Going Out (Dare/Michael)

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael asked for a couple of waters and waited for them to come before turning to Dare. He smiled, but his eyes dropped soon after he looked at Dare. He leaned against the counter to open his drink. His own condition wasn't much better than Dare's, but he was much more used to ignoring anything and everything that had to do with it, even if he was out of practice thanks to Dare.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare forgot all about Quidditch when Michael leaned back. That motion, small as it might have been, only served to bring Michael's upper body into better view, and Dare found himself admiring that shirt again. And maybe mentally stripping it off. He caught himself partway through a scenario and his gaze jerked away, settling on that second water. He picked it up and cracked the top, then set himself to taking a long drink.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael finished his own first drink and finally let his eyes come up and look around the club. "I've missed coming here," he commented, trying only to keep his mind off of Dare and on a safer subject. He rather liked the idea of going home to enjoy being able to be comfortable again, but just the fact that conversation still seemed awkward said that it wouldn't be the best idea.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare finally lowered his water bottle then, and his gaze sought Michael's from behind his fringe. "Me too," he said, only just loud enough to be audible. He needed this, in fact he had needed this, and more than he'd realized. They couldn't go home yet, not when he still had so much tension bottled up inside. He felt crazy, he felt... he felt like thinking of dancing wasn't doing much for his condition. Dare found himself keeping Michael's drink in his periphery just so he could watch the next time he took a drink.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael fell silent and took another drink from his bottle. It was good to be out of the house, especially since the only places he had been in months was school and home. He had barely even been in Hogsmeade or out of house other than when he walked Elouai. He tried to keep his eyes from Dare, not because he didn't want to look, but because he knew that it would be much more beneficial to look away from him.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Just watching Michael was making the ache worse, but part of Dare wanted to keep watching no matter how bad it got. It was a force of great will to drag his gaze away from the part of Michael's lips and the way his throat moved, but somehow he managed it. He pulled a too-sharp breath and looked off down the bar, trying to remember what it was he'd been trying to think about before. He cleared his throat lightly, but couldn't seem to speak after and ended up pulling at his lip ring with his teeth to distract him.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael glanced at Dare, but he didn't let himself look for long. He was getting better himself, and he didn't need anything to throw him back to where he had been a few minutes before. He shifted on his feet and put his free hand in his pocket. He didn't remember it being so bad! Of course, back when he had had to ignore it, he had never known what it was like to not have to, now that he knew what he was missing out on and that he and Dare could just go home and fix everything it was harder.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Eventually Dare set down his water, giving up on it as a lost cause. The temptation to pour the chilled water over himself was almost as overpowering as the desire to wrap himself around Michael and kiss him now. He couldn't think of anything to talk about to break the ice, either. He'd been trapped in the house for a while, and upon release had still been on a very short leash and allowed little to no deviation from his routine. Of course, every time the temptation coursed through him again, he told himself he was glad for the inability to get hold of another Quibbler.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael looked up at Dare when he set his water down and tilted his head. "Are you okay?" he asked. It occurred to him that it probably wasn't the most appropriate question, but he also knew that they had been out on the floor for a while and that they needed the water and the break for more reasons than one.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare looked back at Michael almost guiltily, then nodded as he glanced away again. "I'm just..." He paused, trying to think of an excuse and failing miserably. "You look real good," he said. His eyes found Michael's, then dropped to his lips without even thinking about it. He jerked them up again, then looked away. During those weeks when they'd touched so little, Dare had focused on his desire to be with Michael. He'd still wanted him, but he'd been so miserable that he'd been able to control himself. Now that he knew Michael wanted him too, he couldn't stop thinking about it.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael laughed lightly and shook his head before looking up at Dare. "Only because of you," he said. "Underneath this I look horrible." He wouldn't even pretend to think he looked good without Dare's work on his face. His eyes dropped then and he swirled his water in its bottle. He looked at Dare through his hair without picking up his head, thinking that, of the two of them, Dare looked the best.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare blinked at Michael's assertion, but that was all the pause there was before he leaned forward, bracing his hands on the counter at Michael's sides. "You already looked good," Dare said, lightly nudging aside Michael's hair to look at him. "You look good even when my eyes are closed." He proved his point by closing his eyes lightly and skating the bridge of his nose and his lips against Michael's cheek and jaw. Makeup didn't matter at all when they were like this.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael smiled and closed his eyes at the light touch and the words. He had a passing thought that Dare would tell him that no matter how he truly looked, that other people wouldn't have the same thought, though he didn't let it pass his lips. "You look better," he insisted, leaning into Dare's light touch.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

"Mhm," Dare hummed absently, not really registering the compliment. He'd put more work into looking this good than Michael would probably ever know, but he wasn't interested in how he looked. He was interested in the taste of Michael's skin just below the edge of his jaw and just how close he could push this before it got to be too much again. His mind had apparently chosen its track and refused to be derailed.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael inhaled slowly and let it out in a low, contented sigh. He couldn't very well push Dare away when he was doing something Michael wanted so very badly. His hand came from his pocket to rest lightly on Dare's hip as he tilted his head in encouragement. He wanted the contact, even if they were in the middle of the club where people could see. They could always stop again, couldn't they?