Work Text:
Leaning back in his chair, Sirius pinched the bridge of his nose and tried not to sigh. No matter what he did, the paperwork kept piling up. Normally, he didn’t mind, accepted it as part of his position, but now there was something else he’d rather spend his time on. Or rather someone.
He smiled as his hand dropped. There were days he still couldn’t believe how much his life had changed. It had been months since Celeste had tumbled into Cradle, into his life. But it felt like no time at all, or maybe that was because work ate up so much of that time.
“Damn it,” he muttered, his mood souring again. Who would have guessed that peace, or the attempt at it, would make more work for him like this?
Glancing at the clock on the wall, he grimaced. Lunch had long passed. Normally, he had a good idea of when to take breaks, but lately he’d started to rely on Celeste for them. If she was in headquarters, she would bring something for them to share if she knew he was planning on working all day. Or she would badger him into leaving the office to eat with the others.
He hummed quietly, thinking about that. She’d mentioned something last night about her plans for today, but he’d been more focused on her fingers as they’d wandered over his chest and lower. What was it? Shopping in Central? That seemed right…or had she done that another day? How was it that he could perfectly remember every place she touched with both her fingers and mouth, but he couldn’t remember what she’d told him while she was doing it?
He pushed away from the desk with a sigh. Shopping made the most sense. With autumn on the horizon, everyone had agreed she needed warmer clothes so she’d been shopping more lately in anticipation of the coming cold. But despite the multiple trips he knew she hadn’t gotten much. He’d seen everything Celeste had bought; she put on small displays for him after, private shows that usually ended with him stripping the new clothes off her.
Maybe she’d put on another one for him tonight.
Now he was hoping she had gone shopping and he wasn’t getting the days confused. Sirius squashed the urge to grin, rubbing his mouth. He didn’t want to explain if anyone saw him, not that he really had to. Everyone knew why he smiled these days and it wasn’t something he planned on hiding.
Pulling his coat on as he left the office, he pushed thoughts of Celeste away as much as he could. If he wanted to see her tonight, before she went to sleep, he’d need to focus on getting his work done. Which meant a quick lunch he could take back to the office and not thinking about stripping his girlfriend out of whatever cute dress she’d picked up this time.
So much for not thinking about it.
The kitchen was empty which wasn’t a surprise, but a quick look showed him the remnants of lunch. Beef stew. Luka’s recipe. There was extra stored in one of the cold boxes, set aside for those that had shifts over lunch. Luka said the batch ran large, but he knew better.
Sirius smiled again as he took a portion. The concern and forethought Luka had for the rest of the army didn’t surprise him anymore. He was a considerate young man and took the wellbeing of others seriously. It wasn’t always easy to get him to open up, but he was more willing to talk when he was cooking. Sirius had learned more in those moments than any others and he wasn’t even sure Luka realised how much he was sharing.
Heating the stove top, he paused in pulling down a pot as he looked outside. When had it started raining? It had been a gorgeous day this morning so how many patrols had gotten caught in it? Had she gotten caught in it?
He was slow to pour the stew into the pot, his thoughts rolling back to Celeste with ease. It was hard not to leave headquarters to go looking for her. He hadn’t seen her since breakfast, but he doubted she had brought an umbrella with her. She was smart, though, and would find a place to wait out the rain or buy an umbrella to get home. But the urge to dash out into the rain was steadily growing the longer he watched it fall.
It was pointless, though. She’d be home long before he could ever find her in Central so he needed to stay put. She’d come home soon enough and he would see her when she did. He could be patient and wait. It wasn’t the first time she’d gone without him and it wasn’t like she couldn’t take care of herself.
He had to force himself to focus on cooking the stew without burning it, his mind preoccupied with Celeste’s safety. Who had gone with her? Would they have brought an umbrella? Who wasn’t on patrol today? Luka clearly, but he’d made lunch so he wouldn’t have been with Celeste. Unless she’d come back? No, she would have dropped by to say hello and make him take a break when she realised he hadn’t eaten. Ray and Fenrir were definitely on patrols so that left-
Sirius’ head whipped around when the door to outside slammed open, his body tensing instinctively. He took a deep breath to relax when he saw who was coming in. “A little hard, don’t you think?” he asked dryly.
