The Morning After (Anna/Markise)

[Markise Sterling]

Markise did not normally hang out in the library, most especially on Saturday. He kept up with his homework during the week so he was completely free Friday night and could spend Saturday sleeping off the fun he'd had the night before.

Unfortunately, today the Hufflepuffs had been in and out of the dorm, usually leaving the door open as they thudded down the stairs into a hellaciously noisy common room. Apparently some Hufflepuff Alumnus that Markise had never heard of just got signed to Puddlemere United, and that necessitated crushing Markise's brain with every grating sound imaginable.

Finally he'd gotten up, hours earlier than he'd have preferred, and after paying penance over the toilet for rising before late afternoon, he'd transfigured his hair blond again, pulled on some clothes, grabbed his book bag and his sunglasses, and headed downstairs.

Now he was hidden as far into the back of the library as he could get, curled up on a dusty couch with his back against the arm. He'd smuggled in some dry toast and had nibbled at it on and off, shoes on the floor and knees pulled up in front of him. There was a large window nearby, and though he wasn't directly in its light, he had his large, dark sunglasses on.

Finally he set the remains of the toast half on the napkin set on top of his bag and leaned his head aside to rest on the back of the couch. He propped his herbology book against his thighs and closed his eyes, fully intending to sleep here. Hopefully it would look like he was studying. Aside from the slight part of his lips as he began to relax.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna saw Markise from between the stacks. At first she'd thought he was studying, and was surprised he would be up working on schoolwork. As she approached with a book in hand however, his stillness gave him away. She wondered if she should leave him alone to his unusual napping spot. This morning when she'd woken up, she'd realized they hadn't arranged a time or place to meet up and talk. Having rarely ever ran into him, she had eventually decided it might be days until they actually ended up meeting to talk about last night. Standing near, she barely broke a whisper, "Markise, are you awake?" If he was really sleeping, she'd sit and wait.

[Markise Sterling]

If Markise had been fully asleep, he never would have heard Annabelle, and nothing short of a very loud noise or a sound shaking would have waken him. As it was, he groaned at even the slight disturbance of hearing someone hiss his name. He closed his mouth and forced himself to blink his eyes open, though it took him a minute to locate the source of the sound. He actually had to turn his head to see her, and had to think to fully recognize her. "Annabelle?" he asked, his voice husky with a pathetic attempt to lower it properly. "What are you doing here?" He wasn't entirely awake yet.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna held up her book as reason. "You are in the school library, you know." Her voice was soft out of habit while in the library, not because she remembered to be considerate in case he had a hangover headache. She moved to the unused end of the couch and sat, so he wouldn't have to crane his neck to look at her. "Everything okay?" The question could have meant multiple things, and she wasn't sure if she wanted to answer the superficial question of his health, or the deeper one brought on by last night.

Markise revealing himself to her had caused Anna to worry all morning. She wasn't put off by it; He was friendly and funny, and she knew without a doubt now that having a friendship with him would be purely platonic. From her standpoint, Markise telling her would only improve the friendship that had started. But she couldn't help worrying about his reaction this morning. She didn't know if he was so inebriated that he might not remember part or all of him telling her. Worse, she was afraid that he would blame her, thinking that she'd taken advantage and pressed him for the information.

[Markise Sterling]

Markise remembered the past night vaguely and through a light haze, but that was more than enough. He realized as he began to wake up a little more that he'd seen Anna last night, and inwardly he grimaced at what he could
remember having told her. He squeezed his eyes shut tight behind his sunglasses.

"I'm fine," he said softly, then opened his eyes a bit, his gaze settling lightly on Annabelle. "Just wishing they had coffee in the Great Hall." He had a feeling he knew what Annabelle had meant by her question, and his initial response really was an answer, even if he wouldn't acknowledge the deeper subject that had come out last night. Had he really told her?

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna wrinkled her nose at the mention of coffee. "Ew. You actually drink that foul tasting stuff?" She had only tried it once, but it was bitter and gross. She hadn't meant to exchange small talk, but the real issue they needed to talk about was Markise's personal business. Last night he had made it a point to be secluded, behind a locked door even. She didn't feel comfortable being the first to breech the topic out in the open library, even if there weren't any ears anywhere around them. Anna wasn't even sure what needed to be said or what Markise thought about her knowing now that he was back to his normal frame of mind. All in all, it was better just for her to follow his lead.

