MCA #4, Saturday Morning

[myownface]

Saturday. Saturday was, arguably, the best day of the week. Sparkle could sleep in on Saturdays knowing that Sundays were just around the corner, that he could spend his time relaxing with something to do tomorrow.

... And that he had a built-in excuse to watch Saturday morning cartoons. Which was what he was currently doing, right up until he realized that he was out of Sugar Bombs, and needed to make a run to the store to pick some up. And he was feeling more ambitious than he had last week or the week before, which meant, hey, why not?

He'd be out for a little while, anyway. What could possibly happen before he came home with more sugar?

Elias Atreides	What could possibly happen? What was currently happening was that just outside the door there was a kid with unnaturally blue eyes just digging out a set of lock picks from his pocket. Because Elias Atreides had stepped through a portal and, perhaps surprisingly, done the sensible thing, which was to look for his dads. Or at least one of them. Wouldn't dad be impressed if he managed to break in very quietly?
Sparkle	Yeah, Sparkle really hadn't seen that one coming. Which was hilarious, really. After all, he'd been on the island long enough to know 'the weekend after Prom' was something to keep an eye out for. So when he almost stepped on the kid with the lockpicks, he was actually slightly more surprised than maybe he should have been. At least it was an almost? "Uh, hey, Squirt? You have somewhere you're trying to be?" Sorry, Elias. You'd been busted.
Elias Atreides	"Dad." Elias looked disappointed. "It was a surprise." It would have been a surprise, or perhaps it still was a surprise.
Sparkle	Well, Sparkle was still pretty surprised! He took a few moments to click through all the possibilities (unsurprisingly, the possibility that he actually HAD a kid out there that some girl hadn't told him about didn't even cross his mind), before settling on, "Right. Prom." Oh, Fandom. He offered the kid a quick flash of a grin and then crouched down beside him, nodding to the lockpicks. "Well, what are you waiting for, then? Door still isn't open."
Elias Atreides	The boy looked happy again, and began to fiddle with the lock. It was clear that someone had taught him this well, and soon the door swung open. Elias looked up at Sparkle. "See?"
Sparkle	"Oh yeah," Sparkle agreed, letting out a delighted little laugh and giving a clap of his hands. "I so see. Did I teach you that? I dunno, that was pretty slick, you must've added your own touches, huh?" He already adored this boy with the unnaturally blue eyes. And had a few pretty easy guesses as to who dad-number-two probably was.
Elias Atreides	"I've practiced." He sounded proud. "I'm not sure grandma Irulan knows I borrowed the necklace from her chest yet because she hasn't asked me. You know the big, red chest?" You know the one with the really complicated lock, Sparkle?
Sparkle	Sparkle only kind of knew of it, but that didn't mean he wasn't impressed. He gave a little whistle as he straightened himself up again, grinning down at the boy. "Well, you're gonna want to make sure to get that back to her before she notices it's missing and starts to worry," he noted. "But you already knew that, didn't you?" Any kid of his was going to know that, dammit.
Elias Atreides	"Of course I do." He wasn't stupid. A little curious, Elias continued: "Your eyes look funny." If you lived anywhere that wasn't Arrakis.
Sparkle	"My..." Sparkle blinked, halfway raising a hand toward his face before realizing what the kid must have been referring to. "Oh! They're green!" Which meant that he... lived on Arrakis? Spent enough time there to have the signature blue eyes? Developed a spice addiction? Hooboy. "Yeah, that's not a big deal, I promise," he said, waving a dismissive hand. "This is just one of those weird things that happens sometimes, that's all."
Elias Atreides	Elias had just stepped through a strange portal. He knew strange things happened. "I suppose they'll go back to normal," he concluded, then tried to get a look at what Sparkle was carrying. "What's that?"
Sparkle	Sparkle blinked down at the bag in his hand, and then gave the kid a little, sideways smile. "Basically it's a sugar rush in a box," he shared. "Please tell me I'm the kind of dad who understands that Chocolate Frosted Sugar Bombs are part of a balanced breakfast?"
Elias Atreides	"You always bring those from Fandom!" Elias reached for the bag, then hesitated. "Is dad here too?" You know, the other one. Who sometimes laughed at people with sugar rushes, but who also sometimes got fed up with them.
Sparkle	Sparkle hesitated for a moment. "Noooo," he replied as he handed Elias the bag. "Atton might be home this weekend, but Leto's probably back on Arrakis." A pause. "Though he might want to know you're here. Maybe I'll let him know after we get all messed up on Sugar bombs?"
Elias Atreides	"Atton?" Elias said, holding on to the bag. "Let's see if he gets upset. Can we have breakfast now? And call dad later?"
Sparkle	Sparkle snorted, and then shrugged his shoulders, opening the door and waving toward the kitchen. "Breakfast now, call dad later," he agreed. "Maybe while we're hitting up the park or something, how's that sound?" He suspected that a kid wired on sugar bombs at too-early-o-clock on a Saturday morning was not something that Atton would appreciate, so much.
Elias Atreides	Elias nodded. "Can I have ice cream later?" Ice cream wasn't really a big thing on Arrakis, but it was here, wasn't it? "And play with the flamingos?"
Sparkle	"Absolutely, and... maybe," Sparkle laughed. "Flamingos are great to look at, but they're not the most friendly birds out there. We'll see what kind of mood they're in, okay?" All in all, Spark was a pretty chill dad. Anyway, if you got your ass kicked by a big pink bird, you probably had it coming to you.
Sparkle	"I have a knife! I can protect myself." Elias exclaimed, and the version of Sparkle who actually was his dad would know this was a game and that no birds would get hurt. He did carry a knife though, strapped to his thigh. The boy hurried towards the kitchen and slumped down on a chair, resting his elbows on the table.
Sparkle	"Hey, any kid of Leto's had better be able to protect himself," Sparkle laughed, shaking his head. "Doesn't mean I recommend you go pesternig the birds until they turn on you, though." See, and now he was warned! Great parenting skills! "So," he sauntered over to the cupboard and pulled out two bowls, and then ducked into the fridge for a moment for the milk. "You want anything to drink with this? We have..." ... "Apple juice." And a bunch of more grown-up drinks that he wasn't going to offer to a kid.
Elias Atreides	"I'll have apple juice." Elias didn't seem upset that this was the only option. He glanced around the room. "Do you live here? Why don't you live on Arrakis?"
Sparkle	"Ahh, heh," Sparkle shrugged his shoulders and looked around the kitchen awkwardly before ducking back into the cupboards for cups. "Would you believe you traveled through time and I just haven't gotten that far yet?" It was easier than admitting that he hadn't really decided if Arrakis was for him. Or mentioning Alice.
Elias Atreides	"Traveled through time?" Elias decided that was more interesting than dad seeming awkward, although he did notice. "Do you still have the plants?" That was one of the things he knew from Sparkle's past.
Sparkle	Awwww, kid! "I do," Sparkle agreed, giving him a little grin. "They're in my room. I can show them to you after breakfast. Them and the fish."
Elias Atreides	"Fish? Can we eat it?" Not that kind of fish, Elias.
Sparkle	"Nooooo," Sparkle snorted, shaking his head. "This fish is way too small for eating. It's more... for looking at. Like a tiny friend you can't actually play with." Yeah, that was fish ownership in a nutshell, right there.
Elias Atreides	Elias poured milk into his bowl, then reached for the sugar bombs. "I won't play with the fish, then." Looking thoughtful, he added: "I haven't traveled in time before."
Sparkle	"Nah? I'm kinda surprised. That's a pretty common thing around Fandom," Sparkle mused, taking a seat across from the kid. "Guess future-me is going to have to take you portal-hopping more, huh?" Sparkle, don't give your future alternate reality son ideas that would give future alternate reality you a headache.
Elias Atreides	"Do you think we could?" Elias clearly liked this idea. Sorry alternate reality Sparkle. He frowned a little, thinking. "There are so many places to go."
Sparkle	"Right? Like... I dunno. Niagara Falls. You would not believe how much water there is there," Sparkle mused. "Or maybe just, like, a zoo or something. Maybe a botanical gardens... You know, I took your dad to one of those once?" They'd had some sweet bonding moments over some flowers and stuff.
Elias Atreides	"I want to go and look at seas!" You could do that on this island, Elias. No need for further time travel. "What did you do in the botanical garden?"

