Toronto (But Not Sparkle's Toronto), Thursday Evening

[myownface]

So, for a couple of days now, Sparkle had been kind of just going with the flow, figuring that whatever this intervention was meant to accomplish, Hannibal would probably figure he'd gotten it off his chest sooner or later. Monday had been full of eventful conversation, and after that had been through, Tuesday and Wednesday had been all about self-care. It was hard to focus on much else in the wake of a talk like that.

So today he'd been more or less willing to just roll with it when Hannibal had informed him that he was calling a cab, and they were going out for a few hours. Sure, Hannibal wasn't telling him where, and that had him squinting a bit, but at this rate he was willing to do just about anything to be able to get out of this damn city.

Sorry, Hannibal. Whatever else it was you were trying to accomplish here, you were never going to redeem Toronto for Sparkle. You just weren't.

"Are we almost there, at least?"

[OOC: For that guy! Be forewearned that I'm gonna be slapping some manner of trigger warning up here at some point. Which I'll do when I know exactly what that warning is gonna have to be. Warning number one is for assaulting and drugging a man.]

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[myownface]

"He wouldn't be around to give anybody else any fucking demons," Sparkle muttered, turning a cold, tired look back to the man on the couch. "There would be that."

He wasn't entirely convinced it would be worth it. But. There would be that.

He crouched down, kneeling on the floor so that he was face-to-face with that strange, too-familiar man.

"I used to tell people I killed you, you know. You and her both. 'Why are you here?' 'Oh, I killed my parents. And I don't even regret it.' I couldn't for the life of me imagine regretting it if I actually had."

[sharp_man]

Hannibal waited, giving Sparkle this moment. This was his to decide.

[myownface]

"And then..." Sparkle huffed a tired laugh. A sob? Something somewhere between the two. "And then they'd leave me alone. For the longest time, that's all I really wanted. Fucking stupid, you know? I want to be the center of attention and I want to be left alone, like, you did that, that was you. Made me fucking afraid of people. Left me starved for somebody who gave a shit, and when they took us away, to protect us from you, they couldn't even keep us together. You cost me the rest of my fucking family."

He exhaled shakily.

"But not you. All you did was cost all of us the chance. Carla would've been somebody amazing, you know. And you didn't even give her the chance."

[sharp_man]

Hannibal watched Sparkle, and listened, but did not interrupt. This poison, this was what they were here to remove. This was a necessary lancing of a boil that had festered too long.

[myownface]

"And you're still living like this," Sparkle muttered, shaking his head. "I wonder if he is, too. If he's still got her living with him. If they had any more kids after we were taken away. God, I hope they fucking didn't. Can you imagine? Having like five kids taken away from you because you're such a shitty parent, and then just turning around and doing it again?"

He snorted.

"Sounds like something you'd do."

He pulled himself to his feet.

"Like something he'd do. You just have his face."

He shook his head and turned to look at Hannibal.

"This was extra shitty of you, you know."

He was too tired to sound like he particularly cared.

[sharp_man]

"Was it?" Hannibal asked. "Why?"

[myownface]

"... Are you fucking serious?"

Sparkle was finding himself torn between just staring at Hannibal incredulously, and picking things up and throwing them at him. He perhaps wisely decided against that second option.

"Bringing me to see him? With no warning?!"

[sharp_man]

"Had I given you warning, you would have refused to come," Hannibal said. "Now you have, how does it make you feel?"

[myownface]

"Like smothering you with a pillow in your sleep," Sparkle ground out. "What the fuck."

[sharp_man]

Hannibal chuckled. "I would rather have your anger than your defeat. If you had to come to Toronto again, could you do it?"

[myownface]

"Could I do it? I'm finding it hard to come up with a scenario where I'll have to come to Toronto again," Sparkle hissed. And then, yes, he was grabbing a dirty pillow from the couch to throw at Hannibal. "Oh my god."

[sharp_man]

Hannibal caught the pillow, still grinning, and tossed it gently back. "But you could do it. And dealing with rebuilding your business?" he prompted.

[myownface]

"Has nothing to do with this asshole," Sparkle muttered, catching the pillow and smacking it back down onto... well. Onto his not-father's head. Because he wasn't going to murder the man, but that was cathartic all on its own. "You want to schedule another Toronto field trip, find me the real deal and I'll bust a few of his teeth out or something."

Sparkle. Don't give him ideas.

[sharp_man]

Hannibal raised an eyebrow. "If you like. And do you still feel you don't deserve the affection and consideration of your friends?"

[myownface]

Sparkle reached up and scrubbed at his face with his hands.

"Did I ever say I didn't deserve it?" Well. He'd avoided saying as much. Which might as well have been the same thing. "Look, I don't know. I just stood here and seriously considered cutting the throat of a stranger with a familiar face. Whatever it is they think I am, I'm pretty sure most of them would be appalled by that."

[sharp_man]

"And yet you didn't do it. This man, who wears such a familiar face, who gave you less of a chance even than his counterpart did, is helpless in front of you, and you did nothing to him but hit him with a pillow."

Hannibal smiled. "I, for one, am very proud of you for that. And I believe anybody that cares for you would be."

[myownface]

Sparkle was at least a little bit sure that this was some kind of bid to get him to warm up to Hannibal a little more. Give him a little praise, and Sparkle would eat it up with a spoon.

He looked at the man lying prone on the couch, and for the life of himself, didn't want to admit that it was kind of working. This was fucked up. He knew it was fucked up.

"S'not all I'm gonna do," he declared, mostly to be contrary. He reached for a few items on the coffee table, pocketed the little baggie and the pipe, and then flicked the lighter to see if it worked before closing it and pocketing that, too. "I'm taking the asshole's weed, too."

Revaaaange.

[sharp_man]

It likely was somewhat twisted, but if it were working, what did that matter? And all interpersonal relationships were manipulation to some extent, weren't they?

In any case, Hannibal was giving Sparkle a proud smile.

"Please dispose of it rather than smoking it," he said. "You don't know what it might be cut with, the sort of thing he could afford. Is there anything else?"

[myownface]

Aaaand now Sparkle was sulking at you, Hannibal. Sulking and looking around before shaking his head a little bit.

"Everything in here is covered in rat shit and he's probably got bedbugs," he muttered. "Anyway, a visit to this guy isn't really the sort of thing you want to take souvenirs of. He's gross. All of this is gross. I'm feeling itchy just being here. Can we just... fucking... leave?"

[sharp_man]

"Of course." Hannibal nodded and waved to the door. "After you."

[myownface]

Sparkle nodded and made his way to the door.

He couldn't get out of that fucking house fast enough.