8 E I G H T
He made it back home without incident, but only because he was surrounded by people who wouldn't stop talking to him for most of it. People who kept asking him questions, demanding, some politely, some not, that he recount the story of how he'd won the challenge.
On the other hand, several people had been more than happy to tell what they knew about Lucius, whose family had always been wealthy until two generations back after some big scandal happened and how they've been desperately trying to get back in the noble families good graces. If rumor was to be trusted, they were eager to keep moving up and at all costs. There seemed to be a lot people weren't saying about the Malfoy's as well, as if they knew the consequences if word ever got out that they were the ones to blow the whistle. Remus tucked away the information for later examining.
People finally parted ways and left him alone as they passed through the city gates, and Remus practically ran the rest of the way home.
Only to be stopped at the door by Lucinda, who held out a small slip of expensive paper. "Tonks came by. Left this for you."
"Do I owe you anything for it?"
She shook her head. "No, she said she'd already been paid. I hope nothing is wrong. You've been gone so much lately, and had the time you come back in a sorry state." She planted her hands on her hips and gave him a worried, faintly disapproving look. "What's this all about, Remus?"
"Nothing, I promise. I'm just unexpectedly still in the Tournament and, um—" He chew on the inside of his cheek, unsure if he should mention it, but it was only Lucinda after all and she was only worrying, so why not? — "I've also seemed to have acquired a lover, so between juggling those two impossible tasks, I'm often just working or looking for work."
"Oh, I see." The frown turned into a smile. "A lover, huh? Who managed to turn your head?"
"Just a proper who's too bored with his fancy lifestyle looking to slum it for a passing itch," Remus said, heart beating faster, his cheeks warming at the mere thought of Ori, of speaking about him, to another person, like he had some claim to him. It was absurd to feel so giddy about it all. He'd never mentioned his past endeavors to anyone he was close to before, but certainly no one had ever been like Ori, so there is that. "For being a proper—," Remus heard himself adding before he could remind his mouth to shut it,"— he's not all bad. Obviously. Um." He looked down at the note as Lucinda began laughing at him, unfolded it, and felt his chest rising in slight anticipatory excitement and panic as he read it slowly.
Meet me by the common bridge at closing bell. If you can't, find me at the Harp.
Remus felt his cheeks aching, realizing too late that he was grinning madly at the parchment.
A soft chuckle and a clearing of a throat drew his attention, "Note from the Lover, then, is it?"
Remus laughed sheepishly, ran a hand through his hair. "Er— Yeah. And I should be going. See you, Luce."
"Get along, then," she said with a fond sigh, accepting his quick kiss to her cheek with a knowing smirk before watching him dart off.
His heart kept pounding rapidly in his chest, torn between the thrill of seeing Ori and the dread of what might happen to him along the way.
If there were people waiting to attack him, they'd not yet managed to catch up to him, because he made it to the bridge unhindered. And there was ore, dressed in dark navy and silver, long hair held back with a wide band of scarlet fabric embroidered with gold. He looked so glaringly High City, Remus would have normally rolled his eyes.
That, however, would have required he stop staring, and that was definitely not something he was capable of doing.
He was a fucking fool, because even if Ori didn't grow bored and move on, their relationship still had a definite, unavoidable end. He should have held firm after driving Ori away. Not a bit of that common sense held strong as he reach Ori and was drawn in close for a brief kiss.
"Hello, Royal Competitor."
Remus wrinkled his nose. "Don't call me that."
Ori's grin just widened. "Oh, no, you don't get to say that. You said you were going to quit, and here you are still in the Tournament."
"I tried to quit. Usually being rude to important people is a good way to get thrown out of anything. How was I supposed to know he was the only powerful figure in existence who wouldn't punish me for it?"
