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

[credit_not_blame]

"I appreciate you trusting me with the information," Stacia says seriously with a nod of acknowledgment. "But I'm not leaving Remus alone. You asked me to keep an eye on him, remember? And I realize it's very "okay, but that was before I realized that I was going to want to strangle you with my bare hands", but now I'm fond of him. No take-backsies."

[grimbiker]

Sirius threw up his hands. "I'm not asking you to leave him alone. Don't be deliberately obtuse. I know you understand what I mean." Sirius didn't really but he had a good idea. It wasn't that long ago that he'd been a teenager himself. In some ways he'd never really grown up.

[credit_not_blame]

"Do you not want me to try and convince Remus that you didn't actually betray your friends?" Stacia asks. "Because let me tell you, the best way I know how to do that is asking questions until he sees the holes in his assumptions himself. I can't waltz up to him and go hey, I think Sirius isn't lying about not being the traitor, because what the hell do I know? I'm an annoying little American girl who doesn't know anything about anything. Also, he told me to avoid you, so he'd be pretty annoyed if he found out I flagrantly ignored his warning."

[grimbiker]

Sirius was about to continue snapping at Stacia but at the mention of Remus telling Stacia to avoid him, he visibly deflated. It wasn't a surprise, just a cruel reminder of where they were at. Sighing, he ran his hand through hair.

"Fine. Just--" he reminded himself that Remus and take care himself. He nodded. "I see your point."

[credit_not_blame]

"Glad I was able to get it across to you," Stacia said. She rubbed her hand across her eyes. "I'll admit, this is going to take some pretty deft handling, since I'm going to have to talk around some stuff that's still sore for him too. No one likes to hear "hey, maybe your dead friend who you've been mourning was actually an asshole". Most people don't even like to hear it about their living friends. So I can't really say how long it'll take for me to get through to him. But I'll try, and I'll be gentler with him than I was with you. Does that work for you?"

[grimbiker]

It was more than he deserved, but Sirius needed Remus to know anyway. He nodded.

"I'm not sure I could talk you out of it even if I wanted to," Sirius said. Seeing as he'd went off on her just a moment ago. "You're almost as stubborn as I am." He gave her a faint smile. "Thank you."

[credit_not_blame]

"It's true," Stacia agreed loftily. "I cannot be stopped, only distracted."

She smiled back before her expression transformed into something more sympathetic. "Also, if you need to talk, I'm really good at listening. And I don't sleep much. Nightmares and all."

[grimbiker]

"Hm, sounds familiar." Loyalty was perhaps not the only reason Sirius turned into a dog.

Of course the nightmares also sounded familiar. "I'll be in the halls most nights." That was a voluntary choice though. Remus made it clear it had to be one of them. "But maybe I should ask if you need to talk, if you have many nightmares." He sounded a little lighter now.

[credit_not_blame]

Stacia shrugged. "Thanks, but the nightmares aren't about anything in particular. Turns out, being a werewolf is violent and horrible on a regular basis." She spun a finger in the air next to her head. "Wheeeee," she added, deadpan.

[grimbiker]

Sirius thought back to all the times he'd had to contain a violent werewolf. "Yes, I remember," he mumbled. Then he caught himself. "Well, it sounds like we'll run into each other soon." He spread his hands and shrugged as if to say 'me too.' "Nightmares and all."

[credit_not_blame]

"Sounds like we'll be able to share notes at night then," Stacia said. "Unless Remus is also part of the nightmare party we'll have to dodge?"

It'd be interesting to find out how many of the "new hires" can actually get a good night's sleep. Might be worth setting up some late night planning sessions when all the pencilnecks are asleep.

[grimbiker]

Sirius flinched. "Jorgmund had the brilliant idea to make us roommates. He has the bed." Which was to say, Sirius wasn't welcome in Remus's vicinity and he didn't have a bed.

"I can't say if he has any nightmares." Though Sirius thought it was extremely likely. Sleep hadn't always comes easily during the war.

[credit_not_blame]

"Of course they did," Stacia said, rolling her eyes and bringing a hand to her head. "You could probably make a reasonably comfortable bed out of couch cushions, especially if you can sleep as a dog."

[grimbiker]

"I'm used to sleeping on the floor," Sirius replied offhandedly. After all, that was what one did in prisoners. It could hardly be news. "I can make myself comfortable anywhere. It's why I left him the room."

Well, not the only reason but a very good one.

[credit_not_blame]

"Do you get all the instincts and everything?" Stacia asked, cocking her head to the side. "When you turn into a dog, I mean. I can't imagine it's a purely bodily transformation if who you are as a person has an impact on what you turn into."

[grimbiker]

"Yes, but I'm still in control." He sighed and looked past Stacia. His gaze might have been mistaken for distant or long-suffering if it weren't for the fact that she'd already seen that. This was him just being dramatic. "It really is tempting to chase cats."

[credit_not_blame]

Stacia giggled obligingly, recognizing the joke.

"I bet it's really hard not to roll in smelly stuff, too," she said. "Or pee really high up on trees." She cocked her head to the side. "Then again, you're a guy, you probably have the urge to do that when you're not dog-shaped."

[grimbiker]

"Despite what you may have heard, I can restrain myself. Though I haven't felt that particular urge. You have an interesting view of men." Well, she was sixteen. He could understand how she'd have that opinion.

[credit_not_blame]

"Spoken like someone unaware of how gross straight dudes can be around attractive teenage girls," Stacia says, making a face. "Seriously, if you want to show your appreciation for me helping you with Remus, believe the women in your life when they say a guy creeps them out, even if you've never seen him do anything creepy."

[grimbiker]

Sirius looked at her, confused at how his response translated into not believing her about creepy men. Though he wasn't a straight dude so maybe he was missing something.

"You're the one who implied I have to mark my territory when I'm human."

[credit_not_blame]

"Two words," Stacia says, holding up her fingers. "Dick. Pics. Though I guess you're a wizard and from the olden days, so you don't have cell phone problems."

[grimbiker]

Judging by the way Sirius cocked his head in confusion, some of those dog traits carried over into his regular human state.

Dick pics seemed self explanatory. But...

"I know what a phone is but I haven't heard of any called cell. But I wouldn't call 1981 the olden days." He frowned. "No, 1982."

[credit_not_blame]

"Small portable phones you can take anywhere with you," Stacia said, holding up her hands to indicate the size of something maybe half-again the size of a deck of playing cards. "They've got cameras in them too. I think they're called 'mobiles' in England."

She drops her hands. "I was born in 2000, so I am entirely comfortable referring to the early eighties as olden days." Especially if it annoys people.

[grimbiker]

"2000?" And she was only born then? "You have cameras in phones?" That was almost as much of a surprise. Of course the novelty of it was dampened by the realization of just what dick pics must be.

He made a face. "I take it you can send those pictures? Of all the things you could do with that kind of technology..." He shook his head. It was disappointing but not shocking. Sirius knew very well that people could be despicable.

[credit_not_blame]

"Bingo," Stacia said. "It can do a lot of other stuff too, but I'm not firing on all cylinder right now, so I'm not sure how to explain computers to you right now."