om_main | Remus and Sirius, Backdated to Nov 11th

On his initial travels, Padfoot catches a scent he's never come across before and finds Remus.

Continuing his travels, the dog trotted down a flight of stairs and down two corridors before pausing. Nose raised into the air, he sniffed. Dipped his head low and then sniffed again.

That smell was strange, so similar to smells he'd caught before and yet so different. It wasn't a regular dog, not quite. It wasn't another dog boy like Padfoot, it didn't smell like that. It smelt almost...wilder.

Following his nose, Padfoot chased after the trail leading him off in a direction he hadn't yet explored. He had to know the source of this strange, wild smell.

The source of the smell was currently walking away from a classroom, his books hugged to his chest as he hurried back towards his dorm room. Remus Lupin was just starting to feel the effects of the full moon coming in a week's time. Maybe he'd go for a run after he dropped his things off.
He was definitely not expecting to see a big black dog running towards him.

As the scent grew stronger, Padfoot's interest and excited grew until he was practically bounding. So much so that he narrowly missed avoiding a student who he then looped around, sniffing at him frantically. This was it, this was him. Smelt like boy but not quite like boy. Almost like dog but not really. Something dangerous and wild but looked so timid. Curiouser and curiouser.

Halting in front of the boy, Padfoot sat and barked up a joyful greeting to him.

Remus looked a bit startled at first, especially as the dog sniffed him, but once he got what seemed like a normal dog sort of greeting, he relaxed and smiled. He crouched down in front of the dog and reached out to scratch behind its ears. "Who do you belong to?" he asked, and looked at his collar. PADFOOT, read the tag. "Padfoot. That's a nice name."

Another happy back as he lent into the affectionate touch. Since the interesting boy had crouched down, his front paws used the boy's thighs as a step up. The extra height allow him to start licking the boy's cheek in friendly greeting. Dog instinct and behaviour often took over, licking and sniffing curiously as he tried to figure out who and what this kid was.

Remus laughed when the dog licked him. He didn't mind. He'd never had a dog growing up even though he'd always kind of wanted one. He'd noticed that some dogs seemed to act strangely around him ever since he'd started shifting, but this one didn't seem to mind. "You're very handsome," he assured the dog, petting the back of its neck. "I'm sure someone is worried, if you've just run off."

Padfoot's tail wagged even more, even in dog form he loved to be complimented and admired. He lent into the touch a little as the sniffing desisted ,the affectionate licking carried on but he'd had enough scent t draw his conclusion. The boy was interesting, very interesting, and the scent was like him but more, wilder. The boy could change into something too. The question was what.

Remus found something strangely comforting in the dog. "My name is Remus," he added, hoping it wasn't too strange that he was talking to a dog. "I'd been thinking of going to the kitchen for a snack. I could cook up a little bacon. Do you like bacon?"

One loud, happy bark for yes.

Remus straightened up and led the way to the kitchen, looking down to see the dog trotting along with him. Once there, he opened up the refrigerator and pulled out a container of bacon he remembered seeing there the previous morning.

"You're very well behaved," Remus said as he pulled out a skillet. "Do you belong to a new student, maybe? That would be nice. It's awfully hard to be new. I bet you're good company."

Padfoot followed his every small movement from cupboard to stove to fridge and back, all the while his tail never stopped wagging. When the boy spoke, Padfoot had rubbed his nose to his hand hand. He sounded sort of sad and that wasn't allowed.

At the nudge to his hand, Remus paused in the cooking prep to pet him again. "Who's a good boy?" he murmured fondly, and then put the bacon on the stove to sizzle.

While he cooked, Padfoot lent heavily against his leg, debating whether or not to tell him. He'd understand since he could do it himself, right? His nose started to twitch eagerly as the bacon cooked, cancelling out all other thoughts for the moment.

"You seem to like being a dog," Remus added, quiet and thoughtful as he flipped the bacon with a fork. "It looks like fun, actually. You know, I think my friends have this image of me as dog-like, all fluffy and cute, but it's not like that at all. Everybody likes dogs."

The black dog's head tilted as he listened, the tone of voice made him whine sadly. He loved his power but it didn't sound like the boy did. It did sound, however, like he'd been completely right about the fact that this boy was something wilder. What could it be?

Remus watched the bacon sizzle, flipping them again, before putting them onto a plate. "It needs to cool for a minute," he said. "Wouldn't want you to burn your tongue." While waiting, he crouched down again to pet the dog, scratching behind his ear. "I wish I was a dog instead."

Nuzzling and licking as the boy's neck, Padfoot cuddled closer. He didn't like hearing the pain in the boy's voice one bit.

"You're an awfully good listener," Remus said with a little laugh. He pulled out a loaf of bread and some lettuce and tomato from the refrigerator to make himself a sandwich. He sat down at the table, bringing the plate of bacon with him, and held a piece out for the dog first.

Padfoot took the bacon hungrily, he had been running about for quite some time after all. After wolfing it down, he jumped up into the empty seat beside the interesting boy with his tail still wagging happily. Maybe it was time to change back again?

Remus meanwhile finished assembling his sandwich, and he idly scratched the dog's neck again before taking a bite. After he chewed and swallowed he said, "After this we'll find where you belong," he said. "Someone might be worried about you."

Sirius promptly shifted, changing into the handsome young man he usually was. Dressed in snug dark jeans, a deep blue silk tee and that red collar still in place, he told the other boy "No need, I'm not being missed." Not entirely true since Brian would probably be missing him by now but oh well. Details.

