[snippets of coziness]

james watches with a relieved sigh as the door jingles, the last customers for today leaving with chatty laughter and by the alcohol lifted spirits.

the digital clock on the counter beams the letters 1.30am in a bright neon red, the dishwashers in the kitchen behind the bar rattle and james rubs his eyes. it was quite the busy night with the weekend rolling up. especially college and university students take friday nights as their chance to start their little break from classes and studying together with friends and a good amount of fun.

james is no different there. his friend group loves it just as much: winding down after exhausting days, boring lectures and not to little of some family drama. usually he would be strolling down some streets, hopping from bar to club, entangled with his friends just like the people that left the bar moments ago.

recently however, he’s been working double time at the bar. anthony, one of the full time bartenders had gotten into an accident and had been in the hospital for five days now. james kindly had agreed to take over his spot for the time being until they’d recover. he doesn’t necessarily regret having said ‘yes’ without even thinking about considering a ‘no’, he likes his work and being occupied with something else than university stuff is great.

it definitely however, has gotten a bit more difficult to balance work with uni and also having time for his friends. he especially feels guilty for not being able to spend the evenings with his boyfriend anymore.

mostly james takes the night shifts now since they have more employees working behind the bar during the day. it works well with his usual university schedule. most of his classes and lectures begin rather late in the morning so he manages just fine to get home around 2am, get a few hours of sleep and be on time for his first lecture around 11 or 12.

especially monday and thursday aren’t a problem at all because there the first classes he has, only take place online anyway.

really, the only reason james might regret having agreed just a little bit, is him coming home in the middle of night while regulus is such a sleepyhead, who does not last anywhere past 11pm during the week. sure, james doesnt hate coming home to a peaceful sleeping beauty complimenting the bed and being able to admire his gorgeous man for as long as he wants without getting a pillow - or multiple ones- thrown at him.

it’s just, he would also love to look into those deep grey eyes; drown in their very own ocean and hear how regulus’ day had been. what he did, what he felt. what he liked and what he hated. what was a challenge maybe or what was easier than regulus had expected it to be. what made him burst into those beautiful giggles or what made the smooth skin between his eyebrows wrinkle in annoyance. anything really.

james just wants to spend lovely, cozy evenings with his lovely boyfriend again.
oh. and just how lovely regulus is..

__

“will you just stand here until you’re off to go or will you also help us clean up?”

a teasing voice startles james out of his thoughts. the clock on the counter beams at him1.37am in a blinding brightness. he squints his eyes as he yawns quietly, hand reaching up to cover his mouth.

“well if you’re asking like that” james grins and turns around to alice, his favorite co-bartender. they are one year older than him. a queer icon in james’ opinion and aside from dorcas and mary, the most stylish person he knows. even though sirius would probably complain loudly about that, supposedly having claimed that place ever since they set foot on this earth.

“wearing a leather jacket as if its your second skin isn’t stylish sirius” he fondly remembers regulus teasing his older sibling and rolling his eyes at star.

“not a question, twat” alice pinches james’ arm at which he loudly protests and swats their hand away.

“uhm abuse at the workplace??” he scoffs dramatically offended.
“the only abuse that’s happening here is the rest of the team having to see you daydream about regulus again” alice rolls their eyes with a grin before dragging james along the bar down to the tables.

“you wanna leave on time to catch the subway? clean the rest of the tables, i’ll take over the invoice tonight”

“oh my god, really?? thank god for you, alice” james groans in triumph. being the one stuck with doing invoice after 2am is the most boring and frustrating thing he’d done in the last few days substituting for anthony. “i would kiss you right now if you wouldn’t be repulsed!!”

alice grimaces and waves the younger off dismissively. “yeah, no, ew. don’t do that, i couldn’t and wouldn’t stop myself from throwing up right into your mouth”

“yumm” james laughs and flips them off, “always so heartwarming to talk to you, babes.” alice sticks out their tongue and flaps their hands in a quick gesture, signaling james he should get going.

“okay okay okay” the latter grins, “thanks again, seriously.”

alice gives him a nod, smiling, and heads over to the computer behind the counter. as they start typing away on the keyboard, james gets started on cleaning and tidying up; moving swiftly through the tables and chairs, the process an all too well known routine. the clacking sounds coming from alice and the occasional clinking of glasses are a nice background noise; familiar and comfortable.

