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Remus’ feet were numb and his thighs had red circles from where his elbows pressed into his skin. He should’ve listened to Sirius who told him not to eat a slice of James’ ice cream cake, but it looked so good and he was unable to resist chocolate. It was James’ fault, really. After 50 years of knowing each other, he should know that Remus was unable to avoid eating chocolate if present.
He hadn’t felt this sick since Teddy’s seventeenth birthday when the bakery had messed up the order and accidentally given him a dairy cake instead of a dairy free one. Teddy had felt awful, offering to help nurse Remus back to health as he puked his guts out, but Remus didn’t want his kid to have to spend his birthday doing that.
He glanced down at his phone, lip between his teeth. He had been in here so long that he had finished all his NYT games and now was digging through the archives. He had been fundamentally against using an app to do his crossword, but now he was grateful Sirius talked him into it.
“Rem?” There was a knock on the bathroom door.
“Hm?”
“Are you alive in there?”
“Barely.”
“Can I come in?”
“Sure.”
After having shared a dorm room for seven years, followed by living together for for the past forty three, boundaries and personal space had been blurred.
Sirius opened the door to the bathroom and scanned Remus’ body.
“Is it bad?”
“Very.”
“Is there anything you need?”
Remus handed Sirius his phone.
“Can you figure out the wordle from two April’s ago?”
Sirius grabbed the phone and sat on the edge of the tub. He brows scrunched up as he looked over his choices. There were many things Remus adored about Sirius, but his concentration face was definitely in the top ten. He had been making the same one since first year when they were all studying their asses off to pass their first classes.
“Elfin,” Sirius said and handed Remus back his phone.
“What the fuck is elfin?”
“The answer to the wordle from two April’s ago.”
“Har har, thank you.”
Remus groaned and set his phone on the edge of the counter. He had debated getting up for some time now, but he was worried once he did he’d end up right back in the bathroom.
“James feels bad, you know.”
“Not his fault.”
“Well, no. He should’ve known better than to have a chocolate cake though.”
Remus smiled at him. “I had the same thought.”
Sirius stood up and turned towards their bathroom mirror, leaning in close to examine his face the way he did when they were teenagers and he had pimples sprouting.
“Do I look old?”
“Yes.”
Sirius spun around and scoffed. “Pardon?!”
“You’re sixty one, my love.”
“And I don’t look a day over twenty two!”
“Whatever you need to tell yourself.”
“So you think I’m ugly?”
“I think you’re the most gorgeous person alive. Greying hair and all.”
“Don’t get me started on my hair, you know it’s a sensitive topic for me.”
Sirius had managed to avoid grey hairs for a lot longer than Remus would’ve guessed. His inbred Black genes were strong, he supposed.
“Please, if anyone should have a tough time with it, it’s me. I found my first grey hair at fifteen. I’m more grey than brown at this point.”
“Yes, but you look very sexy.”
“And your grey make you look even more punk rock then you did when you went through that one phase in the 80s.”
Sirius flicked his long curls over his shoulder and walked over to Remus. He kissed the top of his head before twirling around towards the door.
“Do you need anything before I leave you to suffer?”
“No, be free. See the outside world for me.”
☽
Remus’ suffering ended twenty minutes later as he dragged himself off his porcelain throne and down to the kitchen. The thought of food filled him with nausea, so he opted for a cup of tea while Teddy ate.
“Are you okay?”
“Mhm.”
“I told you not to eat that,” Teddy, who sounded just like Sirius earlier, said.
“And yet here I am.” Remus kissed the top of Teddy’s head on his way to the kettle.
Teddy was nineteen now, no longer a little kid and yet Remus’ forever baby. He was working full time to save up and travel abroad, not that Remus minded. He didn’t want Teddy to leave quite yet, he wasn’t ready to say goodbye. After Harry left for UNI, James and Lily were sobbing messes for what felt like weeks. He was certain he and Sirius would be no better when it would be eventual time to say goodbye to Teddy.
“Where’s your dad?”
“Outside.”
“Doing?” Remus flipped on the kettle and leaned against the counter.
“Most likely pretending that we don’t know he’s smoking a cigarette.”
Remus couldn’t help but chuckle at this. They had said they were going to quit, but Sirius had a hard time giving up his evening smoke.
Remus didn’t have anything to say so he turned his attention back to his tea, carefully preparing himself a cup with the perfect ratio of milk and sugar. The thought of putting anything in his body caused his stomach to gurgle, but he knew it would be good for him to rehydrate. This wasn’t his first time dealing with a body that actively worked against him.
“Enough about your Dad’s awful habits, tell me about your day.”
☽
Later that evening, once Teddy had retired back to his room and the kitchen had been cleaned from dinner, Remus and Sirius found themselves out back on their rocking bench. The swing had been the selling point of the house for Remus. He told Sirius that, even if the whole house remained unfurnished for the rest of their lives, he would be happy with just this swing. They put their application in the next morning.
