Moving on... (Adara/Michael/Dare)

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare had headed to the lake as soon as his last class of the day had ended. He had his sketchbook in hand, and that silver quill tucked in his back pocket. Dare sat down on the bank in about the same spot they had met yesterday and waited, just thinking as he looked out over the water. He'd decided how he was going to get started on all this, so now it was just a matter of Adara showing up.

[Adara Snow]

Adara wasn't long after. She was impatient to begin, to resume that small connection with Emilian which Michael and Dare provided. When she approached the lake, she saw that Michael had not yet arrived, but that Dare was already waiting. She smoothed her skirt and continued on, stopping near him and waiting to be noticed.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare looked up to see that it was Adara who'd approached. His lips curved, and he gestured for her to have a seat. "Michael ought to be here soon," he said. "We can wait for him before we get started if you want, but I may as well tell you now what I've got in mind. I figure I'll do a page of studies first, just some quick sketches to get an idea of what pose might work best, then we can work on the actual portrait when that's been worked out. Is that okay with you?"

[Adara Snow]

Adara nodded, her lip pulling between her teeth as she sat in the spot that Dare had gestured to. "You may begin now," she said. She had only asked for Michael's presence out of a need for the already-established friendship that was growing between them, and his close friendship with Emilian. She did not know Dare well enough yet to feel so close to him.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael came down with his own sketchbook tucked under his arm to see that both Adara and Dare were already there. Not that he minded, but he had hoped for a couple of minutes with Dare before Adara showed up. He supposed that was what he got for having to ask that professor a question. He nodded to them and greeted them, meeting Dare's eyes with a smile, then sat down facing the lake, opening his book and pulling out a charcoal stick, he figured now was as good a time as any to do something for the next club meeting.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare greeted Michael with a wide grin, the memory of last night gleaming in his eyes. "We were just wondering where you were," he said, then turned to rifle through his own supplies. As he got everything set up, he started thinking of how to get the expression from Adara he needed, but first, how to find it. He figured conversation was his best bet, and searched for a starter subject. "So, do you two know each other from Emilian?" he asked, hoping that the topic wouldn't make Michael uncomfortable.

[Adara Snow]

Adara looked aside at Michael, sifting through her memories and deciding on the most delicate way of describing their relationship. In truth, they had met because Anna had wanted Adara to meet her boyfriend, Michael, who was at that time not on friendly terms with Emilian. The ensuing argument had led to many of Adara's deepest and most lasting doubts about Emilian. Adara chose her words carefully before turning her gaze back to Dare and speaking.

"I had only met Michael briefly before the masquerade. That night, however, we danced, and had a lovely conversation which had the fortunate consequence of our becoming friends." Her dark eyes met Michael's again, silently renewing her thanks for his support.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael smiled at her and nodded. He had nearly forgotten that she had been there that day with Anna and Emilian, his worry for Anna had overridden everything else. "She was very understanding when I had to remember the steps," he said, remembering. Then his lips curved up as his mind followed what had happened between him and Adara to his meeting with Dare. "Emilian was relieved to find out it was me she had danced with."

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare arched an eyebrow at that, though his fringe hid the motion, for the most part. Emilian really was overly sensitive. It sounded like maybe Dare was better off having Michael here, after all. Maybe next time he saw Silver, he'd let him know that Emilian wasn't typical, and Silver could chill out a little. Dare shook that thought off, since it had nothing to do with what he was doing, and turned to beginning his sketches of Adara's face. "So you really haven't known each other long," he said. Dare suddenly wondered if Michael was like that with everyone, drawing them in and gathering friends with a few words.

[Adara Snow]

Adara's eyes glittered with laughter at Michael's words. "Not at all," she said to Dare, "though it seemed easier to speak of things with the freedom which the mask offered." Adara turned her attention to Michael again. "At the masquerade, before Emilian revealed himself to me, he asked me questions about my mysterious pirate. I am glad that I had nothing to tell him other than the wonderful time we had." It gave her a childish pleasure to know that he was so protective, even if she had seen that protectiveness explode dangerously on more than one occasion.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

"If anything more had happened I imagine he wouldn't have been so easy going about it being me." An involuntary shiver ran down Michael's spine at what could have happened, it had been tangible how protective Emilian was over her, how much he felt for her. "And yes, the masks helped, I think the masks helped all of us let loose." Michael's eyes turned to Dare, sparkling as his mind relived their meeting.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare's eyes rose from the page to Michael, and his lips curved into only a shadow of their usual crooked smile, though his wickedly gleaming eyes would give him away. That night had been unforgettable, most especially their interlude in the gardens. It took Dare a moment to return to his drawing, but that hint of a smile remained, along with the warmth of the memory. "It was an amazing night," he said. He wondered idly what Michael had talked about with Adara that anything more would have had Emilian turning on Michael. He didn't ask, though. There was keeping conversation, and there was prying.

[Adara Snow]

Adara was watching the boys, and today, with her concentration not so heavily lying on her problems, she saw the strangely knowing look which passed between them. It could have been anything, though, any kind of mischief that the boys had gotten into at the masquerade that brightened their eyes so. She wondered, though, and tucked it away with the recollection that Emilian wondered about Michael's friendship with Dare. They were obviously close. "Did you meet at the masquerade as well?" Adara asked, turning her attention away from that look and back to the conversation at hand.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael pulled his eyes from Dare and looked over at Adara. "We met up there, but we met a couple weeks before." He turned his eyes back to his drawing, which he really hadn't gotten that much done on, he didn't think he would get that much finished. He could try, though, and he let his eyes flick from the lake in front of him down to the page, a small smile on his lips. He didn't plan on telling Adara about him and Dare, but he didn't mind talking about the masquerade.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare's gaze flicked to Michael again. That had been incredibly vague, even more vague than Dare himself would have been. He could tell by Michael's smile that he was enjoying thinking about it, though. So he expanded on what Michael had said, though he was careful not to reveal anything...revealing. "We had an interesting conversation of our own, and ended up recognizing each other." It was, of course, what had happened after that had been the most interesting, but Dare stayed away from that particular subject. "So you were the princess he danced with?"