Seth paused in shaking out the bags in his hands to look at him. “What are you doing in here?”
“Lunch?” he said, stirring the pot.
“Was an hour ago,” Seth said slowly. “Is it old age catching up to you or is Alice spoiling you too much you can’t remember when meals are supposed to be?”
“Seth,” Sirius said in warning.
“Must be nice,” the other continued in a mutter, “having such a cute girl fussing over you. Old man that you are, you’d better appreciate it while you can!”
He put down the wooden spoon and started to turn. He wanted food but he wasn’t above knocking some sense into Seth first. The grin on Seth’s face told him the other had been trying to get a rise out of him and he stopped. No. He wasn’t going to give him what he wanted this time. “You’re soaked,” he said instead, turning off the stove, “and dripping on the floor.”
A harsh exhale came from behind him. “Not all of us have the wisdom of old age to help us predict the weather.”
He was really pushing today. Which meant he was in a mood. “What happened?” he asked, looking for a bowl.
“Is that your old-”
“Seth.”
There was a long pause and he could feel Seth’s gaze on his back. “Nothing happened,” he finally said, “except rain calling my shopping day with Alice short. Which you need to tell her to spend some money, Sirius. She balks every time she sees a tag! She’s not going to have anything to wear when the seasons change!”
Easier said than done, but did that mean the bags Seth had weren’t Celeste’s? He’d been shopping with her often enough to know she liked to browse, but she’d agreed on expanding her wardrobe as well. So why wasn’t she buying?
Sighing, Sirius moved to the sink to wash the pot. He knew why. He’d butted heads with her often enough while shopping to know why. He did have a few tricks though and it looked like he was going with her next time to make it happen. “I’ll see what I can do.”
“You two are too well suited to each other.”
He paused in rinsing the pot. The comment wasn’t new, everyone had said it at some point over the months, but there was an undercurrent of different emotion in it this time. Sirius set the pot aside and turned to look at Seth. The other wasn’t looking at him, staring out the window beside the door into the training grounds. Now that he thought about it-“Where’s Celeste?” he asked.
“Outside.”
“It’s raining.”
“Oh, she knows.”
“What does that mean?”
Seth shuddered and turned back to him with wide eyes, mask firmly back in place. “She wouldn’t listen to me and I wasn’t going to get close to her considering who she’s with.”
Who was she with? “Seth.”
“Good luck, Sirius~ You’re going to need it,” Seth added in a mutter, walking out of the kitchen.
“Seth,” Sirius called, but he didn’t stop, seemed to hurry faster out of the room. Frowning to himself, Sirius looked over at the outside door. Seth’s cryptic comments weren’t helping his desire to go see her. What was she doing outside still? And who was she with that would keep Seth away?
He blew out his own harsh breath and shoved a hand through his hair. If he looked to appease his curiosity, would he go back to lunch and leave her be? Or would he want to spend time with her? His face twisted. Of course he wanted to spend time with her, but if he did it now he was sacrificing spending the evening with her. He needed to choose, now or later. Now or-
“Squee!”
Chutney? His stomach lurched and he strode toward the door. Had she gotten out again? Who would let her out in this weather? She was going to get filthy and need a bath and he didn’t have time for any of that.
Delighted giggles met him as he opened the door, making him pause on the stoop. “Celeste?” he murmured, moving onto the covered walkway.
He didn’t have to go far before he saw them and he stopped again.
Celeste was dashing around the courtyard, skipping through puddles with Chutney hot on her heels. She twisted and spun with her arms held wide as if she could catch the rain itself, but as he watched she bent down slightly and Chutney leapt into her grasp with another loud squeak. She ran a few more steps before letting go of the raccoon and chasing her around.
The cycle repeated as he watched, the two of them in their own world as they chased each other.
“Huh,” he said softly, moving further down the walkway. He hadn’t been spotted by either of them yet and he wanted a better vantage point to watch them. Leaning against a pillar, he crossed his arms and smiled faintly at the pair of them.
