Strike a Pose (Marcy/Open)

[Anita Blake]

Anita had gotten a camera from her brother for Christmas but she hadn't gotten a chance to try it out until now. She was taking pictures in Hogsmeade while waiting for her friend, Marcy, to join her for the afternoon she had off before having to go to the resturant for the night shift.

She took a picture of some of the remains that were still left from the attack. No one really knew what to do with it. So it just sat there, untouched, a memory of that horrifying day.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Marcy comming toward her. Anita waved and smiled.

[Marcy Buckley]

Marcy was, as usual, walking through Hogsmeade with a bounce in her step. She had a lot of energy (which probably was at least partially related to her coffee addiction), and sometimes it seemed as if she'd never stop bouncing. Even at work, it was sometimes difficult for her to sit still. She bounced in her chair, she swung her legs, or tapped her feet. I could be distracting for people who didn't know her.

Spotting Anita, she gave an extra bounce and began to wave enthusiastically. Although Anita was a few years older than Marcy, they had met at a coffee shop and started chatting, and before they even knew it, they were the best of friends. "Nita!" she called loudly and ran over to her friend, pulling her into a quick, but sincere hug.

"How have you been? It's been too long."

[Anita Blake]

She hugged Marcy back and was smiling. "I've missed you too! But I've been so busy at the resturant," she didn't mention that she had been picking up extra shifts because she was missing Colin dearly. "I finally got a day off so you were the first person to owl of course!" Anita smiled.

"I'm alright, noting too facinating, how about you, what have you been up to?" Anita asked, ready to compare notes on their latest gossip.

[Marcy Buckley]

Marcy's job wasn't exactly fun or exciting, but she liked it for a number of reasons. One of them was that it was a steady, 9-5 job. She didn't have to worry about working enough or too many hours, and the pay was steady. She also got to see all sorts of different people every day, and often heard quite a lot of gossip. In fact, most of the ministry gossip went through her first.

"I'm guessing that means your devilishly handsome boyfriend isn't back in town yet?" she said with a grin.

[Anita Blake]

Anita groaned. "No, he's NOT," she said with dissapointment in her voice. "Colin's not due home for another week at the least." She missed him terribly. But Colin did keep in touch, and so did Anita, but sometimes, letters just weren't enough.

"But distract me from that please? I'm going nuts waiting for him." she was learning paitence, learning being the key word. "Come on, tell me all the Ministry gossip I'm not supposed to know that you're DYING to tell me," She looped her arm with Marcy's as they walked through Hogsmeade.

[Marcy Buckley]

“Aw, hon,” Marcy said sympathetically. “I hope he realizes what a super-mega-awesome girlfriend you are to let him spend so much time away. I swear, if Colin were my boyfriend, I probably wouldn’t ever leave his side.”

She gave a wistful sigh at this; at the moment, she was depressingly single. And although she wouldn’t go so far as to say that she’d do anything for a boyfriend, it really would be nice not to have to spend her evenings alone once in a while.

“Oh, of course, there’s lots of gossipy goodness going on at the Ol’ Ministry,” she said, happily changing gears. “Let’s see… you heard about that auror who everyone thought was dead, and then he came back to life, right? Turns out that all the rumors that he and his partner are in love are true. They just came back to work this week, and I hear she’s sporting a new ring that looks suspiciously like an engagement ring. No one will confirm it, but I got a glimpse of it myself, and it’s beautiful. Oh! And you do know Ted Tonks and Andromeda Black got married and are expecting a baby, right? After that horrible story in the Prophet, it’s good to see that one had such a happy ending.”

[Anita Blake]

"We'll have to find you a guy Marce," Anita said with a laugh. "And I trust Colin, I know I'm the only girl in his life," she smirked. "But I do miss him, I wish he was home now," Things just seem to be better for Anita with Colin around.

She listened intently to all the gossip Marcy had to share. She clapped excitedly when she was told about the two auror's supposed engagement and all of Ted and Andromeda's good news. "Oh yea, I remember that story, it was awful. I'm so glad they worked things out." Anita was a sucker for happy endings and all that romantic stuff.

[Marcy Buckley]

"Oh, I'm not saying you shouldn't trust him," Marcy replied quickly. "He's as upstanding a guy as you're every gonna find, and I'm positively green with envy that you found him first." She giggled at that. "I would just miss him so much while he was away. It has to be so hard to be apart from him so often. I mean, if it was me, I'm sure I'd get all fat and bloaty from consoling myself with a carton of Rocky Road everynight."

She frowned and looked down at herself. "Speaking of which, I'm not looking fat and bloaty, am I? Honestly, this whole being single business isn't all it's cracked up to be. I think I had ice cream for dinner last night, then went to bed at 9:00. How sad is that? Next thing you know, I'll have about a dozen cats, and I'll walk around mumbling incoherently."

[Anita Blake]

Anita nodded. Sometimes she thougth of going with him. But what would she do really? yes, she loved adventure, but she had a lot at home, like her brother and her job, who wouldn't be as paitent with her like she was with Colin. "I'm learning to be paitent," Anita smiled.

"And NO you're not fat and bloaty! You're beautiful Marcy!" Anita exclaimed. "And whenever you need to find plans you know you can call me, we'll find somethign fun to do."

[Marcy Buckley]

Patience was not one of Marcy's strong points. She generally did things quickly, almost frantically at times. She wasn't sure why, and she was trying to work on it, but she knew that she could never have withstood a long-distance relationship like the one Anita had with her boyfriend. She would have gone crazy from missing him.

"Oh, good," Marcy said, smiling. "That means it hasn't started yet. I only have the one cat, so hopefully I don't suddenly start collecting more and wearing curlers on my head outside. But seriously, I'd love to go out to one of the clubs one night and do something fun. I seriously need to get out more, and so do you."

