LMOM #27: Bits of Blue and Gold (PG-13) TITLE: Bits of Blue and Gold (27 of 31) AUTHOR:summerborn RATING: Remus/Severus PAIRING: PG-13 KINK: Fetish for certain parts of the body :) CHALLENGE: Lusty Month of May 2009 AUTHOR NOTES: This story takes place post-war, but follows canon only through HBP. You may wish to start at the beginning of the story. WORD COUNT THIS EPISODE: 1275
For a moment, Remus wasn't sure if Severus was even going to answer him. But surely in this setting, face-to-face with him in Draco's office, he wouldn't just flatly ignore him... Surely.
"As you like," Severus said at last, prompting another, slightly more strangled-sounding noise from Draco, which they both ignored. "I'll meet you at seven at the place you mentioned."
Remus couldn't do much more than grin and nod. He managed to make his excuses, and Severus stood aside as he passed, watching him inscrutably.
-:-
Some voice of insecurity wondered why, exactly, Severus had agreed so readily to a date. Remus pushed that voice away, along with all the voices that wondered how he would handle the oncoming full moon, how he would pay off his other debts, where was next month's rent going to come from. Tonight was a night for enjoyment, not for endless worries.
A few minutes before seven, he Apparated to Soho and made his way to the seafood restaurant he'd mentioned to Severus – how many days ago? – only to find Severus waiting for him. The host showed them to a table before Remus could do more than say 'hello,' and as he opened his menu to look it over, he hoped fervently that they would be able to find something to talk about. In other circumstances he might have resorted to talking business, or at least, Severus' business, but in this room full of Muggles, they would both have to watch what they said.
Severus didn't touch his menu, but sat watching Remus. Was that an amused expression? Possibly intrigued about something? Remus wasn't sure, but he thought he might be getting better at judging the man's mood. He indicated Severus' untouched menu. "Aren't you going to eat?"
"I intend to. You did, after all, say you were buying."
Remus smiled. "I did. You already know what you want, then?" Before his imagination could get carried away with supposing what Severus might... want, Remus rephrased his question. "Have you been here before?"
"No," Severus said. "But you said this is a seafood restaurant, so the decision is simple."
And he would say no more about it, until the waiter came to take their order. Remus raised his eyebrows when Severus asked for crab legs, but made no comment. He picked something, more or less at random, and turned his attention to his dinner companion.
Remus decided on a topic that seemed harmless enough, and nodded toward the huge fish tanks behind the bar, just visible from where they sat. "Interesting décor."
Severus said nothing, which Remus supposed he should have found annoying, but he couldn't help but think the amusement on Severus' face had increased, and that was all right with him.
He was content to let a little time pass in silence, alternately admiring something about the restaurant or watching Severus, who, after a few minutes of this, began to fidget with his wine glass. It drew attention to his hands, which Remus tried not to actually stare at, until finally Severus was the one who spoke.
"What is it you hope to accomplish here, Lupin?"
Remus glanced around at the crowded dining room. "Do you really want me to describe it in graphic detail, in public, Severus?"
Severus put down his glass quickly enough to slop the wine against the side of the glass. "That wasn't what I meant," he hissed.
"You did ask."
"I thought you would give me some rubbish about how innocent this was, how all you wanted was to 'spend time in my presence' or something equally ridiculous."
Remus was inclined to laugh, but he kept himself restrained to a smile out of deference for Severus' pride. "If you knew the answer you thought you would get, why did you ask?"
Severus leaned back in his chair, gazing away. "It wasn't the answer I got, was it?"
With that, he seemed inclined to look anywhere but at Remus, so Remus took advantage of the opportunity to study the man more thoroughly. Severus was dressed again in a well-made Muggle shirt, something that looked soft and at the same time crisp and clean. Remus could see an expanse of Severus' throat where the collar was open, a hint of collarbone, and he longed to touch – just there – to smell him again, taking a piece of Severus into himself with every breath.
I have kissed this man, he realized with a start. It seemed like something from one of his dreams. He'd better get his mind off of what he'd like to do to Severus before he said anything truly foolish.
"I was... surprised when you accepted my invitation."
Severus looked at him then, one appraising look, then away again. "In case you don't remember, you didn't ask this time; you told."
"I didn't think Severus Snape was the type to let anyone tell him what to do."
"Not anymore," Severus murmured, so softly Remus wasn't sure he was supposed to have heard. After a pause, he said in a normal voice, "I wanted the opportunity to thank you."
"Thank me? What for?"
"Your suggestions this morning. Our mutual acquaintance is convinced that something can be done, differently than the way we have been doing business, and to see him... enthused about a project again is a welcome change." Severus' tone had softened by then, and Remus felt himself smiling in response.
He was saved from having to say anything in response by the arrival of their dinners. Remus had some sort of tuna carpaccio, while Severus' crab legs had arrived on a bed of noodles, along with the required utensils for opening them up. Remus had barely taken two bites of his meal before his attention was completely arrested by watching Severus.
First, he removed a leg from the body of the crab with a practiced twist. Then he started from the tip of the leg, at each joint flexing once, twice, and then separating the sections with utmost care. There were ligaments and cartilage to remove, leaving the meat whole and untouched inside the shell Finally, Severus held the section of the leg in his hands, applying pressure with his thumbs until there was a crack. At that point he slowly, carefully, coaxed the meat out from the inside, keeping the chunk in one piece as he drew the shell away.
Remus realized he was staring, and he didn't stop when Severus popped the entire piece of crab meat into his mouth, letting his fingertip brush against his lip.
After Severus had finished the entire first leg without breaking a single piece of crab meat apart, Remus cleared his throat. "That's amazing." His voice was slightly hoarse, and he coughed, partially to clear it again and partially in embarrassment.
Severus popped the next leg off the body. "What do you mean?"
"I always have to use that little fork to get the bits out from inside."
Severus gave him a smug look and returned to his work. "You use too much force."
"Well, you have to, don't you? To get them open."
"Watch and learn." Severus took the longest part of the leg, again holding it by gripping each end in a hand, and pushed with his thumbs. "Too much force, and you'll break clean through." Snap. Again, the shell had cracked and the meat inside was intact.
Remus was watching, all right, watching as the hands he'd fantasized about were on display, the fingers he'd dreamed of sucking on busy applying just the right touch and all of this an arm's reach away from him.