Chapter 2
Sirius-
It was almost eight thirty by the time Sirius finished closing up the cafe. Regulus had helped with the cleaning and getting things ready for the next morning but he still had to count the drawers and make sure the baking was ready to get done in the morning. Regulus had set himself up at the table by the door. He looked to be typing his life away when Sirius walked out of the office and made his way to the back.
Sirius couldn’t cook many things aside from pasta and a few other simple things but somehow he could bake. He loved baking, he discovered his love for it after they left England starting with things like muffins and cakes and slowly moving into harder things like croissants and macrons. He had three major baking days out of the week to keep things refreshed and he’d get things ready throughout the day prior. He decided when he opened the place to open later on his baking days so he could make sure everything was perfect.
The croissant dough had risen wonderfully like it always did. He baked enormous batches of both regular croissants and chocolate croissants as they seemed to sell more. He made smaller batches of things like the muffins and macrons as they weren’t too missed when he sold out. Once he checked on the baking things we flipped the back lights and made sure to grab his keys from the office.
Once he reached the front his brother was still typing away at his computer like the world was ending. Sirius thought about calling for him but then he figured he wouldn’t hear him over the music. He decided to just walk over and tap on him. Regulus seemed to have jumped out of his skin when he tapped him. “Ready?” Sirius asked.
“Yeah yeah just let me finish this paragraph and I’ll get my things together,” Regulus left his headphones around his neck and went back to typing away. Sirius decided to sit down across from him and watch out the window as he finished. He noticed the rain had stopped which was great he hated the rain. The moon was shining bright through the windows of the shop. It didn’t take Regulus but five minutes to finish and pack his things up. “Now I’m ready,” He threw his bag over his shoulder.
“Great let's go then,” Sirius pushed his chair in and went to unlock the front door. He held it open for Regulus and then locked it back. “What were you writing for?” Sirius asked as they made their way down the street towards their apartment.
“I have a twelve-page paper for my cognitive psych class. I’m writing about methods for memory retrieval and why it’s important.”
“Memory retrieval huh? That sounds better than what you’ve had to write about in the past.” Sirius found nothing about psychology weird. He found it almost creepy that one's brain was so fundamental to them.
“It’s not my favorite thing to study but it is for sure incredibly interesting. For example in one of the studies I’m using a person could smell something from his childhood like a sweet and immediately recall an important event or memory he associated with it.” Regulus explained to his brother.
“I wonder what smells would trigger our childhood memories?” Sirius asked as they stood at a crosswalk.
“Not sweets that’s for sure,” Reglus joked and both chuckled.
“Good point. What else did you do today?” the crosswalk hand shined white telling them it was safe to go.
“I had my counseling skills this morning at nine and then after I got brunch and then went and sat at the library trying to write that stupid paper and then you called.”
“I’ll still never understand why you continue to schedule yourself with morning classes.”
“Some of us don’t like sleeping our lives away Sirius.” They arrived at their apartment complex and Regulus pulled the door open.
“I will have you know I was up and eight forty-five this morning I just wasn’t out of bed.” Sirius held his head up smugly as he walked in the door.
“And by that time I was already up dressed and walking to class.” Regulus chipped back as he pressed the elevator button.
“Don’t brag.”
“But I’m good at it.” With that, both boys began hysterically laughing.
The elevator door opened to the long hallway containing plenty of apartments. Sirius made his way to the door of their apartment pulled his keys out of his back pocket and unlocked the door. Sirius walked in turned the entryway light on, tossed his keys onto the table, and slid his boots off. Regulus sat his backpack by the door and took his Converse off. Sirius crashed on the couch breathing a deep sigh of relief. Today was exhausting.
He heard Regulus wandering around the kitchen probably getting something to drink. He rolled over and grabbed the remote to turn the TV on. He put the nighttime news on for background noise. He was probably falling asleep on the couch tonight.
“Need something to drink?” Regulus called from the kitchen.
“Nah I’m good for now thanks,” Sirius called back. They were doing a story on construction traffic. They always pick the worst time to do this Sirius thought.
“Alright, I’m going to my room then. I’ll see you in the morning.” He heard the fridge door shut.
“Night!” Sirius called.
He kicked his legs up on the couch as he flipped between the channels. He settled for watching hockey tonight. Sirius wasn't sure the last time he was able to fall asleep in silence, he hadn’t in the last four years. It was probably when he still lived there he thought to himself. The quietness made everything around eerie. Even when he was closing the store by himself he kept the radio playing.
He watched the game for a little bit. Intrigued by the nature of the sport. The talent, the violence, the energy, he kinda liked it. After a while though it became repetitive and Sirius began dozing off.
Remus-
Remus could hear his alarm going off telling him to get up and get ready for the day but he refused. He lay with his eyes closed ignoring the blaring noise until he couldn’t any longer. He rolled over and grabbed his phone to turn the alarm off. He let out a deep sigh before finally rolling out of bed. As soon as he stood up Remus knew it was going to be a bad pain day. He was on a streak apparently, he had had three bad days already. Luckily he was smart and leaned his cane against his bedside table.
