn't still have what was left of the jerky in his pocket. He wasn't even going to look until after sleep.

"If the world ever starts going to actual hell, remind me to, like, figure out how to grow fucking... strawberries or something... without power or sunlight."

[suitably_heroic]

"Yeah," Atton said, after a beat, "I'll make sure you grow strawberries in our second floor apartment. That'll be something."

[myownface]

Sparkle ever so maturely stuck out his tongue.

"Won't you be impressed when I figure out how, then. We'll eat better than... like... everyone. With strawberries." Oh, Sparkle. "Or potatoes."

Well... at least they were easier to grow than strawberries.

[suitably_heroic]

"Just don't track dirt all over the house," Atton said, sighing.

[myownface]

"I mean, if the world is ending, the flooring probably isn't going to be our biggest concern," Sparkle pointed out. "Anyway... you've seen me clean."

It was a miracle the bathroom was still standing. One of these days the cleaners were going to just, like, melt it.