Jack and Sirius backdated to 14th October
Oct. 14th, 2014 02:36 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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om_mainSirius is drunk and vulnerable after that run in with his parents and looking for some kind of outlet for how he's feeling. Instead he finds Jack and, in his opinion, disgraces himself completely.
Very nicely drunk from the vodka he'd split with Alice, and the follow up booze he'd drunk since she left him to it, Sirius was wandering the halls in the vague direction of the student kitchen. Possibly for food since he hadn't eaten since breakfast, possibly for something he could use as a mixer since he figured once Bigby was home he might be judged a bit for drinking the stuff straight. He wasn't sure though since when he wasn't a wolf Bigby wasn't the easiest guy to get a read off of.
Or he might going outside for a wander, shift and be Padfoot going through the woods maybe. See what trouble he could get into.
Coming into the kitchen he grinned as he saw who was already in there. Maybe he'd found trouble already.
Jack turned, taking a bite of his sandwich before realizing he had company. Convenient timing, he'd been planning to go check in on Sirius after his snack. After what had happened with his parents...
He smiled and raised his sandwich in greeting, giving the unusual outfit a once-over. "Well hello, gorgeous," he said, like things were totally normal. "What's the occasion?"
"Didn't you hear? Few hours and I hit the big one eight." Sirius grinned back widely, yeah the outfit was more of a big 'fuck you' in the general direction of the Blacks and England but it was also one he just felt fucking good in. Why not ring in his birthday in a sexy lil number?
"And here I thought it was just for me," Jack teased.
"Well, play your cards right," Sirius joked back. Well, mostly joked. He didn't honestly hit on taken people but, still, he was feeling kinda vulnerable after a hellish evening and a little ego pampering was in desperate need. And Jack was good at that. Good at many things, Sirius remembered.
"Looks like you've already been celebrating," Jack said, raising his eyebrows as he caught the smell of the booze. He didn't seem worried by it though, just teasing for more information, just like he would any other day.
"It's already my birthday back home." Sirius reasoned while flashing a too wide grin that looked almost nothing like his usual smile. "Alice helped me kick things off in style, gotta love that girl."
Jack's smile was warm. "That sounds just like her."
"Mmmmhmmm," He nodded back, starting to move forward so that they weren't talking from across the kitchen. Hand trailing over the work surface only slightly because he mistrusted his stability. "Wanna help me keep the party going?"
Well this felt familiar... last time Sirius had approached him like that, well, it'd certainly been memorable. And Sirius had been sober, and Jack was single. For now, though, he chalked it up to the alcohol he could smell. "You know I'd love to," he said with a wistful grin, "but they pay me to do things like keep the place safe and not get drunk with students."
"I don't see any alcohol in here." Sirius pointed out, and yeah maybe he had been looking for another drinking partner but if Jack wasn't gonna play ball, well he still didn't much want to be alone. "You too square to hang? I mean like you said, I'm a little bit pissed and could wander off anywhere into any danger. It's basically your job to make sure I don't right now, I reckon."
That made Jack smirk. "Reckon you're right about that. Safety first."
"Exactly. Safety in numbers." Was nodded uber-seriously which somehow just highlighted the non-sober status even more. "Soooo, Mr Chaperone, what do you feel like doing with the birthday boy?"
Jack raised his sandwich again. "Whatever you think - as long as it doesn't interfere with this important security business."
"Rec room." Sirius decided with a grin before taking Jack by the wrist to lead him there, as if the other boy didn't already know.
Well, Sirius wasn't holding his sandwich-hand, so Jack let himself be led. Sirius didn't seem to be carrying any booze, so the rec room was as good a place as any to sober up. And if in the process he decided he needed to talk about the shit that had gone down, well... Jack was good for that too.
They were soon flopping onto the sofa, well Sirius flopped and pulled Jack with him really and then settled there next to him. Considering it was a three seater he was possibly too close but sober Sirius could have a problem with personal space when there were no good reason to give space. Especially not with pretty people. So drunk Sirius really had no clue.
