Are you sure the solution is pie?

dental stuff, part deux

2008-05-13T16:46:12Z

Behind on reading entries and such, because I had part two of my root canal yesterday. At least it doesn't hurt as much as the root canal + extraction of the other week, but it hurts enough. Unfortunately my suspicions from last week were proved all too right, though; this guy is something of a hack.

He broke off the file in the canal. Which. Just. WTF? And he told me, "Oh, the file broke off, and I can't get it out. So you're going to have to go see an endodontist now. But don't worry, this is totally normal," while I was sitting there with a dental dam over my mouth, a clamp on the tooth, and various other instruments sticking out and making me choke on my own spit. Great. I'm really able to respond well and ask questions in that scenario, you know?

Anyway, he wrote out the referral while I still had all the rubber and metal in my mouth, wrapped up, and said, "So we're all set!" when he took everything off. He was already getting out of his chair. Yeah, like that was going to work.

Me: Wait a second. Back up. You broke off the file in the canal of my tooth?
Dentist: Oh, yes. But it happens all the time, really {blah blah blah}
Me: Funny thing. It hasn't happened the past two times I got root canals. I've never heard, anecdotally from friends or family members, of it happening to them. I understand that's no sort of scientific sampling, but I'm questioning here whether it really happens all the time.
Dentist: Well, it does. And you should get it removed soon, really.
Me: How soon? Today? Three days? Under a week?
Dentist: Just..soon.
Me: Can you be more specific?
Dentist: [exasperated blather basically shoving referral into my hand and telling me they'll answer all my questions] So, we're all done here.
Me: No, we're not done. You've just charged me for a root canal you were unable to complete, and now I'm going to have to go to an endodontist, where they'll charge me for that same root canal. I don't think that's an acceptable outcome.
Dentist: Oh, well {grumble grumble, but finally at the end offering to reimburse me for the 20% of the procedure I paid for, and reimburse the insurance company for the 80% they're paying for, if I want}
Me: Of course I want you to reimburse me.
Dentist: Fine. {leads me out to reception}

Receptionist: {slightly hystrical twittering about how it happens all the time, really, that a file breaks off in someone's tooth}
Me: Yeah, so I'm supposed to be reimbursed for what I paid?
Receptionist: Oh. Well, we could credit you on your account with us, and apply it to your next treatment.
Me: I don't think so. I'd like a check.
Receptionist: Well. We'll mail you the check.
Me: You know, I'd really like that check now.
Receptionist: You're going to have to wait, because he's in with another patient, and I don't know how long it will take. Are you sure you don't want a credit or for us to mail the check?
Me: No. I'll wait. {seats self directly across reception}
Receptionist: [after 25 minutes] All right, so here's the check [and more blather about how I might have to pay the endodontist in full up front, even though my insurance is supposed to cover it, which leads me to believe I am going to have to end up paying for all of this and possibly take them to small claims court; and how I will come back to them for the crown and post, even though obviously I'm not going to because they're hacks, and etc.]
Me: Well, thanks for this first initial step remedying the situation. I"ll be checking on that insurance reimbursement.
Entire Office: {death glares me on the way out}

So I mentioned I was in pain this entire time? Because I was. This time I didn't leave without a pain med prescription, even though they kept saying, "You probably won't need it." Okaaaayyy, look where that got us the last time, when they sent me home without a prescription and I was crying tears of rage-y pain? Nah.

I'm going to go to the endodontist practice they rec'd, but yeah, I'm going to switch to a new dentist after this, and just make them turn over my x-rays and files to them. Dental work -- SO MUCH FUN OMG!

I'm going to go pass out again. Hope you're all well. I'll catch up on stuff tomorrow, most likely.

sooooo hungreeeyyyy

2008-05-08T20:52:07Z

I just got back from the supermarket. How the hell I bought that much/filled the cart that high when I went in for, like, two recipes is anyone's guess. But now I am confuzzled and hungry, which is of course the worst frame of mind for me to decide on what I should now actually make for dinner. So!

View Poll: What's for dinner?

american idol top 4 results show

2008-05-08T15:00:11Z

I think the results made sense. Jason was just terrible Tuesday night, and Simon's death knell of "Pack your bags" pretty much made him getting eliminated a sure deal. David & David are obviously safe through to the finale, so the publicity machine of AI has turned its wheels successfully this season.

I'm very glad to see Syesha made it to the top three. For whatever reason, the producers and judges seemed to want to be shut of her weeks and weeks ago, but she's made it to this stage (which is the highest possible ranking she'll get, clearly, given the way the show has been all but demanding a David & David finale). I don't see much of an online fanbase for her at the forums and comms I take note of. I could be looking in all the wrong places without question; she's obviously got a solid fanbase, because no way would she have been able to stick around this long without it, given the tepid attitude she's gotten in terms of official promoting.

I just. Hmmm. Why is it that the show is not in Syesha's corner? Let me clarify where I'm coming from. I don't think she's the most talented singer ever; she's not quite the diva some of her song choices have required. But she's good, damn it, and she has great stage presence. I've liked her more and more as the weeks have gone on, which is something based entirely on her songs, since she gets very little attention otherwise. When she has a chance to interact with the band, she's sheer pleasure to watch, and one of the few performers this season who I would say I'd happily buy concert tickets to see because I know it'll be a good show, that rarity of things.

What's with the lack of AI love for her?

I'll give that Syesha is a bit awkward in the stage banter sometimes. I think that comes from her being, you know, actually sort of confident and balanced and professional to the degree where she doesn't get that the show and judges want her to gush or be silly or reveal wacky little anecdotes about herself or cry every.single.week. Yes, she cried this week, but it was very genuine and a real moment of vulnerablility from her, not the kind of emotion on display because she's playng an angle or because she can't stop herself from breaking down (Oh, Brooke, you hot mess of blond Mormon Carole King impersonation celebration). But good god, Syesha's certainly more articulate and easier to converse with than Archie D., so even a slightly off-putting stage persona surfacing once in a while shouldn't (and obviously isn't) be crippling her standing with fans.

Because basically even when she's done really, really well, the judges, particularly Randy, have insisted that she's only as good as Broadway-bound (bizarre in and of itself, because musical theater is *hard*). And...yes, I can see her doing pretty well in a pop type musical, because she has fantastic musical theater type chops. But you know, she'd be really solid as a Top 40 aimed singer as well. Still, the show preferred putting its eggs in the Brooke basket , and focusing much more on backstory for inconsistent contestants like Kristy Lee and Michael Johns, or even angling for the shakiness of the standing of other promoted contestants like Carly.

I'm hesitant to say this, but whatever, I've been thinking it for weeks so I'll put it out there: is this distinct lack of attention for Syesha a race issue?

I'm not at all discounting AI's racial diversity in its winners' circle from past contestants or in the Top Twelves of various seasons. Let's focus on female contestants of color for a sec, particularly African American female contestants: Fantasia won s3, yes, and did Vonzell in s4 make it to the top three in s4? I believe so (though that season, the judges were exceptionally unsuportive of Nadia Turner, who had real promise, and at the time I wondered...hmm...). So we've seen women of color contestants work through to top spots.

But then again, Mandisa in s5 should have made it further, it seems clear to me, and Paris obviously made it further than the judges wanted her to, based on their responses to her. In s6 Melinda Doolittle got very very little support towards the end, especially when you consider how very solid her performances were, and it seemed like she also suffered from lack of personality exposure, not being given the chance to distinguish herself beyond individual performances.

Hmmm. Of course we have Jordin Sparks who won s6, but it seems obvious that the label hasn't gotten quite the turnaround it hoped for with her in terms of sales and such. And was Jordin more appealing to the producers...because she's lighter skinned? I'm not questioning Jordin's talent, nor am I denying her appeal, but...I'm wondering here.

I honestly don't know, I'm just trying to puzzle this one out, because Syesha is a better contestant than the exposure she's gotten.

So seriously, congratulations to Syesha and to her fanbase for getting her through this far, with virtually no show coverage, and very little judge endorsement throughout the season.

a little late on the icon meme, but here we go!

2008-05-08T02:51:43Z

I'll have some chatter forthcoming tomorrow about the AI results.

But for now, I am currently trying to talk myself out of half of the things currently in my Old Navy online shopping bag. So I figured I'd distract myself with this meme that I snagged from electricalgwen.

