1
Remus didn’t expect the script to be sent so early and even less to be delivered directly to his flat. He thanks the delivery man -who recognises him- and closes the door behind him, brown envelope under the arm. He rubs his eyes with the back of his sleeve and walks over to the kitchen, still barefoot and in his plaid bottoms. A cuppa and buttered toasts are sitting on the wooden table and Sirius is leaning on the counter, already wide awake and fully dressed. He’s probably back from an early session at the studio.
“Mornin’.” Remus mumbles, taking a sit on one of their mismatched chairs.
“Good morning, Moons.” Sirius says, a cup of coffee in hand and a smile on his lips. He points at the thick brown envelope still in Remus’ hands. “What’s that?”
Remus puts a hand in his hair. “Script for new movie.”
“Well, what are you waiting for? Open it!” Sirius pushes a chair next to his and sits down cross-legged, cup of coffee forgotten.
As much as Remus loves Sirius -and it’s a lot- he can’t comprehend how he manages to get energy so early in the morning, it’s not even 9:00am yet. He is more excited to read thousands of words than Remus, and he is the reader.
The script is -as Remus predicted- very long. He already knows the story because it’s an adaption of one of his favourite books, so he just scans the pages, trying to decipher the changes from the book to the movie script.
“So?” Sirius’ voice cut through his train of thoughts and Remus looks up to him.
“I like it.” He smiles. “I already knew I would like it because I read the book at least five times before auditioning. But this-” He motions down to the stack of paper. “This makes it so much more real.”
“You will be amazing.” Sirius says just above a whisper and Remus must look down to hide the blush creeping on his face. Stupid Sirius.
[The Marauders] 9:31 am, London
Prongs: just got script
Prongs: freaking out
Wormy: Is it good?
Prongs: astounding, I still can’t believe I’m playing baby Black’s love interest!!
Moony: Just read it.
Moony: Mind blowing.
Pads: Moony is acting cool but he is desperately trying not to freak out
Pads: it’s hilarious to see
Moony: Fuck off.
Moony: It’s just a movie.
Wormy: You know the book by heart.
Prongs: you are a literal fan girl
Pads: you teared up after seeing the author during the audition
Prongs: that’s true, I was there
Moony: Stop bullying me :(
He hears Sirius laughing from the living room and internally curses him. He still has a smile bigger than what’s socially acceptable plastered on his face when he goes to boil more water for his tea.
[To: Lils] 9:56am, London
Remus: Got the script. Your character is so badass.
Lils: IKR
Lils: I’m so excited to see you everyday on set, it’s been so long :(
Remus: Best part of playing in a movie together.
Remus: Btw, I know someone who is freaking out about the script.
Lils: Please tell me it’s James.
Remus: You know it is.
Lils: lol, he is such a loser
He chuckles to himself as he closes his bedroom’s door with his foot. He puts down his tea on his bedside table and grabs a discarded pen on his desk before plopping down on his unmade bed. The sun streams through the open window and the street’s noises help Remus concentrate. He opens the script again and starts scribbling annotations next to his lines.
It’s a habit he took after working with Sirius’ brother, Regulus, on the movie Call Me By Your Name. In his solo scenes, Regulus had a way to go beyond words and say everything with his eyes, his gestures. The director loved it and asked to do something similar in their shared scenes -they played lovers- which led them to spend a day going through the script together, annotating tips to convey a certain emotion such as lust and sadness in their gestures. Remus learned a lot from Regulus on that day. The communication made their scenes look more intimate, more real.
He is excited to film with him again. To be fair, Remus feels lucky to be able to play in a movie with talented actors and a cast he is already friends with. He played in a movie with James a couple years ago and met Regulus on set, but he never had the chance to work with Lily. He knows she is gifted, just like the others are, he watched her movies and visited James and her on set when they filmed in Fear Street together but working with her is entirely different. It’s exciting.
[From: Reg] 14:29pm, London
Reg: *photo*
Reg: Annotated the script.
Lupin: I just finished mine.
Lupin: What do you think of it?
Reg: The story is interesting.
Reg: I really like the dystopian vibes and I can’t wait to see the decors and outfits.
Lupin: Yea, me too.
Lupin: I think your character looks a lot like you.
Reg: No, he doesn't.
