The rain has been relentless for hours, drumming against the roof of Remus’s flat like impatient fingers against wood. He sits by the window, watching the streetlights flicker through the storm, a cigarette burning between his fingers, though he never remembers taking it from the pack.
The smoke curls around him, a ghost of something lost. A ghost of him.
Sirius.
He mouths the name like a prayer, but it brings no comfort. No warmth. No fire. Just silence. Just absence. Just the dull ache in his ribs where love used to be.
He tries to remember his face.
(He tries, oh, God, he tries.)
But memory is cruel. It is a trickster, a thief. It gives, and then it takes, unraveling the edges of a portrait he once knew by heart. The curve of a smirk, the sharpness of his jaw, the reckless light in those grey eyes—gone, all of it, slipping through his fingers like mist.
His voice, too, is lost to time.
There was laughter once, ringing through the Gryffindor dorms, echoing off stone walls, filling every hollow place inside Remus’s chest. There was the low murmur of his name, spoken in secret, whispered against his collarbone in the dead of night.
But now, when Remus closes his eyes and listens—nothing.
Only silence.
And yet, the absence of Sirius Black is still the loudest thing in the room.
He exhales, tilting his head back against the chair, the cigarette smoldering between his lips. Smoke fills his lungs like grief, sharp and aching, curling inside him until he thinks he might choke on it.
They say time heals all wounds.
(It doesn’t. It never has. It never will.)
Time is a liar.
It only dulls the edges, only teaches you how to carry the weight of the loss, how to live with the gaping hole in your chest where a person used to be.
Sirius was a storm, a wildfire, a force of nature impossible to contain. He was laughter and recklessness, sharp teeth and soft hands, all fire and ruin, and Remus had loved him more than anything in the world.
And now—
Now, all he has left are the echoes.
Faint, fading, slipping further away each time he reaches for them.
Remus doesn’t cry. He doesn’t have it in him anymore.
Instead, he watches the rain fall, listens to the quiet hum of the city beyond the glass, and wonders—
If Sirius had known how he would haunt him like this, would he have stayed?
Remus never thought he’d be sitting on this train once more. In this moment, he’s 14 again. The hills roll by and if he closes his eyes, imagines just hard enough, he can still hear the clamouring and giggling that used to belong here. The train is empty, save for Remus, a special trip just for him. In the worst way, this is all too familiar. Like the trunk remembers the axe, Remus can’t help but feel he is gently travelling towards a terrible thing.
“A minute from home but I feel so far from it.”
Remus had lived in London for so long that the Welsh had been bleached out of his accent. Hope and Lyall were long gone, finally resting. And Remus was alone. Home had always been where his heart had lived. Never Wales though, never a place, always a person. Cariad. Cariad. Cariad. With every beat of his heart, Remus knows where home is. He thinks of James and Lily and Harry. He thinks of a home that once belonged to them.
“The death of my dog, the stretch of my skin.”
He thinks of a home that belongs to him, of a basement with a torn up mattress and a master bedroom with a leather jacket hanging on the back of the chair. Remus could never understand how people could one day lock a door and never open it again. Until he did. Slowly, the cottage grew to be too much, bore a weight so goddamn heavy that Remus shouldered it all. That house held the three people he loved, “love” his mind corrects him. He wonders whether in 11 years of solitude, that house too, would be reluctant to see him again.
“It's all washin' over me, I'm angry again.”
In a way, only Remus could understand why James and Lily had to die. Unfortunately, there is always a greater good. There is always someone, ‘something’ his mind hisses, greater than him. The rage is dormant now. The war is over. Remus knows loss incredibly well, walks hand in hand with her most days. Instinctively, he tightens his grip on his thigh. It serves as a reminder. You survived the war. You lost everyone you love. You are real. You are neither punished nor the punisher. Not anymore.
“The things that I lost here, the people I knew.”
Remus takes a walk along the length of the train. Nostalgia’s sake and all that. The open compartment doors rattle gently and the seats are vacant. For some reason, Remus half expected to run into a brick wall at King’s Cross. He doesn’t know how to exist in this space again, how to walk the halls of the castle without feeling like a ghost instead. Mostly, Remus doesn’t know how he could look into James’ faces and Lily’s eyes again, and see them on someone else.
“They got me surrounded for a mile or two.”