"Easy there, tiger," Jack laughed, holding the remains of his sandwich out of harm's way as Sirius settled, chocking up the closeness to the alcohol. Sure, Steve would probably be pissed if he saw this, but Jack wasn't worried. Sirius was most definitely having a bad day, there had to be some leeway for that.
"Mmmmm, I'm very easy." Sirius told him, eyes closed and voice relaxed. Half his face was hidden under straightened black hair as he leaned back into the sofa cushion.
"Don't I know it," Jack teased affectionately, reaching over to brush some of the hair out of Sirius's face. There was something nice about it, feeling comfortable enough in his own skin to be touch-y with a friend. It was how he'd always been, before the Facility. "So, exciting birthday plans?"
Lazily Sirius half nuzzled the hand in a very dog-like way. He'd just shifted, it wasn't his fault.
"No exciting per se, I'm doing things with the cast next week. I sort of, sort of forget my birthday so uh just gonna order mass amounts of take away, soft drinks and booze and anyone who wants to swing by can. Basically my room from after dinner til, well, whenever." He summed up, his eye half open as he watched the other boy. He felt comfortable around Jack, they might not hang out often but there was still a comfortableness there.
Polishing off his snack, Jack nodded with a shrug. "Sounds pretty ideal, really."
"Mmm feel free to drop by." Sirius offered with a nod.
"Think you can forgive me if I don't?" Jack couldn't help examining Sirius's lazy demeanor with a smile. "After all, I'm staff now. Wouldn't want to ruin it."
"And what a wonderful job of staffing you're doing right now with a trashed student." Sirius snickered back, still flopped and watching from half open eyes and doing his best not to slur. The rough affected accent had given way completely by now to his more natural and utterly posh one. "Or are you about to give me doubles and detention? Or a good old fashion caning?"
"Hey, watch yourself! I'm Security, not a hall monitor," Jack protested. "My job is to keep the students safe." He waved a hand in Sirius's general direction. "Look how safe you are right now. Mission accomplished." Then, with a wicked smirk, he added, "You'll have to get your discipline fix somewhere else."
"Spoil sport." Was pouted a little before he at least agreed "Well, I suppose I am very safe." And to underline the face, his head settled lightly on Jack's shoulder.
"Yup," Jack agreed, grinning in self-satisfaction. "All the same, I know you wouldn't want all that safety getting in the way of a good party," he reasoned. "Don't worry, I'll make it up to you sometime."
The Almost-Birthday-Boy's eyes opened fully at that. "How about now?" Fully opened but clouded over and unfocused from intoxication.
"Now?" Jack raised a curious eyebrow. He'd been contemplating finding a time to buy Sirius a birthday drink off-campus, somewhere he wasn't ostensibly an authority figure, and this line of thought didn't offer many 'now' options, but...
Sirius was currently fueled by alcohol logic which was possibly the only explanation as to why he did what he did next, breaking one of his major rules.
One fluid motion and he was in Jacks lap, all but straddling him, lips pressed to the other boy's and begging to get fucked good and hard, hand already going for his belt.
Suddenly all he could think about was how good Jack had once made him feel, completely out of his head, the alcohol with Alice hadn't blotted out all that shit the way he wanted but there was more than one way to get totally fucked until you reached oblivion.
Jack made a startled sound and blinked in surprise, but, to his credit (in his own mind, at least), didn't immediately jerk away from the kiss. ...this was partially because stopping the progression of Sirius's hand got first priority, but mostly because even through his surprise and objection, the last thing Jack wanted to do was add 'rejection' to the long list of reasons Sirius was hurting tonight.
That said, this had to stop.
With Sirius's hand under control, Jack brought his free hand up to - gently - interrupt the kiss, cupping Sirius's cheek even as he pushed him away. Just far enough that kissing wasn't an option anymore. "Whoa, slow down," he managed, scouring Sirius's face in confusion.