"Not any important person, Remus. The important person." Ori said with a great, annoyingly brilliant grin, clearly amused. "I'm fairly certain Dumbles was quite taken with you. I've always been a fan of his eccentric nature, though he can be a master manipulator when he puts his mind to it. He admires brilliance though, and specifically when he is caught off guard by someone good with sorting information. And they way you rattled off the costs like that—"
"You were there!" Remus said, brightening. "I looked for you, but I didn't see you anywhere— Wait, did you just call the Realm Consort: Dumbles?"
Ori rolled his eyes. "Of course I was there. Even if I didn't want to attend, my father would drag me there on pain of or else, which is vastly more ominous a threat than death. I prefer to stay out of sight, though. I'm enough of a recluse that most people wouldn't recognize me, but there's always the chance someone might, and then I wouldn't be able to be out as often." He grinned wickedly, pulling Remus tightly against him. "Can't have that when there is something else I'd much rather be doing."
"Spoiled brat." Remus muttered, fingers moving over the soft material of Ori's utterly ridiculous jacket. It must have cost at least three marks, with all that embroidery. He couldn't stop touching it, wanted to roll around on a bed covered in it. "What in the fuck is this material, anyway?"
"A weakness to be exploited, clearly," Ori said with a chuckle, capturing his hands and lifting them to kiss Remus' fingers. He smiled happily, as free and open as only children and spoiled idiots could be, but Remus was incapable of not smiling back, which just made Ori smile more. "It's called velvet, and it has something to do with something I wanted to ask you. Would you be willing to go along with my on an adventure this evening? I brought you a change of clothes if you didn't want to risk those, since I knew you've another challenge tomorrow and do not have several scores of servants to wash and repair everything."
Remus rolled his eyes, but his smile never faltered. "Yes, tragic really. Poor me. What sort of adventure?"
"A small gathering."
"A small gathering." Remus repeated. "You're not supposed to be spending time with me, and you want to go to a party?"
"That won't be a problem," Ori said with a mischievous little smile. "So if that's your only objection—"
"When you say small, do you mean my idea of small or your idea of small?' Remus asked, because he had a sneaking suspicion they had a vastly different perceptive on the definition.
Ori seemed to realize the same. "Umm... no more than two hundred."
"No." Remus replied easily, taking a step back to stand his ground. It would be far more difficult to say no to Ori with his fingers tracing faint outlines over his ribs. "I don't know how to do any of that sort of dancing and whatever else you do. That's for your lot."
"Soon to be your lot, too, if you win the Tournament." Ori snapped. "We're not all evil and lazy and useless. You spend your nights drinking at the bar. We have parties. It's not that much different. But fine, forget it, we'll do something else." He bent and picked up the satchel that had been resting against his legs and swung it over his shoulder, face expressionless save for the tightness around his mouth. He didn't quite look at Remus as they started walking. "What would you like to do? We could grab a bite to eat at ta pub or rent a room for the night and eat in."
Remus wasn't sure why he even bothered. He had started to feel his resolve crumbling the moment Ori's bright eyes had lit up at the mention of a party. He sighed. If he could yell at the Realm's Consort on stage in front of everyone then he could suffer through a party for a few hours.
"Well, we'll need to rent a room if I'm going to change into whatever nonsense you have sorted for me. I prefer to be paid if I'm to strip in public." Remus paused in his steps, smirking over at Ori who was slowly getting the picture, his expression a mix of hope and wariness. "Unless, that is what you had in mind? In that case—"
"We don't have to go." He said quickly, "I know you hate anything related to High City."
"Not everything." Remus said quietly, avoiding Ori's eyes as he added, "There's this spoiled brat I can't seem to get rid of. I even tried once, but he came right back, like a stray puppy."
"I am not a stray puppy," Ori replied with mock affront. "And anyway, I was sort of hoping... so, I've already booked us a room for the night so we wouldn't have to wander too far after."
"How very presumptuous of you..." Remus muttered as he let Ori hold his hand and begin dragging him in the right direction, over the bridge.
"One of my many charms," Ori said with a smirk and then began prattling excitedly about the 'small gathering' they were to attend. Hosted by a merchant to celebrate his daughter's recent betrothal, the kind of festivity that always brought people— invited and not— in droves for the chances at free food and drink.
