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Post by Markise Sterling on May 2, 2010 22:44:43 GMT -5
Markise knew that six was early to close, but no one came in that late anyway. It wasn't worth it standing at the counter for an extra hour when he could be forcing himself to study for N.E.W.T.s with Ariel. The breaks he demanded were enough on their own to make studying tolerable, and with that thought, he flipped the sign on the door to closed.
"Ariel, closing time!" Markise warned. He knew Ariel's dislike of stopping before he was finished, but when he got upstairs he didn't want to wait another half an hour.
He headed back across the shop, letting his eyes run over things one last time before he entered his office-cum-workshop. Everything there could wait for tomorrow, so he closed the door and locked it, then headed up the connecting stairs to the apartment.
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Post by Ariel Logan Callahan on May 2, 2010 22:53:15 GMT -5
Ariel hadn't told Markise about his talk with Dare immediately, instead opting to remain silent to give himself the chance to figure things out and decide what he wanted to say. He wasn't much further, but at least he wasn't just a ball of stress. When he heard Markise start heading up, he hurried to finish everything off so that he would be done by the time the door opened. Where would he start? He had no idea, but he couldn't hold off any longer.
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Post by Markise Sterling on May 2, 2010 23:05:35 GMT -5
Markise sighed as he reached the top of the steps, closing and locking the connecting door as well. It was a reflex to lock everything up, and though he could handle leaving a window ajar now and then, he couldn't sleep with a door unlocked. Not that he intended to sleep just yet.
He approached Ariel, stopping to let his fingers trace a slow path from Ariel's shoulder up to his neck. "It was boring today," he said. "No one came in. Everyone's studying for N.E.W.T.s or O.W.L.s or something." He shrugged. "I heard some kids at school talking about W.O.M.B.A.T.s, whatever those are."
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Post by Ariel Logan Callahan on May 2, 2010 23:12:53 GMT -5
"I'm sorry," Ariel said, putting his hands on Markise's hips before sliding them back to circle his arms loosely around Markise's waist. "Want me to cancel the exams?" His lips curved in a small smile as his eyes traced the familiar lines of Markise's face. He had long before giving up trying to understand why Markise was so insistent on locking doors, since the door in New York had been locked all the time, as well. There had just never been a need to do it in Australia.
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Post by Markise Sterling on May 2, 2010 23:20:31 GMT -5
Markise's lips quirked. "Cancel them tomorrow," he said, letting his arms slide up and around the back of Ariel's neck. "We've got better things to do tonight." Like kiss, something Markise wanted now. As much as they'd talked now and then about going out, they still hadn't and his restlessness remained. He was impatient with school and nothing here moved fast enough. He pressed his lips to Ariel's, perfectly happy to take his restlessness out the way he'd been doing since they moved in together.
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Post by Ariel Logan Callahan on May 2, 2010 23:28:51 GMT -5
Ariel's eyes closed as he slipped easily into the kiss. He could wait to talk about Dare and going out, even though he knew that this immediate turn to physical distraction was just a way Markise was dealing with things. They tended to talk better after, anyway, that was when things started to come out, it was after when Markise had first brought up that he was bored in the first place.
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Post by Markise Sterling on May 2, 2010 23:35:32 GMT -5
Markise didn't feel anything different as they slipped off to the bedroom. It was always good, always just what he needed to get his mind off things and relax. After, he stretched out against Ariel, then tucked himself close. His fingers took up their meandering path over Ariel's tattoo, a pattern he could trace with his eyes closed by now. He didn't want to study tonight. He wanted a night off.
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Post by Ariel Logan Callahan on May 2, 2010 23:41:21 GMT -5
Ariel slid his fingers absently over Markise's back, letting his mind wander until it finally settled on what needed to be said. Then he had to figure out just how he was supposed to bring it up. "I talked to Dare a few days ago," he said, figuring that just having at it would probably be the best idea. He had no idea where this would go, but he had to try.
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Post by Markise Sterling on May 3, 2010 0:18:44 GMT -5
Markise blinked with surprise, but didn't say anything just yet. The motion of his fingers slowed and became mindless. "What did you talk to him about?" he asked. Had it been about school? He couldn't imagine what else it could be about, not realistically, so he wondered why Ariel would be bringing it up.
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Post by Ariel Logan Callahan on May 3, 2010 0:23:31 GMT -5
"You," Ariel said, making himself keep up the motions of his fingers against Markise's back. "Us. Going out. He said that you guys used to go out a lot at your old school." Dare had said that Markise had always drank and danced, he had said enough to give Ariel some hope that there could be something salvageable, something that would let them go out so that Markise wouldn't feel bored anymore.
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Post by Markise Sterling on May 3, 2010 15:20:24 GMT -5
Markise was uncharacteristically silent at that. Yes, they'd gone out a lot. Friday nights they'd gone clubbing and on the weekends, if the weather was good, they'd go to the beach. They'd always had something to do, even when they'd stayed at school. "Mhm," he hummed softly. His gaze focused on a particularly interesting bit of pattern on Ariel's skin.
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Post by Ariel Logan Callahan on May 3, 2010 15:45:32 GMT -5
Ariel didn't know what to make of the silence, but Markise hadn't reacted negatively to it, so he was only silent for a few short moments before he continued. "Would you want to try it again?" He knew it wouldn't be the same, since their group had probably been a lot bigger at their old school, but it would be a start, wouldn't it? It would be something to do.
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Post by Markise Sterling on May 3, 2010 16:35:38 GMT -5
"Yeah, I told you we could go out," Markise said. He missed the implication of going in a group entirely. "Just like, don't let me out of your sight and we'll be fine." It wouldn't be what he wanted so desperately, but he told himself that if it helped at all then it would be an improvement. He bit his tongue on asking what Dare had said about him. He didn't need to be wondering; that part of his life was over. Why had they talked in the first place, though? Markise was more than a little confused.
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Post by Ariel Logan Callahan on May 3, 2010 19:17:28 GMT -5
"I mean...would you want to try to go out with Dare, make a group?" Ariel clarified. "If we were with a group, I don't think we would have to worry so much about each other." And if they were friends, even in a loose sense of the words, maybe Ariel would be able to loosen up enough to let Markise dance with someone else. Maybe.
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Post by Markise Sterling on May 3, 2010 20:59:11 GMT -5
Markise's heart stopped for a moment. Go out with Dare? He blinked, then dropped his gaze to Ariel's chest, letting his thick black lashes hide his eyes. "Does he want to?" he asked softly. "Do you?" He didn't think Dare and Ariel liked each other enough to talk, let alone want to go out. "Would it just be Dare?" He couldn't imagine Michael agreeing, Michael hated him.
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