Logically, he knows “No.” is as good an answer as any. He made sure that there were no more favours, no more secrets. Remus knows that from 11, the castle cared for him. He also knows that care and respect go hand in hand. He has no debt to the castle but he does have duty to fulfil. For every man who obeys his duty, there is another who cannot. A prison cell briefly flashes in his mind, then a cupboard under stairs, then a set of silver handcuffs.
“The car's in reverse, I'm grippin' the wheel.”
The train shudders and stops. The sky is dark. Remus’ eyes are closed. He inhales deeply and lets muscle memory take over. His steps now echo down the empty train carriages. He is just as tall as the last time he stood here. This time, he leaves behind four giggling boys. He leaves behind the weight of a head in his lap. The image is superimposed into his eyelids. Remus hopes that everything that ever existed still exists in moments, even though we don’t get them back. The doors slide open and he steps onto the platform.
“I'm back between villages and everything's still.”
For the second time in his life, Remus John Lupin has the sudden and crashing realisation that he is totally and utterly alone.
WARNING: PAST RAPE, UNDERAGE RAPE, INCESTUAL RAPE, minor blood, wetting oneself
Synopsis: Remus trips and wets himself. Janus and Virgil are there for him.
NOTE: Sequel to For Daddy. Check the tags for the entire AU.
“Seriously, when are you gonna tell me?”
Remus rolled his eyes. “Never.”
“It’s not like you to keep secrets, Cephy.”
Remus dunked his spoon in his cereal bowl. “Everyone has exceptions.”
Dad walked into the kitchen and ruffled Roman’s hair. Remus pouted.
“What’s going on?” He poured himself a cup of coffee.
“Remus was crying last night! He had to sleep with me.”
Dad paused. Remus stared intently at his cereal.
“Oh?”
“Yeah, he won’t tell me who hurt them so I can kick their ass. No one hurts my brother but me!”
Dad chuckled. “You’re a very good big brother, Ro. Do you want to go out for dinner tonight?”
“Yeah!” He grinned. “Let’s get Sonic!”
“Can I come?” Remus asked. Sonic was his favourite.
Dad sighed and took a sip of his coffee. “Don’t be selfish, Remus. This is a treat for your brother.”
His heart twisted as Roman laughed. “Maybe next time, Cephy.”
At school, Remus slammed his locker shut. Virgil rolled his eyes as Janus inspected the eczema on his palm.
“What’s got you in such a bad mood?” Virgil asked.
Remus opened his mouth to tell them all about it, then stopped. He couldn’t. They’d hate him. They’d think he’s a freak. They’d never believe him.
“Nothing. Just pissy today.”
“I feel that,” Janus said. “If I get one more comment on Instagram saying ‘crocodile skin’ I’ll lose my shit.”
“You should get gloves,” Virgil said. “Keep people off your back.”
“Why hide it?” Remus shrugged his bag over his shoulder. They started walking towards class. “I think it looks cool! You’re like a zombie!”
“Gee, thanks,” Janus said dryly.
Remus walked backwards, grinning. “I’d love to be a zombie. And you know who I’d eat first? Roman.”
Janus grinned. “So would I.”
Remus went to retort, but stopped. He felt sick. He used to love joking about Janus railing his brother, as it’d never happen, but now… he shuddered.
“Maybe don’t talk about my brother that way,” he said, then his feet tangled and he gasped as he hit the ground.
Something re-tore, and wet pooled in his pants. His eyes widened. Did he just piss himself? Was it blood? Were people going to notice? Oh my god, people were staring!
“Remus!” Virgil and Janus ran forward and helped Remus to his feet.
“Stop staring,” Virgil snarled, his eyeshadow-framed eyes narrowing to slits. People quickly looked away.
Janus stared at the floor in confusion. “Did you… wet yourself?”
Remus’ eyes were watering. “I’m sorry,” he choked out.
Virgil grabbed his hand. “We’re leaving. Come on, we’ll go to Dollar General and then the skate park.”
They grabbed their boards from their lockers on the way out and rushed out of the school. Stifled laughter followed them, quickly trailing off as Virgil threatened bodily harm.
In Dollar General, Janus bought Remus a pair of basketball shorts which he immediately went to the back of the building outside to change into. Virgil and Janus stood behind him as a guard.
Remus felt his sticky thighs. Blood. Not much, but a little.
“Are you bleeding?” Virgil asked in panic.
Remus yanked the shorts up before Janus could see.
“We have to get you to the doctors,” Janus said.
“No!” Remus laughed nervously. “No, no, no. I’m fine. Just got a little rough masturbating, the usual.”
Virgil blanched while Janus rolled his eyes. “We know that’s not true, Remus, you don’t masturbate.”
