Ministry of Magic
PLAYED BY OOC NAME
PLAYED BY Trish
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Post by Gabriel Bishop on Feb 15, 2017 7:54:42 GMT
Valentines Day wasn't exactly Gabriel's favorite day of the year. He was all for romance but some couples seemed to delight in putting their gushy, over sweetened love on display for everyone to see... Like they had something to prove. They wore it like a badge or some sort of first place prize. Because of his lack of meaningful relationship, he didn't have to spend his hard earned money on things like overpriced chocolates or wilting flowers. He got to spend his money on booze! And that was exactly what he was doing, so who was the real winner of the first place prize? The auror had spent the night with a Mister Remus Lupin, tucked away in one of the back booths at The Leaky Cauldron, drinking the evening away. He'd written the man after work to see if he wanted to meet for a drink. As much as Gabe didn't care for the holiday, he figured it would be even more uncomfortable for the recent widower. Aside from that, Remus was good company. He was very witty and intelligent, two traits he admired in a person. The conversation was always engaging and left him looking forward to the next one when the current one ended. Perhaps it was partly because Remus was the closest thing he had to a friend in his new home and Gabriel needed people, or maybe there was something more too it. He never thought too hard on the matter, being fairly adjusted to his bachelorhood. Happiness sort've lingered in the air whenever he was around Remus and tonight was no different. The pub had mostly escaped the holiday unscathed, save for a few hastily placed paper hearts and bowls of conversation hearts placed on the tables. Gabriel was mindlessly eating them as he spoke. "Can you believe..." he started, a boyish smile playing across his lips. "I've not had these things in years? I don't even really like them. They taste like chalk." Despite not liking them, he kept on eating them. He reached for another at the same time as Remus did, their hands brushing just enough to give Gabriel a smallest of pleasant tingles. He plucked a blue one from the bowl and read the faded message that was imprinted on the candy. " 'Be Mine'." While not necessarily drunk, he was several drinks into the night and his inhibitions had been loosened just enough to silence the part of his brain that would have shut down the next thing out of his mouth. "So what do you say, Remus?" he asked with a toothy grin and a laugh as he jokingly offered out the candy heart. "Be my valentine tonight? Or for what's left of it?" |
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Hogwarts
Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor
Werewolf
Order of The Phoenix
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44 years old
Gryffindor Alumnus
Wandless Magic
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PLAYED BY OOC NAME
PLAYED BY Mego
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Post by Remus Lupin on Feb 16, 2017 0:48:01 GMT
Remus went through most of his workday without even realizing it was Valentine's Day. Yep. The Hogwarts kids were a little more volatile than usual, sure, but sometimes they got volatile over things like the toast being a slightly darker shade of toasted at breakfast. Remus didn't pay much mind to it. As for the decorations scattered around the castle, the paper hearts and flowers and one valiant attempt at a flock of magical origami birds missing most of their wings... ...Well, as for those, Remus might have been ignoring those. He might have actually realized it was Valentine's Day about halfway through breakfast and chosen right then to turn his brain off for the day for anything that wasn't the Dark Arts or the defense against them. It worked, mostly. This was the exact reason Remus liked to keep so busy, to work and work and work, because it allowed him shelter from reality for a little while. Just like when he was young, reading novels and trying to hide in them. Young Remus would have read three books at a time if he'd had the hands and eyes for it. Those novels, though; they ended up ruining Remus, in a way. Timeless ancient love story on top of strangely romantic Gothic love story on top of Victorian love story (account? precise manual?); while the kid was trying to escape the messiness of real life, he was inadvertently molding himself into the messiest of adults - the romantic. Remus was an utter romantic. He hid it well, underneath all the other things people considered him. Underneath all the work he did. It made him feel silly, honestly, enjoying things like Valentine's Day. And it made him feel even sillier, the hollow feeling he got in his gut that morning halfway through breakfast when he realized what day it was. He didn't expect a few paper hearts and an ugly baby with wings to make him feel so empty. He ignored the feeling the best he could and hurried home when the day was through - even though he knew his house would be empty, too. The twins' grandmother hadn't forgotten it was Valentine's Day, apparently, as it dawned on him why she had requested having them over for a sleepover on this particular day earlier