Those that the beast is looking for | listen in awe and you'll hear him

[purmoncul]

WHO: Sirius Black & Moonyfolks
WHERE: Moonybase
WHEN: RIGHT NOW
WARNINGS: Marauders
SUMMARY: Sirius is back and he needs his bros.
FORMAT: I like the paragraphs but I will do ALL OF THE FORMATS for you. :>

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[purmoncul]

Sirius smiles like it's Christmas and half falls, half flings himself at Remus with a wordless cry. He is as painfully thin now as he was back in the shack.

"I was on my way to London with Buckbeak here. The children freed me-"

And THERE you are, James. Sirius reaches out without letting go of Remus, needing the extra crush of James's hug. They squeeze the air right out of him, but who needs air when the men you love better than brothers are here, NOT dead, NOT monstrous, just as you remember them.

NO ONE IS TO COMMENT ON THE FACT THAT HE IS CRYING. HE'S JUST...GIVING HIS FACE A BATH OR SOMETHING BECAUSE HE'S ALL DIRTY AND REMUS IS SO NICE AND CLEAN AND HE NEEDS TO SET A GOOD CIVIL EXAMPLE FOR JAMES WHO EVERYONE KNOWS IS A TERRIBLE REPROBATE. HE'S JUST BEING THOUGHTFUL OKAY BECAUSE THAT'S THE KIND OF GUY HE IS.

But then he starts laughing because Prongs is smiling and having a go at him, and it's so right. He must look completely mad, he knows, but in truth this is what it looks like to go sane.

"Well they got a bit tetchy after I tricked the devil into giving me complete control over the place and I instituted summer holidays to Purgatory for everyone. Apparently that goes against the nature of the place."

[thelionharted]

"That does sound like you," James agrees, and gives him one last tight hug before pulling back. He gestures at Buckbeak vaguely, then looks back at Sirius.

"That's Buckbeak, then? How'd you manage to pick him up?" He takes a moment to look at Sirius, properly look, now. He'd been too distracted by hightailing it over to Moonybase to pay attention, apparently, and he settles back on his heels. Sirius looks older. A bit madder, loads thinner. Clearly, the best way to fix this is to make jokes.

"Look, you've got a new four-legged friend and you're older. Shall I be getting you a cane and a rocking chair too, then? I already owe you some dog biscuits."

[purmoncul]

Buckbeak allows the contact but not much more. It was not very long ago that he and this werewolf had fought...but there was no fear in the air here. The great eagle head looks between the three men, assuming that at some point one of them was going to produce a stoat or something for him to eat.

Sirius keeps his hands on both of their shoulders, leaning on them to keep himself on his feet physically and emotionally. "Only if you want me to shove them both up your nose. Wouldn't say no to the chair though, to be perfectly honest."

"Harry was brilliant, James. Chip off the old block, no denying it. He stole this hippogriff and broke me out of a tower to save me from the Dementors. Remus, too, of course. We almost had Peter, he and I. Almost got him back for your...for..."

Losing coherence, Sirius breaks off briefly, stiff and insane before seeming to shake it off. He turns to Remus, a smile twitching back onto his face.

"You're alright though, Moony? Dumbledore mentioned...he said what Snape did..." Sirius searches Remus in return, then shakes his head again and laughs. "Oh, listen to me. As if it wasn't years in the past for you. Forgive me, mates, I've got two sets of memories now and am too hungry to sort them all out."

He gives Remus a more genuine, grateful smile, but underneath it all he just looks...lost. There are years of despair behind his eyes that seem to suck the light out of them if you look too closely.

[thelionharted]

"Let's get some food in you, then," James says, wrapping an arm around Sirius' shoulders. He may not be Molly Weasley, but he can at the very least make an amazingly good sandwich.

"And some food in Buckbeak, too; what do hippogriffs eat anyhow?" The worry for his friend is rather outweighing his desire to hear more about his son, but it'll pop up again later.

"Then you two can tell me what in hell Sirius is on about," he adds, with a bit of a helpless shrug. This is one event that he can't help with, no matter how much he hates seeing both Sirius and Remus like this. This is after his time, and it hurts to know he can't do anything about it.

[purmoncul]

"I don't think he'd go for Pess, but you'd best keep her inside, then."

Going inside is like walking into heaven. It smells like home. And there's the dog in question, bowling into Sirius until he wobbles enough to plop onto the floor despite James's efforts. Sirius is laughing though, hands ruffling behind her ears, and seems perfectly content to settle on the kitchen floor to let her investigate all the strange smells he's brought home with him, and lick his face.

