The Causeway, Sunday Evening
Sparkle bounced on his toes as he waited to meet Hernando on the Causeway for their date. He'd... kind of panicked. Being given a couple of days to come up with something good given the date that Hernando had arranged had left him flailing, and now he was second-guessing basically everything, ever. But it was too late to back out now, even if his choice for the evening was less about art and more about ambiance.
He desperately hoped that the place wouldn't be swamped with kids.
He also hadn't even gotten as far as making dinner reservations.
Tonight was going to be interesting, okay?
[OOC: For that guy!]
He desperately hoped that the place wouldn't be swamped with kids.
He also hadn't even gotten as far as making dinner reservations.
Tonight was going to be interesting, okay?
[OOC: For that guy!]
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Somewhere nearby, there was the mechanical sound of someone's phone camera going off.
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He might have looked ready to throw down, shoulders tense and brow creased while he assessed the situation.
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Hernando turned his head to see why Sparkle had tensed. Something flashed through his eyes for a moment because anyone taking pictures of him was a tiny bit triggery still, but it was only a flicker and then gone again.
The hand at Sparkle's waist traveled up to run extremely possessively over his shoulders. Letting his palm play over the muscles gone bunched and protective.
Nuzzling in toward his ear, he murmured, "Sparkle? What is it?"
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... Kind of a teenage kid, for a start. Sparkle breathed out a little sigh, leaned in for a moment, and then gave Hernando an apologetic little smile before nodding toward the kid.
"Mind if I take a few seconds?"
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Curious to see what Sparkle meant to do about this. Hernando had written it off the moment he had witnessed the age of the boy with the camera. There were truly only two reasons a boy of that age would take pictures of two men kissing and from the boy's blush, Hernando had written off the more aggressive of the two reasons.
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"Hey... got a moment? I'm not going to give you shit, swear to god."
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Hernando walked over to an unoccupied bench and sat down. One ankle lazily crossed over a knee as he waited. For all the boy looked wary, Hernando was not worried. Sparkle was not the sort to harm a child. Even one with the bad taste to get caught.
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He suspected this was not what the kid was expecting, yes.
"Want me to show you how to find it?"
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Hernando laughed quietly. This was almost worth being interrupted for.
Almost.
The boy mumbled something that might've been 'Sorry, yeah, thanks' but it came out in the garbled unintelligible tone of a teenager caught doing something they shouldn't. Almost shyly was the picture called up and the camera offered to Sparkle so he could see it.
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"Oh, hey, that actually looks really nice, with, like, the backdrop and everything. I don't suppose I could get you to like e-mail me a copy of that?" He smiled crookedly. "But, if it's all the same, you know I have to ask you to not put that up on the internet anywhere, right?"
Since he had no idea how Hernando felt about that sort of thing, but he was kind of trying to avoid having anything online that would, say, tip people off about his own actual whereabouts.
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Hernando would be against having the photo online only because he was still edgy about the photos on Dani's phone. Which was still in Joaquin's possession.
He watched Sparkle handle the budding photographer situation with a fond little smile though.
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He glanced back at Hernando with a fond, but kind of wry, smile. Hey, it was true.
"You just have to work on being more sneaky."
If the kid had been a bit older, Sparkle might have suggested a flipside; waiting for a break in the kissing, stepping over, saying the whole scene had been captivating, and asking permission to take the photo. But... kid. There were always going to be creeps out there who would take that one entirely the wrong way, and someone who was maybe fourteen wouldn't necessarily have the life experience to safely navigate a situation like that if it came to it.
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Hernando smiled back at Sparkle shamelessly. He didn't mind people watching. Only pictures.
"No. That wouldn't have been cool," the teen said about Tumblr with his eyes sliding away a little since taking the picture at all hadn't been exactly on the cool side of things. He mumbled something more that might have been a comment or a compliment about the two of them looking good together.
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"Thanks," he said, honestly. And then, after a pause and a little more quietly, he added, "I hope someday you find somebody who you can be just as comfortable with."
No judgement, no assumptions. There were certain things he wasn't ever going to put a kid on the spot about. Not unless they volunteered it first. But it was sitting right there for the boy to take if he needed it.
I see you, kid.
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His fingers moved on the screen to email the picture to Sparkle.
Hernando watched with a fond smile. "You are very good with them," he mentioned.
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A breath and a small shake of his head while he looked up at Sparkle, "Though perhaps it is simply lack of opportunity. There would be little even now. In Mexico."
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He spread his hands.
"Anywhere? I never actually came out, back home."
He'd been outed. By his legal fucking guardian. Thanks, Lew.
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His gaze cut toward the direction the boy had gone, "By doing so, perhaps it will inspire another."
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"You be you," he said, poking him lightly in the chest with his free hand. "Because you're pretty damn great, dammit."
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He smiled, "Come. There are more fishes to be seen."
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