i'm speckled like a leopard

remus // 19, lit studies at ric. enjoys punk rock, tea and the occult. (rp acct)

[rmslpnx-blog]

i'm gonna move a mountain [remus and sirius] september 20

[siriuslyfxcked-blog]

Sirius shrugs. He can trust James, and James’ heart. Still, James has had past relationships before and Sirius knows well enough that they aren’t worth much the trouble of names because they come and go. The Marauders — well, they were there to stay forever. 

He leaves the door half opened when he leaves the room, taking with him the mug, and heads to the kitchen to make something that resembles breakfast of sorts. No soup unless you call my mom! he hears Remus yell from inside the bedroom and Sirius laughs. “You wound me, Moony!” he yells back. Soup later, breakfast now. 

He rummages through the cupboards, grabs two pieces of bread and props it into toaster. He boils water and makes another cup of tea. For him, he makes a bowl of cereal, no milk — he hates the way it becomes soggy after a while. He ponders about making egg but he knows he’s no good even with that. It’ll be burnt, or undercook — and as much as he’d like to defend his cooking abilities to Remus, he knows he’s a poor cook. 

So he returns to the bedroom with a plate of two toasts, spread with some butter as he juggles his own bowl of cereal in one hand, and the spoon between his teeth. “Bon appetite,” he mumbles as he sets it down in front of Remus, grinning. “My speciality, of course.” Sirius jumps on to the bed, eats his dry cereal with a spoon, and smiles. “So, what are we doing today? Since you’ve got a day off now and I don’t have work.”

[rmslpnx-blog]

He's nearly asleep when Sirius returns, setting two plates of toast on the bed and then sitting across from him. Remus sits up slowly, sniffling as he reaches for the toast. He takes a bite and relishes the simple taste of it, the slight hint of sourness to the dough and the saltiness of the butter. He closes his eyes as he chews, going slowly so he doesn't inhale crumbs and choke to death. It hurts to swallow and he winces, but presses on. Remus is hungry and the toast is delicious.

"Thank you," he says, in between slices. He smiles at Sirius and reaches for his new cup of tea, sipping at it gingerly. He can feel fatigue overtaking him and he just wants to take a nap, maybe fall asleep watching 101 Dalmations or The Aristocats. He hums as he chews and swallows the last of his toast, setting his plate on the nightstand before crumbs get everywhere. Remus hates crumbs in the bed.

"Will you abandon me if I admit I just want to watch cartoons and maybe nap?" He coughs a bit and then sniffles, his eyes watering pathetically from the pain of his sore throat. He leans back against his headboard and holds his tea up to his face with both hands, letting the steam smooth his sinuses as he takes little sips, watching his friend. "I'd love the company, but it's a nice day out. I don't want to keep you cooped up with me." It's a bald faced lie. Remus would love to keep Sirius cooped up with him, though he knows it wouldn't be fair to his friend.

He keeps sipping at his tea, feeling his eyes drift close a little more with each second. It's probably for the best that Sirius has convinced him to call out sick. At this rate, Remus wouldn't make it through the first ten minutes of a shift without passing out.

[rmslpnx-blog]

i'm gonna move a mountain [remus and sirius] september 20

[siriuslyfxcked-blog]

Sirius has met dear Mrs. Hope Lupin and has figured out then that Remus frowns in the same way as her. Can’t help that, Sirius knows all about genetic coding (that wretched curse), and figures for now all he can do is reassure Remus that for every wound and bruise he gets from skateboarding, another one heals. 

He waves his hand at the mention of rules. “Whatever,” is all he says. Remus is all about this control bullshit and hinging on rules as if it’ll bring order. The thing is Sirius likes to think himself invincible — not exactly above the rules — and every fall and scratch and pull at his muscle is a reminder that he’s not. But still, he likes the rush, the freedom with the wind in his hair; and he thinks Remus will never truly understand that.

