Fallen

[Mano Berwyn]

Mano reached for the wine again to refill Markise's glass, "If he refuses help, then it isn't your fault." Markise couldn't take the blame for someone else's stupid choices. "If it's going to make you like this, then you don't need to be around him." There was no reason for Markise to be like this when he had a choice in the matter.

[Markise Sterling]

"But... he could be so amazing if he just tried!" Markise argued, hardly noticing the refill. "We have so much fun sometimes. Then he goes and does this..." Markise sipped at his wine as he tried to figure out if this was just a continuation of everything that had been happening before they'd left for the summer. It seemed like it. Ariel had worked so hard in New York. He'd slipped up and gotten cigarettes once, but he'd given them right up when he'd agreed to stop drinking. They'd both been sober, and every day had been amazing. He refused to think he was idealizing things. And before... before New York it was heat, then fighting, then teasing, then heat, then fighting, over and over. It was so hard to make sense of it.

[Mano Berwyn]

"You have to figure out if it's worth it. Are the times you two have fun worth these slip-ups?" Mano asked, raising an eyebrow as he traded the bottle for his glass and then took another sip. "Have you talked to him about it?" It didn't seem like it, Mano got the impression that Markise tended to keep thoughts like that to himself.

[Markise Sterling]

"He doesn't talk," Markise said, pouting again. "I'm lucky he f~ing said sorry, even if he didn't mean it." No, he hadn't talked to Ariel about it, and when he'd been at St. Mungo's he hadn't wanted to talk about it. He'd wanted Ariel to say he was sorry and mean it, to say he'd f~ed up and next time he needed help he'd ask instead of buying the crap and shooting up. And so he'd left. And he intended to go back later, after he'd calmed down, and see if Ariel had anything new to say, anything besides his thousand variations of, it's not my fault.

[Mano Berwyn]

"Then maybe he's not worth it, if he's not willing to talk," Mano tried, though he had no experience. He was winging it, pure and simple, and the fact that he didn't think Markise should be with Ariel didn't help matters. The boy was trouble, and Mano would rather never hear about him again.

[Markise Sterling]

Markise leaned into Mano, exhausted and wanting the comfortable contact. He sipped at his drink, trying to think and continuing to come to no conclusions. He couldn't accept that Ariel wasn't worth the effort, but if he and Ariel were going to stay in the same cycle, what was the point? He didn't want to be constantly wondering when the floor would drop out from underneath him again. And yet he couldn't begin to tell himself he could just walk away. This was Ariel, and Markise could never resist him. "Thank you," he said at last, a small show of gratitude for all of Mano's support. He didn't think he could ever repay Mano enough.

[Mano Berwyn]

Mano's hand moved up to play lightly at Markise's soft hair, comfortable with the contact now. "If you ever need to talk, you know I'm here." Granted, he usually would like more than just to talk, but he would attempt to help Markise before he tried anything else. There was always the chance that he was wrong, and that Ariel just needed more time, but he would much rather convince Markise to drop the guy period.

[Markise Sterling]

"Mhm," Markise hummed. The wine was doing its work, and with the feel of that hand moving through his hair, it was easy to give in to the exhaustion and try to just relax. He was comfortable here, more or less being held, and listened to unconditionally. Whatever problem Michael had had with Mano before was ridiculous.

[Mano Berwyn]

Mano tilted his head and pressed his lips to Markise's hair as his mind started wandering down the path that would lead them up the stairs and into his room. There had only been a couple of times they had been together, and Mano wasn't anywhere near tired of Markise just yet. He reached to set his glass down to focus better on Markise.

[Markise Sterling]

Markise didn't object to that kiss, as innocent as it felt. As far as he was concerned, Mano was only comforting him, and doing an incredible job of it, as always. He'd always had his boundaries when he'd been drinking at the clubs, and even drunk he'd kept to them. This wasn't anywhere near crossing the line. As Markise finished off his glass again, he let his mind start to wander. He could worry again when he went back to the hospital to see Ariel.

[Mano Berwyn]

Mano took Markise's glass to set aside, thinking that if Markise wanted more he would ask. His fingers started to play at the hair at the base of Markise's skull. "How long can you stay?" he asked, absently trying to figure if there were classes the next day or not as his lips brushed the top of Markise's ear.

[Markise Sterling]

Oh, that felt nice, but it stirred up vague memories of his club boundaries. "Not long," he said softly. He didn't pull away, though. It was something very little, and it didn't break any of his rules. If he'd been sober, if he hadn't just introduced alcohol into a body that soaked it in like a sponge, he'd have sat and pulled away. He'd have cleared things up then and there. He was still with Ariel, no matter how angry or hurt he was.

[Mano Berwyn]

That just meant they couldn't take their time, in Mano's mind. He tilted his head further to search out the edge of Markise's jaw. He didn't consider it wrong to do this when Markise had had such an emotional day. He saw it as something that was his duty as a friend, to make Markise forget about it all, if only for a little while, and make him feel good.

[Markise Sterling]

Markise shifted away from the kiss, his retreat spoiled by the soft sound he made as he did so. "Mm-m," he hummed, shaking his head slightly. "I can't, I'm with Ariel." And he knew he'd forgive him. He always did, and he'd tried to fight it for the longest time, but he knew better now. Fighting it just made him miserable. So he'd go back, and save himself the heartache of another temporary breakup.

[Mano Berwyn]

Mano took a breath and reigned himself in, however much he would rather push on. He couldn't say he wasn't disappointed, but he wasn't the type to force anything on anyone that wasn't willing to do something. "Okay," he said, then moved his fingers one last time through Markise's hair before dropping his arm off the back of the couch. "So you're going to try again?" he asked, easily moving on from the refusal.