Hogwarts
School Healer
Creature Task Force - Registrar
|
| |
21 years old
Hufflepuff Alumnus
|
PLAYED BY OOC NAME
PLAYED BY Trish
|
Post by Mali Johar on Jun 20, 2017 7:27:58 GMT
This was how the trouble all started. Mali fought with Theo and sought comfort from someone else. When Theo found out about it he was naturally upset and the cycle was repeating itself. Remus was always a solid foundation that Mali could lean on in times of turbulence and he made her miserable feelings less intense. The void that fighting with Theo created wouldn't truly go away 'til they made up but the presence of a good friend made it more manageable. Remus could use the company too, romance wasn't going so well for him either. So Mali arrived armed with Chinese Takeout, the second ultimate comfort food (after pizza but somehow without Theo pineapple pizza just didn't taste as good.) and the pair distracted each other from their own personal problems.
Remus was easy to talk to about anything. There was no judgement or belittlement and he was so smart that Mali always felt like she was learning something new in their conversations. Since they abolished their lines months ago there was no hesitation to touch the werewolf and she cuddled right up beside him on the couch as she chatted away about everything under the sun. Mali talked about Hogwarts and nifflers, her plans to teach Remus how to knit when his hands were healed. She spoke of her anxiety over the fact that Aurors were posted around the hospital and thought that was a good place to stop talking. Neither of them needed to think about that. Remus would think about Gabriel and she would contend with the fear she felt for Theo and how it was a breaking point. When the conversation drew to a close, Mali rested her head on Remus' shoulder. "You're a good friend, you know? You've always been just what I needed." Tonight he was a distraction from the mess she'd made in her personal life. A warm and comfortable distraction, one that she was very fond of.
The witch was feeling very unsettled about things and of course Remus was easy to talk to about it. "Does it feel like we're going in circles? We have people and then we don't, but we're still left with each other. Maybe there's something more to this." Mali knew that she loved Theo and Remus but the love felt different. Was it because she met Theo first? Would she feel the same way about Remus if Theo was out of the picture totally and completely and how would he feel about her? Those questions ran wild in her head and they coupled with their comfortable closeness and grew. They grew so much that it suddenly felt irresistibly right.
Last time it was Remus taking the lead, maybe this time would be different. Something was urging her on and she didn't know if it was desperation to distract herself or spite towards Theo or actual genuine desire but whatever it was she had to act on it. Mali looked up to catch Remus' lips with her own in a kiss that was long and deep. It was pleasant but there was no heart flutter, no tingle, nothing to get lost in. Mali placed a hand on Remus' hip to turn him towards her and pull him closer so they could fall down the rabbit hole together. |
|
Hogwarts
Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor
Werewolf
Order of The Phoenix
|
| |
44 years old
Gryffindor Alumnus
Wandless Magic
|
PLAYED BY OOC NAME
PLAYED BY Mego
|
Post by Remus Lupin on Jun 21, 2017 4:27:07 GMT
Things with Gabriel had not gone at all like Remus wanted, like Remus needed, them to - and he found himself feeling utterly lost in the days afterward. Imagine that - lost in your own home. In your prison cell. Remus couldn't even go anywhere to get lost, to forget. He was stuck and stuck with all the terrible memories this house was starting to amass. He was spending most of his time on the couch he sat on now, actually, seeing as nothing too heartrending had happened there yet. Strange memories attached to that couch, to be sure - and in fact, to his current companion on said couch - but tonight, Remus didn't really mind the reminder so much. Whatever else had come after, he'd been undeniably happy in that moment - just like he was now, with Mali tucked against him.
This whole night was sort of a strange echo of that night, actually, and Remus wasn't trying too hard to ignore the similarities. He was feeling particularly lonely and sorry for himself, and then Mali was on his doorstep. Like she knew. Or like she was feeling the exact same thing. She was bearing food this time, food he gratefully devoured as it was so wonderfully different from the three or so things he could cook with his still healing hands. She brought conversation, too, and of course that particular brand of closeness and warmth he thought could really only come from someone like her.