[Anita Blake]

"Maybe sometime this week, we'll go out and have a fun girl's night. I havent been to Spellbound in a while," Anita said. Without Colin, Anita's days could deffinatly be boring. She liked the idea of a fun evening here and there, to keep her from going stir crazy.

"I'll let you know when you've collected far too many cats," Anita laughed lightly. "And I don't think you'll ever become the type of woman who wears curlers and her bathrobe to the store. Trust me Marcy, there's a great guy out there looking for you, you'll find each other."

[Marcy Buckley]

Marcy smiled. "Well, where ever he is, he'd better hurry up and get here already!" she joked. "A girl can only wait for so long, you know."

But in spite of what she said, she wasn't really in a hurry. She was still young, and in no danger of becoming a crazy cat lady. Still, sometimes it seemed like love was all around her, but that it had passed her by. She just wanted her share.

"Anyway, I think it's a good idea for us both to get out and do something fun. You can be my wingman, so to speak, and send all the hot guys my way. What do you say?"

[Anita Blake]

"I say," Anita pretended to think about it for a while. "Sounds like fun! I'd love to be your wingman...wingwoman..." she giggled.

"Can you imagine, girl's night out? I'm already excited!" Anita said. "Let's walk, yea? We could grab a drink at the Three Broomsticks or go to Honeydukes," she offered with a grin.

[Marcy Buckley]

“OK, coolness,” Marcy said, beaming. “How about Friday? We could go to Spellbound. I think that’s still my favorite club, you know? “

She didn’t get out as much as she used to, and she didn’t really like to go alone, so the idea of a girl’s night out was perfect. It gave her something to look forward to at the end of the week.

“Hmm, I say both. First the Three Broomsticks, then we can head over to Honeydukes for some chocolate. I mean, I need to stock up, right? Sure, the dementors are safely stashed away in Azkaban, but it’s always good to be prepared.”

[Anita Blake]

Anita thought for a moment as they walked, trying to remember if she had work that Friday. Deciding that, even if she did, she could easily get the day off, she turned to Marcy. "Sure, Friday's good." she said. "Spellbound's definatly my favorite too. I think it's just newer, younger," Anita commented.

"Now I'm all excited, we havent had a girl's night in so long," Anita did a little spin before they reached the Three Broomsticks. She held the door open for Marcy as they went in.

"I have to get some candy too, I think my brother ate it all last time he came to check up on me," Anita laughed heartily.

[Marcy Buckley]

Marcy followed behind Anita and laughed at the little spin. She had a tendency to do the same thing--just randomly spin or bounce or break into a little dance. It was probably the reason they were such good friends. They were very similar in many ways.

"Perfect! I can't wait... I'm totally desperate for a little fun. Not that this isn't fun, of course, but you know what I mean. I haven't even had a date in almost two months. Can you believe it? I mean really, I got more dates back in my frizzy blonde puffskein days..."

[Anita Blake]

"Like I said Marce, we gotta find you a guy," Anita laughed and wrapped an arm around Marcy's shoulder giggling a little. The girls went up to the counter and Anita ordered a Butterbeer.

"Oh don't remind me of those days!" She laughed, a wide smile glowing on her face. "That is far behind us darling, WHAT was anyone thinking wearing those!" Anita felt good laughing with a friend. Lately she's just been walking around her apartment waiting for Colin to come home.

"So really, not one date?" Anita asked increduilously. "You must hiding behaind that desk of yours at work sweetie, because guys should be tripping all over you. You're amazing!" She squeezed Marcy's hand.

[Marcy Buckley]

Marcy grinned. "Don't worry, I'm working on it," she said. "I mean, it's not like I'm not OK with being alone... it's just more fun to have a guy in your life, you know? Anyway, there is a guy who works at the Ministry who keeps stopping by to flirt with me. I knew the candy jar on my desk would come in handy... he always comes by for a piece of candy around 2 or 3, if he's in the office. I don't know if I see it going anywhere, but he is a nice guy... kinda cute, even, in a goofy sort of way. His name's Gary."

Sadly, at this point, that was pretty much the only hopeful sign she'd had. And if Gary were to ask her out, she probably would have said yes, but she wasn't sure she liked him enough to have more than a few casual dates.

"But thanks for the compliment... if only I could find a male version of you!"

[Anita Blake]

"Ohhh," Anita loved to gossip. True or fiction, gossip was her favoirte thing to do. "Gary the candy guy," Anita said. "Sounds cute."

Truth was, they were young enough to have those casual dates. And though Anita loved Colin with every fiber of her being, she loved the fresh excitement of a budding romance.

Which is why she liked to live through Marcy. "Has he asked you out yet?" she asked bluntly.

[Marcy Buckley]

Marcy, on the other hand, desperately wanted what Anita had. Yes, casual dating could be fun, and she liked getting to know different guys, but she really wanted to know what it was like to have a guy kiss her and make her feel weak in the knees. She wanted to feel her heart beating faster in her chest when a guy walked in the room. She wanted to lock eyes with a guy and feel like she'd known him all her life. She was looking for all the great romantic cliches she'd ever heard--that one, perfect guy who seemed to understand her without even trying.

Anita had that with Colin, and although Marcy was happy for her friend, she was a little jealous, too. She wasn't jealous of her because of Colin, particularly, but because she was in love, and Colin was in love with her. There was something magical about love, it was so much more magical than any spell or potion she'd ever learned.

"No, not yet," Marcy replied breezily. "Honestly, I'm not even sure he will. I get the feeling he's the kind of guy who just likes to flirt, you know?"