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Sirius, had he been the son his mother dearest had always wanted him to be, might have had a semblance of an idea of what the fuck he was doing, but that hadn't often been a reality for him. He didn't really care about it until this moment, with a letter informing him of his uncle's death spelled out in his mother's cold, elegant script clutched in his fist and rage burning throughout him. She always knew just how to taunt him--Alphard was the only one in that godforsaken family who was halfway decent, excepting Andromeda, who he didn't often see, and now the man was dead and his mother would find some way to turn this funeral into a pity fest for herself with all her devilish friends, he already knew.
Goddamn it all, he thought, stomping through the streets of London. He just wanted some way to get back at her, some way besides dragging himself and his beat up combat boots and well-worn leather jacket actually to the funeral, although he was sure his very appearance would send her into cardiac arrest. What upper-crust conservative mother wouldn't want a gay punk for a son, really, he thought bitterly to himself, disinherited or otherwise.
As he turned a corner (he wasn't really sure which corner it was, as he'd not at all been paying attention where he'd been going--a lesser man would call this being lost, but not Sirius), he came face to face with a flower shop, so tucked away he was sure most people missed it. It had a little path leading up to it and what appeared to be a hand-painted sign that read "Lily's Lilies & Other Floral Arrangements."
Bingo, Sirius thought, striding towards the door. A little bell rang as he pushed it open, echoing with a lovely voice calling out, "I'll be with you in a moment!" from somewhere in the back of the shop. Sirius moved toward the sound, weaving in and out of several towering displays of beautiful flowers. He was suddenly overwhelmed by the sheer amount of plants in his vicinity, coupled with a growing seething anger for his mother's very existence. As he approached the register in the back, he pulled out two hundred pounds, slammed it on the counter, and asked the employee, who still had his back to him, how one would go about passive-aggressively saying fuck you in flowers.
It was the moment that the employee turned around that Sirius realized the decision to walk into this little shop was clearly a stroke of underrated brilliance on his part. Amber eyes sparkled curiously in his direction, framed by brows quirked upwards and a little smirk on the fullest, warmest lips he'd ever seen. This man was drop dead gorgeous, with long honey curls and a sweet smattering of freckles on his face.
"I would ask if I misheard you, but I really don't think that I did," Amber Eyes said, giving him a once-over and glancing at the money on the counter.
"You indeed did not, my friend," Sirius replied, before sticking out his hand. "Sirius Black, formerly of the notorious and egregious Black family, now wanting to piss them all off spectacularly, if you think you can make that happen." The employee, whose name tag read Remus (it would be something cute and unique like Remus, wouldn't it?) didn't hesitate to clasp Sirius's hand with its chipped black polish and chunky silver rings in his own (wow his hands were soft) as his lips widened into a full smile (god, those lips would be the death of him).
"I think I can manage that, Sirius. Follow me," Remus said, as he moved from around the counter to lead Sirius deeper into the store, clearly a man on a mission.
"My hero," Sirius fake (fake?) swooned, hearing Remus distinctly chuckle in front him as he stopped before a display of flowers. Even his laugh was adorable; sometimes life was so unfair.
"Do you care at all about the coloring?" Remus asked, glancing back at Sirius as he gestured to a display of bright flowers in front him.
"Not really. I mean, they're technically meant for a funeral, but whatever sends the strongest message works for me. I think the dead would approve whole-heartedly in this situation, and I'm not really concerned about being respectful to anyone else."
To that, Remus blew a puff of air out of his nose, as if he was trying to maintain some composure, but his wide smile gave him away. "You really are full of surprises for a Black."
"Barely a Black really. Name only, if that. I keep it because it pisses them off to still be associated with me. If my very gay existence is a threat, I might as well use it to my advantage."
Remus's eyes seemed to widen and then darken a bit at hearing that. "I like it," he said simply, before turning back to the display.
"Well, in that case, we're definitely going to go for a more brightly colored bouquet, just to send the message home."
"I like it," Sirius parroted, winking when Remus glanced back at him with a raised eyebrow and a small smile. Sirius watched as Remus seemed to ponder over the display for a moment before reaching for a handful of yellow and orange flowers.
