Not Sleeping Like a Dog

[grimbiker]

Who: Sirius and Open
What: A great big “dog” sniffing around the Rig. Come and get any much needed therapy dog cuddles and a much more understanding dog than most-- or just find him shapeshifting.
Where: About the rig
When: Night, prior to the Adverse Rig Event
Warnings/Notes: References to imprisonment and dealing with the effects of that. There will be talk of murder and probably PTSD flashbacks in the thread with Remus. Smoking in the thread with Saturday. Will add more here as needed.

I can switch to actionspam if you prefer that.


A. Padding Around (Open)

Sirius couldn’t sleep. Considering he wasn’t welcome in his room and also that he’d taken to spending his nights as a dog lately, this wasn’t surprising. Sirius first started his nightly wandering of the halls as his usual self, then turned into his Animagus form. It was easier to be a dog, less painful, and the smells were far more interesting.

He also had the vague idea that if he were caught like this, he might be in less trouble. Or he might be in more. He’d find out once that happened.

He didn’t check out any rooms just yet. He was just wandering around and getting a mental layout of the place. If anyone approached him, he’d wag his tail and walk slowly toward them. Just a normal, friendly dog. Granted, this dog was huge Newfound-like dog, the size of a short person. Black and shaggy, he could be either terrifying or adorable, depending on one’s view.

Unless they happened to catch him while changing back to Sirius Black, as he sometimes did. In which case, they’d just get a sheepish grin.


B. I Solemnly Swear I Didn’t Betray Our Friends (Closed to Remus)

To say it had been a long day was an understatement. Sirius longed to sleep. And they had actual beds here. On the way to his room he imagined what it would be like to have a nice, restful night in peace and quie--

He stopped just inside of his room. He knew he’d have a roommate, of course. He just didn’t think it’d be…

“Remus,” he said quietly. “This is your room?”

The last time they’d talked had not gone well. It’d been pretty close to explosive, really. Sirius had little hope that this time would be better.

Comments

B

[thewholeofthemoon]

Remus had finally been allowed to slip away from the insipid party, though one of the guards had taken pity on him and took him to his assigned room. Not that Remus cared that much where he was sleeping. He just wanted to get horizontal for another eight to ten hours and try to sleep off the deprivation hangover he had.

Which had been fine. Right up until Sirius Black showed up in the doorway.

His shoulders tensed unconsciously, teeth bared in a grimace that was a common enough reaction to being surprised right after the full moon. If Sirius hadn't already guessed it had been near back home.

"According to the man who brought me here, yes. But, obviously, there must be some sort of mistake." He'd started to unzip the jumpsuit, which was practically the only thing he had here, anyway. There was a bag of undergarments, but that was easy enough to take with. "I'll simply find the correct one and be out of your hair."

[grimbiker]

At least he hadn't started yelling yet.

Sirius held up his hand and did not step away from the doorway. "Stop. If you feel like that, I'll go. I'm the one who can sleep anywhere." He started off sounding tired but at the last part he couldn't help a certain sharpness in his voice.

He shouldn't have to deal with this. Pettigrew was the traitor. He would never have betrayed James and Lily and Harry for God's sake. Remus should know that.

And then he remembered why he'd suggested Peter in the first place and all he felt was a wave of shame. He stepped back and looked aside for a moment. Meeting Remus's angry, bitter eyes was harder when Sirius knew that he deserved it.

[thewholeofthemoon]

He hadn't managed a nap, but he'd had food. That meant that Remus was already doing better than he'd been doing the night before.

Still cold, still tired, but at least not hungry.

"There are plenty of empty rooms around here. It won't be difficult to find somewhere to sleep."

Yes, Sirius could easily sleep anywhere. It doesn't mean he should HAVE to.

[grimbiker]

It had been a while since Sirius had experienced Remus's passive aggressive nature directed at him although Azkaban had forced him to relive those memories. In the past, Sirius had always deserved it. Not this time.

