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Post by Ariel Logan Callahan on Jul 12, 2009 18:11:49 GMT -5
Ariel shifted uncomfortably again, picking up random little things he had found throughout his years. He would have gladly stayed silent, except for the uncomfortable feelings he hadn't expected with the silence. After a couple of minutes, he spoke. "Do you remember anything?" he asked. Maybe Markise would...but would it be better if he did or if he didn't?
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Post by Markise Sterling on Jul 12, 2009 18:18:38 GMT -5
"Mm-m," Markise hummed. He looked over at Ariel, wondering at the way he'd asked, or maybe at the fact that he'd asked at all. He stopped to think, grimacing slightly when he recalled that it had been Dare's Civil Partnership thing. He remembered having dipped into his cooking sherry before it got started, and he remembered trying not to cry at the ceremony. He remembered going straight for the champagne as soon as he'd gotten into the Great Hall. "What happened?" he asked again.
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Post by Ariel Logan Callahan on Jul 12, 2009 18:24:01 GMT -5
"You went after Dare after the ceremony," Ariel said, refusing to look at Markise just yet. Maybe knowing that would make Markise remember? He didn't know, but it seemed pretty likely when he knew that Markise had eventually put everything together after their first time at the club. Maybe then he wouldn't have to explain it all.
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Post by Markise Sterling on Jul 12, 2009 18:35:21 GMT -5
Markise's eyes flew open, and his head rose so quickly that the sharp pain at the back of his neck drew a groan from his throat. His brows drew together, and he groaned again, trying to think back, but all he could remember was before the ceremony, when Ariel had egged him into trying to tell Dare and he hadn't been able to. He gave Ariel a brief look of annoyance, then turned his gaze back to the glass in his hands. He didn't ask for the rest. He could imagine it. Dare had probably told him to get out and stay out of his life. His shoulders slumped at the thought. Five years keeping it to himself and apparently—according to Ariel—he'd thrown it all the hell out last night. Apparently he wasn't so dehydrated that he couldn't produce tears.
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Post by Ariel Logan Callahan on Jul 12, 2009 18:48:16 GMT -5
"He told me to make sure you were taken care of, wanted me to take you to your dorm or the nurse cause he knew you were so bad off," Ariel said, glancing over at Markise. He chewed his lower lip, trying to somehow resist the urge to go brush away the leaking tears. Markise didn't want him to help anymore. "I told him I'd take care of you," he said anyway, then looked away again.
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Post by Markise Sterling on Jul 12, 2009 20:01:05 GMT -5
Markise nodded slightly, all he was really capable of. He didn't want to think too much about any of that. It sounded to good to be possible that Dare had only wanted him to be taken care of, and that Ariel had volunteered to. He shifted slightly, drawing his arm out to set his partially-emptied glass on the bedside table, then drawing his knees up beneath the sheets. He leaned forward to rest his head against his knees and wrapped his arms around his legs, not at all sure what to say or think. It felt like that couldn't possibly be it.
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Post by Ariel Logan Callahan on Jul 12, 2009 20:17:16 GMT -5
Ariel reached up to rub the back of his neck, his eyes darting between where his other hand had rested on the top of his dresser and Markise. "Um..." It was really rather frustrating that all of this had happened. "If you don't want me here, I can leave." He didn't want to, he wanted to stay. But it didn't seem like a good idea to do that, did it? According to what Markise had said, he didn't want him there.
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Post by Markise Sterling on Jul 12, 2009 20:26:18 GMT -5
Markise's brows drew together and he lifted his head to look at Ariel. Why would he want Ariel to go? What had Ariel done last night? It was the simplest explanation to jump on. "I don't want you to go," he said softly. What had happened that Ariel wasn't telling him? Was it about Dare? Markise had so many questions, and he couldn't ask any of them. He watched Ariel though, pulled out of himself enough to wonder if something had happened between them.
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Post by Ariel Logan Callahan on Jul 12, 2009 20:56:07 GMT -5
Ariel's eyebrows came together and he looked over at Markise. Eventually, he pulled his eyes away and moved back to his corner. He didn't know why, but Markise didn't want him to leave now. When he sat, he wrapped his arms around his legs and put his chin between his knees, his bare feet crossing insecurely. He didn't leave, but he didn't stay close to Markise, either. Was he supposed to know what to do in this situation?
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Post by Markise Sterling on Jul 12, 2009 23:15:38 GMT -5
Markise looked down at the blankets over his knees for some time before asking again, What happened? Something had happened, he knew it, even through the pounding of his brain. Ariel had taken care of him like this before, but almost every time, they'd shared a bed if nothing else. And last time... last time they'd held each other for a while.
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Post by Ariel Logan Callahan on Jul 12, 2009 23:30:00 GMT -5
"You said...you said you were sick of me taking care of you," Ariel said softly, though that wasn't nearly all of it. "Kept saying stuff about me choosing to be with you or leave you." It had been so confusing, he was still confused, possibly even moreso. He remembered bits and pieces of the conversation, if it could be called that, and he wished he could remember more. "You said you wanted me to love you," he finished quietly, his voice barely a whisper.
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Post by Markise Sterling on Jul 12, 2009 23:46:16 GMT -5
Markise's heart stopped at that, and as his stomach clenched, he squeezed his eyes tightly shut. He'd said that. There could be no pretending he thought that Ariel was making any of this up. Part of it he'd thought about, usually when he had a bottle of sherry in his hand late at night. You said you wanted me to love you. It was everything he could do not to gasp just imagining it. He hadn't thought about that one, but he couldn't make himself deny it.
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Post by Ariel Logan Callahan on Jul 12, 2009 23:57:29 GMT -5
"And then I said I didn't know how, what if I couldn't? Then you ran and you fell and you hit your head," Ariel said, refusing to look up at Markise. He didn't know what to do, it felt like he wasn't supposed to even tell Markise that. But Markise had said it! He was just reminding him, wasn't he? He still thought it would be better not to mention it at all, to pretend it hadn't happened.
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Post by Markise Sterling on Jul 13, 2009 9:19:52 GMT -5
Markise's face was buried against his knees, trying to block out thoughts even as he tried to sort them. "I'm sorry," he said, only just audible even in the quiet room. He'd run. He could imagine it, could imagine realizing what he'd said and needing to get away. I said I didn't know how, what if I couldn't? Markise couldn't squeeze his eyes any tighter shut. "If you couldn't, you wouldn't be the first," he said softly.
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Post by Ariel Logan Callahan on Jul 13, 2009 12:23:26 GMT -5
Ariel looked up at Markise at that, confused all over again. Markise thought it was his fault? "No, no, it's...it's not you, if I can't, it's not because of you." He dropped his eyes again. It wasn't Markise's fault, it was his fault. No, it wasn't even his fault, it was Maverick's, and his parents. There was so much he didn't know, things that everyone else seemed to understand. Things like love, or what the difference was between an innocent statement and something that would make someone like Markise run off angry.
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