RUBBER DUCK
Lupin was coming out of his latest nap in the late afternoon. Something was different; he wasn't feeling as drained as he had earlier. He stretched his legs and noticed his foot extended over the edge. Odd, but he needed to get the kinks out of his body, so he rolled over onto his back and began his stretch.
"nnnk"
Lupin's eyes fluttered opened. He could have sworn he heard something.
"nnnk mm iss"
There it was again. He looked around the room and remembered. "Tonks?"
Lupin lifted his shoulders off the bed and heard her sputtering, "You're squishing me, get off!"
She was squirming from somewhere behind and under him, but before he could locate her he felt the world tumbling.
THUD!
"Oh, Remus, I'm so sorry! Are you hurt?" Pink hair and bleary eyes peeked guiltily at him. On the other hand, the soft material of his slacks clung nicely to his backside.
"No, the stack of dirty laundry littering your floor broke my fall," said Lupin. He got up to his knees--squeak--and pulled out the yellow rubber duck under his knee.
He stared at its garish smile for a moment while Tonks said, "There it is! Been looking for that for weeks."
Lupin looked up at her and merely squeaked the duck again.
"It's for Arthur." Tonks rolled her eyes. "Well, you tell me how you'd explain a rubber duck to a non-Muggle?"
"I see your point," said Lupin as he tossed the duck her way. He found his feet now tangled in something with straps and gave a great tug. The garment snapped and flicked him quickly on the nose.
He heard Tonks chuckling from the bed as he rubbed his nose. With two fingers he extended the bra with multi-colored polka dots to its owner. "I'm sure this isn't mine."
Tonks snatched it out of his hands and threw it to the floor on the other side of the bed. "No, I left the pumpkin colored one for you."
Lupin nodded absently as he managed to kneel by the bed, but then said, "Wait. You left your bra in my room?"
"You practically dared me to liven up the place, remember? Haven't you found it yet?" asked Tonks as she stretched.
Lupin frowned. "I do seem to remember Kreacher running off with something orange--"
"What! You let that--" Tonks noticed his grin and thumped him softly with a pillow, making his torso fall on the bed, but he was laughing. The Sanguinae potion must be wearing off, she thought as she smothered him in retribution. "It's in the bottom of the drawer with your t-shirts. I thought it was fair exchange."
Lupin, now no longer smothered by the pillow, looked up at the bubble-gum haired woman. "Fair exchange for what?"
"Um, nothing," said Tonks as her hand self-consciously swiped at the t-shirt she was wearing.
"Tonks, you stole my t-shirt," accused Lupin as he brought his head up.
"It was a fair exchange of underwear," said Tonks as she put a pillow protectively in front of her and scooted backward on the bed. Damn, the mattress and frame had shrunk back to normal size. It seemed to be getting smaller with each retraction.
"Oh, no, I can't wear your bra but you can--and in fact are--wearing my t-shirt," said Lupin as a long arm reached for the unapologetic witch.
"You don't know that it's this one," squealed Tonks as she saw a familiar gleam in Lupin's eyes. He was now on the bed and crawling toward her. "And you broke rule number one: don't argue with me."
"I can prove it, Nymphadora," said Lupin as he lunged quickly.
"Ah, you broke rule number four, you--eek!"
Her peals of laughter as he tickled her rang through the room and, try as she might, she couldn't squirm away from him fast enough. He was definitely acting a bit loopy.
"Aha! See, RJL. The laundry mark is clear," said Lupin with a triumphant grin as he read the tag. His face was very close to her neck at this point and his breath on her nape made her shiver. He noticed the way she closed her eyes and his fingers reached out to rub gently against her exposed skin.
Tonks murmured, "A nice massage would be a great way to apologize for your vicious attack."
"And now the truth comes out. You only invited me here to use me callously," said Lupin as he stroked her neck.
"You've wrung the confession out of me," said Tonks as she offered him access. The long strokes felt delicious. "Mmm, you have great hands, did you know?"
Lupin stopped his movements and leaned in to whisper in her ear. "No, I didn't."
She felt his lips on the nape of her neck. It wasn't so much a kiss as a nuzzle, but enough to encourage her to turn to him and share a passionate--squeak!
They were both laughing as Tonks pulled out the rubber duck that had found its way under a pillow.
"This will never work between us," said Tonks in mock regret as she looked at the duck
"He's just a duck. I'm a werewolf. Surely that's got to count for something, Nymphadora."