From all the things Ori was carefully not saying, Remus suspected they were going to be the 'not invited' type of guest. Also by the way Ori was basically spilling at the seems over the idea, Remus thought this may be one of the most daring things he did outside of escaping to meet him most nights. Remus hated that he found it adorable.
"We're sneaking into a party. Is this your idea of illicit behavior? Because I could top the excitement and throw in an idea or two to help keep the night of debauchery never ending. Let's see..." Remus glanced up as if thinking hard, "Would you have a fit of conscience if you, say, had to cut a purse?"
Ori seemed to pick up on the teasing immediately and rolled his eyes. "I'll have you know I once stole two marks from Uncle Alphard. He'd be in charge of me one summer and told me I couldn't go to the fair with James because my brother would want to go too and he was to young. So, naturally, I was determined to go. He'd left a bag of coins in his desk so I stole two marks from it."
Remus mock gasped. "No. Let me guess, the room was empty and he never noticed."
"Piss off." Ori retorted giving Remus a slight shove, though without letting up his grip on his hand.
Remus laughed so hard he had to cling to Ori to keep from falling over. "How thrilling! And what did you do with your ill-gotten gains?"
"I snuck them back in the next day. Out of my family, my Uncle is actually agreeable. I felt guilty stealing from him so I returned it they way I found it." Ori said with a sigh, forcing Remus to come to a complete stop because he was laughing so hard. Ori scowled and nudged his thigh with his knee. "It's not that funny! And I'm far more inclined to run off my parents money nowadays, I assure you.
Remus kept laughing, and harder still when Ori shoved him against the bridge railing and stomped off. Getting his laughter under control, Remus ran after him and wrapped his arms around his waist playfully squeezing him as he squirmed.
"Let go of me," Ori grumbled, a notable flush to his skin.
"No. I don't think I will." Remus said, clinging tighter. "You may be of use to me yet, though I'm not sure we'll be preforming any complex heists any time soon."
Ori released a heavy sigh, "I knew I shouldn't have told you about that. You'll never let it rest, now."
"It's adorable."
"M'Not adorable." Ori muttered, shivering when Remus nipped at his ear.
"Sure you aren't, fancy boy." Remus said and started moving to walk again hiding his smile against Ori's arm as they walked.
He'd never wandered through so much of High City. Normally, he went right to where his mother worked, and the only other time he'd wandered elsewhere had been to do her a favor, and he'd instantly regretted it after all the sneering looks and keeps he'd gotten for being so glaringly out of place.
Ori, still grumpy, but cheerful mood steadily returning, lef him to a pretty, two-story building painted green and yellow, marked with a sign and ornate lettering. Even the signs were well tended it seemed, Remus noted. Oddly observant of the small detail as he tried to picture a similar sign keeping up appearances near Butcher Street. Probably not. Things withered away there.
Once inside, Ori ignored the front desk and simply went straight up the stairs and to a room about halfway down the hall. "Here we are, and by the time you're ready, the party should be busy enough we can slip in."
"You can't steal two slick from a man who will never miss it when there's no one around to see you do it, but you can sneak into a party."
"One of those is illegal, and the other is expected," Ori replied. "Affairs like this always plan for uninvited guests. If you host a party and don't wind up with at least twice as many people as you invited, the party is an embarrassing failure."
Remus rolled his eyes. "Saying that in a tone of voice that implies its the most obvious logical thing in the world does not, in fact, make it sound any less ridiculous." He caught the satchel Ori tossed at him, set it on the bed, and flipped it open. "Speaking of ridiculous—"
"Oh for the love of— just stop fussing and put it on. I had to guess a bit on the measurements, but it should fit."
"It's..." Remus ran his fingers over the delicately woven fabric, "far too much."