Remus crossed his arms. “How do you know?”
“You told us when you got high,” Virgil said. “What happened?”
“Nothing!” He laughed, a little maniacally, and grabbed his hair. “Nothing happened, nothing happened, nothing!”
Janus hugged him. Virgil crowded his other side and they embraced as Remus broke down into tears.
“You don’t have to tell us,” Janus murmured, ignoring Virgil’s protests. “But we’re here for you.”
“Can we just go skate?” Remus sniffled.
They headed to the skate park. Virgil set up his phone with the community speakers and they blasted Blue October as they raced each other up and down the ramps. It was easy to forget what happened. Janus and Virgil were his best friends.
U!patton and Remus for the Remus prompt. my friend and I had an idea where Patton forces Remus to wear a muzzle so he can’t talk
Okay, I don't know how to write short prompts so I went a little overboard on this. I also threw in some protective Janus just for fun. Anyways, I hope you enjoy it! <3
Pure Thoughts
Description: Remus makes his way over to the light side of the Mindscape to patch up his relationship with Virgil, but he doesn't quite make it to his friend.
Characters: Remus, Patton, Janus, Virgil and Logan Mentioned
Pairings: Platonic Dukeciet
Word Count: 3256
Warnings: Remus-Type Content (Sexual Innuendo, Somewhat Graphic Descriptions, Etc), Threats, Attempted Erasing of a Side, Swearing, Death mention, Angst with a happy ending, Hurt/Comfort, Unsympathetic Patton (Let me know if I missed anything!)
---
Remus poked his head into the dim, empty corridor of the mindscape, pausing to check for the other sides before tiptoeing around the corner. Any other night, he'd be making his way down the hall with cymbals on the feet and a kazoo in his mouth, but tonight was the night to be covert. For once, he was actually trying not to be noticed, and notably, he was succeeding. Which was as perfectly satisfying as his pet eldritch demon's tentacle slime, because the last time he'd made one of his more spectacular entrances in their shared spaces, the Microsoft Nerd™ had nearly blown a gasket.
He'd lectured Remus for nearly forty-five minutes about ‘optimal sleep schedules’ and ‘the importance of brushing your teeth’ or whatever the dork had been saying. Quite frankly, Remus hadn't been listening. Learning from his mistakes wasn't exactly his jam, and if nerdy Wolverine’s brain was too full of Crofter’s to have realized that, that seemed like a him problem.
Besides, that was the past. Right now, the future seemed so much juicer. His fabulously favorite emo had eased up on his prickly sarcasm enough to give him a chance to talk things out, and as ambivalent as he may pretend to be, he wasn’t going to pass on the opportunity to make amends with his old friend. He wanted to salvage any small piece of their damaged relationship, so here he was, sneaking into the light sides' half of the mindscape to duke it out with his anxious nightmare.
The only challenge left was passing the other light sides’ rooms. Virgil's room of course had of course moved to the farthest corner of their space, making it the most difficult to reach without being noticed. Of course, he could make it easy if he cut across the common room. That way, he'd miss Roman’s room entirely and the only one he'd have to worry about was—
“Hey, kiddo.”
Remus head spun on his shoulder to the sound of Patton’s voice. The usually friendly father figure's familiar voice filled the room with a soft kind of seriousness that sent shivers down Remus' spine. The chill in Patton's voice was new and unsettling, but still, Remus cracked a cocky grin as he stared into the shadows and waited for Patton's lecture. After a moment, the lamp on the far side of the room clicked on to reveal a seriously scary looking frown on Patton’s face. Remus straightened upright as a tingling of fear crept up his arms. The creep factor of the amber lighting alone would have put Remus' own efforts to shame, but this was Patton.
Pun-loving, puppy cuddling Patton.
Patty boy’s harmless.
Right?
Remus swallowed nervously before summoning up his usual carefree front and staggering across the soft carpet. “Hey, Padre. Sorry, if you were looking for a late night suck, but I'm actually in a bit of a hurry. Maybe later—”
“Language, Remus.”
Remus stalled at the coldness in Patton’s tone. He licked his lips. The hostility in the air was nearly palpable as Remus stared across the room, trying to get a gauge on this new side Patton. It wasn't often one of the other sides left Remus speechless, but he was unsure of how to react to such an open display of hostility, especially from the side whose entire being was rigged toward being nurturing. Oh, well. There wasn't much else for him to do and he was on a schedule tonight. Remus let out a breath, falling back on familiar habits as an attempt to cover his exit. “Don't get your panties in a bunch, Patty daddy. I know you’re not the type blow and go without a sticky emotional mess, but you don’t have to worry—”
“You’re not going, Remus.”
