myriadparacosm - Tumblr blog

myriadparacosm · 3 days

Text

Day Twenty-Four - Birthday @sapphicmicrofics

April Daily Series - 518 words

<<<Previous Part OR Start Here

If she was honest with herself, Dorcas hadn’t thought of much else in the last few days. Marlene was everywhere. The sofa smelled like the Old Spice body wash that was once again taking up space in her shower. Thankfully, she was at work during Marlene’s wash-up yesterday. If she expected to maintain any level of sanity and self-control, Dorcas needed to avoid drowning in the intoxicating scent of Marlene fresh out of the shower.

Nothing smells better than that.

So many fond memories flooded her mind. Dorcas loved to wrap her arms around Marlene’s warm body and bury her nose in the woman’s neck. It was an immediate relief of every tense muscle in her body. Marlene was her guilty pleasure.

For her birthday that year, Marlene met her at the door to their old flat in a towel and Dorcas spent the entire evening breathing her in while shagging her senseless. It was a core memory of their relationship that she still hadn’t dislodged. Marlene was sticky like that.

“Why did you keep my jacket, Cas?” Marlene asked. She’d wandered over to the box again and sifted through it. “I could have sworn I packed it. That’s my favourite one.”

“It smells like you.” The words fell out of her mouth before she could stop them. Dorcas didn’t take them back. There was no point in lying after she’d admitted the truth.

Marlene hummed to herself. When she finally returned to Dorcas’s side, she held out her closed fist. “Guess what I found?”

“A shred of self-preservation?”

“No, don’t be ridiculous.” Marlene’s grin widened when Dorcas rolled her eyes. “Look, it’s my lucky charm. You know, I didn’t even miss it? I just assumed you still had it, and I was right!”

She opened her hand to reveal the claddagh ring in her palm. “It always suited you far better than me.”

Dorcas picked up the silver ring and turned it slowly. The design was simple, but charming. Two hands bracketed a heart with a crown perched on top. When the crown faced out, the heart was claimed. When the crown faced in, the heart was open.

“I couldn’t get rid of a family heirloom, Marlene,” she said, setting it back in her hand. “I know how much she meant to you.”

Marlene’s smile dipped for a moment, then beamed a little brighter still. “And you knew that it still belonged here, with you, or you would have sent it back.”

“I forgot about it.”

“No, you didn’t,” Marlene countered.

No, I didn’t. I’ve thought about it almost daily.

Marlene swivelled on her heel and approached Dorcas’s dresser. Without hesitation, she opened her jewellery box and tugged out a silver chain. The ring slid onto the chain as she crossed the room again. Marlene stepped behind her and swept her long braids aside gently, then wrapped the necklace around her neck and fastened it. Her deft fingers trailed the chain, ghosting Dorcas’s skin and inciting goosebumps.

Marlene pressed her index fingertip against the ring and sighed. “There. At least one of us is where we belong.”

13 notes · View notes

myriadparacosm · 3 days

Text

Tie-the-bollocks

Short story on how Remus proposes to the wrong dog

“Why won’t you turn back?” Remus blurts out as he feels itchier each second that passes with Padfoot staring at him with his happy tongue lolling.

He woke up alone on their couch without shoes or a jacket, barely remembering how he got home from drinking with the lads, with no sign of Sirius. Naturally he looked for him even if he was too drunk to stand properly on his two legs. He is more stubborn than his faulty body so he strudged through their house, perhaps first falling on their coffee table when he rolled off the couch, to find Sirius.

With no hint, no sign of his wand and without his phone, he started to get antsy and called him as clearer as he could with his tongue feeling like lead, even in the garden but it’s still night. Sirius wasn’t even at the pub where James glanced at Remus once in a while at him with amused eyes and a ‘you will get there’ smile. It only makes his head aches to think about all the drinks Remus forced down his throat but he is a desperate man looking for the love of his life. He can see in the dark but still no sign of Sirius without any sound in their big garden or in their house. All their scents are mixed up but he would know if he was still here.

It’s with a heavy stomach and burning guts that Remus decided to go out to find his definitely sulking boyfriend. He can’t recall why Sirius might be pissed at him, not too much because he did drag Remus back home which he can’t remember but still enough to leave their home when it’s past midnight. Not that Remus wants him to be at his beck and call but Sirius can’t have returned to the pub, everyone left, so he must have left for another reason. Drunk Remus might have done something, be an insufferable prat, and Sirius took off while he slept.

Turns out, or Remus woke up faster then expected, that he only wanted to stretch his legs out because he quickly found Padfoot just at the corner of their isolated street, sniffing some spot as if he didn’t hear Remus calling for him in the dead of the night. Taking walks as Padfoot is relaxing to him and he can run however he wants, Remus perfectly knows that and he often go with him when he can but it happens that Padfoot goes off by himself. In these cases he should be wearing his collar - one for outside - to not be mistaken as a lost dog and be taken away to the pound like it happened before. Remus almost had a heart-attack that time and figured out fast enough where he might have ended up.