1. Reply to this post, and I will pick four/five of your userpics.
2. Make a post and talk about the icons I chose.
3. Other people can then comment to you and make their own posts.
4. This will create a never-ending cycle of icon squee.

As to #2, electricalgwen wrote fan-kus for hers -- if you want, you could write drabbles or other fannish material for yours. My commentary consists only of regular comments, alas, because I already owe drabbles, & etc.

This icon of Harry and Ron hugging in glee = LOVE. Look at them! They're so little! The icon also reminds me of one of the aspects of the Harry & Ron friendship I just adore, the brotherliness of the two of them together, and the huge impact it made on Harry's life (I mis-typed "wife" the first time, which is its own separate entry!).

Of course of course I'm not leaving Hermione out in her influence on Harry, but there's a way that Ron is so ready to fold Harry in to his family that makes me tear up, you know, more than is probably healthy. Also for some reason this shot makes me think of the scene in CoS, in which Ron helps Harry change into his pyjamas behind a screen in the infirmary (because of Harry's bone-less arm, courtesy of Lockhart) while Hermione waits outside. Just -- n'awwwwwww!

This is one that ponders_life made me for my birthday several years ago ♥. She asked me to name several favorite flowers, and I picked cherry blossoms as an option (the others were lilacs and hyacinths). Cherry blossoms are very dear to me -- I first started a love affair with them when I lived in D.C. for a year, and then visited there in the springtime very often in years following. But they remind me particularly of NYC, especially Brooklyn, where at the Botanic Gardens there is a fantastic Cherry Blossom Festival.

Still, some of the very best cherry blossom trees in Brooklyn are in Prospect Park (designed by Olmstead, as of course were Central Park and Riverside Park -- of these, Riverside and Prospect are by far my favorites). And along the blocks in my neighborhood in Brooklyn there were a number of gorgeous cherry trees, thick and drooping with blossoms in their peak, a few of these the gorgeous weeping cherry variety. I used to change my walk to the subway based on which trees were in fullest bloom during the very brief season.

You can watch a timelapse video of the 2008 cherry blossom trees at the BBG here.

Watch the clip carefully -- David Boreanaz does the quickest of eye-checks once to make sure that he's sweeping Emily Deschanel up to him from the dip safely. Emily does not blink or look back -- she totally trusts David to sweep her back into his arms. That's gorgeous, that vibe between two co-stars, his care for her, her trust in him, and it says bunches about how much you can count on DB to carry his part and then some in every role (I mean, by god, even that awful Crow movie -- he totally committed to that damn mesh shirt!)

This is my one Bones icon right now, and it reminds me of the love I had for the show in the first season, when viciouswishes and I co-modded a community to rouse interest in and support for the series. I watch the show now, but I'm never caught up enough to review eps on LJ, and I'm far more of a casually watcher at this stage. But I was just full of love for Booth/Brennan when I uploaded the icon. The episode it is from in particular was such good rom-com fun, with all the men in the small town being investigated half in love with Temperance Brennan at that point, and with the way the dance-floor scene was so perfectly paced to show off the different character dynamics. Bones is a show that gets eye-rolling sometimes, but damn, it has lots to recommend it, not to mention, hello, DB!

Darling dotty Dru! You know, I"m always so impressed with the mobile expressions of a great number of actors in the BtVS & Ats series, but even in that crowd, Juliet Landau is a standout. I love the slow-mo mad smile here, the character's arch humor and incredibly cheerful blood-thirsty attitude, the way JL uses her offbeat looks to draw in and charm us as she conveys how utterly thrilled Drusilla is to have thwarted Angel.

Despite fanon tendencies to emphasize tedious key-phrasing when depicting her (by which I mean how often she's reduced to babbling about stars singing, or has to call Xander a dark kitten in way too many S/X fics), Dru as a character is deliciously rich and textured, and this small moment, those three pictures blending to spotlight what's just a flash onscreen, gives us a taste of that fantastic portrayal.

The express sign for the subway -- you've run across the platform when the local stopped at Times Square and the express pulled up just in time; you're going downtown and skipping stops, baby, now you're cooking with gas!

I uploaded this icon ages ago while I was still living in NYC just to give me an establishing shot for where I was when I was having conversations about the city with people, or posting about city-related topics. Now it's become a nostalgia icon, as I've moved over four hours away from the place where I lived for ten years. I'm happy with my life now, but I absolutely do miss NYC. Just how much shows in the fact that I feel emotional looking at a subway-related icon, especially considering how freaking happy I was that I was never. again. going to have to take the F train during rush hour in the dog days of summer, which doesn't have an express counterpart, and only ever runs express during peak hours when you absolutely don't want it to. Hahaha, you know what, I don't miss rush-hour subways after all. But I still like to travel express, oh yes.

Now comment, and I'll choose four or five of your icons!

collapses

2008-05-02T21:42:21Z

I just finished getting my mom admitted to our first choice assisted living residence.

From checking at her house for the last few necessary documents and papers, getting her released from the rehabilitation center and getting the proper records and prescriptions, and getting her settled at the assisted living -- eight hours. Of course my jaw/teeth started hurting like hell about an hour into the process (just driving seemed to bring on the pain again, past the point of advil helping), and my period went into crampy overdrive just in time for today.

But she's there, the room is hers, the basic elements are in place, and it'll probably all work out, right? RIGHT!

More details later possibly, but for now I want to say a fervent thank you to anelith, who yesterday drove me around for far too long to withdraw an insane amount of money from my mom's savings and drop off checks at the assisted living place so I could hold the room. I was in worse shape yesterday in terms of tiredness/shaky-ness from the dental work, so it was a HUGE help to have anelith drive me (and rearrange her plans to do so, no less). She's clearly a superstar.

And yes, there's moving my mother's things to contend with (we're renting furnishings for the first month) and other stressful stuff like selling the house and its contents and working through the financial issues, etc. etc., but wow, we actually made it through this stage of the game!

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to take pain meds right after dinner and sleep until sunrise. *\o/*

whimpers

2008-04-29T18:02:24Z

Went to dentist today because my teeth had been bugging me on and off for a bit.

Had to have an emergency extraction (backmost upper left molar) and root canal for the tooth next to it. Ow. OW.

The work to get the crown for the other tooth (with posts and presumably bells and whistles) and finish the root canal is going to take five visits. Ow ow ow.

The novacaine has officially worn off. Absolutely nothing on the rest of my list is getting done today. Going to bed now.

E.T.A. 6:30 PM
I'm back with something stronger (acetaminophen 3? I think there may be codeine in it -- let's hope so). Thanks to everyone who encouraged me to call the dentist for some real pain meds.

FIC: Where Boys Fear To Tread (Waiting on a Friend Remix) [Remus/Sirius, HP, NC-17]

2008-04-26T19:21:06Z

Title: Where Boys Fear To Tread (Waiting on a Friend Remix)
Author: entrenous88
Summary: When Sirius fears changing their relationship, Remus tells him he'll wait for him. But after leaving Hogwarts, Remus finds working in Diagon Alley and exploring newfound freedoms make for a more complicated summer than he expected.
Pairing: Remus Lupin/Sirius Black
Rating: NC-17
Disclaimer: All Harry Potter characters herein are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No copyright infringement is intended.
Word Count: 8,504 words
Author's Notes: Written for the remixredux08 challenge, as a remix of Replace the Fear by lupinslittlesis. Original post with comments may be found here. Thanks very much to my betas wesleysgirl and soundingsea for their help and patience.

**********
Where Boys Fear To Tread
By
EntreNous
**********

1. Coconut Ice Pops

The door let out a happy trill as Remus pulled it open and stepped inside. On the walls of the brightly coloured room, drawings of ice cream cones and sundaes glimmered and wriggled, showing off their sprinkles and toppings to their best advantage. One cherry atop four towering scoops of ice cream seemed to wink at him when he passed.

From behind the counter, a voice called out, "Summer hours don't begin until next week. We open in a half hour, lad; come back then."

Remus straightened his robes and cleared his throat. "No, er, I'm Remus, Remus Lupin. Professor Dumbledore said --"

"Oh, that's right -- today's the day, eh? Remus, of course -- Albus told me all about you." The man behind the glass display of ice creams and sherbets grunted as he stood, and then dusted off his hands so he could offer one. "I was just seeing to the Coconut Ice Pops -- new this season, you know."

