Modern No-Magic Wolfstar AU

Chapter 58

"But is this something you want to do?"

The bell tinkled, an old couple walking into the shop.

Walking up to the counter, Remus murmured a confident "yes" to Sirius as he passed.

As Remus spoke to the customers and served, Sirius watched him with a small smile on his face. He watched as Remus smiled politely at the couple, listening patiently as they placed their order, tapping into the machine with his gentle fingers. There was a scar along Remus' right hand, from the bottom of his palm to the back of his hand, running in between his thumb and his first finger. Sirius liked to stroke it if ever Remus was feeling upset.

"That comes to a total amount of twenty dollars. Would you like a receipt?"

"Yes, thank you."

"No problem," Remus tilted his head back down so that he could see the screen, and his loose, light brown curls fell in front of his face. He'd been needing to get a haircut for a while, his hair had started to grow too long. But, if Sirius was being honest, he liked whatever Remus did with his hair. He especially liked playing with it. And then taking photos of the stupid hairstyles he put Remus in after he had fallen asleep.

Sirius saw Remus squint his eyes as he tried to view the screen - it wasn't necessarily because he needed glasses, but just because Remus was so tall that he probably needed to crouch to see the screen appropriately. Sirius liked to pretend to be shorter than he was just so that he could have Remus put his chin on top of his head when they cuddled. In reality, if they were both standing to their full height, Sirius' height reached the middle of Remus' face - he always insisted it was Remus' eyebrows, but Remus never agreed with him.

"What are you looking at?" Remus squinted suspiciously as he turned around to start making the order.

Sirius just smiled. "Nothing."

---

"You quite finished, Moony?" Sirius called from the back room, struggling to slide his leather jacket on.

"Nearly," came Remus' reply.

"Lupin, don't worry," the deep voice of a fellow coworker assured him. "Your shift has ended, allow me to finish this off." he took the Chux cloth away from Remus who rubbed the back of his head.

"Right, yeah, you're right. Thank you, Kingsley."

"No problem. Good luck with your father, Remus." Kingsley supportively grasped Remus' shoulder who smiled.

"Thank you. I appreciate it." Walking into the back room, Remus quickly grabbed his bag, then Sirius' hand. "Ready?"

"I am." Sirius squinted. "But are you?"

"Sure," Remus said, his voice way too high pitched to be believable.

"Mhm."

Remus' hand had a thin film of sweat covering it. "Is he here yet?"

"Nope," Sirius said after a quick glance outside the store where the sky had begun to bleed from light blue into purple, pink and then a soft orange. The peak hour traffic had settled, the cars on the main road near the little store beginning to switch on their headlights as they made their way home.

He and Remus took a seat on one of the shop tables outside, Remus' knee bouncing rapidly.

"What exactly are you anxious about?" Sirius asked, softly squeezing Remus' hand across the table.

"Anxious?" Remus repeated. "I wouldn't say I'm- well... okay, yeah." he took a deep breath. "I haven't seen him in over a year, Sirius," his greenish eyes were wide as they stared at Sirius, looking for some kind of understanding. "He texted me saying he stopped smoking, did you know that? How am I meant to believe him? And this is the first time I'm introducing him to you as my boyfriend. How the hell is he going to react to that?"

"Hey," Sirius said. "Breathe, love."

Remus did. He let the breath fill his lungs, holding it for six seconds before letting go again.

Seeing that Remus's eyebrows had unknitted themselves, although his shoulders were still tense, Sirius continued. "You made a smart decision to meet up here. In public, I mean, rather than inviting him into our home where no one can see if something bad happens. You know?"

"Yeah, I thought that might be the case." Remus' eyes slid from Sirius' face to a spot behind him, and they slightly widened.

Sirius twisted so that he could see what Remus was looking at.

An old looking man made his way down the pathway that lined the block of shops, eyes travelling the shop fronts as he passed. His hands were deep in his brown leather jacket pockets as he walked with the same large strides Remus always did. Finally, he looked up and saw the two boys staring at him.

Sirius tried to push down the sense of unease he felt as the man approached. Last time they saw each other, Remus' dad was over-the-top drunk and high. But, as Sirius scanned him, he saw no stumble in his step, no bloodshot eyes, and it looked like he had even ironed his shirt.

Remus' chair scraped out behind him as he stood, and Sirius quickly followed suit. "You came," Remus said somewhat tentatively.

Lyall scratched the back of his head. "I was going to text you that I arrived but, ah, you know I've never been good with technology." He cleared his throat awkwardly.

Still not entirely believing his dad was in front of him after a year of no contact, Remus somehow let out a small, disbelieving laugh. "Well, I'm- I'm glad you came."

"Yeah," the older man nodded at the ground before turning his focus onto Sirius who despised the nerves he suddenly felt as he stared back.

Sirius could almost feel Remus' anxiety climbing and climbing, but hardly a second ticked over before Lyall spoke.

He chose his words slowly, carefully. "And you must be... Remus' boyfriend."

Remus' eyes suddenly widened, his jaw dropping slightly, and when Lyall looked back at him he even gave him a small smile before he looked back down again, clearing his throat.

"Yes, that's me," Sirius said, and after a quick glance to Remus for permission he held out a hand. "Sirius Black, sir."

"Lyall," said the man, grasping Sirius' hand with a chuckle. "None of that 'sir' business, son."

"Yes da- sir- Ly- okay," Sirius finished shortly, silently cursing at himself, using the excuse of pulling over another chair so that he wouldn't embarrass himself further.

"Yes, good idea, let's take a seat," Remus said, his movements stiff. But when he snuck another glance to his father, he smiled a bit.