So we meet again... (closed)

[Markise Sterling]

Markise's pout deepened to a frown at Dare's question and he looked away as he started shuffling out of his jacket beneath his cloak. "Nothing," he said. He made the mistake of looking up at Dare, though, and that arched eyebrow, even if it was blond, had the same effect it always had. He felt like he needed to say something to Dare, even if it wasn't the whole truth. "I just wish he liked me." Then he wouldn't be getting kicked out, and he could stay with Dare. He could have Dare and Ariel close at the same time, even if one of them was sound asleep. "And I wish you and Ariel could get along."

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare had been about to try comforting Markise about Michael again, but he was stopped in his tracks by Markise's second wish. His mouth snapped closed, and his brows drew together. "He's dangerous, Markise. I wish you'd just let him go. You can't fix what happened with Kwami by trying to reform Ariel." There was so much more that Dare wanted to say, so much more that he could tell Markise about why he didn't like Ariel Logan, but he didn't want to pull out the big spells unless there wasn't another choice.

[Markise Sterling]

Markise paused in folding up his jacket to stare at Dare, lips parted slightly. His own brows drew together as he laid his jacket on the floor, giving it a couple light punches to beat it into a more comfortable shape. "I know he's not Kwami, Dare," he hissed. "And I'm not trying to reform him!" But he was, and he knew what he'd said was a lie. Dare's words hit too close to home, though. "You don't know Ariel, so leave it alone. He's been taking care of me all night." Markise winced at the way that sounded. "He's not as bad as you think," he finished off, and lay down in a huff, pulling his and Ariel's cloaks around him for warmth.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare didn't like the way that sounded, even if he'd already guessed that Markise had been out with Ariel all night. He could tell that Markise was lying, too. "Bullsh~," he said under his breath, just loud enough for Markise to hear him. "You'd be better off not having a boyfriend than being with a guy like that, and you know it. Why won't you just let him go? I've hardly seen you since you got here. Sh~, Markise, you came all the way to Hogwarts and you're not telling me anything that's going on!"

[Markise Sterling]

Markise's pout returned as he defiantly closed his eyes. "I don't need to tell you everything, Dare." There were things he knew he couldn't tell Dare. They'd always kept some things private, and how their personal relationships were going behind the scenes was one of those things. Markise opened his eyes again and looked up at Dare pointedly. "I'm sure you've left out a few things too," he said acidly, then rolled over, showing Dare his back.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

"I was going to tell you, Markise! I knew what I was going to write and everything, I just hadn't had the chance yet. Michael's best friend and his girlfriend were trying not to get themselves killed, and being on the periphery was enough that I was doing pretty much the same damn thing. Then the Prophet outed us and there wasn't any peace until..." Dare stopped himself from finishing that. Until we moved to Hogsmeade. "Until like a month ago," he finished instead. "We got a camera just to take a picture for you! So don't get on me about not telling you sh~. I didn't hide anything from you when you got here."

[Markise Sterling]

Markise scowled at the part of the floor and wall he could see. He couldn't really argue with that. Why in hell did Dare always make perfect sense? Markise huffed instead. At least they'd gotten away from the subject of Ariel, though Markise couldn't have said how long that would last. He expected that Dare would continue talking if he stayed quiet, knowing Markise wouldn't be able to sleep right now.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare knew Markise was still listening. Even when he didn't want to he listened. He hated being angry too much to keep it up for long. "Listen," Dare said softly, moving to the floor to sit behind Markise, "I'm just... I don't want to lose you, Markise. Me being with Michael doesn't mean you and me have to go our separate ways. I meant what I said about you being able to talk to me. So talk to me, Markise!" Dare punctuated the words with a strong hand on Markise's shoulder and a light shake. "Just talk to me. Please."

[Markise Sterling]

Markise's eyes squeezed shut tightly at those words. "Dammit, Dare," he said, turning back over and looking up into those blue eyes that were so strange on Dare's face. "It's just... there are things you don't need to..." Markise stopped, pouting again as Dare kept looking at him expectantly. How in hell could he do that when those weren't even his eyes?

