FIC: A GLASS HALF FULL FOR ERISED_RAIN
Dec. 12th, 2013 01:10 amTitle: A Glass Half Full
Author/Artist:
pavlablack
Recipient:
erised_rain
Rating: R
Contents or warnings (highlight to view): * Language, frotting *
Word count: 1700
Summary: Remus is avoiding Tonks, and Sirius is avoiding everyone. Good thing there’s plenty of Firewhiskey on hand.
Notes: For the prompt, “Remus is drunk and, ah, the drink always does bring out confessions of the heart.” I hope you like this,
erised_rain. It’s a little more Sirius-centric than I planned, but I tried to work in some of your likes and fit the prompt as best I could. Thanks to the mods for your patience and understanding, and to the wonderful
rewrites24 for the beta.
Sirius was well on his way to getting pissed when the door to the kitchen creaked open.
“Mind pouring me a glass of that?”
Remus hovered in the doorway, wearing the jumper Molly had given him for Christmas, a sombre grey one with an enormous red “R” stitched across the front. He looked completely ridiculous in it, and Sirius started to tell him so, until he looked down and remembered what he himself was wearing. His own jumper was a garish red and also displayed his first initial, done in grey. (Did Molly think they were likely to be Obliviated at any moment and might need reminding of their own names?) He’d only put it on because Kreacher was Merlin knows where, leaving Sirius to launder his own clothes, which he was going to get around to doing. Eventually.
“Depends,” he said, the bottle halfway to his lips.
“On what?”
He took a drink before answering. “Did Molly send you down here to check on me?”
“No.”
“Liar.” But Sirius grabbed a glass from the cupboard and poured Remus a drink anyway. He could have done it by magic, but he liked the way the bottle felt in his hand, and the clinking sound of glass on glass.
“She sent me to Buckbeak’s room, since that’s where you’ve been spending most of your time.” Remus slid out a chair and sat down at the kitchen table. “I told her I’d see to you before I went to bed.”
“And so you have,” Sirius said. He set the drink in front of Remus but didn’t join him at the table. “Well done.
A loud crash echoed throughout the house, followed by screams from Sirius’s mother’s portrait. “MUDBLOODS AND MURDERERS, DEFILING MY HOUSE!”
“Mum’s at it again, I see. And Tonks as well.” Sirius sighed and sat down. “Don’t know how she gets by as an Auror with all that racket she makes.”
“Yeah.” Remus downed his drink and poured himself another before handing the bottle back to Sirius.
“Merlin, Moony. You’ve never been this much of a drinker. What’s got into you?”
A moment later, Tonks stumbled into the kitchen, her cheeks flushed as her eyes lit on Remus. “Oh, there you are. I thought you were going to bed.”
Remus smiled politely, but he looked the way he had back in school when girls started following him around—completely bewildered. Moony might not have got the attention that James or even Sirius had, but there were still a fair amount of birds, and a few blokes, who found themselves drawn to his quiet, bookish charm. Including Sirius. Not that Remus knew any of that.
“Just came to keep Sirius company for a bit,” Remus said.
“Oh, for Circe’s sake, just because I fancied some time to myself doesn’t mean I need a babysitter,” Sirius grumbled. He wanted Moony to want him, not watch over him like he was some injured puffskein or something.
“Always did love that sunny disposition of yours, cousin,” Tonks said, grinning. She turned to Remus. “I came to say goodnight, but if you’re going to be up for a while, I can stay a bit longer. We could—”
“Don’t you have guard duty in the morning?” Remus asked.
“Well, yes, but—”
“You should probably get some sleep then.”
Sirius couldn’t stop a smile from tugging at the corner of his mouth. Not that he had anything against Tonks—she was the only member of his family he could stand—but she was completely wrong for Remus.
“Oh. Right.” Her hair shifted from bubblegum pink into a mousy brown. “Well … I’ll see you tomorrow then. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight,” Remus said glumly.
