And I have loved them, Ocean!
Rated: PG-13
A/N: Written for theDogDaysOfSummer LJ community challenge for August 6, 2005.
Prompt: white sand. Title nicked from Lord Byron.
Remus jogs through the receding surf, pads quickly across the hot sand, and collapses onto the brightly colored beach towel, lungs heaving from exertion. He carelessly brushes the wet hair back from his forehead and turns back to watch his friends; James, Peter and Sirius continue their antics without him, prancing about in the surf and splashing each other silly, inevitably getting pummeled by an oncoming wave as it crashes over them. The power of the water drags them under and they surface several meters closer to shore, choking and laughing, shaking sand and water from their hair and ears before rushing back out to meet the next cresting wave.
Sirius' head disappears beneath the surface of the water and a moment later he hears James yelp before he, too, gets pulled under. Sirius surfaces, his laugh gleeful and full of mischief. Peter edges closer to the shore, and James resurfaces, spluttering indignantly. He gives chase, but Sirius dives into an oncoming wave at the last second, and James is knocked over once again, unable to get out of the way in time. Remus grins at the simple boyishness of their behavior, despite the fact that they are seventeen and of age, then closes his eyes and turns his face towards the sun, basking in its warmth and succor.
Remus loves the ocean. Its power is deceptive, and it beckons its unsuspecting quarry with indifferent promises of excitement and pleasure, of a refreshing, invigorating reprieve from the heat. The sight and sound of the blue-green water crashing onto the sand in a spray of white foam, and the scent of salt and seaweed (tinged with coconut sun cream on summer days like today) are soothing and hypnotic. Yet for all of its strength, it too, is a victim. He feels a sort of odd kinship with the ocean; both of them prey trapped in a web woven with invisible strings, not of silk, but of the immutable forces of gravity, enthralled and enslaved by the mercy and whims of the moon. It comforts him to know he is not alone.
A deluge of cold droplets on his skin startles him, and he opens his eyes to find Sirius beside him, shaking the water from his hair in a most Padfoot-esque manner.
"Berk! Couldn't do that before you got here?" he says, smiling and shaking his head in amusement.
"Nah. You looked hot, Moony," Sirius replies, telltale glint of mischief in his eyes. "I decided to cool you off a bit, s'all."
"Your concern and thoughtfulness is astounding. Truly."
"Knew you'd appreciate it," Sirius says, plopping himself down next to Remus on the towel and putting his arm around Remus' back. Sirius' skin is wet and chilled, and Remus shivers from the contact even as he leans in closer, resting his head against Sirius' shoulder. James and Peter are still frolicking, laughing and shouting to each other as they dive and duck under another oncoming wave.
Remus turns his head and finds Sirius gazing at him with a crooked smile. His teeth are chattering slightly, wet lips tinged blue with cold, and tiny rivulets of water run slowly down his face, mixing with the errant drops shimmering on his sun-kissed skin. He stares, fascinated by a drip barely clinging to the edge of his jaw, and leans in to lick at it before it falls.
He follows the trail with his tongue, conscious of both the rasp of the cool, stubble-rough skin along his jaw, and the saline tang. He laps at the drops of seawater across his cheek, down the slope of his nose to the tip, and gently licks the quivering blue lips, savoring the salty flavor.
Sirius is an ocean himself; that same deceptive intensity and unpredictability, occasionally shallow, but generally fathoms deep, mysterious and hypnotic in his own right, sparkling with life and color. With one hand he beckons, tempting with cold indifference, yet with the other hand he seduces, every touch scorching in its intensity, but tempered with a surprising tenderness and vulnerability. He, too, is ensnared within a web not of his own making: a tapestry woven with the bindings of blood and history.
But Remus knows that it's only a matter of time. Mortal bonds cannot contain nor confine the surging ocean that is Sirius Black. He flows around Remus now, submerging him, stealing the very breath from his lungs and drowning him in his depths. Remus smiles into the kiss and allows the tide carry him away, safe in the knowledge that he will never have to be alone.