Reg: I can be mean and sarcastic sometimes but I’m no fool.
Reg: I still have some dignity.
Lupin: That’s sooo something your character would say.
Lupin: Just saying…
Reg: I’ll cut your tongue off.
Reg: That way you’ll stop “just saying” shit.
Lupin: I love it when you’re mean
Lupin: ;)
Reg: Disgusting, get away from me.
Lupin: Oh, we’re playing prude now?
Reg: Shut up, I’m working.
Reg: Leave me alone.
Lupin: Another Gucci campaign?
Reg: Nope.
Reg: Shooting for Vogue.
Lupin: STFU
Lupin: Are you serious right now?
Reg: No, that’s my brother.
Lupin: I’m telling him you just said that.
Reg: Please don’t. He’ll be annoying again.
Lupin: Did he ever stopped?
Reg: Not really.
Lupin: That’s what I thought.
Lupin: For real though, it’s amazing Reg. Shooting for Vogue is just so
Lupin: WOW
Lupin: I’m so proud of you.
Reg: Thanks Remus, I’m very happy about it.
Reg: I’ll try to pass by later if I don’t finish too late.
Lupin: OK, have a good shoot.
Lupin: Be the greatest star.
A knock comes on his door and Remus looks up to see Sirius leaning on his doorway, his arms crossed on his chest. “Are you busy?” He asks quietly.
“No, I just finished.” Remus puts the script away and gets up to look for something else to wear than his pyjamas. “Do you want to do something?”
“Bookstore or record shop?” Remus smiles at him and he thinks he couldn’t be more in love with this man, his best friend, he has to remind himself.
“Both?” He ends up responding, turning his back to Sirius.
“Both it is then.” He taps his fingers on the door and disappears out of Remus’ sight.
He ends up getting too distracted by Sirius’ singing in the opposite room to pick something more elaborate than a white band shirt and a pair of blue jeans that doesn’t fit him. He tries to tame his dirty blond curls, sitting cross-legged in front of the mirror that fell and broke a few months ago. Remus has yet to fix it.
“Ready?” Sirius calls from the living room.
“Yea, I’m coming.” He can hear Sirius’ laugh and sees the joke coming from a mile away.
“That’s what she said.” Yup, he called it. He grabs his keys and his wallet then puts on his converses.
Sirius is still laughing when Remus enters the room. He is leaning on the door, his black hair tied up in a messy bun. He is wearing a white tank top that shows off his tattoos with a pair of black baggy jeans. Remus is confused as to why he bothered to put on a belt because it’s obviously not doing it’s fucking job. The elastic band of his boxers is peaking, and Remus finds it hot. Sirius opens the door for him and smirks when Remus just “tsk” him.
The weather is nice today -for once- and Sirius decided to wear his sunglasses. If he wanted to blend in the crowd and not be recognised, he probably forgot the black ink and the 6ft5 actor walking next to him kinda gives him away. They walk close enough for their shoulders to bump from time to time and Sirius seems so unbothered that it bothers Remus more than the bumping itself. The record shop is two blocks away from their Soho flat and when they enter, the shop is almost desert except for a pink-haired person with face piercings. They say hello to the owner, Charles, and start walking through the aisles, stopping in front of a section every now and then.
Sirius is the one who discovered the shop, only a few weeks after moving in with Remus. He called him while Remus was in Argentina for a movie and rambled for ten minutes non-stop about “the coolest record shop ever”. He was right of course.
The shop is full of second-hand records of all genres and the red walls are decorated with music posters. The floor is covered with oriental rugs and the old turntable next to the till plays a different record every day, today it’s Led Zeppelin.
Sirius finds a The Clash record he has been searching for a while and Remus picks up Electric Warrior by T-Rex to replace the one Peter accidentally broke. They talk with Charles for a moment before he cuts Sirius off and disappears in the back of the shop. “I just remembered the record I put away for you.” He says excitedly when he comes back. He sits back down on his chair and hands them the album. “I thought you would enjoy it more than I do.”
It's an original copy of The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust by David Bowie. Remus turns it around and has to do a double take when he sees it. The signature. He knows Sirius saw it too because he can hear a quiet gasp escaping his mouth.
Remus snaps his head up to look at the old shop owner. “Is it real?” Remus is in disbelief.
