It's my first time. Be gentle...

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael was glad to have at least been able to help with the cleaning and felt accomplished when he looked around and saw that there was no water or noodles anywhere else, even though, admittedly, he hadn't done as much as Dare had. "I'll stay out of the way if you do, swear," he said with a sheepish smile. "Though I'm sure there's somewhere in Hogsmeade we could go to get them something."

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare gave a somewhat tired chuckle. "I'm sure we could," he agreed, "but I don't have that kind of pocket money, so..." He blinked, suddenly remembering Michael's news about his inheritance, and, just as quickly, that inheritances usually didn't come until your parents died, which would imply that Michael didn't have anything either. Dare felt incredibly awkward with even the idea of asking Michael if that had been an offer, and dropped his gaze, clearing his throat lightly. "I'll just cook something, it's no problem."

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

The main part of his inheritance wouldn't come for a few more years, until his mom was gone, but he would be getting some once he left school, and he did still have a bit leftover from his seventeenth. Michael thought of mentioning it to Dare, but he felt the obvious tension at the mention of money so he let it be, he didn't feel like adding to the awkwardness of the morning by bringing money and wealth into the picture, however subtly. "If you need anything ask, I'm going to stay in the corner where I can't mess anything up," he said, tilting his head towards a corner of the room with a small smile.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

The awkwardness lifted at that, and Dare found himself chuckling again. "If it makes you feel better," he said. Dare pushed away from the counter and headed for the icebox to see if there was anything in it, though judging by how much ramen they'd cleaned up, that could have been the entire edible contents of the kitchen. He was surprised to find that the ice box was stocked.

Dare looked around inside for a minute, then straightened, let the door close, and headed for the abused-looking cookbooks he'd rescued from the garbage. "I'm not sure what to do with everything he's got in there, but there's got to be a recipe," he mused, opening one of the books.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael pulled himself up on the counter near the wall, sitting sideways on it to lean against the wall, one ankle tucked under his other knee as he watched, determined to figure at least a little out, though he wasn't willing to try anything yet. "Do you cook a lot?" he asked, tilting his head. He wondered if he did, or if the recipes were just easy enough that anyone could follow them, as long as they knew the given parts of the instructions.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare glanced up at Michael's question, and his gaze paused before dropping back down to the less-hexed of the cookbooks. "I didn't until the past year," he said. "Mom had always done most of the cooking. But everything...sapped her, so she was tired a lot, and me and Silver had to learn to cook. I can follow a recipe, it's like potions, pretty much. Just..." Dare shrugged lightly. "Some of it's easy enough, once you get the hang of it. That's about as far as I got, I'm not like, a grand chef or anything." Dare found a recipe that looked easy enough and smoothed the book open enough to lie flat, then turned back to the icebox to start pulling out the items listed.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael listened and nodded when Dare was finished talking, then watched him for a bit, subconsciously searching for something to pull them away from the subject, where the biggest thing that had popped out at him was that it was because of his mom that Dare had learned. So his mind latched on to the other thing that had popped out at him. "Have you seen Silver since we met?" he asked, since they were brothers, it was safe to think they had, but it was a way of simultaneously changing the subject and asking if there had been any reaction other than what he had seen that day in the forest.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare shook his head, then, realizing he was half buried in the ice box, stood with an armload of supplies. "It's been hectic," he said, turning back to the counter. "With everything going on, I haven't really felt like hunting him down, or camping out in front of the library for a day. I know, I probably should, but it's...I don't know, better for his peace of mind if he doesn't know what I've been up to." He didn't want to think how Silver would react to knowing Dare was putting himself in danger, even if it was for a good cause.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

"Will he be mad if he finds out you didn't tell him?" Michael asked, he knew there were some people that would get angry if not told important things, though there were also those that didn't care and shrugged it off. He let his hands rest on his shin, idly tracing invisible patterns on the counter top, half-imagining it was the back of Dare's hand, though his eyes remained on Dare.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare grimaced slightly, and flicked another glance up at Michael. "Not as mad as he'd be if I told him now and he couldn't talk me out of it. Which he couldn't, of course." Michael hadn't talked him out of it. In fact, he'd talked Michael into it. Dare had begun setting things out over the counter, referring to the recipe, and now he finally got started, pulling out knives and other such useful things, to work on the food. "It's pretty much the way it is with Silver. If he knows I'm drawing him, he gets nervous. I tell him after, and maybe he gets annoyed, but it's too late, so he lets it go." Dare's lips curved slightly with the admission. "Works for me," he added.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael watched, leaning forward slightly as Dare actually got to work. "So he's one of those people that prove it's better to beg forgiveness than ask permission," he said with a small grin. He hoped that Silver didn't end up getting too mad about it, they were doing a good thing, Dare was doing a good thing, Michael felt almost obligated and pulled along for the ride, whereas Dare was doing it out of his own good will. Perhaps, if he were able to see the good they had done, Silver wouldn't be mad at Dare, Michael hoped so, he didn't want there to be a rift between the brothers.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare blinked and paused the motions of his hands. "I hadn't thought of it that way, but yeah, I guess so." Dare gave a light shrug and resumed the cutting of various vegetables he'd found. His lips curved slightly as he realized that Michael was watching him. It wasn't at all an uncomfortable feeling, but normally, Michael was just watching his hands, or they were watching each other. Dare's smile widened. "See anything you like?" he teased.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael grinned at him and his eyes traveled up to Dare's face. "A couple things," he said, letting his eyes pause before moving back down to Dare's hands. "I'm rather fond of carrots," he added, his eyes sparkling. Of course, that wasn't what he was watching, he was focusing on the way Dare's hands moved, however much he told himself he was watching what Dare was actually doing, rather than just watching the muscles move beneath his skin.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare's smile widened into a grin. He was highly tempted to assure Michael that there was at least one impressively-sized carrot on hand, but couldn't begin to say it, let alone imagine Michael not keeling over at hearing it. Still, he was near bursting with laughter at thinking it, so he had to say something. What he came out with wasn't much better. "Do you like them better steamed, or al dente?" Oh yes, soft or hard? Dare choked back a laugh.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael grinned at that and answered immediately, "Anything but steamed, can't stand a soft carrot." His eyes sparkled with laughter, though the topic was dangerously close to being uncomfortable. He told himself they were just talking about food, but that just brought a wider grin to his lips and another gleam to his eyes as he called himself on the lie.