"Where did that come from?"
Sirius blinked slowly, eyes glaze and unfocused from vodka. "You wanna make it up, I wanna feel good." Two birds, one stone.
Jack knew that sentiment, and it wasn't like they hadn't been down that road - to great satisfaction - in the past, so it wasn't like Jack could even fault him for it. But that was before Steve.
Jack pursed his lips for a moment, looking for the right words to explain honestly. He didn't try and push Sirius off him, because nothing was going to happen, despite the compromising position (but if Steve walked in, he was pretty much a dead man. Again.).
"I can't," he settled on, honest and unapologetic. That said, he gave Sirius a wry smile. "You're drunk, I'm taken, this is the rec room... pick your reason, but I can't." And he wasn't even tempted, or sorry he couldn't; Sirius could pick a reason, but Jack's first and foremost was simply This isn't Steve. ...a sentiment he'd put aside to examine later (or never, possibly).
Sirius didn't even argue, his shoulders sagged a little and he still had that wild, half desperate look as he half whispered "I need to do something." But now, he couldn't even say what. He just felt like he had to do something, and yeah he usually went out and got fucked one way or another when he felt like this. He didn't know what else to do.
He slid back in his seat from before because the thing resounding in his head was I'm taken. Once of his biggest hook up rules (behind full, freely given consent) was that he didn't hit on people in relationships, if they came to him then clearly the relationship was broken but he never made the first move. Ever. Until now, apparently. Maybe he really was just another stupid slut. He could his his mother's words in his head immediately.
It was a sobering thought, not enough to make him actually sober but enough to bring a little clarity and a lot of guilt crashing down on him. For a moment it even blotted out his restless, desperate need for something.
"Sorry." He said, very quietly as he put more distance between him and Jack.
"Don't be," Jack said, tone getting a shade more sincere than he meant to let it. "I know the feeling."
Sirius blinked furiously. "I shouldn't have. I know, I..."
He sat very still for a moment, staring straight ahead, eventually he finished in a very different place from where he started. "I said I'd never let them break me. Sometimes I think they broke me a very long time ago and I hid it so well I even fooled myself into forgetting."
No point pretending he didn't know what Sirius was talking about. Jack sat forward, diminishing some of the excess space that Sirius had put between them. "Seems to me that they were trying to make you broken like them. In that sense, I'd say they failed pretty completely."
Sure, he was probably talking to the alcohol, but what else could he do?
"I will never be like them." Sirius said, voice still soft though suddenly vicious. "Never."
"Yeah," Jack couldn't help it, he smiled. Not because it was funny or because he didn't believe Sirius - because Sirius meant it to the core, and that was good. "I know."
Sirius wasn't smiling, slowly he looked back to Jack and said quietly "And I'm really sorry for being such a slut."
"Do I look bothered?" asked Jack, dismissing the apology with another smile. "I'm just sorry I couldn't assist."
Which was not quite what Sirius could understand in his current state, he was already in full 'beat self up mode' anyway as he
Jack sighed, and gave him a skeptical look. "You gonna try that again?"
"Try what?" He asked flatly.
Jack tried to suppress a smirk, to no avail. Well, for lack of a better phrase, "Jumping me."
"No, course not." And, thus proving many people wrong about his ability to feel the emotion, he looked completely ashamed with himself.
"Then we don't have a problem." When Sirius's expression didn't change, Jack huffed, resolving to take a more serious approach for a moment. "Look, one misstep on a shitty day doesn't make you a bad person. It makes you human. Alright?" And that was as much detail as Jack wanted to get into on the subject, and his smile tugged at his lips again. "So quit looking at me like that and let it go."
