Pic-a-nic Basket (closed)

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

"Sometimes that's the best thing to do," Dare assured Matthew. "For Michael, it was the only thing I could do sometimes. He didn't get suicidal or anything, but..." He shook his head. He couldn't go into Michael's self-hate. It didn't feel right. Neither of them knew Matthew that well. "Just stick through it. Keep holding on, even when it's hopeless. That's all anyone can do." He didn't have a clue what Rhys had been through. Maybe he was talking about himself, maybe about Michael, maybe about Trent. He didn't even know anymore.

[Matthew Moreau]

"Yeah, I just worry sometimes that something'll happen and I won't be able to help him," Matthew said. With all that Rhys had gone through, was it even possible that it wouldn't bother him again? "Too bad there's no spell to fix things, you know?" A corner of his mouth curved up in a small attempt at a smile.

[Rhys Moreau]

"Hey, what're you two over here whispering about?" Rhys asked, his expression easy and his voice lightly teasing the pair. "Is Keith okay?" The man was acting strangely, to say the least, and Matthew and Dare talking off to the side made it more obvious.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare gave Rhys an almost guilty look. It was bad enough to be talking about Keith as obviously as he was, and bringing someone else into it with Keith sitting nearby wasn't going to help the man relax. "That guy Keith brought to the club?" he said, "threatened to kill himself in front of him. So Keith is blowing him off. And the guy he wants to be with is married." He shrugged. "I don't think I helped."

[Matthew Moreau]

Matthew uncrossed his arms and slipped one around Rhys' waist. A soft I love you inspired by the conversation before Rhys had come over slipped out before he spoke. "I don't think I'd say Keith is blowing the guy off, Keith just isn't exactly known for being a therapist," he said. "I'm going to go back over there." A light squeeze to Rhys' waist and he headed off.

[Rhys Moreau]

Rhys looked after Matthew, unsure what to make of the seemingly out of place I love you. "I don't know Keith well enough to say much," he said, then switched to his normal voice and gestured back at the twins. "I was trying to get Matthew used to kids, think it's going to be a long battle."

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare put on a smile for the change of subject, but he wasn't feeling it. It was hard not to think about the problems he saw everywhere and think about how he could try to help, and yet it was so much easier setting himself to help other people instead of trying to figure out what was wrong with him.

"I can't help you there," he said, then a bit louder, for Matthew, "They're teething, so watch your fingers. Had to have one reattached the other day." Nonsense, of course. Baby teeth hurt, but they weren't capable of lopping off fingers.

[Matthew Moreau]

Matthew was certain that the last bit was a tease, but he didn't like the idea of babies gnawing on his fingers. He glared over at Dare, then focused on keeping his fingers properly away from Lestat's mouth. "You don't want my fingers there, anyway, you don't know where they've been," he called back.

[Rhys Moreau]

"They're clean," Rhys assured Dare, even if he doubted that Dare thought otherwise. "Are your and Michael's parents involved with the twins?" It was something that he couldn't help thinking of when he considered a future family. Whether or not it was with Matthew, any children he had would have no family on his side.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

"Uh," Dare stammered, shifting his weight. He reached up to rub at the back of his neck and glanced off into the park. "They try to be," he answered. "Michael's mother visited once. No, that was before she knew he was pregnant..." He stopped and tried to think back. "Well, they've sent a lot of presents. That's a huge step from when we told them."

[Rhys Moreau]

"Yeah? They didn't like the idea?" Rhys asked. It was simpler to not think about a pregnant Michael. It was too far out of his comprehension. Had their parents been able to understand and accept? Their parents were involved, though, even if it was in a small way, and that meant a lot.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

"Not really," Dare admitted. "Michael's mom wanted grandkids, she'd been bugging him about it, but she didn't like the way we did it. My dad..." He shrugged. His dad was a piece of work, and he didn't think there was any way to simplify the mess of his family tree. "He's taking it the best he can. I guess he decided he'd rather put up with my sh~ than never see me again."

[Rhys Moreau]

Rhys nodded, but dropped into silence. He hadn't seen his parents since the day he turned eighteen. Most of the time he could go long lengths of time without thinking about them, but sometimes it hit him how abnormal it was. "How did your dad act about you and Michael in the beginning?"

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

"Oh, man," Dare said, shifting his weight again. "He sent me an owl saying I'd messed everything up for him. He came out here to patch things up with his family or something, and since my brother's got this condition... I was the only hope he had. It was bad. It was a phase, you know, and I was ruining my life. I don't know what my brother wrote back to him, but at Christmas I got another owl inviting me to come home, and I brought Michael."

[Rhys Moreau]

"How did that go?" Rhys asked. He had met Matthew's parents multiple times over the past months and could vividly remember the first time. He knew, likely better than most, that he had been incredibly lucky finding someone with such accepting parents, even if Matthew's father had been near invisible behind a newspaper throughout the visit.