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Post by Markise Sterling on Mar 22, 2009 16:40:05 GMT -5
It was all Markise could do not to bury his face in his hands and just cry. He didn't know what Michael was apologizing for either, but at least he'd tried, right? Markise sniffled, then mentally berated himself for doing so. It was disgusting. He tried to sort his own thoughts out, but he still couldn't see how anything had changed that would let him and Dare be friends again. They had Michael's permission, that was all. Michael didn't feel any differently, he and Dare didn't feel any differently, except he'd realized what a complete idiot Dare was. He hated his life so much right now. He was seriously considering going to the clubs during the week, too. Friday wasn't enough anymore.
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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on Mar 22, 2009 16:43:32 GMT -5
"Is there any way you would try again?" Michael asked after a long few minutes of silence. "I'll do anything, if I have to, I'll work hard at it, I just want him to have...I mean, I've seen some of the pictures in his sketchbook, I hate that he doesn't have that anymore." He looked up at Markise with pleading eyes. He didn't know where to go from there, he needed help.
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Post by Markise Sterling on Mar 22, 2009 16:59:27 GMT -5
Markise made the mistake of looking at Michael just then, and nearly burst into tears all over again. "Dammit," he said, then tore his eyes away. He didn't want to think what he was thinking right now. He didn't want anything to do with what had just occurred to him. He didn't want to see Michael as at all selfless, didn't want to see him trying to do what was best for Dare despite... despite being unable not to loathe Markise. He wanted to keep seeing Michael as the pissy emo who refused to admit Dare had a potion problem and sulked while Markise fixed it. "Did he really show you... pictures?" he asked softly. You can have your f~ing picture back! What picture had it been? Had Michael seen it?
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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on Mar 22, 2009 17:11:39 GMT -5
Michael shook his head, "No, one day he had been drawing...or looking at old sketchbooks, I'm not sure. But I came home and he wasn't in a good mood, and when he left the book fell open to a drawing of you with a picture of you two on the page. I...looked through the book some. He put them up afterward, though." He had the feeling that Dare didn't want him looking.
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Post by Markise Sterling on Mar 22, 2009 17:26:42 GMT -5
"Oh." Markise wasn't entirely sure what to think about that. He wasn't in a good mood. And he had a picture of them stuck to a picture of him? Markise's chest constricted. He sniffled again and wiped at his eyes. He didn't know what to say. "He called me a whore." Markise winced at the way that sounded, but it was true. "He kept talking about you, then he called me a whore. You're all he ever talks about, did you know that?" Not only did that leave Markise without much to say, but it reminded him of how very alone he was.
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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on Mar 22, 2009 17:30:42 GMT -5
Michael shook his head. It really didn't surprise him, though it made his chest swell and warmth flooded him at the knowledge. "Well, it's just me and him now, if there were others..." he trailed off. If there were other friends and people involved, then there would be more to talk about. When he had talked to Storm, most of the things he had said had been about Dare, but that had been mostly because he hadn't had the chance to do so and he needed to get it out. "Did he really call you that?"
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Post by Markise Sterling on Mar 22, 2009 17:39:13 GMT -5
"Mmhm," Markise replied with a nod. "Apparently... this one... friend I have... makes me a whore." Mano wasn't really his friend, was he? But that was as close as he could get. They weren't really lovers, either. Two nights didn't make any sort of relationship. Dare had said it was Michael who had an issue with Mano, and Markise didn't want to hear anything bad about him. Mano was what had kept him from sleeping with Robbie, who would have gotten bored and moved on immediately, he knew. "Anyway, everything he said started out with Michael says, so talking to him doesn't really do anything. He's just the middle man."
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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on Mar 22, 2009 19:33:29 GMT -5
Michael didn't know what to say to that. So he went quiet. He couldn't understand why Dare would do that, it wasn't like him. "I think that if you talked to him now, things would be a little different." The difference between Friday and how they had ended the weekend was incredible. "If I tried to get to know you, would that help?"
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Post by Markise Sterling on Mar 22, 2009 20:11:19 GMT -5
"It might," Markise said, nodding. "Dare told me I should try back in the fall." He gave a low sigh. "I tried," he said. "That one time you talked to me, it really did help. Not to freak you out or anything, but I couldn't have told that to Dare." There was no way in hell he'd have told Dare about Ariel. Even if he hadn't figured out why Ariel being a prostitute had been such an immediate worry, Dare probably would have gotten his ass beat down when he went to pick a fight. He'd only told Dare to ask Michael out of spite, and he seriously didn't think that Dare would ask.
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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on Mar 22, 2009 20:18:21 GMT -5
"I'm glad it helped, and so you know, I never told him. I thought it was something that, if you wanted him to know, you would tell him." He had wanted to, but Michael respected privacy, and that was something that he thought Markise wouldn't want spread around. "I don't mind listening and talking, I just...it's really hard for me to get over first impressions."
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Post by Markise Sterling on Mar 22, 2009 20:29:12 GMT -5
Markise's lips pressed tight again. He'd tried shifting the subject toward something they might talk about, toward that one bizarre day when they'd gotten along, and Michael had just brought it right back to why he didn't like Markise. "If you're going to keep thinking about why you don't like me, you're never going to like me and I'm wasting my breath," he said, then after a pause, "Thank you for not telling him."
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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on Mar 22, 2009 20:40:17 GMT -5
Michael's eyes had dropped and he linked his fingers tightly together again at Markise's words. He couldn't help that he kept thinking of the why. "You're welcome," he said softly. He bit back another apology that threatened to come out and paused before he even considered speaking. His mind went back to the day when they had actually talked about something. "Have you talked to Ariel since?"
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Post by Markise Sterling on Mar 22, 2009 20:46:10 GMT -5
Markise winced. He turned his face from Michael's, looking diligently out over the water to the opposite shore. "A little," he said, though the way he said it was more than enough to give him away. He wasn't entirely sure what to say to Michael about that. "I'll talk about it, but you probably don't want to know." He couldn't imagine that Dare's fiancé would want to know about his sex life, or lack thereof.
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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on Mar 22, 2009 20:57:12 GMT -5
"It's not a matter of if I want to know or not, it's a matter of whether or not you need to talk about it," Michael said as he looked up at Markise again. If Markise needed to talk, he would listen. He had listened to worse, he was sure he would survive. "So if you want to talk, go ahead. I'll help if I can." He would help as much as possible.
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Post by Markise Sterling on Mar 22, 2009 21:18:45 GMT -5
Markise looked warily aside at Michael. "Dare said you... he told me not to get into personal stuff," he said. He'd told Markise not to ask Michael anything personal actually, but it seemed like that would go both ways, wouldn't it? If you don't want to talk about it you don't want to hear it? His eyes rose, then shifted back out over the water. "It's crazy sh~ and... if... if you hate me now it wouldn't make it any better."
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