[Markise Sterling]

"I love coffee," Markise said, his voice far softer than it had been for Anna in the past. It was more comfortable to do so with his head pounding, and he was pretty damned sure that he had told her, so it wasn't like he was going to be hiding anything. "I have a massive headache," he confessed in a near whisper. "Coffee helps." It helped a lot, unless one got into one of those crazy Muggle cars after. Markise had no fond feelings for taxi cabs; once had been more than enough. "And before you ask, I'm not going to see the nurse for a pain potion." His reasons were likely obvious. Markise was also fairly certain that Annabelle had called him out on having been drinking.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

"I wasn't even going to suggest it." Anna admitted. She didn't think going to any adult at the school while sporting a hangover would be wise, even if it was the healer. She looked him over as he sat there, looking the most run down that she'd ever seen him. "Why would you want to go and drink if you know that this is the result in the morning?" Her tone was filled with curiosity toward the act. She'd never had more than a drink at a time and had no concept of why anyone would want to drink more if the morning after was filled with a pounding head.

[Markise Sterling]

"I sleep through Saturdays, so it doesn't matter," Markise answered. "Today the other guys were being too loud to sleep so I had to leave." Not that they'd have known whether or not he was in bed, he usually kept his curtains closed, even if he wasn't there. People paid less attention to his habits when they weren't easy to follow. "Last night totally kicked ass, though. It was so worth it." At least, the part he remembered was. Maybe he'd had just a little more to drink than he should have, but it had been too much fun to resist.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna gave a look skepticism. She could understand having fun and letting loose, but having never experienced it she wasn’t sure that it was worth looking or feeling horrible the next day. She smiled as she remembered how he’d looked last night though…. “Well I think it would be nearly impossible to go out like that and NOT have fun. I’ve never been jealous of a guy for looking better than me before.” Anna used the comment as a test to see if he fully remembered the issue they were skirting around. She watched what she could see of his expression to see how he would react, wishing he wasn’t hiding behind those dark glasses.

[Markise Sterling]

Markise's lips curved, and a low, somewhat husky chuckle rolled from his throat. He'd definitely told her. There was no way he'd have taken off his cloak otherwise and no way she could have seen him without figuring it out. "I try," he said, as though the compliment was his due. His lips remained curved though. "You've got to know you're beautiful, Anna," he said, wondering as he said it if she really did. "You are, if you hadn't figured it out."

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna blushed and looked down at her hands. She knew she wasn’t completely unfortunate looking, but she didn’t have any of the classic good looks. Her hair was brown, and although it was a good length and healthy, brown was such a common color; especially without her characteristic white stripe she’d decided to get rid of shortly after the masquerade. She had always wished to have blue eyes, or maybe a bright green, but instead she had been cursed with a boring brown. She was on the short side too, and didn’t think she possessed anything but ordinary features. “Thanks.” Anna brushed Markise’s comment aside, not wanting to accept it, but knowing if she would refute it she’d just draw more attention to herself.

[Markise Sterling]

Markise watched Anna from behind his sunglasses, missing her blush due to the tint over his vision, but able to follow all the same. He'd already noticed that she had trouble taking compliments, a trait she shared with a lot of people he'd known. He let her have her distance and change the subject for now, though he decided he'd wear her down eventually. She really was beautiful, just probably caught up in specific features instead of the whole picture.

A few moments passed before Markise broke the quiet that had fallen between them. "So you're like, okay with everything?" he asked softly. He wasn't entirely sure how much he'd told her of what, but she obviously knew he'd been drinking and that he was gay. He wouldn't talk specifics in a public place, though. It was far too risky.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna pushed aside her thoughts when Markise brought the conversation back to himself. She looked back up at him, what little good it did with his glasses on. “Of course I’m okay with it. It’s not my place to judge you or your choices after all.” She was much more okay with it than she’d been with Michael telling her he’d kissed another guy, and she thought she’d taken that news pretty well. She gave him a considering look before adding with a tease, “Plus, I think this works out in my favor.”

[Markise Sterling]

"How's that?" Markise asked. He didn't know anything about Anna's lingering distrust of guys and made no connection. "I didn't see you as the blackmail type," he added, hoping it sounded playful. He didn't really think she would, but he was plenty afraid of her telling just one friend or accidentally letting something slip. That was his main worry right now. When he'd come out, most of the work had been done by word of mouth, starting with just a few friends who passed it on.