Nice Weather... (Michael/Dare)

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

The weather had finally cleared up. The sky was a vivid blue, and nearly cloudless after the storms had passed, only broken now and then by some light, puffy white confection floating lazily from one side of the horizon to the other. The wind had died down, too, leaving the warm air feeling even warmer with the exposed sun. It was a perfect late-summer day, one of precious few before fall came, Dare knew.

He stood at the shore, waiting for Michael at a little section of the lake protected by trees, creating its own private world perfect for solitude. He was wearing shorts today, long ones that came down to his knees in white with a crisp brown and gray plaid, a brown fitted tee, and flip-flops. And he was watching the entrance to the little copse of trees, his left hand hidden behind his back, waiting until he saw Michael. His sketchbook lay on the grass not far away, but it could wait for later. He had plans to keep.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael didn't appear to be wearing anything other than what he usually did, but underneath his usual jeans was a pair of dark brown shorts he had dug out of the bottom of his trunk. He felt the same excitement he had the morning they had originally planned to go swimming on, and he kept his hands shoved deep in his pockets to keep them steady. His eyes were bright and he smiled when he saw Dare, and his steps sped up.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare grinned at Michael, his eyes lighting up, his heart speeding just a bit. Then his smile grew crooked, and he brought his hand out from behind his back. It was cheesy as hell, but he'd wanted to get Michael something, and so he'd stopped by the greenhouses this morning. In his hand was one of Professor Sprout's best long-stem roses in vivid Gryffindor red, the stem a perfect Slytherin green. She'd offered to trim the thorns for him, but he'd said no; the rose was everything it should be, just the way it was. Dare smiled sheepishly, drawing his hand up to his chest, the blossom teasing at his lips as he inhaled its soft, sweet fragrance. "I've been thinking about you," Dare said, his eyes laughing lightly at himself.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael let out a soft, well intentioned laugh, and his eyes went down to the rose in Dare's hand, then back up to Dare's eyes as he came to a stop close to him. "I didn't see you as the flower type," he said, glancing back down at what Dare held in his hand. He grinned, though, and looked back up at him. He spent half a second debating, then leaned in towards him, smelling the rose mixed in with Dare's scent. When he pulled back, there was a sparkle in his eyes.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare's smile widened again, and his gaze flickered briefly to Michael's lips. "It's not for me," he teased, looking back into Michael's eyes. Dare angled his hand, bringing the velvety flower against Michael's cheek, then sweeping lightly down his neck. It had lasting-bloom charm on it, courtesy of Professor Sprout, so he wasn't worried about getting it in water.

Dare's lashes slipped low as he closed the brief distance between them, fitting his lips to Michael's for a short kiss. He didn't want to let himself get distracted, which would be incredibly easy, but there was no reason to torment himself with holding back. When Dare straightened, his lips curved again, and his eyes were glittering. "Are you ready?" he asked, inclining his head toward the water.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael grinned and nodded, flicking his eyes over to the water, "I've been ready." He didn't make a move to start taking anything off, though, a sudden spurt of shyness washing over him at the knowledge that he and Dare both would be so exposed, though when he had thought about it before it hadn't bothered him at all. It also didn't help that he was still floating slightly from the scent and feel of the rose, followed so quickly by that short kiss.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare's smile softened at the look on Michael's face. His free hand rose to smooth against one side of Michael's jaw, and he bought his lips lightly against the opposite cheek. "I promise not to look if it'll make you feel better," he said, only half joking as he stepped back. Dare moved a few paces away, his crooked smile coming back as he turned to face away from Michael. He bent and laid the rose on his sketchpad, then straightened and kicked off his flip-flops before peeling his shirt off over his head. He discovered then that it was all well and good to strip facing away from Michael, but turning around again was incredibly difficult. He inhaled deeply, then brazened it out and turned toward the water, flicking only a brief glance at Michael.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare's words made Michael smile, and he couldn't help but think that he really loved Dare. He turned, just that bit of space made it much easier to undo the buttons on his shirt and jeans, to pull down the zipper and put everything in a pile at the base of a tree on top of his shoes. He paused when he pulled out his wand, knowing logically that he would be perfectly safe without it, but feeling so very exposed by even the thought of leaving it on the shore.

