Work Text:
--------------------------------------------------------------
For when I dive into your iris
My brain erupts
Into biochemical mayhem
And I feel like a man with two hearts
With two hearts
The acrid smell of ash and embers carries in the air. The sky is strangely grey and gloomy; it’s not supposed to be this dark just yet. Remus glances at his wrist watch as if he didn't know it can't be later than three pm, his grocery shop morning shift finishing barely thirty minutes ago.
He only properly realises what all this is really about as he turns the corner of his street and sees a big black cloud rising from the building where his flat is located. His feet on the pedals of his bike slow down in shock, and he eventually gets close enough to have to stop by the first line of big fire engines parked at the curb. He's desperately trying to peer through the murky air to find the window of his one room. Bollocks.
Remus is a fourth floor resident. It seems the worst of the fire has happened somewhere on the third. It still doesn't mean the walls of his block of flats aren't black and messed up all over, which is well indicative of the extent of the damage on the whole construction. Uncaring about what happens to his bike, Remus lets go of it on the spot, rakes through his already wind tousled hair and slowly walks a bit closer to the building. He moves past the cars and the group of people that he knows to live in the same building. Their mouths are gaping, and that's what makes him notice his own dumbfounded expression. Remus closes his mouth self-consciously. Rather quickly and efficiently his brain produces a thankfully short list of all the things that he keeps in his flat and that he might miss the most if they have somehow gotten damaged.
It dawns on him fast. Remus looks around desperately. His cat. Fuck , he's got a cat in his flat. A cat his landlady doesn't know about. Cecil, the illegal tomcat, found scrawny and starved about 6 months ago by the grocery store where Remus works. His eyes flicker up and down the building, towards the entrance and back to the group of people where he unfortunately sees the person he has tried to keep the cat a secret from. Remus takes a few steps closer to the building. His chest tightens and he grows hopeless. Spinning around once, twice, he is trying to figure out what to do with his distress.
That's when Remus spots him. The tall, uniform-heavy form of a firefighter emerges from behind one of the cars, his face dirty, licked by the smoke and fire he was called to extinguish. Despite the scruffy look, or perhaps exactly because of it, his eyes are shining. Remus' mouth falls open again, but he's oblivious this time. The man reaches to remove his helmet with his ungloved hands that are clean and fairly white in contrast to his blackened face. A few long black strands fall into it. Remus clasps his teeth over his bottom lip nervously. The man looks to the side to hand the helmet to his coworker, confirming something, and Remus sees his hair must have gotten untangled from a low bun at the back of his head. There are two rings in his left earlobe.
Well, fuck , this really isn't the right time for this. Remus' heart is hammering in his chest and he's telling himself it's all about Cecil. It is, it is, it is .
It's then when the fireman sets his attention on him, possibly feeling Remus' intense gaze. He gives him a little frown and walks up to him.
“Sir, I'm sorry, but you shouldn't be this close to the building. There's a chance of debris falling.” His tone is firm but not unkind.
Remus stares quietly. The brows of the man in front of him straighten in a gentler expression then.
“Do you live here?” The firefighter asks, genuine interest resounding in his voice.
Remus nods. The man in front of him gives him a sympathetic look.
“It's not as bad as it looks. The third and fourth floor were affected the most, but it shouldn't take more than a few weeks to fix up.”
“But…” Cecil, Remus, Cecil. Focus, Christ. His eyes go up to the window of his flat. The fireman follows his gaze before turning to look at Remus back.
“Are you alright?” He is worried.
“My cat,” Remus finally hurls out. “No one knows about the cat.”
The man in front of him looks surprised at first, but then a slow smile grows on his face.
Remus is momentarily annoyed despite how overwhelmingly handsome the man looks with that expression on his face. Why is he smiling? Remus' eyes widen when he sees him unzipping the jacket of his uniform.
“By any chance you mean this cat?”
A small black face peaks from underneath the heavy yellow protective garment. Cecil meows loudly, and the firefighter laughs along.
“Heard this cute little bugger screaming at the door when we were evacuating some people. I'm afraid I had to knock your door down for him.”
Remus feels like his heart is going to jump out of his chest, his blood stream boiling over with adrenaline that he has only now fully managed to detect in the form of an odd mix of upset and euphoria. He looks straight into the firefighter's sparkling eyes. Grey. Remus grabs one of his hands with both of his, gripping sincerely.
“Thank you so much.” He pours as much gratitude into his words as he is capable of this breathless. The corners of the man's eyes wrinkle even more as he grins, this time showing his white teeth. It almost looks comical with all the ashes all over his face. He clasps his other hand over Remus'.
“You're welcome.”
For a moment they are standing there, holding hands, looking at each other as if the time has stopped and there were no sirens blaring or people shouting. They are eventually interrupted by another loud meow from disgruntled Cecil though. The firefighter seems startled by the sound, his smile wavering for a second. Remus coughs.
“I…”
“Y-yeah…”
“I… should take Cecil. I mean… the cat.”
The firefighter nods. “Yeah, Cecil.”
Remus reaches out for the cat and the man unzips his jacket a little more to give him easier access. Except the cat, it reveals a white t-shirt tightly wrapped around the other's toned chest. Remus tries not to look for too long and quickly nuzzles his nose into the cat's warm coat as he pulls him into his arms, overjoyed the animal is safe. His little heart too is rumbling in his ribcage under Remus' fingers. He briefly wonders what the fireman's heart is doing right now.
“I'm Sirius.”
It's Remus' turn to be confused now. He tilts his head to the side, his cheek still pressing against Cecil's black coat. “Excuse me?”
“Sirius. My name's Sirius.”
Remus swallows somehow heavily. He isn't quite certain when it has become a custom for local firefighters to introduce themselves to the victims of their local fires. But well, this one saved his cat. And also happens to be incredibly fit.
Cheeks aflame, he blurts out in a response, “Remus. I'm Remus.”
Sirius has got no clue that he's just started a fire of his own. Remus wonders whether he would get disappointed if he told him he got his job mixed up. Not a firefighter, definitely an arsonist.