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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on Jun 9, 2013 16:37:27 GMT -5
"I didn't get my wand that young," Michael said, thinking back. He might have been nine or ten. He opted not to comment on Skylar's father's parenting style. "I wish I'd had it sooner, but they, well, mostly my mother, wanted me to focus on other things. Piano, dancing, that kind of thing." Those lessons hadn't stopped when he had gotten his wand, but the focus shifted.
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Post by Skylar Constantine on Jun 9, 2013 16:46:24 GMT -5
"They couldn't get me to dance," Skylar said. "Piano was easy, but they just wanted me to be able to play a few songs. It was the wandwork they wanted, and to make sure I knew who to aim it at." He'd done well with both things, and he'd picked up dancing eventually. Actually being interested in holding a girl had made a huge difference.
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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on Jun 9, 2013 16:57:53 GMT -5
"Part of being on top was being able to do everything well," Michael said. "Dancing, mingling, making connections, lying." He used to be so good at lying. He'd lost it at some point, or maybe he just couldn't lie properly to the people he most often talked to, like Dare or Eros. Maybe he'd just stopped caring about lying.
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Post by Skylar Constantine on Jun 9, 2013 17:25:47 GMT -5
"Ah, the lying, there's something I don't miss," Skylar said. "It's a skill you need for that kind of thing, but it's a pain in the arse when you actually want a straight answer." He could do it too, but he hadn't bothered unless it would get him into more trouble than he'd wanted. "Did yours make you learn Occlumency?"
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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on Jun 9, 2013 17:47:05 GMT -5
Michael shook his head. "No, I'm sure my father would have tried if I hadn't left when I did, though," he said. It wasn't something he'd really thought about, but it wouldn't have surprised him. It was a good skill to know, even if it was pretty rarely of any actual use. His eyebrows creased briefly at Skylar. "Did yours?"
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Post by Skylar Constantine on Jun 9, 2013 17:56:27 GMT -5
Skylar nodded. "Yeah, I started getting lessons from my mother when I was eleven. They weren't sending me off to school, but I was old enough to keep a secret so they taught me how to keep it right. She threw in Legilimency when I was sixteen, but I really only used it during runs and a couple special occasions." Occlumency had been a lot more important than Legilimency, but his mother had known both, so she'd taught him.
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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on Jun 9, 2013 19:47:18 GMT -5
"I guess my father wasn't too worried about someone looking into my mind," Michael said. Eleven was very young to start, but he couldn't judge when he'd been pushed into so much younger. "I bet Legilimency was useful on runs." Though he shouldn't, he could imagine how useful it could be, even if magical mind manipulation had rarely been his thing past memory charms.
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Post by Skylar Constantine on Jun 9, 2013 21:31:30 GMT -5
"That first night we went out, that was how I got her to scream so much," Skylar said. He'd been showing off. He'd heard about Michael more than once and wanted to make an impression right back, maybe let some of that power and influence rub off on him.
Skylar didn't go on that time. Something about what he'd said pricked at the back of his neck. Something wanted remembered, and he didn't feel like remembering it, not without a drink in his hand.
"You like whiskey?" he asked. "It's American, but it's not bad."
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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on Jun 9, 2013 21:34:48 GMT -5
"Honestly, I don't have a lot of experience with liquor," Michael said. What experience he did have was premixed drinks whose recipes he didn't quite know. He wasn't sure if he liked the fact that he knew exactly what time Skylar was talking about. He'd always liked the ones who screamed. "I think I wouldn't mind learning, though."
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Post by Skylar Constantine on Jun 9, 2013 21:48:03 GMT -5
Skylar headed into the kitchen and pulled open one of his boxes. A quick duplicating spell so he'd have matching glasses and a moment's searching, and he had what he needed.
"There's a table in here," he said. He poured, then slumped back into one of the chairs.
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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on Jun 9, 2013 21:57:28 GMT -5
Michael sat and reached for the squat glass, swirling it absently before he raised it with a cheers and chanced a sip. Well, the sip was a little more than a sip, enough to send him coughing a couple of times at the unfamiliar burn. It turned into a chuckle and he shook his head at himself. "I told you I'm not used to this," he said, shaking his head again. And no, his eyes weren't watering in the slightest.
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Post by Skylar Constantine on Jun 9, 2013 22:15:53 GMT -5
Skylar gave an easy laugh. "Michael-f~ing-Hardt, a lightweight," he chuckled. He arched one dark brow as he lifted his own glass and tossed back its contents. "Need some help there?" He grinned knowingly as he poured himself a little more.
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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on Jun 9, 2013 22:21:23 GMT -5
"I always drank wine," Michael said, though he was smiling. "Just give me a minute." He liked wine, as long as it wasn't a dry wine, it had actual flavor. Whiskey's flavor, apparently, was burning. "Is it easier to do it all at once?" He eyed the glass uncertainly and took another sip now that he was prepared for the results.
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Post by Skylar Constantine on Jun 9, 2013 22:46:31 GMT -5
Skylar chuckled at the question. "I'd call you a wuss, but you're a guest," he teased. He intended to take his time now that the tension had passed, but he knew it would come again. They touched down on things now and then, and every time it seemed like a little more came out.
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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on Jun 9, 2013 22:54:01 GMT -5
"Now, I've done a fair share of drinking," Michael said after another sip. He couldn't say that it got better the more he drank. "Dare and I had a bachelor party, we woke up the next morning handcuffed together laying in the living room floor unable to remember exactly how we'd gotten there." It just hadn't been straight liquor.
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