He hears Remus mutter something under his breath, and Sirius cocks an eyebrow, humming but says nothing more when Remus rests his head on his shoulder. “Does it bother you that James went out with Lily?” Remus asks him and Sirius fights the urge to say, “Vans girl,” out loud again so he shrugs. 

“A little,” he replies. A lot, is what his mind interjects. “See, I’m more worried than bothered. But that’s natural because when your friend starts going out with someone it’s like, what if they get hurt, you know?” He sighs and pushes his hair back. “Anyway, it’s no offence to Vans girl, really. Nothing against her. But sometimes James is more of a feeling guy than a thinking guy.”

Sirius stops and props himself up from the bed. “I should get you food.”

[rmslpnx-blog]

What if they get hurt, you know? Remus can recall all of James' and Sirius' prior relationships, and he knows that this fear crops up at the beginning of every single one. (He can also recall the time Sirius hooked up with another boy, which he valiantly tries not to remember because it makes his heart feel six sizes too small.) He shakes his head. "We have to trust him with his own heart," he says softly. Remus isn't entirely sure if he's talking only about James, but regardless, the point still stands.

He's jostled when Sirius sits up and he moans pathetically, falling back against the pillows. "Food," he groans. "Yes, please." He sniffles and burrows down into his blankets, watching through half-lidded eyes as Sirius leaves the room to fetch him some breakfast.

Remus doesn't really question Sirius' motivation for taking care of him when he's sick -- it's something he's always done, especially since they've all moved into this house together and away from their parents. He can feel himself drifting back to sleep, thinking about Sirius and toast and Lily and James, and his congested head swims with weird imagery even as he lays in bed, still mostly conscious.

He clears his throat and shouts after his friend, "No soup unless you call my mom!" Then he dissolves into another coughing fit.

[rmslpnx-blog]

i'm gonna move a mountain [remus and sirius] september 20

[siriuslyfxcked-blog]

Right, Lily. “Vans girl,” he interjects when Remus lightly corrects him. He knows the name. 

Despite Remus’ belief that he must have lost his ability to pay attention, Sirius is paying attention. He just has an odd way of showing it. Besides, how can he not? This is James who is really into some girl who works at the Vans store and he has to pay attention, has to care, has to worry in some form. James is his best friend. What if he goes on and breaks his heart? For now, he will settle with Vans girl, and he thinks Remus may disapprove but he has yet to know her on the level of Lily, has yet to figure out if she’s hear to stay for good or good; otherwise, there was no point.

“Two things,” he starts with a matter-of-fact tone, looking at Remus. “One, skating off down the mall hallway may be illegal but no one caught me so no need to worry.” He grins and then shrugs. “Besides, skaters don’t hurt anyone else but themselves.” Sirius shifts a little, trying to get comfortable. “And two,” he adds. “I have been paying attention. So there’s nothing for you to worry about, Moony.”

Remus turn to cough, and Sirius reaches over and rubs his back. He frowns. “Maybe I’ll run to the pharmacy and get some cough syrup or something…”

[rmslpnx-blog]

Remus rolls his eyes hard enough that it makes his head hurt. He winces and then blows his nose, sighing as he leans into Sirius' hand on his back. It should worry him, the way he lets this man touch him so casually without any consideration for what it's doing to his heart, but Remus worries enough about everyone and everything else. He doesn't have time to waste worrying about his feeling for Sirius Black.

"Yes, I know you make a habit of hurting yourself, but that doesn't mean you can't also follow the rules occasionally," he rasps. Remus coughs to clear his throat and then closes his eyes, slumping into his friend's side. He's tired. And hungry. And sick. He hates being sick. "And I'm going to worry, because worrying is in my genetic code. You've met my mom, haven't you?"

The joke falls a little flat, because Remus starts coughing again and then hacks up a wad of phlegm into his wad of tissues. He sighs. "That's really sexy, Lupin, truly," he mutters dryly.

