Sirius has a way with words
Remus woke up feeling like the night before had been a dream. Talking with Sirius under the moonlight, his silver eyes focused on him, it all felt so good to be true, especially under the current circumstances. Remus probably would still think it was a dream, if Sirius didn’t have reminded him, saying “I hope you’re not too tired from last night” with a smirk and a wink as soon as he sat on the table for breakfast.
He choked, his face getting crimson, “Why do you have to say it like that?!” he sputtered, then turned to Tonks, “We- we didn’t do anything! We just talked about the stars and shit!” he explained, gesturing wildly.
Tonks threw her head back, laughing, and he could hear Sirius shaking with laughter beside him. He groaned, hiding his face behind his hands. “You guys are horrible,” he mumbled.
“Sirius, stop being a dickhead.” Regulus ordered as he bit on a sandwich.
“But it’s funny! And he gets all red and cute!” he bantered between laughs. Remus did, in fact, get even more red than he already was.
“Sirius.” He deadpanned, raising his eyebrows at him.
“Fine.” he agreed with a sigh, “Sorry lupin.” he apologized, almost pouting. Sirius was making it very hard for Remus to not develop a crush on him. He had to remind himself that that was his supposed girlfriend’s probably straight cousin, and that he could not develop any kind of feelings for him besides friendship.
“Don’t worry about it.” he assured, smiling. Sirius smiled back, a lopsided smile that made Remus forget all of that for a second.
“So, pool day today?” Sirius asked, a few minutes later.
Regulus groaned, while Tonks immediately chanted “yes, yes, yes! I’ll just go change real quick!”
Remus was hoping that he wouldn’t have a big reaction to seeing Sirius without a shirt again, considering that he already saw it before. Well, he was wrong. Butterflies filled his stomach as he saw Sirius’ pale skin shining in the sunlight, contrasting with his tattoos, that he could see more clearly now. They covered his back and arms, and a few were scattered in his legs and chest. He looked so beautiful, and Remus was staring- oh shit, Remus was staring - look away, look awaylookaway-
“Y’know you can just go there, right?” Regulus said as he suddenly approached him.
He sputtered, “what?”
“She’s your girlfriend, you can just go there and snog her, you know that, right?” He raised his eyebrows at him, his eyes silently asking are you stupid? Only now, Remus noticed that Sirius was talking to Tonks as he stood there.
“Oh! yeah, yeah- sorry- I forgot.” he spluttered, then smiled at him sheepishly.
“You… forgot?” he questioned, raising one eyebrow. Now he had the confirmation that Remus was, in fact, stupid.
“It’s just… sometimes I can’t believe that we’re dating, y’know?” he replied, hoping that he sounded convincing, “I’m still trying to wrap my head around this.”
Regulus looked away from him, lost in thought, then answered, “I get it.” and left to sit under the umbrella. Sirius went back to the house, and Remus went to talk with Tonks.
He hugged her, bringing her close so he could whisper in her ear, “This is not fair, he’s doing this on purpose.”
She laughed, “doing what, exactly?”
“Being that handsome! It should be illegal.”
She stepped back, then pinched his cheek, “You are so gay and pathetic,” she cooned.
“I hate you.”
“No, you don’t.” she blew him a kiss and jumped on the pool, splashing water over him. “You’re not coming in?”
“Nah, not today.” He told, scratching the back of his neck. She shrugged and dipped back in the water.
Remus was sitting next to Regulus, book in hands, when Sirius returned holding a bottle of sunscreen. “Reg, do your darling brother a favor and put this on my back, please?” he pleaded.
Regulus looked him dead in the eyes and said, “No, go fuck yourself.”
“But reggie!” he whined.
“No, it’s sticky and weird and I’m not putting myself in that torture.” He deadpanned, not taking his eyes off his phone, where he was typing something.
“You’re just gonna burn in the sun until you die, since you hate it so much, then? Your sunburns are worse than mine!” he argued.
“No, you dumb bitch, I used the spray one.”
Sirus groaned, “Since you’ve been spending so much time with James, you should learn a thing or two about kindness with him.”
Regulus looked up, eyes wide, “What are you on about, prick?”
“Do you really think I didn’t notice you texting James for the past week? I’m not that stupid!”
“I- I do not! He just decided to constantly bother me, and I answer out of politeness and pity.”
“Hm, sure. Now,” he pointed at Regulus with the sunscreen bottle, “do your job.”
“No.”
He groaned, then turned to Remus, “Lupin, can you help me, please? Regulus hates me.”
In the back of his mind, a weak voice spoke bad idea, bad idea, bad idea, but let’s be honest: Remus would say yes to basically anything Sirius asked him.
“Yeah, sure.” He agreed and took the bottle. Sirius pulled a chair and sat straddling it, back turned to Remus. He pulled his hair over his shoulder, to give more access to his body. His skin looked no like white marble, and the black lines made the shape of the constellations. Remus touched it with care, carefully applying the sunscreen – this was probably the only way he would ever get to touch Sirius this deliberately. He absentmindedly traced his tattoo’s lines, finding the shape of the stars in his skin.
“Thanks, Lupin. I really can’t go without this, my sunburns are horrible!” he laughed.
Remus smiled, “I can’t really say I go through the same, but I have a friend who has really sensitive skin, and she complains about it all the time.”
“Ah, I get her. That’s why I like the moon better.”
“Don’t let James hear that.” Regulus said beside them, making Sirius laugh.
“If you don’t mind me asking, who is James and why would he be upset about your astronomy opinions?
“My best friend!” Sirius exclaimed at the same time Regulus said “The most infuriating person I know.”
Sirius laughed, “I know a lie when I hear one, Reg!” Regulus rolled his eyes at him. “Anyway, he would be upset ‘cause he’s basically the sun personified. He’s bright, warm-“
“Irritating and impossible to get rid of.” Regulus interrupted.
Sirius huffed, “That’s big coming from the guy who’s texting him right now.”
“I-“ Regulus groaned, “Go fuck yourself.”
“Eh, maybe later. You’re coming, Lupin?”
“I- what?” he wheezed. What was Sirius trying to do to him?!
Sirius looked at him with wide eyes, “wait, no- shit I didn’t mean that-“ he sputtered, his pale face turning a lovely shade of pink – that’s new, Remus thought. He’s usually the one who gets flustered and starts blushing. Sirius groaned, “Sorry- I wanted to ask if you’re coming to the pool, not to- y’know? Sorry, shit.” He hid behind his hands. Remus thought that was adorable.
A sound of laughter broke behind them, “Sirius, could you please stop trying to lure my boyfriend to your bed?” Tonks mocked from the water.
“Sorry! It’s not intentional!” He apologized. That made Tonks laugh even more. Even Regulus was shaking his head with laughter. Remus probably was looking at him with a goofy smile and blushing, but let’s ignore that part. “Anyway- Lupin, are you coming to the pool?” He asked, emphasizing the last part.
Remus smiled apologetically at him, “No, sorry. Maybe another day.” But I wouldn’t mind going to your bed, he thought. He’s pathetic, we all know that.
“Another day, eh? I’ll remember that.” He smiled, then jumped on the pool with Tonks.