Remus’ grin faltered at the finality in Patton’s voice, biting his lip as he eyed the direction of Virgil's room. “Um, what?”
“Virgil’s been doing so good.” Patton growled as he rose to his feet. Remus' feet felt like lead holding him in place while Patton moved to block his way. “I finally got my kiddo realizing how toxic you are to him and I’m not going to let you play with him anymore.”
Remus' mustache twitched with displeasure at the insinuation, though a part of him wasn't denying Patton's brusque statement. “Listen, Pattycake. As well as you play the daddy dom role, Virgil asked for me to come and I don’t see where this is your business, so I'll just be—"
“Virgil needs help knowing what's good for him.” Patton continued as a deep hatred started to burn in his eyes. “and that isn't you, Remus.”
Remus brushed him off, starting towards the door. He'd only made it a few steps before Patton waved his hand the door disappeared. Defensiveness turned to frustration as he reeled on Patton. “You can't just—”
“Go back to the whole where you belong before force you into your place.”
Remus froze as Patton's stomp connected with the ground, sending a shiver across his skin as the particles of his body destabilized. A choking breath caught in his throat and his hands shot to his chest in a manic frenzy as his body solidified again. He glanced up at the dangerous sparkle in Patton's eye. Remus was alive for now, but he got the feeling Patton wasn’t done with him yet.
“Hold on, Pat. Let's talk about this—” A bead of sweat dripped down Remus temple as he began stepping away from the door. His hands lingered in the air as he tried to reason with Patton. “—I thought we were good. The human pocket protector told you it was best to play nice with me. I get you don't like me, and it don’t have to be an orgy or nothing, but you can't just piss all over the nerd's hypoth—”
“Shut up.”
Remus sucked in a sharp breath as a black, leather muzzle appeared over his face. The leather molded to his skin as his hands shot to his face in a sudden manic moment of fear. Desperately, he pulled at the leather with all the force he could muster as the glowing rage in Patton’s eyes slowly backed him into a corner.
“I'm sick of you bullying Logan and dragging Virgil down.” The lights in the room flickered as Patton cried out and shoved Remus to the ground. “I don't care what Thomas says or Logan thinks. You don’t deserve to stay. Thomas is better off without you."
Remus hesitated. His hands lingered on the muzzle as his eyes flitted the door back to his own room. He knew he could retreat to his own room, but the idea of letting Virgil think he’d stood him up gave him pause. The choice was made for him a moment later when Patton’s power vibrated in the air and Remus let out a muffled cry as he felt his being wavering. The particles of his body began to weaken and fade as his resistance crumbled. He was unable to push back or even speak as Patton started to force him into the subconscious.
“Virgil will be disappointed when he realizes you forgot about him,” Patton whispered as Remus tipped his head up to meet the horrifying smile spread across Patton's face. “but he'll understand once you’re gone. I'll make sure he knows how bad you really are.”
Panic shot to Remus’ heart as he clutched at his fading body, choking as the muzzle as it grew tighter on his lips.
“I should have put that muzzle on you years ago." Patton’s laugh cracked in his ear. “Your silence is music to my ears. Finally, we can be good. Thomas can be good without you hear to ruin—"
“Is everything okay in here?”
Remus let out a heaving breath as his body hit the ground. He clutched his hands to his body, feeling around to make sure he was still fully there as Patton's grip loosened on him.
“Mind your own business, Janus.”
“Remus is my business. You made it clear years ago that he is my responsibility.” A flicker of worry flashed over Janus' eyes as Remus glanced up to him, but his gaze remained cold and distant as he maintained eye contact with Patton. “In fact, I think I'll be taking him now.”
Remus fingers raised to his lips as Patton’s muzzle fell away at Janus’ snap. His body was numb as Janus moved between him and Patton, extending a hand down to him. Remus swayed, staring at the fury in Patton's eyes as Janus pulled him to his feet.
“You have no right—”
“I think you'll find that I'm quite within my rights to do as I please.” Janus muttered as he absently brushed the dust from Remus’ shirt and shot a deathly glare at Patton. "but if you want to test that theory, I have no problem getting Thomas involved.”
