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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on Dec 15, 2008 15:24:14 GMT -5
Michael grinned and kissed Dare's hair. "I'll get you some," he said, also telling himself that he would need to get something else to offset the lack of surprise with getting Dare boots. He wondered if there was somewhere he could go to get boots that had a charm on them...he didn't want Dare to be miserable out in the cold, even if the shoes did save his feet.
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Post by Dare Blackwood-Hardt on Dec 15, 2008 16:26:01 GMT -5
Dare's lips curved a bit at that kiss and he sighed lightly. After a moment he lifted his head from Michael's shoulder and turned a bit to press a kiss to the corner of Michael's lips. Michael was too good to him, but he'd gotten to enjoy it over the past months they'd been living together. "Thank you," he said softly.
His reflexive flickering thought about buying the boots himself died immediately when he remembered he'd spent all his money, and that thought died when he remembered why. His lips curved further into a secretive smile and his eyes glittered in the moments before he stole a more proper kiss.
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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on Dec 15, 2008 16:53:55 GMT -5
Michael's eyebrows had come together at the look in Dare's eyes, only to close his eyes when Dare kissed him. His mind momentarily flooded with the things they needed to get done, such as finding somewhere to stay, but it disappeared within seconds as he tilted his head into the kiss. His chilled body didn't take long to remember where they had been forced apart at.
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Post by Dare Blackwood-Hardt on Dec 15, 2008 17:05:39 GMT -5
Those uncomfortable minutes in the bathroom were nothing in the face of the heat Dare could feel rolling from Michael's skin. It was easy to forget that they were anywhere other than where they'd been an hour or two ago, and by the time it had ended, it didn't matter at all. The cold was forgotten too, though Dare pulled the covers up over them before letting himself relax. After his time outside, he wasn't sure he'd ever be warm enough again. His arms slipped back around Michael and pressed a satisfied kiss to his lips. "I love you," he murmured.
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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on Dec 15, 2008 17:21:15 GMT -5
Michael settled against Dare, enjoying the hum in his blood and the pleasant feelings running through him. "I love you, too," he whispered, putting his arms around Dare and nuzzling against his neck. He supposed he finally knew what it was like not to be able to go as far as he wanted and have to force his body back down. He really didn't like it. But being with Dare there in the Room of Requirement was good enough to almost make up for it.
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Post by Dare Blackwood-Hardt on Dec 15, 2008 23:28:06 GMT -5
Dare was incredibly comfortable here, and yes, he was finally warm. If the late hour hadn't been enough, their recent activity certainly was, and Dare breathed a heavy sigh as he drifted toward sleep. Part of his mind prodded that he hadn't taken his sleeping potion tonight, but he mentally shrugged it off. He was feeling so good right now that he didn't think he needed it.
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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on Dec 15, 2008 23:37:10 GMT -5
Michael shifted, and that motion reminded him of his state of dress, or undress, as it were. He pressed a kiss to Dare's neck, whispered that he would be right back, and got up to search for his pants, trying to let as little air as possible under the blankets. He searched the edge of the bed, and after a few second's search he found them and slid them on, keeping his head down with his hair around his face. It still felt strange to need to put them on, but he couldn't stand not to. So he sighed and settled them around his hips, then settled in with Dare again to sleep.
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Post by Dare Blackwood-Hardt on Dec 16, 2008 0:53:01 GMT -5
Dare had frowned from his state of half-sleep at the loss of comfortable warmth, but soon enough it returned and he wrapped his arms around it before finally falling asleep. All was peaceful for some time, until his dreams caught up with him. There were so many issues he hadn't dealt with over the past weeks. Over the past two years, actually. The potions were a temporary fix, but without Grey's sleeping draught, there was nothing to hold the nightmares back.
It started with that day, two and a half years ago. Dare hadn't been in the front room that day, but he was now. It hadn't been night either, hadn't been raining, but all the same, a storm lashed at the windows. And when he heard the scratching, he opened the door.
There was a crack of lightening that shook the lamps, Mom's ceramics, and when the flash of blinding white faded, he saw the ground splitting apart. Gnarled branches twisted their way through and up, up to the ceiling that stood no chance against the force of the quickly darkening forest.
He heard screams.
He saw flashes of violence that left blood splattered across his clothes. He saw blue eyes wide in terror, saw the light fade into near gray. He saw green eyes that echoed the forest, the reaching branches mirrored in their depths. He saw brown eyes dimming into nothing.
