fandomhighdorms | Second Floor Common Room, Monday Evening

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Second Floor Common Room, Monday Evening

Sparkle had literally no freaking clue what he'd just walked in on. He'd been headed to the common room with scavenging somebody else's leftovers in mind, and he'd gotten pretty immediately distracted by the weird vision of the guy in the crazy mask and long, floppy coat.

Really, he had no idea what amused him more. The fact that the guy seemed to be directing some sort of movie in here, or the fact that he was pretty sure the guy had been doing drugs at the time. Never mind the fact that whatever he was directing was named something as completely ridiculous as 'Fandom Chicken.'

"YOUR CLOSE UP WAS BEAUTIFUL, BUT I MAY NEED ANOTHER SHOT SO THAT WE CAN GET YOU FROM A BETTER ANGLE."

... Sparkle was going to leave the leftovers alone and make himself some popcorn. Whatever the hell was going on here, it was comedy gold.

Hell yes, he was taking notes.

[OOC: Open! Because I had to dredge up Fandom Chicken for this BDE. I had to. Blanket permission granted for anyone who wants to quote Valentine if they tag in. I can't vouch for the other thespians who were involved in that glorious trainwreck, of course.]

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"Yeah?" Sparkle glanced up at Flick, eyebrow raised. "I'm not a fan. Like, I don't even care if they think they're superior to everyone else. That word turns it around, it's not just that they're better, it's that everyone else is... I don't know. Fucking dirt or something."

Sparkle had heard a lot of words for that same sentiment over the years. He didn't take kindly to any of them.

Flick could see that way of thinking. And he'd come from a similar background where words were hurled at him that made him feel like lesser or inferior or whatever.

"You dated the guy though," Flick said carefully. "Did he call you that while you were dating? I mean, I can see that being pretty messed up, yeah. I would have hoped he'd shut up about that if you guys were exclusive."

"Alec didn't," Sparkle grumbled. "Took him a while even after we started seeing each other to stop using 'mundane,' because he knew how much it bugged me, but not 'mundie' like that."

Ugh. Could he just bury himself under his popcorn and never come out again or something?

"Most of this stupid mess is about his sister, and he's not going to stop having a sister, and he and I aren't going to ever see eye-to-eye about it. He scared the shit out of me that weekend, coming into the store looking like her, and figured I was blowing everything out of proportion. I don't even fucking know if I am or not anymore. I hate when people have me second-guessing myself. I hate it. If I feel a certain way about something, it's for a reason, damn it."

Survival, generally. Feeling intimidated by things that could snap you like a twig was one of those human responses to things that could, oh, snap you. Like a twig.

"The sibling bond is pretty strong," he said after a second or two of thought. "And I'm definitely not dismissing how you feel but I basically hero worshiped my younger brother. And I've spent most of my life trying to get revenge for him dying when he was too young. I basically told myself I'd do absolutely anything to avenge his death. Didn't care if it was bad, good, legal, or illegal. I was gonna do anything for him."

He sighed and closed his eyes. "Jude isn't Isabelle, I know. Totally different people but I can...see how Alec could be that dedicated to his sister. I wouldn't want to wish not having a sister on him because it sucks losing someone like that. Again, you're not wrong to feel how you are, Sparkle. And I know Isabelle enough to know she's intimidating at times but I just remember how I felt about my brother and how many stupid things I did for him and I dunno..."

It was a lot of words and he trailed off and shrugged.

"Barely knew my sister," Sparkle sighed, glowering at the floor. "Carla was older than I was and spent more time playing damage control than anything. I try to think about her, and I just see us up on the roof..." He scowled a little more deeply. Shook his head. "Fuck, I'm not saying he's wrong, either. Of course he's going to take her side. Just, it'd be nice if he didn't automatically assume I was making shit up about her or even trying to turn him against her. Like, fuck, I'm not good enough to date her brother, fine. I'm probably not good enough to date anyone's brother. I'm shit. Sure. I don't have to appreciate the times she cornered me at work to make sure I remembered that fact, either."

He was going to give up on the popcorn for the time being.

"So, it's not going to work. Better I know that now... Sorry about your brother, man."

"You're not shit, Sparkle," Flick told him, shaking his head. "You're not. And I get how you're feeling. It's not something I've dealt with in awhile but yeah, I get the want of someone maybe not agreeing with you but seeing it from your side. Not automatically assuming the worst."

He sighed.

"And thanks. Jude's in a better place. And I did get the revenge I wanted eventually. Sort of. My dad took him away from me. Absolute worst feeling in the world. And he was the one who made me feel like I wasn't shit when everyone else was pretty sure I was. When he died, I pretty much lost my mind. Still haven't gotten it all back."