This time he didn’t put it on, another hint that he is mad because he knows full well that Remus would have to get him back from the pound. It’s not that Sirius wants to torture him but he certainly likes to be desired and make Remus agree to the craziest plot by putting his own dog life at risk; he knows perfectly well that Sirius is terrified at the thought of getting castrated. But nothing is better than making Remus grovel by running to every pounds of London and around to find his bloody cheeky boyfriend. Sirius found it so funny when he went missing for five hours just to convince Remus to accept the teaching position for DADA at Hogwarts and Remus had to promise to take it to drag him out of the pound under everyone’s eyes.

He still can’t recall anything further than getting pissed, James listening to his babbler with Peter grimacing at the amount of alcohol, before promptly crashing down on the pub’s counter. Clearly, he must have done something because Padfoot refuses to follow him back home and even tries to avoid his hand with a wary look. Remus grabs him before he can run off, which he won’t be able to follow because he already struggles to carry his own weight. It’s a bit tricky with Padfoot yapping and jerking but he settles in his arms. The amount of alcohol in his blood is definitely slowing him down and the new weight doesn’t help with his attempt at emptying the pub by himself.

Sirius is pouting but Remus couldn’t help himself but complain about his smell. There is always the lingering of dog on him but Padfoot reeks and he must have rolled into something really dirty, sewer or rotten, to reach that point so fast for Remus’s nose to not even recognize his usual scent. Padfoot stinks and doesn’t like that he says it out loud, getting a growl and furious wiggling before huffing.

There is no fuss when he drags them both to their bathroom but Padfoot shows no sign of shifting back. He looks around innocently, sniffing and cautiously licking Remus’ hands. Padfoot is still no real help and tries to jump out of the baththub unless Remus is with him.

That’s how he ended up showering Padfoot and half of him with the hope that it makes Sirius forgive him for whatever happened. It’s not completely working since he still hasn’t shifted back but he is happy by the tail wag and how he keeps nudging his head against Remus’ legs. He took off his pants to not get them wet but also wishing that it would have convinced Sirius to properly come back. Make-up sex almost always works.

“Pads, come on,” he groans out when Padfoot sits still in front of him, still wet and smelling like honey, panting with no care. “I’m too— drunk or hungover.”

His fur is curling up, far more than usual, and Remus almost wonders if it isn’t brown instead of deep black. He puts that on his tired eyes, the lack of light except for the soft lamp in the corner of the bathroom they usually put on for relaxing baths, and the alcohol with the exhaustion. Padfoot looks happy, nudging him to get pets. He feels different under Remus’ palm, smaller even, but it might be that he used a human shampoo on a dog - the only times Padfoot needed a bath he would always shift back.

“What is it, love?” He asks burying his face in Padfoot’s neck who climbs on his naked thighs to get closer. “I don’t recall what I did that made you mad but please just shift back and use your words.”

He gets a fat lick all of his face, earning an amused huff and Remus hugs Padfoot against him. Sirius got him back from the pub, because James tried to mingle in Remus’ business of course, and perhaps he wanted to talk. Remus didn’t plan to get drunk, Sirius was stuck in his work - which means inspired and doesn’t want to take a break even if it’s been hours - so he was by himself with James and Peter to the pub. Of course they had to brought up the stupid, useless, ring that Remus bought for Sirius.

They kept harassing him to just get a move on— Sirius will say yes! He will cry in happiness and snog Remus senselessly before screaming from their roof that he is going to be Mister Lupin! He is getting married to the best, James’ word, man in the world. Remus truly doesn’t feel like he fits the criteria.

“Do you know?” He mumbles out, softly grabbing Padfoot’s face to stare at his bright, too colourful, eyes peeking through his long dark but not quite fur. It’s strange but he doesn’t want to be dried with a towel so Remus gave up on that.

His tongue is out, body dancing with the wag of his tail as he tries to jump in his face to slobber him once again. Remus keeps his hold, smiling and scratching that spot under his ear to appease him - with no result but he stops squirming.

“Please Sirius, love, ci bach, turn back. For me?”

Padfoot stares at him, huffing and soft under his fingers. Usually one of his ears get stuck up, a cute but fragile equilibrium, that always made him look sillier than he is. It’s the best contrast with his Grim-like looks.

“Come on, you can’t keep pouting for something I can’t remember. Especially if I was drunk,” he complains and Padfoot pushes his head against his neck before he pushes him back. “Pads, shift back. It was fun but it’s not anymore.”

Remus wants to kiss him but can’t and he is getting frustrated. He should have taken a sobering potion to recall where his wand is, to force Padfoot to shift back and finally discover why Sirius decided to play the stray dog, whether Remus really did something or not.

James kept cheering on Remus, always finding some loop to fool him into believing he isn’t crazy to think that Sirius would accept his proposal; they have been dating forever and have commited to a comfortable, very loving life as if time has no hold on them. Still, he can’t help but wonder why wouldn’t Sirius realises that he would get shackled up with a werewolf officially. It’s a chore, an endless one, and Remus only wants Sirius’ happiness even if it’s without him.

Peter was also no help and only told Remus that he can practice the proposal on them, as if, or that he doesn’t need to plan the greatest event for that. Saying something how Sirius would marry him even if they were standing in hyppogriff’s dung. They are no help.