Patton growled his discontent as Janus stepped forward to shield Remus from Patton's gaze. The silence hung over them, weighing heavy on Remus' shaking body, until the air shifted and Patton took a step back. “Keep him away from Virgil or I may not be so forgiving next time.”
“Don’t worry. You've won this battle, Morality, but I hope you know that Virgil will start to question your iron grip on him eventually. I taught him better than to simply follow others.” Janus muttered bitterly. His head bowed in reluctant acceptance of Patton's good grace, though his voice remained rebellious as their eyes remained locked together. “ He will not accept your word on blind faith.”
“Virgil will learn not to question me when he realizes how toxic you are to him. He can be molded into something better, unlike the cretin you're using so much of your dwindling energy to protect.” Patton spat as he turned to the door. “Now, go back to your hole before I change my mind."
“Remus, go.” Janus shoved him to the door.
“But—”
“For once in your life, don’t argue with me.” Janus muttered as he guided the shell-shocked Remus back to the dark sides' hallway. His voice dropped after a few steps and he glanced down at Remus. “Not a single word until he can't hear us. Got it?”
Remus nodded, still numb as Janus dragged him toward his own room. He could hear Janus’ breathing become heavy as he guided Remus through the narrowing hallways with an unnatural speed, not stopping until they reached Remus' black door at the end of the hallway.
“Jan—”
“Not yet, Re.” Janus whispered as he cast one last suspicious glance down the empty hallway before shoving Remus inside the narrow door frame.
“Janus, what the h—”
Remus' diatribe was knocked out of him as Janus' body slammed into his chest. He froze as Janus' arms curled around him, unsure of how to process the man's tight grip. He tensed, ready to struggle when he realized Janus was actually hugging him.
“Are you hurt?”
“What? No—” Remus whispered. His body went limp as released him enough to look him up and down. “I'm—I'm fine, Jan.”
“I'm going kill that self-righteous bastard.” Janus seethed. His grip on Remus' shoulders tightened as he stared past Remus to the closed door. “How dare he threaten you—”
“Janus—”
“—and especially when you were actually working to make things right with Virgil—"
“I don’t—” Remus blinked as Janus' words registered in his mind. "Wait, how did you know that's what I was—"
“I mean, where does he even get off thinking he can control Virgil's life without his input anyway?" Janus growled, gesturing abruptly to the door. "Virgil isn’t some helpless child. He’s able to make his own decisions—"
“Am I on fucking mute or something?”
“—and you!” Janus spat, gesturing towards the Remus. Remus immediately flinched at Janus' anger, though he wasn’t sure what he'd done to deserve the lying side's ire. “He could have killed you—”
"What?" Remus flailed as Janus grabbed the collar of his shirt like a disobedient child. “Hey, that's not fair! I didn’t know that Pattoncake was secretly a sadist—”
“You should have been more careful—"
Remus' head reeled as Janus spun him around, but he managed to stifle his nausea long enough to shout at Janus. “Jan—For fuck's sake, either fuck me or take my head off your fucking chopping block—”
Janus blinked, finally taking in Remus' red face as he swayed uneasily in Janus' grip. “What?”
"Listen, I like it rough and all but if I knew that you could manhandle me like that—" Remus blinked blearily as Janus loosened his grip. "Fuck the possibilities are endless, but—"
"Remus, I'm really not in the mood for your games tonight—"
“I'm not playing—Just ignore all of that. I needed to get your attention because you wouldn’t let me get a word in edgewise. ” Remus muttered, waving his hands as he found his bearings. “Jan, you—you frickin' saved me.”
"Now is the time you decide to censor yourself?"
"I'm trying to give you a compliment, Janus." Remus cut him off with a wave of his arms. "Hello, I wasn't expecting to become a damsel in distress but you make a hell of a knight in shining armor to have actually stepped in to save me.
“Of course, I saved you." Janus muttered after a moment, dipping his head in embarrassment. "I felt Patton’s emotions start to well up. I knew he was going to cause trouble and I wasn't about to leave you to his mercy.”
“What so you mean you felt him?” Remus mouth dropped in confusion.
Janus shrugged as his gaze dropped to the ground, still agitated. “I feel a lot of things Patton does.”
“But why?” Remus growled angrily as Janus clammed up. "Just spit it out already, Jan—"
“Because he's Thomas’ biggest lie.” Janus blurted out without thinking, gesturing to the door.
“What?” Remus whispered as he watched Janus begin to pace the room.
