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

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare crossed to the counter and set down the plates he'd been carrying beside the other two, then stopped and stared at them, unseeing. His mind still hadn't processed everything he'd just seen, and even less of what he'd heard. Had he really just seen that? Or had he finally flipped and gone totally schitzophrenic?

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

"You know," Michael said, stopping in the middle of the kitchen. "I'd have thought that being with Adara would make him grow up just a little. I mean, really, not three days ago he was all but dead, and now he's-" he stopped and waved a hand towards the bedroom, only then focusing enough on Dare to see the haze he seemed to be in. He sighed, trying to calm himself, and walked up beside him, "You okay?"

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare blinked and straightened, snapping suddenly out his thoughts as though only just realizing that Michael was there. He glanced at Michael, then away, back down at the casserole. "Yeah, I'm fine," he said. "Totally copacetic." Not by far, but he'd be fine, just as soon as things settled.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael watched him for half a second before moving on, "He drives me insane sometimes, always has. You'd think he'd know not to do anything like that when he has company." He stopped himself from saying specifically when you're here, not wanting to bring up the point that he didn't like Dare walking in on them, though he tried to play it off that it was because Dare wasn't used to it. But, in reality, Michael simply wasn't comfortable with Dare seeing it.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

"You'd think so," Dare said. But then, Emilian had professed to be an addict, hadn't he? The whole definition of addiction involved compulsive behavior, obsession, dependence. All things which seemed increasingly more likely when applied to everything Dare's mind was still taking in. If he had a tendency toward doing this, a habit of it, then maybe the addict bit was dead serious. "They have support groups for that, don't they?" Dare thought aloud.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael had been about to speak again, but was stopped by Dare's words, "Support groups? For what?" He looked over at Dare, his eyebrows coming together as he tried to figure it out. But nothing came to mind, nothing clicked, though it probably should have, considering what they were talking about. Then, Michael had never been a good thinker when angry and, though it wasn't very bad, he was rather annoyed by what had happened.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare blinked again and glanced up at Michael. "Sex addicts," he answered. "If he's that bad, he ought to get some help. Maybe they both should." He shrugged, then turned back toward the food with a sigh. He really didn't want to think about this right now. He'd rather forget about it, though he knew there wasn't much likelihood that he'd be able to. Dare turned himself toward gathering up the rest of the casserole and putting it back in the icebox. If they came out of the bedroom, they could heat it up themselves or eat it cold. "Let's get out of here," he suggested to Michael. "You mind?"

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael let himself focus for a minute on the thought of Adara and Emilian in a kind of therapy for sex addicts, but it barely brought a smile to his face, purely because he knew how addicted Emilian was. He watched Dare as he thought, then shook his head, "No, let's go." He didn't think they were exactly needed by the two, and, if they were, an owl could be sent, or Adara could sneak out and up to the castle, it wouldn't be the worse thing they had done.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare nodded as he closed the ice box, pausing a moment with his hand against the handle. "We should let them know we're going," he said, though it sounded more like a question coming out. "Less hard feelings, you think?" He wasn't entirely certain, judging by the depth of anger he'd felt between Michael and Emilian. They really should've locked the door, he thought.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael grimaced slightly at the idea, but nodded anyway, "I'll be right back." He left the kitchen and headed to the bedroom door which was, thankfully, shut and locked. He didn't so much tell them they were leaving as banged on the door and shouted that they might come back by the next day. When he came back in, he had a look on his face of a slightly sadistic pleasure, feeling a bit better having hit the door a few times. "Ready to go?" he asked, tilting his head slightly.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare had been able to hear Michael's farewells from the kitchen. Maybe his brows had risen a bit, but he made no comment. "Let's go," he said. The sense of adventure, if it hadn't faded entirely, was wearing painfully thin. Dare gave one last glance around the kitchen, then headed out the door ahead of Michael.

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