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Remus Lupin, while a very bright man, was also not quite a bright man at all. He could recite long lists to you backwards and forwards, give you a proper book analysis within a few hours tops (one if he were in a hurry), his favorite pastimes included ridiculously hard jigsaw puzzles, and he could play quite a few songs on the piano that were considered quite tricky. He also consistently had jokes and other subtleties fly right over his head, got lyrics he’d heard a million times wrong and insisted he was right, could burn water when he dared to cook anything outside of the basics, and the worst of all refused to accept or seek out help on learning things properly. If he didn’t learn it himself, he felt unsatisfied and often would just not learn it at all or keep trying no matter what.
Tonight Remus was playing piano for a trans poetry event his friend, Alice, helped to organize. They loved it when musicians got involved and added atmosphere to spoken word, and they only wanted trans artists involved in this project. Which ticked all the boxes for Remus. A trans, self taught pianist who was damn proud of his skills even though he was sure many classically trained would turn their nose up at him. But he didn’t care much for the opinions of those that didn’t like things to be done outside of the exact “right” way.
The night had been going so well so far. The poets had done a great job to describe the vibe of their poems so he could provide the right accompaniment. He was getting plenty of tips in the light blue vase he brought with him to shows. And he was even catching a few eyes that made him feel more confident about his appearance that evening. He’d decided on his favorite silvery blue cardigan with a white moon on the tiny breast pocket, a pink floral print shirt that made him look particularly ‘rosey’, and nearly white light blue jeans that were distressed and had been cuffed to look as gay as possible.
It was an intermission when he realized he needed to use the bathroom all of a sudden. He tucked his tip vase behind the table Alice was sitting and they gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before he popped off to the much needed bathroom. The venue had gender neutral bathrooms which was great and he slipped into the closest one to assess the situation. No one at the two urinals, not that that would be a potential problem here, and three stalls. One was clearly occupied since the door was closed and he could see a pair of sparkly, pastel rainbow platform sneakers where the gap at the bottom was. The shoes made him feel a little bit intimidated, like a commoner about to sit next to royalty. Especially with his fairly plain and old black dress shoes (he didn’t really have much in the way of shoes).
But staring at very flashy and cute shoes was not why he was here so he went over to the disabled toilet to check it out. He immediately saw it was terribly clogged and swore under his breath, he’d tell Alice after he took care of business so it wasn’t inaccessible for others who needed it. Luckily he could get by without. He quickly stepped over to the stall on the over side of the occupied and was relieved to see it was in fairly pristine condition for a public toilet.
Remus closed and locked the door behind him and then took off his cardigan to hang on the little to avoid any possible mishappenings with it. Then he took a breath and looked down at his zipper as he began to pep talk himself inside his head. ‘You can do this. You’ve used your packer properly at least a few times now. It’s easy. Just be careful getting your pants down and go slow. No one’s watching. You got this.’ The packer was a new tool Remus had added to his gender affirming tool set after putting off buying it for so long. It made him feel fairly euphoric but he’d had trouble quite a few times with it and refused to look up more tips outside of the rudimentary how to. He could figure it out. He just had to keep doing it till he got it down right like a piece on the piano.
Oh so carefully he got his jeans partially down before he went for his boxer briefs. Then it happened. The thing that often did but usually he was better at handling it. His packer seemed to spring from his underwear instead of being held snug in place and he went to catch it like he usually did but hands only found air. His packer, as blue as a fucking smurf, fell on the floor and rolled under the partition and into the other stall.
“Oh.” There was a pause from the very pleasantly sing song voice before they cleared their throat to speak again. “Um your… dick fell.”
They sounded almost as awkward (although still very pleasant) as Remus felt as he lightly thunked his head against the partition. He’d just wanted to go to the bathroom and now his cock had run away to bother this complete stranger. After a painstakened sigh he finally answered, “Why yes, yes it did.”
Remus looked down at the ground and cursed everything in the world that could be cursed including and especially his own stubbornness and arrogance.
“Could you… could you pass it back to me? I hate to ask but-”
“No, no it’s okay,” they assured in such a sweet and understanding tone it made Remus want to tear up a little. “I got you, or well, it. Um here you go.” A very soft and elegant hand with sparkly black nails entered his stall from the gap underneath with his packer in hand.
He took it quickly but gently from them and sighed a remorseful thank you as he sat down. ‘There was no point in struggling and standing now.’ The whole string event had him mortified but at least a little happy that the person next to him wasn’t an asshole about it.
“So… does that happen often?”
‘Toilet bowl, please end this and suck me into the sewers.’ It was a fair question after being accosted by the thing and he was sure they were mostly asking to break the tension. “I’m usually better at catching it, but yes. I hate to admit, it indeed does.” There was another pause and Remus wondered if they were silently judging him now and put off by his inability.
“If it’s any consolation, it’s a very pretty shade of blue. One of my favorites even.”
Remus was the first to let out a surprised chuckle before the two were both quietly laughing in their stalls. That had been the last thing he’d expected the other person to say but it made him feel a bit more at ease. “Thank you. I like it too. I mean, it may not be obvious but I picked it out myself.”