“Oh, I forgot to tell you—” Sirius sat up and set his phone down. “While you were in the bathroom earlier, I saw a really cool bird out back.”
“Oh yeah?”
The mention of a bird perked Remus right up. He had been bird watching since he was a little kid with his Ma. It had been their special activity, which Remus had held onto throughout his life. He kept journals and journals full of his sightings, writing little blurbs about each one he found. Sirius and James had made fun of him when they first met him, for having such an old man hobby, but he eventually roped them both in.
“Yeah, it was this small little guy.”
“Any other details?” Remus was sitting up straight now, his fingers itching to grab his phone to start writing down details to later look up in one of his many bird books.
“It was blue with orange details, I think. It wasn’t too close and it was quite small so I didn’t get close up details.”
“What did it sound like? Did you hear it chirp?”
“Very high pitch.”
“Beak?”
“Thin and decently long.”
“Did you recognize it?”
Sirius thought for a moment before shaking his head. “No I don’t—”
Remus shot to his feet.
“Rem?”
“Hold on.”
Remus abandoned Sirius and practically ran into the house and straight to his office. He found the book immediately, clutching it tightly to his chest before making his way back outside. His knees ached from the sudden movement, but he pushed through the minor twinges and burning.
He sat back down next to Sirius and flipped open his book to one of the bookmarked pages.
“Did it look like this?” Remus pointed to the photo of a Kingfisher.
“Yeah! Exactly that.”
“No way.” Remus stared at the page in awe before a frown overtook his features and he slammed the book shut.
“What?” Sirius attempted to reach a hand out, but Remus pulled it away.
“Why didn’t you come get me?”
“Because you were shitting your brains out.”
“Sirius, do you know what this bird means to me?”
“I navigate life under the assumption that every bird means everything to you.”
“Well, sure. But this bird, specifically.”
Sirius stared at Remus, raising a brow.
“I have been searching for a Kingfisher my entire life. They’re not the most rare bird, but they are hard to find. They’re very small and easily missed and they are sensitive to harsh winters.”
“I didn’t—”
“You should’ve gotten me!”
“My love, you know that that is ridiculous. I couldn’t—”
“I’m going inside.” Remus huffed and held his book to his chest again.
He took his bird watching very seriously, though clearly not everyone in this house honoured that.
“In our wedding vows—”
“Jesus Christ.”
“In our wedding vows,” Remus said again. “You promised to show me every cool bird you found and listen to me talk, no matter how uninterested you were.”
“Remus—“
“Clearly, your words mean nothing to you. What else have you lied about?”
“You’re very dramatic, do you know that? Everyone thinks I’m the dramatic one, but they clearly don't know you well.”
“So now you’re mocking me?”
Sirius burst into laughter and, if Remus wasn’t in such a suddenly foul mood, he would’ve laughed as well. Instead, he huffed (rather dramatically) and stormed into the house. He slammed the sliding door loud behind him for added effect and to try to drown out the sounds of Sirius’ laughter.
☽
They didn’t speak the rest of the night, though not for lack of trying on Sirius’ behalf. They silently got ready for bed together and crawled under the covers without a single word.
Remus rolled onto his side so his back was facing Sirius and, after so long together, Sirius must’ve known better than to try to reach out and hold him.
They had had some nasty fights in their lifetime, and this wasn’t one of them. This was Remus holding a grudge for something out of Sirius’ control and, come morning, he’d kiss Sirius awake and look at him as if he was the most precious thing on this planet though. To Remus, he was.
For now though, he was going to go to bed annoyed.
☽
Remus drifted off quickly once the lights were off and his head was nuzzled into his pillow. He had expected to have bird filled dreams, but instead he dreamt of Sirius and him on a beautiful island. He wasn’t exactly sure where, but it reminded him of where they went for their honeymoon. They swam in the warm waves and laid out under the sun, both their bodies sporting lovely tans by the end of the trip. He was happy in his dream, just as he was on their actual vacation.
He let out a groan when he was pulled back to consciousness by two hands gently cupping his cheeks.
He blinked a few times, squinting his eyes against the sun shining in through the windows, since they forgot to shut the blinds.
“Hi,” Sirius whispered, looking down at Remus.
“Hi.” Remus leaned into his touch.
“I’m sorry I didn’t show you your rare bird.”
“Hmm,” Remus hummed and managed a small smile. “I’m just glad one of us got to see it.”
“It doesn’t feel right that it was me and not you.”
“It’s unfair, yes.”
“Do you forgive me?” Sirius asked sweetly and moved his body down so his nose was pressed against Remus’.
Remus fluttered his eyes shut and inhaled the sweet scent of his beautiful husband. He snaked his arms around Sirius' waist and pulled him down so their chests were pressed against one another.
“I forgive you.”