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[-moonylupin-.livejournal.com]

Date: July 15th, 2000 (day)
Status: Mostly private - Sirius, Remus
Setting: Manor, grounds, bedroom (not in that order)
Summary: Picnic!



"Out of bed, Sirius. It's half to noon."

There was exhaustion in Remus' quiet voice, dark circles under his hazel eyes, but he stood there waiting regardless, holding a picnic basket with wonderful-smelling food. The scent alone could wake a dead man. Remus had to admit it, but not in front of Sirius, that Severus Snape was an excellent cook.

He waved the basket. "Come now," he teased gently. "I'm taking you outside, into the sunshine. It will be good for you. You're as pale as death."

Comments

[grimsirius.livejournal.com]

"Yes, win" said Sirius with a cheeky grin. "I got you off me, didn't I?" He shook with silent laughter as Remus frantically wiped his cheek. Making normally controlled Remus come undone was a favourite pastime of his, even if he did have to resort to drastic measures sometime.

"Besides, I have the butterbeer," he said, and then realized that he was not, in fact, holding the butterbeer any longer. After a quick glance about, he saw the bottle lying an the ground, so apparently sometime during their impromptu wrestling match, he'd dropped and spilled it. He frowned, and half crawled, half walked back to the blanket (it wasn't far-- somehow they'd rolled several feet back in their original direction during the fight), and picked up his own nearly full bottle.

"Sorry 'bout that," he called to Remus. "You can have mine!"

[-moonylupin-.livejournal.com]

"What, and more slobber?" he bantered as he picked himself off the grass, brushing off the green blades from his chest and bum. "No thanks! I've got..."

Remus walked over, staring at the basket sitting out. "Oh, see, I brought a bottle of wine and two glasses. It was for dessert, but I suppose it'll have to do for lunch."

With the adrenaline wearing off, exhaustion began to slow Remus' limbs again. He wondered if he could take a nap soon...

[grimsirius.livejournal.com]

Sirius is tired, too, even if he doesn't want to admit it. He lies on his stomach on the blanket, propping his chin up with his hands.

"Wine sounds perfect about now." He actually means it, too. Normally, he'd prefer something to get the job done faster, but it's such a warm, beautiful day and he already feels pleasantly sleepy.

[-moonylupin-.livejournal.com]

Remus poured the two glasses, noting with a glance Sirius' sudden lacklustre.

"Did you sleep well?" he asked quietly.

It was a deeper exhaustion pulling at the werewolf, and he felt it now, eyes beginning to close as he sipped his own glass, only a little full. Years of starvation meant no waste; Remus hoarded what he could. He slept when he got back from work, too tired to check in much on the always-sleeping Sirius, and fell asleep the minute his head hit the pillow, but waking early enough to coax Sirius outside, to be sociable and friendly.

He leaned against one of the massive trees, watching Sirius with rapidly closing eyes. "Even after Butterbeer?" he quipped.

[grimsirius.livejournal.com]

Sirius laughs into his hands. "Mmm, yes, very well. I've done nothing but lie about in bed for two days. You know how it is sometimes, the more you sleep, the more tired you are when some bossy werewolf finally drags you out of bed. Or maybe you wouldn't know, since you're always working."

He smiles to show that he is teasing, but only just a bit. Remus really does work an ungodly amount, either at the manor or tidying up the room or doing things for Sirius. He notices the way Remus' eyes flutter shut, and his expression softens a bit. He sits up and crawls towards Remus and the wine, and leans against the tree next to Remus, picking up the wine and taking a sip.

"Yeah. S'good. And it's not strong, butterbeer. Are you sure you're all right?"

[-moonylupin-.livejournal.com]

Remus grinned faintly, eyes still closed. "Exhausted," he replied honestly, feeling Sirius settling in next to him.

"Not drunk, certainly! I'm not that much of a lightweight, you know. If I recall correctly, who won the drinking games when we were in school...?"