Sirius nodded and though he still felt shitty, alcohol and determination allowed him to compartmentalise for the moment. "You, uh, you got some lipstick," He motioned at Jack's mouth. The last thing he wanted was to cause a break up to round off the night. That really would crown the night as a complete and total shit-fest.
Jack chuckled, wiping blindly at his mouth with a thumb. "Been a while since I had that problem." Steve just wasn't the type.
"Yeaaaah, if you want an explanation for all this," He motioned to the skirt and what was left of the make up, "Check out my twitter."
"Y'know, it never occurred to me that an explanation was needed," Jack told him with amused honesty.
"And that's what makes you awesome." Sirius told him with a firm nod.
"Alright, did I get it all?" Jack posed for Sirius to inspect him for lipstick.
"Good as new." He managed a smile but couldn't quite make it reach his eyes.
For his part, Jack pretended not to notice and kept up his cheerful demeanor.
"So I know I was just reminding you that you're human," he said, smile pulling at one side of his mouth, "but it occurs to me that you can take a break from that when you want to." And, more than that, maybe he'd like to. Not that it mattered to Jack if Sirius did or didn't want to be a dog at that precise moment, but if that would help him feel better, Jack would totally back it.
"Things can be simpler when I'm Padfoot." He admitted slightly tentatively, he might be kinky himself but it sounded a bit too much like the puppy or baby roleplay people for his liking when he admitted those things.
Jack just nodded, because that made sense to him. Dogs had pretty simple priorities.
"Some people find it weird when I shift on them," Sirius told him, the ones who had a problem tended to be ones he'd slept with. Alisha used to find it odd before admitting she found it comforting though non-mutants hearing he was an animal shifter had kicked a fuss. A particularly trashy tabloid had made snide remarks suggesting that it meant even in human form, sex with Sirius was bestiality. He was in the process of suing that trashy rag though.
"Did you...you know about earlier, right?" So far the people who knew were all giving him the same look, Jack hadn't.
"Security," Jack reminded him, pulling his Starkphone out of his pocket. "I get alerts whenever you famous types are in the news." Which meant that yes, he knew. He just didn't want Sirius to feel pitied or anything.
Sirius laughed a little there though it wasn't a proper laugh, not really. "You must get sick to death of me."
"The opposite, actually," Jack told him, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back with an easy grin. He could keep things normal. "Do you know how dull some of them are? I mean, I really don't need an alert every time Simon and Jean-Paul are spotted having dinner somewhere." Okay, so he thought it was funny actually, but still. "Now you, on the other hand, would never dream of boring me with something so mundane."
"Of course not, what would my audience think if I did something so low key and calm?" Sirius joked back
Jack snorted. "They'd probably think you were sick and call for an ambulance."
Sirius settled onto the sofa more comfortably. "Mmmm, true. Or that I've been midswapped. " Padfoot seemed like a very good idea now that Jack had suggested him.
"I almost look forward to those headlines," Jack chuckled.
"I'll make 'em good, just for you." Sirius promised before saying more seriously "If I shift, you'll look after me right? Never shifted after so much booze and running on empty, not sure how Padfoot's system'll cope."
"Yeah, of course," Jack replied, and couldn't help smirking. "But if you dog-barf on me, I'm putting you on one of those puppy shaming websites with a sign around your neck."
"James has already done a few of those," The most real smile so far came from that memory but the smile didn't last long. "Besides, thing it's the human that needs shaming for poor behaviour at the moment."
And with that he shifted in the big black dog, settling to lean against Jack as he swayed a little. Ultimately he ended up with his paws and much of the front of his body in Jack's lap, he wasn't lapdog size but Padfoot liked to snuggle, liked it a lot. He wasn't calm by any means yet as he let out a sad whine but it was easier to begin to feel calmer now that he was Padfoot again.
Now this was a totally acceptable way to have Sirius in his lap, and Jack let Padfoot settle in comfortably, stroking his neck. He couldn't distract Sirius like he had in the past, the way Sirius had been hoping tonight, but they were both physical creatures; Jack understood what this felt like.