Ori made a noise of amusement, exasperation, and fondness all at once. He strode over to the bed and pulled out the velvet and silk clothes inside: blue hose, a long, tunic-like jacket that was blue on the right side, gold on the left, and the sleeves the opposite. It was all so soft, the material smooth and faintly shiny with newness. And all far too fine for him, but he didn't seem to have much choice as Ori began to impatiently undress him. It wasn't until Remus felt his knuckles brush the buttons on his trousers that he had to still Ori's eager hands.
"Alright, alright—" Remus had to step away and adjust himself. "Stop that, unless you want to be even later than we already are."
Ori blinked up at him in confusion from where he was kneeling before him. Remus rolled his eyes and explained, "You start undressing me and my body expects certain things to follow."
A smirk spread over Ori's lips and really, with him on his knees like that, it wasn't helping.
"Later." Ori promised as he stood up and stepped out of Remus' space. "Hurry then."
Remus gave him a look, but did as he was told. When he glanced up at Ori he found the other man grinning brilliantly at him.
"Well? Am I suitably tarted up?" Remus asked, glancing down and tugging at the bottom of the jacket, which cut off far too soon for his liking, and he much preferred his breeches to the clinging hose. Everything was just... so tight. Remus lifted his arms and then quickly placed them down again, not entirely sure if he should be feeling that much air flow.
"Amazing." Ori's voice sounded a tad husky and Remus was immediately reminded of how tight the hose were. This was certainly going to be an issue. "I mean," Ori continued on, eyes raking over Remus' long frame. "I was looking at you in the pub long before you demanded to know why I was sitting there reading. You could be mistaken for a prince easy."
"Flattery will get you nothing you're already getting. Shall we get going to this party of yours?"
"Merlin, you're horrible at accepting compliments." Ori said, not moving when Remus offered his hand. "Why don't you believe me whenever I tell you that you're gorgeous?"
"Because I'm not, though I enjoy you think so," Remus replied.
Ori sighed and took Remus' hand— and lifted it to his lips to kiss before letting go again. Remus frowned when he still didn't move to leave. "Not quite ready." Before Remus could ask, he went over to the satchel and pulled something out. Two somethings, in fact. Beautiful velvet domino masks, one green, the other blue, both trimmed in colorful feathers and glittering jewels Remus assumed— hoped— were made of glass or paste. "This party is a half-hearted masque."
"Half-hearted?"
"With a full masque, no one is allowed to reveal their costumes to anyone else, and the mask must be full-face. Even the king could mingle and none would be the wiser. Half-hearted is everyone wearing masks to excuse their inappropriate behavior, and while some do keep their identities secret, most don't bother."
"Do this often do you?"
"What?"
"Play pretend?" Remus asked and almost regretted it as the smile Ori had been wearing since seeing him faded into a thoughtful frown. "I just mean— both versions sound reckless, even dangerous."
"That's the appeal." Ori countered, clearly trying to wipe whatever thought entered his mind away.
"For idiots," Remus couldn't help but mutter.
Ori snickered. "So says the man who took the great Albus Dumbledore to task for making him go shopping. Hold still."
Huffing slightly at the unwanted reminder, Remus held still and let Ori tie the mask in place. It felt strange, slightly scratchy against his skin, and was already growing too warm.
"Now you look all handsome and mysterious, like a secret prince from a far-off land, come to seduce a winsome local."
Remus laughed. "I would say you have us mixed up, but me as a winsome anything is as ridiculous as be being a prince." He smiled and reached out to touch Ori's cheek below the edge of his mask. "You, however... mysterious and prince in disguise wouldn't be far off."
"Fallen to the charms of a handsome commoner," Ori said with an unsteady laugh and his eyes darted down quickly before clearing his throat and bouncing on his toes a bit, slightly too anxious. "So, shall we go to the party?"
"I suppose we shall." Remus replied with a sigh.
"Look on the bright side." Ori announced as they exited the inn and Remus lifted a brow at him. "There's going to be plenty of free food and drink. Your second favorite thing in this world."
Remus snorted, "And the first?"
Ori grinned over at him, brows lifting.