——

soon after, james walks into the kitchen the last time, carrying used glasses and empty bottles to give to the others, currently cleaning the kitchen and getting the dishwashers going.

„those are the last ones“ james lets marcie know, putting the glasses down onto the counter and heads over to the bottle crates in the storage room next to the kitchen. he sorts each bottle into the right crate and heads out again.

„im off now“ james smiles at marcie.
the girl smiles back. „lucky you, im still stuck here for at least an hour“ she sighs, giving the dishwashers a pointed look.

„have so much fun with that“ james laughs and wiggles his eyebrows before waving goodbye. „gotta go, catch the subway, see you marcie“

„see ya!” marcie salutes grinning and james rushes out of the kitchen. he walks over to the bar where alice is still typing away busily. james grabs his jacket, quickly checks that keys, wallet and headphones are in the pockets and pats alice pityingly on the back. „gonna head off now“ james lets them know. they look up from the screen. „say hi to sirius from me, will you?“ they smile.

james gives a thumbs up: „will do, bye now“
„see you“ alice nods quickly before devoting their full focus back to the invoices.

james slips into his jacket and turns around, heading to the door. he checks his phone for the time while walking out. 1.51am.
he should better hurry if he wants to get the subway. luckily it’s not a far distance from the bar to the next stop.

he walks along almost empty streets, the only light source the other clubs, bars and shops scattering this part of town. james shivers a bit as he crosses a street, turning left right after. only two minutes unil the subway takes off.

it’s been getting colder recently. which is really nice, james likes the transition autumn to winter a lot. he likes the christmas season in general. entirely different to sirius and regulus, he only has the most wholesome and perfect associations with the festive spirit and activities.

arriving at the subway station just in time, he hurries down the stairs to the already waiting subway that takes him back home. he slips past the closing doors and slides onto a seat, right as the subway takes off.

there aren’t many people in the compartment, all four of them staring at their phones. james joins in as well, snatches his phone out of his pocket and indulges in addictive behavior. addictive behavior meaning going to his chats and clicking on his boyfriends contact.

[02:03am]
i hope, as deep as in peaceful dreamland you already are, you can sense im omw home to you now, love.

[02:03am]
sirius hopefully didnt wake you. they wanted to get groceries after her shift i think. i promise i’ll smack her if she wasnt quiet enough.

[02.04am]
i missed you all day.

cant wait to join you in bed and steal a tiny bit of your lovely blanket.

just realized that your notifications could be on… even tho they never are!

idk why i’m concerned now i really hope i didnt wake u with my messages!

james‘ eyes flicker to the top of the screen mid typing another message as he gets a notification from someone else.

[02:04am]
when will u be home?

[02:05am]
why? missing me much?

[02:05am]
no (in denial)

im asking cuz i’ve been standing in the kitchen for 5 minutes or so, contemplating (and failing) if i still should cook sth or if a little snack is enough

i need a second opinion

[02:07am]
lmao ur so adhd

[02.07am]
says u lol

[02:07am]
you dont need to cook because of me. in case you want something you should cook, i’d be fine with just a little snack too tho.

did you get any ramen from the store?

[02.08am]
yeah

ur right, thats a good option

okay yeah, ramen it is

two packages?

[02:09am]
sounds good!

[02:09am]
slay

james smiles at his phone. he can imagine the situation perfectly. sirius is so easily overwhelmed with the most mundane, random desicions. he is too. they’re a very chaotic duo. average, fully stereotypical adhd chaos.
speaking of, james quickly looks up from his phone and checks the upcoming subway stops; never trusting himself to be attentive enough to get out at the right one. two more to go.

[02:12am]
i miss u fr btw

i havent seen u all day

HURRY

james rolls his eyes, amused and flattered all the same.

[02:13am]
i’ll let the subway know sirius black is in need for james potter so its gonna go faster!!!

[02:13am]
u better!!!

anyway

hot ramen will be ready for you as soon as u’re here

[02:14am]
thats not the only hot thing that will be waiting for me hopefully ;)

[02:14am]
filthy!!

stop flirting with me!! u have a boyfriend!!!

