Author's Note: This is a little piece based on "Travelling Solider" by the Dixie Chicks, one of my favourites of all time. This will eventually be multiple chapters. I hope you enjoy.
"... Elvis Presley has been drafted into the United States Army Corps and will be deployed as Sergeant in March. All the world's eyes will be on the King as he valiantly fights for - "
Remus scoffed and reached over to the tiny television on the counter and turned the metal knob to change the channel. He leaned back against the bar after much clicking, settling on what appeared to be the final moments of American Bandstand. If there was one thing he was sick of hearing about - it was the damned war. And if he wasn't sick of the damned war - it was Elvis Presley.
It had been a quiet night at the Silver Spoon diner. The already tiny town was shrinking day by day as sons, boyfriends, brothers, and fathers were called away to serve their country. He chewed the inside of his cheek as he watched a group of girls in the corner booth pass letters between them, exchanging messages from the front and from base camp. He wiped his hands surreptitiously on his apron as they turned to look at him. One girl narrowed her eyes at him and he glanced quickly away.
"Are you going to fill our drinks or are you just going to stand around and take up space?" she hollered at him.
Remus inhaled deeply, held it for a moment, and then let it out. He grabbed a tray from behind the counter and walked over to the group to gather their empty milkshake glasses.
"Now here's service." said one girl, her black hair pulled tightly away from her face in a high ponytail tied with a red ribbon.
"Ah, but he isn't in service, is he?" said the blonde, an eyebrow raised.
Remus grit his teeth.
"I'm sure the Silver Spoon needs him more than our country does." she said, her twittering laugh grating into him like nails on a chalkboard.
"Milkshakes, ladies?" Remus asked the blonde through gritted teeth. "You've got about ten minutes to close."
Almost as if on cue, he heard the door chimes rattling signalling someone else was coming in. This wasn't going to be his night.
"A round for the table." the blonde girl said, looking him up and down as if he were nothing more than dirt on the toe of her patent leather pump.
"Happy to oblige." Remus muttered, gathering the foamy glasses from the table and carrying them quickly away.
Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the person who had just come in. His face was in shadow, but he could tell straight away that he was dressed in his army fatigues. He could also tell straight away that the girls had noticed and that this stranger may buy him some time. Quickly, he began pouring ice cream and milk into metal shakers, the whole time watching the lonely figure in the corner. As he walked by with the tray of milkshakes, the diner's failing flourescent flicker cast a ghostly light across the newcomer's table and caught the metal name tag on his coat - Private S. Black. Private S. Black didn't even notice him walk by. Judging from the length of his hair and beard and the enormous forest green duffel across from him, tonight was his last night in town before deploying. He had seen enough new recruits come through here to know.
"Ladies and gentlemen, this has been American Bandstand. I'm your host, Dick Clark. Thank you for joining us!" the television echoed as he set the tray down at the girls' table.
"Coward." Remus heard the dark-haired girl mutter as he turned to leave.
Taking a deep breath, he continued walking all the way to the back corner.
"Can I take your order?" Remus asked Private S. Black, who hadn't stopped staring out the window until he spoke.
"Oh." Private S. Black said almost as if he were surprised he was even in a diner at all. "Um, tea, please?"
"Tea?" Remus asked. "Uhh, you've come to the wrong place. We've got coffee and we've got milkshakes. Oh, and maybe a lemonade if I can dig one out."
"Would you?" he asked, perking up immediately. "I'd like that."
Remus was about to object, looking up at the clock and realizing it was already five minutes to close, but this was probably this man's last night in town and he didn't look a day over eighteen. He could spare a lemonade even if he did have to go into the back storage closet for it.
"Coming up." Remus said.
He made his way to the back and dug for a solid three minutes before coming back out covered in dust with cobwebs in his hair. The bottle of lemonade may be about a year old, but it was sealed and didn't look too suspect. When he came back out, he saw the girls were putting their coats on to leave. He quickly swung by Private S. Black's table and dropped off the lemonade and a bottle opener before going to collect the girls' cheques.
"That's 5.00$ even for the table." Remus said, placing a cheque in front of each girl and waiting patiently.
The dark-haired girl put a fiver on the table before turning to him. "And here's your tip, coward."
She handed him a white feather wrapped with a tiny white ribbon. Remus' blood just about boiled as they walked out of the diner, giggling madly amongst themselves about their little joke. In a blind rage, Remus locked the door behind them and threw the feather in the trash. A coward's feather. He had never been so embarrassed in all his life. He glanced over at the Private in the corner and sighed. He didn't seem to have noticed, thank the Lord.
"Are you closing?" the Private called over to him, snapping him out of his moment of shame.
Remus looked up, wiped his hands on his apron and swallowed his pride. He walked over to the Private, face still beet red.
"Yes." Remus choked out. "Lemonade's on the house. They won't notice it's gone."
"Oh, thanks…" the Private said, his brow furrowing. "Listen… I know this sounds weird, but… Would you mind sitting down for a while and talking to me? I'm feeling a little low."
Remus chewed the inside of his cheek, his mind still racing from before. The last thing he wanted was to go home, but he didn't want to stay here either.
"I'm off in fifteen minutes and I know where we can go." Remus said. "Just let me finish closing up. You enjoy your lemonade, I'll be back."
The Private nodded, his long black hair falling slightly into his face as he did. Remus smiled.
