Another Old Friend (Eros/Michael)

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare saw Michael cleaning up, and like a dog who sees its leash at the door, eagerness swept in. He wasn't sure what time Michael normally closed, but since he'd only gotten here a few minutes ago, he jumped on the idea that Michael was closing to spend time with him, that they could go upstairs together and enjoy the opportunity Dru had inadvertently given. It took him a moment for Michael's words to sink in. "That works in his favor," he said, then, "Where are the pictures?" The mention of Emilian had reminded him.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

"Um..." Michael hummed as he dug around under the books he had just put in to find the envelope of pictures tucked deep into his bag. "Here," he said as he pulled it out and handed it to Dare. "The first one's kind of...well..." Heat raced up his neck and he quickly turned his attention back to putting the last of his supplies in his bag. Dare would see the picture of himself when he pulled out the stack.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Kind of...well... That could mean anything from a kiss to... Dare stopped as his eyes caught on the top of the stack of pictures he'd just pulled out. "Oh my f~ing God." The back of his neck heated too, and he moved to flip to the next picture, flipping through them all as fast as he could. He muttered under his breath, vague threats and empty threats both, all against Emilian. Then he got to a picture that stopped both his muttering and his heart.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael finished putting everything in his bag as he vaguely registered the low sounds coming from Dare. But when he snapped his bag shut he realized that Dare had stopped speaking. He slung the bag over his head and turned to look at Dare. "What is it?" he asked, coming over to see what had stopped Dare's muttering and the movement of his hands.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare lifted his head, the look on his face something between horror and guilt. It took him a moment to be able to speak. "I'm keeping this one," he replied. "And then I'm murdering Emilian in his sleep." That was probably the only time he'd get away with it. At the moment, he was dead serious. It was a picture of him and Michael twined together, kissing and touching. Nude. He hadn't even known this picture existed. He'd always tried to push the camera onto the floor or cover it up when it went past a kiss.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael's eyes widened when he saw the picture. Yes, there had been other revealing pictures, full pictures of Dare and some of himself, though he was always half-clothed when his was taken. But this, this was more than any of them. He didn't remember this being taken, it was so intimate! And Eros, at the very least, had looked at it! Michael's lips parted as he stared in shock.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare didn't like the uncomfortable mixture of feelings this picture was bringing him. There was panic, horror, furious anger, but God, it was hot. It was before everything had started to crumble in January. Dare let out a sharp breath, then handed the other pictures aside to Michael so he could fumble with his wallet. He had a fun picture of Michael in there, and a rather suggestive one that was well=hidden. He moved to put this one with that. He could look at it another time when he wasn't so worked up.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael was numb when the stack of pictures was handed to him and he only faintly registered what Dare was doing with the picture. If he had had the stack, the picture would have ended up well hidden somewhere deep in a drawer or sketchbook. It wouldn't have gone in his pocket. But he was distracted from saying anything by the next picture in the stack, one of him on top before they switched positions, unlike the other, he did remember this one.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

When Dare had the picture well-hidden on his person where he could be assured it wouldn't fall into the wrong hands again, he looked over at Michael, then down to the picture in his hands. Both brows rose. "That's my birthday, isn't it?" he asked. After the first time they'd gone to Popstarz. He'd... he'd played with Michael's hand and Michael had mauled him, but he hadn't been able to initiate going farther. He didn't remember kicking the camera to the floor, but one of them must have.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael nodded, still numb, "Yes." Everything had been so perfect that day! Everything had gone right, it had been amazing. Michael remembered all of it in striking detail. He was hypnotized by the continual loop of the miniature them in the picture. Even if he couldn't stand the thought of others having seen the pictures, he couldn't bring himself to wish they hadn't been taken.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare looked up from the picture to Michael, and the look on Michael's face tempered the fury, replacing it with heartache at the longing he saw. He slid one hand against Michael's lower back, letting it rest against his hip. It reminded him how much weight Michael had lost, especially seeing him that healthy, but he had no desire to pull away. "Do you want to keep that one?" he asked. They still had a nice stack in one of the side tables in the bedroom, but they'd each claimed pictures for themselves before.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Had Michael not been so taken by looking at the picture, he probably would have shied away from the touch on his hip that gave away so much, but as it was he only nodded in answer to Dare's question. He would tuck it away somewhere safe where he could pull it out when he needed to. He still had the one picture of them in his pocket, and it was with him every day, and even though it was a little ragged, it was still holding up well enough.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

"Do you want to go upstairs?" Dare asked softly. He didn't know how long they'd been standing here, but he wanted to go relax together at least a little with the extra time they had. He'd have time to cook a real dinner again instead of throwing something together, and maybe they could put aside where the pictures had come from and just enjoy them.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael broke his eyes from the picture to look up at Dare, then he nodded. He tucked the picture away in his bag to be put up when he had time, and then put the rest of the pictures back in the envelope. He had the faint thought that they should probably put the rest of the pictures they had upstairs in it, as well, it would be good to have them in one thing.

magikal05.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=hardtabode&thread=4188