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Post by Ariel Logan Callahan on Sept 26, 2009 17:39:46 GMT -5
Ariel figured this had gone on long enough, and so he started heading slowly over to the two that were talking. He didn't really care if they were talking....but he did. He wasn't sure why, but he did care that they were talking about him, and they had to be talking about him. He tucked his hands in his pockets as he tried to catch the quiet words.
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Post by Dare Blackwood-Hardt on Sept 26, 2009 17:52:07 GMT -5
Dare blinked at the amount Markise said he'd been drinking, unable to imagine he'd been functioning like that. There was so much he wanted to ask, so much more he wanted to say, but He could see Ariel approaching from the corner of his eye. "Why did you stop?" he asked, the words a whisper, harsh only in the fervency with which he demanded an answer.
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Post by Markise Sterling on Sept 26, 2009 18:04:15 GMT -5
"For Ariel," Markise whispered back, the simplest and most basic truth. He hadn't quit for himself. He hadn't even realized he'd had a problem, but Ariel had made him see it, and after that first day when they'd traded alcohol for cigarettes, Ariel had been supportive. Markise didn't say another word on the subject. He could feel Ariel getting closer, as slowly as he might have been coming, and though he hadn't said much, not really, he'd rather not say anything around Ariel. If he'd learned anything from Michael, it was that best friends—even former best friends—and boyfriends didn't mix.
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Post by Ariel Logan Callahan on Sept 26, 2009 18:20:02 GMT -5
When Ariel stopped, he was close enough to hear, if they had been talking. He didn't say anything, since he couldn't be sure exactly what they were talking about. Still, he wanted to at least be close to Markise when it looked like they wouldn't be spending time together during this break. He had the sudden, uncomfortable feeling that he would end up talking to Dare.
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Post by Dare Blackwood-Hardt on Sept 26, 2009 18:35:44 GMT -5
For Ariel. Markise wouldn't stop for him, wouldn't even stop for himself, but he stopped for Ariel? He stopped for a guy he'd known less than a year, a guy who had hurt him horribly somehow, an allegedly-ex drug addict. Of the two worst drunken nights Markise had ever had, Ariel had been involved in both, once as an instigator and once as the cause. Dare didn't understand, and the look he shot Ariel was a mixture of confusion and accusation.
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Post by Markise Sterling on Sept 26, 2009 18:48:40 GMT -5
Markise could see Dare's mind working, but he didn't see any wave of acceptance or gratitude welling up. "For once, trust me," he whispered. He was quiet a moment before the urge to leave became overpowering. "We can sit together in Transfig, okay?" he said, loud enough to hear this time. That was what Dare had come to talk to him about, not about Ariel. He gave Dare a pointed look, then turned, pausing as he reached Ariel. "I'll be in the Great Hall," he said, then headed on. They normally didn't walk together, but he could always spot Ariel at the door and slip out.
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Post by Ariel Logan Callahan on Sept 26, 2009 18:59:23 GMT -5
Ariel watched Markise leave before turning and running a hand through his hair. It was a few moments after that that he finally looked up at Dare. "So I take it you don't like what he was saying," he said. He didn't know why it felt necessary to talk to Dare, but it didn't seem like it would be right for him to just turn around and walk away.
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Post by Dare Blackwood-Hardt on Sept 26, 2009 19:34:41 GMT -5
Dare's confusion hadn't abated with Markise's parting words. He'd never been able to trust Markise to take care of himself, why would he start now? His eyes darkened slightly, but he didn't glare as he looked at Ariel. The a~hole allegedly-former drug addict who had Markise convinced he was happy. And sober. "He didn't say much," Dare said.
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Post by Ariel Logan Callahan on Sept 26, 2009 19:42:20 GMT -5
"Okay, then," Ariel said, shrugging. "Then you don't like me." He didn't have a problem with Dare not liking him, but he had the feeling that he couldn't just let Dare hate him when Markise was talking to him again. Maybe he could explain something, maybe he could say something that would make things a little better for Markise.
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Post by Dare Blackwood-Hardt on Sept 26, 2009 20:16:01 GMT -5
Dare's brows drew together, and his eyes darkened a bit more. "So?" If Ariel didn't care, why should he? He'd told Michael ages ago that he wouldn't fight Ariel, so he wasn't about to start something. No, he didn't like the guy. When had he ever had a reason to? He wouldn't take Markise's word for it, Markise, who had stood up for Kwami and lied for him for ages. Who was to say he wasn't doing it again?
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Post by Ariel Logan Callahan on Sept 26, 2009 20:29:44 GMT -5
Ariel sighed and looked back to where Markise had disappeared. "Listen, if you have a problem with this, tell me." He would so much rather know, and maybe he could explain himself somehow. He had managed to talk to Markise's friends about this at least a little back in New York, the least he could do was try to talk to Dare. Maybe he could figure out what the problem was?
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Post by Dare Blackwood-Hardt on Sept 26, 2009 22:03:00 GMT -5
"I don't even know you," Dare said. Ariel wasn't being argumentative, and it was throwing him off. He'd been fine at the bachelor party from what Dare remembered, but he'd been an ass at the reception, and that meshed better with the other times they'd met. He didn't know Ariel, but he still felt just protective enough over Markise that it didn't much matter to him.
"What'd you do to Markise?" That was the big question. Was Markise trying to get back at him? To prove he could do whatever he wanted? Because Dare already knew that. Markise could do whatever he wanted, and Dare couldn't change anything. Was Markise sober? Was he happy? Or was he so blinded by whatever he saw in Ariel that he'd say whatever he thought Dare wanted to hear?
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Post by Ariel Logan Callahan on Sept 27, 2009 1:09:05 GMT -5
Ariel put his hands back firmly in his pockets and he shrugged. "I didn't do anything to him. He dated this guy for a little while, and when that fell through we got together. He made me give up my cigarette stash and I made him give up his wine and vodka." That was the short explanation, but if Dare wanted more, there was plenty more Ariel could tell him before he started feeling weird about it.
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Post by Dare Blackwood-Hardt on Sept 27, 2009 1:29:46 GMT -5
Dare wanted to argue, but Ariel wasn't giving him much fuel. Once he got past the idea that Markise had been actively dating, something he hadn't really had a chance to do before, Dare realized, it sounded like something Markise might do. But that was a lot of alcohol, and he knew how attached to it Markise had been. "He said he stopped for you," Dare said, keeping his voice low enough for passers-by to miss. "Was it really that easy?"
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Post by Ariel Logan Callahan on Sept 27, 2009 1:32:56 GMT -5
Ariel paused, then shook his head. "I mean...it was easy in a way, but I know it was hard for him. I know he didn't give me everything immediately, he said he forgot about the three bottles of cooking sherry he had in his trunk." He watched Dare for a few seconds before he shrugged and dropped his eyes. "He helped me get over a lot, so I helped him." Of course, he didn't intend to tell Dare just how he had kept Markise from thinking about it.
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