Model For Me

When Sirius entered JSMD building, James and Dorcas were talking in the lobby with Pandora. It was Tuesday, so there were a lot of people going around, but Sirius didn't care, so he spread his arms.

"James!" he whined, loud enough for James, and everyone in the lobby, to hear. James laughed and spread his arms too, so Sirius just ran over to him and hugged him tightly. Dorcas snickered, so Sirius narrowed his eyes at her. "You are just jealous, because you don't have your James," he accused.

"Or I'm just not dramatic enough to find out if I have my own James," she answered.

"Well," said Pandora, "I believe there is only one James and one Sirius in this world, so it's delightful you found one another."

James smiled at Pandora warmly. "You are a gem, Pan, really."

Sirius agreed with his friend completely. Pandora was a person everyone liked wholeheartedly the first they met her. She was too precious to even try being mean to her. And if someone tried to… She had her squad who were going to defend her. Like they knew she would defend them. When Regulus first introduced Pandora and recommended her for employment, Sirius expected someone really outspoken, a bit mean and quite straightforward. And Pandora was straightforward, could be outspoken, could be even mean, if she wanted, but it all had this delicate coating that he didn't expect from Regulus' friend. He expected next… Dorcas, really.

"Yeah, and I am a waste, thank you very much. Can we now talk about why is Sirius crying, though?" Dorcas smirked at Sirius, who clearly wasn't crying and was just glaring at her.

Sirius untangled himself from James and sighed loudly. "It's been three days, guys."

"Three days since what?" asked Dorcas. She looked at Pandora who was smiling softly, then at James, who tried not to laugh and Sirius could see how she was thinking intensely. "Of course. I guess you are dramatic arse again, huh, Sirius?"

"Of course I am not," he complained. "It is actually about something very important what is related to someone very important, and how this important something is not working as it should."

"What are you talking about," Dorcas laughed. "Someone doesn't want to have photos taken, or what?" she seemed to be joking, but then, James just laughed loudly, patted Sirius on the back, and Dorcas rolled her eyes. "Obviously. But I have to admit, three days of hesitating is a new record."

"It is not about hesitating," Sirius mumbled. Seeing how Dorcas was looking at him curiously, he sighed and repeated himself. "It's not about hesitating. He declined. And three days ago I gave him my number, hoping he would call, and no, he had not."

"Sorry mate, but I doubt he will," said James. Sirius looked at him with his puppy eyes and James smiled at him sadly. He didn't even have energy to be angry at James for calling him a mate. "You know, Pads, he seemed convinced to me from the start."

"But he gave me his number…"

"I believe he didn't really have a choice, you know." And Sirius knew James was right. That Sirius had a way to force himself to people. Sirius even had a discussion about it with James. He believed that Sirius was disturbing Remus' work. He himself thought, though, that Remus still could decline, right? Dorcas would probably agree with him. She also had her ways. And Sirius would have called Remus a few times already, if not his best friend. Because he still hoped the other boy would agree one day. It was a pity not only for him, but also for the world. The world didn't know what it was missing. And it was so, so much. Though Sirius knew James was more sensible than him, so he just listened. Sirius sighed like the third time in five minutes.

"Stop whining Sirius, you act like a lovesick puppy, now." Patted him Dorcas. "I want to scratch you behind your ears, because of that. Don't do this to me."

"Maybe Sirius is falling in love," said Pandora with her soft voice.

"He is falling in love a few times a month, you don't have to make this dreamy face, Pandora," commented Dorcas and then made a mischievous grin. "Though I guess it's a nice change for Sirius to get rejected a little. Too many broken hearts is never good for you."

"I don't break any hearts. And it's not love," Sirius frowned. "And they know it. I'm just taking photos of them. I just find people interesting, offer them a photoshoot, we talk a bit and after everything we part our ways. That's all."

"We know it is like that for you, I doubt it is for them, though." Pandora smiled sadly. "I saw more than one girl with teary eyes after your photo session."

"It's funny you say that, when I'm entirely gay."

"So you are waiting for the guy to call you?" asked Dorcas. "You don't have his number?"

"I have…" perked Sirius, looking at James. His friend shook his head, though, so Sirius again became gloomy. "I have, but James is saying it would be crossing boundaries. Because I forced Remus to give me his number in a way, and now I should wait to give him an actual choice."

