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

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare laughed aloud at that, and his hands were forced to stop for the moment as he chuckled and shook his head, pulling himself back under control. When he trusted himself again, he picked up the knife and resumed what he'd been doing, though his grin wouldn't seem to fade. That was good, Michael, he thought, and set his mind toward a clever retort, even if it would be a bit too late. "Lucky for you there's not a soft carrot to be found," he teased, shooting Michael a brief suggestive glance.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael laughed and bit his lip, glancing away from Dare and bringing his hands together in front of him. When he had settled into a grin, though forcing his eyes to stay on Dare's hands instead of venturing up to his face, he tried to think of something to say to that. "Lucky for me? Do you like soft carrots?" he asked, "I mean, cause if you do, we might have a problem on our hands."

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare burst into another spurt of laughter, his hands pausing again while he caught his breath. "No, no problems here," he assured Michael. "I love a good, firm carrot, and so do my hands." He couldn't resist adding that last. Dare was grinning wickedly as he pushed aside what he'd been cutting, giving it up for lost and moving on to the next step, which involved gathering pots and pans, and turning on the oven. All far less interesting than their conversation.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael couldn't help laughing again and wondering faintly how Dare was continuing to work. "Then it's settled, we'll both enjoy our nice, firm carrots, with no worries for soft ones," he said, glancing up at Dare and grinning, though he looked away again. He was enjoying the play, there was no doubting that, but he couldn't bring himself to keep eye contact while saying it, though that he hadn't shied away from it alone showed how far he had come.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare only made himself keep going because otherwise he'd be completely unable to function. As it was, the unspoken level to their conversation was taking up most of his concentration. He had to check the cookbook several times just to remember why he'd pulled out a certain pot. "I hope you're not suggesting we enjoy our carrots alone," he said, his wicked grin remaining as he threw a brief glance at Michael. "If we've got such...nice, firm carrots, why settle on dinner for one?" Dare wondered if they hadn't embarked on a form of gay chicken. Not that it mattered, he was having too much fun to even think of ending it.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

"I've had dinner for one too often, I'm tired of that," Michael said, though the words were slightly more serious than his others had been, implying literally that he had had dinner by himself too often for his liking. If they had settled in to a form of chicken, Michael was the first to break, the implications of firm carrots becoming too much for him, and he searched for a change in subject. "So what are you cooking, anyway?" he asked, unable to figure out how everything would fit together to make a meal.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare repressed a sigh of resignation at the obvious end to their game. He hadn't expected anything less, really, not with the poorly veiled suggestion he'd just given, but part of him had hoped. Of course, that part of him stubbornly refused to listen to even his own reasoning, but he survived. Dare let the subject drop without comment. It had been fun while it lasted. "Some kind of chicken casserole thing," Dare answered, checking the flames beneath one of the pots. He straightened and stepped back. "Okay, it says..." He looked back at the cookbook. "All this stuff sits for ten minutes, then I pretty much dump it in a pan and stick it in the oven."

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael kept his eyes away from Dare, not really caring to see if there was disappointment in his expression from Michael's abrupt ending of the play, as he listened. "It sounds easy," he said, looking up at Dare after a few moments, though his eyes turned back to his own hands soon after. "Maybe I can pick it up, after all," he grinned, spreading out his hands in front of him.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

"Maybe," Dare agreed with a crooked smile, pushing aside the cookbook to lean back against the counter by Michael. "It's the stove you've got to watch out for," he warned. "Everything else is pretty much like following the recipes in potions. You've got teaspoons, tablespoons and cups for measurement, the usual." Dare watched Michael as he spoke, and it wasn't difficult to piece things together from his body language. Dare shifted along the counter a little closer and leaned back into Michael's view, moss-green eyes laughing gently. "We're cool," he assured Michael.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael smiled as he looked up at Dare, "I'm getting there," he said, referencing back to his comment the night before that he would loosen up eventually. He was getting better every time they were together, letting them go a little farther each time. In the beginning he wouldn't have even said anything, wouldn't have gone along with the word play for any length of time. He was almost wishing he hadn't stopped it, it had been fun, he would admit, just gotten a little too much for him.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare's lips curved in echo of Michael's. "I know," he said softly. When he thought about it, it was hard to believe how far they'd come, and in such a seemingly short amount of time. Only two months ago Michael had turned away from a kiss. At that thought, Dare leaned in and pressed his lips to Michael's, proving to himself that the past weeks they'd been together weren't a figment of his overactive imagination.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael went gladly into the kiss, glad for the comforting feel of Dare's lips on his. He almost regretted pulling away that first day, though there was always the chance that they wouldn't be as close as they were had he accepted that kiss. He let his hand come up to Dare's hair, running through it lightly before he pulled away, "Thank you for not pushing." In the bedroom Emilian had had a flash back to how he used to act, giving Dare a glimpse of how he had pushed Michael.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare's lips curved softly. "I'm in no hurry," he assured Michael, knowing they were talking about far more than their short-lived verbal game. He raised one hand, brushing his fingers lightly back against Michael's jaw, and watching the motion. "You're worth waiting for," he said. "You have been from the beginning." He'd mentally kicked himself for having tried to kiss Michael so soon, and had been truly determined not to push again. And then Michael had surprised him, and he could only be glad he'd waited.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael smiled, though his eyes fell at the meaning behind those words. He thought for a few moments, wondering if everything would have been different had Dare not tried to kiss him that first day. Michael's mind would never have been set in motion to make the decision to kiss Dare in the Room of Requirement. "I'm glad I took the chance, I mean, I could have just forgotten about the forest. But now I really am happy that I didn't." He then brought his eyes back up to Dare's, his newly remembered hand running through Dare's hair again.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare's slight smile widened, and his gaze slid from his fingers to Michael's eyes. "So am I," he said. His gaze dropped, then shifted to watch as he smoothed a lock of wavy red hair between his fingers. "I have no idea what made you decide to try it, why I got so lucky, but...it's pretty amazing. All of it." It was rare enough finding someone that he could be as close to as Michael, and then adding in the attraction, how quickly it had grown, how much it had grown, and everything would have been mind-blowing if it hadn't happened so naturally, so easily.