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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on Jun 8, 2013 20:06:09 GMT -5
"She actually came to my partnership ceremony," Michael said. "I think she's just happy I don't treat her the way I did when my father was alive and I was still a member. I wasn't exactly a model son." He didn't like thinking of how he had treated her and thought of her in the past. He'd been an ungrateful, angry little thing and at least part of it had been taken out on her.
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Post by Skylar Constantine on Jun 8, 2013 20:13:10 GMT -5
"No kidding," Skylar said. Justine Hardt at a wedding thing for a gay son. He'd completely tuned out Ember's babbling as background noise, and tried to imagine his own mother doing something like that. He couldn't, though. She'd been on his father's side about Charlotte and Ember. She was probably glad he was out of her hair. He'd bet she'd remarried and tried to have another kid, as much as he hated to think of it. "Teenagers are gits, it's in the blood." And gits was a lot better than dumbasss.
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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on Jun 8, 2013 20:22:05 GMT -5
"Well, thankfully we have a decade to prepare for our own children turning against us," Michael said. Now that was a surreal thought and, for the first time in a long time, he felt very young to have children of his own. At least it was highly unlikely the twins would manage to find their way into the camp of the next great dark wizard.
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Post by Skylar Constantine on Jun 8, 2013 20:27:21 GMT -5
"Ember's not going to do that," Skylar said. "You love your daddy, don't you, Ember?" Daaaaddyyyyy! She started patting his hair rhythmically. "She's a daddy's girl, and she'll always be one," he said, damn sure of it. Boys were nothing but trouble, he knew that one personally.
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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on Jun 8, 2013 20:39:35 GMT -5
A few moments later they were inside and Michael was pointing out important hallways and doors on their way to Skylar's quarters. "It's a big castle, but it doesn't take very long to learn how to get around. Especially since you're a professor, you won't need to know the entire school immediately," he said.
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Post by Skylar Constantine on Jun 8, 2013 20:45:41 GMT -5
Skylar was most interested in the Great Hall, and remembered everything he saw in relation to it. Finally he wouldn't be paying for food anymore! But he'd be working. He shrugged that off. That was a few hours a day he could spend not worrying about how low his Galleons were getting.
He ducked through the doorway and took a look at what he'd been given. "Not bad," he said. He'd almost forgotten the kind of luxury he'd lived in once. This place was clean and partially furnished. He couldn't complain. He dropped his bag, put Ember on her feet, traded her cloak for the stuffed hippogriff, and swatted her on the butt. "Go play," he said, and watched her run off to explore.
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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on Jun 8, 2013 21:11:43 GMT -5
"They take care of us here," Michael said, unhooking Hero's leash now that they were inside. Even once they left, the dog would happily follow him back to the tower even without the lead. The beast stretched and watched Ember curiously as she ran off. "We were lucky and got one of the towers." There were still empty rooms in the thing.
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Post by Skylar Constantine on Jun 8, 2013 21:17:17 GMT -5
"Sounds cool," Skylar said. He could see three open doorways down a short hall, so they'd given him a two-bedroom, there was a couch and a coffee table, and an open view into a small kitchen. That reminded him of some of the things he had in his bag.
"You don't mind if I unpack while we talk?" he asked, stooping to open his bag all the same. As lumpy as it was, it just looked dark inside, and he had to reach in up to his elbow to grab the first item. Call him crazy, he needed a cloak rack. He pulled it out hand under hand and stood. "Stay a while," he offered.
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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on Jun 8, 2013 21:32:32 GMT -5
Michael shook his head. "I can stay, I can give you a hand if you need one, too. Unpacking when we moved from Diagon Alley was a bit of a chore, even though we didn't bring most of our furniture with us." They had needed to set up the art room and with all of the sidetracking that had happened it had taken longer than it ever should have.
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Post by Skylar Constantine on Jun 8, 2013 21:36:56 GMT -5
"I don't have a lot," Skylar said, "But help is always appreciated." He stepped around Michael and the dog to set up the elegant pewter cloak rack he'd retrieved, one of the nice things he'd bought at the beginning that he hadn't sold yet. He hung up Ember's cloak, then his own, before stepping back and pushing his sleeves up to his elbows.
"Looks like we're home," he said. His arms were covered with tattoos from shoulder to wrist. The oldest were on his left forearm, where he'd started by covering his Mark.
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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on Jun 8, 2013 21:43:40 GMT -5
Michael couldn't help the movement of his eyes to Skylar's forearms. "You can tell how old my shirts are by how stretched out the left arm is," he said, gesturing toward the tattoos. "I never found a way to hide it, so I always just wear sleeves." Except for the rare occasion he was feeling brave enough to wear short sleeves and the armwarmers Markise had encouraged him to buy. The left arm of most of his old shirts had been regularly abused.
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Post by Skylar Constantine on Jun 8, 2013 21:47:16 GMT -5
Skylar looked down at his arms. "I didn't even notice I'd done that," he said. He opted to leave them up for now. "I'm home, it usually doesn't matter." He turned his left up so Michael could see. "I had this one designed to follow some of the lines so you can't really see it anymore. Then I took off to the United States where no one would be looking for it anyway." The Americans he'd met had been so ignorant about it that he'd figured it was a safe bet.
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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on Jun 8, 2013 21:54:35 GMT -5
Michael ran his fingers over the sleeve of his shirt. "I don't even think the twins have really seen it," he said. "I think Dare's the only one who ever sees it." He didn't just think, he was sure. However much he was told that he needed to move on and however much he had already moved on, he still didn't like the idea of putting it on display, even at home.
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Post by Skylar Constantine on Jun 8, 2013 22:04:31 GMT -5
Skylar flicked a glance at Michael, then turned back to his bag, kneeling beside it now. "I'm not ashamed of it or anything," he said. "It's part of my life, you know? It wasn't worth the risk of letting it hang out, though. Ember doesn't need to see that crap either." Almost in the same breath he'd called it crap and said he wasn't ashamed. He pulled out a box of kitchen stuff and sent it off with a flick of his wand, having completely missed the paradox.
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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on Jun 8, 2013 22:12:21 GMT -5
"How are you not ashamed?" Michael asked. It didn't seem like Skylar intended to tell Ember all the things he'd done. Michael wasn't at all sure how he would breach the subject with the twins, though he felt like he would have to do it eventually. They deserved to know at least the basics, everyone around them knew.
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