Seclusion

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna laughed at his comment about Muggle-Wizard relations. "I don't really know all that they do either. But I guess I'm good with people." She wasn't sure she'd like a desk job doing lots of paperwork, but she'd always liked doing reports and researching. Besides, she didn't even know if the job was a desk job to begin with. "Well If I go into that field I'll have to spend my first paycheck getting you to make me an outfit." She smiled, looking back at him with humor at the odds that it would actually happen.

[Markise Sterling]

Markise gave a low, throaty chuckle, and his tired eyes glittered. "Maybe I'll think about giving you a discount," he said. He rolled his eyes lightly before settling back against the couch and closing them with a sigh. "Seriously though, if you're in the public eye at all you'll be getting it for free."

[Annabelle Hennessy]

"Because of free advertising for you?" Her eyes sparkled at the thought of a closet full of pretty clothes. She would take up the offer in a heartbeat if she could buy his stuff for discounted prices as publicity for him. It sounded like a perfect win-win situation. She realized that she hadn't seen many of his creations, but what she had seen him wearing all looked better than anything she currently owned. Anna loved dressing up, she just didn't do it on a regular basis because it seemed pointless to spend hours getting ready for something as mundane as class. "No protests here!"

[Markise Sterling]

Markise chuckled again. It was almost strange hearing that. Ariel had been so critical... but no, that was only when he'd thought that Markise was trying to clone him. When he'd actually seen the coat... Markise took a deep breath and shifted, forcing himself to lift his head. He did not need to be thinking about that. He needed a change of subject now. How on earth did Ariel still affect him like this?

Markise felt suddenly sick at the memory of why he didn't want to think about that particular ex. His brows knitted and he leaned forward over his arms, though he managed not to get sick. He took slow breaths and struggled not to get sick.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

"Markise? Whats wrong?" Anna asked, sitting up with concern. Her hand slide reflexively along him to his back as he leaned forward. She tried to see his face to see if he was changing colors or about to vomit or anything but his arms blocked her view. She wondered if he was really that drunk last night. If he'd been that sick still, then why hadn't he taken a potion for it already? "Is there anything I can do?"

[Markise Sterling]

Markise shook his head, wincing slightly as it began to hurt again. He took another breath before he trusted himself to speak. "I'm fine, it's just... you know, thinking about some things can just... make you sick." Especially when you're already feeling like crap, Markise thought, leaving it unsaid since it was obvious enough.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna wrinkled her eyebrows. "Okay....." Her voice filled with question even though she hadn't asked one. She was completely lost. She followed what he said easy enough, but trying to put it in context didn't make any sense. Why on earth would talking about making clothes make his sick? She remembered the the Bloody Mary, and how they'd joked around with each other about fashion and his hobby. It had a completely different effect then, so what was the deal now?

[Markise Sterling]

Markise gave a low groan that sounded almost pathetic to his own ears. "My ex," he said, answering Anna's unspoken question. "He's a sick bastard." That would have to be enough. Markise had only told two people about Ariel's little entrepreneurial enterprise, but it had been misery both times and this was bad enough. Markise took another breath, slower now. "I'm sorry, I am," he said softly, then pushed to sit straight again, deliberately avoiding eye contact. "I'm fine," he insisted.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

"Don't be sorry." She didn't have a clue what made his ex a sick bastard but it obviously was pretty bad. Anna got the impression that he didn't want to talk about it, so she tried to find a change of subject. "So are you from a wizarding family or a muggle one?" The question popped off the top of her head as an obvious start. If she knew that, she would be able to find random things to talk about easier. She assumed that he was at least familiar with the muggle world, since he'd been to a gay muggle club and all.

[Markise Sterling]

Markise sighed, forcibly dragging his mind away from Ariel to focus on Anna. "My dad's a wizard and my mom's a witch," he said, leaning back against the couch again. He wasn't ready to get as comfortable as he had been though, not with the lingering feel of the subject he'd just narrowly avoided. "Mama's parents are both Muggles, but they think there might have been magic somewhere. They don't have anything to go off though, except her, so I think they're just saying it. Pa's parents are a Squib and a witch. So about as mixed as you can get, I guess. What about you?" he asked, looking aside at Anna again.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

"My dad's as muggle as they come, and my mum's a squib. So I grew up in a muggle house with a bit of wizarding influence from my maternal grandparents. Do you know all about muggle things then?" Anna thought it was a fair question; since both his parents were magical, he could theoretically be just as oblivious of the muggle world as some of the other students at Hogwarts. She didn't think that was the case, and he'd mentioned muggle grandparents so she was hopeful that he at least knew all the basic things like telephones and movies and cars.

[Markise Sterling]

"Not all," he said. "Probably not much at all, but I can function enough to get by. I can count out money--American money anyway--and I can open the door on a car." He was especially proud of that one, since he could only recall having done it once, and there he was thinking of the bastard again! Markise struggled to hold on to the conversation. "I went to preschool and elementary school," he added.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

"And you listen to muggle music right?" She remembered that he knew who Nine Inch Nails was, and blushed again at the thought of him having requested closer for her. He was good at dressing in muggle clothes too, but she wouldn't mention that just now, for whatever reason that it was linked to his ex. "Do you like movies too?" Not all families were as big on movies as hers, but if he knew music then wouldn't he have seen at least a few movies?

[Markise Sterling]

Markise's lips curved, and he relaxed a little now. "I know Muggle music from clubs, and from my Muggle friends back home. And I've seen some movies when I've been home on break, with my friends from school, but that's it. It really was awesome. I have a friend who's a Squib and he had to keep hitting me to remind me to stop staring or the other guys would wonder what kind of boarding school I went to."

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna laughed, all to familiar with the look from having shown Chase a movie. "I bet that was hard to hide around muggle friends. I know I take for granted all the muggle things I know, and I forget that the wizarding homes are so different. It was a culture shock when I would go to my grandparents house, but I thought it was just because they're older. I was amazed when I got here and saw the school used candles and actual lamps and had statues and talking portraits and ghosts!" She smiled as her mind replayed the memories of her first time at Hogwarts with all the magical things that she'd never witnessed before.