In the end he tucked it into his waistband, into a small loop that he had fixed there sometime long ago where it wouldn't fall out, seeing as he did so the remnants of Dare's silver art. He grinned at the thought of how odd he must have looked, pasty skin that hadn't seen sunlight in years covered in silver that was so at odds with the Mark on his arm and the tip of wood sticking out above his waistband. Then, he didn't spend any time standing there, deciding to go ahead and get the hard part over with by running into the water and diving under the surface when he was deep enough.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare couldn't help chuckling as Michael splashed into the water, staring after him as that red hair disappeared beneath the surface. Not to be outdone, Dare ran in after him, though rather than submerging, he began making long, lazy strokes. The water was cool, as he'd expected it to be, but the motion warmed him. Still, it was a slow process, and Dare found himself looking for a shadow beneath the water that might be Michael.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael had to come up for air much sooner than he expected, he used to have been able to hold his breath much longer, so he had went deeper than he should have and had to force his way up. He spent a few seconds taking in deep breaths and recovering from the mistake, and then looked around for Dare. "It has been too long since I've done this," he said, grinning, as he came up to Dare. He was doing a kind of lazy backstroke, which was more treading water than anything, subconsciously trying to keep his left arm under the water.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare grinned right back, reflexively, as he looked at Michael, his hair darkened from the water, which clung in droplets against his shoulders. "Thank God the weather cleared up," he said, even as he watched the way the light glittered off the water, altering the shade of Michael's skin in spots. Then he noticed Michael's tan line, at his collar and hands, and nearly chuckled. At least Michael had a tan line, though; Dare didn't get much darker than he was, though he was still darker than Silver.

He glanced up at the sky, but in an instant, decided that trekking up to the school for a sunblock potion would take far too long. He'd just try to pace himself and seek shade in a while. He dropped his gaze back to Michael and his smile, which had faded a bit during that momentary distraction, returned, with a mischievous twist to one corner. "You look good wet," he said, then took off across the water before either of them could get embarrassed at his bluntness.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael's eyes widened in surprise but he grinned and flipped over to swim after Dare. He didn't rush too much to catch up, his mind was too busy replaying that comment over and over to really focus on swimming, for a few seconds anyway, then it moved on to how Dare looked. After another moment he grinned and gave another burst of speed to catch up with Dare as his mind debated returning the sentiment, though he doubted he actually would.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare let the moment sweep through him, whipping up his adrenaline until there were no nerves, but only excitement. He could hear Michael drawing closer--could feel him--and though he didn't speed up to try to escape, he didn't slow down, either. He glanced back over his shoulder and flashed a wide grin, then turned toward deeper water, enjoying the freedom of it. There could have been no one else in the world at that moment, and Dare would have been perfectly happy.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael pulled closer to Dare, and when he was parallel, he glanced over at him, grinning. Then, instead of touching him or keeping pace, he turned at an angle and went out across the water after raising an eyebrow slightly in challenge, as though saying catch me if you can. His mind was still replaying Dare's words over and over, while another hidden part was applying the same ones to Dare himself, to the pale body Michael had seen through the water.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare's brows arched only a heartbeat before he turned in the water, his grin returning, widening as he set his muscles toward propelling himself faster through the water. The edges of his hair darkened and curled lightly as he stopped paying attention to keeping it dry and focused on the cool water sluicing around him, parting as he moved. Michael was a good swimmer, but Dare was in better practice, and as he drew level with Michael, he put on one last burst of speed, a somewhat breathless laugh escaping his lips as he splashed a curtain of water back at Michael.