Wistful Thinking (Anna/Markise)

[Markise Sterling]

Markise hoped that Ariel would show up. He'd ordered his books by owl so they'd be here when he got back, so they wouldn't have to come back until the very last minute. So he had them and they were in his bookbag, which he even had with him. If anyone thought it was weird that they'd be studying this soon, they'd think it was NEWT panic. Perfectly reasonable.

He wasn't wearing any makeup, and his hair was blond again. He felt naked after months dressed however he wanted, and it was rather depressing having straight white-blond hair hanging around his face, but it was the only way to keep under the radar.

Their spot by the lake wasn't very well-hidden. It had been hidden enough for the times they'd met here before, but he knew the school a lot better now, and he'd been found here enough times that they'd have to be out in the water before he'd feel truly comfortable.

They hadn't actually planned to meet here. They were supposed to meet for lunch and it wasn't nearly lunch time, but Markise was impatient. And the Common Room was too close to the kitchens.

So he sat, his schedule tucked between the back pages of the Runes book resting against his legs, pretending to look interested, when in reality he was looking out over the water more often than not, thinking about things he hadn't let himself think about in several months. They'd been painful memories then, but the pain had faded, and it was wistfulness now.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna was walking towards the castle along the shoreline. For a few weeks she had made a routine of closing the shop for an early lunch break and going for a walk to clear her head. She was on her way back to the castle to grab a quick bite from the kitchen before heading back to the mad preterm rush to buy books. With the return of students, Anna's mind was on the upcoming school year. She was looking forward to the end of the long lonely days of summer, but was aprehensive at the start of term.

It was NEWTS year for her, but her mind hadn't even begun to process and kick into study mode. All her worries currently were due to the social realm. Last year had been a nightmare, a complete disaster. Annabelle was worried of running into just about anyone, especially anyone of the male species.

She had just finished making a vow to herself to steer clear of all males this year when she spotted a familiar head of blond hair in the distance. Her eyes suddenly widened and a shriek of joy came out of her mouth, "MARRRRRKIIIIIISSE!!!" Anna's legs carried her into a run, not taking as much care as she normally would over the uneven bank in a rush to get to her well-missed friend.

[Markise Sterling]

Markise blinked, pulled out of his thoughts by that familiar cry. He turned his head to look for the source of the voice, and he was almost surprised to see Anna. Definitely surprised to see her so excited to see him. He'd f~ed everything up so badly, and he'd all but convinced himself that her letters were just trying to be polite. Whether that made any real sense or not.

He'd changed since the last time they saw each other, physically and emotionally, though the emotional changes were far less visible. Just being at Hogwarts was depressing.

Physically, he appeared more masculine now, and purposefully so. He didn't want to risk outing either himself or Ariel. On his own, it might have just looked eccentric, but with the amount of time they intended to spend together, it was better that no one wondered.

He was still wearing nice clothes, but he'd save his slacks and pressed shirts for special occasions. There were no flirty curls today, though that was more because he hadn't felt like bothering with them than anything. No mascara, and so his normally ink-black lashes were gold around his pale eyes. That gold and his white-blond hair seemed even paler against the tan he'd gotten from running every morning, though that was, perhaps, less visible than his body itself.

He'd always been slender, and his pilates had kept him flexible and toned, but the addition of running miles every day and walking everywhere, of escaping gravy-soaked Hogwarts food and giving up alcohol for the healthy foods he loved so much had toned him further. And gained him just enough muscle to be noticeable. Physically, he felt a lot better, but he didn't know how long that would last.

But he wasn't thinking about food right now. His lips were curving uncontrollably just at absorbing Anna's energy, and he was setting his book aside, wondering if he'd have to catch her.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

The changes in Markise hadn't been noticeable to Anna due to the distance and the time since she last saw him. By the time she had gotten close enough to see, she was too excited to finally see a friendly face, and his smile only encouraged her. When she reached him she slowed herself enough to manage not to fall on him as she dropped to her knees and gave him a huge hug. There was so much she wanted to say, so much time she felt like she needed to make up for. "I've missed you terribly!"

She had too. The night at the club had been horrible, but one night of seeing a drunken Markise wasn't nearly enough to ruin things between them. He was still her closest friend. Everything she'd said in her letters had been true. She'd looked for him before he went to New York with no luck, and had wanted to write so much more while he was gone. In truth, she'd written many other letters, but had tossed them in the floo, only allowing herself to send an additional letter once she'd received one in return. She didn't want to impose on his summer, especially when he hadn't given much response in his own letters back to her.

