rabbitholes and fairy dust || marten and mary
Marten had often wondered what his parents would think to finding out that he was a wizard. He’d never been able to tell a single person about his magical abilities. He wasn’t allowed to tell anybody that wasn’t family, and seeing as he didn’t have any, it had made for a very lonely secret. In the early summers of his school days, before he left the orphanage, he used to fantasize about telling the other kids about his magical ability. He’d imagine what their faces might look like when they saw his wand or read his textbooks. He’d always imagined that they would be amazed by what they were hearing, which was why he found it shocking that Mary’s mom didn’t act with rapt interest to the magical world. He smiled humbly at her compliment, “The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.” He paused briefly, “William Shakespeare.” The grin on his face became a little more goofy a moment later.
Looking at Mary, he decided, was more fun than anything he could be doing tonight. He was highly interested in watching her face. He glanced down, giving his drink a quick inspection. Yep, that was alcohol. Strong stuff too, if the smell was any indication. He brought the glass to his lips and took another large gulp, making a face as it burned down his throat. He didn’t have the highest tolerance with alcohol. At least, not anymore. He’d drank it a fair amount a few years ago, but now he mostly preferred to smoke. “It might take me awhile to catch up,” He admitted, “I’m kind of a lightweight when it comes to alcohol.”
Mary’s response to his compliment only emboldened him further. He already had one arm tightly around her waist, but it wasn’t enough anymore. His eyes flickered over her face, taking in her flushed cheeks and nervous smile. He was quickly starting to convince himself that his next course of action should be to kiss her. After all, she seemed to be up for something like that. She was smiling and she hadn’t exactly been discouraging him. You should always say what you think. He silently thanked Mary, for giving him an opening into what he wanted to do. “Really?” Marten asked, slowly setting his drink on the table, “Even if I’m thinking that I really want to kiss you? Should I say it then?”
Mary’s eyebrows slightly lifted as Marten said his quote. She giggled a bit. There was just something about a boy dressed as Peter Pan quoting Shakespeare that brought a smile to her face. Mary had to admit, though, that she was impressed that Marten knew enough Shakespeare to be able to quote it off the top of his head. She certainly hadn’t read enough of anything to be able to do that. She wasn’t even sure what play the quote was from, but there was no way that she would admit that to him. Mary put on a silly impressed face and gave him a small, “wow.”
Mary giggled at the face Marten made as he drank. She took another sip of her drink and noticed how the liquid didn’t evoke the same reaction from her. She remembered the burning sensation that she had when she used to drink irregularly. Now, she could barely feel it whenever she drank, as though she had become numb to it, among other things. Sometimes she missed it, but only occasionally. She laughed again after his comment. “Well that’s okay, it just means it’ll take less for you to get on this level.”
Mary was suddenly acutely aware each point of contact they had. His arm across her back and the hand on her waist felt like they were shooting little jolts of electricity into her. When Marten spoke, her eyes widened slightly and she bit her bottom lip. He wants to kiss me. She thanked every higher power that she had been drinking, otherwise she would have completely frozen up. She had very little experience when came to romance, so she had no idea what to say. All that she could think of was just how much she wanted Marten to kiss her. She decided to just say the first thing she could think of. “Yes... you should.” She paused for a brief moment, “Because then I might just let you.”