Markise dropped his gaze and settled against his jacket. "I don't remember what happened last night," he whispered, terrified of Dare's reaction. He had to go on, had to stop Dare from jumping to the wrong conclusions.

"We went to that club you told me about. We split up pretty much in the doors and I was having fun." Markise decided to skip his first drink and how Ariel had found him. He decided to skip the bathroom, too. Markise blinked. The bathroom. What had happened there? He thought aloud so Dare wouldn't think he'd stopped.

"There were these guys in the bathroom talking sh~." What had they said? "I left and Ariel stayed to talk to them. I..." Markise grimaced slightly. "I let someone buy me a drink." He couldn't look at Dare now, not when he knew how Dare felt about that kind of thing. "I think I was mad at Ariel, I don't know, I don't remember, but I must have had more than that because I don't remember anything else until this morning." And this morning, what he could remember, or what he thought he remembered, scared him a little.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

That was not what Dare had expected to hear. None of it was. It was so much worse than he'd imagined. He wanted to refuse to believe it, but he couldn't, not with the way Markise looked right now. There were so many questions in his mind after that, but the biggest was why did you do it? He couldn't seem to form the words, though. He was too much in shock at any of it having happened. Dare's eyes flickered toward the door, as though Ariel might walk through at any moment. Then he looked back at Markise, waiting for him to go on. "What happened this morning?" he murmured.

[Markise Sterling]

Markise's allergies were more than acting up, they were assaulting him. He tried to think, but some of the morning was fuzzy, too. "Ariel woke me up," Markise said softly, trying to piece things together. "I don't... he was... he was in a hurry or something. He said I passed out at the club and some guy let us stay at his apartment. He gave Ariel money so we could get home. So we went and got some coffee and took a cab here."

Markise pulled up the edge of one of the cloaks and dabbed at his eyes, trying not to smear his makeup too badly. "He's been so good to me. He took care of me, and all morning... it was... it was perfect." Aside from his apparent hangover, it had been perfect. "But it looked like so much money, and I know Ariel doesn't have that kind of money. It scares me. But I don't want it to, this morning was so nice."

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare's heart stopped for Markise. Even if there was nothing to go on but suspicion, there was nothing about this that sat right with Dare. It was a nightmare on top of the nightmares he was already fighting. "It'll all work out," Dare said. It had to work out. "Try to get some sleep while you can, all right? I'm staying awake, I'll watch out." It felt like there was something going on, and if Markise wouldn't question it, then Dare would do it for him. But what could he do? He couldn't pick a fight with Ariel, not when the guy could hand him and Michael over to Soren. He had to do something, though. "Get some sleep," Dare said again, standing and going back to his chair, wand in hand.

[Markise Sterling]

Markise knew there were things that Dare wasn't saying. He knew that Dare was thinking of doing something, but he was exhausted, physically and emotionally. It was so much easier to just trust Dare and close his eyes. Markise settled into his nest of cloaks and let himself do exactly that. There was less than a minute of silence in the room before he fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare wasn't sleepy anymore, not by a long shot. The exhaustion was still there, but there was nothing his body could do about that with his mind running as fast as it was. He couldn't let down his guard, couldn't forget about Soren Hardt and whoever that man was that had been downstairs. He couldn't forget that Michael could have died, could have left him.

And yet, on top of that, now there was Markise, who had apparently gotten drunk, and the a~hole he insisted on calling his boyfriend. The a~hole who was out there now transferring an apparently large amount of money that had appeared during a time Markise couldn't remember. Dare sat, overwhelmed by his racing mind, and watched the door, wand at the ready.

[Ariel Logan Callahan]

Ariel hadn't liked going and dealing with those goblins, hadn't enjoyed having to go all the way there. But he was quite happy with himself on the way back, and he forgot the lingering pain he could still feel with the bag of thirty-three galleons heavy in his pocket. He stopped by the bar to get a room key from Tom close by Dare and Michael's room, then moved up the stairs. He reached his hand up to knock, then thought better of it and laid his hand on the handle and turned it softly, "It's me," he called in. He didn't want an angry, sore Michael on his back, too.