[Markise Sterling]

Markise caught Anna with an oof at the impact, and his arms wrapped automatically around her. He hadn't realized how much he missed her until now. Who else but family ever got this excited to see him? His mind took a detour to the gleam in Ariel's eyes that he saw so often now, and it was suddenly impossible to feel that sense of rejection he'd felt so powerfully and so often over the past year. "I missed you too," he said softly. He wanted to tease, but it had been so long, and for so long at Hogwarts, she'd been half the reason he stayed sane.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna basked in the pleasure of the hug she received back, and took it in for a moment before pulling back and actually getting a good look at him. The small changes made his look so different from what she was used to that she blinked in surprise. She let out a low whistle as she took it all in, looking him over more closely now. "Lookin good." She flirtingly teased him. His new look definately wasn't the Markise she was used to, but the masculine edge it added without the makeup did have an appealing quality. Markise had always been toned, but she was sure it wasn't her imagination that he'd seemed even more so in the hug they'd just shared. She realized she was internally debating the looks of her friend, who she was most certainly not supposed to do that to, and felt the heat of a blush starting.

[Markise Sterling]

Markise chuckled at Anna's compliment, even if he did like hearing it. "It's all for you," he teased. He had missed this, missed the harmless flirting that he just didn't get with his male friends. Though he'd gotten plenty at Starbucks®, it was entirely different flirting over a countertop for tips. If he noticed Anna's blush, his mind attributed it to the fact that Anna blushed easily. He knew that she had issues with guys, and though he wasn't one of them, it had been all summer, and if she was self-conscious he wouldn't point it out and embarrass her. "You didn't sell your shop, did you?" he asked.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna had smiled at his jest, her blush softening just as fast as it had come up. They were back to the way things were, and it felt so right to kneel beside him as if the months of summer had never separated them. The edges of her lips fell at the mention of selling her shop and she could feel the change in mood. She shook her head and chewed on her lower lip.

After a moment she held up her hand with her thumb and pointer finger just barely not touching. "I was this close to it. I even gave him a tour of the shop and told him I wanted to make sure the bookstore was in good hands." Anna lowered her hand to her lap, her eyes following as she shook her head again. "In the end I just couldn't part with it. What you said in your letter really made me think. After a while of tossing it back and forth I realized if I sold it I wouldn't have anything...... So, for now I kept it." Anna sighed, still not 100% confident in her decision. Now that she was done retelling the story she looked up to Markise for confirmation that she'd made the right choice.

[Markise Sterling]

Markise nodded. "You love your book store," he said, thinking of all the times he'd found her digging through a new box or sneaking a peek inside a book before putting it on the shelf. When they'd gone to the Room of Requirement together, it had turned into her shop, of all places. "I think you oughtta just redecorate. If you want me to help, I will." Markise caught his accent too late, and decided he didn't care. He'd been in New York all summer, and as long as he didn't swear in front of Anna, she probably wouldn't even notice.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

If Markise’s accent had reverted Anna didn’t pay any attention to it. She was far more interested in seeing him and the words he was saying than how thick the New Yorker in him was showing through. She brightened a little at his approval of her choice, even if he had already told her to keep it in a letter. It was far more soothing to hear it in person. At his offer to help she felt her excitement return. “Would you really? Oh I’d love that!” Markise had a way better sense of style and she was sure it’d look so much better if he added his touch to the place.

[Markise Sterling]

"I'm not an interior designer, but I'll try," Markise said. At least he knew something about cloth if she wanted curtains or new upholstery, though he didn't know where she could get her furniture upholstered if she did. "Start thinking about what kind of style you want. I'll help, but I'm not deciding for you," he warned.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna smiled, tilting her head as she teased him. "So you'd let me put up purple corduroy curtains with orange floral print chairs?" She knew next to nothing about fashion and style but would never do anything quite that retro. In reality, she'd given the decorating idea a bit of thought and had a basic idea of what she wanted as decorations if she could pull it off. She'd even begun a loose floor plan on how she wanted the shelves and other furniture arranged. She wouldn't try to explain things without showing him in the shop, so hopefully he'd have some free time after the term started and the customers died down a bit.

[Markise Sterling]

Markise's nose wrinkled at even the suggestion. "If you wanna blind your customers and go out of business, sure," he said. God, that would be horrible. There was no way he'd let Anna do something like that without saying something about it. He was almost entirely sure she was kidding, though she had surprised him more than a few times in the past. But she had better taste than that.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna laughed at the look on Markise's face combined with his comment. "Honestly Markise, I'm not that tasteless, am I?" She flashed him a Mischievous smile, giving away that she'd been baiting him. "I think I'll leave the floral prints to my gran's parlor now that I think on it. I've always had a bit simpler style." She gestured to her casual clothes, a pair of new jeans and a simple blouse, as if Markise may have forgotten the similar clothing she usually wore when not dressed in school uniforms.

[Markise Sterling]

Markise smiled and nodded, but didn't comment on Anna's style. It was based far more on comfort than fashion, and though it worked for her, and he'd never suggest changing, he wouldn't apply it to her shop. Mostly because her shop was already the same style. "Anything else been happening?" he asked after a moment. He hadn't forgotten her mentioning her ex, nor her assertion about love, but he didn't think he had the right to say anything about it, all things considered.