Sirius' suggestion of cough medicine is a good one, but a trip to the pharmacy isn't necessary. Remus shoves his soiled tissues in his trash bin and curls into Sirius' side, resting his head on his shoulder again. "There's a whole pharmacy on the short shelf in my closet," he murmurs. "But I don't think you'll find food there, which is what I really need."

He's quiet for a minute, and then he cracks an eye open and looks at his friend. "Does it bother you that James went out with Lily?"

[rmslpnx-blog]

i'm gonna move a mountain [remus and sirius] september 20

[siriuslyfxcked-blog]

Sirius is glad that he didn’t even try to argue. It made things easier this way.  

“Alright, alright,” he smirks, giving in to Remus’ request as he reaches for him because who could ever refuse a cuddle and Sirius is still half sleepy and Remus is warm and the bed is soft. Besides, he’s feelings were hardly hurt, can’t understand what Remus was apologizing for to begin with. “If you insist.” He crawls on the bed towards Remus and flops down next to him. 

“Prongs huh?” Sirius says, turning to look at Remus after he explained what happened. “Can’t believe you did that.” Sirius frowns a little and takes a mental note that he’ll have to tell James about this. James and his woes has kept Moony up all night and now he’s sick. Good fucking job, Prongs. “Well, I hope it was worth it, Moons,” he adds with a little huff. “And I hope that whole situation with the Vans girl comes to an end soon because shit’s been going on for a while and nothing’s happened and it’s probably just safe to say nothing will happen.”

And then he pauses. Sirius raises an eyebrow and slowly says, “Unless something has already happened.” 

[rmslpnx-blog]

Sirius crawls up the bed toward him and settles in. Remus curls into him and rests his head on his shoulder, letting his eyes fall shut as he sleepily listens to Sirius rant about James. "...nothing's happened and it's probably just safe to say nothing will happen," Sirius finishes, in a huff.

Remus tenses up at that, because something definitely has happened. He stayed up to wait for James last night, to hear about his date, and he could still see the light from James' phone when he walked past his door to use the toilet at 3 a.m. Remus assumes he was texting Lily, which means they were probably talking all night after going out to dinner. He slowly lifts his head to look at Sirius and arches an eyebrow, surprised that Sirius doesn't know about any of this. Usually he's the most gossipy of their friends.

"Her name is Lily," Remus says slowly. "She and James met last week when she was working at Newbury and she went into Hot Topic last night to ask him out. He said she met him outside the shop and you saw her before you skated off -- illegally, I might add -- down the mall hallway." Remus gives him a bewildered look. "Should I be worried that you seem to have lost the ability to pay attention?"

The effect of the words is somewhat ruined by the way Remus is forced to turn away and cough violently into a wad of tissues hastily pulled from the box, but he hopes the point still stands. James has gone out with Lily. Lily clearly likes James, potentially as much as he likes her. Remus suspects they won't be seeing much of their dear Prongs in the near future, if things continue to go well.

[rmslpnx-blog]

i'm gonna move a mountain [remus and sirius] september 20

[siriuslyfxcked-blog]

“I know, I know,” Sirius says when Remus tells him he needs the money. “But it’s not everything.” That’s easy for Sirius to say. His parents had never had to worry about money. They weren’t ridiculously rich, per sey, but they were well-off that Sirius has never had to worry about money. Not since the last year, but even then, he hardly worries about it (because maybe, maybe he’s only learning the weight of money in the way he’s never had to). 

He feigns a pained expression. “You take that back, Remus Lupin. If the culinary arts weren’t such a fickle and harsh industry, I would be out there making soup for the lot,” he walks back toward the bed and sits back down at the foot of Remus’ bed. Quietly, he adds, “But I’ll make sure to call your mom just in case.” He picks at the small loose threads of Remus’ sheets and shrugs. “Just to be careful.”