So he settled in with a drunk dog on his lap and reached for the remote. Just another night at Xavier's.
Very nicely drunk from the vodka he'd split with Alice, and the follow up booze he'd drunk since she left him to it, Sirius was wandering the halls in the vague direction of the student kitchen. Possibly for food since he hadn't eaten since breakfast, possibly for something he could use as a mixer since he figured once Bigby was home he might be judged a bit for drinking the stuff straight. He wasn't sure though since when he wasn't a wolf Bigby wasn't the easiest guy to get a read off of.
Or he might going outside for a wander, shift and be Padfoot going through the woods maybe. See what trouble he could get into.
Coming into the kitchen he grinned as he saw who was already in there. Maybe he'd found trouble already.
Jack turned, taking a bite of his sandwich before realizing he had company. Convenient timing, he'd been planning to go check in on Sirius after his snack. After what had happened with his parents...
He smiled and raised his sandwich in greeting, giving the unusual outfit a once-over. "Well hello, gorgeous," he said, like things were totally normal. "What's the occasion?"
"Didn't you hear? Few hours and I hit the big one eight." Sirius grinned back widely, yeah the outfit was more of a big 'fuck you' in the general direction of the Blacks and England but it was also one he just felt fucking good in. Why not ring in his birthday in a sexy lil number?
"And here I thought it was just for me," Jack teased.
"Well, play your cards right," Sirius joked back. Well, mostly joked. He didn't honestly hit on taken people but, still, he was feeling kinda vulnerable after a hellish evening and a little ego pampering was in desperate need. And Jack was good at that. Good at many things, Sirius remembered.
"Looks like you've already been celebrating," Jack said, raising his eyebrows as he caught the smell of the booze. He didn't seem worried by it though, just teasing for more information, just like he would any other day.
"It's already my birthday back home." Sirius reasoned while flashing a too wide grin that looked almost nothing like his usual smile. "Alice helped me kick things off in style, gotta love that girl."
Jack's smile was warm. "That sounds just like her."
"Mmmmhmmm," He nodded back, starting to move forward so that they weren't talking from across the kitchen. Hand trailing over the work surface only slightly because he mistrusted his stability. "Wanna help me keep the party going?"
Well this felt familiar... last time Sirius had approached him like that, well, it'd certainly been memorable. And Sirius had been sober, and Jack was single. For now, though, he chalked it up to the alcohol he could smell. "You know I'd love to," he said with a wistful grin, "but they pay me to do things like keep the place safe and not get drunk with students."
"I don't see any alcohol in here." Sirius pointed out, and yeah maybe he had been looking for another drinking partner but if Jack wasn't gonna play ball, well he still didn't much want to be alone. "You too square to hang? I mean like you said, I'm a little bit pissed and could wander off anywhere into any danger. It's basically your job to make sure I don't right now, I reckon."
That made Jack smirk. "Reckon you're right about that. Safety first."
"Exactly. Safety in numbers." Was nodded uber-seriously which somehow just highlighted the non-sober status even more. "Soooo, Mr Chaperone, what do you feel like doing with the birthday boy?"
Jack raised his sandwich again. "Whatever you think - as long as it doesn't interfere with this important security business."
"Rec room." Sirius decided with a grin before taking Jack by the wrist to lead him there, as if the other boy didn't already know.
Well, Sirius wasn't holding his sandwich-hand, so Jack let himself be led. Sirius didn't seem to be carrying any booze, so the rec room was as good a place as any to sober up. And if in the process he decided he needed to talk about the shit that had gone down, well... Jack was good for that too.
They were soon flopping onto the sofa, well Sirius flopped and pulled Jack with him really and then settled there next to him. Considering it was a three seater he was possibly too close but sober Sirius could have a problem with personal space when there were no good reason to give space. Especially not with pretty people. So drunk Sirius really had no clue.