in the week. Remus didn't understand the woman's game plan, exactly. Did she want him to be alone, so he could wallow in peace? Or was she expecting him to go out and pick up a hot date? Remus honestly couldn't choose which of the two offended him more. Remus was thoroughly nestled into his armchair with a cup of tea and a favorite old novel when an owl came swooping to the window. It was an invitation from Gabriel, the pleasant Auror he'd shown around a couple weeks ago, to go out for another drink. On Valentine's Day. Remus had no work to distract him now and the old novel in his hand wasn't doing its job like it used to. So, before he got to thinking way too hard about wherever it was his mind was going, Remus got up and popped off to the Leaky Cauldron. Alcohol kind of helped in the same way as books and grading papers did. It was distracting in a different way. Remus found himself not particularly caring which way his mind wandered now - from griping about the holiday at hand, to his gaze unashamedly lingering on Gabriel's totally captivating smile. "They look like chalk," Remus poked cautiously at the bowl of hearts before his attention was inevitably drawn back up. "I'm telling you, Honeyduke's. We have to go, if you haven't been. You'll never find yourself more satisfied; no chalk in sight." In the interest of putting himself out there and trying new things, Remus dove bravely into the bowl to grab a candy hart (maybe just to reaffirm himself that no one really ever would get any better than Honeyduke's). Right at the same time Gabriel chose to do the same thing, and their hands bumped together, adding additional color to Remus' already alcohol-tinged cheeks. Filling him up. Like that smile on the man across from him - it was positively infectious. Remus tilted his head as Gabriel read his heart out loud, grinning as he offered to 'Be Mine' for the night. Remus' head was swimming and it wasn't all booze, he recognized that, but the booze definitely told him not to worry about it. Remus' hand went back to the bowl and fished around until he found a suitable response. He exchanged his orange heart, reading, " 'Sure Thing'," before popping the blue one into his mouth. "Mm. Chalk," he grimaced, gaze falling back into the bowl of what he was no longer certain could be classified as candy. He picked up another heart, one he'd shifted from the bottom of the bowl, and stared at it with a frown before laughing and adding it to the orange heart. "Here, this one too. I don't even know what it says." Pink, and reading 'QT π' in faded red letters. |
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Ministry of Magic
PLAYED BY OOC NAME
PLAYED BY Trish
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Post by Gabriel Bishop on Feb 17, 2017 6:44:49 GMT
Just like that, Gabriel got himself a Valentine. He would never really imagine himself with someone like Lupin, he was very different from the usual pretty young thing he had hanging off his arm but the young auror was just as enamored by his companion. Remus was easy to talk to, he'd been doing it for hours and it felt like the night had only started. The conversation just flowed easily and it was always interesting. He was a battle hardened veteran and yet, he could recommend a candy shop that was free of chalk-like treats. He was hard and soft, all at once.
The blonde turned the orange chalk heart over in his fingers, contemplating if it was the alcohol or the company that made him feel warm from the inside out. Sure Thing, two silly words. He grinned again as Remus grimaced, snickering. "Told you. Age never listens to beauty, they've got to learn things the hard way." He was gifted with another terrible heart, one that turned his cheeks just slightly red. "Um.." How to explain it? And why was wizarding pub putting out non magical candies? That was the real question. "This, you see this symbol? It's sort've like a No Maj or what do you call them here? Muckles? Like a muckle rune, it represents a number called 'pi' so if you say it out loud..." he trailed off, allowing Remus to work it out for himself.
And then the auror popped both candies into his mouth, grimacing just as Lupin had done. They were terrible, but it was fun. In a way they were mocking the ridiculousness of the holiday while distracting themselves from it. "You gave me two, I owe you one." He reached into the bowl and rooted around for another, plucking out a green one that read 'Kiss Me'. He took a long sip from his glass and then shrugged, placing the heart on the table and sliding it towards the older man. "The conversation heart has spoken."
Gabriel leaned over to Remus, cupping his face in one hand. Originally he meant to place a brief kiss on Remus' cheek but something made him change his mind and he went for his mouth. At the last split second, Gabe lost his nerve and the kiss landed at the very corner of his lips. It lasted just a bit longer than a peck and then it was over and the auror relaxed back into his seat. He propped his chin up in his palm, expression casual but heart racing nervously as he waited for the reaction. The kiss had just enough heat and pleasant tingles and it dawned on Gabriel that there was no one he'd rather eat chalk with.
