Seclusion

[Markise Sterling]

Culture shock. Markise was familiar with that, though he forced his mind to stay away, yet again, from someone he knew who had it far worse than he did. "I'm from New York," he said. "SWIM was a culture shock, just being surrounded by so many other wizards and witches, and so much open space, and then Hogwarts... Hogwarts is nothing like SWIM. I've been here months and stuff still just... confuses the hell out of me sometimes."

[Annabelle Hennessy]

"Yeah, it'll grow on you though." Annabelle still got lost sometimes, but even without her family or too many close friends, Hogwarts still made her feel like she belonged. "I'm kinda scared about leaving after 7th year. I know it's a while off, but it still worries me. I mean, if I get a wizarding place, I won't know what to do, how to run it." She knew there were books on household spells, but learning as she went was terrifying. What if she burnt the place down?

[Markise Sterling]

"It's not bad," Markise said, resting his head back against the couch again. "And it's a lot easier than the Muggle way." He glanced aside at Anna before finally closing his eyes to rest. "Almost all my friends before wizarding school were Muggles," he explained. "The only one who wasn't was a Squib." He didn't know what else to say about that at the moment, so he let it go and secretly hoped Anna might play with his hair again.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

It only took a slight hesitation after his hair fell over Anna's hand before she gave in to temptation and began running her fingers through it again. She gave a soft Ahhh, feeling like the conversation had come to a natural ending point. They sat in silence, the only action was the stroking of her fingers, tugging lightly through his curls. It felt so nice to just sit, and slowly the thoughts of her future faded.

Without anything going through her mind, she focused on that small action of her hand. "I love your hair." She said in a soft voice as if she was afraid to puncture the silence. She knew that she'd never be able to pull off that style, but it was fun, pretty, and felt like he took really good care of it.

[Markise Sterling]

Markise's lips curved with the compliment, though he made no effort to open his eyes. "I bet you say that to all the boys," he teased. In all honesty he loved his hair too, but that wasn't something you really went around saying. "Thank you," he said eventually. He tried to think of something more to say, but his conversational abilities were wearing thin, or maybe just hazy with relaxation.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna gave a light chuckle at his retort. "No, you're my first." She replied in a low voice. She couldn't be sure, but it looked like Markise was starting to fall asleep on her. She remembered that she'd interrupted his attempt to nap in the library, and he'd mentioned not getting to sleep in his dorm, so she couldn't blame him really. She tried not to do anything that would disturb him just in case he was on the verge of falling back to sleep. Anna didn't give a thought to what she would do if Markise did take a nap, she just felt bad that he was so tired.

[Markise Sterling]

Markise gave a low, throaty chuckle at Anna's assurance. "I'm honored," he said, and nothing else. He was falling asleep, though he wasn't there yet. It was quiet and warm here, and Markise couldn't resist the soft, lulling motion in his hair. He had a flickering thought that he should be sitting up so he could talk to Annabelle, but it wasn't enough to get him moving. Within minutes, his breathing had slowed and he was asleep.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna could tell when his breathing changed and he was actually asleep. The thought to leave so she didn’t disturb him was quickly dismissed – she didn’t want him to think she had abandoned him. Instead, she looked around ‘her bookstore’ and saw the book she’d been reading last night. When she thought he was deep enough in sleep that she wouldn’t disturb him, she pulled her hand away from him and reached for her book. She settled back in the corner of the couch and quickly found her bookmarked spot.

[Markise Sterling]

Markise might have slept until supper had he been in his bed, but leaning back against a couch in a more or less sitting position wasn't as comfortable as it could have been. Eventually the discomfort got to him and he shifted, a slow, sluggish motion that accomplished what he wanted, just not in the way he wanted it. He woke to find himself toppling sideways as he slipped from his place against the back of the couch.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna’s book fell to the floor as she reached out to catch Markise. Her hands made contact to stop him from falling just after she saw him snap awake. She wished she’d seen him a few moments earlier so he wouldn’t have woken up with a start, but he had slept for a while. “Morning Sleeping Beauty.” Anna grinned at him, her hands still holding him in case he wasn’t fully awake and coherent.

[Markise Sterling]

Markise blinked up at Anna for the moments it took himself to throw off disorientation. Then his lips curved and he gave a light laugh before moving to right himself. His head still felt thick and heavy, but it wasn't throbbing anymore, and all in all he felt better for however long he'd been asleep. "My hero," Markise teased. He brought his hands up into his hair, trying to fluff it back into something semi-acceptable now that he was awake enough to do so. "How long was I out?"

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Giving away a laugh, Anna leaned down and picked up her book. She flipped through the pages to about where she’d been interrupted, measuring how many she’d read through. “I’d say at least a few hours. Another half hour and I’d have finished my whole book.” She set it down on the coffee table, picture side down, and looked back at him. Her gaze was directed to the movement of his hands as he fixed his hair and she idly wondered what products he used.

[Markise Sterling]

Markise let his hair go for now, since he couldn't do any better than he had without a mirror. Plus, he didn't really care that much today. He looked like crap anyway. "What time is it, do you know?" he asked Anna, looking aside at her again. "I think I could eat something now, if the Great Hall is open."

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna glanced over her shoulder to find the clock right where it would be if they were actually in her store. She was about to suggest they stop somewhere in Hogsmeade to eat, when she remembered that they were really still at Hogwarts. "It looks like we missed lunch, but they should be starting dinner any minute. I didn't even realize how late it was." She reached out and fixed a few strands of his hair; if they were going to the Great Hall, he probably didn't want to look like he'd just had a romp.

[Markise Sterling]

Markise looked aside as Anna fixed his hair, as though he could somehow see what it was he'd missed. "Thank you," he said. He wasn't as surprised by how late it was as he was that he'd completely crashed on the couch next to Anna and she hadn't disturbed him. It was a little strange thinking about having been so... vulnerable, but it wasn't really uncomfortable, especially with that little reminder of exactly how he'd fallen asleep. His lips curved slightly as he looked down at Anna. "Whenever you're ready," he said.