He was running now, and the house was gone, leaving nothing but the black forest, the stinging cold rain. He had to find them, had to save them. He couldn't let it happen again. He couldn't!
He tripped over a branch, landing on hands and knees. He could see them now, but it was too late. One by one they decayed and faded into dust. He sat back on his haunches, ready to run after them, to catch that hand, that loose sleeve before they blew away. But it was too late.
He opened his mouth to scream, but no sound came. He couldn't breathe. He tried to scream again, but he couldn't, and then he could feel his arms opening. All the old wounds were coming back, but he couldn't feel the physical pain, only hopelessness and the desire to just die and leave this behind. He screamed again, and he clawed at the wounds, trying to deepen them, trying to join the ones he'd lost. He screamed, but no sound came out.
Dare screamed, all the effort of trying to make some sound, any sound in his dream pouring into a reality he wasn't aware of. He was curled away from any warmth, nails digging into his arms.
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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on Dec 16, 2008 1:00:30 GMT -5
Michael hadn't immediately woken up, he had just thought the scream was some anomaly in his own dream. Once consciousness started coming, it came quickly, and his eyes snapped open to see Dare pulling away from him. "Dare!" he said, loudly to be heard over his screams. His eyes were wide as he sat up and, ignoring the dizziness and fighting the fog in his brain, tried to pull Dare's hands from his arms. "Dare!" He didn't know what was going on, but he had to wake Dare up.
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Post by Dare Blackwood-Hardt on Dec 16, 2008 1:10:13 GMT -5
Dare couldn't pull himself from the nightmare and he fought, only uncurling to strike out at anything close enough. There was far too much tearing through his mind and coursing through his veins to accept reality even as consciousness loomed. He could hear Michael's voice, but he knew it wasn't real, it was another phantom there to punish him for escaping unscathed.
His cheeks were damp, he could feel it, but where was the warm trickle of blood? Where was the boom of thunder and the creak of the trees? He couldn't take it anymore, couldn't fight, couldn't scream. He could hear his own choked sobs and harsh breathing, but something in him wouldn't let him feel Michael, not yet.
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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on Dec 16, 2008 1:19:31 GMT -5
Michael kept calling Dare's name. Somehow he had ended up on his knees beside Dare as he tried to pry his hands loose and wake him up. "Dare, please wake up," he begged, unsure what had been wrong with Dare, what kind of dream had he had to have that reaction. Dare needed to wake up, Michael could go from there, he just couldn't let himself break down, no matter how badly his eyes burned at the sight of Dare's tears.
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Post by Dare Blackwood-Hardt on Dec 16, 2008 1:28:16 GMT -5
Dare pulled a sharp gasp and his eyes shot open as consciousness descended on him like an angry troll. He took gasping, half-choked breaths as he tried to assimilate having been dragged into something completely different than the remnants of the dream. He felt Michael's hands and in an instant his eyes were trying to look through the dark to see him, to be sure he was real, that he wouldn't die all over again. Dare's hands rose, clutching at Michael's arms and trying to pull him down, desperately needing something to ground him. "Michael," he breathed, his chest shuddering with the effort of speaking. "So sorry, so sorry..."
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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on Dec 16, 2008 18:08:21 GMT -5
Michael let Dare pull him down, at a loss for what else to do. "It's okay, what happened?" he asked, raising a hand to Dare's hair. He felt shaken, taken aback by how he had been woken up, with Dare screaming. He searched Dare's face, trying to think of some way to make things right. Why was Dare apologizing? As far as Michael was concerned, he hadn't done anything wrong.
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Post by Dare Blackwood-Hardt on Dec 16, 2008 18:29:41 GMT -5
Dare couldn't pick apart the pieces enough to even begin making sense of things. All the emotion was still washing through him, the hopelessness, the fear. His hands released Michael's arms, but only to wrap around him, holding him tight as though letting go would make the nightmare come true. "I'm sorry, don't go..." He shouldn't have opened the door, shouldn't have been in his own world, shouldn't have let him go. It wouldn't have happened if he'd just been there.
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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on Dec 16, 2008 18:51:53 GMT -5
Michael shook his head, confused. "I'm not going anywhere," he said, nearly wincing at the power behind Dare's arms. He wasn't going to say anything about it, though, and let Dare hold him as tightly as he wanted. "I'm staying right here with you." He hoped that something he said would break through whatever hysteria had its claws in Dare and Dare could talk and tell him what was wrong.
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