[grimsirius.livejournal.com]

"I know," he said quietly, taking a much deeper gulp of wine. "You of course." He enjoyed drinking this way, getting everything down as fast as he could, and it only pleased him more to imagine the way his family would look down on him for doing so with wine. With his free hand he brushed a few stray hairs out of Remus' face, and then impulsively rubbed his fingers through the hair to mess it up. The gesture reminded him too strongly of James, and made him think rather unpleasant thoughts about what he'd lost and what he's trying to replace. He doesn't want to spoil the pleasant afternoon with guilt, so he slowly and carefully smoothed it back into place. Then he takes another drink.

[-moonylupin-.livejournal.com]

"Right," Remus agreed, and concentrated on his breathing. He realized, in the sort of quiet realization that had no attachment of loss, just fond remembrance and maybe the slightest wish of privacy, that he hadn't been following his nightly book regime. Not since Sirius had arrived, and, to cement it, the duties of work.

Remus was falling asleep, too, despite the messing of his hair. Both he and Sirius were leaning against the tree, and he vaguely had an idea of what would happen if he fell asleep outside and Sirius had free reign to do most Sirius-type things, like muss up his hair, but the thought wasn't fully formed, quite, when he actually did fall asleep, back against the tree and body relaxing into the deeper sort of naps.

[grimsirius.livejournal.com]

A whole wealth of Sirius-type things to do to a sleeping Moony crossed his mind, but none of them seemed particularly appealing. He picked a handful of leaves and grass off the ground and scattered in it Remus' hair, but somehow it didn't give him the satisfaction he'd thought it would. He sighed, and finished the glass of wine, feeling pleasantly warm and tipsy. He draped an arm around Remus' shoulders, pulling the sleeping body against his chest,* and very gently and unconsciously massaging Remus' far shoulder with his hand.

There was a sort of painful ache in his chest that he couldn't quite place, but it seemed to lessen somewhat when he let his head rest against Remus' hair, which smelled nice like cheap shampoo and bits of leaves and grass.

"Moony," he said to himself, because he felt like he should say something here but didn't quite know what it was his brain wanted him to say.

*Obviously, sleeping against a tree wouldn't be very comfortable. This was the only reason Sirius chose to do such a thing.

[-moonylupin-.livejournal.com]

"Mmmph?" he replied, drowsily, and settled deeper into the warmth, falling more asleep. He was comfortable, like this, despite the odds and the bark scratching his patched jumper. There was grass - a long blade of it stuck out of his hair and brushed his nose, causing him to reach up a hand to brush it away, mumbling.

Sleep.

[grimsirius.livejournal.com]

Sirius smiled fondly at Remus' sleepy mumbling, letting his hand slide further down Remus' arm, still tracing small circles against the the thin material. He picked up the wine bottle and eyed the wine that was still sloshing around in the very bottom. He and Remus has almost finished the bottle between them, but he poured the rest into his cup, and drank it in several easy gulps. It wasn't the best quality of wine, really, but it was by far the best he'd had in a long while.

He let himself lean more of his weight against Remus, and realized in a vague sort of way that his hand was wrapped around Remus' waist. He wondered when that had happened, but he was too content and fuzzy-minded to move. He rested his head against Remus' again, and impulsively brushed his lips against the other man's forehead. It felt good, so good that Sirius shuddered, but didn't move away. He knew what it looked like and he didn't care, he dared anyone to see them like this and think whatever they wanted to think, because he loved Remus, and who wouldn't? Remus was kind and important and like a brother to him, like more than a brother, and there was nothing wrong with loving him for that.

Still, for whatever reason, he leant his head back against the bark of the tree, lamenting the loss of that warmth and closeness and wondering why he'd moved. He forgot a second later, when his eyelids fluttered shut.

[-moonylupin-.livejournal.com]

An hour passed.

Remus' pale skin was grateful for the cool shade of the leafy summer trees, a barrier against the hot afternoon sun, which was sure to leave a less unfortunate deeply sunburnt.