"Yellow carnations, for disappointment. Orange lilies, for hatred," he mumbled, lost in thought as he began to craft the bouquet. Sirius watched in awe as he wove a message into the arrangement, selecting buds from the shelves around them with great care, all in the name of fucking with his mother. It was a beautiful sight.
"We can do a geranium for stupidity, I quite like the way these pink ones fit with the rest of the colors. And a couple of yellow foxglove for the center--a double message," Remus said, glancing back at Sirius with a conspiratorial smile as if they were both in on a secret. "It means insincerity, but its also extremely toxic, which I'm sure will suit her quite well."
"I just want you to know, I might fantasize about this moment for the rest of my life. I've met someone who detests my mother in the same psychotic way I do without even asking questions. What more could I want in a man really?" Sirius asked, batting his eyelashes at Remus in a joking manner. He was expecting another eyebrow raise or maybe a condescending comment, but instead Remus just blushed furiously.
Interesting. Maybe there was hope for this little interaction after all.
Remus turned back to a different display of flowers, but the flush on the back of his neck was still clearly visible, and it was turning Sirius into a desperate man. Who gave Remus the right to be this adorable with his little freckles and his little laugh and his little blush and his little sweater all frayed at the edges. Actually, the sweater was quite large to be honest--it was drowning Remus, who had to be well over six foot to begin with. Again, Sirius thought to himself, trailing after the beautiful man, life really wasn't fair sometimes. He almost couldn't focus on hating his mother under these conditions.
"Sirius? You still with us?"
"Oh, what? I'm sorry, did you say something?"
It was Remus making Sirius's face heat up this time. Sirius really shouldn't be fantasizing about how cute Remus is when he was right there, but the man was making it so damn difficult.
Remus offered him a warm smile, maybe laughing at him a tiny bit. "I was just asking if you wanted any meadow-sweet in the bouquet or if you thought it was big enough as is," he said, gesturing to a display of white buds behind him. "But if you want to get back to your daydreaming, I can make the decision for you, star boy," Remus added in a taunting voice.
Was that flirting? Was this man honest to god flirting with him? Even his accent was cute, a slight Irish lilt on some of his words like his voice was just dripping in honey.
"If you weren't so distracting, I don't think I'd be having this problem right now," Sirius said, for which he was rewarded with a pink dusting across Remus's cheeks. "See, if you're going to go and be that cute when you blush, I don't see how I'm expected to work under these conditions," Sirius declared dramatically, crossing his arms and taking a step towards Remus, whose mouth was practically hanging open in surprise at this point.
"Are you serious?" he asked, almost defensively, to which Sirius gave him a look that said, you really shouldn't have gone there, and laughed out a "pretty sure we already established that, love."
"I don't know how I'm expected to work under these conditions actually with you being as dramatic as you are," Remus mumbled, albeit good-naturedly, the blush on his face still noticeable, before turning back to the flower display they'd both been looking at earlier. "I'm just going to make the executive decision and put meadow-sweet in your bouquet for uselessness since clearly your judgement can't be trusted."
"You wound me, Remus," Sirius said, as he followed Remus back to the register area. "As if anyone else wouldn't be absolutely enamored to the point of distraction by your many charms. In fact, I don't think you should be the front man for this establishment and expect not to be fawned over by every customer who walks in the door. It's madness, really."
"Is it now?" Remus asked, bundling up all the flowers in neat wrapping. "I think you should know that you are, in fact, the first customer to do any sort of fawning, if that is actually what's happening, and that it's probably a terrible reflection of your character, star boy."
"That sounds like bullshit if you ask me. As if anyone would look at your adorable face and not be all fawny."
"Fawny?" Remus asked incredulously, doing that damn eyebrow raise. Again. The man had no business looking this hot while he was laughing at Sirius's expense.
"Yes, yes, fawny. And while we're at it, why do you get to call me star boy and I don't have a cute little nickname for you? That hardly seems fair," Sirius pouted.
Remus's eyes seemed to get stuck on Sirius's pouting lips for a while before he gave a loud sigh of resignation. "Fine, I suppose since this world of yours seems to operate on the foundation that life is fair, I'd hate to be the one to shatter that little illusion."
