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Post by Ariel Logan Callahan on May 15, 2009 23:15:38 GMT -5
Ariel had looked up at the man that walked in, aggravated at not having the chance to defend himself from what Markise said. He wouldn't have moved on in an hour! His eyes turned back to Markise. If he left...would he even come back? Ariel had the strong impression that Markise would just leave and try to get away before he could get out of the hospital.
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Post by Markise Sterling on May 15, 2009 23:21:43 GMT -5
Markise glanced at Ariel, but looked away again at the look in his eyes. He was torn between wanting to run to get away from all this and wanting to▬ No, he didn't want to stay. He didn't want to try to comfort Ariel. He didn't want to be around when a Healer was looking at Ariel. Besides, it would blow his cover as brother faster than their differing accents. As long as Markise just didn't talk, that should be fine. Markise nodded, then headed out of the room.
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Post by Ariel Logan Callahan on May 15, 2009 23:33:10 GMT -5
Ariel watched Markise leave and then turned his eyes to the Healer, only to have his eyes widen beneath his hair when he realized that the man probably knew about the rape that Markise had reported to the last Healer. He gritted his teeth though and forced his eyes to return to normal as he was forced to sit and answer even more mundane questions, which eventually led to clothes being removed so he could be examined.
By the time it was all said and done he was put in a thin gown and instructed to lay down and not to move until told. Ariel certainly didn't like this, if he had been able to get himself to Markise's shop in Diagon Alley directly after the attack, and get himself up a flight of stairs so he could pass out on the mattress, he did not need to be babied. But still, he did it, since he had no other alternatives now that he was there, and the man went out to see if Markise was anywhere to be found.
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Post by Markise Sterling on May 15, 2009 23:41:41 GMT -5
Markise hadn't gone far, but he'd needed to do something besides sit in a chair staring at a wall. When he re-entered the room, he did so hesitantly, his brows knitting despite the coldness he'd been clinging to all day now. He tried to call it back, or at least to shove enough down that maybe the numbness would come back, but he hated seeing Ariel like this, and it was impossible to keep telling himself how much Ariel deserved this, even if he believed it. "What'd the Healer say?" Markise asked softly.
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Post by Ariel Logan Callahan on May 15, 2009 23:47:34 GMT -5
Ariel looked away from Markise as he spoke. "I have to stay here a few days." He would have to get a job somewhere to pay it off... "Nothing's broken, but my ribs are bruised, he told me a lot that I had already figured out." Not that he enjoyed getting beat up, but growing up around his brother and his brother's friends meant that he had had his fair share of battle wounds. "He wants to run a test to make sure I didn't catch anything." Wouldn't that be horrible? All that time he had spent taking care of himself, using protection, getting tested regularly...just to have it all washed down the drain because of something he couldn't control.
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Post by Markise Sterling on May 16, 2009 13:32:44 GMT -5
Markise nodded as he shut the door behind him, then moved further into the room. He debated returning to that chair, but he felt so trapped in the corner like that, and he was feeling trapped enough as it is. "I'll stay while you're in here," he said softly. He didn't want to, he wanted to go back to his shop and finish packing as quickly as he could so he could make that Portkey after all, but it was too late. He'd called to reschedule. He told himself it was because he had to make sure for himself that Ariel would be all right before he left, which was bad enough to admit, but maybe, just maybe somewhere in his mind he was thinking about how horrible it was being trapped in a hospital bed alone for so long.
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Post by Ariel Logan Callahan on May 16, 2009 13:43:21 GMT -5
"You will?" Ariel asked, his eyes brightening in hope he wouldn't admit to himself anymore. Then his eyes dropped to where his hand suddenly found a piece of the sheet to pick at. "You don't have to," he said then. He absolutely loved that Markise was offering, but Ariel had been away from him long enough with the Healer that he realized he shouldn't have pushed as much. But it could have been his last chance! He didn't have a choice, if he wanted any chance to make things better, he had to take that chance.
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Post by Markise Sterling on May 16, 2009 13:53:11 GMT -5
"If you don't want me to, I can go," Markise said, his brows knitting slightly. He'd seen that momentary brightness in Ariel's eyes and it had tried to wake something in him, but he picked up every sign he could to push it down again. When Ariel wanted something, didn't he just take it? No. How many times had he wondered why Ariel wasn't moving ahead? He didn't want to think about that. He turned his gaze away.
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Post by Ariel Logan Callahan on May 16, 2009 13:58:26 GMT -5
"No...I want you to stay," Ariel said, then looked up at Markise. "I just...I'm not going to make you." Yes, he wanted Markise to stay so badly, but was it worth just making Markise hate him more? He shifted and pulled himself up a little on the pillows. Now that Markise's eyes were turned from him, Ariel felt more comfortable watching him, at least from the safety of his hair.
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Post by Markise Sterling on May 16, 2009 14:11:15 GMT -5
"I said I would," Markise said, his words still soft, but not quite as much as they had been. "I already rescheduled my Portkey..." He cut himself off before he could add so you better want me to stay. He didn't want to call back any intimacy between them, and humor was a form of intimacy, wasn't it? Between them, at least. Ariel wasn't a naturally humorous person. Except once in a while, but that was another thing that Markise didn't want to think about.
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Post by Ariel Logan Callahan on May 16, 2009 14:22:17 GMT -5
Ariel nodded and dropped his eyes again. It was so awkward to just lay there with Markise so obviously uncomfortable. "Do you have to pay to reschedule?" he asked, wondering if he would have to add something else onto his list of things to pay back Markise for. No matter the few days of work he had done without pay, he felt that he needed to pay him back.
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Post by Markise Sterling on May 16, 2009 14:36:57 GMT -5
Markise shook his head. "Something about the American Embassy," he said. It wasn't enough to matter, anyway. Just a few Galleons, and it was worth it for the peace of mind he was getting from making sure Ariel wouldn't die in the hospital or something. Making sure he stayed in the hospital. He was going to do something good before he left. Everything would be tied up before he left this time. Which was why Ariel wouldn't be seeing a bill.
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Post by Ariel Logan Callahan on May 16, 2009 16:43:21 GMT -5
Ariel had never had to schedule a portkey before, so he didn't know anything about cost, so he nodded in acceptance of Markise's answer. Still, he was thinking that he probably should have gone somewhere else, even though he didn't have anywhere else to go. Maverick wasn't an option. "Are you going to come back for anything?" he asked. He knew about Dare and Michael and knew that Dare was Markise's friend.
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Post by Markise Sterling on May 16, 2009 16:59:32 GMT -5
"Mm-m," Markise replied, shaking his head slightly. He didn't want to be here for the partnership ceremony or whatever it was, and he'd let Dare be in charge of opening the shop and making it work. Markise hadn't made it work. "I'm going to have to get a job pretty fast. Dare'll take care of the shop." And Brindle would keep going to school, and Ariel would resume his whoring.
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Post by Ariel Logan Callahan on May 16, 2009 17:04:17 GMT -5
But I don't want you to go! Ariel licked his lips and turned his head. He didn't say anything, he refused to let himself continue when Markise had made it clear that he didn't want to stay. But...hadn't Markise agreed to stay for him before? Ariel couldn't hope for that to happen again, not after what he had done.
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