“What was that all about?” Sirius asked after she left. Of course he knew what it was all about, but that didn’t mean he didn’t want to hear Remus’s take on things.
“What?”
Sirius raised an eyebrow. “Don’t be stupid, Remus. You don’t wear it well and you know it.”
Remus sighed. “I don’t know. She keeps plying me with Firewhiskey and asking me all sorts of questions.”
“What questions?”
“Odd things. Like my favourite band—”
“That’s easy. The Beadles.”
“The Beetles,” Remus corrected. “And whether or not I’d like to have children someday, and where I see myself in thirty years.”
Sirius burst out laughing.
“What?”
“Well, it’s obvious, isn’t it?”
“No, it isn’t, or I wouldn’t be asking you.”
“She—”
Another crash set off another round of screams, and Sirius dropped off his response, draining the last bit of Firewhiskey from the bottle. “Remind me tomorrow to get rid of that wretched umbrella stand Tonks keeps tripping over. Shall I open another bottle?”
“Please.”
Sirius pulled a fresh bottle from the cupboard and filled Remus’s glass.
“Sure you haven’t had enough?” Remus asked, noticing the tremor in Sirius’s hand.
“Oh. That.” Sirius tipped the bottle back and shut his eyes as the whiskey burned down his throat. He was pleasantly pissed by now, but he still couldn’t stop his damned hand from shaking. “That’s been going on for a while now. Ever since Azkaban.”
Remus took the bottle from Sirius and set it on the table. He ran his fingers across Sirius’s palm, and suddenly the tremors weren’t confined to Sirius’s hand. “Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked softly.
Sirius drew back his hand. “What? It’s nothing. Just a nice little gift from the Dementors. Guess they didn’t want me to be left with nothing for Christmas.”
“I’m sorry,” Remus said.
“For what?”
“Leaving you there. Believing you were—”
“We’ve been over this.”
“Have we?”
“Of course we have.” Sirius knocked back another drink. “Come on, Moony. You’re acting like Molly, wanting to talk things to death. Anyway, I thought you were going to bed.”
“So I was,” Remus said, pushing his chair back from the table, and suddenly Sirius had a bit more sympathy for Tonks.
“Wait,” he said, his face reddening when he heard the desperate edge to his voice.
“I thought you wanted to be alone.”
“I can be alone with you here.”
“Not sure how I should feel about that,” Remus said lightly, but he sat back down.
Sirius shook his head. He never could say anything right these days. “Don’t mind me, Moony. When I’m by myself I want to be around people. But when I am I don’t know how to act. You’re the only one who seems to get it.”
“I’ve had my share of feeling out of place, that’s true.”
“Sorry.”
Remus shrugged. “I think that’s enough soul-searching for one evening, don’t you? Let’s get pissed.”
And so they did, having a few more rounds before deciding to call it a night.
It was dark but for the small light Molly had left on for them. Blessed Molly. Sirius would have to thank her for the jumper in the morning. It really was quite comfortable.
Merlin, he must be drunker than he thought. Though Remus still seemed a bit ahead of him there.
“Need help?” Sirius asked, watching Moony grasp the wall for support as he made his way upstairs.
“”m fine,” Remus slurred, grabbing the nearest mounted house elf head. “Sorry, Kreacher. Didn’t see you there.”
“Like hell you are.” Sirius laughed and threw Remus’s arm around his shoulders. “Here. Lean on me.”
“You drank as much as I did. How come you don’t need help?”
“Practise, I suppose,” Sirius said, his trousers tightening as Remus’s fringe brushed his neck.
All too soon they reached Remus’s room.
“Here you go,” Sirius said, opening the door with his free hand. “Do you need help getting into bed?”
Had he really just said that?
“Yeah, if you don’t mind.”
“All right, then,” Sirius said, feeling unsteady himself as he walked Remus into the room. It was dark but not pitch black, and he was doing all right until his feet got tangled with Remus’s and they both fell onto the bed.
