Sparkle just kind of managed to squid his way around Jack even more while she spoke, because there was a lot there, a lot that grabbed him right by the fucking heart, and it was that or start crying and right now he couldn't. Didn't have 'crying' in him, felt almost ashamed of just how close he was dancing to it anyway.

"... Please?" He hadn't even really been aware he was going to talk, but when she made the offer... "Please? Fuck, please? I mean he can't get close he can't touch me he can't but I just... I mean. You get it, right? Like, the ugly shit that's gonna get said you're gonna hear it I'm gonna have to get up there and say it and you get it, right? That I'm still Sparkle."

Because right then, right that very moment, he wasn't feeling very Sparkle.