London (Dare/Michael)

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

With a pop Michael and Dare appeared just inside of Diagon Alley. Michael felt rather exposed in his close fitting shirt, he was so used to the wall of fabric between him and the world that the close fit seemed so obvious. "What first?" he asked, looking over at Dare and linking their fingers together.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare's lips curved into a near grin as he looked at Michael, curling his fingers against Michael's hand. Home, he thought, though he pushed it aside yet again. He wanted to see London with Michael. They could make out when they got home. "Let's see what they have," he said. "If we find a piercing place, we may as well, right?" Dare had some money with him, just a bit out of what he'd saved, but enough for a day out. It was his birthday, and though he didn't want to take away from those rings, he'd meant to use some of it for this. And for Michael's birthday in December.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

"I guess so, are we staying here or going out?" Michael asked, remembering London being mentioned instead of just Diagon Alley. They would need to go and get money exchanged if they were going out into London, Michael certainly didn't have any muggle money, and he assumed that Dare didn't, either. He was looking forward to getting out, though, it was always interesting to walk out there with the muggles and see things.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare looked away from Michael, scanning the famous Diagon Alley, but not seeing anything more than the usual Flourish & Blotts and robe shops. Until his gaze caught on the enormous bank at the end of the lane. "There's someplace we need," he said, raising his free hand to point. "If we're going into Muggle London, we're going to need Muggle money." Dare fully intended to take care of that himself. Dare smiled at Michael again, then led the way, gawking as they passed into the enormous building. "Oh my God, I've never seen a place like this," he whispered, too distracted by the glittering architecture to realize that Michael likely had a vault here.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

"It's pretty great here," Michael said, glancing around the large entrance room. "Just watch out, they can be kind of pissy," he added softly, flicking his eyes up towards the goblins at the desks. One of them met his eyes, the one that usually dealt with his father, and he quickly turned his eyes away to focus on Dare. He wondered if they would try to intimidate Dare, and he surely hoped not, they could be annoying little creatures when they wanted to be.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

"Pissy?" Dare repeated, looking at Michael as they approached the raised counters. He was suddenly more worried than he'd admit to being, though it likely showed in the sudden squeeze of Dare's hand. He forced himself to release and slip his hand free as he stepped up and the goblin peered down at him.

"Vault, please," the goblin demanded, looking sternly down at the human.

Dare took a deep breath. "I don't have a vault, I just wanted to trade...er...transfer, whatever, get some Muggle money." Dare summoned the money pouch he'd brought and lifted it to the countertop.

The goblin eyed the boy carefully. "No vault, no service," it said.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael stepped up beside Dare, and addressed the goblin. "If we really need a vault, I have one," he said, "But that would just be an unnecessary step, he just needs to exchange the money." He hoped the goblin would just accept and go on, but he knew there was always the chance that it would refuse and Michael would have to dig out his key as proof in order to do the exchange.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

The goblin eyed the red-haired teen for one long moment before another goblin gave a low, guttural noise that drew his attention. They had a very brief and to-the-point conversation, then the goblin turned its attention back to the humans. "Very well," it said, then began the transaction.

Dare watched, dumbfounded. He didn't have any argument in him, but what had just happened? Was it because Michael had said he had a vault? Was that all it took? Or had they recognized Michael. It took Dare a second, but he made the connections, and turned toward Michael to mouth the words, thank you.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

With money safely in hand, they turned and left, after a bow of the head from Michael and a thank you. Only when they were past the doors did Michael reach for Dare's hand again and open his mouth. "That second one knows my parents, I always got the impression he didn't like my dad very much, though." He supposed that it helped to have high status at some points.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare nodded, looking at Michael again. It seemed he'd finally gotten over the status thing, because the thought didn't feel as strange anymore. He slid his fingers between Michael's as he thought about the pile of paper money he had hidden away. It was such a weird exchange. "No offense, but I don't like your dad much, either." The stories were enough for Dare. He hated labels, but he thought asshole fit Soren Hardt nicely. Dare brought Michael's hand up and pressed a kiss to the back.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael smiled softly at that and looked over at Dare, "I don't know of many that do." He had always been under the impression that everyone talked about everyone behind their backs outside of social functions. "So," he said, letting out a breath, "We're going to see if we can find some muggle to stick a needle through your lip?" It sounded rather painful in Michael's opinion, but Dare wanted to do it.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare's lips quirked. "Sounds like fun," Dare said dryly. The process itself didn't sound like fun at all, but Dare knew he could handle the pain, and he also knew he'd like the result, so it would be worth it. Dare stopped in his tracks as they stepped out of the tavern and onto the streets of Muggle London. If Hogwarts had been a surprise, this was a culture shock. Dare couldn't stop looking at things, cataloging how different the buildings looked, and the cars, the slight differences in the way people dressed. "Oh, wow--Oh my God, look! A double-decker bus!" Dare exclaimed, pointing with their linked hands in his excitement. He'd only ever seen pictures and hadn't even been sure they were real.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael laughed at Dare's excitement, his own fueling the sound, and looked where Dare was pointing. "I didn't know muggles had those," he said, raising an eyebrow. He knew about the knight bus, but he had never known that muggles had similar things. Michael's eyes soon fell away from the bus and looked around, much more interested in the muggles and the regular cars than the large bus.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare watched the bus disappear around a corner before Michael's words sank in. "They don't in California," he said definitely. Dare was near exploding with excitement already. He did two quick bounces in place to get out some of his excess energy, and couldn't hold still again after. Dare tugged lightly on Michael's hand, then started off down the street, unable to even care if he looked like a tourist. "This place is so cool," he mused. Maybe once he got his apparition license in March, he'd start coming down here to draw.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael smiled as he watched Dare, and soon all of his attention was on Dare instead of the people moving around that he immediately forgot. Even so, every now and again something would catch his eye, and he would pause for a moment to stare at it before having to take a couple large steps to come back level with Dare. "Why are all of these people talking to their hands?" he asked, voice low, as he leaned in to Dare.