Sirius looks down at his wrist but there is no watch. He furrows his brows. He’s not sure what the time is but he can make a close enough estimation. “Dunno. Sun’s up though,” he says. “Think it’s ‘round 7-ish now. Who knows.” He looks back at Remus, and he wonders if tea and soup will be enough for the day. “I can make you toast, if you want.” 

"Why are you so sick anyway?" he asks. "Is there a bug going around the mall now? Bet it’s that kid Snivellus you work with."

[rmslpnx-blog]

Remus is so, so tempted to argue. He knows it won't get him anywhere, though, other than frustrated and probably sicker and also without a voluntary caretaker. He'll call out. He'll sacrifice the money. His health will thank him for the rest, he knows, and four hours won't make that much of a dent in his paycheck. He can probably pick up another shift next week to make up for it.

He sighs and finishes off his tea, setting the mug on his nightstand. "I won't take it back," he says stubbornly, "but I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings." He reaches for Sirius when he sits on the end of the bed, making grabby hands. "Will you come here? I hate being sick."

Remus knows he shouldn't invite the kind of heartache he feels when Sirius gets close to him, but he can't help himself. He's a glutton for punishment and he likes the way Sirius cuddles, sometimes even better than the way James does. Remus likes to be held, especially when life isn't going his way, and he's lucky enough to have friends that allow his particular kind of clinginess.

"Toast might make my cough worse, but it sounds so good," he says. "Just load it with butter to make it slide down easier?" He frowns. "I didn't get a lot of sleep this week. I was up talking to James, you know, about Lily and all." Remus pauses to consider. "Though if there is something going around the mall, I'd definitely catch it."

[rmslpnx-blog]

i'm gonna move a mountain [remus and sirius] september 20

[siriuslyfxcked-blog]

Remus mentions going to work and Sirius just shakes his head. “No way. Absolutely not. Will not allow it, Moony. Sorry.” Remus looks as bad as the cough and the cold; and while yes, of course Sirius understands that he can’t afford to miss a shift, Sirius had always believed strongly in the idea of self care before anything else. (Exam the next day but feeling crappy and tired? Napping for self care. Class at 9am and have a hangover? Sleeping in for self care. Probably why he didn’t do so hot in some of those classes but we don’t talk about that)

“I promise to keep the tea coming and even probably make you some chicken soup. And you know how well I make soup,” which is not very well, but he can call Remus’ mom and ask for help. “But if you only agree to call in sick,” he says, standing up from the foot of the bed. 

Remus’ room is dimly lit, the light from outside barely filtering through the lightly coloured curtains. Sirius walks towards the curtains and draws them open enough that there is sunlight from outside. “You’re not well. You need some light, and you need some rest.” He pauses and grins. “Or I’ll be forced to hand cuff you to your bed.”

[rmslpnx-blog]

Sirius tells him he absolutely can't go to work and Remus sighs. "Sirius, I really need the money." He breaks into another coughing fit, this one hacking up all kinds of phlegm, and he groans as he spits into a tissue and then balls it up and puts it in the bin next to his nightstand.

He looks at his friend and frowns pathetically. "Your soup is awful." He can feel himself tearing up, already dreading spending the entire day in bed. Remus really, really just wants to cuddle and not feel sick. "I'll only call out if you promise to bring me soup from somewhere else." He pauses. "Or call my mom. You could also call my mom."

He sips at his tea, savoring the heat of it, ashamed of how whiny he's already gotten. He hasn't even been awake for thirty minutes and there are actual tears in his eyes. He needs to get it together.

Sirius opens the curtains and tells him to rest, threatens him with handcuffs if he doesn't. Remus rolls his eyes and the sniffles, taking another sad sip of his tea. "What time is it?" he asks, unsure of where his phone's gone. "Do I get real breakfast, or am I to be force-fed soup for every meal today?"

