MCA # -2, Tuesday morning to afternoon

[2_old_for_this]

Peter decided after a few days that he really couldn't stay in the hotel for as long as it took him to get back home. Kanan had said he had an apartment in this place, so it seemed like a good place to start.

The balcony upstairs was tempting, but in the end, Peter went for defensible over picturesque, and took the basement apartment.

He looked around it, thought about staying here, and made a few decisions.

Like that first, he was going to need a bed.


[OOC: Open post! Come meet the new guy!]

Comments

[myownface]

"If there's something nasty in the mattress, you might want to reconsider where you buy your furniture," Sparkle countered, and with another inhale and exhale, he was falling back into his usual relaxed posture. "So, you're joining the big, happy MCA family, huh? Oh no, I'm gonna be that shitty loud upstairs neighbour who decides to get up and clean at all hours of the night."

And who also made the place occasionally smell like dope. Eh. Canadians.

[2_old_for_this]

"That's okay; I'm sort of a night person," Peter reminded him. "Besides, you've got to be at least...what, three floors up? I hope your vacuum isn't that loud."

[myownface]

"Yeah, third floor," Sparkle replied, scuffing his toe against the floor and giving his shoulders a shrug. "How'd you guess?"

It was in the directory, dorkface.

[2_old_for_this]

"We're two floors underground here, and I don't think the first floor has apartments," Peter answered.

[myownface]

"The main floor has one apartment," Sparkle clarified, shrugging. "The basement level just upstairs... who even fucking know what's going on up on that floor. I kind of just stick to the stairwell and pretend it isn't there."

It was a special level of creepy, for a guy who didn't handle 'creepy' so well lately.

[2_old_for_this]

"Oh. Yeah, they weren't really clear on that, besides it being not dangerous," Peter said. "So what brings you down here?"

[myownface]

"Starwell laps," Sparkle replied, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. "I'm training for the Stairwell Olympics."

How he said shit like this with a straight face was anybody's best guess. It wasn't like any of the rest of him was straight, anyway.

[2_old_for_this]

"Is that a summer or winter sport?" Peter asked.

[myownface]

"That depends on how good the air conditioning is in the building," Sparkle decided. "And what the weather is like outside."

A both sport. Clearly.

[2_old_for_this]

"Well, I'd ask you in for a pit stop, but all I've got so far is tap water," Peter said. "And I think there's a dusty mug in the cabinet."

[myownface]

"Heh, nah, that's fine. I go crazy around dust. Let me in there right now and I'll find a way to pull a rag and some cleaning solutions out of thin air and your place will smell like Pine-Sol for a month."

Which wasn't necessarily a bad thing, really. And it kept Sparkle occupied. That was good, right?

[2_old_for_this]

"I think I'll pass, but talk to me once I've lived here for a while," Peter said.

[myownface]

"Your own personal cleaning service? That'll make my roomie happy, anyway. I'm pretty sure he gets weirded out when he can see his reflection in the bathroom tiles."

Of course, Atton also got weirded out by, like, spinach.

[2_old_for_this]

"He doesn't like clean, or he doesn't like his face?" Peter asked.

[myownface]

"He's fine with clean, and I don't think he has a problem with his face. I mean, it's a good looking face."

Well, it was!

"But he's not really, like, prepared for a Sparkle deep clean."

It probably didn't help that Sparkle was always a bit fastidious, but there was a certain point where he wasn't cleaning because it was dirty, he was cleaning because he was running on traumatized autopilot.

[2_old_for_this]

"There's a pun there somewhere, I think," Peter said.

[myownface]

"It's a pun I feel I don't even have to make, considering the fact that the island once turned me into a box of soap flakes for a weekend," Sparkle lamented.

Damn you, Mr. Sparkle.

[2_old_for_this]

"...a sentient box of soap flakes?" Peter asked.

[myownface]

"Nope. Just a box of soap flakes. I was sneezing bubbles for days after."

Thanks again for that, Fandom.

[2_old_for_this]

"Does it do that often? I know you said it's weird, but..."

[myownface]

"Turn people into things? All the time. Just, usually it's living things. I've been a dog a few times, and, like, I don't even really care for dogs all that much."

Cats were where it was at.

[2_old_for_this]

"That doesn't seem as strange as being a thing," said the guy who could turn into just about anything. "Not having your mind."

[myownface]

Sparkle bit his lip, then shrugged.

"It's like going to sleep," he said, finally, "and not dreaming. One moment you're awake, and then you aren't, and when you wake up again you're not really sure what happened in between."

[2_old_for_this]

"That still doesn't sound good," Peter said, looking a bit uneasy. A few hundred years as a warrior and a thousand years in Hell hadn't left him liking being helpless.

[myownface]

"I'm not trying to make it sound good," Sparkle replied, shaking his head a little. "It's just quiet, that's all. And then you're back and everything is a little too bright and a little too loud for a while."

He would've been okay with that, a few weeks back.

[2_old_for_this]

"I think I'll hope that never happens," Peter said. "And that I don't accidentally use someone's guts for my laundry or anything."

[myownface]

Sparkle just shuddered a little at that. The talk of using people's guts for anything was a little much when he was wandering the halls trying to avoid the anxiety.

"Maybe just make sure you bring your own soap, just to be certain."

[2_old_for_this]

"I can do that," Peter agreed. "As soon as I have soap; I haven't needed to do laundry yet."

[myownface]

"Well, I hope you haven't. We stocked you up pretty good, there," Sparkle replied, and if he was preening a little, well, he did take some measure of pride in his job, here.

[2_old_for_this]

"You did," Peter agreed. "Thanks again. For everything, really."

[myownface]

"At the risk of sounding all cliché... it was the right thing to do," Sparkle said, shrugging and waving it off. "Don't worry about it."

[2_old_for_this]

"Not everyone does the right thing, though." Peter smiled at him. "I'll...I don't know. Owe you a drink or something? Or if you ever need anything I can help with, just let me know."

[myownface]

"Whichever comes first, then," Sparkle replied, shrugging and smiling faintly. "It's a deal, then, sure."

He still wasn't going to demand anything for the help. But if something came up... sure. They'd both feel okay about that.

[2_old_for_this]

"Deal," Peter agreed. He waved toward the stairs. "Should I let you get back to your Olympic training, then?"

[myownface]

"I guess," Sparkle replied, chuckling and shaking his head. "Those stairs aren't going to climb themselves, anyway."

A beat.

"I mean, they don't usually."

Knowing this place, you could never be too sure.

[2_old_for_this]

"...Should I be worried?"

[myownface]

"I dunno. Maybe we'll just luck out and one day they'll be escalators," Sparkle offered. "That counts, I think."

[2_old_for_this]

"Harder for laps, though," Peter pointed out.

[myownface]

"Maybe, but I'll know my training has paid off if I can run up the down escalator successfully," Sparkle quipped, and then shrugged and smiled a bit. "Anyway... hey, welcome to the MCA family. We mostly don't suck, probably."

Like he knew most of his neighbours. Honestly.

[2_old_for_this]

"Thanks." Peter smiled and waved good-bye.