A Place to Stay (Eros/Michael)

[Eros d'Avonderre]

Eros inclined his head, though that news set his mind working. Mano had said that Markise fancied Michael's halfblood, hadn't he? So why was the boy being so helpful? He hadn't seemed particularly devious, so perhaps he was simply that sweet. But those thoughts were more appropriate for a different time. "Markise is trustworthy, then?" he asked, more to get Michael talking about something than anything else. Although, and it went back to thoughts he had only just set aside, trustworthiness was a must for anything beyond mere acquaintance or connection.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael nodded without really thinking about it, but Markise was trustworthy. Markise had to be trustworthy, Michael wouldn't believe anything else. "He's been there before for us," he said, though it just brought another wave of memories. If this was what it was going to be like, he didn't know how he would be able to cope. "Besides, I don't have many choices." All of his close friends had left, but he had had Dare and so it had never really hit him except for when Storm had shown up. The sudden knowledge just added another blow.

[Eros d'Avonderre]

"Lovely to hear," Eros said dryly, though in truth he wasn't offended. Michael's social skills were lacking enough, and he supposed that losing one's significant other would do little to improve them. Losing. It didn't seem an appropriate term, if the halfblood had simply left. Michael doted on the boy.

"Since you have so few choices," Eros resumed after a moment, "I'll be certain to pull my weight. Or I'll have Orenda do it," he teased lightly. He would do whatever was in his power, but he had a sense of humor about himself, whether Michael was likely to appreciate it or not. Likely not.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael nodded and took another drink. He would take whoever he could get. "It's just so weird," he said, shaking his head. He should be with Dare right now, not miserable and drinking wine with Eros. "Markise said I should talk to him, but I don't know where to find him, Markise said he hasn't been in class."

[Eros d'Avonderre]

One brow arched infinitesimally as Eros watched Michael over his own wine. "Is he so afraid of retribution?" he asked. His nostrils flared slightly at the thought. "Rightly so," he added softly. He didn't know Dare nearly well enough to speculate on noble reasons for having left Michael, and so he could only think of it as a crime against one of his friends. A crime against a society that had let him in. In some places. Conditionally.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael shook his head, unsure why Dare would be gone. He went silent, thinking and trying to make sense of it. He wasn't any more successful than he had been the past couple of days without Dare. It would be nice if he could go back in time and just fix everything, that he could go back and find out where things had messed up so that he could fix it.

[Eros d'Avonderre]

Eros wouldn't hint about retribution again. An eye for an eye seemed perfectly reasonable, and if Michael had no objections, then it was as good as a yes. He intended to invite Mano over to discuss things the moment that Michael retired into the guest room. Maybe he'd invite Markise as well, and they could make a somewhat pleasant gathering of it.

"Orenda," he called after a moment, the name immediately followed by the pop of his house-elf's reappearance. "A fresh bottle of wine, s'il te plait, and refill Michael's glass, he needs relaxation and a lengthy sleep." His violet eyes said a bit more. Be sure he sleeps well.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael doubted he would get relaxation and a lengthy sleep any time soon. He shifted on the couch and settled in again. He didn't even consider turning down the refilling of his glass. Having another glass or two sounded perfectly fine to him right now. It was probably bad of him to think that, but he wasn't thinking like that right now. He decided not to comment on how hard it would be to actually sleep.

[Eros d'Avonderre]

It wouldn't be nearly as difficult as Michael thought to fall asleep, assuming he took in enough of the sleeping potion that fresh glass contained. It was perfectly obvious that Michael had been letting himself go, and considering how much he'd let himself go over the past few years to begin with, there really wasn't much left.

Eros had liked the halfblood well enough, but he was beginning to wonder if the boy hadn't had ulterior motives in attaching himself to the dubious Hardt heir. A fine actor, the boy was, if his goal had been no more than a round in society. With that suspicion in mind, and with the hopes that Michael would soon become drowsy enough to speak, Eros began questioning in earnest now. Dishonest, perhaps, but necessary.

"Michael, do tell me, had the boy been acting strangely? Would you have noticed if he had?" Hadn't the halfblood had something to do with the Hogwarts drama club? Suspicious.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael nodded, "I always know." It had been easy to know when something was wrong. "But the more I think..." The more he thought about it, the more he was able to find. It was so easy to morph and change things, and his mind was so willing to do so, to make it seem like there had been signs, whether they were actually there or not.

[Eros d'Avonderre]

"But?" Eros repeated. "Has his eye wandered before? Surely in a year there must have been a slip-up or two." There was only so much one could hide while living with one's partner, surely. Had Michael known that the boy had issues with monogamy? But then, hadn't the boy asked Michael? Eros wished that Michael would speak more freely, but there was only so much that wine and potions could do. He wouldn't stoop to Veritaserum, though it was highly tempting.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael shook his head and looked up at Eros. "No, never." Never for either of them. "I don't know, just...I've been thinking about it, and I know he mentioned Lalita before, and I keep thinking I remember things," he said, though it probably made no sense to Eros. He couldn't tell what was true memory anymore. How did he know that he just hadn't seen it before, and that he just needed to have this happen to remember clues?

[Eros d'Avonderre]

"If you think you remember, then dismiss it, Michael. Not five minutes ago, you told me that you always know, is that correct?" And unless the halfblood was a terrible cheater, thereby likely negating the skilled actor theory, why would he mention a potential conquest at all? Michael had decent instincts, when he bothered to use them. Eros would not stick himself to one theory if there wasn't enough evidence to support it.

"So the boy has never, to your knowledge, cheated, and yet on a Sickle, to all appearances, he leaves for a relatively unknown girl. It sounds rather strange to me," Eros said, to himself more than Michael.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Eros was asking Michael to think logically, and that was something he hadn't even been able to do when Dare had first showed up, much less now after two nights practically without sleep. He shook his head and huddled in a little more. He just wanted Dare back! He wanted it all to go away and for everything to go back to normal. "Why would he just leave, then, if it wasn't for her?" he asked finally.

[Eros d'Avonderre]

"I haven't a clue," Eros said, then paused to sip his wine as he thought. What reason could there be? He could see Michael retreating, not that doing so was much of a feat, and it seemed that he would get few, if any, more answers. He didn't know the halfblood well enough to guess. He blinked and looked at Michael. "Markise, you say he's been of some assistance before, is that right?" He'd been at the bachelor party and the partnership ceremony, that much Eros was certain of. "Would you say he knows the boy well?" Eros refused to give the halfblood the respect of using his name, and despite Michael's misery, he doubted calling him the halfblood would be appreciated.