“The source of Thomas’ morality is corrupt.” Janus yelled, though he was quickly losing steam. “Not Thomas himself. God, not Thomas. But his insistence on clinging to his purity complex and thinking he can please everyone if he just tries hard enough—It's the most insidious evil that's ever taken root in him.
Remus went quiet as Janus explained and everything suddenly began to click into place.
“Thomas can't just turn his attention away from every reality he doesn't like.” Janus shrugged as he looked up at Remus. “Trying to eliminate anything uncomfortable or unpleasant in his life is a slippery slope to much more dangerous ideas.”
“Okay,sure, but this is still happy pappy, sunshine-coming-out-of-his-ass Patton. You sure you don't got a screw loose in that big brain of yours?” Remus managed to blurt out in exasperation. The scene had just played out before his own eyes, but he couldn't help that his brain turned to fuzz every time he attempted to process it. “Ya know? Maybe, we’re in a some sort of shared delusion. I mean, I know he's cute and all but now's not the time to think with your other head—”
"Remus," Janus let out an exasperated sigh as he glared at Remus. “I know you can’t help it but I would strongly prefer you think before you speak, like a normal person—”
“But, Jan. Come on—"
“His perceived innocence is part of the ruse, Remus. Why do you think Thomas' Logic is blind to his actions?” Janus muttered as his voice became nearly manic. "Why do you think his Creativity fawns over him and his Anxiety is soothed by him?"
Remus giggled as the human side of Janus' face became a brilliant shade of red. "Couldn't just be that he's just more personable than you, Janus?"
"Remus, I swear I'll strangle you myself—"
“Ya know, it's not often I'm the one fighting to talk over you.” Remus interrupted as he giggled and leaned into Janus' fury with a crooked grin. “If I knew you'd get all hot and bothered by Patty getting rough with me, I would’ve shoved my—"
“If you value your life, you will not finish that thought.” Janus muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. “This is serious, Remus. You—You could have died.”
“Everything’s always serious, Jan-Jan. You should give yourself a break.” Remus grinned, gesturing up and down at himself. "Do I look dead to you?"
“I know, but—”
Remus' grin widened as he rambled. “I mean, I've got a plan for when the heart attack kills you and all, but I'm not like dying to use it.”
“That's not the—Wait, you do?”
“Well, yeah. I wouldn't let you go out without a bang." Remus' grin widened as Janus turned up him curiously. "Figured I'd have some fun with it and put your head under someone’s covers. It’s very Godfather-esque.”
“Huh—" Janus leaned back, suddenly contemplative to Remus' proposal. "To whom would you do this?”
“Well, not Pattycake anymore.” Remus laughed, patting Janus on the back. “Maybe, Roman though. He needs good jolt every once in a while.”
“He certainly could stand to come down a few notches on his ego.” Janus sighed, rolling his eyes. He paused, finally taking a breath as he stared at Remus unfaltering smile. “I have no idea how you're managing to stay calm after what just happened."
“Well, that's easy." Remus purred with cocky smile as he leaned into Janus. “I got my big, bad protector here with me.”
"I got lucky, Remus." Janus huffed. “If I hadn't have been paying attention to Patton's power flaring up, you would've—”
“Whatever, you felt that Patty boy was about to turn me to dust and you showed up.” Remus brushed off Janus' excuses. “That means something, Jan—Means a lot to me actually.”
Janus blinked as he looked up to the suddenly serious expression on Remus' face.
“The deadly dad freaked me out and I have to admit he had me kinda buying the story that I'm not that great of an influence on Virgil—” Remus sighed as he let his grin dropped away. “— or Thomas even, but I figure if you saved me, I can’t actually be all bad.”
“You’re not bad, Remus.”
“Yeah, well, even I need a reminder of that every once in a while.” Remus smiled. He shifted on his feet as he looked up at Janus. “So, thanks.”
“Anytime, Re.” Janus smirked at Remus' sincere smile. "I've always got your back."
“I know you do.” Remus breathed with a worried glance back at his door. “Saving me might have been the easy part though, Jan. Patton didn't seem like he was gonna let our Stormy Nightmare go.”
“Virgil will see through his lies,” Janus breathed as tasted the air. “The power's shifting and he can't hold me back forever. We aren't going down without a fight, and once Thomas sees his true nature, the game's over for Morality.”
Janus nodded with a glance at the wall as a sudden chill ran up his spine. He could feel someone watching, but he supposed it didn’t matter. There was no turning back now. “Yes, Remus. I think it’s time to start pushing back.”
Summary: Remus has fun in his submarine. A giant barracuda disagrees.