Squeak, squeak. Tonks rapped the duck against Lupin's shoulder and said, "You violated rule four again! And I meant that I'm a slob and you're a neat freak."
"Then I guess we'll have to rely on our mutual lust," said Lupin softly. Then he practically growled, "Where's the chocolate?"
Tonks eyes flicked quickly to her bureau. They were both still for a moment, then suddenly shot toward the chocolate with great speed and no agility what so ever. They wound up tangled on the floor again.
"Professor Lupin, I do think you're a bit loopy from the potion wearing off," said Tonks as she settled her head on his chest.
"Tumbling off the bed was more advisable than jumping on it," said Lupin. But the warm feeling of comfort was not something he gained from a potion. He didn't even mind that she could see the scars on his bare arms. He squeezed her shoulders and added, "At least you've abandoned the duck for me."
"Don't be so cocky. I'm having second thoughts. At least he can't call me Nymphadora," muttered Tonks.
Lupin sat up a bit and used his long reach to grab the bar of Honeyduke's chocolate that lay atop the bureau. "But I have so much more to offer you."
Tonks took the chocolate he offered and broke off a piece. As she nibbled on it, she said, "I'll have to test you out in a bathtub before I make my final decision."
Lupin almost choked on the chocolate going down is throat.
Whack, whack. Tonks smiled as she patted his back.
"Don't fret, I was only joking." Tonks crossed her fingers behind her back.
"Good, because I think the duck would win given the pristine condition of his body." Lupin didn't realize he was tracing a scar on his arm as he said this.
"You have other things in common with the duck. For example, he's as chaste as you are and is mostly quiet."
"Did he ever share your bath?"
Tonks smiled, "He bobbed along like quite the gentleman on the surface of the water."
"That does it. I demand that duck be removed from the premises," said Lupin as he threw a suspicious glance to the toy. "No wonder he has a smile on his face."
"I'll take it to Arthur straight away," said Tonks solemnly as she sat up. "I need to go to number twelve to bring you back some clothes for tomorrow and, um, run an errand."
Lupin watched as Tonks tossed on an old blue Oxford shirt and shrugged into her Auror robe. As she slipped her feet into flip-flops, he asked a bit hesitantly. "Would you bring back some books for me?"
"Which ones?"
"The Elements of Charms and Spells. There are only three volumes."
"You have a set of those?"
"Hand-me-downs," responded Lupin with a shrug.
"Anything else?"
Lupin's eyes turned upward and Tonks thought she could easily imagine him as a boy in Gryffindor tower for a moment. "I don't suppose you could bring my phonograph and a few records. No, that's too much trouble."
Tonks rolled her eyes. "I'll take my broom to haul them, then. I've got a harness for just such errands. Anything else? How about Buckbeak and Snuffles?"
"No, they shouldn't be out, but let Sirius know I'm doing fine. He tends to worry."
"Done. Is that it?" Tonks had reappeared from her closet with her broom.
He finally shook his head with a quiet, "Thank you."
Tonks was about to leave when she had an evil thought. She managed to put on a concerned face when she turned to Lupin to say, "You can find some healing salts for the bath in the bathroom cabinet. Don't worry, I'll be out for a while."
Lupin merely reached over and tossed the duck to Tonks hands. "Just make sure you take this lecherous fowl with you."
Tonks disapparated with a squeak.
- - - - - - - - -
Lupin tested his strength by clearing up some of the clutter around the bed. Breaking Tonks' rules appealed to the Marauder in him. Besides, her penalties seemed rather spontaneous and mostly centered around retribution being taken without warning.
Satisfied that he was still a wizard, Lupin decided to drag himself off to see to a nice soaking bath. There was nothing like Madam Pomfrey's healing salts to ease the aches. Well, actually, having a certain Auror sleeping by his side was just as effective, but as she was still out, he opted for the bath. He frowned at the small tub, but would have to extend the room itself to increase its size, so he merely shrugged and filled the tub quickly.
He added the salts that turned the water into an opaque blue and just soaked for a moment with his head leaning against the wall. He must have dozed because the tepid water temperature woke him. He decided he needed to soak his shoulders and forearms, too, before the water really became too cold.
Lupin slid his upper body down to submerge his head underwater. He had good lung capacity and could stay that way for several minutes, much to the chagrin of his mother when he'd been a boy. So there he was, with his legs dangling out of the tub when he felt something stroking his foot.
SPLASH!