[02:15am]
and hes my brother!!!!

u animal

[02:15am]
collecting the black brothers one after another!!

my game is good :D

[02:15]
ur disgusting

and an awful human being

[02:16]
im wounded

and almost there btw

[02:16am]
fuck yeah

james stands up from his seat with a happy grin as the subway slows in pace, the irritating computer voice announcing his stop. he checks real quick if he has everything or if he forgot anything –not like he took anything out aside from his phone anyway but double-checking is important!!- and heads out as soon as the doors open.

the way from the station to the apartment is luckily not far either. a good 3 to 4 minutes walk and he’s there. something that already has been very beneficial before obviously.

james crosses another street, passes by the little 24/7 store, turns right and crosses one more street. he opens the little garden gate to their apartment and triggers the motion censor from the lamp at the treshold. he scrambles in his pocket for his keys and unlocks the front door of the housing block. closing the door behind himself, james heads up the staircases up to the 5th floor.

their apartement is quite spacious being on the highest floor and right underneath the roof. it’s a single-storey flat with 3 bedrooms, one of them being sirius‘, the other james‘ shared room with regulus, the third is a spare one for either guests or when he or regulus need some privacy and space.

they have a wide living room area with a big window wall that leads out to a little balcony, one bathroom right next to sirius‘ room and a small but cozy kitchen. james adores their apartement. he thinks all three of them do, including their friends as well. usually the hangouts, when inside, always happen at theirs. as well as sleepovers when they do make it out of the groupchat for once and actually happen.

they‘re no real adults, not by far, just uni students that try to not drown in what life offers and takes, yet it is often difficult to find days where everyone has time. their group is quite a big one too, that is. oftentimes only half of them are free at the same time. it’s a bit sad but they manage. a lot of them see each other regularly on campus anyway, so it’s really not too bad. james just has attachment issues.

arriving at their doorstep, james unlocks the door carefully, trying to be as quiet as possible. his keys jingle softly as he retracks them again and steps into the flat. he closes the door, kicks off his shoes and hangs up the keybundle on one of the little hooks next to the door. sirius‘ keys already hang there too. james smiles a little. it‘s a lovely feeling to come back home and your favorite people already wait for you. it really is the best feeling for james. just home.

there‘s subdued light gleaming against the glass door that separates the small entrance hallway from the living room. james‘ face shimmers golden as he slips into his slippers and opens the door.

the smell of various spices, he cant really idenitfy, greet him as soon as his foot steps over the treshold. sirius was right then, the ramen is waiting for him already.
james feels a little wave of adoration flow through his body. a feeling that intensifies, increases a hundredfold actually and makes his heart suddenly run a marathon because oh...

oh.

regulus, sirius‘ little brother, james‘ boyfriend. snuggled up in his beloved weighted blanket on the couch; head, framed in soft, black curls, resting on a pilllow. his hands are pulled up to his chest, laying in the fetus position with his back facing james.
james‘ heart makes a violent jump.

he quietly steps closer to his sleeping boyfriend. next to the couch table, on the little fluffy carpet are a few books stacked onto each other, seemingly all very thoroughly annotated if the post its and markers are anything to go by.

regulus sighs in his sleep and james holds his breath as he wiggles a bit before eventually turning around. now laying on his left side, james has a perfect view on regulus‘ face. it looks peaceful. oh, so peaceful it makes james‘ heart flutter a bit.

his eyebrows are even, no creases on his beautiful forehead nor any other sign of discomfort or distress.

james loves no matter how regulus looks.

he loves him in his worst moments; during a bad, depressive episode, a meltdown, during panic attacks or angry, frustrated outbursts. he loves regulus through all these struggles the younger faces daily. they are part of his boyfriends life and hence automatically of his own too.

it’s not always easy. sometimes regulus‘ issues clash with james‘ own issues. both of them being neurodivergent plays a big part in that. adhd and autism aren’t easy things to deal with. they drastically disable them in various aspects of life. and still, james and regulus work through it. it never is guaranteed to go smoothly every time and it also doesn’t. but they talk. they love. through whatever.

seeing regulus be at peace like this however, that, james truly loves the most. with regulus being a chronically anxious person that overthinks a lot, it’s what james thinks he deserves the most. just being at ease. he knows it’s what regulus craves for the most too.