“Sorry,” Sirius said, pulling himself up before Remus could feel how hard he was.
“’s all right,” Remus whispered, grabbing a fistful of Sirius’s jumper and pulling him back down. Sirius buried his head in Remus’s neck, hoping Remus was pissed enough that he wouldn’t remember this part tomorrow.
Then Remus ran a hand through Sirius’s hair, and Sirius hoped he was pissed enough that he’d never, ever stop doing that. He breathed Remus in. Merlin, he smelled amazing.
“Sirius?”
“Mm-hm?”
“What were you going to say in the kitchen? About Nymphdora?”
Sirius stuck his tongue back in his mouth, glad he hadn’t licked Moony’s ear like he was on the verge of doing. Or wishing he had, because now he’d missed his chance. So Remus did fancy Tonks after all. He hadn’t seen that one coming.
He pushed himself up, his hands on either side of Remus. “Just that she likes you.”
“I like you,” Remus whispered, running his hands along Sirius’s sides.
For once in his life, Sirius was incapable of movement or speech. Moony grabbed him by the sleeve and pulled him down to suck on his neck, which Sirius decided was a pretty good indication it was all right to lick Moony’s ear. So he did.
“Mm, you taste good,” he sighed, pleased when Moony shivered in response.
“You too,” Remus moaned, thrusting up against him.
“If you don’t stop that, I’m going to come,” Sirius said after a while, grinding his hips down, not wanting Remus to stop at all. Still, he wondered what would happen tomorrow when Remus was no longer drunk.
“Fuck, Padfoot. You know how long I’ve waited to hear you say something like that to me?”
Sirius stilled, though his heart started beating faster than ever. “How long?”
Remus turned his head so that he and Sirius were face-to-face, nose-to-nose. “A very, very long time.” He pushed Sirius’s hair out of his eyes and gave him a searching look. “Is that all right?”
Sirius realised maybe Remus wasn’t so drunk after all. Just drunk enough.
“Definitely all right,” he said, feeling giddy and hopeful for the first time in years. “I’m going to kiss you now,” he declared, his tongue already tracing the corner of Remus’s lips.
“About bloody t—.”
And then Sirius pressed their lips together, and there wasn’t any more talking for a very, very long time.
Author/Artist:
Recipient:
Rating: R
Contents or warnings (highlight to view): * Language, frotting *
Word count: 1700
Summary: Remus is avoiding Tonks, and Sirius is avoiding everyone. Good thing there’s plenty of Firewhiskey on hand.
Notes: For the prompt, “Remus is drunk and, ah, the drink always does bring out confessions of the heart.” I hope you like this,
Sirius was well on his way to getting pissed when the door to the kitchen creaked open.
“Mind pouring me a glass of that?”
Remus hovered in the doorway, wearing the jumper Molly had given him for Christmas, a sombre grey one with an enormous red “R” stitched across the front. He looked completely ridiculous in it, and Sirius started to tell him so, until he looked down and remembered what he himself was wearing. His own jumper was a garish red and also displayed his first initial, done in grey. (Did Molly think they were likely to be Obliviated at any moment and might need reminding of their own names?) He’d only put it on because Kreacher was Merlin knows where, leaving Sirius to launder his own clothes, which he was going to get around to doing. Eventually.
“Depends,” he said, the bottle halfway to his lips.
“On what?”
He took a drink before answering. “Did Molly send you down here to check on me?”
“No.”
“Liar.” But Sirius grabbed a glass from the cupboard and poured Remus a drink anyway. He could have done it by magic, but he liked the way the bottle felt in his hand, and the clinking sound of glass on glass.
“She sent me to Buckbeak’s room, since that’s where you’ve been spending most of your time.” Remus slid out a chair and sat down at the kitchen table. “I told her I’d see to you before I went to bed.”
