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Post by Markise Sterling on Mar 6, 2009 17:03:19 GMT -5
Markise had avoided Popstarz for weeks now. He'd wondered if Ariel would wonder where he was, and he'd hoped to set some distance between them again after last time. He hadn't wanted any reason to get that drunk again, either. But mostly, he'd just wanted to heal a bit, to let his freshly opened wounds knit again. He'd been going a little crazy, though. He had Anna, but he had to water everything down so much before he talked with her about it that it was just enough to keep him going, not enough to relieve the tension. And Larten had disappeared. He was sure of that now. It had been nearly a month since he'd seen Larten. A month, and they'd dated about a week. Tonight, Markise had plans. He didn't at all intend to look for Ariel, though if Ariel was here he had a feeling they'd run into each other. If so, he'd take it as it went. If not... Markise was feeling very on-edge and a little desperate lately. He'd been good, very good, but he'd written Larten off as anything but an investor and had moved on. Robbie had apologized profusely the week after that last time they'd been here, and neither of them had drunk nearly as much. But this time... Markise was considering whether he shouldn't just go for it. He liked Robbie, he was attracted to him, and they'd both feel better for it, right? Even so, he wasn't sure he could do it, so he didn't say a word, didn't act any differently. If he decided not to, he could always stop by the coffee shop on his way home. He was determined to watch how much he had to drink this time just so that he could, and still r e m e m b e r it in the morning. For now, Markise was soaking up compliments. He'd just dropped a lightweight cloak he had, and the guys had plenty to say about his new outfit. It was something completely different, not the angel that he usually went as, but it felt right for tonight. He wanted his arms bare so he could feel everything.  |
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Post by Ariel Logan Callahan on Mar 6, 2009 17:27:47 GMT -5
Ariel certainly hadn't missed Markise's new outfit. As soon as he had seen the familiar blond hair bobbing through the crowd he had tried to get close enough to make sure, and he had then promptly lost Markise again. He wanted badly to go tell Markise how good the new outfit looked, wanted to maybe have just a little of what he had had the last time he had seen Markise. It was no use, though, and soon he had been pulled into a dance even if his eyes were still scanning the crowd for Markise.
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Post by Markise Sterling on Mar 6, 2009 18:07:27 GMT -5
Markise didn't make it away from the table without a dance partner tonight. Usually he parted from the guys and came back once in a while to touch base, to dance with one or the other of them, and Robbie at least a couple times.
Tonight he went off with Robbie's hand slipping around his waist and Joe, a rather metropolitan-looking young black man, with his hand against Markise's back. He teased them both, and he was already having fun, already felt freer than he'd been feeling after a couple weeks. But then, he was single again.
The three of them found a space on the floor, Markise taking up his spot with Robbie at his back and Joe facing him. It was so easy to let go, and soon Markise's arms were raised, his body arching without any attention to where whose hands were. Not tonight.
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Post by Ariel Logan Callahan on Mar 6, 2009 18:18:40 GMT -5
Ariel ended up in a spot where he could catch glimpses of Markise through the moving crowd as he danced with a blond that reminded him more of Markise than he'd care to admit. He recognized the Robbie guy that had been with Markise in that dark room and his eyes narrowed slightly beneath his hair. He made a promise to himself that he would go up and try to get a dance.
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Post by Markise Sterling on Mar 6, 2009 18:38:37 GMT -5
When the song had ended, Joe excused himself to follow another likely partner, leaving Markise and Robbie alone in the crowd. Robbie didn't excuse himself this time and neither did Markise, instead pressing lightly backward for more. Those large hands settled at Markise's hips almost dangerously far forward, but Markise made no move to push them away. He brought his arms up and resumed the motions, bringing one hand back to play against Robbie's thick, somewhat coarse hair. He could feel breath against his neck already. Robbie wasn't wasting any time getting what he could.
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Post by Ariel Logan Callahan on Mar 6, 2009 18:50:27 GMT -5
Ariel broke from his own partner to weave through the crowd and come up by Robbie. He didn't spare a thought that the guy might recognize him, if it happened, then he would deal with it as it came. There was no point in worrying about it. "Could I steal him for a song or two?" he asked, eyes flickering to Markise. "If he doesn't mind?"
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Post by Markise Sterling on Mar 6, 2009 19:05:52 GMT -5
Robbie was highly annoyed at the timing of the disruption, but he knew better than to think this was over for the night. The guy who'd cut in was familiar, but he got around enough that he couldn't place him and he was having too much fun otherwise to care.
"You want to dance with him, Angel?" Robbie asked, pressing even closer for a moment.
Markise couldn't help glaring at Ariel. He'd expected to see him skulking around, not for him to actively intrude on his plans. All the same, he looked over his shoulder at Robbie and gave a short nod. "I'll see you around," he said. As annoying as Ariel's interruption might be, his fun was more or less put to an end. He'd be thinking about him anyway, so he might as well get a dance out of it.