[jamspttr-blog]

to: remus, september 19

[jamspttr-blog]

w/e h8r luv u, tlk l8r

[rmslpnx-blog]

msg: love you msg: have fun

[jamspttr-blog]

to: remus, september 19

[jamspttr-blog]

srry i was HAVN A KCK ASS LIFE w/e pads n i just hd 2 del w 70000 grls

[rmslpnx-blog]

msg: no one ever has a kick ass life working at that mall msg: please don't accidentally crush lily to death in your excitement

[jamspttr-blog]

to: remus, september 19

[rmslpnx-blog]

msg: you’re losing your touch msg: she’s not? she turns 18 in a couple months msg: are you OKAY

[rmslpnx-blog]

msg: it's been over an hour and you haven't replied, so i'll assume you're not okay msg: i'm quizzing sirius about your well-being when he gets home

[rmslpnx-blog]

i'm gonna move a mountain [remus and sirius] september 20

[siriuslyfxcked-blog]

When Sirius opens his eyes Saturday morning, the first thing he notices is the faint coughing coming from down the hallway. (Actually, the first thing he sees is a poster of Star Wars, the best of the whole saga. He had stolen it from Regulus, before he left.) He gets up, picks up the first shirt he sees lying on the floor, and pulls it over his head. If it isn’t so goddamn cold, he would have left his room with only his boxers on; but apparently the weather is getting colder, and bare skin is not enough. 

He is a little groggy still, only half awake when he makes his way to the kitchen. The coughing continues and it sounds dry and hard, followed by the sound of sneezing. He knows that cough. He closes his eyes and tilts his head back. Remus is not well again. It happens every so often. It is never serious; Remus heals and gets better in time, but it happens bough that Sirius worries. You should get that checked out, he said once, but Remus only shook his hand and said it was just a cold; he’ll be fine with tea.

So Sirius learns how to make tea the way Remus likes tea. It’s camomile for when he is sick. When the water boils and the tea sits, he adds the honey and the lemon before walking towards Remus room. He doesn’t bother knocking, instead he just walks right in and says as brightly as he can, “Morning, sunshine.” Sirius cradles the tea with both hands as he takes a sit at the foot of Remus’ bed. “Tea?” 

[rmslpnx-blog]

Remus blows his nose again and then drops back against the pillow, moaning slightly when it jars his entire body into a state of dull, awful pain. Then he feels the bed shift again and hears Sirius greet him, too loud and too bright. Remus moans again and waves his hand around. "Only if I can drink it without moving," he croaks, coughing again and wincing at the soreness of his throat.

The thing is, no matter how often Remus gets sick, it never gets any less difficult to deal with. He's a whiny sick person, sore and irritable and awful to be around. He just wants to sleep, but his sinuses usually keep him from doing so, which makes him even grumpier. And when he misses out on work or reading or productive tasks he's supposed to be doing, it makes him anxious, which just contributes to the whole thing. Remus is truly a terrible, awful sick person. The worst.

Eventually, he sits up and adjusts his pillows so he can prop himself up against the headboard, accepting his tea from Sirius and taking a deep, heady sip. He closes his eyes and lets the steam loosen some of the crap in his nose, in his throat; the liquid feels warm and perfect and wonderful as he swallows, coating his throat and making him feel just a little bit human again. "Thank you," he murmurs, and is proud when he doesn't sound like a frog or even cough. "I've a shift this evening, so if you can just keep the tea coming..." He trails off, sipping again. Surely he can make it to work. Surely.

[rmslpnx-blog]

i just forgot you were there [remus and ted] september 15

[tedtk-blog]

"She is," he says automatically. Lily’s his best friend in the whole world – maybe his only friend. There’s Victoria in his portfolio class who sometimes laughs at the things he mutters under his breath and gives him pretty honest feedback during critique but he doesn’t really count her as a “friend”. Lily’s the only person that meets that standard.

"He seems like a great friend," Ted mutters, shifting to straighten the TOMS display (which, why the fuck did they sell TOMS anyway? They were a music and comics store, not fucking Journey’s). 

