A/N: A quickie written for a kinkmeme prompt: Remus/Sirius, face-slapping.
The sound of somebody moving around the Order headquarters in the middle of the night put a wand into Remus's hand immediately. He crept out of bed, down the stairs, into the kitchen.
But it was only Sirius, bumbling around in the semidark making tea.
"You-!" Remus put the wand away. "Sirius, you can't scare us like that."
"Hm?" Sirius turned slowly, calm. "I woke you up? Ah, I'm sorry."
"No you're not. You woke me up on purpose, didn't you."
Sirius shrugged.
"If you want me to sit up with you you only have to ask. But no sneaking around scaring me half to death, all right?"
Sirius stepped away from the stove, smirking. "Yes Papa."
"I don't need your lip, mister." He was only half teasing; he'd been woken up in the middle of the night and was not in the mood to be talked back to.
Sirius still failed to be contrite. "Sorry, Papa."
"Sirius!" He threw a hand out carelessly, meaning to catch his friend lightly over the ear with it, but in the poor light he misjudged the distance and ended up cracking him squarely across the face. Hard.
They both froze. Sirius recovered first. "Wow," he said, rubbing his face. "If it's-"
"Sirius, I'm sorry. That was an accident."
Sirius had always bragged of being able to read him like a book, and tonight was no exception. "I know. Prat. It's fine – but I get to hit you back."
"You get…?" Remus cocked his head.
"Hold still." Sirius stepped up and tapped him on the cheek a few times, checking his aim, and then let loose with a slap that echoed through the kitchen.
It wasn't a hard slap, but still. On principle Remus tsked and protested: "That was harder than what I did to you. And mine was an accident."
A moment of silence. "You're right. Fair's fair..." Sirius moved closer to a window, into the moonlight, and tilted his head back. "You can hit me again."
"Sirius…"
"Come on. Hit me." His voice was amused, engaged. It was so rare these days for Sirius to be anything other than dark and grouchy, so Remus certainly wouldn't waste this opportunity.
He came closer. "Really?"
"Yeah." Sirius gestured to his face. "Hit me."
"Well… all right... You asked for it." He raised his hand… but found he couldn't slap his best friend on purpose. After a moment he shook his head and dropped his hand to his side.
"Come on, Moony." Sirius opened his eyes, and they gleamed. "I want you to hit me."
Remus crossed his arms. "Stop being so-…"
"So what?"
"So you. Who wants to be slapped in the face?"
Sirius pointed to himself, and tilted his head back again.
"Oh, good lord. Fine." Remus reached for his cheek, and patted gently two or three times to get up his nerve. Then he held his breath and gave a smack.
Sirius didn't even open his eyes. "Bah – that was nothing," he insisted. "Harder."
Remus tried again. "Like… that?"
"No. Better but no. Come on – do it."
The third blow produced a loud crack, and Sirius nodded. "That's it – again. Harder. Slap me til it stings."
"But-… um…" Remus tried to bite down on any protest. After everything he had been through, Sirius's apparent desire to get beat up couldn't possibly be healthy. And yet, everyone was always saying how they wished Sirius would return to his old self again… and a purposeless smacking contest seemed like something that old-self Sirius might do.
"Come on, Remus."
"All right. Like that?" He struck with enough power to turn Sirius's head… and got an enthusiastic nod in response. Sirius gestured for more. He slapped the other cheek too, awkwardly, with his off-hand. Then he tried backhand and forehand in quick succession, and Sirius groaned.
Before he could even worry about the sound, Sirius clarified it. "Yes, like that. Do it again." He clasped his hands behind his back and waited, eyes open, challenging.
Remus chuckled a little and shook his head. This was something that old-self Sirius would have done and it was a delight to see. He held his friend's chin with one hand and slapped with the other, lightly now but many times in succession. Then he let go, hauled off and cracked hard. "Had enough?" he asked once Sirius had recovered.
"Nope. Go again."
Remus did it this time with more strength and less hesitation. After a bit, though, he pressed one hand against Sirius's cheek – which was now warm to the touch – and had to ask: "Why?"
Sirius shrugged. "Because I like it." There was just the tiniest emphasis on the word, but it was enough for Remus to get the message.
"Oh." It was the first time that Sirius had expressed interest since returning from Azkaban. Did this mean there was hope that someday…
The teakettle started shrieking, shattering the moment entirely. Sirius turned to the stove to get it, rubbing his face. Smiling.
The End. I've never written this pair before - let me know how it turned out!