Robbie nodded back, and his hands slid against Markise in the moment before he left. Markise's annoyance faded into resignation. "Couldn't you have waited a song or two?" Of course, who knew where he and Robbie would have been a song or two later?
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Post by Ariel Logan Callahan on Mar 6, 2009 19:11:01 GMT -5
For just a moment Ariel thought about saying something about Robbie or bringing up the fact that Robbie had very nearly raped him the last time he had seen the two of them together. He could have said something about actually wanting to spend time with Markise. Instead he brought his eyes from Robbie's retreating back to look down at Markise. "No." His eyes made a trail down and then back up Markise for a good look at his outfit before he put his hands on Markise's hips lightly. "You look really good."
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Post by Markise Sterling on Mar 6, 2009 19:23:29 GMT -5
Markise heated all over, and with his hair back tonight it had to be painfully obvious how flustered -- how affected -- he was. He had to drop his gaze, and he mentally kicked himself for caving so easily. "Thank you," he managed, just loud enough to hear over the music.
Markise took what time he needed to get himself together again, then tipped his chin up, drawing on the confidence he'd had when he'd walked in the door. "I'd say the same, but I can hardly see your face behind that mass of hair." Thick, soft hair that hadn't been dyed and straightened a hundred times, though he could imagine the gel didn't do anything for the feel of it. Well, if he were to imagine something like that.
Markise shook his thoughts off and brought his arms up, crossing his wrists at the back of Ariel's neck. He refused to stop playing just because Ariel had gotten rid of Robbie. He'd just take it out on Ariel, maybe rub in a little what a complete idiot he was for having screwed him over.
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Post by Ariel Logan Callahan on Mar 6, 2009 19:30:06 GMT -5
Ariel didn't realize he had reached up to push his hair off to the side until his hand was already on its way back to Markise's hip. His eyes were still bloodshot, though he had found a certain slightly thick potion that helped with the dark spots beneath them. He didn't know why he pushed the hair away, but he told himself that it was so he could see Markise more clearly as he pulled him just a little closer and started to move. "Better?"
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Post by Markise Sterling on Mar 6, 2009 19:38:49 GMT -5
Markise's heart jumped a little, and gave a little nod. "Mmhm," he hummed. He wasn't paying much attention to the dance yet, though he moved with it easily. He was looking at Ariel's eyes, that light brown that had always been so darkly brooding all the same.
He was staring. He caught himself and his eyes dropped only to reach Ariel's lips before skirting up and over his shoulder instead. "They make eye drops for that," he said. So it wasn't the teasing conversation he'd hoped for, but he was flustered again. "It's a temporary fix, but they'll itch less, sting less." Markise looked back at Ariel now. He didn't know why he was even saying anything. Ariel didn't need any help getting... customers. He looked away.
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Post by Ariel Logan Callahan on Mar 6, 2009 19:42:32 GMT -5
Ariel nodded, though he couldn't let himself think that, no matter how Markise had acted when he was drunk, Markise felt anything strong enough to mean something. "Maybe I'll look for some," he said, then let his hands move further around Markise. He had held Markise last time, but even then Markise had been drunk. Would Markise even let him come close sober? "Has he tried anything?" he asked, flicking his eyes toward the part of the crowd where Robbie had gone.
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Post by Markise Sterling on Mar 6, 2009 19:48:30 GMT -5
Markise had shifted closer without thinking at that motion of Ariel's hands. Now he looked back at him, back into eyes he was relieved to see no matter how he told himself he shouldn't be. "We just got here," he said, the words making it clear that it was none of Ariel's business. Markise hadn't ingested anything in the time since he'd walked through the door, and he was clinging to everything he'd told himself over the past weeks. "If I hadn't had a boyfriend I'd have told him yes that night anyway, so don't worry about him." It hurt a little to say it, but he'd wanted so badly to keep his distance, to keep himself safe from Ariel, that he told himself it was worth it.
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Post by Ariel Logan Callahan on Mar 6, 2009 19:53:20 GMT -5
Ariel had stopped moving at that word. Boyfriend. He made himself resume the motions, though, even if they were purely automatic now. "You had a boyfriend?" he asked, trying fruitlessly to keep any emotion from his voice. He knew he had no right to say anything about it, especially considering what he had been doing the past few months. That didn't mean that he liked the idea of Markise being with someone else.
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Post by Markise Sterling on Mar 6, 2009 20:06:07 GMT -5
Markise felt a spike of somewhat bitter victory at Ariel's reaction. "Mmhm," he hummed matter-of-factly. He decided not to elaborate at all, nor to try to find a way to mention Mano. Markise wasn't especially proud of either Larten or Mano, considering how that one week with the former had ended and how that one night with the latter had begun. He also decided not to mention the connection between Larten and his shop. That would be bad all around.
Markise looked back at Ariel now, having to work not to try interpreting what he saw in those brown eyes. "I wasn't made to be alone," he said. He didn't do well alone, sighing and brooding, taking twice as long on his homework so he had something to do for longer. It wasn't at all satisfying, emotionally or physically.
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