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When Remus got home after his shift at the bookstore, he expected to wait another hour for Sirius before they could go out for dinner. Remus groaned as he shut the door behind himself. He was way too tired to dress up and go anywhere farther than his kitchen table.
He took off his shoes and left the keys in the door, then walked into the kitchen, too lazy to walk all the way to the bathroom to wash his hands, but stopped abruptly in the kitchen entrance.
Sirius, who was supposed to be at work for another hour, was standing at the counter, chopping vegetables, while something that had an amazing smell cooked in a pot.
‘Hey, Re,’ Sirius greeted him, looking above his shoulder.
It broke Remus out of his reverie, and he crossed the small kitchen to the sink. He quickly washed his hands, then stepped behind Sirius and peered over his shoulder to see what he was preparing. ‘So, what is this? I thought we were going out?’
‘Er, we could, if you’d rather, but I noticed you’ve been pretty exhausted lately and thought we could stay in.’
Remus’ arms sneaked around Sirius’ waist and he rested his head on Sirius’ shoulder. ‘Sounds great,’ he mumbled into Sirius’ tee, closing his eyes.
‘Come on, go lie down while I get everything ready,’ Sirius nudged him, but Remus refused to move.
‘Don’t wanna. ‘m comfortable.’
Sirius chuckled. ‘I understand, but I can’t use my hand like this.’
‘You’re a wizard, use a spell,’ Remus muttered petulantly.
Sirius shook his head as much as he could without dislodging Remus but drew his wand, and upon a flick the rest of the vegetables cut themselves into identical pieces.
‘Why were you doing it the Muggle way, anyway?’
‘Habit.’ He waved his wand around, and the rest of the ingredients flew to him. ‘I mostly learned how to cook from Red, and she insisted on not using magic.’
‘Hm.’ Remus turned his head until he could properly nuzzle Sirius’ neck. ‘Magic does give the food a different taste.’
‘I could refrain from using magic if you just let me,’ Sirius pointed out, but sank deeper into Remus’ embrace.
Remus mumbled something incomprehensible, and Sirius was almost certain he had dozed off. Careful as to not wake him, he added the ingredients one by one with a flick of his wand, then put the lid on and let it cook.
He nudged Remus to ask where he wanted to eat, and when Remus merely nuzzled his neck again, he decided on the couch. He walked them over to the living area and gently set Remus on the couch, who immediately curled around one of the pillows. Sirius leaned down and pressed a small kiss to Remus’ hair, then walked back to the kitchen to check on their dinner. As it was almost done, he pulled out two plates and utensils, then put the kettle on to make some tea.
By the time he set everything on the coffee table, Remus was blinking up at him with owlish eyes.
‘I fell asleep?’ he asked groggily.
‘Yeah, but food’s now ready, and it’s best when it’s still hot, so time to wake up.’
Sirius sat down next to him and handed over one of the plates. Remus took it sleepily, then frowned at the food. ‘Sirius, what is this?’
‘Well, the French call it ratatouille, while the Hungarian name is lecsó, and they keep arguing who had come up with it originally, but this one is a Hungarian recipe and has eggs and sausage in it.’
‘Didn’t know you were so fancy.’
Sirius laughed at his sleepy boyfriend. ‘It’s really not fancy at all. Red and I have been experimenting with the different recipes, and I like this one the most.’
Remus hummed, then dug in.
They ate in silence, only mumbling a word or two about how good the food was. They sat shoulder to shoulder, and Sirius was glad that he was left-handed, while Remus favoured his right.
Once both plates were empty, Sirius cleaned them with a spell and flew them back to the kitchen.
‘How was work?’ Sirius asked after they snuggled up with their respective mugs of tea.
‘Busy. I don’t know what’s going on, but people are buying books as if they’re doing last minute Christmas shopping. We’ve barely got any break these past few days.’ He slouched down until he could rest his head on Sirius’ shoulder.
‘No wonder you fell asleep standing up,’ Sirius murmured, putting his arm around Remus’ shoulder and laying his head on top of Remus’.
‘Mm hm.’
‘Got some crazy customers?’ Sirius asked, nudging Remus awake.
Remus buried his face in Sirius’ tee with a groan, and Sirius had to reach out and steady his mug. ‘Ugh, don’t get me started. I’m used to the ones that start acting like arseholes when the book they’re looking for isn’t in stock, but the others... Like, the was a guy today that was looking for a book he’d seen a few days ago but all he could remember was that it had a blue cover. The day before, it was a cover with flowers. With those ones, even Reg gets impatient.’
‘Yeah, they mentioned that a couple times.’ Sirius shook his head. ‘Why do you not write down the title of the books you want to buy later? Is that really too much to expect from people?’
‘I guess.’ Remus exhaled against Sirius’ neck, tickling him with his breath. ‘And then there are the idiots that think we are a library, or childcare. Not to mention people are starting to do shopping for Hogwarts. Now those parents act incredibly entitled.’
‘I’m really glad I don’t have to bother with customers at the mechanic shop.’
Remus groaned. ‘Lucky you.’
Sirius hummed in agreement. ‘You’re off tomorrow, right? No bookshop and no café?’
‘Yeah. I’ll probably be sleeping all day. And I’m planning to leave the café at the end of the month, I won’t wait until the beginning of the semester.’
‘Whatever you need, Moons.’ Sirius set his and Remus’ empty mugs on the coffee table, then lay down on the couch, letting Remus drape himself over him. ‘Not that I’m complaining, but wouldn’t your bed be more comfortable?’
‘You’re the most comfy,’ Remus mumbled into Sirius’ chest, and tightened his arms around his torso.
Sirius chuckled and pressed his lips to Remus’ curls, for once in the right position to do so. He reached out to grab his wand and dimmed the lights, then flicked his wand towards the record player next to Remus’ armchair, which started quietly playing the last record Remus had listened to while reading.
‘Can I come here tomorrow for my lunch break?’ Sirius asked a few minutes later. ‘I’ll bring take-out from that Italian place you like.’
‘Mm hm.’
‘Gnocchi with those baked cherry tomatoes? Or would you prefer a risotto?’
‘Gnocchi,’ Remus grunted in a way Sirius could barely recognize the word.
‘Of course the gnocchi.’ He smiled fondly at Remus.
‘An’ tir’m’soo.’
Sirius chuckled. ‘I didn’t quite catch that. Can you repeat it for me?’
Remus lifted his head and pouted at Sirius. ‘I said, and tiramisù.’
‘Whatever you want, love.’
Remus let his head fall back to Sirius’ chest, and he mumbled into his tee, ‘Love you.’
‘Oh.’ Sirius brought a hand up to Remus’ head and started carding through his curls. ‘I love you, too,’ he murmured aloud for the first time as he hugged Remus closer to him. He peered down with a soft smile on his face and saw Remus had already dozed off.
He picked up his wand and summoned a blanket, then poked the couch until it was long and wide enough for Remus to comfortably stretch out his legs. He switched off the lights with a last flick, dropped his wand on the coffee table, and snuggled into their embrace, letting sleep overtake him.