"You tell me." Markus's light, devil may care retort juxtaposed her cold, impassive voice. His bravado knew neither restraints nor proprieties. But then again, Markus rarely ever gave a shit about other people's feelings. They exchanged miscellaneous retorts of wit and dryness, before Erin moved from her stance, leaning against the tree, to click her way over. Markus looked up at her under his brow, face still mostly pointed towards the ground. She dipped to his level, and his lifted his jaw to meet her eye to eye, one eyebrow lifted in quizzical nonchalance. His face remained still as she spoke, the only movement the slight movements required to breath and his eyes, which were flicking over the blonde's face as if trying to wrest a deeper purpose from her words.
Quite honestly, Markus didn't think that Erin using him would drive Daniel away from her. Obviously, there was more to this game than just a boy, a girl, and him squabbling over love. Markus knew what he wanted for Erin, what he wanted her to discover in herself, and he knew what Daniel wanted, what his fight was all about. Even though he wasn't doing a very good job. Well, he couldn't help it. Good guys always finish last, obviously. But despite Markus's misgivings about the final product of the plan, he wasn't one to pass up such an...interesting game. Or a good time. And this certainly looked like it would be a good time.
She moved closer, distracting him from his swift thoughts about plans and various other devious enterprises. She smelled primarily of sharp paint, and whatever perfume it was that she used. She smelled like Erin. Sharp enough to keep one at bay, but too interesting to keep one away for very long. And she also reeked of manipulation. She really wanted him to help her out with her boy troubles, didn't she. She wanted to pretend like they were going together so Daniel would cease pursuing her. Oh how sweet, but she didn't need to tell him, he was already quite aware that he was attractive.
He rubbed his chin thoughtfully, leaning back and examining Erin again through hooded eyes. "Would that include obnoxious snogging?" He asked, mock polite. "Or are you just going to tell him that you prefer me, slap him daintily, then skip off so we can hold hands and run dramatically into the sunset?" He nodded knowledgeably, his eyes uncharacteristically dull, what with all the energy he was putting towards formulating a multitude of plans. It was much too difficult to look mischievous and think up mischievous things at the same time. Once could say that it was a defense mechanism, because sometimes it wasn't in Markus's best interests to let everyone know that he was formulating a plan.
It was better to look slightly sad than slightly maniacal. Usually. Most of the time actually. His sad look was actually quite fetching in his own humble opinion. It was almost brooding, as if he was struggling with some deep dark thing inside himself. Ladies loved that. Some lads seemed to be drawn to it as well. Erin didn't seem the type to swoon over such things though, which was a shame, because that would be quite amusing.
Ah, back to the situation at hand. "How much work do you suppose it would take? because, you know, I have a very busy schedule, Sweetheart. I can't go running around all the time just to piss of some insignificant lad." Markus said, waving his hand in the air, the mournful look still on his face. She'd probably know that he was teasing her though, she always seemed to know such things. He certainly wasn't going to voice his opinions on the quality of her plan, he could probably scheme up a better plan, but this one was certainly more interesting. "Although, you are my second favorite Mori, so I suppose I'm obliged to help you out, yes?" He said again after a few more moments of fake contemplation. His favorite Mori was, of course, himself, but he didn't need to say that.
Done with his scheming for the moment, the man brightened visibly, his eyes darting out past the blonde and into the forest. Trees loomed up, dissolving into the darkness beyond his sight range. The moonlight through the trees wasn't very illuminating, even though it lit the two of them up slightly. What would happen, he wondered aimlessly, if he just up and left right now. That would certainly piss Erin off quite a bit. He didn't think a girl like her would have spent much time wandering through the woods, and she might not know how to return to the compound. The mori smirked slightly thinking about it. No, he wasn't that much of an arse hole. Or at least, not to Erin, not at this moment. He couldn't help but voice his thought however. "You know, if I just off and ran off right now, you'd have a bloody time trying to find your way back." He shifted, getting his knees under him so he could stand. In all honesty, he was ready to return to the compound, wander a round a bit, then make his disappearance for the night. He'd had enough interesting happenstances for one day, and Erin's proposed plan was quite hefty to chew. He needed to talk his mind back into order at some point.
"Why did you follow me out here anyway." He mused aloud, playful but serious at the same time, as if he was actually considering leaving her all alone in the woods at night. "I didn't take you for the foolish sort." With that he jumped from the rock, landing painfully on his feet, one hand reached out to touch down on the ground briefly to steady himself. He stretched up on his toes, the bare soles of his feet crying from landing on the hard ground from such a height. Then he looked up over his shoulder. "You coming, princess?" He asked with a signature grin.