The snow fell heavy as Remus roamed the streets of London looking for a bench to spend the night curled up on after having been evicted once again. He settled down in a park, his bag and kettle right beside him as the sun slowly made its way over the sky. With a soft thump, a man sat down beside him, his eyes empty, barely acknowledging Remus's presence on the bench. And so they sat there for a while, both men deep in thought, occasionally eyeing the other one suspiciously. The blond man let out a sigh.

" I was just diagnosed with ... the blickey"

He turned to look directly into Remus's eyes " I really shouldn't have told you that. I really, really shouldn't have said that." They sat in silence for a while, both men doing their best not to show just how much they were freezing.

" I'm Bruce by the way" he mumbles "You got some really sick scars there mate"

Remus stroked his latest addition to his collection, a small scar on his left cheek, with a thoughtful look on his face

"Thank you, Bruce..." He added, " So you're sick, I assume?" A flash of anxiety went through his body making his hands shake, forcing him to grip the handle of his little blue kettle tightly. Just to keep his new acquaintance from noticing just how bad he was at social interactions. Bruce shot him a small smile, tilted his head.

"You don't know about the blickey." A statement rather than a question Remus assumed and keeps his mouth shut.

"It's weird innit it's some people's whole life while others haven't ever even heard about it..." Bruce scratched his head for a while.

" See, it's a new illness ya know, only certain people are affected. It's...I'm one of those. Love, but many people are catching it...and most of us die. " He shook his head

" I'm just a tad bit sad… what's yer name, bud?"

Remus looked up, this was something he hadn't experienced in a long time. Being seen, having his existence acknowledged. Wizards usually had their ways of figuring out what he was, he was registered after all and the documents were public. Muggles on the other hand tended to stay away from him even though they had no way of knowing. The homeless, probably drug-addicted man they'd pass on the street. He couldn't blame them for judging him. He did too.

" I'm Remus." he removed one of his mittens to shake Bruce's hand, hoping that this sudden human touch wouldn't awaken something in him. Bruce shook his head

" You shouldn't touch me, pal, it's not a good idea" Remus blushed. Of course, the other man wouldn't want to touch him, and it was naive of him to even think of that as a possibility, much less something to be expected in the name of manners. Bruce lowered his eyes, and pointed at the mitten Remus had taken off

"Mind if I borrow that for a while? It's mighty cold, aye?" And of course, Remus gave it to him, only hesitating for a second to make sure that his hands weren't shaking. They were, but he hoped Bruce wouldn't notice.

There was something about this muggle that was so painfully familiar, or maybe so he wished. Perhaps this feeling of familiarity was yet another trick by his subconscious to make him befriend someone, get close, and maybe even touch a person. He shuddered, he couldn't even remember what that felt like. And maybe it was for the best. Everything to avoid hurting someone. The sacrifice was worth it, he told himself, not that anyone would want him anyways if they knew what he was. Even if they didn't know what he was, Bruce had just proved that, hadn't he?

" You don't talk much do you? I thought you were a college professor at first glance but now I'm unsure. Do you like silence, mate?"

Remus nodded while avoiding Bruce's gaze. He had completely forgotten how to carry a conversation it seemed. 32 years old and barely more functional than Harry had been at 1. He shook his head hard, the only way he had of getting rid of unwanted thoughts, earning an amused look from the other man.

"Not to be ye nosy fella, but what's a man like you doing out here on a cold night like this?" Bruce rubbed his nose with the hand that was wearing the mitten, slowly bobbing his head as if he was agreeing with something. His eyes were half-closed when he spoke up again.

" I 'pologize', I look a fool, but me nose is just so bloody cold." Remus smiled softly down at the kettle still in his hands and mumbled something about 's'alrights, the weather's cold' praying that Bruce wasn't expecting him to explain how he had nowhere else to go. How the landlord at his last place had threatened to make sure that no one else would rent out to him, after he'd accidentally stained blood on the tapestry after a particularly rough full moon. " I dont want any of ye feckin' heroin addicts in me house." she'd yelled at him from the doorway, keeping an eye on him as he packed with a gentle, yet forced, smile on his face. It wasn't the first time nor was it the last time, he figured.

A small chuckle escaped the man beside him, and Remus quickly turned to face Bruce, only to find that the blond man was already watching him. Remus blushed, it was a long time since he´d gotten so much attention, much less from someone that seemed to find him interesting for a good reason. That he at least hoped.

"I'm sorry, I fear I must´ve gotten lost in my head. It happens sometimes." Remus said, his voice nearing a whisper towards the end. Bruce smiled, rubbed his nose a few more times with a sigh, before patting the werewolf on the back.

"s'okay Remus, I s'ppose we all got a lot to think about after all," Bruce said, his eyes as gentle as ever, searching for Remus´s gaze, before looking down. A small moment passed while the snowflakes made small cracking noises as they landed on the werewolf's hands, melting into tiny puddles of nothingness. Of course, this was something only he could hear due to his heightened senses as the full moon inched closer. The snow, the footsteps of bypassers whose stomping reached him long after they'd left the park, and Bruce's beating heart. Irregular, and fast. Remus blinked multiple times trying to focus on the man beside him. Surely he wasn't good company, he thought as he could feel his cheeks grow red with embarrassment. Although it couldn't be expected he figured, people weren't supposed to talk to him anyway. Remus smiles softly into his lap, Lily would be furious if she could hear his thoughts.

