Don't Even Think About It... (Michael/Dare)

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare was still pretty much on autopilot by the time they got back to the school, not that it was a long trip when they'd apparated to the gates. His mind was still wanting to sift through everything that had happened, wanting to decide what he thought about it all, and he was still refusing to think. So he watched things as they passed, took in colors and translated them into combinations of pastels, took in lines and traced them with imaginary ink.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael remained silent, but didn't let go of Dare's hand once in the gates. He felt that Dare was distant, and wondered what he was thinking, though he didn't immediately make himself ask when he thought, he himself not really wanting to think about what had happened. It started getting awkward, though, once they had gotten to the forest, at least in Michael's mind, and so he had opened his mouth to speak. "What are you thinking so hard about?" he asked, looking over at Dare.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare blinked, drawing his gaze away from a creeper vine twisting around the thin trunk of a sapling tree. "I'm trying not to think," he said to Michael. His eyes went back to the path they were on. "I've never seen anything like that before," he said. Then, realizing he was bringing everything back into focus, he tried to change the subject, or at least shift it a little. "It's good to be back at school."

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael nodded and fell into silence again for a few seconds, Dare's words just bringing the visual back into his mind's eye. He knew it wasn't necessary for him to say that he had seen it before. "I would say you get used to it, but it'd be a lie," he said instead, glancing over at Dare. He was used to seeing a nude Emilian, but seeing an immobile nude Emilian was much different than seeing a nude Emilian and Adara going at it.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare nodded, though he wasn't feeling particularly understanding. Even so, Michael's words brought up an issue that, while uncomfortable, was at least less so than discussing having walked in on people having sex. So Dare thought about that instead, wondered how Michael had gotten so comfortable with Emilian's naked body that he didn't even notice it unless Emilian happened to be screwing his girlfriend. And again, he was thinking about it. Dare made a face at himself.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael looked over at Dare just in time to see the face he made and watched him for a minute. "What's up?" he asked, wondering what had gotten to Dare so much as to render him silent. Usually Dare was the one that said something to break the tension and make everything better, but with him being quiet, Michael was almost at a loss. If Dare would talk, he would have been fine, but Dare seemed willing to just remain silent.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare glanced aside at Michael, a little disturbed at the turn of his thoughts, and a little skeptical about saying anything. Then he turned his gaze back to the forest, wrinkling his nose as he formed the words in his mind. "You and Emilian seem...really close," he said, hoping he didn't sound like a jealous prick for bringing it up. "We've walked in on him naked three times now, and the only time you noticed was...the last time." When Adara had been there as well. "It's just...from the outside..." What was he supposed to say? It looked bad, or if not bad, at least odd. Dare shrugged off his own words. "You don't owe me any explanations," he said. He wasn't even sure he wanted to understand.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael was momentarily shocked by what Dare said, seeing Emilian had become something he was so used to that he hadn't considered that it would be strange, though obviously it should have, when the thought back on it. It wasn't exactly normal to be so comfortable with a friend's nudity. "It's fine," he said, searching for a way to explain. "I didn't lie when I said we had never done anything. Just...I mean, he's practically a nudist, if he didn't like primping so much I imagine he would be. He was always at the house, generally with someone else, so I've seen it before, I learned to just tune it out."

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare was silent a few moments, trying to just accept that and let it go, but another question nagged at him. He debated, then let it out, knowing it would drive him crazy otherwise. "You said you don't get used to it," he pointed out. He almost felt guilty at having brought up any of it. Michael had started out with a disclaimer about not having done anything with Emilian; did he think Dare was calling him a liar? He hadn't meant it that way.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael wrinkled his nose and shook his head, "You don't, you don't get used to walking in on him having sex." He looked away from Dare as, unbidden, a parade of memories flew through his mind of him walking in on Emilian. "It's one thing to be comfortable with your body, but he takes it too far with having sex where anyone could just walk in. I never got used to seeing him with someone." Seeing it had always been too much for Michael, making him extremely uncomfortable and usually at least a little angry.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

"But you said you learned to tune it out," Dare said, then sighed heavily as he looked away from Michael. He felt suddenly uncomfortable with the intimacy of holding hands, but he couldn't seem to let go, and so his hand remained locked in Michael's even as their gazes remained in opposite directions. He tried telling himself that he shouldn't let this bother him, but the entire idea was so foreign to him. "Is this like, a Pureblood thing?" he asked. He was trying to understand, but it was hard to sort something he had absolutely nothing to compare it to.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

In contrast, Michael was glad for the contact of holding hands, because it meant that Dare wasn't pulling away from him and that they were still okay. He sighed and looked over at Dare again, trying to think of how to explain. "It's not a Pureblood thing, it's like..." he paused, thinking for a second more. "If you saw Silver naked, you probably wouldn't flip out, at least not as badly as you would if you walked in on him having sex, right?" He raised an eyebrow at Dare, he couldn't understand why Dare didn't get the difference in seeing a naked body laying on a bed and seeing two naked bodies tangled together.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare made a face of disbelieving antipathy at even the idea of what Michael had suggested, even aside from the visual. His gaze swung back to Michael to catch that look, and he realized he'd misunderstood. "No, no, that's not what I meant. You said something about, he was always around with someone and you'd seen it before and tuned it out," he explained. "I thought you were talking about sex. Apparently not." He shook his head at himself and turned his gaze back to the forest. "And Silver's never having sex, by the way." He thought that last was worth saying. His uptight little brother was going to die a virgin, as far as Dare was concerned.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael wrestled down a grin at Dare's reaction to what he said, then thought back on his words, understanding then what had made Dare so confused. "Sorry, I mean...he was usually with someone, and so if he needed or wanted something, he'd just get up and go get it, so I saw that a lot. I made it a point to know where exactly he was so I wouldn't walk in on him." Which wasn't very hard to do, the place was big enough that Michael could have went an entire day without seeing anyone, much less walk in on Emilian.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare nodded his understanding, or perhaps just his acceptance of Michael's words. It was difficult trying to imagine the kind of relationship Michael must have had with Emilian; it seemed rather twisted, despite the casual way that Michael talked about it. Still, there was nothing he could judge Michael for, nothing that put him in a bad light. It really shed some light on Emilian, though.

Dare was ready for a change of subject. Of course, he hadn't wanted to think about all this in the first place, so he supposed that made sense. Dare cleared his throat lightly, mentally shrugging things off. "Weather's nice," he said. It wasn't at all a smooth shift in conversation, but it would work for its purposes.