He made his way into the kitchen of his shared apartment to make his breakfast which included enough caffeine to kill a small horse and toast. He liked listening to the sound of the coffee maker, something about the rumbling and jumbling of the coffee beans being turned into liquid was relaxing. He took his mug and buttered toast over to the couch and turned on the TV to zone out to the news.
He only had half an hour before he needed to begin his walk to his morning class. He was taking a social psychology class for the fun of it. He only needed one more credit to get a minor in psych along with his bachelor's degree at the end of the year. He was taking that class along with the four others he needed to obtain his history degree.
He was flipping through the channels of the TV when he heard the door down the hallway click open. James came walking into the living room groggy and barely awake. “Morning James.” James didn’t even have his glasses on it.
“Hmpf” James walked into the kitchen poured himself a cup of coffee, and walked over to the couch to join Remus in his sitting.
“How was your night?” Remus came home from his library at seven and passed out not long after. He didn’t see James he assumed he was working or in his room working on homework.
“It wasn’t too bad. I grabbed some coffee at that place by the library that’s always busy and then I came home and worked on some work for class.” When Remus met James he expected him to be a business major or something stereotypical, he always assumed most people went with popular things. James however wanted to be a math teacher.
“Math. Sounds like a nightmare.” Remus joked.
“You have no room to talk. You work at the library for fun.” They both chuckled.
“You have a point I guess.” Remus got up to take his plate and mug to the sink.
“Bad day again?” James asked still on the couch.
“Unfortunately.” Remus sighed. He walked back into the living room.
“Sorry.” James offered. “Wanna grab dinner tonight? I’m tired of sandwiches.”
“Yeah just tell me where to meet you. I need to start heading to class but I’ll see you this afternoon.”
Remus grabbed his bag off the counter and headed to the door. He pulled shut behind him and made his slow start to the elevator. When he got there two other guys were standing waiting for the elevator. One looked quite familiar he just wasn’t sure where from and the other looked like he could be related to the guy. They both had black hair, the familiar-looking one had his cut short nearing the end of his ears, while the other had longer hair pulled back into a low messy bun. He noticed the ear piercing he could see, four to be two were connected by a chain. He noticed his jawline next, it was sharp like it could cut a piece of paper. He looked at the leather jacket hanging on his shoulders, he was holding a brown bag with pins Remus couldnt quite see. He heard the elevator ding and he was pulled from his looking. The two filed on in front of him and followed behind them.
“What floor?” The familiar one asked with his hand hovering over the buttons.
“The first please.” Remus leaned his cane against the wall and leaned back on the support rails. There was that awkward elevator silence for a few moments as the elevator clicked downward. Until the short-haired boy spoke.
“Do you work the front desk at the campus library?” He snapped his fingers like he just solved a major puzzle.
“Yeah, I do four days a week. It helps with tuition.” Remus explained. He loved the library, he loved the books and quiet the most but he also liked the tuition help he got from it.
“I told you, Sirius. I knew I knew his face from somewhere.”
“Weren’t you at the library for three hours yesterday? You left on the phone?” Remus responded. He remembers because it was an hour before his shift ended when he came up to him with a stack of books on memory and cognitive psychology.
“Yeah, I was. I have a paper due for one of my classes at the end of the week and have barely started it. I was getting nothing done and he called me asking for help at his store.” Remus nodded along. He was staring at Sirius. He was objectively the hottest person he’d seen in a hot minute.
“Where do you work?” He asked towards Sirius. He seemed to have been pulled from his own little world.
“I own the coffee shop on the corner. I’m heading there to start my baking for the day.” Sirius explained.
“My friend loves that place. I think he’s there just about every day for your strawberry muffins and a coffee.” James was practically obsessed with that place. He spent so much money it was almost worthless to have a coffee maker in their apartment.
“James?” the shorter one asked as the elevator door opened.
“Yeah! How’d you know?” Remus grabbed his cane off the wall and followed behind them.
“I helped him out yesterday. Glasses? Accent?” Remus nodded. Both their accents had started to blend with an American accent they’d both been in the States so long. He noted that these two, their strong British accents.
“That’s James. I’m sorry what’s your name?” They reached the corner of the street and Sirisu had stopped at the store door.
“Regulus. That’s my brother Sirius.” Regulus pointed while looking at his watch. “Fuck. Sirius I gotta run I’m running late.” Sirius nodded while digging around in his bag. “Text me if you need help later.”
Remus looked at his watch it read nine forty-five. “Social psych?” Regulus turned to Remus and nodded. “Wanna walk together? We might be a few minutes late with my cane and all.”
“No, it’s all good let’s walk.” And so they begin their walk. Remus learns that Regulus is in his last year of school much like Remus and he’s aiming to start his master’s next fall.