Have Your Forever, He Said (Dare/Emilian)

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael was keeping his promise and not saying a word about having kids, but Dare could feel the tension of the unspoken. Michael still wanted it, and the stress was there, whether either of them would admit it or not. But Dare wasn't budging.

It was impossible not to think about, and his mind turned it over and over, trying to see it from Michael's point of view. Michael wanted something to teach. Why not get another dog? Michael felt like it was time. Well, maybe it was time for Michael, there was no telling, but it wasn't time for him. He'd never felt the difference in age between them nearly as much as he felt it now.

The errands that had brought Dare to Hogsmeade were nearly forgotten. Somehow he'd managed to get them done, but he was hardly aware of it. It was all automatic.

He just didn't get it. Kids weren't something you could pass off to someone else to raise while you did whatever you wanted. Dare didn't want that for his hypothetical distant-future kids. Kids would change everything forever.

[Emilian Sota]

Any other time Emilian would have ignored Dare, or maybe run into him and then ignored him. Right now, however, seemed like the perfect time to fall into step beside him. "So how's the wonderful married life going?" he asked. Yes, he had gotten that stupid not-invitation to their year anniversary celebration, and how could he have missed that both of them were teaching at the school? Ugh, the two were so disgustingly attached that they had to work together.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare stopped in his tracks, completely thrown. Not only had he not heard from Emilian in over a year, but their parting words had been anything but friendly.

Fine, go and make it, come back in a year to rub it in my face for all I care. I know you two will enjoy it, Emilian had said.

I'll be sure to pass that on to Michael.

Dare had rubbed it in with the delicious aroma of spite clinging to that late owl. He forced as genuine a smile as he could as he looked at Emilian, though his eyes were dark. He'd far prefer to punch him than talk to him, but he'd play along.

"Better than I imagined," he said. It was harder than he'd imagined, but so much better in so many ways. The hard times they'd gone through paled next to the good times, and his earlier thoughts, the stress over Michael's desire to procreate, were set aside. He bit his tongue on rubbing it in further with a description of how they'd spent their weekend and left it at that. If Emilian wanted to talk so damned badly, he could do the work.

[Emilian Sota]

"Really, now," Emilian said, putting his hands in his pockets and looking out over the street in front of them while nodding. "And you two are professors now, who would have imagined that? Don't get enough of each other at home? Or do you just want to take care of other people's brats?" Not that he really thought the Blackwood-Hardts would ever have the means of having a child.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare's eyes narrowed slightly, both at the sling, and at how close to home it hit. Then his glare faded and his lips curved into a broad smile. "We have so much love between us we needed to share it," he said, in a syrupy voice. "And I can never get enough of Michael. It gets better every day." Was that what he wanted to hear? What he expected?

[Emilian Sota]

Emilian sniffed and glanced off to his open side. "So he got over whatever the hell it was I did to him, then," he said. Why was he talking to Dare? Because you're bored out of your mind. He hadn't even been in any kind of contact with Michael in well over a year, it was probably closer to two years, now that he thought about it. He brought his eyes back over to Dare.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare hid his surprise that Emilian hadn't sworn and walked off or said something rude. This was actually painfully polite for him. "Yeah, he got over it. With therapy, good friends, and me." Emilian was no good for Michael, or for anyone. Yes, Dare remembered that Emilian had done at least one thing right in their years of friendship, for lack of a better word, but that didn't fade his grudge a bit.

[Emilian Sota]

Emilian rolled his eyes. "Don't get too cocky," he said. "If he had to use you, friends, and therapy." That was a heck of a combination, Michael must have been really screwed up. "You weren't good enough to fix it yourself." He shook his head and a corner of his mouth turned up in a smirk. At least Dare hadn't been competent enough to do it on his own.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare glared again. That's none of your f~ing business! he wanted to growl. He forced himself to breathe. "I'm so glad there's more to us than sex," he said. "Otherwise that might sting." There was a hell of a lot more to it than just getting Michael to put out. He could've done that if he'd been a manipulative bastard, but he loved Michael.

"I can be as cocky as I want. We were together less than a month after we met. And you were friends how many years?" Yes, it was petty, but it was satisfying.

[Emilian Sota]

Emilian's eyes turned cold at that. Sure it had been a while, but it still stung to think of. Or maybe it just stung more when he had been spending so much time thinking about all the delicious new faces in the town that he had been missing out on. He probably should have felt a little worse about that than he did, considering he was still with Adara, but it was so hard. "I would almost rather drop him than go through a year long dry spell."

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

"Almost," Dare repeated. "Michael was so worth waiting for, and you don't even know the half of it." He gave a humorless chuckle and shifted on his feet, the desire to walk away almost overpowering. Why should he stand here and have his pride broken down to nothing? Why should he stand here and let himself be insulted? Only morbid curiosity kept him from leaving.

[Emilian Sota]

Emilian rolled his eyes and shifted, "I'm sure I don't." He hadn't gotten Michael, not even once, there were things he didn't know, and he had to come to terms with that. Not that he wanted to, but he hadn't had much choice now, had he? "So what now? Seems like it would be boring with nothing else to work for." It was so boring having no new goals to work towards. "Ready to move on yet?" And prove me right?

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare was visibly offended by that, and he glared at Emilian. "Marrying Michael wasn't a goal," he said. "Neither was sex. They happened because we love each other. We're working for our happiness. We're happy. Zip your pants up more often and try it." Their life wasn't static. If they got bored sometimes, they changed something, they didn't go off and find someone else. Dare's mind had the briefest flicker of when Michael thought he'd done exactly that, and his heart constricted. Now wasn't the time for doubts, he told himself.

[Emilian Sota]

Emilian smirked and gave a shrug, though he looked away from Dare. "Give it time," he said. He never would have expected to be where he was now in his own relationship, but here he was, coming up to Dare on the street. "We'll just have to wait and see how you feel in another year." If it took that long, and even if they were still fine it would be another year and another year until they finally did fall apart.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare made a low sound of disbelief. "Seriously?" he asked. "Are you going to bet me it's all going to fall apart every year for the next century or what? You've so got no f~ing idea what love is." He shook his head and shifted on his feet again. "Y'know what? I feel sorry for you. What's even the point of living without love?"