CW: Dark humour, skeletal remains of a rat, drowning, deep ocean (if there's anything else do tell), death, sexual innuendo.
The submersion
It was cloudy.
And cold.
But that was to be expected when one’s in the middle of the Atlantic.
“Remus Prince, you dunce, how are you dressed like that?”
Remus turned around to see Ella Da Villa, the captain of the ship he was on, and an old friend. Her short afro was stuffed inside of a beanie, she held onto her sides through her huge puffer coat.
“I know you’d just rather I take it all off, but, honey, I need to at least wear something”.
She laughed.
“What you need is to make sure you don’t get drenched or--”
“First of all, I look amazing all wet. But if that’s what you’re so worried about, hey, I took care of that” he answered pointing at his green rain boots.
The crew looked at them in amusement as they moved the equipment, preparing everything for the submersion.
Ella took off one of her gloves and smacked Remus’ head with it.
“Ow! I thought you were against violence!”
“I never said that. But I am against animal abuse, that’s why I didn’t hit you hard. Now go and put on a coat, you dumbass”.
“Sure thing mommy, you know how to be commanding” he winked.
“It’s captain for you, now go!”
His boots squeaked against the flooring of the deck as he ran to get into the guts of the ship. He managed to hear Ella swearing under her breath.
“How did he even graduate? Going out in short sleeves…”
Ella was a funny one, Remus thought. It was easy to get under her skin, she also liked to play along which made it even better.
One of the people going up the metal stairs almost tripped against him, there wasn’t that much room, after all. Remus jumped over the railing and fell onto the lower level without a scratch.
“Oh my god! Are you okay?!” said someone.
A younger guy with spectacular hair held onto his forearm to check on him. Oh, this was the newbie.
“Don’t worry, I don’t have any lungs”.
“Wha…” he looked half perplexed and half horrified.
“You know, we all get it done since we’re going to end up sleeping with the fish anyway”.
He stood up quickly and mutely apologised. Remus enjoyed the view of his ass going upstairs as fast as possible. New meat was always hilarious.
When he entered the room his cupboard was already open. He liked to leave the sliding doors that way so he could see what was inside, otherwise, he’d forget about it. In a ship, that meant ending up with all of one’s clothes on the floor, but as long as Remus could see where they were he wouldn’t misplace anything. Object permanence was a bitch.
Messy floors did have an advantage, the coat on top of the pile was good enough to satisfy Ella and easy enough to grab quickly.
The backswing of the glove against his shoulder caught him off-guard.
“Ow! What did I do now?! This coat is fine!”
“The coat is fine, yes, but the new guy is shaking like a leaf. What did you tell him? He keeps saying stuff about drowning”.
“Hey, I’d never mention drowning when I’m about to get into a submarine”.
“Yes, that’d be very poor taste, sadly, you have it worse so you must have said something terrible. I expect you to fix this, or we’ll have to arrange you drowning”.
“You know I love choking on wet things”.
“Then your last moments will be pleasant. Consider me the best friend one could have”.
The new guy was holding onto the railing of the ship, staring at the water in concentration. Probably about to throw up or something.
“Hey!”
“Ah!” he screamed.
“Do you have a name?”
“Uh… yes… um…”
“Great! I have one too, it’s Remus” he introduced himself with half a bow.
“I’m Nathan… sorry… I’m just anxious… it’s the first time I go on one of those” he gestured at the submersible held by the crane of the ship.
“First times are always awkward, don’t worry”.
Finally, Nathan let out a laugh, it was a nervous one but it would suffice.
“You know what I said earlier was a joke, right?”
“Oh, yeah, it just caught me by surprise. You’re the head biologist here, right?”
“Yup. Guess you could say I’m the dom of this study”.
“Darn it, here I was expecting to be more active”.
Remus smiled in surprise. It was always nice when people had similar humour to his.
“Oh, you’ll have to be. I expect it”.
“You wouldn’t expect we could go for some coffee after we get into…” the date proposition vanished into a look of fear at the submersible.
Remus put a hand over his shoulders. The drowning jokes would have to wait until they were emerging.
“Don’t worry, my thicc ass has been there tons of times! It’s just a lot of water”.
“While it’s true he’s been there more than you, he’s overplaying his own ass. It’s kind of droopy” a heavily accented voice said
“Who are you calling droopy?”
They turned to see a tall blond woman smiling smugly. Erika Engström, oceanographer and the operator of the submersible.
“You, obviously, do you have water in your ears?”