„you look so beautiful, my love“ james breathes out. his hand reaches out, gently stroking regulus‘ hair before leaning down and letting his lips faintly brush over the crown of regulus‘ head.

„im home now. im sorry for making you wait so long.“

he whispers against soft curls, his face nuzzling against his scalp to take a deep breath in. regulus smells like his shampoo, home and so distinctly like himself.

consider james an addict.

james gets up again to not disturb his boyfriends precious sleep after all. he pauses for a moment, not really getting himself to just leave regulus‘ side again as he did really miss him a lot throughout the day. a little sigh leaves his lips before he finally averts his eyes and heads towards the kitchen where he’s sure sirius is impatiently waiting for him to join them ever since she heard james‘ keys in the door.

he’s proven right as soon as he steps into the kitchen. sirius, long black, luscious hair tied up into a bun, sits on the the window sill, with stars back leaning against the wall, legs propped up and an arm slung around their knees. the other hand holds a cigarette, grey smoke wavering through the darkness outside. she takes a drag as james enters, the tip of the cigarette shortly glowing orange and sizzling quietly before sirius exhales deeply again.

star wears a huge, brown-red jumper that swallows their figure almost entirely, a silver moon necklace proudly displayed on her exposed collarbones. her legs are fitted in cozy looking sweatpants shorts that are barely visible underneath the large sweater, their feet in big fuzzy knitted socks.

„how are you not freezing to death???“

„your undying love keeps me warm, lover boy“ sirius wiggles their eyebrows. she turned as soon as they heard james‘ entering the kitchen, now smiling brightly at him. sirius takes a last drag before putting out the cigarette in the ashtray next to them, hopping down from the sill and closing the window.

„you’re late!“ star exclaims disapprovingly with a glance at the clock hanging next to the kitchen counter. james takes the jab with a hum, slipping out of his jacket, putting his phone and wallet down on the table and rolls the sleeves of his turtelneck up, ready to help with setting up the table.

„that can happen when working a nightshift“ he laughs amused.

„ha.ha“ sirius busies starself at the stove, only her back facing james but he can hear the eyeroll in stars voice. he heads up to the counter and to the cupboards, opening the one with their pretty impressive mug collection – impressive mostly thanks to sirius and pandora, another dear friend of them, who have a monthly pottery meet up and keep ending up bringing home two to four newly made cups, mugs, bowls, you name it. they are a lovely addition to their otherwise rather boring tableware.

james gets himself and sirius a mug each. „you want tea?“ he asks as he puts the kettle on and rummages through their various tea packages.

„i’d take a coffee when you’re already at it“ sirius mutters and puts out the stove. she swiftly takes the pot with with hot bowling ramen to their little kitchen table and sets it on a coaster. they mindlessly blow a busy curl out of their face and stretch, a yawn escapes her.

„why would i, in my right mind, support you in your unhealthy caffeine consumption at ungodly and very unfitting hours to consume caffeine?“ jammes asks incredulously with a disapproving shake of his head. he picks out a fruit tea, raspberry and orange topped with cinnamon.

sirius tends to drink tea or water or literally anything else in the morning or early noon to start stars day. around the late afternoon when she’s just got out of class and gets ready to either go to work or study at home or in the library on campus, she’ll suddenly deem it to be the perfect opportunity to go get some caffeine in their system. as if this isn’t crazy enough already, sirius will get another coffee after work, usually coming home rather late because they tend to forget time is passing when star is in their studio and when they’re feeling especially unhinged, sirius will drink some more during the night. usually those days are all connected to deadlines of assignments for uni or whatever different reason she deems to be valid to stay up all night.

„because you’d be a hypocrite if you wouldnt“ sirius shrugs nonchalantly. she gets two bowls for them and picks out two pairs of chopsticks. „dont even get me started on your energy issue.“ she drags one chair back with her elbow to sit down and diligently arranges the cutlery as james, obviously, gets started on preparing a coffee for them.
he does have quite an unhealthy liking for energy drinks, sirius isn’t wrong about that. just how coffee seems to work für sirius, energy drinks do the same for him.
„just because i love you or whatever“

sirius hums acknowledging with a smug grin and gets her phone out of their pocket. they fall into a comfortable silence. james watches them for a moment, the tea brewing in his mug and the coffee still in the making, as star types away. must be remus considering the way sirius bites their pink bottom lip with a lovestruck smile, eyes sparkling softly.
sirius tugs an abandoned curl behind their ear, seemingly waiting for stars boyfriend to respond, and giggles quietly as he does, a new messages popping up on the screen.

