Naturally Awkward (Anna/Silver)

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna winced at his wording which sounded like everyone used him as a sounding board for their problems. "Is it always one-sided? Or do you get yours out too?" She couldn't remember him saying all that much about himself before and wondered if he ever opened up to anyone else or if he just listened to other peoples issues like he was doing now. She had a guilty look on her face at the thought of using him like everyone does.

[Silver Blackwood]

Silver could feel the heat in his cheeks, and he reflexively lowered his head a bit, letting his hair swing down around his face. No, he didn't get his out, not by talking, but he had his writing and that was enough. He just wasn't comfortable talking about himself. "I'm fine," he said, "really." It oftentimes was one-sided, but it was so much easier that way!

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna wasn't so sure that Silver really was fine with it, especially with the added really. "Not even with your brother? Aren't you close with him?" She inwardly wanted to slap herself for bringing up such a personal subject, given the circumstances. "You don't have to answer that. I'm sure there's a lot going on with him since Dare and Michael's wedding, or partnership, whichever, coming up so soon." She forced herself to stop rambling on before she said something that offended him.

[Silver Blackwood]

Silver colored again, and for a long moment after Anna spoke, he couldn't. He might have answered her questions, no he would have answered them, but her almost immediate rescinding of her questions. He shook his head instead of saying anything, then shrugged, since he had no idea how to respond to it. "Civil partnership," he said, and left it at that. He wasn't going to force information on her, especially not when he knew about her and Michael.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna didn't know if Silver's silence on the subject was due to his own feelings or out of respect for hers, so she cleared him of any worry on her behalf over the topic. "Right. I can't say I've ever read up on the differences, but it's too bad they're denied a real marriage. Dare didn't seemed too pleased about it last time he was in here." She shifted, leaning against a bookshelf as she talked, trying to look as unaffected by the topic as possible. For some reason it was important to her that others knew she was okay with the civil partnership, even if there still was some lingering emotions she didn't want to admit having over it.

[Silver Blackwood]

Silver blinked in surprise and his head lifted enough for him to look aside at Anna. "Really?" he asked, then nearly winced again at how that had sounded, especially since she'd already moved on from her opinion about them not being able to get married. He blinked again and looked back at the bookshelves rather than stare. "He was pretty upset about it. Hasn't mentioned it in a while, though." Silver was sure that Dare hadn't just given up, but he hadn't been asked for information in a while, and he and Dare had been in contact again for a while now.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

"Well, I don't see them much, that had to be a month or so ago when Dare was here I guess, so it's old news. I'm sure he's talked to you about all the partnership details since then." Anna made the assumption that the brothers were close even if she had no clue about the details of their relationship. "Well, I don't know, do guys talk about that sort of thing? I think of wedding details and I think of the bride, but..." She stopped herself, not wanting to offend Silver by dwelling on the fact that his brother's ceremony wasn't the traditional norm.

[Silver Blackwood]

There wasn't much Silver could do but listen to that, so he waited until she trailed off, then another few moments to be sure he wouldn't interrupt her starting up again. Then he shook his head lightly. "I'm his best man, so I'm like, required to know what's going on. And yeah, I guess we're close." The last year he'd realized how little he really knew about his brother, and yet Dare was the same as he'd always been.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

"Required to?" Anna got stuck on the odd choice of wording, wondering if it was a Freudian slip and repeated it without meaning to. The wording implied that he didn't have a choice in the matter, but if he had, he wouldn't have chosen to know. Anna wondered if maybe Silver wasn't okay with his brother's coming out. She hadn't really given that much thought, but it had to be either that or perhaps Dare was just telling him way more details than anyone would care to know.

[Silver Blackwood]

"Oh, no I didn't mean it like that," Silver said, mentally kicking himself for his poor choice of words. "I just mean I've been helping out. I'm like, one of his best resources or something." God, he was such a complete and utter nerd for saying that. "I tried to help them find somewhere they could get married for a few months..." Something Anna couldn't possibly want to hear, even if she was managing to talk about it. He had a sudden thought about the kind of issues he'd have if he found out Dru was marrying Chase, and nearly shuddered. There was something he didn't want to think about.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

"Oh, okay." Anna didn't know what to say to that, so she made the small hop to Silver's original comment. "You said you were looking for a wedding present, for them I assume?" Even though Michael and Dare's wedding was only a few days away she thought he must be buying something for the couple and not some other wedding she hadn't heard about. She wondered if Silver had something in mind, or if he was just browsing without any idea of what he wanted to get. Michael had never even stepped into the shop and Dare had only been there once, so she wasn't sure she would have anything that they'd be interested in.

[Silver Blackwood]

"Yeah," Silver admitted, diverting his gaze again. He almost regretted having called it a wedding just for the fact that Anna had remembered him, but it was a technicality, since as far as he knew they had the same rights. But he'd been talking about something to get for them. He shook the thoughts off. "I was hoping if I looked I'd just find something." It was easy enough to get something for his brother, but what in hell did people give each other for weddings?

[Annabelle Hennessy]

"Hmm." Anna realized she wouldn't be so lucky, and would have to help think of a present. Since she wasn't invited she hadn't given a gift for the couple any previous thought. Now however, she would be forced to actually think of Dare and Michael and what they might like. The effort put a frown on her face. She wasn't sure if it was from having to think about them in more than the casual sense or from not knowing their collective interests. "I don't know much about Dare other than he likes art."

[Silver Blackwood]

"They both do," Silver said, nearly wincing again and plowing on in the hopes that the obviousness of that statement would be forgotten quickly. "Art and music. Well, he doesn't play anymore. He hasn't since... for a long time," he corrected himself. It was over two years now, and though Silver could see why, he didn't really understand. Dare had loved his music. "And I think Michael plays piano," he added, then heard himself again and stopped before he could make it any worse.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

"That's right, I'd nearly forgotten he played, and Dare is the DJ at the Bloody Mary. Maybe you could mix them a wedding CD..." Anna shook her head, dismissing the idea before it was even fully formed in her head. "No, I doubt Michael would have a clue what a CD was, and their apartment probably doesn't have anything for them to play it on." She looked around her shop, which didn't contain much other than books. Could there really be something in the bookstore that would make a good gift?