"Easy there, tiger," Jack laughed, holding the remains of his sandwich out of harm's way as Sirius settled, chocking up the closeness to the alcohol. Sure, Steve would probably be pissed if he saw this, but Jack wasn't worried. Sirius was most definitely having a bad day, there had to be some leeway for that.
"Mmmmm, I'm very easy." Sirius told him, eyes closed and voice relaxed. Half his face was hidden under straightened black hair as he leaned back into the sofa cushion.
"Don't I know it," Jack teased affectionately, reaching over to brush some of the hair out of Sirius's face. There was something nice about it, feeling comfortable enough in his own skin to be touch-y with a friend. It was how he'd always been, before the Facility. "So, exciting birthday plans?"
Lazily Sirius half nuzzled the hand in a very dog-like way. He'd just shifted, it wasn't his fault.
"No exciting per se, I'm doing things with the cast next week. I sort of, sort of forget my birthday so uh just gonna order mass amounts of take away, soft drinks and booze and anyone who wants to swing by can. Basically my room from after dinner til, well, whenever." He summed up, his eye half open as he watched the other boy. He felt comfortable around Jack, they might not hang out often but there was still a comfortableness there.
Polishing off his snack, Jack nodded with a shrug. "Sounds pretty ideal, really."
"Mmm feel free to drop by." Sirius offered with a nod.
"Think you can forgive me if I don't?" Jack couldn't help examining Sirius's lazy demeanor with a smile. "After all, I'm staff now. Wouldn't want to ruin it."
"And what a wonderful job of staffing you're doing right now with a trashed student." Sirius snickered back, still flopped and watching from half open eyes and doing his best not to slur. The rough affected accent had given way completely by now to his more natural and utterly posh one. "Or are you about to give me doubles and detention? Or a good old fashion caning?"
"Hey, watch yourself! I'm Security, not a hall monitor," Jack protested. "My job is to keep the students safe." He waved a hand in Sirius's general direction. "Look how safe you are right now. Mission accomplished." Then, with a wicked smirk, he added, "You'll have to get your discipline fix somewhere else."
"Spoil sport." Was pouted a little before he at least agreed "Well, I suppose I am very safe." And to underline the face, his head settled lightly on Jack's shoulder.
"Yup," Jack agreed, grinning in self-satisfaction. "All the same, I know you wouldn't want all that safety getting in the way of a good party," he reasoned. "Don't worry, I'll make it up to you sometime."
The Almost-Birthday-Boy's eyes opened fully at that. "How about now?" Fully opened but clouded over and unfocused from intoxication.
"Now?" Jack raised a curious eyebrow. He'd been contemplating finding a time to buy Sirius a birthday drink off-campus, somewhere he wasn't ostensibly an authority figure, and this line of thought didn't offer many 'now' options, but...
Sirius was currently fueled by alcohol logic which was possibly the only explanation as to why he did what he did next, breaking one of his major rules.
One fluid motion and he was in Jacks lap, all but straddling him, lips pressed to the other boy's and begging to get fucked good and hard, hand already going for his belt.
Suddenly all he could think about was how good Jack had once made him feel, completely out of his head, the alcohol with Alice hadn't blotted out all that shit the way he wanted but there was more than one way to get totally fucked until you reached oblivion.
Jack made a startled sound and blinked in surprise, but, to his credit (in his own mind, at least), didn't immediately jerk away from the kiss. ...this was partially because stopping the progression of Sirius's hand got first priority, but mostly because even through his surprise and objection, the last thing Jack wanted to do was add 'rejection' to the long list of reasons Sirius was hurting tonight.
That said, this had to stop.
With Sirius's hand under control, Jack brought his free hand up to - gently - interrupt the kiss, cupping Sirius's cheek even as he pushed him away. Just far enough that kissing wasn't an option anymore. "Whoa, slow down," he managed, scouring Sirius's face in confusion.
"Where did that come from?"
