Fic: Away From Nowhere
Dec. 20th, 2006 09:15 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
suzene.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
small_giftsTitle: Away From Nowhere
Author/Artist:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
suzene
Written for:jennuine
Rating: PG
Prompt: Pancakes
Any other random notes, warnings, etc.: Thanks to Rian219 for the speedy beta!
Despite his insistence to Mr and Mrs Lupin that no, really, he and Remus would be just fine sharing a bed, Sirius hadn't gotten much sleep his first night in the Lupin household. To start, Remus' tendency to ball all the bedclothes into a cozy personal nest in the night, a habit which seemed so very quirky and adorable in a snug dorm room, was absolute pants anywhere there was even a slight chill in the air, so Sirius had spent half the night wrestling with his sleeping boyfriend for his fair share of the blankets. Second, Remus' narrow twin mattress was a damned tease; it might encourage one to think that one would spend a blissful night curled up around one's boyfriend, doing quiet, delightfully pornographic things to each other in the still of the night, but in reality, the mattress apparently had the power to turn a love-hungry sixteen-year-old werewolf into a blushing relic from the Victorian era. Thirdly, Sirius was sure that Remus' books were breeding when no one was looking. Not that Sirius had any fundamental objection to books, but he was annoyed at being forcibly chaste when the dog-eared volumes under the bed were probably merrily breeding sequels, epilogues, and little appendices to take up the rest of the room's floor space.
That was how Sirius Black came to be curled up on the very edge of Remus Lupin's bed, freezing his blue blood balls off and eyeing the overladen bookshelves across the room with bleary annoyance. There was enough light coming around the shelf blocking the window that Sirius figured it had to be around dawn. Since having a lie-in was out of the question, he decided he might as well get up. And since it was Remus' fault that Sirius wasn't going to be able to sleep in, he might as well get up too. He rolled over, gripping the edge of the blankets securely as he prepared to roll his boyfriend to the floor. Remus stirred, turning toward Sirius in his sleep.
"That won't save you this time," Sirius muttered, trying to steel himself against the sight of Remus' silver-shot bangs flopping down over his eyes in a most appealing fashion. "You've got this coming."
Remus snuggled deeper into the bedclothes, pressing forward until he was cuddled against Sirius' chest, and made a little murmur of contentment.
"I fucking hate you." Sirius sighed, plans for revenge dissolving into the ether. He sat up carefully so as not to disturb Remus, swung his legs over the side of the bed, then scrambled for his robe and slippers. The Lupin's tiny house -- not much more than a cottage, really -- had seemed very cozy the night before when there was a fire going in the sitting room hearth and charms on all of the windows to keep the warmth in, but, with fire and charms extinguished, it didn't seem that much warmer than the snowy outdoors.
Sirius padded down the short hall, through the kitchen, and into the sitting room. He wasn't entirely sure what to do with himself now that he was awake. The Lupin household's only connections to the outside world were an hour's walk along a dirt road that led into a town with too many h's and w's in the name and a subscription to the Daily Prophet, so going out didn't hold much appeal. He decided to get a fire going and worry about boredom when he wasn't in danger of freezing to the spot.
A few minutes and some singed knuckles later, and Sirius was back in the kitchen, contemplating the stove and feeling slightly more human. Warming up his insides would be more effective than waiting for the whole house to heat up. Making breakfast seemed like a nice gesture for taking him in over the holidays anyway.
It took longer than Sirius had expected to find all of the ingredients for pancakes, not to mention measuring cups and spoons and getting the stove lit without the aid of a wand. Just as he'd dropped the first spoonfuls of batter into the frypan, a drowsy question caught him off-guard.
"What're you doing?" Remus stood in the hallway, knuckling the sleepdust from his eyes. His hair was sticking up in the back. A once-red blanket, now faded to a dingy shade of pink, was draped around his shoulders like a shawl.
