Ready to Go (Michael/Dare)

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael's eyes instantly darkened and darted around the dancers, as though the culprit would have an arrow over his head. He didn't say anything, but his arm did tighten around Dare before his eyes finally came back up to Dare's face. He wouldn't do anything, really what could he do? That didn't mean he liked it. So he stayed quiet, just to let himself get over the angry moment. His eyes moved over the crowd again.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

"I don't know who it was," Dare said, then brought one hand up to tip Michael's face toward his. "It freaked me out, but I'll be fine," he said. He wasn't sure he'd be wandering off alone any time soon, but he'd gotten over worse, right? Dare tried to shrug it off again. He didn't care how many times it came back, he'd be firmly ignoring it as much as he could. He'd never known that something so unpleasant could also be... This wasn't working. "I could use a distraction," he suggested. "Something besides dancing right now." He wanted off the floor for a few minutes.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael kept himself from pulling away from Dare's hand to look around again, but only with a lot of effort on his part. Then he nodded and took a breath, "Like what?" He was still thinking about the nameless, faceless guy that had touched Dare, and his mind wasn't changing gears very quickly to try to think up something they could do other than dance in the crowded club.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare sighed heavily, then looked around for a moment before making a suggestion. "We could get something to drink," he said, scouting for a bar or something. "I still have some Muggle money from last time." He had no clue how to convert Muggle money into Wizarding prices, and he already felt like he'd spent the Galleons, so he didn't give much thought to spending a bit more. "Over there," Dare said, pointing. "I think that's a bar." He looked back at Michael. "You want anything?"

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael's eyes followed Dare's finger and then looked back up at him, giving an automatic nod. But as they turned toward it, something clicked in his mind, and he raised an eyebrow as he looked up at Dare. "Um, what do mu-" he paused, then reworded. "What do they have here?" he asked instead, figuring it safe to assume that they didn't have firewhiskeys and pumpkin juices in muggle clubs.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare heard Michael's first question as though he'd finished it, and his lips quirked. They tipped up into a light smile at Michael's rephrasing of his question, and though he didn't comment, his eyes sparkled. "They'll have water," he started, stating the obvious first, "then non-magical sodas, I think they call them pop in England. Then they'll have booze, but whatever." Dare didn't care to have a clue about what kind of alcohol the place served, but he'd seen people walking around with drinks, so it was obvious they had them.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael thought that it would be much like what all Dru had, though probably in a greater variety. He let his arm rest around Dare and resigned himself to water, considering he didn't want to get something else and then hate it. He kept his eyes ahead, but couldn't keep the glint out of his eyes when he let just his fingers dip underneath the edge of Dare's shirt. He hadn't quite forgotten about what Dare had told him, but Michael was going to try to so that he didn't dwell on it.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare's lips curved again at that soft touch against his skin. He looked aside at Michael, his eyes gleaming. Then he followed suit. His hand slid to the back of Michael's waist, then up just enough to brush his fingertips against the soft skin there. He only paid attention to the crowd again when he bumped into someone he'd apparently been walking toward. Dare's gaze broke from Michael's to mutter an apology, then he set himself to making a beeline to the bar, his lips quirking in self=deprecating humor. Michael didn't even need to try to be a distraction sometimes.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael turned his head away to hide the laugh that came up when Dare ran into someone, and only looked up when he had pushed it down to just a sparkle in his eyes. "Pay attention, seriously," he teased, grinning up at Dare and then turning his eyes back to the crowd in front of them. He wasn't as used to going through the rough crowds as Dare was, and tried to watch out, pushing back the paranoid part that said someone was going to grab one of them.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare glanced aside at Michael and nodded, then sighed and made himself release Michael's waist to take his hand. It was an uphill battle trying to get through a crowd two abreast. Dare guided Michael behind him again, the same way he'd led them onto the floor, and eventually they found their way to an empty spot on the bar. "Two waters," Dare said, gesturing to the bartender. He liked soda and all, but it made him thirsty when he was as active as he was being tonight. Dare's lips spread into a wide smile as he looked over his shoulder at Michael.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael moved up behind Dare and wrapped his arms around him, spreading his hands out over Dare's stomach as they waited for the waters. He set his chin on Dare's shoulder and leaned against his head. "How is your lip?" he asked. The whole point of going had been to celebrate the swelling going down, but Michael didn't know if it was already better or still sore.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

"Infinitely better," Dare replied. For a couple days there, he hadn't even been able to kiss Michael, and it had been crazy, but today the pain was almost entirely gone. "I was thinking I'd put the other ring in this weekend." They'd already learned to ignore the one he was wearing, but all the same, Dare looked forward to the smaller ring. It was amazing how such a little barrier between them could feel like so much.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

"And I've just gotten used to seeing you in this one," Michael said, humor in his voice. He would have to go through the whole process again of being surprised when he looked up to see Dare. Not that he would miss the giant one Dare had in at that moment, it would still be very nice to kiss him with something smaller, but it would still be a large change.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare grinned, and he'd been about to turn his head and claim a kiss when the bartender came back with two bottles of water. Dare smoothed his hands against Michael a moment, then pulled out his Muggle money, handing some over without blinking an eye. He couldn't convert it to Sickles or Galleons, so it made little difference to him. Dare pulled one bottle close enough for Michael to easily reach, should he decide to let go of Dare, then cracked the top on the other open, his head tilting back slightly against Michael's shoulder as he took a long, satisfying drink. Then, half teasing to keep Michael from moving his hands, Dare offered his bottle up toward Michael's mouth. "Want a drink?" he asked.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael raised an eyebrow at the bottle, debating how good an idea it would be to take a drink from a bottle held by someone else, even if that someone else was Dare. After a few moments' contemplation, he reached up and took the bottle himself, compromising between taking his arms from around Dare and the certainty of his own bottle. "Yes, thank you," he said, grinning before taking a drink.