"My, my, and they say chivalry is dead," Sirius said with a smirk.
"Don't make me regret this," Remus responded.
"Oh, I would never," Sirius said with false innocence. "Let's see. You do have this whole sweet caramelly personality and appearance thing going on," he said, stepping into Remus's personal space.
"I swear to god, if you call me caramel or something like that, I will never forgive you," Remus said, blushing only slightly at the close proximity.
"No? Not a nickname like honey to match your beautiful honey eyes, love?" Sirius goaded, enjoyed watching the red deepen on Remus's face. Watching him get flustered was definitely a little too enjoyable.
"Preferably not," Remus responded, his voice a bit dryer than before.
"Hmm...how about Moony?"
"Are you joking? No, wait--"
"Ah, no Moons, I'm Sirius," he said throwing in another wink.
"Fuck, I really need to be more careful with that." Remus said with a laugh. "But seriously," he paused, his eyes narrowing in warning to prevent Sirius from making the joke again, "Why exactly did you settle on Moony of all things?"
"Your name is Remus. I might not have learned much in my practically good for nothing and ridiculously expensive private school education, but mythology was one of the things I managed to retain, probably because it was the only thing even halfway interesting. Remus, like the wolf, like the moon. And since your eyes shine like the moon and you shot down honey--"
"With good reason"
"--since you shot down honey for literally no good reason that I will ever accept, I'm going with Moony, and I don't think you get a veto twice so you're really stuck with this one love," Sirius said, ending his little speech right in front of Remus, who was now pressed against the counter and once again flushed, looking down at Sirius with dark eyes.
"I'm not sure I'd mind being stuck with this one," Remus said. Sirius tilted his head thoughtfully, watching Remus carefully as he moved ever so slightly closer to his mouth until they were practically breathing the same air.
"Are you sure? I've heard he can be a bit of a fuck-up, disinherited and totally ignorant to the language of flowers and crazy enough to fall for a stranger the moment they meet," Sirius said, leaning in closer.
"I like him that way," Remus breathed, finally closing the distance between their lips. God, his mouth was just as soft as it looked, and so were his hands, tangling deep into Sirius's black curls and holding him there like he never wanted to stop. Sirius pushed up against Remus, pressing him further into the counter as one of his hands found Remus's waist and the other held his cheek reverently, as if he couldn't believe this was truly happening. Remus hummed, and Sirius took the chance to lick against his lips, to which Remus acquiesced and opened his mouth to accommodate Sirius's tongue against his own. Remus tasted so fucking good, the kiss was practically ethereal.
They broke away for a moment to catch their breath, each panting, pressed against each other. Remus held Sirius in place, forehead against his, as if he couldn't physically bear to be any further from him in that moment. Sirius felt the same as he took the chance to press light, opened-mouthed kisses all over Remus's neck and jaw.
"Fuck, Sirius," Remus whispered, his voice raw.
"Yes, love?" Sirius asked, a picture of innocence as he continued sucking at a spot on Remus's collarbone.
"Fuck. I'd really like to continue this, but I do have to work. But maybe you'd want some assistance delivering these flowers later?"
"I would love that, but I have to warn you, it's a long drive out to my mother's and she happens to be a bitch."
"Well, I'd like to get to know you better," Remus said, placing a kiss on Sirius's forehead, "So a long drive sounds lovely. And if we get to fuck with your mother at the end of the day, all the better."
"If you keep saying things like that, I might fall in love with you, Moony," Sirius said with a smile.
"And they say chivalry is dead," Remus said with a laugh, echoing Sirius's words from earlier.
"Not when you're around, love," Sirius responding, reaching up on his tiptoes to give Remus one last kiss.
"You're fucking adorable, you know that?" Remus asked when Sirius broke away, his mouth chasing Sirius slightly as he pulled back.
"Oh, I know," Sirius said with a wink. "I'll pick you up here tomorrow morning then?"
"You better not forget, star boy."
"I wouldn't miss it for the world, Moons" Sirius said with a smile, blowing Remus one last kiss as he walked out the flower shop door, the same bell ringing out from what felt like a lifetime ago. He was going to piss of his mother tomorrow, and now he had his god-sent Remus to do it with, so life was pretty damn good.