Sirius blinked slowly, eyes glaze and unfocused from vodka. "You wanna make it up, I wanna feel good." Two birds, one stone.
Jack knew that sentiment, and it wasn't like they hadn't been down that road - to great satisfaction - in the past, so it wasn't like Jack could even fault him for it. But that was before Steve.
Jack pursed his lips for a moment, looking for the right words to explain honestly. He didn't try and push Sirius off him, because nothing was going to happen, despite the compromising position (but if Steve walked in, he was pretty much a dead man. Again.).
"I can't," he settled on, honest and unapologetic. That said, he gave Sirius a wry smile. "You're drunk, I'm taken, this is the rec room... pick your reason, but I can't." And he wasn't even tempted, or sorry he couldn't; Sirius could pick a reason, but Jack's first and foremost was simply This isn't Steve. ...a sentiment he'd put aside to examine later (or never, possibly).
Sirius didn't even argue, his shoulders sagged a little and he still had that wild, half desperate look as he half whispered "I need to do something." But now, he couldn't even say what. He just felt like he had to do something, and yeah he usually went out and got fucked one way or another when he felt like this. He didn't know what else to do.
He slid back in his seat from before because the thing resounding in his head was I'm taken. Once of his biggest hook up rules (behind full, freely given consent) was that he didn't hit on people in relationships, if they came to him then clearly the relationship was broken but he never made the first move. Ever. Until now, apparently. Maybe he really was just another stupid slut. He could his his mother's words in his head immediately.
It was a sobering thought, not enough to make him actually sober but enough to bring a little clarity and a lot of guilt crashing down on him. For a moment it even blotted out his restless, desperate need for something.
"Sorry." He said, very quietly as he put more distance between him and Jack.
"Don't be," Jack said, tone getting a shade more sincere than he meant to let it. "I know the feeling."
Sirius blinked furiously. "I shouldn't have. I know, I..."
He sat very still for a moment, staring straight ahead, eventually he finished in a very different place from where he started. "I said I'd never let them break me. Sometimes I think they broke me a very long time ago and I hid it so well I even fooled myself into forgetting."
No point pretending he didn't know what Sirius was talking about. Jack sat forward, diminishing some of the excess space that Sirius had put between them. "Seems to me that they were trying to make you broken like them. In that sense, I'd say they failed pretty completely."
Sure, he was probably talking to the alcohol, but what else could he do?
"I will never be like them." Sirius said, voice still soft though suddenly vicious. "Never."
"Yeah," Jack couldn't help it, he smiled. Not because it was funny or because he didn't believe Sirius - because Sirius meant it to the core, and that was good. "I know."
Sirius wasn't smiling, slowly he looked back to Jack and said quietly "And I'm really sorry for being such a slut."
"Do I look bothered?" asked Jack, dismissing the apology with another smile. "I'm just sorry I couldn't assist."
Which was not quite what Sirius could understand in his current state, he was already in full 'beat self up mode' anyway as he
Jack sighed, and gave him a skeptical look. "You gonna try that again?"
"Try what?" He asked flatly.
Jack tried to suppress a smirk, to no avail. Well, for lack of a better phrase, "Jumping me."
"No, course not." And, thus proving many people wrong about his ability to feel the emotion, he looked completely ashamed with himself.
"Then we don't have a problem." When Sirius's expression didn't change, Jack huffed, resolving to take a more serious approach for a moment. "Look, one misstep on a shitty day doesn't make you a bad person. It makes you human. Alright?" And that was as much detail as Jack wanted to get into on the subject, and his smile tugged at his lips again. "So quit looking at me like that and let it go."
Sirius nodded and though he still felt shitty, alcohol and determination allowed him to compartmentalise for the moment. "You, uh, you got some lipstick," He motioned at Jack's mouth. The last thing he wanted was to cause a break up to round off the night. That really would crown the night as a complete and total shit-fest.
