Caught! (Anna/Markise) (gates/lawns)

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Markise? His American accent finally registered, but she wasn't positive.....Anna let out a laugh, suddenly realizing how ridiculous the situation was. Her fear and suspicions had kept her from seeing that the hooded figure hadn't done anything but try to flee. He'd said and done everything to just get her to leave him alone. "I'm not a Slytherin. How about I'll tell you who I am if you tell me, that way we're even and I can't tell on you without getting in trouble myself?" It was her last hope to try and diffuse the situation, and a risky one, but if it really was Markise she'd be safe.

[Markise Sterling]

Markise didn't trust her at all. She said she wasn't a prefect and she said she wasn't a Slytherin, but why would a Slytherin tell the truth anyway? She'd threatened to hex him far too many times, and that laugh didn't settle him any. If anything, it only confused him more. "I'm not telling you anything," he said stubbornly. "You'll just hex me later if I do." He was near tears at this point, all pretense of allergies too much work for him to think of. He hadn't been here long enough to have to leave, and he was sure that if she found out, it would be a repeat of his last months at SWIM.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna could only think of three options to clear up this horrible mess. She could hardly believe it, but it seemed like he was afraid of her! She could either let him go and constantly worry about repercussions; she could hex him again; or she could take a stab at her guess of his identity and pray that she was right. The first two didn't appeal to her at all, so Anna decided she had to go with the last. "Please, just tell me! Are you Markise?" Her words came out more like a plea then a demand as she hoped her suspicions were correct. If it was Markise, they could just laugh about the silliness and move on. But if it wasn't, she didn't want to think of what would happen.

[Markise Sterling]

Markise could only stare at the girl for some moments, his lips parted in shock. Then he started backing away again, lowering his voice in an attempt to sound less vulnerable. "Did Ariel send you here? What did he tell you? 'Cause it's a lie, whatever it is!" If Ariel had spread his secret around, he was so spreading Ariel's! Markise didn't affirm, but neither did he deny. He was far too busy reaching for his wand pocket, which he couldn't seem to locate...

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna was stunned at the reply, which didn't really tell her anything, only that he was trying to hide something, was he in trouble? Who was this guy named Ariel? She caught his movements and focused on the main issue. She didn't want to be hexed, and her wand hand shook with nerves. "Markise stop! It's Anna!" She didn't care if she didn't know his identity for sure. If it was Markise, her name would make him stop. If it wasn't.....

[Markise Sterling]

Markise did stop, though it was more reflex and inability to think and dig for his wand at the same time than any actual recognition of her name. She'd called him by his name, and her name was "Anna? Like Annabelle?" he asked stupidly. If it was, she'd never even suggested he call her anything other than Annabelle, but what if it was? And what if it wasn't?

[Annabelle Hennessy]

"Yes! Annabelle! Annabelle Hennessy." She replied, not realizing that he wouldn't know her by the shortened name. If he knew that her real name was Annabelle, then she reasoned it probably was Markise. Her wand hand lowered slightly. "Please, Markise. Just let me know it's you." She had a feeling the situation wasn't going to end with the unmasking of their identities. She'd worry about processing it all later, right now she just wanted the fear for her safety to be over.

[Markise Sterling]

"But you already know it's me," Markise argued, still more than a little confused. If that was Annabelle, why did she want to hex him so badly? "Annabelle wouldn't try to hex me," he said. He couldn't see her well enough in this dim light, and he'd only met her like, twice. Her face was as fuzzy as that guy with the... had his hair been burgundy-red or fire-engine red? "Dammit, now I forgot something!" he said, pouting beneath the cover of his hood.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna would have been relieved that he'd confirmed he was Markise if it weren't for his odd statements afterwards. She could tell something was different about his behavior from the other times she'd talked with him. She wondered if it was just because of the situation: the darkness, and potential threat, like it was with herself, or if there was something else. "What do you mean I wouldn't try to hex you? I didn't know it was you! All I see is a large hooded figure." She held her wand up to the air and muttered lumos, causing the area to light up enough that he could see her face. The circle of light didn't reach under his hood and she hoped he'd remove it.

[Markise Sterling]

Markise reflexively shrank from the light, his head turning and tilting down a bit to deepen the shadow over his face. "Why do you have to see me so bad?!" he asked, more than a little frustrated. "Just like, let me over the bridge, my brother's coming and he's bigger." He couldn't have said why he was thinking of a Muggle story he hadn't heard since preschool, but it seemed to fit.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

"I was just showing you it's me Markise. The light doesn't even reach you with your hood up. Why are you hiding anyways? Is something wrong?" Concern was evident in her voice as Anna softened towards him. She let her light die out, showing him that she wasn't out to get him, or whatever it was that he was going on about. Slowly, she inched forward a little. If she could continue without him backing up again, they'd be standing like normal people had conversations instead of keeping several yards between them.

[Markise Sterling]

"Nothing's wrong, I just wanna go to bed." Markise didn't move away from Anna now that he'd seen her and she wasn't pointing her wand at him anymore. That wand was his top concern aside from keeping his hood up. Markise raised his hands to check it again, but it hadn't slipped at all.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

"Yeah, me too. I accidentally fell asleep reading at my shop and just woke up." Anna told him conversationally as she closed the gap to only a few feet. She wondered if he'd been out to the Bloody Mary tonight, she hadn't seen him around since the time they had met up to dance there. Shortly after she'd gone home for the holidays, and their paths just hadn't crossed again until tonight. "So what are you doing out?"

[Markise Sterling]

"Um..." Dammit. Markise couldn't tell her where he'd really been! He'd have to make something up. "I fell asleep," he said, repeating Anna's excuse. "In a tree." He grinned at his cleverness and tried to repress a chuckle, only managing to smother it a little. His excuse was enough like hers to sound good, and he'd made it different so it didn't sound like he was copying.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna couldn't help letting out a laugh, especially since he'd laughed at his own outright lie. "You're funny. Where were you really? At the BM?" Anna cringed at the initials of the Bloody Mary after she'd said them. After she'd offered up the club, she wondered if he would use it to explain his late entry to the school even if he hadn't really been there.