Session (Dare and Emilian)

[Emilian Sota]

Emilian led the way up the stairs, the anger was quickly turning from a boil to a low simmer at the distraction that was Dare. "So," he said when they got to the room, "This is your project, what do you want?" It was a way of saying he wasn't in the mood to make decisions, and that everything would go so much smoother if Dare was in charge. Emilian didn't generally like giving up the control, but his mind was in such turmoil he could barely think, much less decide anything for Dare.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare looked around the room a moment, taking in the fine furnishings that Emilian didn't even seem to see. He felt like he'd break something if he touched it; his family wasn't at all impoverished, but this was a level of casual wealth that Dare had never even thought about. It occurred to him that Michael was from the same class, and the knowledge was striking. It took some effort to let it go and answer Emilian's question.

"Just sit by the window," Dare said. "If you feel like talking, we'll talk. Otherwise, just keep facing the same general direction for a while, and I'll let you know if I need you to hold still." Dare sat gingerly on a chair close enough to catch the light and summoned his art box, then sifted through for his charcoals.

[Emilian Sota]

Emilian nodded and did as Dare said, feeling almost as though he were watching himself go through the motions of sitting down and turning towards Dare. Watching the guy work would be infinitely better than staring out the window where he could so easily see Hogwarts, where, somewhere inside, his Adara sat. She was still his Adara, no matter how hard her father tried to pull them apart. His fingers curled over the edge of the arms of the chair.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare looked up to see that the tension had increased again. It would be a challenge capturing it, not to mention working in it. Dare cleared his throat as he brought his charcoal to the page. The first mark was always the hardest, but the most freeing, too. A streak of scattered black broke the pristine white of the paper as he searched for a way to break the silence. "You've got a nice place here," he managed, hoping he didn't sound too much like the low-class rube he felt.

[Emilian Sota]

It took a second for the words to penetrate Emilian's mind, and another second for him to form a proper response. "Thank you, I wanted to make it feel like home." He realized it probably didn't feel much like home to Dare, but to him it was normal. His eyes swept over the room, taking in the woods and the fabrics that he took for granted. "I've always liked the antique feel," he said, eyes settling back on Dare. While some aspects of his place were more modern, it still had the feel to it that he loved.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare nodded, though inwardly, he was wondering; this was an apartment over a shop. What did the house he grew up in look like? Again, his thoughts turned to Michael, but Dare told himself to keep talking, to just keep everything going for now. "There's a reason things like this make it to be antiques," he observed. "They really are beautiful." It was the best he could think of right now.

[Emilian Sota]

Emilian nodded, "I don't like the more modern look. I don't think that it will be as sought after in a hundred years as today's antiques are." That could have just been prejudice on his part, though. He didn't like the sharp edges of some modern pieces, or the forced rounded corners of others. Neither did he enjoy looking at the stark contrasting colors of most modern pieces. He preferred the more earthy tones that blended and complimented.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare gave Emilian a pointed glance that he hoped the guy missed. Dare himself was very into the more modern look. He might have argued, but for the fact that he didn't know Emilian well, and Emilian was tense as it was, though it seemed to be fading. Dare remained silent for now, passing up his opportunity to speak and add anything to that. He concentrated on his drawing for now.

[Emilian Sota]

Emilian did miss the glance, probably wouldn't have taken anything back if he hadn't. However, he did catch the silence, but attributed it to concentration more than anything else. The silence let him fall momentarily back into his thoughts. He debated asking Dare, but Emilian barely knew what to do, how would someone that hadn't grown up in his lifestyle have any idea? "Do you do this often?" he asked, meaning the little project he was undertaking with Emilian.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare was glad for the change of subject. "No," he admitted. "I've done studies of friends, done more portraits than I can count, but this," he said, gesturing absently with his charcoal, "is something different. I'm good," he assured Emilian, "but this is my foray out of hobby and into what I want to do with my life." Dare went no closer than that into his gratitude for the opportunity. He didn't want that much of a connection with Emilian, at least not at this point. And he didn't want Emilian to know how much Dare felt like he owed him.

[Emilian Sota]

Emilian knew he was good, he had seen Dare's drawings of him in the cafe that day, so he had no doubt that the work would be good. "Well if what you do here is as good as what you did in the cafe," he said, "Then you should have no problems making a career out of it." He was forcefully shoving the thoughts of Adara and her father down, focusing all of his concentration into the conversation.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare's lips curved into a crooked half smile at the compliment. "Thanks," he said. He'd actually been told that more than a couple times, so he figured he stood a chance, at least. He'd just have to see what the art world thought when he got that far. In the meantime, here he was, practicing on Michael's friend and hoping he could produce something that would lead to more. It was the request for a portrait of someone else that he was looking forward to the most.

[Emilian Sota]

Emilian nodded slightly at Dare in response to his thanks and fell into silence again. It was an unwilling silence, because it allowed his memory to come back of what had happened. He realized then that a low ache had started in his face where the man's hand had landed. His hand came up unconsciously to gently rub the joint of his jaw, but he quickly realized the motion wouldn't be appreciated and forced it back down. "Have you taken classes or is most of your learning from books?" he asked, purely to keep the distraction of conversation.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare grinned. "I got to take some classes during summers," he said. "It was awesome. I'd side-along with my mom and she'd go off to whatever she was taking, and I'd go off to drawing, or painting. Got to where I'd taken the same class a couple times and I was pretty much doing my own thing, just with the teacher giving me tips." Dare's eyes gleamed for a moment at the memories. Then thoughts of his mother intruded, and his smile softened, and his eyes darkened. He missed her.

[Emilian Sota]

It was obvious that Dare had enjoyed those days, Emilian had never went to any classes for the arts, "I don't have the patience for it." A shadow of a smile came over his face but was gone fairly quickly. He couldn't remember much of anything of his younger days that he would have considered awesome, outside of days spent with Michael and nights at the balls. And his mother had definitely not been a part of any of it.