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[grimsirius.livejournal.com]

Date: January 24
Status: Private, John, Sirius XD
Setting: A pub in Tadfield
Summary: Sirius learns a thing or two he could've done without knowing



Sirius was getting frustrated. It wasn't that he wasn't happy at Tadfield Manor, but in the past few months it had suddenly become a lot smaller. This was probably Remus' fault. Things had just been so awkward since that one harmless mistletoe kiss and those many, not so harmless, whatever the Hell happeneds on New Year's Eve. He missed his easy friendship with Remus, and all of the jokes and games that he was no longer allowed by some sort of unspoken rule. But Remus wasn't the only thing he missed.

Sirius had decided that the problems he'd been having were the result of sexual frustration. He hadn't had sex in longer than he could remember, and meanwhile he was sharing a bed with a not at all bad looking, gay, available friend-- problems were bound to arise. With this in mind, Sirius gathered some money and left the manor for the local pub. Frankly he was just hoping for some peace and quiet away from anyone who might know him, but he'd also be scanning the room for a potential fuck. He knew Tadfield was probably not the sort of place where he'd find many men willing to go for that sort of thing, although that was what he wanted right now and he was beginning to doubt whether he'd ever really wanted women at all.

He sighed, sat at the bar, and ordered a cheap whiskey, then glanced about to assess his chances.

Comments

[dangeroushabits.livejournal.com]

John occasionally liked to come out to the pub in Tadfield just for a change of scenery and a break from the usual (and of late, unusual) goings-on. It shouldn't come as a surprise that another Manor resident would be in the same habit.

He knew well enough the look of a bloke on the prowl, having been said bloke on numerous occasions, so in spite of the matter of the hexed mistletoe still to be addressed, he didn't immediately greet Sirius when he caught sight of him at the bar. He just took a seat a few stools down and ordering a g'n't. They didn't stock Glenlivet, and he'd been put off his beer by recent events.

If the stick-wielding ladies' man* was looking to score a real prize around this place, though, he was likely to be disappointed. Lower Tadfield boasted slim pickings unless you were looking for your basic wholesome-girl-next-door type to settle down and raise a crop of sprogs with.

---

*Well, that was the impression John had got, coming across him in a state of liplock with Pepper before Christmas.

[grimsirius.livejournal.com]

Sirius, meanwhile, was still scoping the place out when he noticed John sit at the bar. His first thought that the man was not at all bad looking-- a bit worn down, a bit rough-around-the-edges, but then again, so was Sirius. It was only after a few seconds that Sirius realised he also looked familiar.

"Evening," he said, nodding in John's direction. "I know you, don't I? From up at the manor?" He wasn't really interested in spending the night with anyone who might eventually run into Remus, but there weren't really any other prospects around so he might as well start a conversation, at least. "I don't think we've ever really been introduced, though."

He grinned. Their last meeting had been a bit awkward. It was J something, wasn't it? Not James, he'd have remembered that. "John?" he ventured.

[dangeroushabits.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, that's me." John smirked. "Never got your name, though. You were preoccupied with a redhead the first time I saw you and making off with a bottle of champagne the second."

[grimsirius.livejournal.com]

He grinned, although winced almost imperceptibly at the reference to New Year's.

"Sirius Black," he replied. "And sorry about all that. I think I might have startled the girl a bit."

[dangeroushabits.livejournal.com]

"John Constantine," John replied. "Yeah, well, she seemed to enjoy it. I got a bone to pick with you about that trick with the mistletoe, though..."

[grimsirius.livejournal.com]

"Nice to meet you, John. At least officially." He laughed. "I've got a bone to pick with me, too, over it, I'm afraid. But do tell me yours."

[dangeroushabits.livejournal.com]

"You ever been stuck in close quarters with a powerful supernatural being who's panicking because he's suddenly discovered his miracles are on the blink?" John chuckled, not really angry about it--nobody had been hurt and he and Crowley had managed not to be awkward about it afterward. Still, if two other hapless Manorites had been caught who weren't on such good terms, it might have turned out much differently.

[grimsirius.livejournal.com]

"Ooh, no, can't say I have," he replied, grinning. "But there were a few awkward moments with a mate of mine I could've done without." Well, actually, he had to admit he'd enjoyed kissing Remus, but he didn't enjoy all of the awkwardness that accompanied it.

"So, what's your story, then?" He glanced at the bar, but the bartender wasn't in ear shot. "The manor has better drinks by far, so I can only wonder what brings you down to this place."

[dangeroushabits.livejournal.com]

John shrugged. He'd been explaining himself altogether too much lately. It wasn't something he'd ever been particularly comfortable with. "Came up to the Manor to drop something off and stayed for the booze and the company, I reckon. You?"

[grimsirius.livejournal.com]

Sirius took a drink of the whiskey and looked somewhat wistful. "Needed to get away for a bit." He grinned, and there was something slightly suggestive in it. "Meet some new people. I don't know."

John seemed pretty solidly in the heterosexual camp at the moment, and he knew it would be a bad idea to pick up someone who might know Remus, but people could surprise you and John seemed like the kind of fellow who'd be discreet.

