The Shooting Range | Tuesday Afternoon

[nottrivial]

It was a mark of Alec's truly impressive disinterest in Fandom goings-on that he'd managed to miss the arrival of the new students without even knowing the picnic had come and gone. He had spent his break week preoccupied with what he considered more important things. Training, mostly. There had been a couple trips to the mainland for patrolling and the like, but for the most part he'd been at the gym and the range.

And the start of the new term of classes did nothing to interfere with that routine, because here Alec was again, halfway through a quiver of arrows that certainly wasn't his first of the day, face glistening with sweat as he fired off one after another. Arrow after arrow pierced the target, forming a tight, compact cluster around the bullseye.

You might even say Alec was working through something.

[[open!]]

Comments

[myownface]

"You want me to tell you about the person who showed up specifically to terrorize me a little," Sparkle ventured, not entirely certain how Alec was going to take the knowledge that it was his sister Sparks was referring to, "or the one who had no freaking clue what was going on when I started freaking the fuck out at her, first?"

Yeah. There were options. Variety was the spice of life.

[nottrivial]

Wow, that was quite a pair of options, yes. They both sounded so fun.

"Um." Yeah, Alec had to think about that one. "Let's go with the second one."

[myownface]

Honestly, Sparkle had kind of hoped Alec was going to go for that one. After all, he had no idea how he was going to get into, 'so, your sister is still a psycho' without it getting... messy? Messy seemed like the word for it.

So he cleared his throat and embraced option number two with a gusto. Or, at least, with a resigned sigh as he leaned back against the nearest wall.

"So, you... uh... remember the dungeon and all that mess, right?"

He suspected that would be difficult for Alec to forget.

[nottrivial]

Alec shifted on his feet - not a typical habit of his, but he was defaulting to it now more because he'd spent four hours exercising than anything.

"Vividly," he agreed. He wasn't sure he liked the sound of where this was going...

[myownface]

"Right. So... reminders of that thing kind of suck, am I right?"

Sparkle was not doubting his rightness. But being casual about this whole thing was a bit of a coping strategy, so that's just how he was going to be.

[nottrivial]

"I'd say so, yes," Alec said quite firmly, then added a little more gently, "Sparkle, I'm not going to judge. What was it?"

[myownface]

"Look, it's not really- I mean, it was just a stupid fucking... It was her, okay? The one that bit me, she came into the store while I was working."

Well. Ish. She hadn't been a vampire when she'd come in or anything. But it was still her.

[nottrivial]

"Oh, Angel." That was a typical Alec swear, not a term of endearment, sorry Sparks. Though the tone, and the fact that he'd surely said it in front of Sparkle before, probably made that clear. "Is she still-- I mean, she didn't attack you again, did she?"

Not that he was rapidly looking for bite marks or other signs of injury, or anything...

[myownface]

Sparkle squirmed a little and shook his head, though he did stretch his neck out a little to show Alec that he was still in one piece.

"Nah. She stayed in the doorway and I just kind of yelled at her until she went away," he replied, glowering down at the floor. "Gave me her name, said the vampire that did it was... I dunno, some other her or something, and that one's dead?"

He had been a bit busy freaking out at the time to really pay attention to all of the particulars.

[nottrivial]

"It's possible, I guess," Alec said, but the look of worry hadn't gone away from his expression. "But that's also the exact easiest lie she could have come up with if she was making something up. Do you want me to follow her?"

It was, technically his speaking, sort of a little bit his job. There was a chance that he was going to do it regardless of what Sparkle had to say.

[myownface]

"If you want," Sparkle replied, shrugging again. "It was daylight, but she knew what I was talking about. I dunno. She said her name was Dinah."

Last name. There had been a last name.

"L-something." Yeah. That summed that up nicely. "Said she was leaving the island again today, though. Dunno where."

[nottrivial]

Alec furrowed his brow. "So not a student, then," he guessed. "An alum?"

It was sort of obvious, at this point, that Alec sort of lived for this kind of thing.

"I'll look her up," he said firmly. "Just-- tell me if she bothers you again?"

[myownface]

Sparkle shrugged his shoulders a little and nodded, kind of dismissively. There was that part of him that was hugely flattered that Alec cared enough to look into this for him. And then there was that ever-present chewing feeling in the back of his head that kept saying that he shouldn't have to.

"Yeah. Yeah, if I see her again, I'll let you know," he replied. "Thanks."

He was kind of oozing forward to solicit another hug. Because.

[nottrivial]

It wasn't even just about this being Sparkle: Alec had a duty that involved disposing of vampires who attacked humans.

But at the same time, a lot of his interest in the matter was because it was Sparkle.

He set his bow down in time to return the hug tightly, rubbing small circles on Sparkle's back. "Just... I'll fix it," he mumbled, barely aware of saying it at all.

[myownface]

There was a bit of an awkward silence before Sparkle sighed into Alec's shoulder, and then he modded.

"I know you will."

And then, because he couldn't imagine whining about Alec's sister too, now that he was feeling good and small and kind of stupid for being so upset about something that hadn't amounted to anything, he gave Alec a quick squeeze and leaned back, a forced smile on his face.

He was getting damn good at smiling when he was screaming inside.

"You know, it's been a while since I've picked up a bow," he shared. "Wanna give me a refresher course?"

[nottrivial]

"If you don't mind that I smell like someone who's been practicing for four hours," Alec disclaimed immediately, even as he took his time about dropping his arms to his sides. "Here, let's get a quiver on you."

[myownface]

Sparkle gave another nod not mod like I typed in my last ping what and kind of mulled about for a minute before looking for another quiver.

"I don't mind the smell," he shared. "I mean, normally it would be fucking disgusting but on you it's... just you. I mean, it's not like you never shower or anything. I'm not saying you stink." Except that he kind of did stink at the moment. "It's Alec-smell. I like it."

Yeah, that was very eloquently said, Sparks.

[nottrivial]

It sounded weird, sure, but Alec still smiled. "Thanks," he said after a minute. "...I think."

Yes. Thanks.

"You smell good, too," he added. "Like matches, and the city. And... whatever you put in your hair, a little bit."

[myownface]

"... Hair gel?" Sparkle smirked a little at that reply, grabbing a quiver and idly poking through the arrows. "Now you have me wondering what part of the city I smell like, you know."

After all, he kind of grew up in the armpit of Toronto. It smelled appropriate for that expression, too.

[nottrivial]

"Not that Gap we went to," Alec said with certainty. "The whole opposite part of the city from there. It's hard to explain."

[myownface]

Sparkle still sometimes contemplated burning down that Gap.

"You're going to have to take me there sometime," he decided, giving Alec a sidelong glance as he shouldered the quiver. "There any good places to eat on that side of the city that I smell like?"