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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on Aug 25, 2008 22:01:47 GMT -5
Michael gave Dare a concerned look, he couldn't imagine how awkward it must have been for him. "How did that go?" he asked, though he could probably have figured it out himself. He kept himself from asking how she was by pulling out his hand and looking down at the design on his skin, then turning his eyes back to Dare through the thin curtain of hair that had fallen around his face.
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Post by Dare Blackwood-Hardt on Aug 25, 2008 22:11:14 GMT -5
Dare glanced aside at Michael, then returned his gaze to his paper. "It was about as much fun as sitting too hard on a twenty-year-old Cleansweep," he said dryly. "Only instead of splinters it was Anna trying to figure out what was so great about me." Dare was silent for a moment at that; again, he didn't know, but he figured he had something going for him, if Michael had given up girls for him. Dare shifted slightly, as subtly as he could drawing his leg up against Michael's for whatever light contact he might find. He glanced up at Michael again, then one corner of his lips quirked. "She decided I had to be an Adonis," he said, trying to lighten things again, for his own sake.
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Post by Druscilla Grace on Aug 26, 2008 8:23:09 GMT -5
A smile pulled up Dru's lips, until she started to wonder how Michael would react to that. She looked away quickly, her eyes dropping to her lap as she tried to force her mind to comprehend that her first boyfriend was there with her...and his first boyfriend. She then brought her eyes back up to watch them interact, remaining silent for the moment.
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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on Aug 26, 2008 8:29:49 GMT -5
Michael shifted slightly, putting a bit more pressure into the contact of their legs in support, though he knew he could name off a list of things that were so great about Dare. Then he grinned broadly, "Well, I wouldn't want to inflate your ego..." He left the rest unsaid, though it showed in the brightness of his eyes what he thought, only after meeting Dare's eyes did he remember that Dru was there, and his gaze dropped and he looked over at her. "Did you say anything?" he asked, he knew that she and Dare had met before.
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Post by Dare Blackwood-Hardt on Aug 26, 2008 9:08:22 GMT -5
Dare was grinning too hard to put his two knuts in on that; his head drooped again, trying to let his hair obscure that uncontrollable reaction, and he idly filled in another leaf. He looked aside at Michael, eyes glittering behind his fringe, and that wonderful tension washed through him. His hand tingled with wanting to take Michael's, and his lips tingled with wanting to kiss him. He licked his lips briefly, trying to push down the desire to do either thing. They'd held hands after they told Silver, but Silver was his brother, not his ex. Dare decided not to push, to just hold back and let Michael lead. And maybe he ought to listen to Dru, he thought, looking back down at his paper.
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Post by Druscilla Grace on Aug 26, 2008 9:29:20 GMT -5
It had taken Dru a moment to realize that Michael had turned the question to her, and so she had to think to sort out her thoughts before answering. "I told her that he was nice, but I'd only talked to him once." The only time she had talked to him had been that day in the Entrance Hall, and then the conversation hadn't focused very much on Dare. "She wanted to know if I had ever gotten any clues from you, but I said no." She shrugged, then spoke as she thought back on it, "I think she got a little frustrated because I wasn't helping much."
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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on Aug 26, 2008 9:35:27 GMT -5
Michael felt a moment of guilt, but when he looked over at Dare to see a hint of that glittering look, and it chased away whatever negative feelings he had. "That's understandable, but can you imagine if she had known that Dare was here?" The design on his skin burned, like it was a huge secret he was hiding from the world. But the beginnings of it were obvious on his hand as he gently nudged Dare with his elbow and offered the hand. He knew that it would have been extremely awkward, moreso than it already was, for Anna to have known that she had been talking to Dare.
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Post by Dare Blackwood-Hardt on Aug 26, 2008 9:57:59 GMT -5
Dare's gaze shifted immediately at that nudge, then slid down to Michael's hand, pausing for only a second. Then his own hand moved, and slipped around Michael's. It was another relief, a comfort, and something far more intimate than any observer could have guessed. Dare's gaze flicked back up to Michael's face, his lips curving into just a hint of his crooked smile, eyes warm with far more than gratitude. I love you, he thought. Dare didn't let himself look at Dru, though he knew she might feel left out for it. But he didn't want her to see too much; everything between him and Michael was theirs. It took a moment for Michael's words to sink in, and Dare dropped his gaze to their hands. "That's why I didn't tell her my name," he said, then paused. "Thanks for not outing me," he added for Dru.
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Post by Druscilla Grace on Aug 26, 2008 10:04:29 GMT -5
Dru didn't feel left out so much as she felt like she was intruding on something intensely personal, even if she couldn't really see anything. There was just an air around them that she felt wrong to interrupt. "I didn't think it would have been a good idea to shout out something like Dare you're dating Michael? in front of her." Her lips turned up in the smallest hint of a smile, and she started to wonder how she could leave, even if she had wanted to talk to Michael.
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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on Aug 26, 2008 10:09:13 GMT -5
Michael smiled at Dare, meeting his eyes and reading the silent words in his eyes, words he knew were in his own brown as well. "That probably wouldn't have been a good idea," he agreed with Dru as he tightened his hand around Dare's. "Thanks, though, Dru," he said, looking up at her, "We don't need any more drama than we already have." He really didn't care to have something added to his list.
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Post by Dare Blackwood-Hardt on Aug 26, 2008 10:20:55 GMT -5
"True, that," Dare seconded. They had more than enough just running around to Hogsmeade, even if things had quieted down a little. It felt hesitant...temporary. Dare squeezed Michael's hand lightly, silently acknowledging the words neither of them really needed to say out loud. Then he set aside his quill and closed his sketchbook with his left hand. Dare looked up at Michael and Dru, and said, "It's probably getting close to curfew." He was mentally and emotionally exhausted anyway, and it felt like they'd worked through everything that had happened. If Dru had any more questions, she wasn't asking them.
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Post by Druscilla Grace on Aug 26, 2008 16:03:28 GMT -5
Dru stretched and nodded, satisfied that both her and Michael knew what was going on with each other. She pulled herself up from the couch, "I'll see you two later." Then she left, planning to go and see if she could find Silver, though she doubted it would happen. She felt much better than she had when she had first walked into the Room, and planned to try and relax.
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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on Aug 26, 2008 16:18:23 GMT -5
Michael said bye to Dru and then looked over at Dare. He didn't want to mention Anna, figuring that it probably wasn't the best choice of conversation topic. He spent a minute fishing for something, because he wanted to postpone leaving Dare for a few more minutes, then his mind lit on where he had been. "Adara told her father about the vow."
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Post by Dare Blackwood-Hardt on Aug 26, 2008 16:23:55 GMT -5
Dare had been watching the door, making sure it didn't open again, and just when he was satisfied and about to lean closer to Michael, he'd spoken. That revelation had cut off the kiss he'd been about to steal, and his eyes widened slightly. It took him a moment to form one solid question out of the several that had occurred to him. "Is everyone...alive?" he asked. He'd assume they were, considering how levelly Michael was talking about it, but it was a bottom line, at least.
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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on Aug 26, 2008 16:30:24 GMT -5
"Yeah, I stayed long enough to make sure everything was alright, then I came back here." Michael thought back, he knew he had been missing something, but it probably hadn't been anything crucial, or he liked to think he would have been informed. He let his thumb move over Dare's absently, "I think there was more to it, but the bottom line was that he wasn't happy."
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