“And so you have,” Sirius said. He set the drink in front of Remus but didn’t join him at the table. “Well done.
A loud crash echoed throughout the house, followed by screams from Sirius’s mother’s portrait. “MUDBLOODS AND MURDERERS, DEFILING MY HOUSE!”
“Mum’s at it again, I see. And Tonks as well.” Sirius sighed and sat down. “Don’t know how she gets by as an Auror with all that racket she makes.”
“Yeah.” Remus downed his drink and poured himself another before handing the bottle back to Sirius.
“Merlin, Moony. You’ve never been this much of a drinker. What’s got into you?”
A moment later, Tonks stumbled into the kitchen, her cheeks flushed as her eyes lit on Remus. “Oh, there you are. I thought you were going to bed.”
Remus smiled politely, but he looked the way he had back in school when girls started following him around—completely bewildered. Moony might not have got the attention that James or even Sirius had, but there were still a fair amount of birds, and a few blokes, who found themselves drawn to his quiet, bookish charm. Including Sirius. Not that Remus knew any of that.
“Just came to keep Sirius company for a bit,” Remus said.
“Oh, for Circe’s sake, just because I fancied some time to myself doesn’t mean I need a babysitter,” Sirius grumbled. He wanted Moony to want him, not watch over him like he was some injured puffskein or something.
“Always did love that sunny disposition of yours, cousin,” Tonks said, grinning. She turned to Remus. “I came to say goodnight, but if you’re going to be up for a while, I can stay a bit longer. We could—”
“Don’t you have guard duty in the morning?” Remus asked.
“Well, yes, but—”
“You should probably get some sleep then.”
Sirius couldn’t stop a smile from tugging at the corner of his mouth. Not that he had anything against Tonks—she was the only member of his family he could stand—but she was completely wrong for Remus.
“Oh. Right.” Her hair shifted from bubblegum pink into a mousy brown. “Well … I’ll see you tomorrow then. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight,” Remus said glumly.
“What was that all about?” Sirius asked after she left. Of course he knew what it was all about, but that didn’t mean he didn’t want to hear Remus’s take on things.
“What?”
Sirius raised an eyebrow. “Don’t be stupid, Remus. You don’t wear it well and you know it.”
Remus sighed. “I don’t know. She keeps plying me with Firewhiskey and asking me all sorts of questions.”
“What questions?”
“Odd things. Like my favourite band—”
“That’s easy. The Beadles.”
“The Beetles,” Remus corrected. “And whether or not I’d like to have children someday, and where I see myself in thirty years.”
Sirius burst out laughing.
“What?”
“Well, it’s obvious, isn’t it?”
“No, it isn’t, or I wouldn’t be asking you.”
“She—”
Another crash set off another round of screams, and Sirius dropped off his response, draining the last bit of Firewhiskey from the bottle. “Remind me tomorrow to get rid of that wretched umbrella stand Tonks keeps tripping over. Shall I open another bottle?”
“Please.”
Sirius pulled a fresh bottle from the cupboard and filled Remus’s glass.
“Sure you haven’t had enough?” Remus asked, noticing the tremor in Sirius’s hand.
“Oh. That.” Sirius tipped the bottle back and shut his eyes as the whiskey burned down his throat. He was pleasantly pissed by now, but he still couldn’t stop his damned hand from shaking. “That’s been going on for a while now. Ever since Azkaban.”
Remus took the bottle from Sirius and set it on the table. He ran his fingers across Sirius’s palm, and suddenly the tremors weren’t confined to Sirius’s hand. “Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked softly.
Sirius drew back his hand. “What? It’s nothing. Just a nice little gift from the Dementors. Guess they didn’t want me to be left with nothing for Christmas.”
“I’m sorry,” Remus said.
“For what?”
“Leaving you there. Believing you were—”
“We’ve been over this.”
“Have we?”