[dangeroushabits.livejournal.com]

"New people?" John snorted. "Well, what the fuck are you doing at Tadfield Manor then? Not many up there who count as new." He lowered his voice, glancing around to be sure nobody was too close. "Or people, strictly speaking...and you might just as well save that roguish grin for somebody else, mate. No offense. I fell off that fence a long time ago." Not that he wasn't vaguely flattered, but he'd kissed enough men males out of dire necessity in the past year to be pretty certain he was out of that game for good.

[grimsirius.livejournal.com]

Some people would be embarrassed at being shot down in such a way, but Sirius was a difficult man to embarrass. He laughed, and then shot John a slightly less roguish grin. "You caught me. Didn't mean anything by it, though. You know how it is. Or maybe you don't. I don't know everything that goes on up there, but I know enough to be a bit wary of exactly who I'm meeting, right?"

He paused and considered asking-- probably not the best idea, but at this stage he was beginning to get desperate. So he drained his glass, and then said "Look, you seem like you know what you're doing around here. You wouldn't happen to know anyone, would you? I'm not picky, just need someone who can keep his mouth shut and preferably won't kill me midway through."

[dangeroushabits.livejournal.com]

John's eyebrows shot up at that. "Heh...well. Climbing the walls, are we?" He wasn't sure, though, whether it reflected more on Sirius for asking such a question or on himself that a ready answer came to mind. "It's Roman you'll be wanting, though, I expect."

[grimsirius.livejournal.com]

Sirius smirked. "Roman, huh?" He hadn't heard of any such person yet, which was a good thing. "Tell me more."

[dangeroushabits.livejournal.com]

"Quiet sort. You've likely seen him. Brown hair, scarred up a bit, works the desk when Uriel's not around." John wondered if he ought to warn Sirius about the werewolf bit, but Roman had been around the Manor for months and months with no mishaps, so he likely knew his business. All of them. "Keeps a pretty low profile otherwise. I think I've talked to him maybe twice in more'n a year, but he, ah...works nights. Or did, a while back. I dunno about now."

[grimsirius.livejournal.com]

See, at first, Sirius was intrigued by this description. While it may not have been healthy that he was excited this Roman fellow sound like Re--

Oh.

Wow.

There was a momentary flare of protective anger in which he nearly demanded John explain what the hell he was trying to imply, but he stopped himself.

This Roman probably just looked a lot like Remus, and John had got them confused. After all, he'd never seen Remus bring anyone home, and it sounded like these were likely to be paying customers. Which was not the sort of thing Remus would ever go for. Right?

"Sorry. Look, I think you might be confused. The one who works at the desk is named Remus Lupin, not Roman."

And no, those two names were not similar whatsoever. Not at all.

But as much as he didn't want to believe Remus could really be...well, when you spent that much time around someone, ever someone as secretive as Remus could be, you got hints. Just little things he wouldn't ever have thought twice about except for how much sense they made if what he thought John was saying was actually true.

[dangeroushabits.livejournal.com]

John frowned slightly. "Well, Lupin was the last name he gave me..." He remembered that because it was such an ironic name for a werewolf. (And Remus? What the fuck had the guy's parents been thinking?)

Belatedly catching the timbre of Sirius' objection and connecting it with the fact that both he and Lupin were wizards of the stick-wielding variety, he winced inwardly. Damn, damn, damn. Must be a friend of his, and he didn't know. In fact, thinking back on that profoundly drunk conversation, hadn't Lupin said something about knowing a Sirius? He'd been so plastered and it had been so long ago...

The damage was done, though. He sighed. "No, it's definitely the same bloke. Christ. He was probably using an assumed name. Look, I'm sorry. I didn't know you knew him, and he never asked me to keep it secret." He rubbed at the back of his neck, uncomfortable, wishing he'd bothered to find out how the man had wound up in such a situation. "I gathered he was in pretty dire straights at the time..."

[grimsirius.livejournal.com]

Right.

Fuck.

Sirius watched his empty glass throughout John's description, as though willing it to be full again. He nodded as the man spoke, feeling as though he was going to be sick. He winced when John said Remus was probably in pretty dire straights-- that was his own fucking fault for listening when Remus told him he didn't need Sirius to leave him any money in his will-- and then final stood up, left a few coins on the bar to pay for the whiskey, and then walked over to where John was sitting.

"You didn't fuck him, did you?" he growled. Everything about John indicated that he probably knew a thing or two about fighting, but that didn't stop Sirius from doing his best menace.

It may not have been the most practical decision, to kill every one of Remus' clients, but it seemed like the most satisfying at the moment.

[dangeroushabits.livejournal.com]

John shook his head. "Nah. Told you, 's not my thing." Right. More than just a friend, then. Or wants to be, anyway. Slick, Constantine, real slick... "And before you ask, I dunno who else, either."

[grimsirius.livejournal.com]

It was almost too bad. He would have enjoyed an excuse to kill someone right about now.

Instead he nodded. "Right. I have to go. Nice meeting you, then."

With that, he turned and walked out, waiting until he passed the door to break into a run.

[dangeroushabits.livejournal.com]

John watched him go, and turned back to his drink with another sigh. Constantine bloody strikes again. I wonder what else (http://community.livejournal.com/outside_omens/14518.html) will go wrong today...