This time guilt didn't deflect his anger and it rose up in him though it remained controlled. "You're being ridiculous. I can leave if you hate me that much." More or less controlled. "If you would just listen to me, this wouldn't be a problem in the first place."

[thewholeofthemoon]

Really, Remus hadn't been like this since Sirius had nearly gotten Snape killed. Though even then, he hadn't been this bad.

Then again, that was only attempted.

Remus frowned, crossing his arms across his chest. "You could talk until you're blue in the face, Black. I have no reason to believe you."

A

[credit_not_blame]

Stacia met his sheepish grin with a single raised eyebrow. Which would have been more impressive if she hadn't yawned immediately after, but it was late and she was tired and she couldn't sleep because of the stupid goddamned nightmares.

Oh well. She'd wanted to talk with him anyway.

"So," she said. "Tell me about 'wizard Hitler'."

Apparently, the werewolf had something on her mind other than you turn into a dog?

[grimbiker]

That grin faded as he stared at her in confusion. He knew that she'd talked to Remus so she probably knew that Sirius had been sent to Azkaban for murder. But what did that have to do with--

"Wizard Hitler?" he repeated. He couldn't think of a famous wizard named--

And then he remembered some conversations with Lily and Remus about the parallels in Muggle history. Once again Sirius got to keenly feel the gaps in his education. The best parallel was Grindelwald-- same time. But he doubted that was what she wanted to know about.

"Do you mean Voldemort?"

[credit_not_blame]

Stacia shrugged.

"Probably. I thought it would be rude to interrogate our mutual acquaintance for all the details of why he was angry with you while pretending that we hadn't already spoken."

She put her hands on her hips and stared him down. If she'd had access to the gifts that made her appear more socially impressive, she'd have used them.

"I figured I'd follow up by getting your side. 'Tell me about wizard Hitler' struck me as more informative than a simple 'what the fuck'."

some vague PTSD flashbacks in this huge tag

[grimbiker]

"I thought it'd be rude to tell you 'by the way, I've been framed and sentenced to life in Azkaban for a crime I didn't commit' while we were at a party." He tried to sound clever and funny, but he just sounded tired instead.

He'd been waiting for this to happen. While he'd tried to brace himself, there was no way to take the sting out of people believing you were everything you'd fought against.

"I don't know what Remus told you. I don't know how to explain all of it to you. But-- there are where I'm from Wizards and Muggles, people who can't use magic. Voldemort was a powerful wizard who wanted to kill all Muggles and essentially anyone who wasn't pureblood-- people who have no Muggle ancestry." He rolled his eyes. "Or so they claim." He paused, thinking over what to say next. "My friends and I fought against him and his followers. Voldemort targeted my best friend, James, his wife, Lily, and their son. They had to go into hiding but the only way to guarantee they would be safe was the Fidelius Charm-- ah--" How to explain? "It makes it so only one person knows and can divulge a secret. This secret can't be forced out of the Secret Keeper, even under torture. The Secret Keeper can tell someone else, but that person can't tell others. It was the perfect solution--" He frowned, his expression turning into one of contempt but directed inwards. "Until I ruined it.

"James wanted me to be the Secret Keeper but we knew there was a traitor very close to us. I thought it'd be safer if instead, our friend--" He couldn't even say his name without biting back a growl. "Pettigrew-- was the Secret Keeper. So we switched and told no one. And that-- fucking rat--" Now he did growl. "Barely a week and he told Voldemort. Harry survived and somehow Voldemort was destroyed but J--" His voice cracked and he looked away. He put his fist to his mouth, cleared his throat, and tried again. "James and Lily--"

It was no use. She knew already, either from Remus or the way Sirius couldn't finish the sentence.

"I went after Pettigrew and when I found him, he--" Again, he had to fight against the memories. Azkaban's hold over him was still so strong. Everything was still so clear. Not just the sights and sounds but the smell. "He blew up a street full of Muggles, cut off his finger, turned into a rat, and ran off into the sewers. They sent me to Azkaban without a trial."