"You're cold mate, look at yer hands, they're bloody shakin for Pete's sake." Bruce tilted his head and rubbed his hands together. "Since I don't think ya should touch me… but if I hold yer hand-" Remus stared at the pot in his hand, as Bruce's gaze traveled over his face, perhaps dissapointed that he was interrupted by the scene before him. From the tightly clenched teeth to the guilt in Remus's eyes, when he tried to turn towards the man beside him to smile reassuringly. To tell him, that this wasn't about him. Remus gaze wandered to Bruce's bare hand, almost in vain, eyeing the smooth skin and the neatly cut nails, so different from Remus's own scarred hands. He usually managed to hide them in the big sleeves of his sweaters, the attention of others was normally focused on the scars on his face as it was. For some reason, those never bothered him as much as the ones on his hands. Perhaps he'd grown used to them. Perhaps his disfigured hands were reminders that he had never held and would never hold. A reminder that had grown stronger after this strange conversation began, and the desire to let in had started prodding at his heart. A small nod in Bruce's direction was all he could produce.

"If I hold yer hand...while wearing the mitten… it'd be merely an exchange of heat, aye? " Bruce hesitated. His hand hovered over Remus's for a second or two before finally grabbing it, right where the skin met the sleeve of the coat. The two men anxiously looked at their locked hands, as the sound of a van driving past the park, disappearing into the now dark night, hit them. Bruce rubbed his nose again, only now with his other hand. His sudden movement caused Remus to grip the kettle harder, and he grimaced with a sigh as the wound on his knuckles, which never quite seemed to heal, was stretched to its limits. Another moment passed and then Bruce stood up.

"I understand, and I dun wanna make ya uncomfortable," he said with a nod and rubbed his nose one last time with the mitten before giving it back, hesitating only for a second.

"Here, I wouldn't want ya to lose this, it's a bloody cold night after all." his hand ruffled through his thick hair as he looked around the park, seemingly in deep thought about what to say next. His eyes stopped on the light blue kettle in the werewolf's lap.

"...And Remus? Yer a mighty good fella and it was nice spending some time with ye. Although I still dun know if yer a college professor or nuthin" A mischievous smile that doesn't quite erase the anxiety in his eyes played on Bruce's lips when Remus finally dared to look at him. "Don't freeze to death now, will ya? Would be an awful shame if those students of yours were to lose a fella like you." the man said as he began to wander backwards through the thick layer of snow. As if on instinct, Remus rose and almost stumbled over the kettle that has then fallen to the ground when reaching for Bruce. The arms that were suddenly around him as he is being steadied made his mind even emptier than before. For once there was no overthinking, no wondering if he was good enough, or even good, on Remus's mind. Even the blush that usually covered his neck and hollowed cheeks when people came too close if only to accidentally bump into him on the streets, wasn't something he was worried about now. He closed his eyes although he could feel anxiety blooming in the back of his brain and his heart beating in his stomach when his hands got a life of their own and grabbed the collar of Bruce's jacket. The two men stood like that, in total silence, for a few minutes. Remus's eyes were darting between Bruce's and a point somewhere over the other man's shoulder. Both of them were half covered in snow when Remus finally opens his mouth.

" You said, before, that I shouldn't touch you, I-" he began in an almost-whisper. Remus's hands were still on the other man, and he couldn't, no, wouldn't, make himself let go. Not when he was so close to something like this. Something warm enough to melt his insides and reveal the little piece of human he still had left in him.

" I never-" Bruce began. And so their lips met. It had been years since Remus Lupin kissed anyone, ages since he allowed himself to even consider it a possibility. And yet when he pressed himself against Bruce with all the force he could gather, his lips parting slightly if only to get closer, he didn't feel a shred of regret. He opened his eyes slightly while waiting for the other man to do something, anything, and his gaze followed the curvature of the moon hanging above them. Both of their hearts were beating loudly in Remus's ear, who couldn't help but mentally cuss out his own as he waited. Before he could produce another thought he was pressed even closer to the body before him, hips were pushed against hips and two heaving chests created a rhythm of their own. Bruce's hands were in Remus's hair, then on his waist, and later inside his coat stroking the werewolfs back as he kisses him deeper with every stroke. Lips parted as an invitation, and for once, while the cold evening turned into a cold night, Remus felt welcome.

When it was over, and lips had parted from lips, the two men sat down on the bench again. Bruce rubbed his hands together, blowing on them before he noticed the content look on Remus's face, letting his hands fall to his lap as if struck by a realization.

"I lied," he said with a half-grin. Remus glanced in his direction with a small nod and a little smile. The situation was still dawning on him, and he doubted that it'd ever seem real enough. And yet he blushed.

Bruce continued, "I didn't want to leave, before. You just dun made me a tad bit nervous mate." He scratched his head. " I've never met with a fancy professor like yourself." Remus's smile grew softer and he lowered his head.

"I'm not a professor…I'm actually unemployed at the moment."

An amused chuckle escaped Bruce and he grabbed the other man's hand as the cold wind swept even more snow onto their coats.

"I'm no genius, pal, but you'd make an excellent professor." He looked directly at Remus, locking their gazes together.

"Trust me, mate"