There were more delightful giggles from his stall neighbor and Remus decided he liked it the same way he favored a few pairings of piano keys played in succession. “Aw man, you didn’t get your government mandated one at birth?”
“Nope. They missed me. Maybe it rolled away into another crib.”
“The true trans experience.”
The two were laughing a little breathlessly and he could see them shifting their feet around as if they were having a hard time staying still. It all had Remus absolutely tickled at how beautifully unique and ridiculous the experience was. How many people could tell a story quite like this?
A silence rested comfortably over the bathroom as it seemed the two were finishing their business in perfect time. His neighbor stepped out first as he was getting his cardigan back on, he’d made quick work of his packer since he wasn’t planning on using it properly tonight anymore. When Remus stepped out of the bathroom and looked into the mirror he had to pause as grey going on nearly silver eyes stared back at him.
He’d never seen a more beautiful pair of eyes that reminded him both of antique mirrors and skies during the rain that would soon usher in a storm. They were accompanied by a very elegant face including a long beautiful nose, pouty lips painted with a blue that was very familiar, and stunning eyeshadow on their eyelids that were a gradient from blue to pink. Raven hair sat in an artfully messy bun on top of their head and they had a little dark stubble that made Remus want to touch.
Those adorably flashy shoes matched their patchwork pastel button down; they had tied to show their midriff and the sleeves pushed up to display beautiful tattooed arms. The outfit was completed with black denim shorts, fishnets, and an array of pretty accessories Remus wanted to get a close look at to see all of the details. They were art.
Finally he smiled shyly instead of staring dumbfounded and walked up to the sink next to him to wash his hands. Both seemed to be sneaking glances at each other as he caught them looking at him in the mirror and then looking down quickly.
“You weren’t lying about that shade of blue being your favorite, huh?”
They looked up confused and blushing as if he’d hit the nail on the head of something they thought he didn’t know. Then it dawned on them by the little ‘o’ they made with their mouth before they chuckled and nodded. “Yeah. My lipstick. I wear it almost as much as my black or red.”
Remus smiled, feeling his confidence start to tip toe back in. “Well it looks damn good. So that makes sense.”
As they moved to dry their hands they seemed to be blushing more and biting the inside of their lip. In a moment Remus was finished and queuing up to get to the paper towels, but instead the pretty person with now dry hands handed a few to him.
“Thanks.”
“Any time. I’m Sirius by the way.”
He cocked his head in confusion and shook his head a little as he dried his hands quickly. “Serious about what?”
“No, silly, my name is Sirius. Sirius Black. My pronouns are they/them/theirs and I’m introducing myself to you finally. Seems only proper after handling your cock.”
Remus let out a surprised laugh at both the crass comment and the fact he’d misunderstood them in such an amusing way. “Right. It’s nice to meet you Sirius. I’m Remus Lupin. Pronouns are he/him/his or they/them/theirs.” He tightened a fist around the paper towels he’d used in one hand and held his free hand out to them.
They took it gently, looking very amused as well and the two shook hands like proper queers in a bathroom.
“You’re the guy on the piano, right? I’ve been blown away all night by how lovely you play. I want my sets to be accompanied by such lovely tunes.”
“Thank you so much. I’ve really enjoyed playing for spoken word artists and similar. Such great collabs. You’re a poet? I didn’t see your name on the set list.”
“Oh, I’m not here for a gig. My friends, James and Lily, are performing towards the end. I just had back to back performances so I needed a night to just enjoy.”
Remus nodded and recalled the names on the set list and their performance descriptions. “James and Lily are the couple with really drastically different styles. I’m excited to play for them. I wish we had an open mic going so I could hear your words but I completely support you simply enjoying the night.”
Sirius seemed to think for a moment before they tilted their head with a smile. “Well, you could come to my open mic I host at this little coffee shop around downtown. There’s even a little piano if you want to play or a speaker system if you’ve got a keyboard. Oh, and a gender neutral bathroom.” They paused as their grin turned just a little more cheeky. “I could be your bathroom buddy just in case you need help like that again.”
He scoffed but nodded with a bright smile and shuffled his feet, knowing he needed to go but not wanting to. “Okay, you’ve convinced me. I definitely want to check out the open mic… and I’d be very pleased if you were the one handling my little friend.”
It was a bit forward but it seemed to be exactly what Sirius had in mind as they bit the inside of their lip once more and raised their eyebrows.
The door to the bathroom opened and Alice peeked their head in. “Remus, five minutes till you’re back on, I know you need to get re-warmed up so get out here.”
Remus nodded quickly and straightened himself out as he anxiously shifted from one foot to the other. He had turned to leave and then realized he hadn’t gotten Sirius’ number but then really realized he needed to get back out there. “Catch me at the end of the show if you can or give Alice, the person with the pixie cut who just popped in, your number. I don’t want to lose you.”
“You couldn’t if you tried Remus. You’re stuck with me now.”
Remus sighed in relief as he began to walk out and called out behind him. “Good. I wouldn’t want it any other way.”