Problems (Dare/Michael)

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael stormed into the store, eyes hard and focused on the counter. Who did Markise think he was? No, Michael didn't want to hear it. He wanted to rage, but there wasn't anyone to rage at, Markise had gotten away. He might have realized that that was a blessing in disguise, but he wanted to fight. The animals must have realized his mood, because they were being strangely quiet, even when he angrily started going through the motions of cleaning out cages and feeding them.

He only ran upstairs to get Elouai, to let her run outside for just a minute before he made her come into the shop with him. Even her hyper personality was somewhat milder than usual when she realized he wasn't giving the kind words he usually did before settling behind the counter with an open book to attempt work, even as he silently fumed.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare had gone straight up the stairs into the apartment as usual, but neither Michael nor Elouai was there. He'd set his bag down on the floor on his side of the bed, pushed it just under the edge with his foot, then turned to head down into the shop. If they weren't there, they'd be out for a walk and Dare would just wait.

They were there, though. Michael was doing homework and Elouai... he couldn't see her, but he didn't need to. She heard him and came running, yipping in excitement. "You want me to take her out?" Dare asked, stooping to bat at Elouai playfully. Dare hadn't forgotten the incident with Michael's essay.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael didn't look up at Dare. His eyes remained fixed on the parchment in front of him where he was starting yet another essay, high on the counter safe from Elouai. He couldn't look up at Dare. "If you want," he said absently, though his voice was still tense. He had somehow wrestled his thoughts down to a manageable roar, but at Dare's voice it had all come crashing back down on him.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

"I'd better do it now, before it gets too late," Dare said. It had been a good night at the club, just him and the music, and only a couple easy requests. He still had enough energy to take Elouai out for a walk, and if it gave Michael time to get farther on his homework, all the better. "Is her leash back there, or upstairs?" he asked. Elouai grabbed his hand between her teeth and tugged, and he moved his hand in an arc over the floor, dragging her with it. If it hurt at all, he didn't mind.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael shook his head, "I don't know." Maybe he did know, but pulling his mind away from his work enough to think about it would only lead to more tension on his part, and the quickest answer seemed like it would be the best right then. His eyes stayed glued to the page in front of him and his quill stopped moving as he stared blankly. How could Markise think Dare had a problem? He was being so normal, just being Dare.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare sighed at Michael's uninformative answer. "Don't worry about it," he said. "Just work on whatever you're doing, I'll find it." He managed to free his hand from the tight grip Elouai had on it and straightened, heading across the shop and behind the counter, the puppy trailing after him. The leash was back there, and so Dare picked it up and crouched to attach it to her collar, far easier now that she knew what it meant. "You going to be down here long?" Dare asked, glancing up at Michael before he stood again. "If you want to go upstairs I could just keep her out a while." He attributed Michael's mood wholly to his homework, since he'd been so high-strung about it lately, and kept himself as relaxed as possible to balance him out.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

"I don't know," Michael said again, wondering if Dare would accept the answer again. He closed his eyes against the urge to look up at Dare, somehow hoping that the issue wouldn't come up, that everything would just go away. The last thing he wanted was to start talking and end up telling Dare that he had shot a spell at Markise. His grip on his quill tightened and his other hand clenched around the edge of his book.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare didn't miss Michael tensing up, though he had to think about it a moment before it occurred to him that Michael's short answers weren't accompanying him studying. He had his eyes closed. "Are you okay?" Dare asked, his voice a bit softer now. He hoped Michael was okay, he'd left his book bag upstairs and didn't want to end up excusing himself to get it.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

"I'm fine," Michael said, the lie burning his tongue. He closed his eyes tighter for a moment before he forced them open. It had started, there was no getting out of talking about it. But how could he even begin to talk to Dare about it? He couldn't just up and accuse Dare of being hooked on the potions and tell him that he had to stop. He closed his eyes again.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare looked at Michael a moment, but he couldn't make himself believe Michael was okay. "Are you sure?" he asked worriedly. "You know you can talk to me." He pushed to his feet and Elouai tugged, heading away, though she was stopped when Dare didn't follow. "Is it about school?" Elouai whimpered, trying to get Dare's attention so they could go, but he ignored her for now.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael shook his head, but didn't give any verbal answer. "Take her out," he said instead. Perhaps by the time they got back to the shop Dare would have forgotten, or maybe Michael could figure out a way to convince Dare nothing was wrong. He hated the lie, but he was afraid of talking, of telling Dare what all had happened between him and Markise, and of what could happen should he try to get Dare to stop taking the potions.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare was silent, observing Michael and thinking, but he didn't want to push. For once, he didn't want to push. "Will you be okay while we're gone?" he asked instead. Whatever was bothering Michael, Dare would let him keep it to himself for a while, but he wouldn't be able to relax at all while he was out if he didn't know for sure that nothing would happen in his absence. As it was, he was already thinking of running up for a bit of the draught of peace he had in one of his flasks.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael couldn't bring himself to nod, but spoke quietly, "I need to get this done." In truth it wasn't due for another few days, but it was better in his mind than talking to Dare about the potions and the fight with Markise. The grip he had on his quill and on his book tightened momentarily again as he thought about it. "Maybe when you get back," he offered, praying as he did so that Dare wouldn't remember.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare wasn't convinced, but lately he'd taken to avoiding anything that had the potential of becoming stressful. By the same turn, he hadn't done much laughing either, but if it kept him level, he was okay with it. He just wanted to keep level.

"All right," Dare said. "When we get back, then." He knew something was wrong, and it didn't look like homework. "I'm just going to run upstairs real quick, then we'll get going." A little each of the calming draught and the draught of peace and he ought to be fine. He might just take his bag with him, though.

Dare leaned forward, pressing a light kiss to Michael's cheek, then led Elouai upstairs. He did what he'd intended, then took her out for a long walk to let the potions clear his mind and relax his nerves.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael sighed heavily once Dare and Elouai were out of the door and put his quill down. He rubbed his face roughly with his hands and shook his head. He didn't want to do it. But could it really do any good not to say anything? He hated it all so much! It took him long minutes before he was able to bring his quill to the parchment again, but nothing he wrote was worth anything, and he quickly gave up. A few minutes later the shop was closed and he was sitting in his chair with his sketchpad in his lap.