„are you gonna go to your studio together after your classes tomorrow?“ james asks, the coffee machine beeping and signaling it’s ready, and takes the tea bag out of his water. he opens the fridge, that’s covered in silly magnets and doodles, and pours a shot of almond milk to the coffee. james takes both their mugs and heads over to sirius, dragging the chair with his foot so he can sit down next to them. „here you go.“

sirius looks up from their phone and locks it, putting it down on the table, and takes the mug james hands her. „thanks, love“ star smiles and nods. she takes a sip first before answering.

„yeah, he’s gonna pick me up after lit (literature class). his classes are cancelled for tomorrow. i think he said the prof has caught the flue or something, so not even online anything is happening“

„lucky him“ they sigh.

„your classes tomorrow arent that bad either though, hm?“ james cocks his head slightly, „sculpturing, social design and lit wont make the worst day.“

sirius rolls their eyes.
„yeah no, i love them all. but i still need to prepare loads for social design. i didnt get to finish my stuff on wednesday, so im behind quite a bit. therefore, this baby right here“ she takes another sip from their coffee.

„well, dont stay up too late. you need the sleep, look at our eyebgas“ james tilts his chin up, eyebrows raised, and looks at sirius intently.

„oh, stop worrying about me already!“ scoffs sirius playfully, „i cant handle all that love and care!!! i come from an abusive home!“

james‘ shoulders hunch up as he giggles softly and lowers his head in defeat to blow some air into his tea. the mug is burning sightly his hands. „don’t let mum here that.“

„oh, never!“ laughs sirius. star’s phone lights up for a moment, their attention immediately drawn to the new message that has popped up on the screen. she lets go off their coffee, picks the phone up and unlocks it. the soft laughter continues, sirius‘ eyes flying over the message.

„what’s he’s saying?“ james asks with a raised eyebrow, bringing the mug up to his lips, blowing once more before taking a cautious sip, his face instantly contorting in pain, his tongue curling back as the still far too hot liquid burns the sensitive nerve endings.

sirius looks up from their phone again at the pained huffs james lets out. „you also never learn, do you!“ she shakes her head. „you’re really dumb.“

„he told us to enjoy the ramen“ she comes after james‘ question nonetheless, even if probably not being all too truthful there if the slight flush on her cheeks is anything to go by, and reaches over the still steaming bowl of ramen and grabbing james' cup to set it down at a safe distance from him. james scoffs quietly, rolling his eyes in amusement at this passive-aggressive demonstration.

„well, let’s dig in then” he hums, eyebrow still slightly raised but he decides to let them off easy and instead of burning himself with his tea again, goes for scooping some of the ramen soup into both the bowls, handing sirius a pair of chopsticks and a spoon.

sirius puts their phone down after quickly replying to remus.
“cheers” they smile, slurping up some noodles.

james joins in, eating away at the ramen, emptying the bowl within minutes. he eventually grabs his mug from across the table again, the tea cooled down to a drinkable temperature by now. he takes a few sips, the liquid smoothly running down his throat and warming up his insides.

sirius asks about work and smiles when james mentions alice saying hi. they talk about their days, telling each other all the mundane things happening:

how sirius totally forgot having to get groceries because they were so immersed into their work at the studio. or how remus face-timed them in the store, making them let a bag of vegetables drop to the floor accidentally.

how a customer flirted with james and tried to get his number even though he told her he’s gay and has a boyfriend.

sirius giggles at the annoyance on james’ face as he tells the story. by now their bowls are empty and james refills his mug as sirius starts to clean up the table and puts the dishes away. when they’re done, james keeps ranting about that customer and they walk over to the window, open it again and get stars pack of ‘american spirit’ tobacco and her other cigarette rolling tools.

“and like she still continued!! i had to flee into the kitchen eventually” james sighs exasperatedly, huffing some air on his second cup of tea, watching sirius roll themself a new cigarette.

in that moment, the door to the kitchen opens and a groggy, quiet voice asks: “from whom did you have to flee?”