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Hogwarts
Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor
Werewolf
Order of The Phoenix
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44 years old
Gryffindor Alumnus
Wandless Magic
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PLAYED BY OOC NAME
PLAYED BY Mego
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Post by Remus Lupin on Feb 18, 2017 21:59:40 GMT
Gabriel's laugh was just about as thrilling as his smile, Remus noticed as he worked hard at continuing to elicit both from the man for as long as possible. They were both made from a kind of light that Remus found too easy to drink down even faster than what previously occupied the now-empty glass in front of him. "Age thinks beauty should learn to better respect age's wisdom," he teased back. That one was on purpose, calling Gabriel beauty, disguised beneath oh so clever wordplay. No shame in wordplay. Calling Gabriel a cutie pie, however, was not so much on purpose as it was innocent ignorance - though Remus did like the color it added to the man's cheeks, even if his own face was turning to match.
"Muggle," he corrected gently, to hide his own minor embarrassment; and he chuckled, too, to try and cover up how genuinely adorable he found Gabriel's mistake. "I'm really starting to like No Maj, though. And cutie pie, that's...cute." There was a distracting warmth spreading through Remus' chest and he was trying to be subtle about it, but the alcohol in his system (and no, that was not the source of the warmth, he knew the difference intricately) was disagreeing with that resolution entirely. Why be subtle? It was Valentine's Day, for Merlin's sake, subtlety was no way to treat one's Valentine.
Remus leaned on his elbow and watched Gabriel, increasingly unable and even more unashamed to just stare. "It's only fair," he agreed with a grin, wondering what the hearts could possibly have in store for them next.
Remus found himself more than happy to tear his gaze away from Gabriel to see what the next proffered heart would say. The words gave him a thrill and they also gave him tunnel vision - when he looked back up, Gabriel was right there, hand on his face and mouth just about there. Remus expected nothing and wanted everything. He recognized his attraction to Gabriel for what it was and had previously just left it at that. He was done making the first move for a while, and honestly, did not expect a person like Gabriel to reciprocate said feelings anyway.
But didn't he? Just a little bit? Expect it, that is. Gabriel wouldn't invite him out, wouldn't do this, if there wasn't something behind it. Maybe that something was just the fact that is was Valentine's Day and he was feeling as lonely as Remus, maybe it was something more, either way Remus savored every brief millisecond that Gabriel's lips touched the corner of his own. To store as a single precious memory or to ponder in preparation for the next - Remus supposed that was up to him.
Gabriel backed away, watching Remus as fiercely as Remus had been watching him but looking so much more casual about it. "You know how to treat your Valentine." That was stupid. Remus ducked his head, blushing, and looked back into the bowl of candy. There was another one, sitting right on top, 'Kiss Me' printed on pink this time. Remus pushed it around the bowl with his finger before sliding it out and sitting it next to the green one. "One more? A...proper one, for Valentine's Day." He was still too nervous to move.
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Ministry of Magic
PLAYED BY OOC NAME
PLAYED BY Trish
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Post by Gabriel Bishop on Feb 19, 2017 21:55:34 GMT
"Maybe Beauty does respect Age's wisdom." the Auror mused, sifting through the bowl of conversation hearts in search of one to eat. "but pretends not to because he likes to hear Age talk." The openness and honesty of what he'd said drew his gaze to the bowl, where he fished out a yellow heart who's message was faded and illegible. "How old are these exactly?" Did candy expire? Chalky conversation hearts were likely to survive a nuclear holocaust, he supposed. When the dust cleared they would be left with nothing but unappetizing candies and cockroaches. Gabe shrugged and popped that one in his mouth too.
Muggle, huh. The color splashed across his cheeks darkened just one shade. He would never fit in if he couldn't remember the proper names, but they were so ridiculous. The word 'muggle' was pure nonsense. At least No-Maj made sense, no magic. Leave it to the Americans to be practical while the Brits were...fanciful. Muggles and tea and 'biscuits' that were really cookies. Gabriel wasn't someone who liked to make mistakes, either but Remus made it easy to forget. He nodded along with the older's man opinion on 'cutie pie' "Takes a cutie pie to know one." He played it off with a wink but grimaced internally at the line. It was worse than the candy.
In the interest of fairness, Gabriel had picked Remus out the best of the worst candy. A heart that declared 'Kiss Me'. There was a funny twinge in his chest, something he'd felt before but never so intensely and never so unexplainably. Remus had a charm to him that he couldn't quite put his finger on. He had many likeable qualities, but so did a lot of people. There was just something about the combination of them that drew Gabriel in, caught his attention (and though he'd deny it for the time being, his heart.) Here was a man who had every right not to speak to him, and he was kind and welcoming. He even took the time to show him around to help him get settled.
