A Meaningful Place (Anna/Markise)

[Markise Sterling]

Markise had intended to push, though he wouldn't have thought of his inquiry that way. Something was bothering Annabelle, and he wanted to be able to help, if he could. She'd sidetracked him easily with her question, though. If he hadn't answered it a hundred times, he would have blinked and taken a moment to form a response. However, he'd done this before. He skipped past the subject a bit. "I've been going to the Bloody Mary," he answered without missing a beat. "Have you been there? You look like a dancer." She had the slender form, if not the grace, but then, one couldn't judge someone's grace entirely on one fall, could they?

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna was disappointed that the change of subject didn’t really change things as much as she’d hoped, and Michael was still included. “I’ve been there once with my ex, but we didn’t really dance. I don’t even think I know how to dance, I’ve never really tried.” She shrugged it off as not really being important to her, she’d much rather be in a quiet place reading than out making a fool of herself in a crowd of noisy people.

[Markise Sterling]

Markise's lips curved into a soft smile. "Nobody knows how to dance, without years of classes," he told Annabelle. "The rest of us just fake it." Markise thought on his words for a moment, then went on, trying to explain without giving himself away. "If you ever tapped your foot to a song, you know how to dance. It's just a matter of using more than your feet to do it."

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna shook her head with a giggle, finally able to shake the thought of Michael away. "There's no way you can tell me that everyone knows how to dance! I've seen some goofy looking people out there on the floor thinking they knew what they were doing. I'm sure I'd be that person, and have everyone secretly making fun of me." She hoped Markise wasn't one of those crazy wild dancers that she was talking about - the ones that never seemed to keep the beat of the song and were all over the place.

[Markise Sterling]

Markise's smile widened a bit. Annabelle really was an expert at playful dramatics. "Those people are either trying too hard, or having too much fun to care what they look like. So don't try too hard, have fun, and it doesn't matter." It made perfect sense to Markise, and he couldn't see a way for her too poke a hole in his reasoning this time. "I'll tell you what. I'm going to the Bloody Mary tonight. Why don't you come along, and you can prove how bad you are." Markise's pale blue eyes sparkled softly with the teasing invitation.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

"Oh, no, I couldn't." Annabelle turned down his offer to tag along without even thinking about it. As the invitation sunk in and she analyzed it, Annabelle looked Markise over suspiciously. This wasn't his way of asking her out on a date was it? Surely she hadn't misread the situation that much had she? She assumed that his flirty attitude was just his friendly nature, and responded accordingly. She hoped that's all it was, because she thought he was fun to be around, and didn't want any more drama added to her life at the moment. She amended her answer, testing the water. "Who else is going?"

[Markise Sterling]

Again, Markise had done this before. He didn't want to lead any girl on, but he did want to go out. "I don't have a massive group of friends or anything, but there are some regulars at the club we could meet up with. If you have a friend you want to bring, that's fine, the more people on the dance floor the less likely anyone will see you, right?" Markise teased. He didn't want her thinking this was a date. They'd get along a lot better if he didn't have to fend off any hopeful crushes, something he'd done more than a few times at SWIM.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Annabelle breathed a sigh of relief. He obviously didn't mean it as a date. Not that there was anything wrong with him, he was good looking and funny and friendly, he just wasn't her type, if she had one. Besides, there was Chase, and she couldn't imagine even looking for someone to go out with. She wondered if Chase would want to come, and tucked away the thought to ask him later if she ran into him. "Well, I guess I could stop by for a while, to prove my lack of dancing skills and all. About what time are you going to be there?"

[Markise Sterling]

"I usually go down there about seven-thirty, eight. I'll definitely be there at seven-thirty tonight," Markise promised. He silently swore that he wouldn't let himself get waylaid by Ariel, no matter how tempting the thought might be, then went on. "If you want to meet me there, I'll probably be on the dance floor, but as soon as I see you, I'll come over." He'd just warn the girls he'd taken to dancing with that he was expecting a friend to show up and everything would be cool.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

"It's settled then. I'll see if any of my friends want to come along, but it'll probably be just me." She wouldn't get her hopes up that Chase would come, especially since he was probably avoiding Dru. "So what type of music do you like?" She was more into muggle music and didn't know many of the artists from either type, but since music and dancing usually went hand in hand, she figured it was safe to assume he would be into it.

[Markise Sterling]

"A little bit of everything," Markise said. "If you can move to it, I'm happy." Markise loved the freedom of dancing, and though he did have musical preferences, he could easily set them aside if the alternative was not dancing. "I'm into Alternative and a little techno dance mix the most, though. What about you? Any preference?" He'd peg her as the country/classic rock type just by looking at her, but you could never really tell, and that was half the fun of guessing.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna had to think about the question, she should have guessed that it would come back to her. "Well, I pretty much just listen to whatever happens to come on the radio. I don't have a wizards' wireless so it's all muggle music. Most of the time I listen to a station that plays everything from Nine Inch Nails, to the Eagles, to Nickelback, to New Kids on the Block."

[Markise Sterling]

Markise couldn't stop the arch of one straight brow. The one band name he could place out of Annabelle's short list was so entirely the opposite of how she looked that he couldn't help being intrigued. "I have a hard time picturing you singing along to Closer, but I'll take your word for it," he said. She desperately needed to get out on the dance floor. He'd bet that she'd know how to dance the moment the right song started.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

"Who said anything about singing them out loud? I can't put a silencing spell on my room yet, and my mum would ground me for life if she heard half the songs that I played." Anna blushed slightly at revealing one of her rebellious acts toward her parents to a practical stranger. Between the music and her Smut novels, if her mum knew about either she'd be locked away until she was 30, at least. "If she had her way I'd only listen to classical music and oldies." Annabelle wrinkled her nose at the thought. It wasn't that she didn't like either types of music, but they were so boring after just a few songs.

[Markise Sterling]

Markise gave a low noise of commiseration, even if his own parents hadn't been nearly that strict. They'd tried now and then, especially his father, but there was only so much they could do with him and Brindle subverting control at every turn. Markise worked Mama, Brin worked Pa, and that was pretty much the end of the story. "I don't blame you for listening anyway," Markise said. "Well, the Bloody Mary doesn't play classical, so you're safe there. We could probably request some Nine Inch Nails for you." Markise's lips quirked at the thought of Annabelle asking for music like that. He could imagine that he'd probably end up doing it for her.