“Of course we have.” Sirius knocked back another drink. “Come on, Moony. You’re acting like Molly, wanting to talk things to death. Anyway, I thought you were going to bed.”
“So I was,” Remus said, pushing his chair back from the table, and suddenly Sirius had a bit more sympathy for Tonks.
“Wait,” he said, his face reddening when he heard the desperate edge to his voice.
“I thought you wanted to be alone.”
“I can be alone with you here.”
“Not sure how I should feel about that,” Remus said lightly, but he sat back down.
Sirius shook his head. He never could say anything right these days. “Don’t mind me, Moony. When I’m by myself I want to be around people. But when I am I don’t know how to act. You’re the only one who seems to get it.”
“I’ve had my share of feeling out of place, that’s true.”
“Sorry.”
Remus shrugged. “I think that’s enough soul-searching for one evening, don’t you? Let’s get pissed.”
And so they did, having a few more rounds before deciding to call it a night.
It was dark but for the small light Molly had left on for them. Blessed Molly. Sirius would have to thank her for the jumper in the morning. It really was quite comfortable.
Merlin, he must be drunker than he thought. Though Remus still seemed a bit ahead of him there.
“Need help?” Sirius asked, watching Moony grasp the wall for support as he made his way upstairs.
“”m fine,” Remus slurred, grabbing the nearest mounted house elf head. “Sorry, Kreacher. Didn’t see you there.”
“Like hell you are.” Sirius laughed and threw Remus’s arm around his shoulders. “Here. Lean on me.”
“You drank as much as I did. How come you don’t need help?”
“Practise, I suppose,” Sirius said, his trousers tightening as Remus’s fringe brushed his neck.
All too soon they reached Remus’s room.
“Here you go,” Sirius said, opening the door with his free hand. “Do you need help getting into bed?”
Had he really just said that?
“Yeah, if you don’t mind.”
“All right, then,” Sirius said, feeling unsteady himself as he walked Remus into the room. It was dark but not pitch black, and he was doing all right until his feet got tangled with Remus’s and they both fell onto the bed.
“Sorry,” Sirius said, pulling himself up before Remus could feel how hard he was.
“’s all right,” Remus whispered, grabbing a fistful of Sirius’s jumper and pulling him back down. Sirius buried his head in Remus’s neck, hoping Remus was pissed enough that he wouldn’t remember this part tomorrow.
Then Remus ran a hand through Sirius’s hair, and Sirius hoped he was pissed enough that he’d never, ever stop doing that. He breathed Remus in. Merlin, he smelled amazing.
“Sirius?”
“Mm-hm?”
“What were you going to say in the kitchen? About Nymphdora?”
Sirius stuck his tongue back in his mouth, glad he hadn’t licked Moony’s ear like he was on the verge of doing. Or wishing he had, because now he’d missed his chance. So Remus did fancy Tonks after all. He hadn’t seen that one coming.
He pushed himself up, his hands on either side of Remus. “Just that she likes you.”
“I like you,” Remus whispered, running his hands along Sirius’s sides.
For once in his life, Sirius was incapable of movement or speech. Moony grabbed him by the sleeve and pulled him down to suck on his neck, which Sirius decided was a pretty good indication it was all right to lick Moony’s ear. So he did.
“Mm, you taste good,” he sighed, pleased when Moony shivered in response.
“You too,” Remus moaned, thrusting up against him.
“If you don’t stop that, I’m going to come,” Sirius said after a while, grinding his hips down, not wanting Remus to stop at all. Still, he wondered what would happen tomorrow when Remus was no longer drunk.
“Fuck, Padfoot. You know how long I’ve waited to hear you say something like that to me?”
Sirius stilled, though his heart started beating faster than ever. “How long?”
Remus turned his head so that he and Sirius were face-to-face, nose-to-nose. “A very, very long time.” He pushed Sirius’s hair out of his eyes and gave him a searching look. “Is that all right?”
Sirius realised maybe Remus wasn’t so drunk after all. Just drunk enough.
