chocolate strawberries

Regulus Black sighs in irritation as he is led blindly into James Potter's flat. "Is this really necessary?" He asks, putting his hands to the blindfold that is wrapped tightly around his eyes, but James bats his hands away.

"You only have to wait another few minutes." There's the sound of a key in the lock, and then James pulls Regulus into the flat by his upper arm. "It's a surprise."

"I told you I don't like surprises," Regulus grumbles.

"It's your birthday! I thought you were just being coy when you said that."

Regulus lets James drag him through the flat, wincing when he bumps his hip on the side of a kitchen counter and stubs his toe on the leg of the dining room table. "I've been in your flat a thousand times before, how is this a surprise?"

"Can't you just trust me?" James asks. "Have I ever led you wrong before?"

"Do you really want me to answer that?"

James sniggers, and Regulus can tell he's being guided towards the bedroom. "There better be something I haven't already seen in here," Regulus mutters. James stands behind Regulus, and reaches for the blindfold.

"So, I was thinking…" he starts, as he begins to slowly untie the blindfold.

"That's dangerous." The blindfold drops away, and Regulus becomes aware that the bedroom is full of flickering candle light, and fairy lights are draped over the back of James's headboard.

"I thought it might be nice to spend a romantic evening together for your birthday," James finishes. He moves around to face Regulus, smiling hopefully.

It does look nice, Regulus has to admit. There's about a dozen candles decorating the surfaces, and James has brought his record player into the bedroom so they can listen to music. He's even gone to the effort to throw rose petals on the bed sheets. Regulus resists the urge to chuckle at that—where had James even sourced rose petals from?

On the bedside table is a plate of...Regulus wants to say they're strawberries, but they look like chocolate. "What are those?" he asks.

James rolls his eyes, but he's grinning. "Trust you to go straight for the food." He gives Regulus a playful shove, and Regulus flinches and falls onto the bed. He rolls onto his back and shuffles up to the headboard, watching as James walks around the bed and picks up the plate. "Chocolate strawberries." He takes one from the plate and reaches over to Regulus.

Regulus furrows his brow as James pushes the strawberry against his lips. He lets James pop it into his mouth. "It's nice," he says. "Really nice." He smiles up at James. "Thank you. This is actually a lovely surprise."

James grins and jumps on the bed with Regulus. "Well, I was getting some advice from Sirius—"

"—what?" Regulus almost chokes on the strawberry. "You're getting...sexual advice from my brother?"

"No, I didn't say that—"

"—James, you've clearly prepared this bedroom for sex. We're going to have sex tonight. For my birthday. And you've been getting tips from Sirius—"

"—I haven't talked to Sirius about—"

"—are you actually mad?"

James lunges over to kiss Regulus, effectively shutting him up. "Will you stop talking," he mutters. "Have you met your brother? If I asked him for advice on sex with you he would string me up by my bollocks."

Regulus laughs, and kisses him back. "That's a very good point. Now, can we stop talking about Sirius and get on with our evening?"

James grins. "Absolutely."

Written For:

- Assignment #10/Task #1: Write about someone taking the lead of something (figuratively or literally).

- Race to the Top of Mount Potter/Checkpoint 15: (food) Chocolate strawberries

- Writing Club/Elizabeth's Empire: 8. (object) key

- Autumn Seasonal/Days of the Year: 3rd October - National Boyfriends Day: Write about someone doing something nice for their boyfriend

- Autumn Seasonal/Sarcastic Month: 8. (dialogue) "I was thinking…" / "That's dangerous."

- Moony's Neon Cafe/Drinks: 19. (dialogue) "Have I ever led you wrong before?"

Word Count: 588