"But you're doing really good, Pads," commented James.

"And," Pandora added, "it is endearing that you give him space and respect. I believe he will give you another chance, just because you respected him."

"Pandora," it was Dorcas turn to say something, "you believe in everything that has a good ending."

"And isn't she always right?" James smiled, though Dorcas scoffed.

"Yeah, sure."

"Oh, by the way, how are you and Marlene?"

"She is still angry at me," winced Dorcas. Sirius thought it is nothing unusual they were in conflict, when one of them was always trying to provoke the other. He was with Marlene in this case and decided to declare it, just to spite Dorcas.

"Marlene is absolutely right, though. I would be mad at you, too. And I think it’s really unprofessional to prank someone in the same way twice. Really, I didn't believe at first. I thought better of you."

"Yeah," agreed James. "When you prank someone, you have to be creative, not spiteful. And doing the same prank the second time is a bit improper and disreputable."

When James said so, Sirius beamed at him and gave him a hug. He placed his head on James' shoulder and stayed this way. James placed his arm around him, so Sirius felt he was at the best place he could be. Dorcas, though, gaped at them.

"You are…" she hesitated with the word choice, "genuine? And these rules are, what, made by you?"

"It's a common knowledge," said Sirius.

"Common sense, really," added James.

"I can't with you two. Pandora, what do you think?"

Pandora didn't even have to think about her answer. "I believe everything is fine, if you don't really hurt the other person."

"James, I think I'm dead. I see an angel," Sirius dramatically put his hand to his forehead.

"You're being dramatic again, Pads," James laughed.

"No, I'm not dramatic. I'm dead. I'm dead serious. And dead Sirius, too, apparently."

And even though it was his own joke, he started laughing, then couldn't really stop for a while. He stopped only when Dorcas sighed and said. "And you are wondering why this Remus-guy didn't give you a call."

And then it was time for James to laugh, too. Sirius hid his head in his friend's shoulder.

"Don't talk to me, from now on."

"Oh, and guys, I actually wanted to tell you that I'm going to organize a small get-together soon," said James. "Thought I will invite Lily, so she could feel easier with us, when she will start."

"Isn't Lily a new seasonal model? Since when you organize small gets-together with only one model, not all of them?" Dorcas questioned, smirking. "I mean, I have nothing against it. I would be careful, though. You are giving me a teasing material."

"We organized one for Mary," noticed James.

"Yeah, but Mary is our full-time model, if I can call it this way. And she is a friend from your school," Dorcas observed.

"Lily is lovely," interrupted Pandora. "She is really nice and seems to be respectful, so I'm all for it."

Dorcas gasped. "I hope the 'really respectful' part was not a hint at me."

Pandora smiled. "Our lovely Dorcas. Of course, it was."

And Sirius laughed, with James alongside, because Pandora was all soft voices and nice words, but it was also the reason why she could have a go at someone, and if this someone didn't know her, it wouldn't be that obvious that she insulted them.

"You are a masterpiece and nothing will change my mind," commented James, still chortling, and Pandora smiled at him sweetly.

"Aren't we all?"

***

It was evening and Remus was chilling out with Lily, which literally meant they were studying together and helping each other with testing their knowledge. Remus was about to ask Lily next question, when her phone ringed. Lily got up to take her phone from the table, because they were sitting comfortably on the floor with notes and books around them.

"Petunia?" asked Remus, but Lily frowned.

"James, actually," she answered, while picking up the phone and putting it to her ear.

"Oh? So you are already calling each other? That's fast." Remus joked and Lily rolled her eyes.

"Hello," she said to the phone, and he was surprised to see, that Lily smiled when James answered. Because it wasn't the typical, polite smile Lily had when talking with a stranger, but one that was intended for someone she was happy to see or hear from. Remus raised his eyebrows and waited for the call to end. There were some of "oh, that would be lovely", "I would be free then, yeah" and "great" with a toothy smile. Then some thank you's and byes were exchanged and Lily was back.

"I didn't know you like James this much," Remus said. Lily waved her hand. "There were a lot of smiling. Like a lot, lot."

"He is nice, and I like nice people. It's simple as that."

"Tell that to your ex-friend Severus. He didn't seem nice to me. And were not nice neither," he countered and Lily glared at him.