Sirius looked down at the spatula in his hand, then at the fry pan, then shrugged. "I'm making breakfast. What does it look like?"
"Since when do you know how to cook?" Remus shuffled forward, yawning, and rested his chin on Sirius shoulder to get a look at the pancakes. "Those actually look edible."
"Get out of it." Sirius snorted and made a half-hearted effort to shake Remus off. "Why shouldn't I know how to cook?"
Remus wrapped his arms around Sirius' neck and clung like a burr. Sirius could hear the smile in his voice as he spoke.
"Because it's so dreadfully common? I would have guessed that your mum would have disowned you long ago if she'd ever caught you in the kitchens."
"Good thing the old bitch couldn't watch me every moment of every day then, isn't it? James' mum lets me mess around in the kitchens if I want to. I picked up a few simple things." Sirius deftly flipped the first batch of cakes raw-side down, feeling just a bit smug. "Not like there's much else to do anyway, is there?"
Remus' hold loosened a bit. "I told you that you should have gone with James for the holidays."
"Yeah, but I'd never been home with you before, had I?"
"Now you can see why." Remus pulled away and snagged the tea kettle from one of the cold back-burners, heading to the kitchen tap to fill it. "I knew you'd hate it."
"I don't hate it. I just...I didn't really expect it to be a million miles away from everywhere."
Remus lit a new burner and set the kettle on before retreating the kitchen table, drawing his blanket tight around him like a cloak. He didn't say anything until Sirius brought him a plate of pancakes and sat down across from him to eat.
"Thanks," Remus said quietly.
"Not a problem." More silence, with only the crackling of the fire one room over to fill it. "Remus, I don't hate it. You're here, right? So I can't."
"Sop." Remus smiled a little despite himself, but that didn't last long. "It'd be all right if you did. I did. Still do sometimes. We moved around a lot when I was little. Chasing cures. Getting out before the neighbors could get too suspicious. Or we'd run out of money and have to trade down. The trips to St. Mungo's add up after a while." Remus stared down at his plate.
The kettle sounded off and Sirius got to his feet quickly, glad for the excuse to move.
"Well...it's quiet, at least," he managed lamely, hunting for mugs and tea leaves.
"Second cabinet. Leaves on bottom, mugs on the middle shelf."
"Thanks."
"Yeah, it's quiet. Safe. The house, I mean. No Floo. No wizards. No neighbors. We're not even hooked up with a wireless." Remus ran his fingers through his hair. "The books made it all right for a while. For years. What did I need to go out and get picked on for when I could rest in bed and be anywhere I wanted to? And then I got my Hogwarts letter and went to school..." Remus glanced up as Sirius set a mug in front of him. "Now I can barely stand coming home at all. I just want to get my Apparation Licence and run away with you as soon as school finishes. I'm just...I'm so bloody sick of being safe and all by myself."
"You're not by yourself, though. It's why you brought me along, right?" Sirius sidled around the back of Remus' chair and gave him a quick hug. Remus was warm, and still had the stale sleeping scents clinging to him. "And I promise I won't give you two minutes of peace to settle down and read so long as I'm around."
"I know. You're not all that safe either."
"Not a boring bone in my body," Sirius agreed, pushing down the faint, inexplicable vapor of concern that Remus' words had kicked up.
"Right. Thanks." Remus laid his arms over Sirius' and held the embrace for a long time. "Eat your breakfast, berk."
Sirius slipped away to the other side of the table, feeling warmer than he had all morning.
Author/Artist:
suzeneWritten for:
jennuineRating: PG
Prompt: Pancakes
Any other random notes, warnings, etc.: Thanks to Rian219 for the speedy beta!
