Seclusion

[Markise Sterling]

"What?" Markise asked, unsure what Anna meant by that for a moment. Then it hit him. "No," he said, "It's not like that. It's not like people are going to think we're having threesomes or something." Markise wrinkled his nose at that, whether he could admit that Michael was attractive or not. It so wouldn't happen. "I can pass for straight," he added.

Still, lest Anna jump to yet another wrong conclusion, Markise figured he may as well tell her. "Michael doesn't like me, so me and Dare don't hang out anymore." That was the short story, and Markise hoped it would be enough. He leaned his head against the back of the couch and closed his eyes.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

"Oh." Anna mouthed quietly. She knew Michael, and the picture Markise painted seemed plausible. It was sad though, that Markise and Dare had lost a friendship due to Michael. She turned more to the side, observing him as he answered her questions. She leaned her side toward the back of the couch, her elbow propped on the top of the back cushion and her arm extending out along it toward Markise. Her fingers brushed against his hair as her hand settled.

She hated that Markise looked so resigned to his fate; to having no one to.... well to do anything with. "Dare seems like a nice guy, but I haven't talked to him much. I avoid all the places that Michael might be - as pathetic as that makes me - so I've only seen them a handful of times since we broke up." She knew it sounded bad for her to still be avoiding him, but it just made life easier when she wasn't reminded of what had happened; even if she had already moved on.

[Markise Sterling]

Since we broke up. Markise's eyes opened at that, and he shifted his head a bit against the couch to look aside at Anna. "I don't blame you," he said. "They're sickening." He hoped that didn't sound as bitter as it felt. He looked up at the ceiling now, trying to shrug it off. "Don't listen to me, I'm just upset about being pushed aside." And there was the bitterness again. "Can we pretend I didn't say that?" he asked, looking aside at Anna again.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

The corner of Anna's mouth twitched at the thought that the words could have very easily come from her own lips. Aside from the fact that she didn't know first hand how sickening they were together, and hoped that she personally never had to find out. "Only if we can pretend that I didn't say that I avoid them because I didn't like being pushed aside either." Markise's movements had caused some of his hair to fall across Anna's hand. She absentmindedly played with the curls, allowing her fingers to run through the silky strands.

[Markise Sterling]

Markise's lips curved slightly. "Hm?" he asked, as though he didn't understand. "I don't remember you saying anything like that." His eyes lightened a bit in amusement. Still, he hoped Anna associated his bitterness with his and Dare's friendship, and nothing else. He'd let his feelings slip to one impartial party, and that was enough. He closed his eyes again at the feel of Anna's fingers in his hair. His headache was beginning to fade again.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

"It seems you have just as bad as a memory as me." Anna played back. In reality, her memory for facts was usually pretty good, but in this case, neither of them wanted to think about the troubles Michael and Dare's relationship had caused. She leaned her head against her arm, watching Markise relax some in silence. She suddenly realized the motions of her hand, and paused momentarily before resuming. Markise didn't seem to mind, and she had to admit that it was rather soothing to play with his hair.

[Markise Sterling]

Markise's eyes had opened during that brief pause, and now he looked aside at Anna again. He looked back at her for a moment before diverting his gaze out into the room where it was safer. "So... what did I tell you last night?" he asked softly. It was something that worried him more than he'd admit. He knew she'd seen him drunk, and he knew he'd told her he was gay, but what else? It was fuzzy, and he hoped he didn't get a lecture for it.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Annabelle bit at her lip, gathering all the details. A blush came over her cheeks as she remembered how the confrontation started. She debated not telling him, but in the end she couldn't let herself give him a filtered version with a clean conscious. "Well, I almost hexed you. You were wearing your cloak all covering you, and you gave me a good scare..... I thought you, well, I thought you might be the type of person I wouldn't want to run into late at night."

Anna paused, shaking off the feelings those thoughts brought. Her gaze shifted to where her hand played with his hair, moving more animatedly as she retold the events. "You mentioned your club, and kept hinting at why I wouldn't want to go there, and I didn't get it." She felt kind of stupid for not understanding now that she knew and looked back on it. "We went into the classroom and you told me you were gay. I think that's about it, other than me seeing you all dressed up in your club attire." She remembered how he'd tried to hide his clothing and makeup, so she figured it might be something he'd consider important.

[Markise Sterling]

Markise made a face at that, but it all sounded perfectly reasonable. Aside from her being afraid of him, even cloaked. Still, he knew how he tended to panic when faced with the possibility of being hexed, so he supposed it made sense that he would have broken down and told her something.

"That sounds right," Markise said. It fit with what he remembered, anyway. Markise let out a low sigh and closed his eyes again, perfectly content to let himself enjoy having his hair played with. Suddenly his eyes blinked open again and he looked aside at Anna. "What were you doing out so late?" he asked.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna laughed at his question. "Nothing exciting. I'd fallen asleep reading in my shop. I could have slept here, or there rather, I guess. But I've never stayed off school grounds so late, and I was a little panicked." Her eyes dropped to his for a split second before she raised them back up to his hair with a blush. "I'm a little afraid of the dark, and my imagination started running wild once I'd left my shop."

[Markise Sterling]

Markise nodded slightly in understanding. He knew what it was like when fear and imagination combined. It was why even the idea of a lone girl threatening a hex would have terrified him. That, and what his parents would have done if he'd gotten caught. He really needed to be more careful sneaking in, unless he wanted to find himself at Mano's again, unsure what he'd done and knowing it was too much. "Well, I'm just glad you found me and not Filch," Markise said, letting one corner of his lips quirk.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

"Me too." Anna said to Markise's hair. Even if neither of them had planned or wanted the events of last night, she was glad they had happened. Somehow, knowing Markise's secret made her feel closer to him. She knew it was because of the new understanding she had of him and what made him tick. She just hoped it wasn't a one-way understanding.

Deep down, she knew that Markise didn't know hardly as much about her as Anna knew about him. A thought began to form, and before she could think too hard on it, she asked. "So, what do you want to ask about me? Anything you want to know?" She couldn't think of what he might ask, what he would want to know about her.

[Markise Sterling]

Markise gave a low hmm and thought about it for a moment. He was feeling more and more relaxed now, and his mind kept wandering to the possibility of kicking off his shoes and curling up again. But that would necessitate moving, and it would stop those pleasant little motions against his hair. Eventually Markise just went with the first solid question he could think of. "What do you want to be when you grow up?" His lips curved into a slow smile at the way that had come out.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna thought for a moment before shrugging her shoulders, knowing that she still didn't have a good answer no matter how many times the question came up. "There's so much that I would enjoy doing that I haven't made up my mind yet. Part of me doesn't want to abandon my family in the muggle world, but I don't think I could be happy with a job that would make me turn my back on being a witch. I'm not graduating this year, and I guess I have my bookstore to hold me over after graduation til I make up my mind, but it barely makes enough to support itself."

[Markise Sterling]

Markise wrinkled his nose at that. "Maybe you should go into like, Muggle-Wizard relations. You're smart enough." Markise's lips curved again and he turned his head slightly to look at Anna. "I don't really know what people do in Muggle-Wizard relations, but I bet you could afford a chain of bookstores with a job like that." She didn't come off as a politician-type, but he could see her being good at it, actually.