Naturally Awkward (Anna/Silver)

[Silver Blackwood]

Silver wasn't sure what he was looking for, really. Nor was he at all sure that this was the place he should be looking for it. He knew Anna owned it, and he knew about her history with his brother's fiancé. He should probably have taken a trip to London to look for something, but London was so far, and he wouldn't have felt right walking the streets alone searching for a bookstore when there was one so close.

When he entered, he didn't see anyone, and rather than calling out, he scanned the shelves, looking for a likely place to start. He doubted he'd find anything in self-help, or at least anything he'd actually give them, and knew he wouldn't find anything in fiction, so where?

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna had received another letter from Mr. d'Avonderre, and was seriously considering his offer now. The store itself held so many memories, both good and bad, but it seemed like the bad ones popped to the forefront every time she was alone in the store. She didn't want to give it up, but had no clue if her sanity would allow for her to keep it. Which is why Anna was currently up in the apartments above the store. If she was going to sell the place, she wanted top dollar and couldn't imagine putting the store in anyone else's hands without cleaning out the mess of storage she had found when she had purchased the store over a year ago. Even if she didn't end up selling, it needed to be done and was an excuse not to sit in her store alone with her memories.

She was interrupted from the current box of ancient tomes when one of her charms went off, signaling the arrival of a customer. After dusting off her clothes, she headed down the narrow staircase that ended at a door behind her counter. "Can I help you find something?" Anna asked as she entered the store, l locating the figure partly hidden by a shelf and started toward him.

[Silver Blackwood]

Silver froze, just at Annabelle's voice. He could just see her in his peripheral vision and all his nerves stood on end for the moments before he realized that she hadn't called him by name. Maybe she didn't recognize him, maybe this wouldn't be so hard after all. He took a deep breath, then cleared his throat lightly, still unable to look at her. "I'm not sure. I'm looking for a... a wedding present." If she didn't recognize him, he wasn't going to give her any help by saying civil partnership.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna paused as she came around the corner of the shelf, placing the voice along with the image of Silver standing there. It had been a long time since she'd seen him because their paths somehow rarely crossed. She couldn't help but remember the poem he'd written for her the last time she'd seen him. She'd recently found it in her school truck and the memory of the words caused a small bit of red to rise on her cheeks. She gave him a smile as she continued to him, hoping the color didn't show.

"Hi Silver. How are you? It's been a while." The mention of a wedding present didn't bother her nearly as much as it would have a few months ago, and she treated it like any other request. She was more interested in catching up with Silver than a sale. The hadn't talked much, but he'd been really nice the few times they had met.

[Silver Blackwood]

Dammit. Apparently she did recognize him. He steeled himself, then turned slightly to look at her, forcing a nervous smile. "Hey," he returned. He was silent a moment before he realized she'd asked him how he was, too. "Um, yeah, been a while. I'm fine," he managed. "Going into sixth year after the summer." Sixth year. He'd been thinking so much about his brother's ceremony that somehow he'd forgotten his own academics since term had ended.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna noticed Silver's hesitant demeanor but he'd been shy before so she didn't think anything of it. "I know, I can't believe the year went by so fast. I haven't even started studying for the NEWTS next year." She was grateful that she hadn't had any major tests this year, how distracted she'd been even her normal classwork had suffered. Anna paused as an idea popped in her head. "How did your OWLS go? Did you get the results yet?" She couldn't remember exactly how long it took for the results to come, only that she'd been anxious until she'd had them in her hand.

[Silver Blackwood]

Silver shook his head. "I heard they don't come until mid-summer and I'll be home by then. I'm not too worried, though." Not about most of his classes, anyway. It was the practical sections of Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts that he wasn't sure about. He knew he'd done fine in theory, he'd never been behind in theory, but it was difficult to teach yourself four years' worth of practical in one year. "What NEWTs are you going for?" he asked.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

"Potion, history of magic, charms, and transfiguration for sure, maybe Defense against the dark arts but it isn't my strong suit so I might not take the NEWT." She thought about the class she hadn't listed and the research she'd intended to do but had forgotten about until now. "I'm thinking of dropping ancient runes and doing muggle studies instead. I don't really need the class, but if I want to go into Muggle-Wizard relations I'll probably need the NEWT." Anna still didn't know what she wanted to be, but for some reason Markise's suggestion had stuck and she intended to still find out what exactly the job entailed.

[Silver Blackwood]

"Oh, that sounds cool," Silver said. "Muggle-Wizard relations, I mean, not NEWTs." He mentally kicked himself, then mentally kicked himself again for having kicked himself. Nothing had happened last time, and it would be so bad, so he needed to turn his attention somewhere else, despite any lingering memory of his poetry. The angel's blush. Maybe he should stop re-reading his writing so much. "So, um, how's the shop doing?" he asked. He was crap at conversation and didn't know what else to say, so he thought maybe it would be better to just figure out what kind of book to get.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna couldn't hide the frown that came to her face at the mention of her shop. She wished that she could find excitement in it again instead of the sense of dread and obligation it currently gave her. She looked at Silver with a shrug of her shoulders and a sigh, trying to downplay the emotional turmoil the shop caused her. "I'm thinking of selling it. There's a wizard that keeps offering to buy it, and at this point I'm tempted to say yes." She didn't want to give up all the books, the ownership of the shop, or the pride she had in it, but were those enough to make her keep it?

[Silver Blackwood]

"Why?" Silver asked. He heard himself and tried to backpedal. "I mean, it's none of my business, you don't have to tell me." Why would she give up the book store? The last he knew, she loved it. Not that he knew her well, he knew her better by reputation than personally, but it still struck him as odd somehow.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

"No, it's fine." Anna assured him even though she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to voice her thoughts. She hadn't even told Markise about possibly selling so she wasn't sure why it had come out to Silver. On of her hands reached out to the nearby bookshelf and stroked a spine, her eyes following so she was no longer looking at Silver as she talked. "It just reminds me of some things I'd rather forget. Every time I'm here alone my thoughts catch up with me. It's not the safe haven I'd originally created." She sighed, remembering when she used to love spending every spare second here alone and then on the couch with Markise. "I just don't know how to get that back."

[Silver Blackwood]

"Oh," Silver said, unsure what else he could say. He wasn't any good at advice, nothing surprising since he was such an outcast, and to be honest with himself, he preferred it that way. He'd never been like his brother, with a need to be surrounded by close friends. Maybe he'd wanted someone close before, and he'd tried with Dru, but that had been such a monstrous failure that he wasn't at all eager to try the experience again. "So what would you do if you sold it?" Silver asked, only realizing the probable impossibility of answering a question like that.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna didn't have a clue how to answer that. She'd only recently seriously considered selling and hadn't really thought it through. "I guess I'd just go back how things were before I owned the store." Her lip found its way between her teeth and she chewed on it as she thought about her pre-bookstore life. Although she still loved to research, constantly searching random topics didn't hold the sense of accomplishment that store ownership did. She shook the thoughts from her head when she realized that she was giving Silver more information than he probably even cared about. "No, I don't know. I'm sorry. I seem to have a habit of unloading on you don't I?"

[Silver Blackwood]

Silver lifted his gaze to blink at Anna, nonplussed for a moment before he made the connection to everything she'd told him so long ago. He hadn't even thought about it, even as preoccupied as he'd been with her ties to his brother and his brother's fiancé. "Oh, no it's fine. Everyone does." He mentally winced. "I mean, I don't mind people talking to me." Silver could have groaned at the continued stupidity pouring from his mouth, but he couldn't think of any better way to say it.