"I'm very grateful that you could take me on, Mr. Fortescue," Remus began. "I understand Dumbledore, I mean, the Headmaster, approached you --"

The other man waved a hand in the air as a gesture of dismissal. "It's Florean. And you needn't worry you're putting me out in the slightest. Come summertime, I always need another set of hands to help with the scooping. My nephew Freddie is help enough the other seasons -- well, almost help enough --"

"I heard that," a man just a few years older than Remus said good-naturedly as he came through a back door, hefting a barrel of something on his shoulder. "Freddie Fortescue," he added to Remus after he set down his burden on one of the wrought-iron tables in the seating area. "Tried a Coconut Ice Pop yet? They're new this season."

"Er, no." Immediately Freddie handed him one, and Remus couldn't help but grin.

The other young man grinned back. "You're obviously Remus, so how about some help? We've hooks in the other room for robes."

"Yes, of course." Remus caught the apron that Freddie tossed him, shifted the Ice Pop to his other hand, and went into the back room to begin his employment.

2. Mint Humbug Swirl

"It's brilliant," said Peter, his eyes wide.

"It's ice cream," Remus clarified.

"How did you get the...thingy..." Peter held up the ice cream cone for inspection, examining the different ice blue and green swirls in the scoop and looking wide eyed at the puff of air coming from the cold cream. "Just like the candy!"

To Remus it looked a bit how he imagined the ice caps, creamy snow seemingly shot with strands of cool colours in the trick of the arctic light, the barest hint of melting at the edges evident only in the warmest of seasons.

"It's brilliant," Peter concluded. "Can't believe you made this by yourself."

Remus leaned on the counter and smiled. "Glad you approve, Mister Wormtail. And I only came up with the idea for the flavour; Freddie made up a batch to see how it might work. Florean said I should learn how to mix trial flavours, though, now that I've worked here for over two weeks, especially if I keep on having ideas for them."

"You ought; that way he'll likely keep you around past the summer," Peter advised.

Rather than replying to this, Remus pulled out a damp rag and cleaned off the speckled counter.

"Has Sirius tried this one yet?"

Remus forced himself to dab away one last spot and only then looked up. "No, he hasn't been by the parlour this week."

Peter's expression was one of keen interest. "Mmm. Would have thought he'd be round all the time."

"He's busy with his training at St. Mungo's. You know the Healers' program he was accepted into is a rigorous one."

"I never would have figured Sirius for a Healer."

"Well, in any case, he can't just take time off to eat free ice cream every day, unlike some others I know."

Peter huffed. "I like that, making snide comments about a good friend like me. I'll have you know that owl training and breeding provide what we in the business call a flexible model of employment."

"Must be nice, setting your own hours. And undoubtedly, cleaning up after owls."

Peter made a face and opened his mouth to speak again, but not before the door gave out its regular happy trill, announcing customers.

"May I help you?" Remus turned to the woman who had entered with two small excitable children at her side.

Once the customers were handed their dishes of ice cream and moved outside to eat them, Remus cast a sideways glance at Peter. Odd that Peter would pry about how often Sirius visited Remus at work. As far as Remus knew, Peter wasn't privy to anything that had happened between Sirius and Remus before the term's end, but it certainly seemed like he was curious how they were getting on. As there were no similar questions about James, Remus couldn't help but think Peter had cottoned on to the shift between Sirius and himself.

Now that he thought on it, he was sure Peter must have suspected something, maybe even as far back as those last weeks at Hogwarts. After all, as soon as Remus had inklings Sirius might be remotely interested, Remus had broken it off with the Ravenclaw he had been seeing for three months.

Remus was quite sure only James and Sirius had known of his relationship with Christian, because they were the only two to speak to him about it. But even to Peter it must have been obvious that Remus had stopped spending quite so much time with a boy he had been seeing rather a lot of before then. If the reasons behind that had been evident it couldn't have been much of a leap to realize who else might take the focus of Remus's attentions in Christian's place.

Anyone truly observant might have guessed his feelings for Sirius, Remus reflected. Not that he was the type to wear his heart on his sleeve, but part of him had held fast to the belief that if only Sirius were attracted to him, they should make a go of it. It would have been foolish to assume he could hide that from his closest friends who had known him for seven years.

After all, even Christian had said, "It's your friend Sirius, isn't it?" when Remus explained he wanted to stop. Remus could have easily said it wasn't Sirius, especially since he and Christian had already both agreed what was between them would never turn into something permanent. That was the case from the start, given Christian's arrangements to apprentice in another country after school.

Just because Sirius had mumbled something one night in the infirmary that led Remus to hope he might have feelings for him, just because there was no other reason to break off something that had been going relatively well, didn't mean that every decision Remus made was due to Sirius.

No, he thought, that wasn't right either. It was always Sirius for him.

The noise of a spoon scraping against the bottom of a dish startled Remus out of his musings. "That night before the term's end, when Sirius got out of the infirmary --" he began.

"After that Kelpie broke his ankle in the Forbidden Forest?" Peter asked. "Too bad Sirius hadn't already started his Healer training then, eh? Though, I suppose, the solution would always have been a nice big glass of Skele-Gro." He shuddered.

"You and James walked out with us once Pomfrey said Sirius could go. Then when we went back to the dorm, you both went elsewhere." Helpful, that, the two of them leaving the dormitory to Remus and Sirius, and suspicious as hell for friends who allegedly had no idea what was going on. He hadn't thought on it at the time, to be sure. But then figuring out how he was going to try to kiss Sirius had pushed aside all other ideas.

Right. Obviously Peter knew that something had occurred. That Sirius had stopped Remus after two kisses, saying they should leave aside anything that might interfere with their friendship, was probably less obvious. And that Remus had told Sirius he would wait for him, despite Sirius's disavowals, well. No one knew that except the two of them.

"James likely went off with Lily that night. As for me, I had enough to occupy me in the common room." Peter gave a knowing grin. "Liz thought I was so brave all that week, helping Sirius out of a Kelpie's clutches. In fact, I think that's what convinced her to move in with me after school. Couldn't let that sort of opportunity go, now, could I?"

"I suppose not."

"Remus, did you need -- oh, hello." Freddie came out from the back room and nodded familiarly at Peter. "Get your free ice cream today?" Freddie asked with a wink. Though Florean encouraged both Remus and Freddie to give servings without charge to good friends, Remus imagined that both he and Freddie must have noticed that only Peter took advantage of the benefit daily.

"That I did." Peter gave the case of ices a beady, appreciative squint and spread his small hands against the glass cover. "But I wouldn't say no to another."

"Coming right up," Remus said with a slight roll of his eyes. There would be some other time to quiz Peter on what he knew of things with Sirius; for now, he had to get back to work.

3. Pumpkin Nut Custard

When Sirius and James announced they were hosting a party to celebrate one month of freedom from school, Remus came round with a few quarts of Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour's special flavour of the month, Pumpkin Nut.

It seemed fitting that he'd share it. Now that Florean was encouraging him every evening with conversations about new potential offerings for the parlour, he'd begun to think more about what sorts of tastes he could develop. It kept his mind off of things like the translations and research jobs he had hoped to pursue after school, before he realized that few employers would be sympathetic to a clerk who needed to take time off every single month for an undisclosed magical transformation.

Of the different ideas, this was the first that had come to full fruition, since he'd come up with the flavour himself, and actually experimented with ingredients to create it.

After a number of false starts, he and Freddie had found the right combination. Just the scent of the ice cream reminded Remus of the Pumpkin Pasties James would buy for all four of them to share on the Hogwarts Express. Tasting the cold confection made him think he could close his eyes and feel the rhythm of the train carrying them to another year of school.

The party was already in full swing when he pushed his way into the flat, with former Gryffindors, Ravenclaws, and Hufflepuffs from their year and still others who had been through with school even longer, all chattering and drinking and leaning familiarly towards one another.

He greeted a few old acquaintances, becoming drawn into their conversations at once. It was some time before the crowd thinned a bit, and Remus finally found himself in a group in the kitchen that included his three closest friends.

