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Post by Markise Sterling on Jan 18, 2009 14:50:07 GMT -5
Markise already knew part of the story, but he also knew he'd been told under strictest confidence, so he didn't bring it up. Instead, he brought up what he did know. "Me and Dare weren't in the same house at SWIM," he said softly, returning his gaze to his fingers again. "But when we first found out that like, Silver and their mom were sick, he did that a lot for a while. But he leveled out after a while."
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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on Jan 18, 2009 14:54:02 GMT -5
It had already been so long, though. Michael nodded, latching on to proof that Dare could get better. "He'll be fine, I'm just giving him time, he'll get off them eventually. He can't stay on them all the time." Why had Markise brought it up? Normally Michael would have gotten angry, but what Markise was saying was so close to his own worries that he could do nothing other than fight away his own fears.
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Post by Markise Sterling on Jan 18, 2009 15:04:46 GMT -5
Markise looked at Michael far more sharply than he knew was wise. "It's been a month and a half," he said, revealing that he knew exactly when it had started. "It took him about a month at SWIM. I don't know about when she died, he went off for spring break and didn't come back to school. I mean, I saw him at the funeral, but... he was pulling that I saw it coming, I already came to terms with it crap." And it looked like he was still brushing everything off.
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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on Jan 18, 2009 15:11:38 GMT -5
Michael knew that Dare wasn't over his mother's death and that even that was part of the reason he was having such a hard time now. He ignored Markise's sharp look and kept his eyes low. His hair gave him protection against any hard looks. "He's happy, he doesn't need me telling him what he should and shouldn't do." There were worse things Dare could be doing to cope, such as those marks Michael could visualize so easily on his wrists.
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Post by Markise Sterling on Jan 18, 2009 15:19:22 GMT -5
Markise didn't know about those marks. Dare had always been careful to hide them and he'd never given so much as a sign. Even so, he knew Dare. Or at least, he had. "He didn't look happy," Markise said softly. "You've got to have seen how easy he gets stuck on stuff. His music, his art, you know? That's what I'm worried about."
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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on Jan 18, 2009 15:24:42 GMT -5
Michael's eyebrows came together and he nodded reluctantly. "I...don't want to bring it up," he admitted softly, almost quietly enough that he wasn't positive Markise would have heard him. "There's a lot of stress right now and..." he trailed off, shaking his head as he thought about it. There was so much going on, but he didn't think that he could find a legitimate reason not to bring it up to Dare. He had just refused to see it as a problem before, refused to believe that there was anything wrong with it even though deep down he knew.
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Post by Markise Sterling on Jan 18, 2009 16:00:50 GMT -5
"There's always a lot of stress," Markise said. "Life is stress, and it doesn't end!" The last couple years had proved that to him. "I'd do it, but I don't even know what he's taking besides what, a sleeping potion?" Markise shook his head. He shook his head. "I don't know, and he wouldn't listen to me anyway. You're the only one he listens to anymore." Markise couldn't even summon jealousy anymore. He'd given up, even if it didn't change how he felt about Dare.
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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on Jan 18, 2009 23:50:50 GMT -5
"There's just a calming potion, it's nothing!" Michael insisted, looking up at Markise. If he could get Markise to say that it was nothing, then he could just look past it again and pretend like it wasn't important. He didn't want to think that Dare had a problem. "And yes, he's fine right now, if I brought it up, then it would just make things worse, we don't need something bad right now!"
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Post by Markise Sterling on Jan 18, 2009 23:57:24 GMT -5
Markise's brows knitted tightly and he only glanced up at Michael from beneath his lashes. Then he looked unseeing back down to where his hands rested against his lap. He wanted to keep arguing, but he was more than a little worried about doing so, so he kept quiet and tried to think. He wanted to believe it was all okay, but he just couldn't! "Is he at least getting the stuff from a Healer?" he asked softly.
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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on Jan 19, 2009 0:06:41 GMT -5
Once again, Michael's eyes dropped, and he shook his head. "I don't know where he's getting them," he admitted, voice low as Markise's. He knew he had started getting them from Grey's shop, but he wasn't sure if it was still happening. "I need to talk to him, don't I?" he asked in a barely audible voice. He hated the idea of bringing it up, but what if he had no choice?
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Post by Markise Sterling on Jan 19, 2009 0:16:49 GMT -5
Markise had looked up at Michael's first words. I don't know where he's getting them. He wanted to ask how Michael could be sure what they were that way, and it made his chest constrict to imagine Dare taking potions he'd gotten from who-knew-where. It was terrifying. "If you don't, it could just get worse." Markise closed his eyes again. "You shouldn't lose him like that," he breathed. Not when Markise had just begun to accept that Dare was happy with someone else.
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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on Jan 19, 2009 0:25:04 GMT -5
"I won't lose him," Michael said, sure of that fact, even if they didn't talk. They had been through worse than a potion...habit. But he was still afraid of mentioning it. "What do I do?" he asked so softly he barely heard it. He didn't like asking help from Markise any more than he liked the idea of confronting Dare, but he was beginning to see that he didn't have a choice.
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Post by Markise Sterling on Jan 19, 2009 0:32:09 GMT -5
Markise's lungs squeezed tight, and for a moment he forgot to breathe. It was hard to believe he hadn't imagined that low entreaty, hard to believe that Michael would ask him for anything other than to just leave him and Dare alone. He blinked his eyes open and one hand rose to push at the hair falling across his face. Then he clasped his hands together to keep from playing with his hair or going after a stick of gum. They were in a visible place here.
"I... I'm not sure, I don't know," he confessed. "I wish there was like, someone else to talk to, someone who knew what to do or something, because I don't know. I'd dump it all out, but since you don't even know where he's getting it, you can't just like, cut him off, can you?"
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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on Jan 19, 2009 0:38:50 GMT -5
Michael shook his head slowly, staring blankly at the floor of the corridor. "I've talked to the counselor before, but this is so different," he mused, more to himself than for Markise to hear and respond to. "I don't know what I can say to him," he said, his eyebrows coming together. He had never dealt with Dare, or anyone for that matter, when it came to anything like this. He just didn't want Dare to hurt.
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Post by Markise Sterling on Jan 19, 2009 0:43:33 GMT -5
"There's a counselor?" Markise asked, looking up at Michael now. This was the first he'd heard of it in the few months he'd been in England. "Like, here at the school?" he clarified. That sounded like the best bet. Wasn't telling people what to do what counselors were for? "You could go talk to the counselor or something. Maybe like, bring Dare in to talk to him." He didn't know if Dare would go, but it was a better chance than just hoping it would go away.
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