"Your absurd." Remus muttered and pulled him closer, wrapping his fingers deeper into the smooth fabric to squeeze Ori's hip where he knew he was most ticklish. It earned him a soft yelp, but neither of them moved out of the others grasp as they continued through the city streets.
The closer they got though, Remus felt the anxiety rise in his chest. There were bustling carriages, horses and more people than he cared to count. If the space outside was that crowded, how overstuffed must the house itself be?
He faltered as they reached it, but Ori held fast to him and dragged him along, and then they were in a mass of drunk, singing, and trying-to-dance people. And that was just the courtyard. Inside the house, things were moderately calmer, but only in that there was an actual space for dancing and the drunks were mostly clustered around the buffet tables or leaning against the walls.
"Here," Ori said and thrust a cup into his hands. It proved to be filled with some dark, spicy wine that was nothing like Remus had even tasted.
After several sips, he finally made himself stop for a moment. "What is this, and is there any chance I could ever have more?"
Ori gave a soft laugh, and Remus looked up to see Ori staring at him with a smile that did funny things to Remus' heart. "I don't think Ive ever seen you so excited and happy about anything. You're so easy and willing to go along with my ideas, as long as it's nothing to ridiculous that will make you uncomfortable. I'm always so frustrated about what I can give you that you'd really, truly like, and you're enamored of Lovegood's spiced wine?"
Remus' shoulders hunched. "Is that a bad thing? I can drink something else. I wasn't—"
"No!" Ori interjected. "I'm excited. It's wonderful. I hate the stuff, but Lily adores it; so James practically keeps the Lovegood's in business all on his own to give to her. I'll bring you some next time we meet."
Where in the world would Remus keep wine? It wasn't like his little room had the space for even a small cask. But he didn't say anything for present, just went along as Ori fetched his own cup of some tart, white wine and then dragged I'm over to the food tables.
"So this is a betrothal party in High City?" Remus asked, looking around the milling people, the dance floor where everyone moved to intricate steps he could barely follow.
"Is it so different from Low City? We are all of the one Realm, aren't we? Whatever the divides."
Remus shook his head, smiling faintly. "Far from… in Low City we're lucky if we can afford a wedding party. Who has time or money to host a party simply to announce an engagement? My parents… Well, they never wanted to marry, so I guess they're not the best example. But usually, at least from the few odd parties I've attended, you have a nice dinner with both families, and if the money can be scraped together, there might be a fancy cake or nice wine. That's about it. Wedding celebrations are held wherever it's not too crowded or in the temple courtyard, since they don't charge there, and sometimes the ale sellers will sell at a discount for a wedding celebration, so there's plenty to go around. Most of the time, everyone who can brings food to save some of the cost. And we drink and dance until everyone has to go home to be ready for work the next day."
"Ah," Ori said, face falling. "I'm sorry, I keep making stupid assumpt—"
Remus leaned up and cut him off with a kiss. He tasted like white wine, but Remus hardly minded. "There's no need to apologize, so stop looking so put out. We're at a party; you aren't supposed to frown." He tugged Ori closer, tilting his chin up with a finger and gave him another kiss, dragging his tongue across Ori's lips in a way that guaranteed a full-body shiver.
Drawing back, looking much more his usual cheerful self, Ori said, "I'm fairly certain you are supposed to dance though."
"I really have no clue how to dance— well at least not that kid of dancing." Remus tipped back his glass until it was gone as he eyed the intricate weaving of dancers moving about the dance floor.
Ori cast the dance floor an unimpressed look. "Neither do they. Come on."
Remus barley had a chance to place his cup down before he was being dragged into the crush and pushed into a line of people directly opposite a line Ori stood in—
And then they were dancing, or something that passed for dancing amongst a bunch of drunk, laughing people. No one seemed to mind that he stumbled as often as he succeeded at mimicking what they were doing. Nor were he and Ori the only ones using every close pass to steal a kiss or madly inappropriate touch.
Maybe it wasn't all that different from Low City after all.