Jack chuckled, wiping blindly at his mouth with a thumb. "Been a while since I had that problem." Steve just wasn't the type.
"Yeaaaah, if you want an explanation for all this," He motioned to the skirt and what was left of the make up, "Check out my twitter."
"Y'know, it never occurred to me that an explanation was needed," Jack told him with amused honesty.
"And that's what makes you awesome." Sirius told him with a firm nod.
"Alright, did I get it all?" Jack posed for Sirius to inspect him for lipstick.
"Good as new." He managed a smile but couldn't quite make it reach his eyes.
For his part, Jack pretended not to notice and kept up his cheerful demeanor.
"So I know I was just reminding you that you're human," he said, smile pulling at one side of his mouth, "but it occurs to me that you can take a break from that when you want to." And, more than that, maybe he'd like to. Not that it mattered to Jack if Sirius did or didn't want to be a dog at that precise moment, but if that would help him feel better, Jack would totally back it.
"Things can be simpler when I'm Padfoot." He admitted slightly tentatively, he might be kinky himself but it sounded a bit too much like the puppy or baby roleplay people for his liking when he admitted those things.
Jack just nodded, because that made sense to him. Dogs had pretty simple priorities.
"Some people find it weird when I shift on them," Sirius told him, the ones who had a problem tended to be ones he'd slept with. Alisha used to find it odd before admitting she found it comforting though non-mutants hearing he was an animal shifter had kicked a fuss. A particularly trashy tabloid had made snide remarks suggesting that it meant even in human form, sex with Sirius was bestiality. He was in the process of suing that trashy rag though.
"Did you...you know about earlier, right?" So far the people who knew were all giving him the same look, Jack hadn't.
"Security," Jack reminded him, pulling his Starkphone out of his pocket. "I get alerts whenever you famous types are in the news." Which meant that yes, he knew. He just didn't want Sirius to feel pitied or anything.
Sirius laughed a little there though it wasn't a proper laugh, not really. "You must get sick to death of me."
"The opposite, actually," Jack told him, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back with an easy grin. He could keep things normal. "Do you know how dull some of them are? I mean, I really don't need an alert every time Simon and Jean-Paul are spotted having dinner somewhere." Okay, so he thought it was funny actually, but still. "Now you, on the other hand, would never dream of boring me with something so mundane."
"Of course not, what would my audience think if I did something so low key and calm?" Sirius joked back
Jack snorted. "They'd probably think you were sick and call for an ambulance."
Sirius settled onto the sofa more comfortably. "Mmmm, true. Or that I've been midswapped. " Padfoot seemed like a very good idea now that Jack had suggested him.
"I almost look forward to those headlines," Jack chuckled.
"I'll make 'em good, just for you." Sirius promised before saying more seriously "If I shift, you'll look after me right? Never shifted after so much booze and running on empty, not sure how Padfoot's system'll cope."
"Yeah, of course," Jack replied, and couldn't help smirking. "But if you dog-barf on me, I'm putting you on one of those puppy shaming websites with a sign around your neck."
"James has already done a few of those," The most real smile so far came from that memory but the smile didn't last long. "Besides, thing it's the human that needs shaming for poor behaviour at the moment."
And with that he shifted in the big black dog, settling to lean against Jack as he swayed a little. Ultimately he ended up with his paws and much of the front of his body in Jack's lap, he wasn't lapdog size but Padfoot liked to snuggle, liked it a lot. He wasn't calm by any means yet as he let out a sad whine but it was easier to begin to feel calmer now that he was Padfoot again.
Now this was a totally acceptable way to have Sirius in his lap, and Jack let Padfoot settle in comfortably, stroking his neck. He couldn't distract Sirius like he had in the past, the way Sirius had been hoping tonight, but they were both physical creatures; Jack understood what this felt like.
So he settled in with a drunk dog on his lap and reached for the remote. Just another night at Xavier's.
