stranger in your future
regulus
regulus found himself wishing james would've stayed for longer that afternoon. he could feel his mood begin to dim with james absence even though he had only been over for an hour and a half.it was fine though, regulus was used to the emptiness.
the feeling that his insides had been carved out, leaving only a shell of what he used to be.
he used to do things, he knew he did.
he used to read and draw and eat lunch with his brother and go outside.
but old regulus put him here, left him stuck cause he was too weak.
it's okay though, maybe he just has to get some sleep and eat a proper meal.
then he'll be at the beach, counting shells and dipping his feet in the water.
not this week, but certainly the next.
_____________
as soon as regulus wakes up the following morning, he immediately runs to the bathroom to vomit the limited contents of his stomach.
he slumps to the ground, hugging his toilet as he waits for the nausea to pass.
when it finally does, regulus takes his temperature and finds he's at 100.
he groans and searches his cabinet for medicine but only finds a couple tylenol.
as noir comes into the bathroom meowing for his first meal of the day, regulus decides that he'll have two and hope they work.
he falls asleep on the couch after feeding noir, in hopes he'll fell better after more rest.
it does not, and three hours after he wakes up, his head is still pounding and it hurts his throat to swallow water.
regulus suposes he should have soup, but there's no soup in his house and he ran out of ramen noodles.
sirius is at yet another meeting and evan was doing surgery and barty was probably somewhere close by him.
he scrolls through his contacts, wishing dorcas wasn't in europe and remus wasn't giving a guest lecture.
before he throws his phone on the couch to take another nap, his eyes land on one contact.
golden boy (derogatory)
maybe he could convince james to get him panera if he tried hard enough.
when james picks up on the third ring, regulus can hear faint bob morley presumably coming from the speakers of his car.
“hey reg, what's up?”
“are you free?”
“yeah, anything you need?”
regulus has a fit of coughing before managing to stop and catch his breath.
“can you get chicken soup from panera if I pay you?”
“sure! I'll be over in half an hour.”
_____________
when regulus hears a knock at the door, he was on the verge of falling asleep yet again.
“just take off your shoes and come in!”, regulus yells from couch.
“regulus?”, james calls as he enters the apartment.
“over here.”
“jesus reg, are you okay? you're all red.”
regulus huffs and gets up from the couch, taking the bag from james before walking into the kitchen.
“how much do I owe you?”
“forget about that reg, go sit down. i'll heat this up for you.”
regulus found he didn't have the energy to argue, for possibly one of the first times in his life, and went back to the couch without a fight.
he turned on the saw movie he had put on in the background while he updated the company's website.
a minute later james came back with the soup and crackers, setting them in front of regulus on the coffee table and looking up at the screen.
“jesus reg, what is this?”
“the newest saw.”
“do you actually enjoy this shit or are you some repressed masochist?”
“it's okay, I guess.”
regulus begins to eat his soup, and he wants to kiss whoever invented chicken noodle soup on the mouth and bear their children.
he lets out and audible groan and james chokes on his water, leaving his face red and shirt dripping with regurgitated water.
“do you mind? i’m trying to enjoy my meal.”
“not”, james coughs, “at all.”
“good.”
regulus devours his soup and james eats a couple of saltine crackers.
he winces at the slayings on screen while regulus stares at the tv blankly. he doesn't actually particularly enjoy these types of movies, but they display a sort of ridiculousness regulus finds intriguing.
eventually regulus begins to feel his eyes droop and his world to start feel like it's spinning as it usually does when he is about to fall asleep.
in all actuaitity, he doesn't give a fuck that james happens to be sitting a couple inches from him. he lets himself shut his eyes and fall asleep.
__________
james
james wakes up to the sound of a frantic regulus searching for something on the couch.
“jesus james you let me sleep for this long?”
james re-adjusts his glasses and sees moonlight shining through regulus' window.
“shit, sorry. didn't mean too.”
regulus finally turns on a lamp, leaving james wincing at the sudden flood of light.
“what time is it?”
“how am I supposed to know?”
“you have a watch!”
