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Post by Markise Sterling on Mar 26, 2009 22:06:34 GMT -5
What was he doing here? Had he gone insane? The walk had given his mind time to start working and it asked all the right questions. He answered every one the same; I need this. Ariel needed it too, he could tell somehow. Markise stopped as the door appeared and looked back at Ariel with a question in his eyes. What room could they go to that would ease the tension?
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Post by Ariel Logan Callahan on Mar 26, 2009 22:15:22 GMT -5
Ariel shook his head. He didn't know what would help, he had already felt the crack in his wall begin to heal, though he didn't want it to. He wanted to soak in comfort for as long as Markise was willing to give it. He took a breath and stepped into the room. What he saw almost made him want to back away and refuse to go in. It was very obviously based on his old room from when he had been younger, and the only reason he could think of that it was what the room turned into was because he was wanting to pretend so many things hadn't happened. And when he had been in this room, none of it had.
His eyes floated to the poster above the head of the bed and then away again. The room was larger than his bedroom had been, and with a larger bed than the twin he had grown up sleeping in, more like those of the Leaky Cauldron. His eyes then moved over to the dresser where he knew the fake bottom was that somehow his brother had never found, no matter how many times he had searched. "Welcome to Australia..."
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Post by Markise Sterling on Mar 26, 2009 22:21:29 GMT -5
Markise hadn't understood the sudden visible return of tension to Ariel's muscles until those three words. Then his eyes widened and he looked again, his eyes pausing on the poster above the bed. How Ariel had gotten away with keeping that, he couldn't begin to imagine. He looked away, shifting instinctively closer to Ariel. He was afraid, though. What would this room do to Ariel? Maybe this was a worse idea than he'd thought.
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Post by Ariel Logan Callahan on Mar 26, 2009 22:31:55 GMT -5
Ariel swallowed and looked down at Markise. "It's not really my room," he said, "I had a smaller bed, the room was smaller, I didn't have that big wardrobe, either." He looked around again before settling his eyes on Markise again. "The only thing that ever happened to me here was when he found me with that magazine." Other than that, it had been one of his only safe havens. He had been away from all of the people at school that had picked on him, had been able to lock his door against his brother and his brother's friends. That had been before his mistakes with Markise. He walked forward to take off his shoes and tuck them habitually under the edge of the bed.
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Post by Markise Sterling on Mar 26, 2009 22:43:57 GMT -5
The only thing. That one thing seemed like it so very nearly defined Ariel, or the life he'd had. Markise had at least been allowed to admit to himself that he wasn't like the other guys. He followed after Ariel, pushing his own shoes in after those hideous ones Ariel liked so much. "You'd laugh at my room," he said softly. "And my bed's not this big, either." The ones in the dormitory were larger and more physically comfortable, though given the choice, he'd have taken his little bed in his own little room any day. He looked around yet again, and this time he was able to see things that were familiar, like the wardrobe, only in different colors.
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Post by Ariel Logan Callahan on Mar 26, 2009 22:48:13 GMT -5
Ariel slipped his belt off and wound it into a circle to set on the small dresser by the bed. He didn't care to sleep with a piece of metal sticking into his stomach. Then he rubbed the back of his neck. "I wouldn't laugh," he promised, though the thought linked in his mind to when he had walked in to see Markise dressed in the skirt once. "That poster kept me sane half the time," he admitted, more to change the subject than anything.
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Post by Markise Sterling on Mar 26, 2009 22:58:44 GMT -5
"He's hot," Markise admitted, jealousy not striking him now. Of course, Ariel was so far gone now that what was a poster? He wanted to keep following Ariel, to keep the physical proximity in the hopes of holding on to what remained of their time in the corridor. He told himself not to think about it so hard, and his mind turned to the removal of that belt, and from there to his own clothes. He hated sleeping in his clothes and avoided it when at all possible, though he did own pajamas for school. He looked around the room again as though they might appear, or maybe just waiting to see how much he could take off by how much Ariel took off.
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Post by Ariel Logan Callahan on Mar 26, 2009 23:08:00 GMT -5
Ariel glanced around and ruffled his hair. "Um...I'm sure you can find some clothes if you want to change..." he said. He could stand sleeping in what he was wearing, but if Markise was going to change he saw no reason not to. He moved over to the dresser, avoiding the one with the false bottom. "Do you want to?" he asked, looking at Markise, unsure.
