Through the Mail Slot

It was dark. Of course it was dark. Dark was the best time to do this sort of thing for so many reasons. Because the cover of night would make it easier to bail without getting caught. Because what they were about to do would be so much more impressive to watch in the dead of night.

Because it seemed fitting, maybe.

Sparkle came from one side of the yard, Raine came from the other. They met in the middle, under the large sugar maple in the front yard, and they leaned in and wrapped their arms one another, holding on tightly for a few moments like soulmates who hadn't seen one another in ages. And then they both reached down to pick up the gasoline cans - Sparkle had provided them after Raine had made her suggestion - and started pouring.

( The last of Habitat canon! It's all a free-for-all from here! )

[OOC: Yep! The last of Habitat canon that I'll be touching on, taken from the last few pages of the script. Estaaablishy. OOC is welcome if people want to get a good, 'Oh, Sparkle' in, though.]

It was late October in Toronto. Halloween was right around the corner, and winter was just beyond that. There was a crisp chill in the air outside and the leaves had turned all manner of reds and oranges and yellows, and on his way out of the house on Mapleview, before Lewis had carted any kid from the home who was interested in speaking, or at least watching the proceedings, Sparkle had noticed that the large sugar maple out front looked a little bit like it was on fire, with the brilliant orange cresting up over the group home's roof.

City Hall, on the other hand, was a looming mass of cool grey architecture that put Sparkle half in mind of some of the more understated towers on Coruscant, like Toronto had taken a cue from some long ago galactic civilization they had no idea even existed. The inside, meanwhile, at least tried to look a little warmer, but there was nothing really comforting about having to watch people get up, one at a time, to talk to the city's counselors to try to explain what it was about the current situation that they simply couldn't abide by. Lewis and his kids had been seated in the raised seating on one side of the room, behind the city council seating. The neighbourbood folks who wanted them gone were on the other side of the room, staring hard back at them as one by one, the kids stood to say their piece.

Sparkle kept sitting. He already knew there was nothing he could say that would hold any weight over these people. Nothing in the world he could do that would make even a bit of difference.

So he let Raine talk instead. She was the last one to say her piece, and there wasn't a single thing he could add to any of it that these people would take seriously. Though, funnily enough, the one person on the other side of the argument who might wasn't there.

[OOC: I'm leaving this open for anybody who thinks they might have gotten an invite from Sparkle to show up as moral support to come along and get a feel for the situation. There is a pretty uncomfortable admission from Sparkle's legal guardian about his feelings for Sparkle in there, if you'd rather steer clear. OCD is up, either way.]

It was so late at night by the time Sparkle got back from his usual Coruscant trip that it might as well have been the next day. It was dark, so dark, except for the stars and the moon overhead and the yellow-white glow of the streetlights filtering into the backyard, where, at a glance, Sparkle could see Lewis out on the park bench, having a cigarette. His breath caught for a moment, seeing him there. And then he nodded a little, making up his mind.

( Here is where shit gets uncomfortable. Cut for Sparkle being totally and unquestionably inappropriate at his legal guardian. )

[OOC: No, really, that canon chunk is meant to be super uncomfortable and Thompson HIT THAT OUT OF THE PARK. Oh god, Sparkle, no. Stop. Establishy, unless you have someone who's going to visit or call at this hour?]

Sparkle did not want to have this conversation. Sparkle did not fucking want to have this fucking conversation. But here was Raine, pushing for it, and here he was, taking a 'hard nope' stance as he stubbed his cigarette out on the patio railing in the backyard.

( Cut for canon descriptions of domestic abuse and uncomfortable Sparkle making Bad Life Choices re: his legal guardian stuff. )

[OOC: More Habitat! And yeaah, here's about the point where canon starts getting good and messy and a bit squirmy. Open for texts and phone calls, otherwise Sparkle will be around to thread with in person in time for the BDE.]

Sometimes it didn't matter what the hell else was going on in the world, everything still seemed pretty okay. If you just took a breath, and didn't think too hard, and you had someone around who wasn't afraid to act like a complete moron while making horse sounds with his lips, you could almost pretend that things didn't suck out past the front door.

"Horse," Sparkle proclaimed, clapping his hands as Lewis reared up onto his knees, and then fell back down to the floor again. "You're a horse! Okay, now me!"

( Sparkle dropped down to all fours... )

[OOC: Open for phone calls! Plunking through another page of canon, because I have to give the kid some happy funtimes too, right?]

Sparkle hadn't even stuck around after he'd woken up in a hotel room this morning. He'd taken one look around, and then dialed Portalocity so fervently it had been a wonder he didn't break his phone. And nobody could blame him for it, either, so help him. That was the second different future version of himself he'd looked through the eyes of, and this was the second time those eyes were the eyes of a guy who had spent all too much time in prison.

It was good to be back in Toronto. Even if he couldn't remember the specifics of a lot of the weekend, he knew damn well that he'd rather be here right now than on the island. And there was a new girl showing up to the home tonight, which meant that they had to do their ritual greeting.

( He'd barely made it into the living room with his tin whistle in time to start playing. )

[OOC: NFB for distance, chock-full of establishy canon bits, and lifted pretty much directly from Habitat. Open for phone calls or whatever, but for SP because bedtime is almost upon me!]