"Have another," Sirius said earnestly, pushing a fresh glass into his hand. He teetered precariously upon the counter on which he sat. Remus leaned against it, providing ballast that Sirius immediately utilized by slumping against him with a grin. He moved towards Remus's ear, as though to confide something, but James interrupted.

"Do you know I didn't get more than one spoonful of that ice cream you brought? This lot gobbled it all up."

Remus grinned at James. "You'll have to come by for more during the week while you're taking a well-deserved break from working at Quality Quidditch Supplies."

"Don't mind if I do. I keep meaning to stop by, but what with work and the other activities..." James shrugged, obviously not about to reference their involvement with the Order of the Phoenix aloud. "Anyway, I'll be there this week for certain. I'll be glad to see old Fortescue's again, now that you've made your mark there. And speaking of making your mark, how do you like the new set up for..." James lowered his voice and, "Your furry little problem?"

"Oh, do you have a cat?" a pretty girl Remus had never seen before asked. She appeared at his elbow and nodded at him in convivial earnestness, spilling her drink in the process. Sirius scowled in her direction, but she went on undeterred. "My flat-mate had the same problem, it being mating season and all. She found a marvellous tonic that you just rub all over --"

"I bet she did," Peter said with a toothy smile. He poured himself another drink of Ogden's and held the bottle out to the girl. She took it with a giggle.

"Oh, honestly, Peter, Liz is in the very next room." Lily shot him a look of disgust before she managed to distract the girl and lead her out of the kitchen.

"So you did find a place?" Peter asked as though they had not been interrupted by a reminder of his current girlfriend just beyond the door. "I wondered if you would go back to Hogsmeade for...that sort of thing."

After a quick glance to confirm they were the only ones left in the room and the door was closed, Remus nodded. "At work. It's part of the reason why Dumbledore thought of the job for me. The Fortescues had a cousin, same age as Florean's father, who was a werewolf. So my employer Florean knows, his nephew Freddie knows, and they're as understanding as I could wish about the, er, once-a-month issues I have. There's a basement that's outfitted with the necessities; not bad, truly, though it's nothing like having a good run during the night with you three."

"You've used it already?" Sirius asked in surprise.

"It has been over a month," James said quietly. "What did you expect?"

"It's never --" Sirius stopped, and then laughed. "Yes, of course, it's been a full month. I didn't forget."

"Shame, having to make arrangements for it all over again. Too bad it isn't something you can outgrow as you get older," Peter mused. "Like spots."

"Why, I had lycanthropy so often, it seemed it was every single month! Then I learned about Were-Be-Gone. Now I can enjoy the full moons, just like all the other girls," James proclaimed in a falsetto.

"Shut it," Remus said with an amused shake of his head.

Sirius gave him a strangely uncertain smile, and reached out to refresh Remus's drink.

* * *

Hours later, Peter left with his girlfriend, and James and Lily made a show of yawning when they slipped into James's bedroom.

Looking around the empty room, Remus reflected that he ought to get back to his own flat. After all, he had work in the morning, and it was only two days before his next transformation. As he tended towards exhaustion when it was over, it never hurt to get extra rest beforehand.

But for now he found it too appealing to lounge on the couch with Sirius, and talk about the party and how much or how little the people they knew had changed since they'd left school.

There was a creak of the mattress in the next room followed by a breathless laugh, and they both snickered, leaning towards one another conspiratorially. In the dim room scattered with half-empty glasses and abandoned bottles, Sirius's body felt warm as he stretched beside him, his head angled towards Remus. Remus was suddenly reminded of a night in the midst of taking N.E.W.T.S. when nightmares had awoken Sirius. Remus spent the night sitting in bed with him, Sirius's head on his lap, stroking Sirius's hair so that he could sleep while Remus continued to study and watch over him.

It took a moment for him to realize Sirius was speaking to him. "What about you, Remus? Why aren't you off shagging someone?"

For a moment, Remus thought about Freddie at work, the way he smiled at Remus as they worked to shut down the ice cream parlour each night, or nudged him as they laughed at something a customer had said. His mind even brought forward the image of the girl from earlier that night. After he came out of the kitchen, she had come over to chatter at him, touching his arm to make points as she spoke. Before she left she let him know where he might send her an owl if he liked.

Neither of them -- nor anyone, really -- had anything on Sirius.

Much as he wanted to, he didn't look right at Sirius. How could he, and still keep his voice steady? "Why do you think?"

Sirius shrugged, as though he was speaking in an offhand manner. To Remus, his words seemed carefully chosen for someone who had a great deal to drink. "You could find someone."

He exhaled slowly to keep the flash of frustration from rising to his face. Despite vague mentions of "someone" else for Remus, there was no way Sirius had forgotten how they had left things. "I told you I'd wait until you're ready."

"You shouldn't."

He nearly retorted that Sirius had no say in what he should or shouldn't do. Then he glanced at Sirius's grey eyes, and let his gaze drift down to Sirius's soft lips. "Why not? I'm not missing anything." Not when he had someone like this, not when there was the possibility --

"You like sex," Sirius interrupted his thoughts.

"So do most people." At that Sirius nodded absently, licking his lips, and Remus only just stopped his voice from cracking as he continued, "That doesn't mean I can't do without it pretty happily."

"Are you happy?" Sirius asked.

He hesitated. There was something in Sirius's voice, in the way he was watching Remus closely, in how flushed his cheeks had become...not that Remus should by rights try anything, he told himself sternly. They had both had plenty to drink, and Remus didn't need to train as a Healer to know neither of them was thinking clearly.

Just as that night at school, when Sirius woke from his nightmare and asked Remus to stay, he had to hold back. Even if Sirius may have meant something more, feeling scared and confused, Remus knew he had been right in treating it as an opportunity for comfort and nothing else. "Right now? Yes. I'm completely drunk and I'm here with you." With a sigh, he let his head drop down to Sirius's shoulder. "I don't need anything else."

When Sirius smiled and draped an arm around his shoulder, Remus let himself lean closer still. Such a familiar gesture, repeated throughout years of friendship, and yet tonight it felt completely different. All was quiet around them, save for the soft sighs coming from behind the closed door on the other side of the room. It seemed so natural to Remus to close his eyes and pretend, just for a moment, that this was their flat he shared with Sirius, like Peter did with his girlfriend, and that in just a moment they would be rising and going to bed together.

Sirius brushed his cheek against Remus's hair, and Remus held his breath. At a low moan from James's bedroom, he shifted.

"You asleep?" At Sirius's quiet, "no," Remus said, "Good. I need to sit up. My back is killing me." As he adjusted and stretched his legs, he though to himself now was surely the time to go. He was being foolish, reading things into the situation that weren't there.

But Sirius evidently didn't think Remus should depart just yet, for his arm remained around Remus's shoulders.

In desperation, Remus blurted out, "So how are things going at St. Mungo's?"

He barely listened as Sirius complained that only Remus would ask such a thing while drunk. The responses he gave to Sirius's comments were not very invested, he knew, but his mind was focused on figuring out how to take his leave.

"It's good," Sirius remarked, and Remus struggled to find his place in the conversation. "I like it. I'm through a lot of the basics and I'm starting in trauma next week."

"Oh. Wow."

"Yeah."

I should be going, Remus meant to say, but Sirius was right there, watching him with an intent look on his face, his arm still around Remus, his body so very close.

When their lips met, it wasn't at all like the sweet but all-too-brief kisses they had shared in their dormitory. No, he was brushing those soft pliant lips against his own and feeling Sirius respond with a muffled cry, threading his fingers through Sirius's soft black hair and gasping at the heat of Sirius's body moving against his, deepening the kiss and sliding his tongue inside that wet warmth when Sirius moaned against his mouth.

How could he refuse this, he thought through the haze of Sirius's fingertips trailing over his jaw and lightly massaging his shoulders? The idea that they were drunk and not thinking clearly receded until it was a mere wisp, fading into nothingness at the soft sounds of their mouths meeting.

But he needed to hear Sirius confirm this was what they both wanted. At first when he pulled away he hesitated, and instead of speaking pressed kisses down the tendon of Sirius's neck. Less than two months ago, he had thought Sirius wanted him, and while he hadn't been wrong exactly, they had remained only friends. But surely this time was different, with Sirius responding this way.

When Sirius moved with him, and sighed as Remus slid his hand along the bare skin of his lower back, it gave him courage to speak at last.

"Should I stay?" he whispered.