A Lily-sounding voice scolds him for being rude. “Sorry,” he says. “That probably wasn’t nice.” He looks up at the guy – Remus, squinty with sandy-red hair and an angular jaw, a juxtaposition of hard lines and shadow. “I don’t really get a filter until my second coffee.”

[rmslpnx-blog]

Ted doesn't even hesitate to confirm that Lily is the kind of person you go out of your way to impress, and that makes Remus pause. He looks at Ted, really looks at him, and for a second feels like he can see past the unwashed, dark-haired exterior with the spectacular eyebrows and the surprisingly decent-looking clothes. Remus knows what it is to be someone's best friend, and for them to be yours, and without Ted really having to say anything else, Remus can tell that he and Lily have that kind of friendship.

He smiles at Ted's sarcasm, nodding once. "He is," he says, purposefully mirroring Ted's own words. He watches as Ted straightens the TOMS display (which has always thrown Remus for a loop -- why does a comic book and record store sell shoes? It's weird enough that they sell novelty t-shirts and stuffed animals, really) and then shrugs off the apology. "James rubs people the wrong way sometimes," he admits. "But he also cares, a lot, and I've never seen him get into such a stitch about anyone like he is about Lily."

Remus takes a breath and drains the rest of his coffee, frowning a bit when he swallows the last drop. He looks around for a trash bin and then realizes he'll just have to dump it in one of the hall bins when he leaves. "I'm sorry for creeping on you so early," he says sincerely. There are no customers yet; the mall is an absolute ghost town. It's not like he's really distracting Ted from anything, but he still feels bad. "Do you think I'd be getting James' hopes up to offer the possibility of Lily stopping by Hot Topic this weekend?" The question is pointed, he knows, but necessary. If Remus doesn't get some uninterrupted sleep this week, he's going to be desperately ill by the weekend.

[ohyescoolgreat]

[rmslpnx-blog]

i'm gonna move a mountain [remus and sirius] september 20

When Remus opens his eyes Saturday morning, the first thing he notices is that his eyelids ache. Then comes the ache in the rest of his body, and the sudden realization that he absolutely cannot breathe through his nose. His mouth is open against his pillow, surely to compensate for the breathing problem, and there's a puddle of drool trailing from the corner of his mouth all the way down to the mattress.

Remus tries to swallow and ends up coughing, hard, loud enough to wake the rest of his housemates (assuming they aren't awake already). He shuts his eyes again and slowly rolls over, curling into a protective ball, groping on his nightstand for the box of tissues he always keeps handy for mornings that he wakes up sick.

He sits up just enough to blow his nose, which requires three, four, five tissues, and he ends up in another coughing fit by the time he's finished. Remus feels a bit like death warmed over, which he absolutely saw coming, but he still opted to stay up with James when he got home from his date with Lily rather than sleep. He should have slept. He should have slept all week, rather than give into his friend's rambling, because now he's sick (again) and he has work this afternoon and he really, really can't afford to miss a shift.

[mycraaazyplaylist]

Visit Original Link

[rmslpnx-blog]

i just forgot you were there [remus and ted] september 15

[tedtk-blog]

He listens to Remus’s story, and does, in fact, start to recognize him as the strange guy who seemed to be way too into the Game of Thrones merch than an actual fan of the show (or the books, he supposes – but they don’t get very many book fans, which is disappointing). 

Ted wonders if Remus notices how his eyebrows begin to crawl up his forehead as he continues, explaining his friend’s … dilemma? creepiness? Ted’s not quite sure what on Earth to call it. “Is you friend mentally stable?” Ted asks when Remus has finished. It certainly sounds like he isn’t.

Although, then Remus adds that he hopes his idiot friend hadn’t scared her off and maybe he is aware of how absurd all of this sounds. “Lily’s fine?” Ted finally says. “She has school? Like most people, I would assume?”