The distraction was wholly welcomed. Mali's conversation provided a path, meandering but solid, for a lost man to latch on to - and her warmth, for a vulnerability there was no hope in hiding anyway. He needed that warmth and comfort as all that vulnerability bubbled to the surface at the word 'auror'. His face crumpled and Remus sank down into the cushions, closer to Mali. No. Thinking about Gabriel was physically painful and Remus had already worn himself out today with how much the man had been on his mind. He wasn't going to think about him anymore. Because, he thought, Gabriel probably wasn't thinking of him. Gabriel didn't seem to need Remus like Remus needed him.
Mali needed him. She said it, and Remus tilted his head slightly, looking down at her. He liked that. He liked feeling needed, and not useless and stuck and lost. He tapped his fingers idly against her knee. "Yeah. You don't know how happy I was to see you on my doorstep tonight." Because he needed her too, didn't he? For a lot of things, but Remus valued Mali highly for her openness. He needed her to say the things they were both thinking. Remus nodded as she spoke. "No matter how hard we might try, we just can't get away from each other." He was half-joking, a light smile playing across his lips. But it was true, too. Remus' heart started to race as he thought back on just how many times it had been Mali, just Mali, as one of the only friendly faces he could stand and who could stand him. She looked up at him now, and he managed to murmur out, "Always ends up just us," before she was kissing him.
Remus was surprised, but not enough to stop him from kissing her back. It was comfortable and warm, just like everything else about Mali, and also open. Vulnerable. Remus was lost again but he wasn't sure he minded so much; this disorientation was pleasant and dizzy, not sad and certainly not empty. The soft angles of Mali's face felt nice against his tender palms.
Things took a turn. Mali was pulling him closer and closer and Remus was going, setting them both down on a path that was very difficult for even the most virtuous of people to turn back from. It was dark and passionate and so very linear; Remus realized with a jolt that he much preferred the dizzy disorientation they were hastily departing from. He liked it mainly for its familiarity, and even more for its fleetingness. It felt more like a distraction rather than a decision. Remus pulled back, first his face and then he leaned his entire body away, lowering his hands. "Mali." He blinked at her. "That was...do you really want to...should we be doing this? I mean...ah, I don't know. Merlin's beard. My head's spinning." Remus pinched the bridge of his nose and shut his eyes for a moment.
|
|
Hogwarts
School Healer
Creature Task Force - Registrar
|
| |
21 years old
Hufflepuff Alumnus
|
PLAYED BY OOC NAME
PLAYED BY Trish
|
Post by Mali Johar on Jun 21, 2017 8:44:16 GMT
The way Remus' face fell when she brought up aurors sealed the deal. They needn't discuss that, it wasn't good for either of them. The fact that they needed aurors in the hospital made her sick with worry for Theo but it didn't feel like she was allowed to be worried about him. They were fighting and like everything else the pair of them did... it was intense. You couldn't love intensely without fighting intensely, too. They either put their whole selves into everything they did or they put nothing, that's why they worked so well. It was a double edged sword that was cutting her deeply now.
"Actually, I think I do." Mali teased as she watched his fingers against her knee. "You were always showing up for me when I was the one stuck at home. You were usually the highlight of my day. Sometimes my entire week." The times where he was the highlight of the week usually had something to do with Theo. Remus, who was Mister Lupin back then, snuck her away to see Theo and those were the happiest nights but that was an unneeded detail. Mali would do the same for Remus if he weren't fighting with his boyfriend (she might have still done it to try and force them back together if there wasn't a chance of Gabriel arresting them both on the spot. Dumb auror.) "You know, up 'til all that rubbish happened I'd never done so much as littered in my entire life and now breaking the law is sort've fun. There's a little bit of thrill behind illegal wolfsbane."
Mali was happy to see a smile on Remus' face. He didn't do it nearly enough these days and surprisingly things like frowns and scowls mixed poorly with his features. Remus needed the smile to soften the scars on the face and to look every bit of the gentle, kind man that she liked so much. Mali couldn't say what exactly drove her to kiss those lips but the impulse was too strong not to resist. Remus kissed her back. His hands didn't feel so broken and crippled against her skin, they felt strong and steady and for a brief moment she could forget the terrible times they were in. The kiss wasn't the same pulse pounding experience as it was when it was Theo's hands and lips but it was enjoyable, something to occupy her headspace for awhile. Mali's hand left Remus' hip in favor of his back, fingers tracing along the raised edges of the scars through his shirt. Some of those scars she'd healed herself.