“your brother forgot to tell me how to tell time that day in year 7.”
“god you two really do share 1 brain cell.”
“how original.”
regulus grabs james arm harshly and looks at his watch.
“it's three thirty are you reall-” regulus gags and jumps up, running down the hallway.
“reg!”
james gets up and runs after him, only to find him on his knees in front of the toilet throwing up. he gathers up as much hair from the front of regulus’ face as he can and pulls it back. regulus stops for a second before immediately going to vomit again. finally, he pulls away and groans, slumping against the bathtub where he almost knocks over an empty margarita glass.
“fuck.”
james goes to get toilet paper and wipes regulus' mouth, making him try to pull his face away in the process.
“m'fine.”
“you just vomited half your body weight, c'mon let's get you to your bed so I can go home.”
“jus’stay.”
“it's fine i’ll drive.”
“that's a waste of gas, just stay for the night.”
james looks to the side nervously, fixating on the wallpaper. sirius would be mad if james stayed. well, only if he found out, anyway. and regulus was sick, and he would be there to make sure he was okay. technically, sirius should be thanking him.
there are lines etched into regulus’ face, as if he's daring james to say something other than the word that comes tumbling out of his mouth.
“okay.”
james gets up and holds his arms out which regulus grabs dutifully. regulus leads the way further down the hall and james notices regulus’ cat brushing up against his leg. he bends down to it, and it presses its paws on his leg.
“you can pick him up if you want, he's friendly.”
james puts his hands under the cat's stomach and lifts him up to his shoulder, cradling hum softly.
“what is your name?”
“noir.”
noir purrs and james scratches behind his ears. he's completely black besides huge green eyes. he stays purring on james’ shoulder as he and regulus walk to his bedroom.
“i'll give you clothes, I don't want you sleeping in my bed with your outside clothes.”
“i'm sleeping in your bed?”
“where else would you sleep?”
“the couch?”
“i'm not a monster.”
regulus goes to his closet and starts rummaging while james puts noir down on the bed. he settles in the middle and closes his eyes.
“this should fit you, you're not as tall as barty and he's lean but you'll be fine. sirius gave these to me but I think I remember him telling me you gave them to him first, so, full circle.”
regulus hands james the clothes and waves his hand towards the bathroom. when james walks in the margarita glass is still balancing on the edge of the bathtub and an array of expensive looking products lining his bathroom sink.
he changes quick and rinses his mouth with the mouthwash on the counter before retuning to regulus’ bedroom. regulus is on the bed with his laptop in his lap and noir perched at his side.
“what are you doing?”
“finishing an email before I go to bed. tell me james does, “black industries would have loved to take you up on your offer but unfortunately we are not available for partnerships as of now” or “black industries would love to work with you in the future, but we are unable to at this time” sound better?”
“first one.”
“thought so.”
____________
james wakes to the sound of sobbing coming from the other side of the bed. forgetting he wasn't in his apartment, let alone bed, momentarily freaks out before turning and seeing regulus cover his face with his arms.
“get off me, get off me! I didn't do anything!"
“regulus, regulus wake up, regulus!”, james yells as he shakes regulus awake, eyebrows furrowing as he wakes with a startled gasp and tears running down his face.
“regulus are you oka-”
“get the fuck out! get the fuck out, get the fuck out, get the fuck out!”
“reg-”
“GET THE FUCK OUT!”
noir scurries off the bed and james quickly exists regulus' room, shutting the door lightly behind him. he sits down in the hallway, back pressed against the wall, vision blurry as his glasses were forgotten on regulus’ bedside table. the world is quiet beside the occasional sound of a meow from noir. james leans his head against the wall and lets his eyes shut before the sound of footsteps from regulus' room is audible. when james looks up to the open door he can vaguely make out regulus’ blurry frame standing in the doorway. he walks over to james and sits down beside him.
it takes at least a minute for regulus to completely settle and assure noir he's okay as the cat had tried to climb into his lap.
“I wish I left with you guys that day.”
“I wish you did too.”
a heartbeat.
“can we go back to bed?”
“yeah.”
____________