[rmslpnx-blog]

The look Ted is giving him is much like the look Remus has been giving James all week. He huffs a breath and then laughs, nodding vigorously. "He is, he's just..." Remus waves a hand vaguely. "I think he's a little overwhelmed at how much he likes her. He doesn't have a lot of experience with girls, and Lily is -- I think -- the kind of girl you really don't want to fuck up with, so." He shrugs.

Remus rolls his eyes and sips at his coffee, nodding again. He can feel the cup getting emptier and emptier and he's so, so saddened by that. He just wants to go home and take a nap. "I know she does. We all do. I think James forgets that other people are people, too. He's not the only one in the world with commitments outside of this godforsaken shithole of a mall."

[rmslpnx-blog]

i just forgot you were there [remus and ted] september 15

[tedtk-blog]

I actually came to talk to you. Ted tries not to look creeped out – but he doesn’t recognize this guy. It’s weird, it’s definitely weird. “Oh,” is all he says. The guy takes a sip of his coffee and walks into the store, leaving Ted standing there, confused.

The guy yawns and introduces himself as Remus, the guy who works at the bookstore downstairs. Lily’s mentioned him before. But Lily isn’t here. “Uh, yeah,” he says, in response to his question, pointing at his name on his lanyard. “What, uh. Can I help you? With?” 

This is weird and he wants Remus to fuck off so he can hide behind the register and finish his piece for his life drawing class because they have a critique tonight and he’s not even finished. 

[rmslpnx-blog]

Remus takes another drink of his coffee, the warmth giving him strength (but not nearly enough -- he can already feel a cold creeping up, invading the back of his throat). "I realize this is extra fucking creepy, and I'm so sorry," he says. "But the other day, I came in here with my housemate, James, and he and Lily had a chat. I don't know if you remember."

He drinks more of his coffee and blazes on, oblivious to Ted's reaction. "She said she'd drop into see James and hasn't yet, and I've told him over and over that she's probably busy, but he seems to believe that she might be dead or that she might have quit because he hit on her and she never wants to go near the mall again. I opted to come in and ask, but since she's not here, I suppose you'll have to do."

Then he frowns. "She is alright, isn't she? Lily's an incredibly sweet girl. I'd hate for my idiot friend to have scared her off."

[rmslpnx-blog]

i just forgot you were there [remus and ted] september 15

[tedtk-blog]

Ted spends his night chain smoking and trying to finish his assignment for his life drawing class, fiddling with trying to remember how the light hit the model’s skin at the right angle. (Mostly, though, he smokes and watches Twilight Zone reruns until like two AM.)

He gets to work at nine, the largest possible coffee in hand. Ted barely manages to avoid dropping the gate on his foot and he becomes aware of what kind of day it’s going to be pretty quickly: fucking weird. They’ve still got a little bit of yesterday’s shipment to move so he puts on the soundtrack to The Crow and gets to work.

By the time the store is ready to open, he’s drunken all of his coffee and switched over to more weekday-appropriate music (The new La Dispute record, because he’s in a bit of a mood). He’s pulling up the gate when he notices the guy standing outside the store. He’s got his own big-ass Starbucks cup and looks as tired as Ted feels. He raises an eyebrow. “There’s nothing coming out today?” 

[rmslpnx-blog]

Remus stands when he hears the music change, glancing at his watch to confirm that the stores open in approximately one minute. Ted lifts the gate up and Remus just sort of stands there, staring at him. Then he realizes what he means. "Oh," he says belatedly. "I'm not here to buy anything. I actually came to talk to you."

He takes a sip of his coffee and walks into the store, unable to help the need to glance around for anything new. Remus turns to face Ted and sips at his coffee again, attempting to fight back a yawn and losing horribly. He smiles, sheepish. "I'm Remus. I work at the bookstore downstairs." He points to the floor unnecessarily and then lifts his hand, scrubbing at his face. "Sorry. I'm a bit tired. You're Ted, right?"