“Not yet, but we’ll see if…”
Nathan held his breath.
“Nah, I don’t”.
“He either thinks you’re cute or he’s afraid the captain will throw him off-board if he keeps bullying you”, Erika told Nathan.
“I wasn’t bullying anyone”.
“Sorry to break it to you, but you’re always bullying people, you don’t know how else to flirt”.
“Then I would be flirting with everyone”.
“Aren’t you?”
“Okay, yeah”.
“Come on, I have to set up things. Give me a hand, rat skull”.
“At least give me a knife or something”.
“You can chew it through”.
One last look at Nathan before following her.
“Well, I’ll leave you to stress out, if I don’t help her we’ll dro…” oh right, no drowning jokes. “We’ll…”
“Flirt with me when we’re back at the surface”.
Remus smiled.
“Will do!”
-----
The light was beginning to fade out. The flickering of the few rays coming through a swirl of silvery fish would be their last glimpses at natural lighting for a while.
It was wonderful.
How the underwater landscape changed, morphing into something out of a nightmare. Never ceases to amaze him. People would say it was all just blue getting darker and darker, and it was! But it was also a thick fog from which anything could come out. He always looked forward to seeing the weirdest fish appear.
There wasn’t much room behind the giant acrylic viewport. Despite being stuck so closely together, Remus could feel a chill as the air within got cooled by the deep water. His coat lay forgotten at the back of his chair still.
Once the lights of the submersible switched on, a delicate dance of white dust shined just like it would on a sunny day. This was no room dust. But there was just as much beauty in seeing the marine snow surrounding them. Teensy tiny pieces of dead fish falling all around, making the nicest shapes.
“It’s so quiet” Nathan observed.
“Wait until you hear a whale. The first time I did I thought my skull would pop”.
“Which one?” Erika kept her eyes on the water, but he could see the reflection of a smile curving onto the surface of the acrylic.
“Well, the small one. I know you’d hate to have to scrape my brains off your console”.
“If you had any I would”.
“There would still be plenty of blood”.
The ship carried on with the descend, soon, they’d be at twenty thousand feet. Nathan leaned in.
“Hey, what did she mean by which one?” he said in a hushed voice.
“Oh! Right”
He pulled on the string of his necklace to get it from under his shirt. Remus held it in front of Nathan’s face.
It turned, revealing the empty sockets and the front of what used to be a snout.
“I have this rat skull as a necklace! Erika teases me because that’s how she copes with the fact that she hates it!”
“Anyone would hate it. You wear that thing everywhere. It’s creepy” Erika pointed out.
“Where did you get it?” Nathan asked.
In the dim light, Remus’s smile cast shadows, giving him a grim vibe.
“I used to have a pet rat. When it died it sucked, my brother and I buried it in the backyard. It was there until three years later when we got a heavy storm. The bones peeked through the mud. So I just yanked a bit on the spine and got it. The skull was already defleshed anyway, so, aside from cleaning it a bit, I didn’t have to do any of the work. I really like this necklace. I got into marine biology because I began looking at fish skulls and I wanted to see more”.
“That’s…” Nathan began to say.
Suddenly, the submersible turned violently.
“What was that?”
“I don’t know, I couldn’t take a good look”, said Erika.
Her frown told Remus something was seriously wrong.
“Guys, we’re picking up really weird signals from here. Are you all okay?” the sound of Ella’s voice through the radio distracted him from his train of thought.
“It’s all under control, but I am going to begin ascending” Erika replied.
“We haven’t taken all the samples”, Nathan said.
“We’ll have another chance. Right now I’m worried that---”
Erika did not have time to finish talking.
Its needle-like teeth loomed over the viewport. This creature was unlike anything he’d ever seen. Part of him felt excited at how terrifying it all was. Sadly, he had the feeling they were all about to die. This fish looked like a giant barracuda and an angry one.
The creature snapped its jaw closed, cracking the viewport.
Seemingly, it didn’t find it tasty enough and it swam away even moodier than before. The very least it could have done was eat them.
If you’re going to kill them might as well finish the job.
Remus’ body floated into the dark abyss as he struggled to breathe. Covering his ears tightly, he screamed in pain. The pressure was unlike anything.
Well, it had been fun.
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The continuation will feature Logan and another animatic!
Remus knew his friends thought he was the traitor. He couldn’t really blame them. He didn’t belong with them anymore. A werewolf didn’t belong anywhere.
AU - Spies are discovered and friendships shattered. And one life hangs in the balance.