He took a deep, shaky breath and looked at Stacia. "That is my side."

A

[becauseimacoward]

At some point in the night he had stumbled upon the dog. Having absolutely no idea it actually was Sirius, he actually petted the dog's head.
"Good dog."

Just seeing the dog seems to have done wonders for Dojima's mood. Things are a little brighter when there's an animal around, that's for sure.

Later, when he was about to retire to his room, he came upon the sight of the dog changing back to Sirius Black. That was, well, it was certainly less disturbing than how the large, blue one changed into a human.

Still, he comments:

"...that makes the petting somewhat awkward now, huh."

Note to himself: consider any animal he encounters around here to possibly be another one of the new hires.

[grimbiker]

Sirius shrugged. "It was a pat on the head. I wouldn't call that awkward. If you'd called me 'the bestest doggy in the world, yes you are,' then it might be weird." Far worse than that had been said to him but it was all in good fun, especially when he was the only one in on the joke.

"But I won't tell if you won't." He winked and in the process looked a little more like the person he used to be.

[becauseimacoward]

There goes the awkwardness. Something about Sirius' laidback way of taking it does make it all seem like more of a funny situation, instead of something to feel weird about.

"It's only matter of time before someone says that to you. Someone among us must be a dog person."

Possibly one of the younger ones, Dojima thinks, but who knows. It's not a certainty!

"I'm not telling -- but is it really a secret? You weren't hiding too hard before doing this."

Sirius didn't transform right in the open, but it also wasn't in, say, a bathroom or a closet where privacy was more or less guaranteed. Dojima can only suppose Sirius isn't really trying too hard to hide his dog transformation.

[grimbiker]

"You never know. We may all have been chosen because we're cat people," Sirius said lightly. The idea that someone might embarrass themselves in front of him clearly didn't bother him at all.

As for the rest of it, well... Sirius shrugged. "It used to be a secret but I don't see the point anymore. The cat's out of the bag. Or should that be the dog's out of the bag?" He flashed Dojima a smile.

[takenalive]

Alloran turns all his eyes on the animal, wary. His knowledge of Earth is a little patchy. This is a dog, a wolf modified by humans to suit them. He knows wolves, all right, and he can take a wolf. And a wolf can take him, if he's distracted or unable to get his tail in play. This dog is quite large and has an unknown purpose.

For his part Alloran's smell has been present for a while. It's very grassy and not unpleasant, but also not really that close to anything of Earth.

<Have you escaped from one of the workers' areas, or are you a 'new hire' able to transform yourself?> he asks it in thought-speech, a voicelike sensation that doesn't seem to come from any particular direction.

[grimbiker]

So that was the source of that strange smell. Sirius had seen Alloran before-- it was hard not to notice him. He'd assumed that maybe he was some distant relative of centaurs that had kept quiet. The other possibility being he was an alien like in those Muggle movies. Once a voice sounded (and yet didn't) in his mind, Sirius was more inclined to believe the latter.

Sirius startled, which in a dog involved his head cocking to one side and lifting his front paw.

He considered leaving it a mystery. He also considered just going out of sight to transform back. But he always was a show off and it wasn't illegal here...

Sirius placed his foot down, wagged his tail a few times, and then instead of a dog there stood a tall, pale, and very gaunt man.

"You were quick to jump to that conclusion." Sirius pushed up the sleeves of his overly loose coveralls. "Just what gave it away?"

[takenalive]

There seem to be different mechanisms for transformation going on here. Lots of people who prefer canid forms. He wonders why.

Alloran grins. It's a subtle expression on him, in the angles of his eyes, though he also holds his stalk eyes further apart.

<It's always possible for suspicious animals to be people who can transform disguising themselves. I've seen it a lot. Anyway, if I was wrong it's not like anyone would know. You do that very quickly.>

[grimbiker]

Never mind, this was looking more and more like he was face to face with an alien and not some previously unknown magical creature.

Trying to read the body language of an alien was not only difficult but unsettling. But he thought that Alloran was... intrigued? Well at the least not angry with him.