Sirius froze. As he pulled away, Remus couldn't help but reach for him, but Sirius shifted further.

"No. You should go."

There was nothing Remus could say to that, but somehow he couldn't just turn and leave. The best he could manage was to stand and watch as Sirius set his rumpled clothing to rights.

Sirius took a shaky breath. His lips were still swollen from Remus's kisses.

James burst out of his room clad only in his pyjama bottoms, his glasses askew, and a love bite on his throat. "Oh! Hullo." He paused, took a step towards the kitchen, and then stopped again. "All right, Remus?"

"I was just leaving," Remus said quickly.

"You sure?" James called as he made his way to the door. "Padfoot, say something," James said in a softer voice.

Remus didn't look back as he pulled the door shut.

The walk back to his flat seemed very long indeed.

4. Raspberry Chocolate Cream

James kept his word and dropped by Fortescue's several times the next week. At first he traded anecdotes about working in Diagon Alley and told Remus about the latest products they were testing at Quality Quidditch Supplies. But by week's end, obviously tiring of this unaccustomed subtle approach, he spoke of almost nothing but Sirius.

"He's completely miserable," he declared.

"That may be." I know I am, Remus was tempted to add. Instead he watched James dig into his bowl of Raspberry Chocolate Cream Sundae Surprise. Leave it to James to have figured out the flow of customer traffic in the parlour in less than a week. It was the right time of day now, early enough that their usual afternoon crowd had yet to troop in, so James could pry uninterrupted while Remus had to stand behind the counter and listen.

"He's scared." James jabbed his spoon at the air for emphasis.

"I can't demand he become involved with me, James."

"Can't you?" James asked wistfully. His tongue flicked out to lick away a drop of cream on his lip. "It would make all of our lives so much easier. And at this rate, I can't tell how anything is going to happen between you without one of you flat out declaring his undying love and adoration under a rose-covered arbour."

Remus sighed. "I've told him I'll wait for him."

"Really?" James pushed his glasses up on his nose with a sticky finger. "That's practically a love declaration as it is."

"Mmm."

"Now you know how I felt about Lily, chasing after her all those long lonely years." James gave a dramatic sigh. "Take heart from my example of patience and fortitude, my fine furry friend."

Remus snorted. "I'll be certain to do that."

"If it's any consolation, Lily said he couldn't take his eyes off you at the Order meeting the other night."

Remus tightened his grip on the counter. "Probably because I looked like death that day." He sounded bitter even to himself, so he followed with a noncommittal shrug.

"Tough change this go-round?" James touched his hand just for a moment.

"Not the easiest," Remus admitted.

"Sorry."

Florean came to the front with an enthusiastic greeting for James and some instructions for Remus to see to the washing up at the end of his shift. "Freddie will come by to help, but he might be a bit late," he advised at the close of his directions. "He's meeting one of our ingredients suppliers beforehand."

"That's fine," Remus assured him. "I don't have any plans after."

"Thanks." Florean took an appraising glance around his shop, patting his robes as he took in the array of colours in the display. "No new flavours for us today then, Remus?"

Remus shook his head. "Not this week, I think." He forced a small smile.

Florean gave him a shrewd look, but let the matter drop. "Well, I'm off. Oh, and I think your mate needs more chocolate topping," he said with another nod for James before departing.

James held out his bowl, grinning. "I always knew Florean Fortescue liked me best. Who is Freddie, again?" he asked in an off-hand way.

Remus reached over the counter as though to take James's bowl, and instead thwapped James on the head. "You know he's Florean's nephew. He served you a Clotted Cream With Strawberry Crumble cone only yesterday."

"Oh, the nephew, right, it's coming back to me now. Young man, hovers about unnecessarily, smiles at you a lot for no special reason?" James took another loaded spoonful of cream and talked around it as Remus ladled on more topping. "Say, why can't the Fortescues give each other names that don't all begin with the letter 'F'? Might make things less confusing for those of us trying to follow along."

"Freddie is just a friend."

James's expression seemed full of mischief, but his eyes were sober. "Poor Freddie. I imagine he's hoping Sirius won't work up his courage any time soon; then he might have a brief chance with you."

He would have no chance at all, Remus wanted to protest. Sirius and he had been so close to going beyond just friendship after the party. Though Remus had been turned down twice now, he just couldn't believe that there was no hope. Perhaps if he had not been so foolish as to insist on saying something out loud as they kissed on the couch they might have spent the night together.

As for Freddie, Remus had honestly been too distracted to consider whether his fellow worker had genuine feelings for him. Besides, he knew it didn't matter in the end. If there was even the slightest possibility with Sirius, Remus certainly would not be the one to squash it by having some friendly fling with Freddie or anyone else in the meantime. Sirius had been wary enough when Remus broke it off with Christian in their last term at Hogwarts, thinking Remus perhaps treated romantic relationships too lightly. Despite his strong sense that this was not fair -- after all, Sirius had never been open about his interest before then, and Remus's involvement with Christian was never actually serious, so he could hardly be accused of acting cavalier about it -- Remus wasn't willing to take the chance of getting even temporarily involved with someone else.

"Isn't that Wormtail?" James asked suddenly.

Remus glanced up, expecting to see Peter opening the door. But instead their friend stood outside the shop at the edge of the large storefront, nearly out of sight. The person he was speaking to was unmistakable, however: it was Sirius's brother Regulus.

"That's odd," Remus murmured.

Regulus gestured in that proud, haughty way he had while Peter listened, a resentful look on his face. There was a flutter of something between them, almost as if a note was being passed. But that was ridiculous, Remus knew; what could Peter possibly have to exchange with Regulus?

"You know, I seem to remember Peter telling me he hexed Regulus not long ago."

"He did," Remus confirmed. "That day on the train platform, after Sirius called Regulus's name and Regulus turned away. You had already gone to find a compartment."

"Don't tell me Peter's gone and apologized," James said in exasperation. "Regulus was a prat for ignoring Sirius, particularly as it was likely the last chance they'd have to speak."

Remus peered outside at the pair. They didn't seem to be arguing, but neither could he determine whether their interaction was friendly. Regulus seemed to do much of the speaking. "It's hard to say."

Outside the window, Regulus gave Peter a curt nod and departed. Peter stared after him anxiously for a moment, and then turned to walk away, not even glancing into the ice cream parlour.

"I suppose he has to deal with all sorts of people, being in the owl business," James said as if that decided the matter. "Must be awful."

Remus frowned. James was likely right, even if it seemed out of character for Peter to speak at length to anyone who was or had been in Slytherin. At any rate, Remus had enough troubling his mind to think on it further.

5. Buttered Toast with Jam Ribbons

"I like the blackcurrant jam," Freddie said thoughtfully.

He and Remus were in the back room, sampling a new creation. After speaking to James, Remus was no closer in knowing what, if anything, to do next about Sirius. But the next morning he did wake up resolved to work on a new flavour, if only to provide himself with a distraction.

"But are the bits of toast crispy enough?" Remus asked. "It's difficult, trying to get them to retain the butter and not go soggy."

"They taste crispy --"

"They do now, but the charm I've used on them won't last more than twelve hours, so this version won't store --"

Florean poked his head around the corner. "Remus, perhaps you had best come out front."

He exchanged a confused look with Freddie. "All right."

When Remus emerged, glancing around automatically to see whether the queue of customers had gotten very full, he saw Sirius standing at the side of the parlour area, white as a sheet and trying to catch his breath.

"He Apparated right inside; startled me a bit." Florean tutted in concern. "I had to help him with his eyebrows and fingernails, because he'd splinched --"

"Thank you, Mr. Fortescue," Remus breathed out, and hurried to guide Sirius into the back room.

Freddie took one look at them and murmured, "I'll just -- you'll want --" and left.

"What happened?" Remus asked, catching Sirius's trembling hands and holding them fast. "Sirius, are you all right?"

It was some time before he got the full story: a young woman had died under Sirius's care at St. Mungo's, leaving her husband and young child behind. Sirius kept insisting he was fine, but repeating over and over that the woman had been bleeding, that she had died, that he couldn't save her.

Before long Remus had set him down on an overturned ice cream bucket and was holding him while Sirius's body shook with silent grief.