The pressure of Remus' lips against hers was enjoyable and distracting and then it was gone. The werewolf pulled a way and the witch's heart latched onto the perceived rejection and then crumpled around it. Her shoulders dropped and she folded her arms. "Why not?" Mali's voice was low and quivering, she was such a fragile little thing. "You said it yourself. It's always just us. What if we've been wrong? What if this is how it's supposed to be? You've been here for me and I've been there for you and what if this is it?" It could work if they didn't think about it too much but both of them were prone to overthinking. Mali took Remus' face in her hands to pull him back to her, to smother out the overthought with lips and physicality. She kissed him again but it felt empty and wrong. Remus was a very dear friend, he wasn't a replacement and to try and make him into one was an insult to both of the important men in her life.
Mali kissed Remus through the tears that were sliding down her cheeks. There was a painful throb through the hollowness in her chest and the tears tasted salty so she broke the kiss but couldn't move away. This, whatever it was, may be wrong but she still needed Remus tonight. "You're not Theo." Mali half sobbed as she broke into pieces. "You're not Theo and you can't replace him. I can't be Gabriel for you. What have we done? How did we let this happen?" Not the kissing, that was very minor in comparison. How could they screw up and hurt such important people in their lives? "I need Theo and you can't be him."
|
|
Hogwarts
Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor
Werewolf
Order of The Phoenix
|
| |
44 years old
Gryffindor Alumnus
Wandless Magic
|
PLAYED BY OOC NAME
PLAYED BY Mego
|
Post by Remus Lupin on Jul 10, 2017 2:37:30 GMT
"Gods, you really didn't have anything to look forward to then, did you?" He teased. Highlight of her day, pshaw...he could only tease her because he knew exactly what she meant, though. House arrest, what a terrible thing to bond over. "This is the most content I've felt since I got home, I think," he commented, looking at his hands. All of his usual pains - from his hands, stress over his children, anxiety over Gabriel, what on Earth he was going to do next - all of it seemed to melt away into Mali's warmth, their distracting conversation, the way she just seemed to get him without his having to explain. That was so precious to Remus, something he needed so badly that he allowed himself to be taken up fully by it.
"So you're saying I'm a bad influence," he teased her again, because teasing Mali was a joy in and of itself. No matter if she'd had changed, into a law-breaking, illegal potion brewing delinquent - she had a lightness to her that could never be smothered. Quite addicting, that light, especially if one's been tucked away in a dark house prison all day. Not all that innocent of a light, either. They each clearly had some sort of influence on the other - bad or not - because rather suddenly, Remus and Mali found themselves kissing on his couch.
Remus, a fool either way, had to stop. He was strangely enjoying this far too much and not enjoying it for some reason he couldn't quite name. It was certainly a pleasant kiss, warm and familiar, but something was kicking around behind his teeth that tasted bitter. The way Mali crumpled when he stopped kissing her didn't much inspire him to start up again, either. Oh, no. This was wrong. He knew it was wrong - she knew it, too. They had to know it. Remus shook his head at Mali's words but then she had her hands on his face and his head spun again, his skin unable to reconcile how a touch that felt so warm and comfortable could also be wrong. "Does it feel right to you?" His question barely made a sound, much less a conviction. Then he was kissing Mali again.
Remus felt wetness on his face and he opened his eyes in surprise. Mali broke their kiss but she was still right there, and up this close Remus could see the tears brimming before they spilled down her face. He reached up to wipe clumsily at them with his stiff and awkward hands, more gentle than was really effective so he wouldn't poke her in the eye. He shook his head. No, he wasn't Theo. He wasn't the love that Mali was so badly emptied of right now. She'd told him, once, that she loved him too but that it was different. "I'll never be him. Ever." He said it like he was apologizing. Remus pushed back a little so his face wasn't hovering right over Mali's, but he nudged at her hands until he could lay both of his palms in hers. His mouth spread into a thin line, his whole face going tight, when she mentioned Gabriel. He started shaking his head again. She was asking questions he didn't know how to answer - that was his whole bloody problem in the first place, and apparently it was Mali's, too. Bad luck with love, yet another terrible thing to bond over. "I don't know what to do, Mali. For you. For me. I have no bloody idea."
|
|