"Eek!"
Lupin sat up as he shook the water off. This maneuver displaced a large volume of water all over a certain woman who had managed to sneak into the bathroom.
"Remus! Look what you've done!" Tonks was kneeling in front of the bathtub with little rivulets streaming down her face. Her hair was plastered to her head and the t-shirt she wore was plastered to her body. It finally struck him. No bra.
He'd heard Sirius describe wet t-shirt contests, but never in his days had he witnessed this first hand. "I am looking! But what are you doing here?"
"It's my flat."
"I know it's your flat. What are you doing in the bathroom?" Lupin was grateful for the opaque bath salts. His bent knees were poking out of the water, but the rest of him was submerged except for his torso. There were plenty of scars there to make her cringe, he thought. "Out!"
"Oh, no. You're serving the penalty for flagrantly breaking my rules. I saw the neat piles of laundry in my bedroom."
Lupin opened his mouth to speak, but he was guilty as charged. He just hadn't anticipated the penalty, but surely she would find the marks on his body disgusting. "Fine, you've had your fun. I'm properly chastised. So, out you go."
"Oh, for Merlins' sake, Remus, I was just checking you out," grumbled Tonks as she grabbed a towel and began rubbing her short hair. She made no effort to leave.
"Checking me out?" asked Lupin. He couldn't seem to tear his eyes way from her torso as she held her arms over her head to use the towel to dry her hair.
"Just how clueless are you?" Tonks wrapped the towel over her shoulders, now covering her interesting bits from view. She leaned forward to look him directly in his eyes and said slowly, "I'm attracted to you, but you're always covered up. I wanted to see your body. Get it? You know, Remus Lupin: sex object?"
Lupin knew the moment the blush started creeping up his neck and flushing his face as he saw the way Tonks' eyes were wandering up his neck.
Remus Lupin: sex object? More like Quasimodo's twin, he thought. He gritted his teeth and said, "Satisfied?"
"Absolutely," she quipped. She let her eyes trail along his torso and to his legs, although the water hid the rest of him, and added, "And there's nothing wrong with your body."
"Tonks, I know I'm not--I'm not a Sirius Black." He leaned his head against the wall and closed his eyes.
"I had my fill of perfect boys when I was younger, Remus. My current preference is for the body of a man. Do you want to know what I see?"
He shook his head, but heard her voice anyway.
"You're built like a typical scholar about the shoulders, but you're still strong enough to catch me when I fall or carry me off when you've reached your limit with me." She ran her hand lightly up his arm as she said this.
"But the scars--"
"On your body are no more vivid than the ones on your face and you learned not to hide those."
Lupin opened his eyes and saw a sincere gaze. There was no pity or revulsion.
Tonks traced one of the marks that ran along his shoulder. She saw him catch his breath and smiled. "The lycanthropy has kept you lean. No wonder Molly's always trying to fatten you up."
"I bet you also find beanpoles attractive," said Lupin as he tried to accept that Tonks wouldn't reject his physique.
"Absolutely. I like nice, long legs on a man. Your preference for walking instead of apparating all over the place shows." She touched a scar just above his left knee where it looked like a chunk of skin had been taken out. "This is the bite? It's why you limp sometimes?"
Lupin nodded. "That's why I'd rather walk than apparate. I'd be crippled in that leg if I didn't constantly exercise it."
"And that's the most attractive thing of all; you're a smart man," said Tonks.
She leaned forward and softly kissed his cheek. "I'm sorry I let my curiosity get the better of me, Remus. Consider all penalties served."
Lupin reached to clasp her hand for a moment. "You really could live with this?"
She countered with her own question as she changed her hair into a violent shade of purple. "Could you live with this?"
"Absolutely."
Tonks chuckled and rose from the floor. "I brought your things. And I got you a t-shirt to replace the one I stole. It's on the bar." She walked out and closed the door.
Lupin looked up to see a bright yellow t-shirt. It contained lettering that read: Better than a duck.
Tonks could hear his laughter through the door and smiled.
TBC
Author Notes:
More silliness. Who can resist injecting a rubber duck into the story? Inspired by re-watching the CoS movie, of course.
The purpose was to get Remus to deal with his hangups about his body and make him realize Tonks thinks he's, well, sexy, even with all the flaws. Age never enters into it for me, so while it's important for others to address, it's the least of the issues in these stories.
One chapter left. It won't be entirely fluffy, so be ready for a bit of drama.
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