Good News (Dare/Michael)

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

It was easy to let himself get lost in things. They had both gotten more comfortable with each other, especially Michael, who no longer shied away from a kiss. Still, comfort was little more than the cushion on which strikingly potent tension--desire--rested. And Dare knew he desired Michael. If it was strange wanting more than a kiss, he didn't feel it. All he felt was the pleasure, the want for more, and, when he had enough of his mind to think about it, the knowledge that what they had was too good to push ahead.

Dare didn't know how they wound up where they were, but when the kiss ended, he found himself lying half on top of Michael on the couch, breathless, dizzy, and grinning like mad. One arm braced part of his weight, but the other lay across Michael's chest, his hand spearing up into red waves of hair. "Wow," Dare breathed.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael sighed, smiling as he looked up at Dare. He didn't know at what point he had lost the ability to think, though he did know that it felt like everything had ended too soon. But had it really ended? Or had it only changed? He didn't know, and didn't think too much on it. One hand was running over Dare's arm that was laying over his chest, from the edge of Dare's sleeve to the knuckles of his hand. "Yeah," he said softly, letting his legs stretch out, one bending over the edge of the couch, his foot on the ground.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare dipped his head just long enough to brush his lips against the spot on Michael's neck he'd only recently discovered, then raised up to look back into Michael's eyes. "Any findings on your experiment?" he asked, his own eyes laughing. He'd somehow gotten over his secret fear of being nothing more without Michael even knowing. Or, rather, Michael had gotten him over it. It was impossible to doubt--impossible--after the look in his eyes before the kiss.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael's eyes closed in pleasure even at that light touch, and he grinned at the thought that he would probably have a permanent mark there, renewed right when it was about to disappear by another day spent with Dare. His own eyes matched the look in Dare's when he looked up and began to speak. "Well, so far I've found that it's a pleasurable experience that everyone should try, although, not with my test subject," he assured, eyes glinting as he tilted his head up to kiss Dare lightly.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare couldn't help the chuckling laughter, even if it made the kiss near impossible. "I'm all yours," he told Michael, his eyes dancing. There wasn't a chance in hell he'd be letting anyone test him, either. This was too good, and he was already in too blissfully deep for it to be at all plausible. He didn't care if this was infatuation, he was going to ride it for as long as he could and enjoy every minute.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael nodded, "Mhm, you know it." His other arm was trapped between Dare and the back of the couch, though with how he was laying it wasn't uncomfortable, it was easy for Michael to let his hand move slowly over Dare's back, moving just like the hand on Dare's arm. "Don't worry, I'll take good care of you," he said, grinning, though Dare already knew that much.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare chuckled again. "I'm not worried a bit," he said. It was a strange notion, letting Michael take care of him, but when he thought about it, wasn't that what he'd been doing when he'd come to Hogsmeade? Dare's eyes shone with the somehow comforting knowledge. He dipped his head again, letting his lips brush casually against that tempting spot on Michael's neck. "Just as long as you let me take care of you, too," he murmured.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

"I'm counting on it," Michael said, his reply made soft by the touch on his neck. He couldn't resist then, and nuzzled lightly into the crook of Dare's neck where it met his shoulder, kissing whatever skin his lips came in contact with. It went back to his feeling from back in the forest of feeling safe with Dare. When he settled back against the cushions again he let his eyes trail over Dare's face, watching and trying to pull all of the meaning he could from the expression.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

It was strange feeling this, but it was so good that as Dare looked down into Michael's eyes, he could only soak it up, revel in it, and love it. There was such a difference between the friendship and the attraction that had been between them from the first time they'd met, and this feeling of lightness, of connection that went past friendship, and past a kiss. Dare's eyes shone with everything he was feeling, the swelling of emotion to precious to be reduced to the word crush. The green glittered, the same humor edging his eyes that almost always did, but for himself, for finding himself so irretrievably lost, and glad of it. Michael gave him something he hadn't even realized he was missing, a partner in crime that was as much his opposite as his reflection, in ways. "I'll do my best," Dare promised, all he could think to say at that moment.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael was putting a lot of trust in Dare, and he knew it was well placed. He wondered, though, if Dare knew what he ws doing for him. For the first time, Michael felt he could be on the path to accepting what he had done and, maybe, forgiving himself for it. It would be a long road, but he knew that Dare would be there to help Michael on the road he had started him on. "I know," he said. Then, the only thing he could think to say, perhaps a subconscious way of moving away from his thoughts, "I'm going to send off an owl tomorrow to get you that quill," he said, eyes sparkling with laughter.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare's grin returned at that. His fingers swept idly through Michael's hair as they lay, more comfortable it seemed than they'd ever been together. "If you need the excuse to look," he teased. He knew it was more than that, though, and his eyes showed appreciation, thanks, and of course excitement. That had been an awesome quill, even discounting the memories attached to it. Dare dipped his head to press a light kiss to Michael's lips, a down payment on the thanks to come.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

When Michael pulled back there was a wide grin on his face, "Well yeah, I mean...it was very eye-catching. Not that I exactly need the excuse." It was much easier to pass off looking at Dare with the quill than without. He was sure his thoughts showed in his mind, how he was mentally trailing down the shimmering silver of the quill to where it had disappeared into Dare's pocket.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare's lips were curved into what seemed a permanent smile. "You take all the excuses you need," he said. Michael had accepted things so much easier than he'd expected, and Dare had no objections to giving him whatever time he needed. They weren't in a rush. Dare watched Michael, just soaking up the sensation of Michael's hands against him, the firm press of his body half beneath him and, not least, the look in his eyes. "Has my drawing worn off yet?" he asked absently, stroking his fingers through Michael's hair.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael's eyes fell down to his arm and nodded, "Yeah, sometimes I'll catch a shimmer, but it's practically gone." He looked back up at Dare, then, smiling as he took in the feel of Dare's hand in his hair. He felt plesently surrounded by Dare's body, and the comfort he felt showed in his eyes. "When you get the new one you have to do it again."

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

"I will," Dare promised, his gaze taking in Michael's, then slipping down to trace his lips. "Do you think we should tell Adara?" he asked. "I know, she probably ought to know, but she didn't take it well the last time." His gaze lifted back to Michael's then, knowing Michael would understand what he meant. She'd withdrawn somehow when she'd found out what her father was doing, and the last time had been worse. Would it really help her to tell her how things had escalated?