James left Sirius with all of the new house guests. At first, Sirius didn't know what to do, but after suggesting a game of charades, the group's tension eased, and a party restarted.
After a few rounds, one of the guesses were contested, which Sirius had never known was a thing. The word had been wet, but the word that was guessed was water. Dorcas who had been acting out the word had told her team that they had guessed it. At that response, Marlene got up and started explaining the rules of charades, the difference between nouns and their connected adjectives, and how water isn't wet.
Five minutes into the tirade, Dorcas asked if she could use the kitchen. Sirius told her that if she could find unexpired food that wasn't take out, to be his guest. Gideon and Fabian left to rack up on the pool table. Marlene continued on her tirade, but in a moment, Sirius got a flash of a vision. Something he had been missing sorely. He reached for his sketch book and started drawing. The view of the city from the backseat window of a car. The notes of emotion were all mixed. Relieved, embarrassed, vulnerable, and anticipation. He was finishing the sketch when James and the woman he was pining after walked in. Remus behind them by a step or two.
Sirius had not taken a good look at Remus the first night they met. He was more focused on getting a read on the red head. James seemed not to fall for girls too often, but his emotions were strong and unwavering when he did. Sirius didn't want James to get too invested if the girl was obviously a heart breaker.
Remus was about a head taller than Sirius. The scars running down his face screamed fighter, but his sweater and khaki combo far outweighed the noise and screamed book nerd. His sandy blond hair was obviously cut at home as the pieces were all uneven. Sirius couldn't get Remus to meet his eyes the whole night, but when he caught the side view, Sirius saw that Remus hid his soul deep within himself. He could tell, because Sirius saw something similar when he first began to paint. Everything hidden and locked from the world. All his movements calculated, and words chosen with forethought.
At one point in the early morning, Remus had walked into the kitchen to grab water. Sirius was lounging on the couch. He didn't think that Remus had noticed him because all of his movements were soft. In the moment, he saw visions of his own hands going to trace Remus' scars and felt Remus mimic the movements on his own face. When it faded out, Sirius saw the intense hazel eyes staring at him with unknown passion. The connection was broken as soon as Sirius had made it clear that he was aware of the attention.
Thoughts and emotions began to overwhelm Sirius. Coming back to himself, the water was left untouched on the counter. The elevator closed with Remus inside of it without another glance.