Remus was tired when he came home from work. His shoulders were slumped. The only thing he really had to look forward to was whatever meager meal Sirius had managed to piece together, and of course Sirius himself. They'd been living together since graduation this past fall, nearly ten months ago, and so far all the horrible misgivings that James and Peter had had about it had come to naught. After all, hadn't they been living together for years now? Of course, James had a point that it was different as a couple, but in Remus's book, different meant better, and not worse.
Thus, Remus was unprepared for what would be their very first fight as a romantic couple. Really, it was amazing that it had taken them this long to have a fight, but Remus tended to prefer to keep the peace.
That fateful night, Remus had no sooner opened the door to their flat than Sirius pounced on him. Remus, hardly paying attention, reached up to run his hands through Sirius's locks and- and felt-
Remus took a step back, his back against the now-closed door to their flat. "What did you do?" he asked. It came out more accusing than he meant it to.
"I got a haircut. Don't you like it?"
"That's not a cut," Remus protested. "You got it all shaved off."
"Not all. There's a little fuzz..." Sirius shook his head freely, as a dog might. "It feels so light. very summery, don't you think."
Remus, though, could only star in horror.
"What?" Sirius asked, insecurity finally creeping into his voice. "Don't you like it?"
"No I bloody well don't like it," Remus answered. As soon as he heard his own words, he clamped his mouth shut. After all, it was just hair.
"Well it's not as if I'm ugly without it..." Sirius started, but something on Remus's face must have betrayed Remus's feelings because Sirius's jaw dropped and he exclaimed, "You do think I'm ugly without it!"
"Not at all!" Remus said, and he meant it. Sirius was incapable of nearing anything even remotely related to 'ugly'.
"Then what's the big deal?" Sirius pouted.
What, Remus wondered, was the big deal, after all? "You're right," Remus breathed deeply, calming himself. "It'll grow back."
"What if I don't want to grow it back?" Sirius challenged.
"Why wouldn't you want to grow it back?"
"Why should I want to?"
Remus ran his palm over his face, trying to get a hold of himself. He couldn't put his finger on why this bothered him so much. "I just like you hair, Sirius," he said softly. "It makes you look..."
"It made me look like a bird," Sirius finished crossly. "You even said so!"
"But that's why I liked it," Remus bit out.
Sirius stared at him in a mixture of shock and amazement. Finally, drawing himself up to his full height, Sirius sounded dangerous as he answered, "Remus Lupin, you do know that I'm not a bird, don't you."
"Of course I do," Remus sighed. He could already tell he'd managed to dig himself in deep in this one.
"I'm not sure you do," Sirius answered angrily. "I clean the flat. I cook your meals. I take your cock up my arse. And I have long, flowing hair. It sounds like you think you are dating a woman."
Remus pushed past Sirius, unable to decide whether there was any truth in Sirius's words. He wanted to say that there wasn't, but he honestly wasn't sure what he thought. After all, why did Sirius's bloody hair matter so damned much to him.
"It's not..." Remus struggled to answer. Sirius had it wrong, all wrong. "I can cook from now on if you like. And clean as well. I don't mind."
"Neither do I!" Sirius barked.
"Look," Remus struggled. "It just takes a bit to get used to. Your hair, I mean."
The look Sirius flashed him was not one of a man appeased.
"And I don't think you're a woman. With or without the damned hair! It just makes you look more..."
"More..." Sirius demanded the rest of his sentence.
Remus flushed beat red as he mumbled the answer, "More wild... more like an animal. It makes me think you're more like me."
The anger and hurt flooded out of Sirius as if someone had released a plug for it to drain through. "Oh," Sirius said quietly. "I can grow it back if you like."
Remus shook his head. "There's no need..."
"You know I don't think you're any sort of animal. That's all in your head," Sirius answered softly.
"No," Remus turned bluntly to Sirius, "It's not in my head. It's in my body, it's in my blood, it's in my very bones, Sirius."
To this, Sirius had nothing to say. Instead he answered feebly, "I've made dinner. It's not much... Just some spaghetti noodles. I forgot to pick up sauce..."
Remus smiled gratefully at Sirius. "That sounds lovely," he answered.