Remus was so startled that he scrambled out of his chair and knocked it over, coming fairly close to falling over himself. "What - " He was kind of at a loss for words.

"Sorry," He was smiling a little. "I didn't mean to startle you."

Remus' reaction to that was, first to bend down and straighten up the chair, and then to blush. "I... didn't realize. Obviously."

"Again, my apologies. I'm a prospective new student, I was exploring and caught your scent. I was curious." He looked over the boy again, his interest obvious. "Still am."

"It's... okay," Remus said, sitting down again and looking at him. He brushed his hair awkwardly, an unconscious effort to cover the scars on his face. "Do I smell different? Not human, then?" He sounded as if this didn't make him particularly happy.

With a small frown, Sirius reached out and push Remus's hair back. Considering he'd been licking the boy not too long ago it didn't seem too intimate a thing to do.

"No one here smells like humans but you, you smell kind of like me only more something. I couldn't figure it out. More wild I thought. More interesting. I couldn't keep away. It's intoxicating almost."

Remus tensed a little when Sirius touched him, but then relaxed. He was getting better with being touched, particularly thanks to Eames, who was so casual about it. More wild. Well, that was one way to put it.

"I turn into a wolf," he said, his voice quiet. "Not voluntarily."

Sirius lent in again, though not as close as he might have so as not to make the other boy tense again, and inhaled. Wolf. Yes, that made sense.

"That's why you don't like it? The lack of choice in it?"

"Among other things," Remus said, looking uncomfortable. "It's more like turning into a monster than a pet."

Sirius nodded thoughtfully, leaning against the kitchen bar and surveying his new wolf friend. "Well, a wolf is a wild animal, dogs have been a little more domesticated so I suppose that makes sense. The stereotype type of the lone wolf is a myth though, did you know that? Wolves need a pack, do you have a pack...sorry, you told me before but excitable dog, sot of hard to listen. What's your name?"

"Oh, I'm... sorry, I'm Remus." He was still looking more at his hands than at Sirius. "And no, I don't have a pack. I really don't think I'd want to meet anyone else like me, to be honest."

"A dog is almost like a wolf, they run in packs. If I came out here, I'd be without a pack." Without James and the boys anyway. He was mostly just thinking aloud before he adding "I am Sirius, Sirius Black." Said as a name with heavily implied meaning out of a lifetime of habit.

Remus on the other hand didn't see any meaning in his own name. Well, except the irony of the Latin root, of course. "It's nice to meet you, Sirius," he said, and managed a little smile. "You make a lovely dog." As soon as he said it, he flushed a little and added hastily, "Not that you don't make a lovely person, too."

Sirius the dog and Remus the wolf, neither name was lost of Sirius who was an A* student when it came to the Classics.

"My friend James named me Padfoot, he reckons I'm 'lovelier' as a dog. Good to know I make a lovely human too." He said with a grin that was full of jest. Plus they'd barely spoken so he was choosing to take it as a physical compliment. The scent was less distracting now he was getting a little used to it but it was still fascinating to him.

"How often do you change, can I ask?"

Remus hesitated, then said, "Just the full moons. I, um... get locked in a room in the basement. It's a lot better for me here than it was at home, though."

A wolf. An actual werewolf. Wow.

Sirius actually took a pause to think before speaking, something he didn't do a lot.

"Having no control must really...well, it must suck. I cannot sympathize as much as I wish because I've always had a balance between dog and me. Still, I think what I said before still stands: wolves cannot stand to be alone, they also don't typically hurt humans either. There are things to consider there, I think."

"The only reason this particular wolf doesn't want to be alone is so there's someone else there to rip apart," Remus said. "I know you mean well,though. It's just... I've been living with this for a long time. It's never been anything but terrible. It's hard not to be envious of most of the kids around here having powers that are cool or useful. I'd give anything to be normal."

Sirius immediately felt bad for his initial 'wow, cool!' response, even if he had kept it internal. He'd already known that the boy hated his mutation, he should have remembered it. Still points were due for not having said anything, Sirius felt.

"I can't imagine." Because he couldn't and to lie would be empty and Remus would know. "But if I could help, I'd like to. It's not fun to be the odd one out." And that Sirius could empathise with on a level.

"Thank you," Remus said with a little smile, in a way that indicated he appreciated the thought but he didn't think it would make much difference. "Do you think you'll enroll here?"

"I'm thinking about it. That's why I'm here, I agreed to stay for a week and see how it fits. Which means maybe I'm just looking for the right person to persuade me, what to do think Remus?" He lent in a little again as he spoke, he couldn't help it. The scent just kept drawing him back in.

"Um." Remus' cheeks went a little pink. "Well there are a lot of really nice people here. I like it here a lot. You should."

"But, the school I'm at now is the only home I've ever known. That's not an easy thing to turn your back on, not without a hell of a good reason." Sirius pondered, still watching the other boy closely "You think it'd be worth it though?"

"I might not be the best person to ask," Remus admitted. "I was pretty miserable before I came here. If your life is good already I imagine it's a harder decision. But... there's something to be said for being around people who are like you, even if being like you means that everyone is different, too."

"Though you're not so different. When you come down to it." He inhaled the scent again to underline his point.

Remus bit his lip. "You like the way I smell. I have to say, that's new."

"It's a compliment. Promise." Was smiled back at him, looking him over again. Part of him wanted to ask about the scars but he held back. Not everyone liked to tell their war stories, or so he'd been told.