Despite his insistence to Mr and Mrs Lupin that no, really, he and Remus would be just fine sharing a bed, Sirius hadn't gotten much sleep his first night in the Lupin household. To start, Remus' tendency to ball all the bedclothes into a cozy personal nest in the night, a habit which seemed so very quirky and adorable in a snug dorm room, was absolute pants anywhere there was even a slight chill in the air, so Sirius had spent half the night wrestling with his sleeping boyfriend for his fair share of the blankets. Second, Remus' narrow twin mattress was a damned tease; it might encourage one to think that one would spend a blissful night curled up around one's boyfriend, doing quiet, delightfully pornographic things to each other in the still of the night, but in reality, the mattress apparently had the power to turn a love-hungry sixteen-year-old werewolf into a blushing relic from the Victorian era. Thirdly, Sirius was sure that Remus' books were breeding when no one was looking. Not that Sirius had any fundamental objection to books, but he was annoyed at being forcibly chaste when the dog-eared volumes under the bed were probably merrily breeding sequels, epilogues, and little appendices to take up the rest of the room's floor space.
That was how Sirius Black came to be curled up on the very edge of Remus Lupin's bed, freezing his blue blood balls off and eyeing the overladen bookshelves across the room with bleary annoyance. There was enough light coming around the shelf blocking the window that Sirius figured it had to be around dawn. Since having a lie-in was out of the question, he decided he might as well get up. And since it was Remus' fault that Sirius wasn't going to be able to sleep in, he might as well get up too. He rolled over, gripping the edge of the blankets securely as he prepared to roll his boyfriend to the floor. Remus stirred, turning toward Sirius in his sleep.
"That won't save you this time," Sirius muttered, trying to steel himself against the sight of Remus' silver-shot bangs flopping down over his eyes in a most appealing fashion. "You've got this coming."
Remus snuggled deeper into the bedclothes, pressing forward until he was cuddled against Sirius' chest, and made a little murmur of contentment.
"I fucking hate you." Sirius sighed, plans for revenge dissolving into the ether. He sat up carefully so as not to disturb Remus, swung his legs over the side of the bed, then scrambled for his robe and slippers. The Lupin's tiny house -- not much more than a cottage, really -- had seemed very cozy the night before when there was a fire going in the sitting room hearth and charms on all of the windows to keep the warmth in, but, with fire and charms extinguished, it didn't seem that much warmer than the snowy outdoors.
Sirius padded down the short hall, through the kitchen, and into the sitting room. He wasn't entirely sure what to do with himself now that he was awake. The Lupin household's only connections to the outside world were an hour's walk along a dirt road that led into a town with too many h's and w's in the name and a subscription to the Daily Prophet, so going out didn't hold much appeal. He decided to get a fire going and worry about boredom when he wasn't in danger of freezing to the spot.
A few minutes and some singed knuckles later, and Sirius was back in the kitchen, contemplating the stove and feeling slightly more human. Warming up his insides would be more effective than waiting for the whole house to heat up. Making breakfast seemed like a nice gesture for taking him in over the holidays anyway.
It took longer than Sirius had expected to find all of the ingredients for pancakes, not to mention measuring cups and spoons and getting the stove lit without the aid of a wand. Just as he'd dropped the first spoonfuls of batter into the frypan, a drowsy question caught him off-guard.
"What're you doing?" Remus stood in the hallway, knuckling the sleepdust from his eyes. His hair was sticking up in the back. A once-red blanket, now faded to a dingy shade of pink, was draped around his shoulders like a shawl.
Sirius looked down at the spatula in his hand, then at the fry pan, then shrugged. "I'm making breakfast. What does it look like?"
"Since when do you know how to cook?" Remus shuffled forward, yawning, and rested his chin on Sirius shoulder to get a look at the pancakes. "Those actually look edible."
"Get out of it." Sirius snorted and made a half-hearted effort to shake Remus off. "Why shouldn't I know how to cook?"
Remus wrapped his arms around Sirius' neck and clung like a burr. Sirius could hear the smile in his voice as he spoke.
"Because it's so dreadfully common? I would have guessed that your mum would have disowned you long ago if she'd ever caught you in the kitchens."