[OOC: Preplayed with the fantabulous future_sandworm, who was also good enough to code this up for me! And to be continued in the comments a-la-slowplay!]

Comments

[myownface]

Oh. Well. Sparkle could provide that, couldn't he?

"At the garden? We mostly just looked at plants. Talked about things that reminded Leto of home... that sort of thing." Yeah, Sparkle was wearing a silly little smile, now. "You want to look at seas, huh? What if I were to tell you that Fandom has those, and we just have to walk a little ways to get to them?"

[fremen-eh.livejournal.com]

Elias didn't care about the silly smile. He knew his dads.

"We should go and look at them after we've had ice cream." He didn't mind walking, especially not after ice cream.

[myownface]

Sparkle gave a delighted little laugh at that.

"Aren't you the sneaky one," he teased, grinning at the boy. "We can go get ice cream on the way, if you want. The stuff here is fine, but if you want to have the good stuff, Chilly Boulder is where it's at."

And then they could eat their ice cream on the beach!

Sparkle was the best dad.

[fremen-eh.livejournal.com]

Elias nodded. "We should try that Chilly Boulder place."

His dad often had really good ideas, he had to admit.

[myownface]

Sparkle really was no slouch when it came to the good stuff.

"Well, then finish your cereal and juice, and then we can go for a walk," he decided. "I think you'll like the island, kiddo. At least for a little while."