Written For:
Assignment #2/Mythology Task #3: Write about siblings not getting along.
August Auction Day 1 Auction 1: (family) Black
Writing Club/This or That - Murder 13. (Emotion) Lust
Writing Club/Showtime: 15. (color) White
Writing Club/Film Festival: 3. (item) Handcuffs
Writing Club/Buttons - Objects 2. Candle
Word Count: 1,464
Regulus sighed in bliss as Barty trailed kisses across his collarbone as he reached for the pillar candle that sat on the bedside table. His boyfriend was straddling him, his thighs firmly keeping him captive on the bed. Barty smiled wickedly as he sat upright, waving the candle tauntingly over Regulus.
"Don't get wax on the sheets," Regulus murmured. "It took forever to get it off last time. Sirius went mental."
Barty pressed a finger of his free hand to Regulus's lips. "Don't tell me what to do." He tilted the candle ever so gently, dripping just the smallest amount of wax across Regulus's torso.
Regulus shuddered as the hot wax connected with his pale skin, burning for a second before beginning to settle and acclimate to his body temperature.
"Are you ready for more?" Barty quizzed, his brown eyes burning almost crimson in the candlelight.
Before Regulus could answer, he heard the sound of voices and clattering coming from the apartment beyond Regulus's bedroom. He made to push Barty off him, but he was too late. Sirius Black burst through the door, sauntering with his arms full of groceries and his hair stuck to his forehead.
A series of emotions flickered across Sirius's face, while Regulus and Barty sat frozen in time on the bed. After what seemed like an eternity, Sirius dropped the carrier bags he was holding and Barty slid off Regulus, quickly placing the candle back on the table. Regulus pulled the covers over them hurriedly.
Sirius opened and closed his mouth a few times. If it had been under different circumstances, Regulus would have commented that he looked like a goldfish. "This is how you've been getting wax all over your bed sheets?" He spluttered. Regulus was surprised that this was the only thing he could think to say. "You told me you had knocked the candle over...for three consecutive Saturdays."
"Sirius, can you…" Regulus eyed the door desperately, feeling his face burning.
"Is that...you're...frolicking...with…"
"Frolicking." Barty repeated, his lips threatening to smirk. He quickly dropped it however, when he saw the rage in Sirius's eyes.
"Just wait here." Regulus jumped to his feet, swiftly wrapping a sheet around his middle. He shuffled Sirius out of the bedroom, ignoring the milk that was spilling across the carpet, and slammed the bedroom door shut behind him.
"Regulus, I simply cannot allow it." Sirius was able to air the dramatics once his lips had managed to form appropriate words again. "You're my baby brother, you're a child, you're not supposed to be doing these sinful things in our shared apartment!" He added a considerable amount of emphasis to those last words.
Regulus folded his arms across his bare chest, feeling the hardened candle wax on his abdomen. He felt momentarily embarrassed, but shook it off. "I have to listen to you and Remus going at it all the time," he snapped. "And you don't try to hide it. You're frolicking in your bedroom, the bathroom, the living room... at least I make sure you're not in before I bring someone home! You weren't supposed to be back until tomorrow!"
"Remus and I are adults, and that's besides the point—"
"—I'm twenty-two years old!"
Sirius looked at Regulus as though he had just seen him for the first time. His cheeks glowed with anger for a moment, and then he took a breath. "Okay. Okay. I'm not happy about this. But...ugh. Just...just stop getting green wax all over the white sheets!"
When another weekend rolled around, Regulus found himself back in his bedroom with his hands up by the headboard, his wrists handcuffed tightly above him. He still hadn't gotten around to fitting a lock on his door, but Sirius had made a big song and a dance about a weekend break away with Remus to the Cotswolds, and Regulus had no reason to expect him to be back until Monday.