"Interesting. I've never known it to be common." He smiled a little, which still didn't look quite right on his gaunt face. If one were used to humans, anyway. "While I'd like to take credit for being unnaturally fast, that's just the way my magic works."

[wheyoftheadept]

"Hey, pup." Saturday crouches down, extending a hand as the strange dog makes overtures. "Aren't you a cutie?"

The dog is, by her standards. Red Town hounds are working dogs: guardians loved but kept for a purpose that is not companionship, or mutts abused into vicious madness. This dog is neither, she thinks: there's too much intelligence in its black eyes, and it's far too openly friendly.

"What a snuggly-wuggly cutie pie, yes you are -

A thought occurs to her, moments before her fingers make contact with the base of the dog's ears.

"Wait. You're not Alloran or somebody else who shapeshifts, are you?"

[grimbiker]

Sirius had been quite friendly, sniffing her hand once it was offered. His tail wagged instinctively. But before he can get some much desired ear scritches, Saturday guessed the truth.

Sirius lowered his tail, whined a little, then backed up and--

A pale, gaunt man stared back at her. He was much less scraggly than he'd been at Azkaban (a haircut and a shave did wonders), but the toll it'd taken on him was clear.

"Guilty as charged in this case." He flashed her an apologetic smile. "Don't worry. It happens all the time."

[wheyoftheadept]

"Aw, shit, bro." Saturday sits back on her heels, looking disgruntled. She wanted to pet the dog!!! "Suppose it was too much to hope for."

So that's two shapeshifters in the crew. Interesting. C-suite has dogs, she remembers hearing someone talking about them. Even if he's only got the one - what's Alloran call it, a morph - that could still be useful -

Focus. Good impression and scoping the mark first. Business next.

"Haven't seen you around before. I'm Saturday, you?"

[grimbiker]

"Sirius Black." And now was the time when he found out if Remus had warned her about him. He'd have to get used to that anxiety whenever he met someone new.

"I could always change back," he joked. "It's been a while since I had a nice scratch behind the ears." He curled his hair back behind his ear and smiled. "If I ever see a real dog, I'll make sure to find you."

A

[greyerrant]

A huge figure watches the dog with interest, his form barely fitting into the largest overalls they could find for him. Loken doesn't need much sleep due to his catalepsean node, but this is the first time he's seen a canid walking around the rig. He wonders if it is Aleifr or one of the other feral worlder's pets, then shakes his head, deciding that is unlikely. He just freezes in the halls, watching it, a bit concerned his hulking mass will intimidate the animal.

[grimbiker]

Being quite large himself and, perhaps more importantly, a dog who could also be a wizard if he wanted, Sirius was undaunted. He did pause but only to see if the person was frozen because he didn't like dogs.

Sirius didn't smell fear so he wagged his tail and slowly approached, giving Loken time to either leave or shoo him away. If allowed, he'd walk up and just sit in front of his feet.

Sure, Sirius could have just left and transformed into his actual self, but that wasn't any fun was it? Besides, sometimes you learned more about a person by finding out how they treated a dog.

[greyerrant]

Loken reaches out a hand towards the dog, a single fingertip extended, not knowing exactly how canids behave despite his legion being named after admittedly-fictional wolves. It extends towards Sirius snout in a nigh-accusatory point, but clearly offered to see how the canid will react, uncertain if it will bite, sniff, or lick, or simply walk away. Loken's body language is stoic, simply waiting for whatever comes with a great deal of patience. He has nowhere pressing to be.

[grimbiker]

Well, that was one way to greet a dog. Sirius waited a moment. When nothing else happened he did sniff Loken's finger but he didn't lick. There were some things even Sirius wouldn't do for a joke.

Well Loken seemed like the strong, silent type. Time so see how he reacted to a dog doing a play bow.

Still wagging his tail, Sirius stretched out his front legs and lowered his front body. He opened his mouth wide but it was in the form of a smile not a snarl.