Remus said nothing -- what could he say in the face of such obvious distress? Sirius had seemed eager to begin his training in trauma when he spoke of it only a week ago after his party, but of course the reality he must have faced would be very different. Remus himself was more than familiar with pain and injury from his transformations. But he had seldom encountered others' suffering, and had no idea how he would respond to being expected to help or even save those in dire need.

With a shudder, Remus remembered what Dumbledore had announced at the last Order meeting: Edgar Bones and his family were dead, victims of the ever-increasing forces of darkness flocking to Voldemort. Was this young woman who lost her life also a victim of Death Eaters?

He held Sirius tighter, making soothing nonsense sounds. He had told Sirius he would wait for him, and he was prepared to do just that -- but it could be that possibility would be taken away from them by forces beyond their control. What if Sirius had to watch him die because he had been cursed by one of Voldemort's minions? What if Remus went to meet others in the Order, only to learn that the occasion for their gathering was Sirius's disappearance? What if he was left with only a dark mark lingering where Sirius, all brightness and life, had lived?

Eventually Sirius drew back, mumbling an apology for bursting in on Remus at work.

Remus shrugged as though he was unaffected, when everything in him yearned to pull Sirius back into his arms. To cover his confusion, he dully voiced the assurance that he understood, that anyone would have been very upset by what Sirius had undergone.

When Sirius nodded at Remus's insistence that he stay until Remus finished work, Remus moved to return to the parlour beyond the door.

"Will your friend be all right?" Freddie asked in an undertone as Remus emerged from the back.

"He'll be fine," Remus said, forcing a smile. "Everything will be fine."

6. A Taste of Treacle Tart

He had seen Sirius home that night.

There was a scrap of parchment on the table, James's familiar untidy scrawl on it explaining he and Lily were out with his parents, and would be back quite late.

When Remus suggested gently he would stay if Sirius wanted, Sirius only shook his head and went to lie down. There was nothing to do after that but return to his own flat.

Remus was to have had Saturday and Sunday off, but when he showed to work on Saturday, Florean and Freddie only made room for him at the counter and entertained him during the slow times of day with stories about experimental flavours gone wrong.

"What's the one flavour you could imagine eating every day for the rest of your life?" Freddie asked as the evening at last waned and the sky grew rosy.

Remus shrugged, lounging in one of the wrought iron chairs they had in front of the parlour.

"Me, I would choose the Eggnog --" Freddie offered.

"Treacle Tart," Remus said suddenly, remembering what had been Sirius's favorite dessert while they were at Hogwarts.

Freddie laughed. "But we haven't any such flavour yet."

"Well, then." Remus smiled slowly, a smile that felt nearly right to him. "We'll have to do something about that."

* * *

That night he returned to his flat stiff and exhausted. He had volunteered to take inventory after they closed, and could already feel the results of the extra effort of lifting and sorting the heavy containers. With any luck, he thought, he would be tired enough to keep unsettling thoughts from preying on his mind and actually get some sleep.

After a quick shower, he collapsed on his narrow bed. Only then did he notice the owl perched on his bedstead.

He was still unused to having his own owl. At Hogwarts, he had always gone to the Owlery to borrow a school owl whenever he needed to send a message to his parents or order extra quills. But Peter had insisted on providing them each of them with an owl once he began to get a return on his business. Remus had to admit it was handy to have a way to send messages.

This owl, however, was Sirius's. He glanced over at his bureau and saw his own owl perched on his cage, giving a wary look to the interloper.

"What have you got for me, Persephone?" he asked in a hoarse whisper.

She cocked her head at him and stuck out her leg so he could untie the scroll.

Meet me at the tree tomorrow at noon. You remember the one you showed me. There won't be a soul there since the students won't have returned yet.

~ Sirius

He let the parchment fall from his hand. Funny how Sirius had chosen a spot that Remus had first led him to years ago, a secluded dell midway between Hogwarts and Hogsmeade. There were many times his footsteps led him there as a boy, when he wanted to be alone or relax, and Sirius was the only person he had ever asked to accompany him there. He had meant to visit the dell before leaving school, but somehow it seemed there wasn't time enough.

It was possible though, he acknowledge now, that he simply hadn't wanted to go to the spot that last time all alone.

Groping for and finding a quill on his nightstand, he jotted down a simple, Yes, and attached his answer to Persephone's leg.

* * *

Remus spent a nervous Sunday morning cleaning his flat for no reason whatsoever.

At least it took his mind off what Sirius might want from this meeting, and burned some of the anxious energy jangling his nerves.

It took a far shorter time to change clothes and find his robe than he had expected. After the fifth time checking his watch, he gave up and concentrated on the setting he remembered so well, picturing the brilliant green of the grass in spring and summer, the startling clarity of blue skies above.

After he turned on the spot and felt the squeezing sensation of Disapparating, he blinked in the brightness surrounding him. The scene was very nearly exactly as he had pictured, and yet it felt like a dream, returning to that hidden and much loved spot. He had not been gone from Hogwarts long, true. On the other hand, so much had happened since then, this patch of earth he knew so well felt worlds away.

Then he saw Sirius sitting under the tree, and everything under that blinding sun came into focus.

Step after step brought him closer, until they were in speaking distance and offering quick greetings. When Remus asked how Sirius was doing, Sirius assured him he was better now that he had spoken with his mentor in the training program.

"But that wasn't what I wanted to talk to you about," Sirius said.

"What is it, then?" Remus knelt on the ground, and tried to stay calm. But the long exhalation that followed from Sirius's mouth made his shoulders tighten.

"You."

"What about me?" Remus asked. In the quiet of the dell, the sound of a bird cooing to its mate filled the air.

Sirius regarded him with a guarded expression. "I wanted to know... Are you still waiting?"

Of course he was waiting, he wanted to say hotly; hadn't he told Sirius time and again that he would wait for him? Frustration warred with a sense or urgency until Remus was filled with longing to make Sirius understand the thoughts he'd had the other night, when he'd held Sirius in the back room of the ice cream parlour. Yes, yes, he would wait, but what if the time left them in this quickly changing world of theirs was all too short?

Instead he restrained himself, saying only, "Yes."

"See, the thing is -- I don't want you to wait." Sirius rushed through his answer so quickly that it took Remus a moment to process it.

"Sirius, I told you --"

"No. Remus, listen to what I'm saying." Grey eyes met his, nervous and a little hopeful. "I don't want you to wait any longer."

He opened his mouth to protest, but before he could speak he saw the flush rising to Sirius's cheeks, the way Sirius worried his soft lower lip, the almost imperceptible sense that Sirius's body was poised to move closer to him.

"Sirius?"

When Sirius only waited, Remus took one last chance. He leaned in, bring their mouths together and fluttering a soft kiss across Sirius's lips.

Sirius reached for him, cradling Remus's jaw in one hand and yanking him into a tight embrace with the other, turning the questioning kiss into something hot and demanding. As Remus overcame his surprise and kissed back with all enthusiasm, Sirius pulled him closer and clumsily undid the buttons of his robe, rushing to move warm trembling hands under his shirt.

He drew back only to toss aside robes and shirt, returning immediately to unbutton Sirius's shirt and push it off his shoulders. "Sirius," he mouthed silently against his collarbone and neck, tongue flickering out to taste the skin along Sirius's chest. He arched against that sun-warmed body as Sirius's hands pressed and stroked the small of his back.

Again they were stretched out together, but this wasn't a quirk of positioning or the result of a drunken night; no, this time it was clear Sirius wanted this too. He raised his lips back to take Sirius's mouth, and stroked his hand down, palming over the hardness at Sirius's groin, gasping as it grew even more under his touch.

With a shuddering breath, he opened the fly on Sirius's trousers and slipped his hand inside, making a small noise as his fingers wrapped around that hot hard length. "You feel so --" he whispered brokenly, and then gave up trying to speak, intent only on the pull of his hand over hot skin.

The expression on Sirius's face was maddening, exhilarating -- he had tipped his head back, and his dark eyelashes fluttered in the sun as arousal parted his full lips and burned at his cheeks.

Then Sirius made a choked noise and pulled him closer. His long fingers moved to caress Remus's cheek, shaking with either nervousness, desire, or both. Remus surged into his touch as he panted, and turned his head to kiss Sirius's palm.