“It is. I got it authenticated a few days ago.”
“Oh my god.” Sirius whispers.
“Oh my god indeed.” Remus repeats. “How much?” He asks, putting the record down on the counter with the other two.
“It’s a gift. I’m not making you pay for it.” Charles gives them a warm smile.
“What? There is no way, Charles. We can’t accept it.” Remus thinks he is dreaming. This record must cost a fortune, Remus doesn’t need to be a specialist to know it.
“Yes, you can. You are always very kind to me when you come by and always leave with something. Even when you are both busy, you find a way to come by and say hi. It means a lot to me. Consider it as a congratulation gift for your new movie, I saw it in the paper this morning.”
Remus fight the tears filling up in his eyes and goes behind the counter to hug Charles. Sirius does the same thing and thank him at least ten times. Remus remembers when they bought their second copy of the album from this exact shop. They told Charles it was their favourite album and Sirius even said that Starman was written about him, and Moonage Daydream was about his “sweet Moony”.
Remus leaves the shop laughing in disbelief and Sirius throws an arm around his shoulders as soon as they step in the street.
“This is so sick. We have to tell James and Marlene about it.” Sirius chuckles lightly but doesn’t drop his arm. “They’ll be so jealous.” Remus nods and puts an arm behind his back, smiling down at him.
That’s when he hears a click. Fucking paparazzies.
They both drop their arms and Remus hides his face with his hand while Sirius send them the finger. They are asking them all kind of questions about the dating rumours, Remus’ new movie and Sirius’ album in the making. The only thing Sirius says is “fuck off” and drags Remus by his arm into a bookstore.
They hide in there for a while, walking through every aisle and looking at every shelf and every stack of books. They lose sight of each other at some point and Remus finds Sirius sitting cross-legged on the floor with the shop’s cat on his lap, talking to the owner.
“How many did you find this time?”
Remus looks down to the pile of books he is holding and smiles sheepishly. “Only four.”
Sirius gets up and chuckles. “That’s an improvement.”
They take a cab back home just to be safe and Sirius insists on carrying the tote bag to go up the five flights of stairs to their flat.
“What the fuck!” Remus almost screams as he sees someone sitting in their couch.
“Oh, hi Reggie.” Sirius says calmly as he puts the tote bag on their kitchen table. Remus thinks he just had a heart attack and puts a hand on his chest to make sure his heart didn’t escape.
“Don’t go dying on me Lupin.” Regulus pats his shoulder and walks over to the kitchen, smirking at Remus. He’s making fun of him, this fucking bitch.
“I knew I shouldn’t have given you a spare key.” Remus pulls out three glasses from their living room cabinet and joins the Black brothers in the kitchen. “Please never do this at night.”
Regulus laughs and opens the wine bottle he brought with him.
“What are we drinking for?” Sirius asks, sitting on the counter.
“You didn’t tell him?” Regulus looks at him and Remus just shrugs. “Remus and I are officially dating.”
“What?” There’s a moment of silence before both Remus and Regulus burst out laughing.
“Oh my god, you should see your face.” Remus is almost tearing up and Regulus is on the floor. Sirius, on the other hand, looks very annoyed.
It’s funny, he should be laughing too.
“Pull yourselves together.” He grumbles.
“We’re only kidding, Pads.” Remus smiles at him and Sirius seems to relax a bit.
“So, what’s the occasion then?” Sirius asks, dramatically throwing his arms in the air.
“I’m going to be on the front page of next month’s Vogue magazine.”
“That’s not funny, Regulus.” Sirius is smiling.
“He’s being for real, Padfoot. He told me earlier.” Another silence. Sirius is frozen, his glass halfway to his lips.
“Oh my god!” He jumps off the counter and almost spills his glass trying to hug his brother. “Oh my god.” He repeats. “That’s the coolest thing ever.” He looks at Remus with a smile plastered on his face and hugs- it’s more like a death squeeze- Regulus.
“Get off me.” Regulus says, but the smile on his face can be heard in his voice and Sirius doesn’t stop repeating “Oh my god” and “I’m so proud of you”. Remus sits back and watches them.
“Okay, that’s enough physical touch for the year. Leave me alone now.” Regulus pushes Sirius away, who just smiles at him and pours a bigger glass for “the Vogue model”.