"Hello, gorgeous! What a good girl she is, what a love! Who ate all my treats, then? Was it you? Did you eat them all, you greedy thing?"

[thelionharted]

"They have been donated to the cause of 'red-headed ladies with new puppies what need controlling,' James says cheerfully. "Gemma got a puppy for her birthday, it was running around chasing monkeys. I offered to stop by with treats." He ruffles Pess absently and heads towards the kitchen.

"Do you want a sandwich? Take-out? What?"

[purmoncul]

Sirius just shakes his head. "Anything. As long as there's a lot of it. And I'm not even going to ask about the monkey thing." He doesn't want to tell James that he's been living off of what Padfoot could scrounge in bins and handouts for the past few months, though he suspects that Remus knows. Really, anything that was actually specifically made for him to eat will taste fantastic.

Pess settles down right on Sirius's lap, covering him in big heavy dog. Which is wonderful. He's ragged and dirty enough that it's hard to tell where man ends and dog begins, except that the dog smells better. "We'll introduce them, and he'll leave her alone. Hagrid had him chained up by his hut and he never had trouble with the other animals."

Hagrid had a particular way with animals, but it didn't seem to occur to Sirius that he might not have the same success.

It is quiet for exactly thirty seconds before Sirius speaks up again. "So tell me...tell me how your girls are, my lads. Ruka and Lily."

[thelionharted]

"I should be, I think Tonks will cover for me. Told her where I was going, anyway." He glances at Remus. "Do you want to order in or something? I can't remember what we have at the moment." He sprawls down in a chair and runs a hand through his hair, then turns to face Sirius.

"Lily's, er, not here," he replies, sighing. "She went back home around the same time you did." It hasn't been a pleasant two months or so for James, unfortunately.

[purmoncul]

"Oh James. She'll...she'll be back. It didn't all happen at once. She'll be back again." He didn't really believe it - he knew better than anyone save James and Lily themselves what had been happening when Lily had been ported in here, and that there was no escape from that fate, but he would have said anything to lift James's spirits. And who knew? He'd just gotten his friend back from the dead, maybe Lily would blink back before the final spell was cast...

He was grateful for Moony and the beam of light that were his children. Sirius watches Remus's smile, it made him feel better than seeing his first sunrise after his escape. There was something in Sirius that knew that he would feel better if all the world was on fire, if only Remus smiled. He could weather anything. Could have. Anything...

"I could eat General Tso and all his chickens," he answers, hoarse. "And it sounds like we'll need them, if Rua's back too. Merlin, I barely remember him. Just how sad Ruka was when he left." Thinking about Ruka made him realize just how much he wanted to see her and make sure she was alright...and just as suddenly afraid of what she'd think of him now. She took it hard when everyone left, and Remus...

He'd make it up to them. Somehow.

[thelionharted]

"I hope so," James says quietly. "You did, anyway, even if you're all old now," he adds, with a teasing grin. "Are you trying to make me feel out of place?"

He stretches a little and looks thoughtful. "Alright, ordering in, then. Pizza? Chinese? I don't mind, but Sirius, you choose. It's your food anyway." He chances another glance at Sirius, slightly worried now. It was odd, having both his best friends older than him. One moment he was planning new motorbikes with Sirius; the next Sirius was old, and different, and at the very least James could see that something was not entirely right, even if his best friend wasn't admitting it.

[purmoncul]

"Your own son made you feel old, Prongsie, there's no hope for you." He leans back, closes his eyes, thinks of Harry and smiles.

"I want all of those things, and five hamburgers, and an entire bucket of spaghetti. And to never move again. ...Except to have a shower. I can't...heh heh heh heh, I believe I am sitting in your very nice kitchen getting dirt and hippogriff sweat all over your floor, Moony. That you can stand for such disgrace." He shifts Pess off of himself and wobbles to his feet.

"Alright. Shower. Now. Remus, I believe the good General called China home, you are in charge of summoning him here, because apparently the bloody convict is the one giving orders tonight. And get those little rangoon things, those are brilliant. Ha ha HA HA HA oh god I am going to choke on nostalgia for this Spring I cannot weather this intact! James, you help a rickety old man down the stairs so that I can go mad in the privacy of our own shower."

He'd...almost asked Remus but he was already coming apart at the seams.