Irregular Activity
Thursday, March 7th, 2002
*Severus’s POV*
Severus twisted his legs around each other a few times as he chewed on his waffle. Using writing as a form of communication meant his mouth didn’t have to be empty to speak, but he preferred it anyway.
~I have homework for therapy.~
“Does it have to be done by Saturday?”
Yes.
“What is it? Does it involve me?”
~Everything involves you.~ Severus squirmed even though it was true and less embarrassing than it had been a month ago. For some reason anytime he thought about or interacted with Remus lately his intestines felt all squirmy, and it wasn’t always possible to keep the movement inside.
“I guess that’s true to an extent—you are becoming more independent though.”
~I’m supposed to do an activity that isn’t part of my usual routine. She suggested going to a restaurant, but I don’t think I have to do that. I think it can be whatever I want.~
“Alright, what do you want to do?”
~I don’t know.~
“Are you opposed to a restaurant?”
~No, but it doesn’t seem challenging enough.~
“What about a zoo?”
~Too sad. Zoos are evil.~ Severus had gotten better at expressing his opinions, though he still had his moments of panic when he went against what Remus said.
“Right. An aquarium?”
~Same thing.~
“We could go to a park?”
~Nothing to do.~
“A shopping spree?”
~Too crowded. And we don’t need anything.~
“The ice rink might still be up.”
~Can’t skate and don’t want to learn.~
“Bowling?”
~Too physically taxing.~
“I can’t really think of anything else to do.”
~Sorry.~
“You’re fine….It wouldn’t involve leaving the house, but you could finally meet some of my friends.” Remus had seen very little of his friends in the past month, and when they did meet up it was always in public or at someone else’s house.
Severus thought about it for a minute, stomach churning, before beginning to write. ~Only one.~ This was probably a mistake, but it seemed like the only option at this point.
“Great. I’ll fire call and see if anyone can come over later.”
~Okay.~
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The only person available at short notice on a Thursday was Maverick Hall who worked through commissions rather than a typical job.
“Hey!” Maverick called as they walked through the living room door behind Remus just after 1:00. Severus paused his show both to not seem rude, and so he could observe the new person without distraction.
Maverick was tall and strangely tan for someone who lived in England. Their hair was short, puffy, and purple while their eyes were a more normal amber. Despite what most would expect in the region of fashion from a forty-five year old, Maverick was wearing a tight white muscle shirt, gray skinny jeans, leather boots fitted with chains, and a criminal amount of bracelets to go along with their many ear piercings, including lobe gauges.
~Hello.~ Severus wrote and held up his notebook once the other two were settled in seats that had been moved to be near him.
“Severus, right?”
~Yes.~
“I’m Maverick.”
It felt rude to say ‘I know’, even though he did, so Severus just nodded.
“You and Remus roommates now?”
~Technically housemates as we have our own rooms, but yes.~
“How that happen?”
“We’re old friends who were both tired of living on our own.” Remus cut in, saving Severus from embarrassment.
“How old?” Maverick turned to Remus.
“Well, we’ve known each other thirty-one years, but only been friends twenty-seven.”
“How come I’m just now meeting him, then? Or even hearing about him?” Maverick was being lighthearted and curious, but Severus couldn’t help but feel like he was under attack.
“We drifted apart the past few years, longer than I’ve known you, but nothing serious. The war made me get away from everyone, you know that.”
“True, true.” Maverick nodded. “Anyway, Severus, what’ve you been up to?”
~Nothing much.~
“Got a job or anything?”
~I’ve started brewing potions for individuals, medical centers, and apothecaries, but that’s rather new, and so underdeveloped.~
“Ooh. You like potions?”
~To an extent.~
“We went to Hogwarts together, didn’t we? I was just a few years ahead.”
~If you went with Remus, you went with me.~
“That where you two met?”
~Yes.~
“I don’t know any of my Hogwarts friends anymore. Probably a good thing.”
~Why?~ He couldn’t help but be curious.
“They weren’t the nicest. Didn’t seem too serious, being an asshole, at the time because of all the shitty things going on in the world, but it don’t make it right. Now that things are better, I don’t want any negatives bringing me down.”
Severus couldn’t help but feel like a negative. In his own life, Remus’s, and now Maverick’s. ~Yeah.~
“Are you rejoining the house rotation, then?” Maverick turned back to Remus.
“Not yet.” Remus’s friend group had an order in which they rotated going to each other’s houses. Remus had abandoned the rotation when Severus moved in, but who knew how long that would last. “Maybe eventually, but Severus doesn’t deserve to have five randos shoving into his space every few weeks. I’d like him to meet you all individually at least once first, and even then only if he’s comfortable.”
“All right.” They didn’t seem too terribly upset, but Severus still felt guilty. Because he had moved in, Remus got less time with his friends. Remus’s friends had to spend more time and money hosting as there was one less person to take some of the load. Nothing would go back to normal until Severus was normal, which would never happen. “Will we have to work around Severus’s friends visiting?”
Severus burned up because he didn’t have any friends. None except Remus, at least. ~No.~
“Oh, okay.”
There was an awkward lull for a moment that Remus took into his own hands to end.
“How have you been recently, Mav?”
“Nothing much that you don’t already know about.”
“Still think Kitty is crushing on you?” Kitty Thomas, Kitty was not a nickname, was another one of Remus’s friends.
“I think she might ask me out soon.”
“I don’t know. I mean, I’m not denying the fact that she likes you, but her and Emilee just broke up at the end of January.”
“So? It’s been a month-and-a-half, time moves on, people must too.”
Severus squirmed at the lack of attention. Maverick Hall, Kitty Thomas, Emilee Martin—just a bunch of people Severus knew nothing about except the fact that they were the friends Remus had made after losing all of his original ones.
“Most people don’t move on from relationships that quickly, especially not ones that lasted almost six years.”
“But, she likes me.”
“Liking someone and being ready to be in a relationship with them, or with anyone at all, isn’t the same thing.”
“Emilee has moved on.”
“Emilee has gotten to the hookup stage, but she’s still not in a committed relationship, or even a casual one.”
Maverick sighed and crossed their arms, slouching in their chair. “So what do I do?”
“Just wait until Kitty asks you out, don’t pressure her or anything.”
“What if she’s waiting for me to ask her out?”
“You know Kitty would never do that; nowhere near enough impulse control.”
“Yeah, you’re right.”
Severus squirmed again and made an involuntary sound of discontent. He hated being bored more than any other feeling.
“Sorry, Sev, this all probably means nothing to you.” Remus turned to him with a small apologetic smile.
Severus shrugged, but he really did want more engagement. This meeting was not going how he expected, or hoped, though he supposed it made sense that Remus’s friend would mostly be focused on Remus. That the two would have knowledge and conversations completely outside of Severus.
“What were you watching before I got here?” It was an olive branch.
~Care Bears.~ Severus responded without shame. He couldn’t feel shame here because his shirt had care bears on it, so he was clearly a fan.
“Do you want to watch some now? I didn’t grow up with television and by the time I had one I didn’t search for that type of show.”
They all knew Maverick meant little kid shows, and they all knew they only wanted to turn on the TV because conversation wasn’t thriving, but Severus did it anyway.
Remus’s friends would not become his own, but he could at least try to be as civil and manageable as possible.