“Definitely all right,” he said, feeling giddy and hopeful for the first time in years. “I’m going to kiss you now,” he declared, his tongue already tracing the corner of Remus’s lips.
“About bloody t—.”
And then Sirius pressed their lips together, and there wasn’t any more talking for a very, very long time.
no subject
Date: 2013-12-21 06:40 pm (UTC)Ooookay, now something more coherent. I LOVE it! One of my absolutely favourite things in R/S fics (besides the boys being all oblivious and what not) is the post-Azkaban part with a grumpy Sirius who just doesn’t know what to do with himself, hating everything and everything except...well, Remus. Maybe not hating per se, but not knowing how to act around people, hmm…feeling kinda out of place as you said it. And when Remus is the only one who gets him, who is able to put up with him that’s…it’s just special. And that is exactly what you can feel in this fic, in such a perfect way.
“I thought you wanted to be alone.”
“I can be alone with you here.”
Ah, so true, isn’t it? *makes incoherent noises again*
Now, my second favourite thing is a drunk Remus. There’s just something about calm, reserved, bookish Remus Lupin reduced to a clumsy, chaotic puddle of a man by the joys of alcohol. Then his inhibitions are lowered and he tells things and oh boy, that must be my favourite part of this story!
“Just that she likes you.”
“I like you,” Remus whispered, running his hands along Sirius’s sides.
So simple and yet sooo powerful. Moony, Moony, you’re crazy about this guy and when you finally tell him it’s ‘I like you.’ And yet, it’s not a simple ‘I like you’ at all and it is perfect in that moment. I really, really loved that line. *sighs dreamily*
Oh and Sirius with that ‘he wanted Remus to want him, not watch over him’ and Remus being all oblivious about Tonks (sorry, girl, but hands off Remus! :P ) and the dialogue between the pups and jumpers and – well, everything is just amazing! Wonderfully written (:
This is turning into an essay haha so I’m just gonna say that you’ve managed to incorporate all of my favourite things in this fic and you gave me a truly perfect gift. Thank you so so much! Happy holidays to you too, darling! (:
no subject
Date: 2013-12-21 11:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-12-21 11:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-12-22 09:49 am (UTC)Haha I love that! (:
no subject
Date: 2013-12-21 11:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-12-22 12:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-12-22 03:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-12-23 12:17 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-12-22 03:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-12-23 12:18 am (UTC)More Small Gifts!
Date: 2013-12-22 01:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-12-22 04:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-12-23 12:18 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-12-22 08:17 pm (UTC)You captured both their characters exceedingly well, but I was particularly struck by Sirius. Sirius shook his head. He never could say anything right these days. “Don’t mind me, Moony. When I’m by myself I want to be around people. But when I am I don’t know how to act. You’re the only one who seems to get it.” So true. That feels spot-on, in my opinion.
And the doubts and back-and-forth worries in each man's head were really perfect.
This was great!
Poor Tonks, though!
no subject
Date: 2013-12-23 12:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-12-23 05:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-12-22 11:30 pm (UTC)Sirius is just perfectly captured - the way he wants company, yet feeling so out of place. And Remus being the only one who gets him - beautiful.
Their getting together is sweet and sexy and fun - I love drunk!Remus :D
So well-written and full of emotions. Wonderful story!
no subject
Date: 2013-12-23 12:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-12-24 04:05 am (UTC)And this was my favorite line (seriously, I nearly choked on my eggnog): “”m fine,” Remus slurred, grabbing the nearest mounted house elf head. “Sorry, Kreacher. Didn’t see you there.”
no subject
Date: 2014-01-01 07:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-12-24 05:36 pm (UTC)Love this little interlude for them finding each other later in life rather than back at school.
no subject
Date: 2014-01-01 07:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-12-24 08:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-01-01 07:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-12-29 03:14 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-01-01 07:50 pm (UTC)