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Regulus couldn’t decide if the initial awkward tension between his brother and his best friend was better or worse than the growing sexual tension that now clearly existed between them. At least they could make eye contact now, but he really wished it wasn’t so… lingering.
“What should I wear to your birthday get-together?” Sirius asked as Reg slid a cup of coffee across to him. "Thanks.”
“I don’t know, whatever you feel nice in?” Reg shrugged. He hadn’t ever considered that Sirius might ask him for fashion advice. “We can go shopping if you want?”
“Can I come?” Remus asked, toast halfway to his mouth. “I don’t think I’ve bought new clothes in… it must be two years.”
“You can come with, if you show me where you buy your jumpers.” Sirius waved his cereal spoon at him. “I’ve never come across such soft fucking jumpers. Explain!”
“You can borrow mine anytime.” Remus smiled at him, “Also, mostly charity shops.”
“Yes, yes, Remus, old men die and you buy their clothes in bulk. We get it.” Reg rolled his eyes. “You can absolutely come, though. Maybe we can all get dinner after.”
“Sounds good to me. I need to get some more stuff to wear to work too.” Sirius had taken a job as a receptionist in their local community centre and had been there almost a week. He enjoyed it. Being ‘on’ for eight hours a day, especially after being alone for so long, was exhausting, but he enjoyed talking to people and helping them. He did definitely need at least two more shirts and another pair of trousers, though. He wondered if he could wear comfy jumpers to work. Maybe in the winter, he hoped.
It turned out that none of them were good at shopping. Remus got overwhelmed by the amount of people in the second shop they went in and went to grab coffee, saying he’d catch up with them in a bit.
“I told you, Sirius, you can’t fuck him,” Reg said in a low voice as Sirius watched Remus’ retreating form with an idiotic smirk plastered on his face.
“Does it look like I’m fucking him right now?” Sirius chuckled. “In the middle of H&M?”
“No, but the vibes, or whatever, between the two of you are so gross sometimes.”
“You think we have vibes?” Sirius batted his eyelashes at his brother, “Please do go on.”
“Sirius I’m not joking.” Reg put a hand on his shoulder. “It’s not my story to tell, but Remus has... a lot of trauma, and some of it has to do with… I shouldn’t be telling you this, but I need you to know, and understand how serious I am.”
“I’m Sirius. You’re Regulus.” Reg threw up his hands and turned to walk away. “No, no, wait, sorry. I missed making those jokes for years. Not the time though, right, sorry. Reg, thank you for telling me. I was kinda curious about why you were so against it. I’m not here to fuck anyone’s life up, so I hear you. And I obviously won’t mention what you said.”
Reg visibly relaxed, “Thanks. Plus he’s like my other brother. It would be weird.”
“But inbreeding is such a crucial part of our family history.” Sirius threw his arm across Regulus’ shoulders and laughed as he shrugged him off and walked away.
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Regulus knew that he should talk to Remus about it, but deep down he knew that Remus was on the same page as his brother and while that was gross to him, and he worried about Remus, he was a grown man and could make his own choices. His own mistakes.
Sirius was having dinner with Lily, James and the kids, leaving Regulus and Remus to watch Masterchef, the correct way.
Ten minutes in, Reg paused it. “I want to talk to you about Sirius.”
Remus looked across at him, “What about him?” Reg arched an eyebrow, “Nothing’s happened, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“I’m worried about you.” Reg said quietly. “I don’t want you— I don’t want either of you to get hurt, and I don’t want to end up in the middle.”
“Is this because…” He tilted his head, “I’m not that kid anymore, Reg. You literally lived with me and Gideon for six months. It's been years since...”
“Yeah, and I watched you suffer for six months afterwards.” Reg said, “I’m not trying to be controlling or anything. I’m just concerned, I suppose. That one of you will hurt the other one. It’s a weird position to be in.”
“Reg, you’re catastrophising something that hasn’t happened, and probably won’t ever happen.” He touched Reg’s arm. “Is that all it’s about?”
“Sirius was basically alone for ten years. Ok, he had our cousins and their parents around, but it’s not like they were good to him. He’s always loved attention, but now, it’s like he needs it. Like he's... Tinkerbell.” He paused, “I just don’t know if your baggage and his go together.”
Remus thought about this, “Like I said, the chances of anything happening are almost zero.” Reg scoffed, “I have no plans to jump your brother, Reg.”
“I may have told him categorically that he’s not allowed to fuck you,” Reg said quietly. He expected Remus to be angry, but instead, he just laughed.
“I appreciate you looking out for me.” He said when Regulus looked at him incredulously.
“‘Hey Reg, your estranged brother just showed up after a decade, and by the way he’s hot.’” Reg couldn’t help but grin. “Just, don’t hurt him, if anything does happen.”
“It’s not going to.” Remus rolled his eyes.
“But if it does?”
“Fine, I promise, I won’t hurt him if anything happens. Ok? Happy?” Remus picked up the remote. “Can we please return to the scheduled programming?”
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Remus got home from work to find Sirius, wearing one of his jumpers, asleep on the sofa. He’d been watching Schitts Creek. Remus and Regulus had written him a list, at his request, of shows that they thought he’d like so he wasn’t overwhelmed by choice. Streaming was just taking off when he went off grid, and to learn that they paid for seven streaming services a month, and the rate that content was pumped out at in 2024, was wild to him and he’d had no idea where to start.
Remus sat down at the other end of the sofa. It was the episode where Johnny told his old friends off in the restaurant and then they all end up at Mutt’s barn doing an adorable dance. He smiled as Sirius muttered something in his sleep. He opened his eyes slowly and jumped when he saw Remus smiling at him.
“Good morning, starshine.” Remus laughed as Sirius blinked at him, trying to get his bearings. “You talk in your sleep.”
“I know.” Sirius groaned, “I hope it was PG. How long have I been asleep?”
“I don’t know. I got home less than five minutes ago. I assume less than an hour if Netflix is still playing.” Remus was well used to figuring out how long he’d slept by Netflix’s annoying Are You Still Watching? screen. Although, at least he knew where he stood with Netflix. BBCiPlayer, Disney+ and Prime were laws unto themselves. “You said, and I quote ‘Hillside pineapple tree is warm. More cinnamon, please.’.”
“I did?” Sirius chuckled, a little relieved that his nocturnal chatter hadn’t been about one of the many dreams he’d had about Remus lately. “Huh. Sounds like a good dream.” He paused the TV, “The last thing I remember Alexis and David were pretending to be lawyers. Have I missed a lot?”
“I think that’s the previous episode. I love this episode though, do you mind if I watch with you?”
“Not at all.” Sirius smiled, “I have to ask though. Does Stevie remind you of Reg?”
Remus laughed so hard that he couldn’t talk. “Oh my god.” He said after a minute, “I see it.”
“Annoyingly, the more I watch, the more I see myself in David.” Sirius said, “Except my eyebrows aren’t as spectacularly expressive.”
Remus laughed again, and they settled in as Sirius started the previous episode again.
By the time Reg got home, they’d got to the plot where Jake was seeing both David and Stevie at the same time. Sirius had decided that Jake was Remus in this little… recasting he was doing. Regulus took one look at the two of them and said “No, Remus is quite obviously Patrick.”
“He hasn’t met Patrick yet,” Remus said, turning pink. “No spoilers.”
“Ah, I see.” Reg sat in the armchair. “You’ll agree though, Sirius. I guarantee.” Both Remus and Sirius were looking at him, Remus in a way that was begging him to shut up and Sirius in a way that was begging him to say more. “You’ll just have to keep watching.” He smirked at Remus and turned towards the TV.