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Post by Markise Sterling on Mar 26, 2009 23:17:30 GMT -5
Markise nodded without thought, only catching himself after and hoping he hadn't looked too eager. He didn't want to sleep in his clothes, though, and the thought of sleeping in Ariel's, even if they were just a product of the room, was too big a temptation to pass up. He crossed to the dresser, his eyes trying to find Ariel's behind his hair, then dropping to the drawer. "Anything's fine, as long as I can breathe in it," he said.
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Post by Ariel Logan Callahan on Mar 27, 2009 19:49:15 GMT -5
Ariel pulled open a drawer and dug through the neatly folded clothes before taking out his usual sweat pants and wife beater. "You can dig around in here, if you want," Ariel said, throwing the clothes over his shoulder and looking back at Markise. "It's pretty much just sweats and tank tops...not what you would normally wear but..." he looked away and then stepped off to the side to change for himself, turning away. As though they had never seen each other with less.
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Post by Markise Sterling on Mar 27, 2009 20:24:35 GMT -5
Markise's gaze followed Ariel a moment before he pulled it back and down to the drawer. He gave a small sigh, then went in after something, though Ariel was right, there weren't a lot of choices. Markise preferred to wear as little as possible, but he realized how inappropriate that would be, so he picked the first sweats and tank he found that didn't have any obvious stains or holes. Worn spots and loose threads he could live with.
He wanted to turn to look at Ariel again, but decided on discretion for now. He was hoping it would all come back when they touched, when they slipped between the sheets together. He stripped down to his underwear before pulling on the comfortably worn clothes. He didn't really trust them, considering he'd been in the room while it had changed before. He folded his own clothes neatly and stacked them on the dresser, then turned back to Ariel, one hand rising to brush lightly at his hair. "Thanks," he said reflexively.
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Post by Ariel Logan Callahan on Mar 27, 2009 20:31:25 GMT -5
Ariel had just finished folding his own clothes when he heard Markise's voice. He turned, the folded clothes in his hands, and couldn't stop the sweep of his eyes at the sight of Markise in his clothes. After the moment of shock that he realized he shouldn't even have had, his eyes fell. "It's nothing," he said, then put his clothes on the dresser by Markise's. For some reason, he wished that he had something better for Markise, but he had always worn his clothes into the ground. He knew it wasn't his fault, but really, couldn't the room have provided something better.
Ariel moved over to the bed , which was pushed into one corner, and pulled the covers back. They were the same old worn sheets with the same old slightly lumpy comforter that he had grown up with. They didn't look all that great, but they were comfortable and warm, even on the colder nights. He slipped in and slid over to the wall.
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Post by Markise Sterling on Mar 27, 2009 20:51:05 GMT -5
Markise hadn't missed the motion of Ariel's eyes, and his skin had tingled for a moment. He'd suddenly felt very conscious of the clothes he was wearing, but there was nothing else to do. He didn't want to ask the room for anything else to wear. He padded noiselessly over to the bed and slid under the covers. His tongue slipped out to moisten his lips as he thought, then let thought go to settle one hand against Ariel's bare arm. His skin burned lightly
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Post by Ariel Logan Callahan on Mar 27, 2009 21:05:26 GMT -5
Ariel rested on his side with his back against the wall, one arm curled beneath the pillow his head rested on. The other arm reached out to rest lightly across Markise's stomach. "How long did you stay at the club after I left?" he asked as his eyes traced Markise's face. Had Markise ended up leaving with someone, after all?
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Post by Markise Sterling on Mar 27, 2009 21:39:07 GMT -5
"Until the guys left," Markise answered. He looked right back at Ariel, for once not arguing with that protectiveness he still couldn't understand. Or maybe part of him did, and he wouldn't let himself see it. "We said goodbye at the doors." Maybe he could feel the unspoken question as well. He wouldn't mention Mano. Mano, who he'd taken out the night's frustrations on. Mano, who he couldn't risk seeing again. He hoped it didn't show in his eyes, but he felt it, and everything that came with it. He closed his eyes and moved into Ariel, needing that comfort again.
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