Lily is on the same stupid theory as the rest of them, no clear thoughts or actual reasoning: Sirius is mad about you! He might faint so perhaps tells him to sit down before doing that. She threatens him that she better be his best woman and had came up with many ideas for his proposal but Remus found them all lacking if not humiliating for Sirius.

“Sirius, please,” Remus pleads after another lick across his face. “Ci bach, just shift back. I don’t know if Prongs or Wormy told you something but it’s crap. They are liars. Never will I drink with them again. I should have came to see what you worked on, you always look perfectly beautiful. Ci bach, I love you so much, do you know that?”

Padfoot huffs against his hand, shifting in his laps before finally laying down. Remus’ eyes widen because surely that means he knows— Sirius is turning his back on him and fakes being more interested into his fur rather. He must know about the ring that he stashed in a hidden pocket of his jacket-

“Where is my jacket?” He blurts out, looking around the bathroom but he can’t spot the brown leather jacket Sirius got him for their first mateday, ridiculous saying but Remus likes to see that written on their calendars.

Sirius must have taken it off when they came back home and dropped him on their couch - not bed which means he was planning on sleeping alone. Perhaps he felt or heard the box, figured it out and took a walk off to ignore the stupidest thing Remus ever planned in his life.

“Oh no, no, no. It’s not what you think,” he promises before Padfoot glances away.

He never got to actually do anything. His nerves got the best of him and nothing is enough to get Sirius to accept such a fate. Except Remus kept dreaming about getting married to the best person he has met, loveliest and bitiest brat but still his, and slipping a ring on one of his fingers but this one would never be slipped off unlike all the other he likes to parade around with— would he parade around with Remus’ ring on his finger? Certainly not if he tried to run away.

"Bloody hell,” Remus gasps out, fingers digging into his scalp, as he realises that Sirius is staying as Padfoot because it’s easier. He told him so himself, on very bad days where he got too far in his head, only shifting would cut off the vicious cycle and Remus caused that. “Ci bach, Sirius, love, please.”

Padfoot is busing licking his bits, loudly smelling but he does glance at him before getting back to his private parts. Any other time he would have been disgusted but Remus is far more worried that he got Sirius spooked out with his silly dream.

“Forget about the ring,” he exclaims, scrambling a bit to sit up against the bathtub and grabbing Padfoot’s face again. “Sirius I’m so sorry, I didn’t think this through, I know— but we can forget about it. I won’t be sad or mad,” he assures even when he starts to furiously blink to see through the many tears, traitors of his words. “James got into my head and kept saying that you would love it, he was not stopping so I accepted to go check rings with him and this bastard even dragged your brother into this and I thought he would kill me!”

Padfoot barks and tugs his head out of his grasp to return to his parts, noisily licking. Remus stares with a dying laugh before he starts to sob. Now he wishes that Regulus would have killed him, put some real truth into his threats upon learning that Remus is dating his brother years ago, but James must have gotten in his head and softened him because he approved of the ring that caught Remus’ eyes without meaning to.

“Please Sirius, we can forget and ignore that. I don’t care, really,” Remus says and drags him back into his arms despite Padfoot’s wiggling. “I don’t need to get married and certainly not to propose to you. You never even said anything about marriage but I thought… nevermind that. I won’t propose to you. It’s alright. Are you listening Pads? Stop licking your parts that’s— where are your bollocks?!”

He yelps at the flash of light and Padfoot startles, scratching Remus’ naked legs in his attempt at jumping back on his feet with a bark. His nose catches the tasty smell of chinese takeouts but it takes him a minute and furious squinting to finally recognizes Sirius standing at the threshold of their bathroom with the bag in his arms.

Padfoot growls and cowers against Remus, snapping teeth toward the door, and he holds him back on instinct before he realises that the dog can’t be Padfoot. It’s smaller, dark brown with hues of ginger, with big blue eyes.

Sirius wets his lips, brows almost disappearing behind his strands of black hair as his shell-shocked eyes goes from Remus to the dog before Remus again. With a snort, his nose scrunches up before he lets out a big laugh and brushes his hair back with his free hand.

“Moony, I leave you for thirty minutes…” Sirius softly says, mirth still singing and ever-so charming despite the dreadful sober up hitting Remus like a punch. “And you managed to broke our coffee table, the sobering potion I left out for you which ruined the lovely note I left you to say I was getting us some late dinner.”

Remus swallows and watches as the dog curiously steps once and twice before stopping to smell the air toward the bag of food. Sirius smiles at him with pure, all-embraced, pride.

“How much did you hear?”

“Well, Moonybeam, my dear and only, you will be very happy to know that despite this obvious cheating attempt with a stray dog that looks nothing like me. My bollocks are right here, safe and sound, for your pleasure and I will soon be Mister Moony!”

#wolfstar #remus loves sirius #sirius loves remus #marauders #hp marauders #remus lupin #sirius black #sirius orion black #remus x sirius #marriage proposal #marauders era #the marauders era #the marauders #writing #fluff

3 notes · View notes