"Mmm," he said, eyes closed, as an adventurous squirrel's path across his consciousness - and the grounds - startled him out of sleep. He put out a hand to the nearest - to Sirius, and rested it on his hands, before actually waking enough to realize his action.

Don't be so protective, Remus scolded himself with a still-rueful smile, using the hand to nudge Sirius. "Wake up, old man, we've been asleep out here for ages. Our drinks have gone all warm."

Despite his comments, Remus himself wasn't inclined to move - he was far more comfortable, and still exhausted, out here than in the stuffy indoors of the Manor.

[grimsirius.livejournal.com]

"Mmmm'comferble," Sirius protested sleepily, tightening his grip on Remus. "Got such a nice sof' werewolf pillow." He smiled broadly, eyes shut, and then sighed and let them flutter open. "Ruined my nap with all your trying to escape, you know." He relaxed his grip on Remus, now, as he became more conscious, feeling suddenly uncomfortable.

[-moonylupin-.livejournal.com]

He grew unaccountably nervous, and covered it swiftly with, "Trying to escape? Trying to get your heavy arse off me, more like."

Remus was watching Sirius with lowered eyelashes, peering down at him, and was unprepared for the sharp burst of affection in his chest; his breath caught when Sirius blinked, opening those beautiful eyes of his, and Remus was thankful he wasn't talking or he would have stumbled.

"'M not that soft," he said, contemplating returning to sleep, even as he kept staring.

[grimsirius.livejournal.com]

((You're right---I'd bet he's pretty hard by this point ;p))

"True," said Sirius, "you're awfully bony, really." Oblivious to Remus' staring, he reached a hand up Remus' shirt and pinched the skin on his stomach. "Still need a lot of fattening up until I can finally bake you into a werewolf pie." He removed the hand from Remus' shirt and rubbed his own stomach. "Mmm. Old family recipe, that is. It's delicious."

He stretched his arms above his head and yawned, and then noticed the sleepy expression on Remus' face. "C'mon. Let's get ourselves to bed, all right?" He moved to stand up, and extended a hand for Remus to take in order to help him up.

There was a part pf him that felt oddly reluctant to let Remus go.

[-moonylupin-.livejournal.com]

"Knowing your family, I don't doubt it at all."

He didn't dare bring up the name Bellatrix around Sirius, nor any of his cousins, likewise anything about Azkaban - sometimes, Sirius looked so painfully thin it broke his heart, and Remus was forever trying to feed him and bulk him back up to something of his old weight, and the comment about being bony brought the worry to mind again. However, the family is the thing; he simply leaves the family remark as it is, putting a hand in Sirius' in order to be helped up.

Something creaks - he is aging, he's - what, forty, forty-one, forty-two now, fairly sure he ignored his birthday this year with more important events unfolding at his feet. Werewolves generally don't live very long, which is the largest factor: having your bones broken once a month is never good for the aches and creaks he'd normally get another thirty years before really feeling.

The funny thing about the whole scene now was its comfort - Remus hadn't even wanted to move, given the first opportunity. He probably, after all, would have fallen right back asleep in only a moment.

He stood with Sirius' help, and kept ahold of the hand for longer than necessary, until finally breaking the stare he'd begun minutes ago with a widening of the eyes in realization of his action. "Thank you," he said, politely.

[grimsirius.livejournal.com]

Sirius licked his suddenly very dry lips, and ignored the strange sensation in his stomach. All in all, he felt relieved and distraught when those familiar hazel eyes broke away from his gaze and he lost the warm pressure of Remus' hand on his.

"S'okay," he said, and then cleared his throat at the scratchy sound of his own voice. He hastily collected the empty bottle of wine and glasses, and threw those along with the blanket into Remus' picnic basket. He didn't quite meet Remus' eyes when he said "Let's just go now, all right?" With that, he started back towards the manor.

[-moonylupin-.livejournal.com]

The werewolf nodded - "Right" - and allowed himself to be led back inside, carrying the rest of the accoutrement, utterly lost in his own thoughts.