Another Night In (Michael/Dare)

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare watched Michael a moment longer, then nodded and dropped his gaze. He looked at the last rune, double and triple-checking his memory, but there wasn't any getting around it without lying. Dare only hoped that whatever Michael had asked, it wasn't something huge.

"This one is the future," Dare said at last. "It's Hagalaz, which means hail. Hail is destructive and elemental, so it probably means disruption or delay." And chaos. It was a rune that couldn't be reversed, because the opposite of chaos was more chaos.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael's eyebrows came together and he stared down at the rune before looking up at Dare. He really didn't like that answer, "I'm going to hope it means delay." A delay he could live with, some of the other things he definitely hoped didn't happen. Perhaps it was wrong, the reading didn't have to be right, did it? He put his hands together in front of him, linking his fingers.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare was observing Michael close enough, knew Michael well enough, to see that there had been no miraculous twist that made that last rune better. He didn't think it was about them, though. "Are you all right?" Dare asked, scooping up the runes and dropping them back in his bag. He mixed them a moment, then reached in to grab one at random. Is Michael all right?



One rune alone could give quick insight, reducing the situation to the shortest summary possible. Sowelu represented clarity of sight and victory of good over evil. Dare breathed a sigh of relief.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael blinked a few times and watched Dare change out runes, "Yes, I..." He stopped then, wondering if it was right to tell, but decided there wasn't anything wrong with it. "Yeah, I asked if I was going to get a reply," he said, bringing his eyes back up to Dare's. He thought he was going to get one, but was a little worried as to its contents because of that last rune Dare had read.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare nodded, then held up the rune in his hand. "I asked if you were all right, and the runes gave me victory and clarity, so I'm going to guess it'll work out." He hoped so, at least. Of course, this rune was for now. If he let himself overthink it, he could drive himself crazy. He'd start bringing Michael's dad into things and fighting two sides of the same battle. "If nothing else, maybe the runes are saying your mom got your letter," Dare suggested.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael licked his lips and nodded, "I think I'll get something back, I just hope she's alright." He sighed softly and pulled his hands apart, running one through his hair. "I'm sure everything's fine," he said, giving another jerky nod of his head. He didn't want to dwell on it, though he should have known that there could have been a negative outcome from the reading.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

"Things will work out, I promise," Dare said, praying he was speaking the truth. He silently kicked himself for having suggested the reading. Runes didn't hold back because too much truth would be hurtful. Dare tucked the white cloth back into the bag and set it aside on the nightstand, then turned back to Michael. He paused, watching him for a moment, then leaned close, breaking into Michael's view as he brought his hand up to slip around the back of Michael's neck. "I love you, and we'll get through this," Dare said. His hand firmed. "Right?" he prompted softly.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael nodded again, "We will." There was no doubt in his mind that he and Dare would get through it. He was just worried about what would happen before everything was over, before everyone settled down at lost the novelty of doing things to them. He leaned in and kissed Dare lightly, "I love you, too." So it was a little belated, but it was fine, he needed to say it, when didn't really matter.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare's lips curved. He couldn't imagine ever getting tired of hearing that. Dare pressed another brief kiss to Michael's lips before shifting, moving to sit beside Michael on the bed and drawing his left arm around Michael's waist. "So what time do you think it is?" he asked absently. It felt like curfew was nearing. Not that it mattered, since they were staying here, but he still got the feeling. Dare only remembered his watch as he brought his right hand up to take Michael's left, dropping his gaze to observe. Dare's lips curved. "I already forgot I had this," he said.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael had looked up at Dare, smiling softly and shifting towards him, to watch the small movements of muscles in his face. But at Dare's words he pulled his eyes away and down, following Dare's gaze to the watch. "So is that why you wanted to go downstairs?" he asked, bringing his hand over to idly trace the watch's face. He wondered what they had talked about down there.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare nodded, letting himself keep his gaze lowered to watch the motion of Michael's fingers. "I figured I need one, because...I wanted to get a part-time job," Dare said, his voice lowering a bit at the end. "I thought I'd go back to Hogsmeade tomorrow and start looking." He hoped Michael wouldn't ask why he wanted to get a job, but he'd tell him the truth, if a slightly edited version, if Michael did ask.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael raised an eyebrow to that and looked up at Dare, "Why do you want a job?" He didn't know why Dare would want a job, to get money, he told himself. Besides that, though, he didn't know. Of course, there was a selfish reason for asking, if Dare got a job it would cut into their time together, and Michael didn't know what he would do with actual free time.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare shrugged, just buying time while he gathered his words. "There's stuff I want to buy," he said. Not to mention he didn't really have a choice now that he'd spent all his money on the watch. "It'll just be part-time." Dare had thought about the job cutting into his free time, too, but he wanted the things he'd be using his money for too badly to just let them go. He wanted a slightly deeper commitment. He wanted a physical reminder of their commitment. Other than hickeys.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

"As long as it doesn't cut into our time too much," Michael said, shrugging slightly and looking back down at the watch. "So what did Emilian want?" he asked, though he didn't look up at Dare as he did. He wanted to know, but he was unsure what it could have been, though he had some ideas. It apparently hadn't been anything bad, considering how Dare and Emilian had been when they had come back up the stairs.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare continued watching Michael's hand as he spoke. "He wanted to make sure we were all right," he said. "Basically said to hang in there." And to take care of Michael, but Dare would have done that without any prompting at all. Emilian hadn't said a thing about not telling Michael, but all the same, Dare figured a summary was enough. The conversation had moved quickly from Emilian's brief word of advice to Dare's purchases, and that was something Michael didn't need to know about just yet.