Sparkle was starting to feel like maybe he wasn't drunk enough for this conversation. He didn't usually just sit and pour it all out at people. Hell, he was pretty sure nobody else on the island even knew he had a sister. But talking about Jude made things easier. Gave him some other direction to latch on to.

So he was going to.

"Did revenge help?" He glanced back toward Flick curiously. "I mean, obviously it didn't bring anyone back, but did it help you?"

"Not completely but I don't regret what I did," Flick said, shrugging a shoulder. "It gave me some peace of mind but it brought up other problems that I'm still dealing with."

He shrugged.

"And yeah, it didn't bring Jude back but he spent so much time protecting me when we were kids that I couldn't just ignore things now."

"Makes sense," Sparkle decided. "Someone spends that much time sticking their neck out for you, you don't just roll over and let something happen to them and go on with your life."

At least where that was concerned, Sparkle got it. There weren't many people he was really fiercely loyal to, but he'd go at anyone like a junkyard dog if they tried to hurt that small handful, and screw the consequences.

"I'll still never forgive myself for not being there when he died but doing what I did helped some," he said, shrugging. "He's still dead, though and I'm alive. Not what I wanted."

"Life. Fucking kids over since the day they were born." Sparkle gave his head a shake, went rummaging through his pockets and pulled out a lighter and a sparkler. "The day we actually get everything we want..."

He turned the sparkler over in his hands, still unlit, and gave a wry smile.

"Either we'll be dead, or the island will really be screwing with us."

"You gonna start a fire?" Flick asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Fire's calming," Sparkle replied with a shrug, taking his lighter to the sparkler. "Anyway, these things are harmless, and I'm not in the habit of burning down the roof over my head."

He watched it burn for a moment, and then turned a grin toward Flick.

"I was named after one of these stupid things, you know?"

"So, Sparkle's your actual name?" Flick asked curiously. "Only reason I ask is because Flick's just something I go by for the most part. Not the name on my birth certificate."

"Weird name, right? I blame whatever painkillers they had my mother on at the time." Sparkle shrugged his shoulders and smirked a bit. "It works, anyhow. Same as Flick. A name's just the thing you go by, anyhow. If Flick feels more right, then why the hell not say it's your name? Paperwork means shit, for the most part."

"Good point. Good name too," he said, nodding. "And yeah, Flick's something I go by because I'm still not really on good terms with my actual name."

As in he hated hearing his father's last name attached to his first name. But, he was trying to get used to because of his brother.

"Can't blame you," Sparkle replied with a shrug, offering his Sparkler to Flick. "There's a reason I don't use my last name, like, anywhere. I have no use for it."

None. At all. What would be the point?

Flick took the Sparkler and gave it a wave in the air for no good reason.

"Yeah, it's just a name," Flick said, nodding. "If I don't like, I'm not gonna use it. And the school's administration at least seems to respect that. Not forcing me into using something I don't like."

"Yeah, they've been weirdly good about that. And about a lot of shit. I still don't totally trust it, it's like it's too damn good to be true. But with a name like Sparkle or Flick, it kicks ass that they just roll with it."

"You shouldn't totally trust anything," Flick said, nodding. "The people I do trust I don't completely trust so I'm not wrecked if something eventually happens. Self preservation."

"Self preservation," Sparkle agreed. "Even if you have heroes, they're going to fail you someday. Not much point putting too much faith in anyone. But, you know... It's nice that it doesn't suck all the time, either."

A beat.

"Just maybe a lot of it."

"A lot of it does."

He nodded his agreement.

"But not all of it. Everything doesn't suck and there's even a few people I actually care about. Big change."

"Weird, right?" Sparkle pulled out another sparkler and lit it, too, watching the sparks crackle away. "I used to be able to say everything did suck. And aside from Lewis back home, nobody in the whole damn word had my back. Even Lewis didn't, sometimes. I mean, of course not. It's his job. Here... I dunno. There are people I like. People keep giving me work, which is weird. I eat three meals a day when I want to and I have a pet. I could get used to this. I shouldn't. But I could."

"Just more proof that you're not shit, Sparkle," he said, half smiling. "People don't give jobs to people they think are shit. I know you've got friends since I listen to the radio. And if it doesn't happen with Alec, well, sure there's other guys out there that you'll give a chance to."

"I dunno, man. It's a pretty limited market."

Still, Sparkle was smirking as he said that, leaning sideways to bump his shoulder against Flick's.

"Thanks, though. You're pretty not-shit yourself."

High praise, coming from Sparks.

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flickofthewrist - 2014-02-04 18:08 (UTC) - Expand

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