Chapter Text
Sirius handed Remus the key to their new apartment. "I want you to open it."
Remus shook his head, pressing the cool metal back into his boyfriend's hand. "You paid for it. I have no right."
Sirius rolled his eyes. "I got it for us. It's just as much yours as it is mine. Besides, you're going to have to cook all the food and you'll let me eat. It's called a trade off."
"You are a shit cook, I suppose." Remus chuckled.
Sirius held out the key again, "Please."
Remus sighed but took the key. It was such a small thing, not even the size of his pinkie, but it held weight. This was a home. This was for him and Sirius. They would have a place they could call their own.
"Go on," Sirius urged, practically vibrating with excitement next to him.
Releasing a breath, Remus unlocked the door and let them into their new home.
Neither of the boys made it farther than a few steps into the house before pausing. It was beautiful. The floor was bare and dirt covered. The windows were covered in a greasy film of some sort. The air conditioning was making a rattling noise and doing a poor job of circulating the air. It was a home.
Remus reached over to grab Sirius' hand. "It's perfect. I love you."
Sirius beamed, "Let's go look at the rest, then."
The kitchen was visible from the living room, so that was where they went first. The yellow wallpaper was peeling and stained, and the linoleum floors looked as though they had been through a great deal of wear. The stove and fridge were both decades out of date, but they worked. The cabinets were painted in a splotchy manner, but there were no unwelcome surprises in them.
It was a cramped area, with a tiny card table with two chairs shoved in at the end by the small window.
"Look!" Sirius grinned, plopping in one of the chairs, "They even put a spot for me to be in the kitchen without burning the building down. And you can sit in the other one when I do the dishes after."
Remus smiled so broadly his cheeks hurt. "It's perfect."
Sirius bounced out of the chair to go inspect the bathroom, Remus following behind him.
It was a dingy room. The toilet and shower were both iron stained and tiny. It would be a struggle for just Remus to fit in, and they had a habit of showering together. It, of course, would not stop them, but it would be a bit of a struggle. The whole room was going to need a good scrubbing that cleaning spells alone wouldn’t be able to do.
Wandering out of the bathroom, they went to look at the bedrooms. There were two, one for them and one as a guest room. Both were entirely empty, with cold wooden floors that looked primed to leave splinters in unsuspecting feet. The closet was big enough to fit Remus' clothes, but there was no way Sirius' would fit.
"Can we put our bed under the window?" Sirius asked, as if they already had a mattress.
"Sure, love." Remus pressed a kiss to the top of Sirius' head.
All of their things were being stored in the Potter's garage at that point. James, Lily, Peter, Marlene, and Dorcas were all coming over the next day to help unpack. Mary had wanted to, but she had work. Frank and Alice were out of town. Today, all they had brought was their record player, leftover pizza, and enough blankets to make a pallet on the floor.
Sirius ran downstairs to get their things, while Remus swept a spot for them to sit, since his joints didn’t allow him to go up and down the stairs as often as Sirius could. The floor was filthy, and there was no dust pan, so Remus just made a pile away from where they were going to set up for the night. He could clean it up later.
An odd knocking at the door had Remus going to go check it. As soon as he opened it, Sirius stumbled in, trying not to drop his armload.
“I thought you said you could get it all,” Remus took the food and blankets, so Sirius could put the record player down.
“If I hadn’t, you would have insisted on helping, and I don’t want you to hurt yourself on our first day.” Sirius shrugged, “Besides, I got it, didn’t I?”
“You could have hurt yourself.” Remus tried to sound stern, but how could he when his boyfriend was standing right there, being so sweet?
Sirius seemed to pick up on it because he just smiled, standing up on his tiptoes to press a kiss to Remus’ cheek, “You love me, I swear.”
Remus hummed thoughtfully, pausing long enough to get Sirius to make puppy eyes, “I suppose you’re right.”
“Hey!” Sirius stuck out his tongue, squatting down to mess with the record player where he’d placed it on the floor. “You know, I was going to let you pick the music, but under these conditions I suppose I’ll just have to.”
“Pads, love, we have the same music taste.” Remus ruffled the smaller man’s hair.
Sirius shushed his boyfriend as Freddie Mercury’s voice came through the tinny speakers. As Sirius stood up, he was already murmuring the words of “Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy” to himself. Remus couldn’t help but press a kiss to the man’s forehead before going about laying their blankets down. He stacked two sheets on top of the other and kept out the other two to cover up with later.
Arms held out, Sirius spun around slowly, singing in his raspy, soft voice. He was wearing one of Remus’ sweaters, his leather jacket, and a pair of basketball shorts. For someone who took so much pride in his appearance, this was a vulnerable state for Sirius. His hair was loose and tucked behind his ears. His pink and gray striped socks muffled the sound of him dancing across the floor. Sirius like this was one of Remus’ favorites.
Noticing Remus watching him, Sirius paused his dancing. “All set?”
“Yeah, are you hungry now?” Remus traced his fingers along the stars embroidered on his jeans to refocus. The canis major constellation was on one of the butt pockets because Sirius thought it was funny and liked to stick his hands in Remus’ back pockets. They were one of Remus’ favorite pairs of jeans.
Sirius nodded, flopping himself onto the blankets with a gracelessness that could make one forget he had grown up doing ballet. He grinned up at his boyfriend, baggy shorts sliding up his thighs. They were definitely Remus’ because they were huge on Sirius. Besides that, Sirius had a tendency to buy women’s shorts, claiming that they were more comfortable.
Remus passed the pizza box to Sirius before settling down next to him, albeit with measured carefulness. Sirius immediately held up an arm in case Remus needed to grab onto something. As soon as Remus was settled, Sirius scooted closer so that their shoulders and knees pressed together.
The pizza was cold and mediocre at best, but they both ate multiple slices, Sirius continuing to hum along with the music throughout the meal. When they were done eating, Sirius threw the box in the general direction of the kitchen. It didn’t make it, but it did open and throw crumbs all over the floor. They only had to make eye contact before they busted out laughing, managing to curl further into one another while doing so.
By the time they calmed, Sirius was sprawled across Remus’ lap staring up at his freckled face and amber eyes. When Remus looked down at him, Sirius reached up to wipe a spot of pizza sauce from the corner of his mouth. “You’re a mess, Moons.”
Remus just smiled, “You’re beautiful, Pads.”