Neither of them seemed to care that they were soaked to the bone, they were only focused on their game of chase. Celeste was laughing every time she splashed in a puddle and Chutney was excitedly batting at her skirts whenever she stopped to spin, holding out little paws to be lifted again. Which was done with more giggles and spins.
She never ceased to amaze him. Instead of hurrying inside to get away from the rain or staying in a shop to avoid it, she was dancing and playing in it. She had taken something that could have ruined her day and turned it into fun. Her ability to look on the positive side of things, despite everything that had happened to her, was something he loved and admired in her.
Rubbing his chest as it ached a little, he shook his head at himself. He loved her. Every little thing about her, the things he knew, the things he learned; he loved it all.
“They’re having fun.”
Sirius jolted and turned to find Luka coming toward him, a coat draped over one arm and a pair of ankle boots in his hand. Both of which he knew were Celeste’s. “Yeah, they are,” he agreed. “I don’t really have the heart to stop them.”
Luka smiled faintly, glancing over at the pair. “They should stop soon, though,” he said after a moment, “so she doesn’t get sick.”
He was right, especially if she’d ditched her coat and boots. Her socks were probably rolled up and tucked inside one of them so that she could run barefoot through the puddles. As much as the sight of the two of them warmed his heart, he didn’t want Celeste to catch a cold from her fun. “I’ll get them,” he said, holding out his hand to Luka.
He shook his head. “I’ll take them inside. She isn’t going to want to put them on.”
Also true. Sirius looked back at Celeste and shrugged out of his jacket as Luka walked away. Striding out into the rain, he dodged the puddles she was happily running through. “Little lady,” he called.
She spun around, wet hair flying back as a grin lit up her face. “Sirius!” she said happily.
“Squee!”
He smiled again as she hurried over to him, Chutney cradled in her arms. Now that he was closer, he could see the rain had soaked through her blouse, turning her sleeves and high collar transparent. Her dark vest and skirts had held up better, but they were clinging to her frame in a way he wanted to. But…he could see the small shivers running the length of her as she stood still and that sealed it for him. Reaching out, he draped his coat over her, covering her head with it and laughing at how much it dwarfed her. “Time’s up,” he told her.
Celeste’s lower lip pushed out and she batted her lashes at him. “Five more minutes?” she wheedled.
He shook his head, chuckling. “You’re drenched.”
“You’ll warm me up, won’t you?”
The words were said lightly, but he could hear the teasing note in them and he was tempted to take her up on the offer. Instead, he held out his arms for Chutney. She squeaked and leapt into them, scrabbling up his arm to curl around his shoulders. “Come on, Cherry,” he coaxed. “You need to dry off.”
Her pout stayed in place until Chutney peeped at her. She reached up, holding the coat over her with the other hand, and scratched between the raccoon’s ears. “Alright,” she murmured. “If both of you are telling me to.”
Holding out his hand again, he was pleased when she threaded her fingers through his. He was less pleased at how chilled her skin was. He led her toward the back door, winding through the puddles even as she pulled on his hand to try to splash in them again. A squeal left her when he let go to loop his arm around her waist, hefting her off the ground when she tried to splash him.
“Sirius!” she laughed, clinging to his shirt and grinning at him.
Chutney kept peeping at them both, the sound half scolding this time. It died down to a cheerful chirp when she realised she was being taken inside.
Sirius set Celeste down just inside the door and quickly caught Chutney when she tried to leap off his shoulders. “Hold her,” he said, passing her over to Celeste.
“Yes, sir!”
He gave her a look before rolling his eyes when she gave him a cheeky grin. Looking around the kitchen, he stopped when he saw a pair of towels set on a stool near the door. Celeste’s coat was hanging beside it, her boots tucked neatly under the stool. Another glance showed a pair of bowls and mugs on the small table, all of them with steam rolling out of them. A gentle, silent command to take a break. Luka.
Shaking his head, he turned back to Celeste and Chutney. They were both watching him with bright eyes and he decided to take the offer. The work wouldn’t go anywhere and he did need to take a break. And who better to take it with than his favourite ladies?