He counted the cash, cleaned the counters, sorted out the cutlery for the next morning, and polished the mirror over the bar. The whole time, the Private sat there staring out the window, a hand propped under his chin for support. Who was he? Remus wondered. He hadn't seen him around town and he had lived here all his life.
"Ready to go?" Remus asked, swinging his houndstooth cardigan over his shoulders.
"Ready." the Private said, getting to his feet and swinging his duffel bag up and under his arm.
Remus and the Private stepped out into the gathering dusk, the memory of the girls quickly fading from his mind as he slid the key into the lock and twisted.
"There's a place I go sometimes. Just to think." Remus said. "I… I haven't taken anyone there before. Not that it's a big secret, but it's a nice place to go when you're… feeling low."
"Thanks." the Private said. "My name is Sirius, by the way."
"Like the constellation?" Remus asked, tucking his hands into his pocket as he fell in step with Private Sirius.
"Like the constellation." Sirius said. "This is usually the part where you tell me your name."
Remus chuckled, feeling his cheeks flushing. "Oh, sorry. My name's Remus."
"Like the founder of Rome?" Sirius laughed.
"Like one of the founders of Rome." Remus corrected him with a cheeky grin.
They continued on in much the same way, friendly banter flowing between them easily. Remus wasn't used to getting along with people. Especially not tall, dark strangers in army fatigues. He didn't ask Sirius anything about who he was, where he was from, or where he was going. He figured he'd let that happen on Sirius' terms.
They eventually turned off the main town road and onto an overgrown forest path that clearly hadn't been used by anyone other than him and drunk teenagers in decades. They stumbled their way in the growing twilight under tree branches and around fallen logs until they finally emerged on a wide, lovely pond complete with its own tiny pier and half-submerged rotting row boat.
"This way." Remus said. "Watch where you step."
Remus deftly navigated the decaying wood on the boardwalk and walked to the very end. He kicked his shoes off, rolled his socks into a ball, and dipped his toes into the pond's clear cool waters. He heard Sirius do the same behind him and felt him sit down. They sat in comfortable silence for a few moments, toes wiggling idly in the water while the sound of crickets and june bugs filled the air.
"I'm heading out to boot camp tomorrow morning." Sirius finally said.
"I got that impression." Remus said gently.
"This is my last stop before I head to the base." Sirius said.
"You're not from around here, are you?" Remus asked.
"No. I took the long way from Nashville." Sirius said, turning his huge green eyes to Remus. "I used to stop here on the way to Memphis. That diner reminds me of better times."
Remus felt the strong compulsion to reach out and touch Sirius' hand. He quickly thought better of it… If Sirius reacted the wrong way - well, nobody would ever find his body here.
"At least it's that way for one of us." Remus said, swallowing the sudden lump of fear that had risen in his throat. "I hate this town."
Sirius nodded. "Those girls…"
Remus turned quickly away as if he'd been slapped. "Listen, if you're going to call me a coward -"
"I'm not going to call you a coward." Sirius said. Remus jumped when he felt a hand land on his.
Their eyes met.
"Listen, Remus…" Sirius said, frowning slightly as he realized what he had done. He went to take his hand away, but Remus caught it. Everything in him was screaming to let it go, but something was holding him fast. "I bet you've got a girlfriend but I don't care. I've got noone to send a letter to. Would you mind… Would you mind if I sent one back here to you?"
Remus choked slightly. They had only met an hour ago yet here they were sitting in his own private personal reflection space, their hands touching and their eyes locked.
"Of course." Remus whispered. He pulled out the tiny spiral notebook and pencil he always carried with him and flipped through to find a blank page. Very carefully as his handwriting was little more than a scrawl, he spelt out his name and address. "I'll be waiting."
Sirius took the paper, folded it neatly three times and tucked it into his front pocket. He patted it almost superstitiously and smiled.
"Thank you." he whispered.
Remus finally tore his eyes away and glanced up at the sky. Night was falling fast and he turned to Sirius.
"Do you have a place to stay tonight?" Remus asked carefully.
"I'm not staying." Sirius said. "I took the scenic route which means I've still got four hours to Memphis and I need to be there at 0600 hours."
Remus nodded. "I'll walk you back to the diner?"
Sirius smiled. "I'd like that."
They walked back, hand-in-hand until they came to the main road where they both knew well enough to drop their hands and behave "like men should". Remus felt the echo of Sirius' hand in his so deeply it ached.
They continued on to the Silver Spoon, alternating between comfortable silence and friendly reparté. Remus could see the town's lights ahead of them and dreaded that moment, any second now, where the diner would come back into view.
"Here she is." Sirius said as they turned the corner and found themselves in the parking lot. Remus hadn't noticed it before, but a jet black shining motorcycle was all that was left. For some reason, Remus had pictured him driving a truck.
"Triumph 650 T 120 Bonneville." Sirius said, patting the bike's handle bars. He swung one leg over and sat down. He pulled Remus by the hips towards him.
"Someone is going to see." Remus said, his heart racing as he looked down at the ruggedly handsome Private astride his gleaming black chrome bike.
"Let them see." Sirius said, reaching up and putting a hand behind Remus' head. He slowly pulled Remus down and gently, so gently, locked lips. They kissed deeply, Sirius' fingers playing with the hair at the back of Remus' neck.
"I'll see you when I get back." Sirius whispered. "Stay right here. Wait for me."
Remus felt a lump rising in his throat as he watched the tail light on Sirius' bike disappear down the winding country road.
He was all alone.