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Post by Dare Blackwood-Hardt on May 12, 2012 13:15:27 GMT -5
Dare's anger had faded over the past few days, leaving him numb, but functioning. He refused to give that homophobic bastard at the Leaky Cauldron his money, and so he'd been staying in his office, visiting the twins during his free period, when Michael wasn't home, and visiting again after his last class of the day, leaving before Michael's ended. Elouai wanted to come with him, but his office was no place for a high-energy dog, so she remained at home.
He wouldn't be in Diagon Alley at all, if not for an owl he'd received from Rhys on Sunday, asking why he'd never shown up the day before. The truth was that he'd been suffering a horrible hangover and had forgotten entirely, so here he was, tired, stressed, but well-groomed, to apologize for ditching a trip to the shelter.
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Post by Rhys Moreau on May 12, 2012 13:31:14 GMT -5
Rhys didn't mind Dare not coming, but without prior notice he had no idea whether something was seriously wrong. "Hey," he said when Dare came in. "Some of the kids asked about you Saturday." When Dare hadn't shown up he had gone on without him. He had gotten so used to Dare being with him, and so had the rest, that the man's absence had not gone unnoticed.
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Post by Dare Blackwood-Hardt on May 12, 2012 13:36:20 GMT -5
"Yeah, sorry," Dare said, reaching up to rub at the back of his neck. "The sh~ hit the fan Friday night, and I was passed out at Keith's until Saturday afternoon." He knew that didn't excuse him from having been a complete flake, but he hadn't given the shelter a moment's thought with everything else going on. He might not have thought about it during the week either, if not for Rhys's letter.
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Post by Rhys Moreau on May 12, 2012 13:38:19 GMT -5
"Yeah? What happened?" Rhys opened up the cooler that held huge tubs of ice cream. "Here, I'll dip you some out, free of charge." He couldn't go handing out ice cream whenever he felt like it, but he had the feeling a little bit of childhood would help Dare enough that the loss of a couple of pounds didn't matter.
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Post by Dare Blackwood-Hardt on May 12, 2012 14:03:02 GMT -5
Dare's lips quirked at the offer, and though he shook his head, after a moment he went over to pick a flavor. "I gave Michael that letter," he said. "The one I showed you at the Bloody Mary. And I told him..." He gestured to one cloth-covered arm. "Anyway, he went all how could I not notice on me, and we got into a fight because he never notices.
"Anyway, he told me to go see a Dom before we got into it. I told him this wasn't all about sex. I know that's what I've been complaining about... So I walked out. I went out with Keith and stayed out, and when Michael caught up with me, we said we'd start over." Which, so far, meant they hadn't met yet, he supposed. He tapped the glass lightly as he pointed out a pumpkin sorbet.
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Post by Rhys Moreau on May 12, 2012 14:17:18 GMT -5
"That's harsh," Rhys said. He reached out and flipped a switch that started a waffle cone maker to working. A dab of batter and a flip of the machine and it was started. "Do you need somewhere to stay?" They had a spare bedroom and it wouldn't take much to get it ready if Dare needed to take advantage of it. Rhys had no idea how big the school was.
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Post by Dare Blackwood-Hardt on May 12, 2012 14:33:18 GMT -5
Dare blinked and looked up at Rhys. "Maybe," he said. He wouldn't jump on the offer, on the chance that it had been made with the expectation that he'd turn it down, but it sounded infinitely better than transfiguring his desk into a cot and back every day. "If I was, would a dog be too much to ask?" Elouai was his, and he missed her, dammit.
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Post by Rhys Moreau on May 12, 2012 14:39:50 GMT -5
"Nah," Rhys said. "Considering how much Matthew fell in love with Elouai, I don't think he'd mind. I probably shouldn't be offering since I don't officially live here yet, but I'm here 90% of the time, anyway, and I doubt he'd mind." It might as well have been his apartment. "We don't have a bed in there but he's been talking to his parents about getting some of his old furniture moved in."
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Post by Dare Blackwood-Hardt on May 12, 2012 14:47:40 GMT -5
"That'd be awesome," Dare said, relief washing through him. "I can get a bed from home, if it'll be easier. Elouai's house-trained and everything." She was used to just being able to go out, but he was sure he could get her used to asking at the door.
"I don't know how long it'll be," he said, giving fair warning. He didn't even want to think about it, but it could be months, or he could end up having to get his own place at the school. Work would be hell if he and Michael split up.
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Post by Rhys Moreau on May 12, 2012 15:07:19 GMT -5
"Yeah, that's fine. I'll tell Matthew and you can move in ASAP, I guess." Rhys finished up the treat by putting the scooped ice cream in the still warm cone and handed it over to Dare before making his own. "He's out getting some stuff right now. I swear, there's all kinds of stuff he finds to do, you know?" He shook his head and closed the cooler, moving around the counter to join Dare with his own cup of ice cream, vanilla streaked with fudge and chocolate. "So do you need to talk?"
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Post by Dare Blackwood-Hardt on May 12, 2012 15:13:09 GMT -5
"I'm all talked out," Dare said, finding a seat with Rhys. "And oh my God, this is awesome." Cold ice cream with a warm, light, crisp cone had just the effect on his mood that Rhys had hoped for. Maybe he'd talk, after all. "So I'm ready to meet that Dom, and I'll bring something to the shelter this weekend to make it up to the kids." He didn't know what, but maybe he'd make something for them.
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Post by Rhys Moreau on May 12, 2012 15:34:10 GMT -5
"I'm sure they'll be happy just seeing you again," Rhys said. "So you want me to give him a call? I need to talk to Matthew to see if he wants to do another visit or give it a shot himself..." The last was almost an afterthought, to burn it into his mind. He gestured toward Dare's cone. "Glad you like that, too, the magical people that come in like seeing me fold them." It was likely as much a novelty to them as it would be for him to see someone doing it with a wand.
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Post by Dare Blackwood-Hardt on May 12, 2012 15:44:57 GMT -5
Dare gave a smile and a nod over his cone. "That was pretty cool," he said. "And yeah, if you could call the guy, that'd be great. That means like, with a phone, right? One of those things you put on your ear and talk at?" He didn't know a thing about phone numbers, but he'd heard the whole call and ring and phone thing enough times to pick up on it.
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Post by Rhys Moreau on May 12, 2012 19:38:49 GMT -5
"Yeah," Rhys said. He shifted in his chair to pull out his cell phone and dropped it on the table. "I could call him now, if you really wanted, but considering someone could come in..." He shrugged. Some magical people seemed just as interested in the little pieces of technology he had, like the waffle cone maker, and would crowd around.
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Post by Dare Blackwood-Hardt on May 12, 2012 19:55:05 GMT -5
"What's that?" Dare asked, gesturing to the little chunk of plastic. It looked nothing like the odd, two-pieces-and-a-pig's-tail-cord thing he'd seen in Muggle Studies, or the no-cord one he'd seen in a friend's house once in California. It was distracting enough for him to forget about calling the Dom just yet.
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