The kiss was relatively chaste, especially for him. It was nice, there was a spark but it didn't feel like enough. He laughed when Remus tried to break the tension with a witty comment, although the older man seemed to regret it. His cheeks were an attractive shade of red, and the bashfulness was charming. Merlin was smiling down on them, it seemed, because the next heart was a repeat of the first. They were granted a do over, a chance to do it right. Remus wasn't making his move, though. He watched the older man, his blue eyed gaze intense as he contemplated the meaning behind the man's hesitation.
Beauty slipped an arm around Age's waist to urge him in and close the distance between them. The warmth of the man's body next to his was beyond pleasant and Remus fit perfectly in his arm, like he was meant to be there. Gabriel leaned in but he hesitated again, his lips hovering just above Remus'. This was alright, wasn't it? They were just playing around on Valentine's Day. Maybe it was his own need, but he would swear on his wand that there was desire in the man's eyes.
Gabriel closed his own as their lips finally met. He lost himself in that kiss, relishing the pressure and softness of Remus' lips against his own. Surprising softness, for someone so rough around the edges. It could have lasted all night, if he didn't need air. The lack of oxygen was a very abrupt reminder of where they were and who they were and very reluctantly, the kiss broke. Gabriel peeled himself away slowly, his arm lingering around Remus' waist for a beat longer before he slid back in his booth.
An awkwardness settled in, he surprised himself with the enthusiasm behind the kiss. It went from innocent joking about tasteless candy to something more passionate. Gabriel was never one to be caught wordless and took on a cocky half grin. "Was that more to your satisfaction?" If they could joke about it then it was still all in good fun, right?
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Hogwarts
Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor
Werewolf
Order of The Phoenix
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44 years old
Gryffindor Alumnus
Wandless Magic
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PLAYED BY OOC NAME
PLAYED BY Mego
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Post by Remus Lupin on Mar 28, 2017 5:08:23 GMT
Ugh. It was really, very exceptionally difficult to just accept his feelings at face value - and not catch them with two wide-open and all-too-willing hands - when Gabriel said things like that. He liked to hear Remus talk. Even if the Auror was completely joking, that was exactly the sort of thing that put Remus all in a tizzy. Because Remus loved to talk. Especially to someone like Gabriel. Someone who could understand and who could listen. "Oh, you've no idea what you're getting yourself into, saying things like that." Remus was grinning, but very hesitantly testing something different in his voice, an edge of something not entirely innocent. It thrilled him and made him nervous; and maybe a little queasy. He flicked his gaze up as Gabriel spoke again, glad for the conversation hearts. They were just as good for carrying the conversation as they were for starting one. "I don't think I want to know," Remus shook his head and laughed when Gabriel ate the heart anyway.
Gabriel did a lot of other infuriatingly attractive things, too - like his cute ruddy cheeks and cheesy jokes. Remus noticed them one at a time, a new pleasure every time he saw the man - and now they were all coming in a for a bloody visit tonight. It was excruciating and delightful all at once. And by gods, the winks. Remus' breath caught in his throat when the man winked at him and he had to duck his head for another refresher from the conversation hearts. Only, of course, to see Gabriel's 'Kiss Me' heart. Blast all the subtlety in the world.
Remus didn't have to hesitate now, didn't have to test the waters. Their first kiss was nothing more than a placeholder as far as he was concerned - do that again, and again, right here. He was so sure he could see it in Gabriel's eyes when he suggested exactly that, a repeat. He was drunk, or sugar high, or probably something else, but he was so sure. His hesitation came from a different place then. He didn't question if Gabriel wanted to be there; he questioned how exactly he could keep Gabriel there. And again, Gabriel answered him brilliantly, all of him right there as he slipped an arm around Remus' waist and didn't aim for just the corner of Remus' mouth this time. He didn't stay forever like Remus so wanted in that moment, but he stayed for a pretty good long while.
They did have to breathe, eventually. Remus was thoroughly wrapped up in Gabriel right now, but oxygen was still pretty important if he planned to have anymore of that later. The space left between them settled as elegantly as a brick. Remus blinked away the haze around his mind and there Gabriel sat, grinning across at him just like he had been a minute ago. What was that? What in Merlin's name just happened between them? Remus grinned back, of course, running a hand through his hair and letting out a slow breath. He nodded at Gabriel, but yet again, had to duck his head back into the bowl of candy hearts. Looking at Gabriel right now was kind of like looking at the sun. "Are we sure these aren't laced?" He poked in the bowl. His own joke, because it felt like that's what they had to do, after that.
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