"Good thing the old bitch couldn't watch me every moment of every day then, isn't it? James' mum lets me mess around in the kitchens if I want to. I picked up a few simple things." Sirius deftly flipped the first batch of cakes raw-side down, feeling just a bit smug. "Not like there's much else to do anyway, is there?"
Remus' hold loosened a bit. "I told you that you should have gone with James for the holidays."
"Yeah, but I'd never been home with you before, had I?"
"Now you can see why." Remus pulled away and snagged the tea kettle from one of the cold back-burners, heading to the kitchen tap to fill it. "I knew you'd hate it."
"I don't hate it. I just...I didn't really expect it to be a million miles away from everywhere."
Remus lit a new burner and set the kettle on before retreating the kitchen table, drawing his blanket tight around him like a cloak. He didn't say anything until Sirius brought him a plate of pancakes and sat down across from him to eat.
"Thanks," Remus said quietly.
"Not a problem." More silence, with only the crackling of the fire one room over to fill it. "Remus, I don't hate it. You're here, right? So I can't."
"Sop." Remus smiled a little despite himself, but that didn't last long. "It'd be all right if you did. I did. Still do sometimes. We moved around a lot when I was little. Chasing cures. Getting out before the neighbors could get too suspicious. Or we'd run out of money and have to trade down. The trips to St. Mungo's add up after a while." Remus stared down at his plate.
The kettle sounded off and Sirius got to his feet quickly, glad for the excuse to move.
"Well...it's quiet, at least," he managed lamely, hunting for mugs and tea leaves.
"Second cabinet. Leaves on bottom, mugs on the middle shelf."
"Thanks."
"Yeah, it's quiet. Safe. The house, I mean. No Floo. No wizards. No neighbors. We're not even hooked up with a wireless." Remus ran his fingers through his hair. "The books made it all right for a while. For years. What did I need to go out and get picked on for when I could rest in bed and be anywhere I wanted to? And then I got my Hogwarts letter and went to school..." Remus glanced up as Sirius set a mug in front of him. "Now I can barely stand coming home at all. I just want to get my Apparation Licence and run away with you as soon as school finishes. I'm just...I'm so bloody sick of being safe and all by myself."
"You're not by yourself, though. It's why you brought me along, right?" Sirius sidled around the back of Remus' chair and gave him a quick hug. Remus was warm, and still had the stale sleeping scents clinging to him. "And I promise I won't give you two minutes of peace to settle down and read so long as I'm around."
"I know. You're not all that safe either."
"Not a boring bone in my body," Sirius agreed, pushing down the faint, inexplicable vapor of concern that Remus' words had kicked up.
"Right. Thanks." Remus laid his arms over Sirius' and held the embrace for a long time. "Eat your breakfast, berk."
Sirius slipped away to the other side of the table, feeling warmer than he had all morning.
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Date: 2006-12-28 05:42 pm (UTC)and a little bit sad, but that's okay, too. I love domestic!Sirius and sleepy!Remus and how comfortable they are with each other.
very well done.
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Date: 2007-01-06 08:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-28 08:10 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2006-12-28 09:16 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2006-12-29 12:02 am (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2006-12-29 03:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-01-06 08:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-31 02:55 am (UTC)oh this was so sweet :) The first paragraph was especially delightful although the entire thing was rather lovely. well done :)
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Date: 2007-01-06 08:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-01-03 06:50 am (UTC)I adored this! It's sweet and fuzzy and there were pancakes! Thank you thank you thank you! *snuggles up with fic*
♥♥♥♥♥!!
ps - Sorry for the lateness in responding, I havent been online in yonks. *kicks internet provider*
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Date: 2007-01-06 08:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-01-03 01:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-01-06 08:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-01-03 03:19 pm (UTC)I particularly liked the reference to James having multiple kitchens.
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Date: 2007-01-06 08:26 pm (UTC)