"I don't just want to --" Sirius gestured at his erection and grinned foolishly. "After all this time, we ought to make it something worthwhile. But what do you want?" He brushed the hair out of Remus's eyes. "I'll do anything you want, Remus."

Remus dropped his head, forehead resting against Sirius's. "Anything I want?"

As if by mutual consent, they pressed together and moved with the push of their bodies, rolling so that Sirius was atop him.

"Anything." Sirius kissed him again, the promise on his lips.

"I want to feel you inside me," Remus breathed.

As soon as the words left his mouth, Sirius scrambled to pull the rest of their clothes off, his hands occasionally batting Remus's as he reached to help him finish the job. They snickered at each other, laughing as they wriggled to adjust themselves in the grass.

"Do you think anyone will see us?" he asked suddenly.

"Who cares?" Sirius laughed, no doubt at Remus's scandalized expression, but then that familiar mischievous look returned to his face, and Remus's heart leapt to see it. "Promise, Moony, no one's around for leagues. Anyway, no one knows of this spot besides you and me."

Remus snorted and lifted his legs to shift Sirius between them. When their bodies aligned, Sirius grunted in surprise and then rolled his hips forward as though he couldn't help but move.

"Fuck. I've never done this," Sirius mumbled. He leaned forward for a nervous kiss. "I don't want to ruin it."

The honesty of that awkward confession sent a buzz through his body more effectively than any bravado would have. Smiling, Remus thrust up, letting Sirius feel the brush of their hard cocks together. "It will be fine. It's just you and me, Sirius. Trust me."

At that, Sirius shivered. "I do."

Another time, Remus thought, he would show Sirius how to ease a finger into him slowly, thrusting in and out until Remus was begging him to switch and give him his cock. But for now, he didn't want to wait any longer. After he had groped for his wand and rushed through two spells to help prepare himself, he tilted his hips up and rocked back so he could raise his legs.

Sirius got a funny furrow in his brow as he concentrated on the task at hand. Biting that kissable lower lip of his, he glanced down, reaching to position himself, and then at last pushed forward.

"Yes, there," Remus whispered, letting his head drop back at the slow delicious burn of being filled. One hand drifted to his chest to brush over his nipple while the other reached to grasp Sirius's arse, encouraging him to slide in all the way.

Above him Sirius panted and trembled, staring down at him as though he were some sort of unfathomable mystery. "Oh, god, Remus." His arms shook as he strained to hold himself up.

"Move, Sirius," Remus murmured. He lifted his hips, moving in counterpart until Sirius was pulling back and thrusting in more easily.

It took only moments for Sirius to find a steady rhythm, and then they were meeting each other thrust for thrust. Remus worked his hips up with a grunt, crying out hoarsely as Sirius's strokes sped into a fevered pace. With an answering cry, Sirius snapped his hips forward, and then he was clinging to Remus and scattering frantic kisses over his face as he came.

Sirius slumped against him, shuddering as the last spasm worked through his body. When he opened his eyes, they were full of dazed wonder. "Dear god, why have we waited so long to do that?"

Remus smiled at him and brushed sweat-dampened strands of hair away from his face.

"Was it all right?" Sirius asked.

"It was," Remus replied. He held back from saying anything outright, but after a beat passed he couldn't resist pressing his cock against Sirius's stomach.

"Oh, Lord. Did you…?"

He raised an eyebrow, but at Sirius's shamefaced expression, he grinned. "Not yet, anyway. Roll off."

Sirius moved immediately, flushing in a way that had little to do with after-glow. But when Remus drew Sirius's hand to his cock and, joining it with his own, demonstrated how he wanted Sirius to stroke him, Sirius soon lost himself in the action.

Remus stretched and sighed, pushing himself into Sirius's fist with a jerk of his hips as Sirius grew more confident and worked him harder and faster. At first Sirius watched, propped up on his elbow, but then he slid closer so he could brush his cheek against Remus's chest, flicking his tongue out to dart across Remus's nipple before covering it with his mouth.

Remus curled his fingers in the grass as he laid the soles of his feet on the fragrant ground and thrust up, yanking out a patch of sod as he gasped and came.

Sirius gave a triumphant grin as he wiped his hand on the grass. That accomplished, he flopped back beside Remus, snuggling close so he could twine his fingers through Remus's mussed hair.

Gradually the motion slowed, and Remus turned his head to find Sirius had closed his eyes, a peaceful expression on his face.

"So..."

Sirius smiled. "So.

"We're not waiting any longer," Remus said quietly. "Are we?"

"No." Sirius shifted so he was half on top of Remus and leaned down to kiss him. "We're not."

Remus nodded. That more or less settled the matter. Still, he had to ask. "Why?"

Sirius's brow furrowed again. "Why aren't we waiting any more, or why were we waiting in the first place?"

Remus shrugged. "Both, I suppose."

For a moment Sirius stared off to the meeting of blue and green at the horizon. Hogwarts lay to the east of them, Hogsmeade to the west, though neither could be seen directly from this seclude vantage point. "I was so frightened of losing you," he said at last.

"This summer?" He tightened his arms around Sirius. "I know that it's been hard, hearing at Order meetings how dangerous things are becoming --"

"This summer, yes, but long before any of that. Sixth year, and that stupid prank." Sirius rolled his eyes, but his expression betrayed an anguish Remus had never seen on his face before.

"The prank you played on Snape, telling him to go to the Shrieking Shack?" Remus asked. "I didn't know you still thought about that."

Sirius waved a hand in the air impatiently. "I don't care about Snape; I care about you. It was all a stupid lark, but I almost cost you everything."

He began to rub soothing circles across Sirius's back. "Dumbledore would never have expelled me, not when nothing drastic happened in the end."

"No, it's -- I couldn't look you in the face for weeks after that, Moony, even when you swore you forgave me. What if you had been asked to leave? What if you had --" His face crumpled.

"None of that happened," he whispered.

"But it could have. It could have because of me. Look at my brother, at my entire family. Are any of them speaking to me? My god, not that I like even one of them, but they won't so much as acknowledge me on the street. What if I ever lost you like that?" He shook his head slowly.

"You won't," Remus insisted.

"I only held back for so long because I know how easy it would be for me to ruin everything between us," Sirius said. He slumped against Remus and brushed his lips against his neck. "But now I can't help it any longer; I'm too selfish to let you slip away, even if I'm probably going to muck it all up."

"We're in it together, Sirius," Remus said softly. "You and me, together, and together we'll make everything sort itself out."

Sirius gave him a crooked grin. "Promise?"

Remus pulled him close, and said the word against his soft lips. "Promise."

The End

snap cup meme / loff meme

2008-04-25T17:36:15Z

Head over to wisteria_'s Snap Cup meme and give out some love -- 8 pages and counting, so check around for people you know.

I just put my name in right here.

enrolls in arithmancy and ancient runes at the same time

2008-04-24T19:25:29Z

I has a time-turner!

♥ margarks ♥

american idol results -- top six

2008-04-24T13:51:50Z

Stunned, seriously. I always expect voters to mess up enough to pick the wrong contestants, or not vote for someone they consider secure, to get a few people in the bottom three/two who don't deserve to be there. But Syesha and Carly, the absolute best performances of the night, the two bottom contestants?

It just goes to show how entrenched the fanbases are at this point, that audience members have certain people they wish to win, damn actual talent and ability to perform. And it unfortunately underscores how the producers pimp particular contestants, and the judges ignore their own insistence that singing and performance value should count more than popularity.

I was sorry to see Carly go, though I imagine the producers were gleeful because it gets them one step closer to their All-David-Finale (no mistake those two were positioned as front-runners by both being declared safe first).

And how how HOW did Brooke end up completely safe? Good god, y'all. The woman is a tearful bundle of quavering fail.

At least Syesha is still in the competition; I hope she continues to do well as we head into the next few weeks.

american idol -- the top six

2008-04-23T11:18:17Z

Excellent performance from Syesha. You know, there was a low note she dropped at one point, but good god, who cares when her stage presence and overall singing was just so good this week? There was no part of that number that wasn't just a sheer pleasure. It's funny because at the start of the show, I was thinking how surprised I am that Syesha's made it this far, but dude. Dude. She was in her element tonight, and it was amazing.