By the time they stopped, he was breathless from dancing and laughing, smiling so hard it almost hurt. He went easily when Ori guided him off the dance floor with a renewed urgency. Remus had been looking for the serving trays to get his hands on some more wine when he felt Ori yanking him in another direction. He felt Ori push him into a dimly lit corner and press his body firmly against his own and his mouth instantly found his in what could only be described as a thorough ravishment— or as much as one could be ravished with clothes on and masks covering part of both their faces.
Remus could feel every inch of the soft fabric gliding between them and as much as he enjoyed it, he really, really, wanted it to disappear. He was no longer concerned if anyone could see them and gladly gave in to the subtle movements of their bodies that created the most sensual friction he had ever felt.
Pulling away, Ori grinned at him. "Having fun?"
"I have more fun when your mouth is against mine," Remus replied and pulled him close again, licking Ori's lips before pushing his tongue in deep, still able to taste hints of white wine, but mostly tasting them. Ori's hands fluttered about, his light touches the best and worst sort of torment. At the slight pinch of Ori's fingers over his nipples, he was certain he had had enough of the party and would gladly carry the insufferable teasing tosser all the way back to their rented room. Remus moaned when Ori drew back enough that he had to stop kissing. "Come back here."
Ori laughed. "No, I want to play some more. I know that look, you're thinking of leaving already. When we've only just got here."
"You only have yourself to blame for my wanting to leave." Remus replied with a smirk, pressing his hips forward, allowing both of their harding lengths slide together.
Ori bit his lip, but kept his mouth from Remus' as he pressed his own hips forward in response. "How about some more wine and then we can see what games are to be had."
"As you wish, then, but I had better be compensated for my suffering later," Remus groused and went easily as he was dragged once more to the refreshments table before Ori whisked them off to the courtyard. Despite the crush, people were managing to play various games.
Ori eventually decided on one that involved hoops and stakes, betting farthings on who could throw the most hoops onto the stakes. Remus tried a few times and came out of it with two pennies, but mostly he was content to drink his wine and admire Ori. Remus was not the solitary-natured person that his mother was, happy to stay in her room with private amusements or play cards with one or two friends, but he wasn't quite used to the large numbers of people that Ori considered normal either. For all that Ori professed to prefer his books and solitude, he was remarkably outgoing most of the time and even looked in his element on display for a larger audience. Then again, they almost always stayed in or did something just the two of them, and Remus didn't think that was entirely for his own benefit or even because they shouldn't be spending time together.
Whatever they did, Remus could happily watch Ori the entire time. Like now, as he watched Ori toss his head back in laughter at something someone said. Remus' breath caught on the sharp, hard pain twisting in his chest. He'd vowed not to think about it, because there was little point, but the unhappy fact loomed all the same, waiting for a chance to foul his good mood with reality. And for all that Ori's laughter was beautiful, it was also a painful reminder that there would be a day when Remus would no longer know the sound— that it would belong to another.
Enjoy it while it lasts was a common phrase in Low City. Because nothing lasted forever, especially the good things. But enjoying Ori while he could wasn't going to make it any easier when he finally lost and went back to his ordinary life, and Ori inevitably drifted away to marry whoever won his hand in the Tournament.
He startled when Ori abruptly turned and looked at him, and drew a sharp breath as Ori strode up and grabbed his arms, squeezing gently. "What's wrong?"
"I was about to ask you the same," Ori said, eyes flickering over every inch of Remus' expression with concern. "You look so sad, like you did that day we crossed paths after our fight. Is everything— Did I do something?"
Remus shook his head. "No. I'm fine. Just cold." Then he forced a small smile before adding, "You should warm me up."
With a soft growl, Ori stretched up on his toes to kiss him, and Remus did not even care about the onslaught of comments and cheers being tossed at them. "I think we should adjourn to a private party."
"I agree completely," Remus replied, and yelped as they moved so quickly that his wine cup went tumbling from his fingers to be rapidly lost in the crush.
