You Can't Hide...

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, "Yeah, I know the whole thing about bravery." He didn't mean to act like her advice didn't mean anything, but he had heard it, and it was a lot harder to do than she acted. "That came out bad, it's just going to be really hard," he said in a low voice.

[Adara Snow]

Adara nodded, her gaze lowering to the floor. "I did not mean to demean your difficulties," she said softly. "I know little of such things, and apologize for my forwardness." She wished so badly that she knew the words to say to comfort Michael, but his problems stretched beyond her limited knowledge of people's unkindness.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael shifted again and glanced up at her before looking down again. "Sorry, I just..." He sighed and shook his head. "I've had a really bad week..." he said, feeling like he was just trying to explain away the way he had reacted to what she said. "You're fine, I promise." He felt bad for making her apologize when she hadn't even done anything.

[Adara Snow]

Adara nodded again, though she still felt helpless for being unable to give Michael the comfort he needed. "I wish I knew how to help you," she said. "You have been such a great help to me, such comfort, and I want to return the favor." Adara looked back up at Michael. "If there is ever anything I might do for you, even if it seems trivial, or too great, will you find me?"

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael nodded, "Yeah, I'll try." He really didn't think he would go to her, not when he had Dare, but if he really needed someone to talk to he would try to find her. "If there's something I think you can help with, I'll come to you," he promised, and he made the mental choice to try to keep to his promise.

[Adara Snow]

Adara nodded, taking Michael at his word. She realized then that both of them were still standing and mentally chastised herself for her thoughtlessness. "Would you care to sit, Michael?" she offered. "Might I get you something to drink?" Business and hostessly activities were far preferable to awkward silence, and Adara hoped that Michael would accept.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael nearly turned down both offers, but caught himself in time, and reminded himself that it would be rude to do so. So he sat, and only refused the offer of a drink. He was much too jittery to accept a drink, he barely wanted to sit, and was only doing so so that he didn't feel horrible for not accepting her offers. "I'm fine, thank you," he said, folding his hands tightly in front of him, staring blankly at the paper.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare hadn't been expecting a party upstairs, but still, the repressed tension in the room after he'd just had a short moment's reprieve from tension was somewhat of a shock. Dare didn't want tension, though. He wanted to celebrate having secured the rings, having begun making his plans reality, having not gotten his ass kicked by Emilian. Dare crossed over to where Michael sat and rested both hands on his shoulders. He gave Adara as polite a smile as he could muster and said, "Emilian will be right up."

[Emilian Sota]

Emilian followed soon after Dare, taken aback by the tension he felt the moment he walked through the door. He raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything about it, instead just walked over to Adara. "I guess I'll see you two when I get back," he said, looking at Dare and Michael. It almost felt wrong to make them leave so abruptly, but he couldn't resist, not when he knew it was the last of his time with Adara.

[Adara Snow]

Adara resisted the urge to bite her lip, rather playing the hostess again as best she could. She let herself smile, hoping to relieve some of the tension. "I will see you at school," she said. "In a few days." Depending on when Emilian was able to leave. Adara's gaze dropped at the thought. She wasn't going to dwell on unpleasantness, especially when the cause was so beneficial to all.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

It wasn't hard to catch the dismissal in Emilian's words, and Michael stood, pulling reluctantly away from Dare's hands. "Good luck," he said to Emilian, the only thing he could think of that was appropriate, and went around the chair to stand beside Dare, taking one hand. "And I'll try to find you," he said to Adara, going back to his promise to let her help if she could. He looked back over at Dare, wanting to ask what he and Emilian had talked about downstairs, and ended up raising an eyebrow when he saw something new on Dare's wrist. He tilted his head up at Dare but didn't say anything, words would only postpone leaving.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare met Michael's eyes for a moment, then inclined his head just slightly toward the door, as if to say, I'll tell you when we leave. He'd tell most of it, anyway. Then Dare brought his gaze back up to Emilian and Adara. "Thank you," he said, his eyes pausing on Emilian's before continuing, "for your hospitality." He gave a brief smile for Adara, then led Michael out.

[Emilian Sota]

Emilian shot Dare a look, only then realizing that Dare would probably tell Michael what they had talked about. It left a sour taste in his mouth, but there was nothing to be done about it without Emilian himself revealing something. He put an arm around Adara and nodded towards Dare and Michael, then watched them leave. "So did Michael stay like that the whole time?" he asked, turning towards Adara.

[Adara Snow]

Adara looked down at the table, biting her lip a moment before answering. "He did," she replied. "I did not know how to comfort him." It didn't occur to her that Michael might not have wanted to be comforted, so she laid blame solely on herself. She blinked as something caught in her mind, then drew her gaze up to Emilian's. "Were his fingernails green?" she asked. Perhaps it had been her imagination.

[Emilian Sota]

Emilian paused, thinking, had Michael's nails been green? "I know Dare's were purple," he said absently as he tried to remember, then nodded. "Yes, I think so." He had no idea why they would color their nails, especially considering how against make-up and even just accessories Michael usually was. "I've never seen Michael with his nails painted, actually I only ever knew one guy that painted his nails."