"Severus was nice. At first. And then he was bullied. Then he changed. Then he was not nice. He changed, we parted our ways. End of the history," she sat back on the floor. "And it actually proves my point. He stopped being nice, I stopped being his friend."

"True," admitted Remus. "Going back to James though, are you invited to something?"

Lily smiled. "Yes, and it's pretty awesome, actually. He said there will be a small get-together with the team, so we can get to know each other. I wanted to ask if I can bring you, but first, I know you are busy this week, and you would decline either way, and second…" she looked at Remus' phone lying next to him. "You still haven't called Sirius. Are you actually going to do this? I mean, you don't have to, of course. You said a no to him, already, but I think it still would be nice of you to call him, since he may be waiting."

"Oh," smirked Remus. "It would be nice of me, you say? Is it some kind of roundabout message? Seeing how you don't like unkind people?"

"Yes, Remus, I'm going to kick you out and end our friendship, because you didn't call a guy." Her voice dropping with sarcasm made Remus let out a laugh.

"So finally, you are giving me a recipe, how to easily get rid of you? After all these years?"

"Oh, shut it," said Lily, corner of her mouth lifting. "But seriously…" she wanted to tell something, but suddenly she covered her mouth with hand. She looked at Remus with realization, and he smiled at her, because he knew what it was about, just fine. "We won't be able to say 'seriously', from now, will we?"

"I'm afraid not, Lils, I'm afraid we won't. But since we are talking about it, I think I will call him. It would be a few minutes for me, and he…"

"He hasn't called you, so you are content with him," it was Lily's turn to smirk.

"Actually, yes. Because I know for a fact that he has my number." And that was the truth. There was something nice with the fact that Sirius gave him space. And Remus could see a call Sirius gave himself from Remus' phone, so he was sure, Sirius had his number.

"And I'm getting hungry. What do you say about something to eat? I will make something, and you can call Sirius, hm?"

Remus got up. "So I'm nice to him and you still can be my friend? I guess it's worth it, since you are making food."

"Yeah, yeah… I should be more careful of what I say, because with you, I won't live to the end of it."

"But James is nice, though!" yelled Remus after Lily, when she stood up, too. He went to the bedroom, while she moved to the kitchen and after stopping next to the window, Remus dialled the number. Sirius named his contact 'Padfoot', and if Remus had many numbers or a fluent calling history on his phone, it would probably take a while until he would notice, there was no 'Sirius' on his phone.

Remus remembered his irritation when Sirius wanted to hold the queue just so he could talk to Remus. He still didn't know if a fact of not respecting boundaries annoyed him, or maybe morning hours, which were really busy and Remus didn't want to drag the queue any longer. Or if he was annoyed that the first he saw Sirius, he remembered how starstruck he was.

And it would be a lie if Remus said he wasn't starstruck any more. He still believed there will be no meeting a person who is more beautiful than Sirius. But at the same time, he did have his faults. Everyone had theirs. And it made him real, so Remus was really thankful that he could feel irritated by Sirius and see something above this first impression.

And of course, Sirius wasn't only beautiful. He seemed to be a bit clumsy, which was actually adorable in Remus' opinion, and energetic and rather optimistic. He had this positive energy around himself, that Remus craved a little.

 Sirius picked up almost immediately.

"Remus?"

"I'm still mad at you, you know" Remus started with an accusation. "You should accept my refusal and move on, you know. Respect my choice."

Some said to him, that he was bitter, some said he was unrelenting even. But Remus didn't care. He believed he wasn't like that. Remus knew, and it was life that taught him, that you have to tell the other person that something is not fair for this person to know this. And one can mark their boundaries or be respected properly, without being mean and hurtful. So Remus never wanted to be harsh nor insult anyone. He wanted to be respected as a person, and he didn't care if someone would label him as vile. He had his rights.

There was a bit of silence and then Sirius said. "So I assume there is no chance, you are changing your decision?"

"Yes," declared Remus.

"And it is an ultimate 'no'?"

"Yes," he confirmed again.

"And you are absolutely sure?"

"Absolutely," Remus admitted.

"You are totally welcome, if you change your mind, though." Declared Sirius and Remus felt relieved, the other boy just accepted his refusal this time. "I guess, I should apologize to you, about how I… ehm… disturbed your work. I'm sorry, I gave you so little choice in giving me your number."

"It was an ultimatum, really," commented Remus, his mouth quirking, because he couldn't take this… seriously.