His...other boyfriend was equally sure that Sirius wouldn't be returning anytime soon. James Potter loomed over Regulus, his round spectacles propped up on his forehead as he gazed down at Regulus with his lusty hazel eyes, drinking him in. James was Sirius's best friend, and as his best friend, he'd been given all of the gritty details of what Sirius and Remus planned to get up to on their weekend break.
So it came as a horrific surprise when, once again, Sirius Black burst into Regulus's room. He had no groceries this time (thankfully, as the smell of milk took ages to get out of Regulus's carpet), but he was holding a bunch of keys—and there was another presence behind him. Remus was there too.
"I came to drop off these—oh my God—REMUS!"
Remus's head popped up at Sirius's shoulder, and Regulus cried out in shock. This time, he couldn't defend himself and protect his modesty. This time, he couldn't jump up and usher his brother out of the room. But this time, Sirius wasn't looking only at Regulus, he was staring in disbelief at his best friend.
James dropped his glasses down onto his nose as he backed up against the headboard, having the good sense to pull the covers over Regulus's naked body. Luckily, James was still wearing his underwear.
Once again, Sirius stood silently for a minute-long eternity, resembling a goldfish. He was getting good at that impersonation, Regulus idly noted. "Take...my brother...out of those handcuffs…" he finally spoke, his voice coming out in gasps of breath.
James quickly snatched the key from the bedside table and slotted it into the handcuffs, releasing Regulus. He rubbed his wrists and glanced at Remus.
Remus, though shocked, seemed much less appalled than Sirius. If anything, Regulus thought he saw the shadow of a grin at the corner of his lips.
Once he was free and able to summon the use of his legs, Regulus wrapped a sheet around him again and pushed Sirius out of the room, shutting Remus inside with James. Once the door closed behind them, Regulus heard Remus let out a bellow of laughter, and James grumbling in response.
"I can't...I don't even...I have no words!" Sirius began to pace around the apartment, flapping his hands around his head as he walked. "This is another extreme...Regulus...you are a nasty little tart!"
"I beg your pardon?!" Regulus retorted.
"You had your boyfriend here just last week and now you're frolicking with my best friend?"
"We're back to frolicking again, are we? Can't you just say what it is?" snapped Regulus.
"I will not," gasped Sirius. "I will not respond to your filth."
"Oh, for god's sake…" Regulus raked a hand through his dark hair. Sirius never acted like this around anyone else. He reserved this special brand of dramatics for his little brother only.
"Does he know?" Sirius demanded.
"Does who know what?"
"Does your boyfriend—Crouch—know what you are doing behind his back with my best friend?"
Regulus could feel his cheeks burning with embarrassment. It was much harder to shake off this time. "He knows...some things...we have...uhh...some mutual arrangements...Sirius, I don't think I need to explain this to you!"
"You could have brought anyone in, anyone else at all!" Sirius threw his hands up again.
"You still wouldn't be happy no matter who I brought home," grumbled Regulus.
"You're damn right I wouldn't."
They stood in silence for a few moments, staring at each other across the dimly lit apartment. It was broken by Regulus's bedroom door opening slowly, and James and Remus coming out.
"James has something he'd like to say," Remus announced.
For the first time ever, Regulus thought James looked quite meek. He had pulled on his jeans but was still shirtless, and was holding his arms across his bare chest awkwardly as he looked over at Sirius. He did the goldfish impression (flawlessly, Regulus thought to himself), before finding the words to speak.
"Sorry I slept with your brother, mate."
It was the wrong thing to say. In a flash, Sirius was across the room with his hands at James's neck, and James did his best to fight him off. Regulus and Remus stood by and watched.
There was no point in intervening. This was the only way the two friends would ever sort it out.
Regulus decided to take his own weekend break away after that. He went on his own, with no boyfriend, desperately trying not to be the nasty little tart that Sirius had proclaimed him to be.
When he returned, Sirius wasn't home. There was a freshly cut key on the hallway table, with a note.
'Fitted a lock on your door. This is the only key, I promise. Try to keep the bloody sheets clean, and I'll try to let you grow up. Love, S.'