Back on the street, Ori pushed him up against a bit of wall and tore off their masks, taking a hungry, toothy kiss that made Remus painfully aware that his pants were fat tighter than he usually wore them. He pushed Ori back, if with greatest reluctance, and hissed, "You're going to get us arrested for obscenity. Behave."
"Fine, fine." Ori took his hand again as they headed back to their room for the night.
Remus' head was spinning from wine and dancing and illicit kisses. It was far too easy to forget all the things he should be worrying about as Ori worked at removing both of their clothing once they were back in their room. He made it seem as simple as breathing to banish the rest of the world and focus only on them. So he did. He focused on helping Ori strip their clothes from their bodies and kissing every strip of skin he could easily reach along the way— On letting Ori push him down into the soft bedding and have his every wicked way, because the only thing better than sinking deep into Ori's body and holding him close was the way Ori fucked him like he never intended to let Remus go, never wanted to be anywhere else.
Remus arched his back in hopes to meld their skin together as Ori thrust deeper. He had many lovers in the past, but none had ever been like this— face to face, slow and intimate kisses, eyes locked on the other and so fucking vulnerable. Ori was clinging to him, licking into his mouth with every slow pulse of his hips forward and Remus was lost to the heady, agonizing rhythm of it. He wanted to toss his head back and shut his eyes tight to stop himself from finding his release so soon, but Ori's fingers were firmly gripping his chin, keeping his mouth and eyes a breath from his until Remus found it nearly impossible not to come, and fuck— how did Ori do that? He hadn't even varied the slow, torturous rhythm, but with his grey eyes holding his and warm breath slipping into his own panting mouth Remus gave in completely, only vaguely surprised to feel Ori following after him in seconds.
When they finally shifted apart, Ori rolling onto his back next to him, they were both breathless. Remus turned on his side and lifted his head to rest in his palm to stare down at the infuriatingly beautiful and puzzling mess of a man before him. Ori's eyes fluttered open, the faintest of smiles stretching over his lips. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
Remus rolled his eyes and leaned down to kiss his swollen lips once before pulling him to lay his head over his chest.
"You're—" Remus started and then stopped himself, shaking his head, unable to finish his sentence without feeling his throat fill with something he certainly wasn't going to admit to. He shook his head and let out a soft laugh into Ori's hair that was now spiraling out of his loose braid, cascading over Remus' chest and neck.
"That was—" Ori breathed in equal befuddlement.
"Yeah." Remus replied, swallowing whatever refused to dislodge itself. "I've never--"
"Me either." Ori said, nuzzling his nose against Remus' chest before settling his cheek on his shoulder. "Never like that."
"Yeah." Remus repeated and tightened his hold on Ori's waist to pull him closer, which was hardly possible. The sudden urge to cry was building behind his eyelids and he quickly inhaled a deep breath. "I'm not going to have any energy for whatever they're subjecting me to tomorrow."
"You'll be fine. I have every faith." Ori nuzzled him again. "Just watch, you'll win the whole thing."
"I will not." Remus grumbled, fighting the stinging hurt that was begging to spill out. Why was Ori so excited to see him do well? Why didn't he want Remus to lose? Wasn't he at all upset that eventually they'd have to end their relationship? Did he care so little that if Remus won he'd marry someone else and they'd be driven that much further apart?
Remus cut the thought off with a soft snarl, grateful that Ori seemed to be already drifting off.
Stupid. They were having an affair, the sort of fun that was meant to be temporary. As sweet and fun and damnably endearing as Ori was, they both knew this would never last. Ori was probably just happy for him that he might have a promising list ahead of him. Who wouldn't want to become a prince?
Except Remus had no desire to be a damned prince. If he had to start over in a whole new life… he'd rather it be because Ori wanted him there.
But Ori didn't, or he wouldn't be so happy that Remus might win the Tournament.
So, fine. He would work harder at simply enjoying the moments, make certain he lost the next challenge, and that would be that.
It was still a long while before he was finally able to fall asleep.