"I know, I'm so sorry," said Sirius, and Remus was surprised to hear a real remorse in his voice.

"A threat," he continued, smiling.

"I'm so impulsive sometimes, I'm sorry" apologized Sirius again.

"Blackmail, almost."

"And… wait, what?" Sirius asked, finally seeing how thing went too far and Remus burst out laughing "You were joking" his tone flat. And then again. "You were joking" and this time there was a real relief in his voice. "I was really stressed out, you know. Should've warned me."

"Should've done a thing that would not stress you out."

"Point taken."

"But really, I'm not mad at you. My answer still stands, though. It's a 'no'. It got bigger, now. It's a big no, currently."

"Oh, with a big no, I would surely not risk my chances. It's too much of a rejection."

"Great way of thinking," there was silence after Remus' words. It was a bit uncomfortable, but there was this nervous tension, like Sirius waited to tell something. So Remus waited, wanting to give him time.

He looked at the view from the window. It was evening, it was dark outside and Remus was able to see the stars on the night sky. They were pretty. Beautiful in the way nothing else could be. But the stars were like this, weren't they? Having their own, unique charm. Because there was no way to look at something else and say 'wow, it's so beautiful, like stars'. You could compare some sights to stars. Like when you see something shining, it could be a huge body of water for example. With the way the waves are glittering, and they can remind you of stars. Still, there is nothing to compare stars to. Stars have their own beauty. They own their beauty. And there are things that may remind you of this beautifulness, but they won't have the same beauty as the stars. Or maybe stars just called to Remus from heights. Enchanting him, and still, Remus didn't find it in him to resist. He thought of himself as someone rather sensible, but if someone told him he was destined to love stars, it would be this one crazy idea he believed.  

"James organizes a small get-together," started Sirius suddenly, startling Remus. "Lily will come. Maybe you could come, too?"

"Isn't it a get-together among your team? Among co-workers?" asked Remus back to the conversation.

"It is…" said Sirius slowly.

"Then no. I will even say a big no, since it is worth more." Remus declined, but decided to explain his decision. "You must see, Sirius, that it do sound a bit weird. I refuse your offer for a photo session, and then you are inviting me for a get-together like I am part of the team."

"Yes, it… does sound like it was planned," Sirius admitted and Remus let out a small breath, because he didn't have energy to argue with a next wave of persistent passionate proposals. "But if it wouldn't be a meeting of co-workers, would you be willing?"

"What kind of meeting would it be? You, me and Lily? James, eventually. Because I can't see how a meeting with all your co-workers could not be a meeting between co-workers." And maybe Remus was a bit unfavourable, but he just felt like he couldn't trust Sirius when he said he won't be making the offers of job in modelling anymore. Did he even say that, though?

"How would that be different from if we were to met separately? I mean, you met James, you met Pandora, you met Marlene. You met me. And you know Lily. There won't be a lot of people. Just a close circle. A team that will work together, yes. But we are friends above a working thing." It was almost funny for Remus, how Sirius was persistent in everything he did. But still, he had a point.

"You are… actually right." And it was also a moment when Remus realized that Sirius seemed to be a bit shy and awkward sometimes, but he still was relentless in what he was doing, and it was… admirable. In a way that could be exasperating a bit to Remus, but admirable nonetheless. "Though I still must decline. Lily told me it is organized, so your lot can work easily with each other. This sounds pretty coworkerish to me. And to be honest, I have a lot of things to do this week. But another time, maybe."

"Great," said Sirius, and Remus couldn't shake off the impression that he was beaming on the other side of the connection. Or maybe Remus wished, Sirius was smiling now. "I'm going to hold you to your word. So I'm going to save your number and use it when needed, which may be soon. Depends on my friends. And me. And you. Of course."

"Of course," repeated Remus, smiling.

"So, see you? Until the next call or something?"

"Until the next time, Sirius. Goodbye."

"Bye." Remus waited a little, but hearing how Sirius did not end the call, he did so himself. He got up and opened the door, to see his friend with a hand lifted to knock. Lily looked him up and down.

"I certainly wasn't smiling like that, though," commented Lily with a smirk.

"Oh, sod off," said Remus and a few moments later, when they moved back to the floor, there was a pillow, falling off Lily's face.

"It's a war," she declared, taking a pillow.

And a war it was.