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Post by Dare Blackwood-Hardt on Mar 19, 2012 18:54:50 GMT -5
Dare stopped in front of the ice cream parlor, looking up at its new sign. Why was he so sure that any double meaning he got from it was purposeful? His lips quirked slightly and he shook his head, then looked down at the twins in their double stroller. It was really too bad that he couldn't buy them ice cream. He'd told Michael his intention and after a brief set-down involving the phrase, You've read this book, haven't you? he'd changed his mind. And he'd decided to read the book some time.
The door to the ice cream shop wasn't as wide as the tower door, so it took a bit of work getting the three of them through without pinching any stray hands, but somehow Dare managed it. He turned once they were in and started looking around to get the feel of the place.
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Post by Rhys Moreau on Mar 19, 2012 19:09:07 GMT -5
Rhys hadn't moved in yet, he wasn't quite certain he could go through with it just yet. But he was going to work in the shop and perhaps in the summer his things could find a new home. "Hey, Dare!" he said, looking up from behind the counter. His eyes lit when he saw the twins and he came out into the main area of the store to squat in front of them. "Matthew's upstairs, he's got so much crap, he's still trying to unpack it all."
The counter was across from the main door and scattered around was an odd assortment of chairs and tables with an old school desk in one corner. The corner had a small bookcase filled with various games of both muggle and wizarding origin. Rhys wanted the shop to be somewhere people could come and forget about life for just a few minutes, and though for now it was Matthew's shop, the man had given Rhys a good deal of control over the interior considering Rhys' experience with kids.
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Post by Dare Blackwood-Hardt on Mar 19, 2012 19:15:34 GMT -5
Dare watched as the twins both reached for Rhys, attempting to learn what they could in the only way they knew how. They babbled excitedly at being out, and at seeing so many new things. He was out without a cloak today, though his arm warmers were on, and his mood had lifted a bit just at the unseasonably warm weather and the sun.
"I still can't believe you guys came up here," Dare said, leaning back against a table. "You know why Matthew decided to buy the shop?" His mind returned to Markise time and again when Matthew was involved, and he hoped it didn't have anything to do with Keith. He didn't think it did, but then, he'd missed more obvious things in his life.
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Post by Rhys Moreau on Mar 19, 2012 19:25:03 GMT -5
"Well, he's just renting it right now," Rhys said. "His lease was up and he's been looking for a job, and I've been looking for a job...he wants me to move in with him but I'm just not quite ready for it yet. I mean, I never really saw him getting an ice cream shop, but he likes trying things out like this." Maybe this was Matthew finally trying to grow up and settle in.
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Post by Dare Blackwood-Hardt on Mar 19, 2012 19:28:08 GMT -5
Dare's lips curved. "Did he have anything to do with that sign outside?" Ice cream didn't make any more sense to him, but then, how many of Michael's friends would have pegged him as the type to run a pet shop? How many of his friends from SWIM would have guessed he'd go into teaching?
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Post by Rhys Moreau on Mar 19, 2012 19:40:17 GMT -5
Rhys laughed lightly and stood. "Yeah, that was him. I mean, do you really need to ask? I figured it was harmless. I'm much more of a kids person than he is, so he's going to be doing a lot of the behind the scenes stuff." He couldn't shake the feeling that Matthew had done all this with him in mind, either, a feeling he wasn't entirely comfortable with.
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Post by Dare Blackwood-Hardt on Mar 19, 2012 19:54:13 GMT -5
"Really, you like kids?" Dare asked. "I swear, most of the people I know can't stand them." His lips crooked slightly. "Left a few of our friends and Keith alone with the twins for a couple minutes and I swear they all looked ready to bolt when we came back into the room." As though to prove the point that he wasn't easy, Lestat began to squirm and reached up, waving his arms at Rhys. Dare noted that; the twins seemed to be good judges of character.
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Post by Rhys Moreau on Mar 19, 2012 20:01:00 GMT -5
Rhys smiled and pulled a chair up to get closer to the twins without squatting for the next hour. "Yeah, most guys I know don't care for kids. Just about ever since I left home I've been doing volunteer work and stuff like that, orphanages...shelters...local kids' sports groups. Even when I was still at home I'd work with the kids at the church." He shrugged it off. Of course as soon as people realized he was gay he hadn't been as accepted when it came to playing with the congregation's children.
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Post by Dare Blackwood-Hardt on Mar 19, 2012 20:06:45 GMT -5
"That's awesome," Dare said, a note of real admiration in his voice. He took a seat as well, then turned the stroller slightly to let Lestat out. He looked like he could use some bouncing to chill him out. "You worked with the church, though?" he asked. He looked at Rhys through his fringe for as long as Lestat would let him, then tossed his hair back to keep it from getting pulled.
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Post by Rhys Moreau on Mar 19, 2012 20:20:04 GMT -5
"Yeah, my dad's an Anglican preacher, mum was the secretary," Rhys said. "So yeah, I grew up in the church. Three days a week until I was 18." He reached for the chain that rarely left his neck and pulled it out from under his shirt with a thumb to reveal the cross. It wasn't a hidden part of his past, it was something the majority of his friends knew.
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Post by Dare Blackwood-Hardt on Mar 19, 2012 20:25:49 GMT -5
"Wow," Dare said. He was silent a moment, bouncing Lestat absently until his train of thought was broken by an attempt to grab his lip ring. He lifted his head a bit to keep it out of reach. "I gave up on religion a long time ago," he said, looking down at his son. "When I asked Michael to marry me, it was months we were looking for a way, and we just kept finding sh~ about same-sex marriage ruining the sanctity or something. I was pretty p.o.'d." He looked aside at Rhys again. "So what happened when you were eighteen, if you don't mind talking about it?"
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Post by Rhys Moreau on Mar 19, 2012 20:31:42 GMT -5
"Got tired of everything," Rhys said. "A lot of stuff that I actually just told Matthew about recently, so you'll have to forgive me for not going into it. I wasn't into religion for a few months after I left, and I never really got back into religion, exactly. I don't go to church or anything." He tucked the cross back into his shirt and gestured toward the other twin. "Can I?"
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Post by Dare Blackwood-Hardt on Mar 19, 2012 20:50:38 GMT -5
"Yeah, sure," Dare said. He held Lestat up with a hand under the arm and around the back as he pulled out his wand to release the seat belt. "That's Alistair, this one's Lestat." The babies perked up at hearing their names and wiggled delightedly.
"But you believe in God, right?" Dare went on. The necklace certainly implied as much, and he was inclined not to think it was a fashion statement, all things considered.
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Post by Rhys Moreau on Mar 19, 2012 20:54:17 GMT -5
"I like their names," Rhys said, smiling as he picked up Alistair. Some people in the magical community had such interesting names. He cringed momentarily as his own full name floated through his mind, though he was easily distracted by Dare's question. "Yeah, I do. I don't buy into the whole he hates gays thing. From the Bible I read it certainly sounds like he loves everyone."
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Post by Dare Blackwood-Hardt on Mar 19, 2012 21:06:21 GMT -5
Dare looked away from Rhys, thinking about that. He'd never opened a bible in his life, but at least part of him wanted to believe in everything. He'd grown up believing in a loving and benevolent God, but it had just gotten trashed so badly since the Prophet had outed them. "Did your family give you a hard time?" he asked cautiously. He'd be surprised as hell if the answer was no.
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