Surprises

[Emilian Sota]

Emilian came back a few moments later, a stack of pictures in his hand. He moved on from the subject of the engagement and focused on the pictures in his hands, idly flipping through them. "You know, you two left more than clothes here," he said, sitting on the arm of the chair he had been sitting in. It was better to move on from the subject, if he couldn't win on that front, he could at least bring up the pictures.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael sighed, "What are you talking ab-" he stopped when he saw what was in Emilian's hands. "That isn't..." It definitely looked like the pictures that he and Dare had taken of each other. Many of which Michael hated the idea of Emilian looking. His muscles tensed and his eyes were glued to the stack that Emilian was flipping through.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare's eyes widened and for a moment he froze. Then, without thinking, he pulled entirely away from Michael and got to his feet, not willing to take the chance that he was right, that those pictures were theirs. He wanted to pretend it couldn't be, but at the sight of them, he realized he hadn't thought to grab them when they'd been rushed out the door. Dare reached out to snatch the pictures out of Emilian's hands.

[Emilian Sota]

Emilian glared at Dare, "Hey, I really like the next one," he said, standing up to look at it. He still had the one that he had been flipping, though. The picture of Dare laying on the bed hadn't been put back on the stack yet from where Emilian had been changing to one of him and Michael. "You have a good photographer."

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael glared hard at Emilian and stood with Dare, moving over to snatch the picture out of Emilian's hand. When he saw what it was, he wasn't truly aware of his fist flying toward Emilian's jaw. There wasn't much chance of actually winning a fight against Emilian, but he could do enough damage to count, especially if Dare didn't try to pull him away.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare had been about to grab that last picture when Michael had gotten to it first. Then there was the sudden crack of bone against bone and he reflexively stepped back, eyes widening all over at what he saw. Normally Dare would have caught at Michael's arm, called out his name, anything to slow him down, but somehow this time his usual thoughts of leveling Michael out took second place to tucking all the pictures as deeply into his hip pocket as he could manage.

[Emilian Sota]

Emilian stumbled at the blow and he reached for Michael's arm. "Oh Michael that was a mistake," he practically growled, ignoring the fact that Dare was there as he lunged toward Michael. He should have been able to block it, but he had been paying more attention to Dare. He should have been able to hold himself back, but the frustrations of the last few weeks and the lack of release for that frustration didn't make for a good stopper. His free hand searched for Michael's jaw.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael dropped the revealing picture of Dare and tried to avoid the fist aimed at his jaw, only to lose his balance and fall backwards, hitting an elbow hard on the low table. He felt his head hit the floor and squeezed his eyes shut in face of the pain from both spots. He forced his eyes open enough to see Emilian and try to get out from underneath him.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Now Dare moved. That last picture lay forgotten on the floor as he bent, one strong hand curling tightly around as much straight brown hair as he could manage. The other caught at the back of Emilian's pants, not one of the easiest places to get away from once caught. Of course, during most fights, turning your back on an opponent was a bad idea. Dare pulled. Hard.

[Emilian Sota]

Emilian growled again at the pull in his hair and moved with the hands instead of fighting against them. He reached behind him with one hand and grabbed the large one in his hair. He sat back, ending straddling Michael's legs. He pulled on Dare's arm and tried to pull him off balance, as well. It would be hard to win against both of them, but he thought he could hold his own.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael looked up at Dare and tried to worm his way out from underneath Emilian, then aimed a kick at his chest when one foot was loose. He pulled himself back and tried to scramble to his feet, his right hand going to his head and his left going directly to his wand. He trained it on Emilian, though he was wobbling on his feet.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare did lose his balance, but he didn't let go of Emilian to cushion his fall. If anything, he held tighter, though the hand at Emilian's pants was pulled free all the same. He landed hard on his back with a pained umph and grimaced, even as he pulled with his still-clenched hand, hoping to twist his opponent's neck, to cause enough pain that he would have time to recover.

[Emilian Sota]

Emilian groaned as he was pulled down, landing half over Dare. A large headache was growing in his head from Dare's hand in his hair. His own hand fought against Dare's to try to get it loosened while his other searched for Dare's other hand. He glanced up at Michael, but noted how unsure he was on his feet, and quickly turned his attention back on Dare. He gave up trying to get Dare's hand and tried to jab his thumb into the tender spot behind Dare's collarbone.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael put his right hand on the arm of the couch and focused his wand on Emilian. "Get off him!" he said. His aim was good, but he didn't want to aim anything at Emilian when there was such a large chance of hitting Dare. He tightened his hand around his wand handle and tightened his jaw, searching his mind for something he could throw.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare cried out at the sudden intense pain that shot out from his neck. His hand released, then tried to push Emilian away, or to grab that hand pressing against him. He wasn't entirely aware of what he did next, only that he fought with intent to cause as much pain as he could, gathering himself to shift his weight, to push Emilian to his back and take back control.