Oh, Jason. I couldn't believe how much that entire number was set up to fail, from the "he has no idea what he's on about" interview with ALW, to his HUGE mistake in taking on a diva power ballad with his shaky vulnerable voice, to his half-assed and anxious rendition of a song that is an enormous bundle of cultural associations wrapped up in cliches served on a bed of let's-separate-the-women-from-the-girls scrutiny (and yes, the female casting is appropriate here, because this is indelibly a woman's song). It was honestly the worst possible choice he could have made, and the cynic in me says he was guided there by the PTB of the show who were gearing him up to be the next to leave in order to save another contestant.

And since that contestant at risk was the even more awful Brooke, I'd say the producers actually failed (if indeed I am right in being this jaded -- and let's face it, I probably am). Wow. WOW. I never thought I would see such a hot mess of a performance at this stage in the competition. It didn't help that it's a song that smacks of desperation even when performed well (singer: "You must love me! DDDDDDDDD:" me: looks frantically for exit). I get why she started over, but it may and probably should hurt her in terms of votes. And the quavering of the number, the stiffness of her vocals -- I am usually not this embarassed for the AI kids once we get past the auditions, you know? The dead silence from the audience as the judges gently ripped Brooke apart was one of the most telling moments of the night -- it felt as though every witness agreed it was atotal failure. OH, and I almost forgot Brooke's tearful insistence that this was the first time this has happened to her - did she truly forget the other two times it has happened, or was she just hoping viewers would?

Archie-D was very adequate and boring as all get out. Hard to find anything wrong with the performance (except the way his eyes kept closing in introspection and then flying open because of ALW's comments, oh HO), but today, as Simon predicted viewers' reactions, I don't remember anything about the number.

When Carly finished, I called out, "Carly is back, America!" It was by no means perfect, but it was fun and compelling and grade-A entertainment. Her t-shirt bit was pretty hilarious as well. And it will likely get the fundie-youth vote ("She's singing about Christ! :D :D :D") Funny, but her number was so good that I thought for sure we were at the end of the show; it was just what I would have expected to close the night.

But we still had David Cook. I like David generally, and one of the things I like most about him is his seeking out of unusual arrangements or presenting interpretations that make the songs bear his mark. This was pretty straight-from-the-book, though. He's not at risk in any way, though -- he'll sail through to top 3 at the least. Yes, he wasn't done in by Broadway-musical style number, and that says something. The judges were overexuberant in their praise, though, probably because they were still reeling from Brooke's pure and shining fail.

I loved ALW as musical mentor. Surprising because I'm not the biggest fan of his musicals. But the whole series of interactions reminded me how much there's no hiding vocal and interpretive issues in musical theater, not the way there can be in pop. He was gracious but also very straightforward, and his advice to David C. to look into his eyes and sing to him as though he was a gorgeous seventeen-year-old girl made me choke on my Coke Zero. Who knew you would be such a hit at parties, ALW?

Going home -- honestly, Brooke Brooke Brooke should be the one packing her bags. But Carly's fanbase has been dwindling, so she could be at risk as well. Jason Castro will join them in the bottom three (why don't we do the bottom *two* at this point, Ryan?), but you-must-vote-for-me Brooke is probably on her way out.

fud! yogurt, paste, and important taco salad questions

2008-04-22T19:45:58Z

In my continuing quest to sample all odd yogurt flavors, today I tried Orange Cremesicle. 0_o It worked for me on a flavor level, but seeing as it was super fluffy, I felt like I should be keeping a watch out for the teacher -- it was the texture of that fluffy fluffy pre-school paste that you weren't supposed to use unsupervised because you might eat it and die.

Do they have that any more, that paste, in pre-school? Probably not. Things are so damn safe for kids these days; that's why these youngsters have no backbone! Mr. Nous's niece's elementary school playground had springy foamy textured tiles under the jungle gym. Under the jungle gym I used as a single-digit aged person: cement. We were hardcore!

Now, I was planning on making taco salads tonight. This is a modified version of the classic, since we're talking fake meat (soy crumble, ftw!), but will involve romaine, tomatoes, corn, beans, cheddar, pepper-jack, yellow corn tortilla chips, salsa, and guacamole. The only problem is I realized I forgot to buy that taco-seasoning packet-y thing for the soy crumble. But then I said to myself, self, you can undoubtedly replicate the taste of that packet without all the processed crap in it with ingredients you have right in your cabinets!

I'm thinking I'll use a modified version of this online recipe for homemade taco seasoning mix, except in place of onion powder and garlic powder I'll use, you know, actual garlic and onion. Oh, and powdered oregano, wtf? I'll use the dried leaf version I have (though it will fail a little as it is Italian Oregano and not the Mexican kind - Penzys assures me sternly that there is a difference).

Does this homemade version of the seasoning sound like it will work out to you all? Or will my taco salad tonight be full of fail? D:

remix-y things

2008-04-22T00:38:55Z

There are tons of great offerings at the remixredux08 archive; I've only just begun to dig in to the various fandoms. But I wanted to make sure to mention the compelling story someone wrote based on a drabble of mine.

This is my first year participating in Remix, and one thing I found cool about the challenge is that remix authors can pick fics of any length to work with, whether a one-shot, a multi-part fic or a drabble. In this case, my remixer chose my Giles, Wesley, and Cordy s3 drabble Attention. So take that encapsulated 100-word delimited scenario and expand it into a textured longer story -- how neat is that? I liked seeing how this writer's perception complicated the depictions regarding Giles's unease about Wesley's reactions, his own interest in Cordy, and the Council's dicey dealings with its young female charges more generally.

Check it out here: See Things My Way (Oh, Lolly, Lollipop) [BtVS; Giles, Wesley, Cordelia; PG-13]

I feel smug about offering this, because I don't think anyone will be able to guess, but if anyone can guess succesfully which remix fic I wrote while the names are still anonymous -- a drabble is yours for the asking!

I want to write about the Remix process, but I may give the game away, so perhaps I'll do a bit of reflection on it after the reveal. Get your guesses in before then!

strickens_girl and allyndra, your drabbles (which are threatening to turn into ficlets, damn it all) are on their way (I'll post them tomorrow, I hope <3).

frankie frankerson goes to the vet

2008-04-21T18:49:05Z

Frankie went to the vet this weekend, and I have to say with pride, he is really unexcelled in communicating displeasure.

As we readied his brand-new cat carrier, Frankie sensed betrayal afoot and hid upstairs, not even emerging for the enticing shaking of his cannister o'stinky tuna treats. After some disingenuous coaxing ("we're not taking you anywhere; we just want to give you nummy deliciousness!") Mr. Nous managed to herd him down the stairs as Frankie let out little kitty shrieks on the run ("mraooOOoo! mraooOOoo! mraooOOoo!").

To cut down on his chances of escape, I shut the doors to each of the rooms upstairs. When Frankie scrambled back up and realized all his hiding places were blocked, he let out a horrified, "meeeeeerrryaaaooo!" Then he darted down the stairs, raced back up once more, and did his horrified sound again. I guess it was too terrible to seem real on the first go.

Finally we managed to corner him, and hustled him into the carrier. He let out death wails all the way over in the car, and up until the vet called us in.

Strangely, he was an angel once inside the examining room. He's not a biter or scratcher anyway (except to his dreaded enemies, the bed mice), and didn't try to get away from the vet. To be fair, he did decide at first there was no way he was coming *out* of the carrier. Luckily the vet is obviously experienced at such things, and cat-handled him out like he was a sixteen-pound-meatloaf. And he padded back into it at the end like it was a cakewalk. Crazy cat.

As you guessed from the weight, poor Frankie has to cut back on the kibble. The vet gave us a very reasonable plan for doing this gradually, and assured us we were not terrible ~~parents~~ owners for letting Frankie get so luxuriously plump.

He had one rabies shot, some bloodwork, and we learned today that all his tests came back normal. So really, we just have to get him to chase his rattle-ball and cat-dancer toy more, and remain firm in working on his diet. Whew. I'm so, so glad to know that he's healthy on the whole, and though I feel guilty about him being overweight, at least we have a plan to deal with that now. Yay, healthy Frankie!

The visit totally tuckered him out, though; he slept all day Saturday, most of Sunday, and only today is seeming his regular spry and talkative self.

In completely unrelated news, this Boston Cream Pie yogurt actually hits all the flavor notes of a store-bought Boston cream pie. It's freaking me out a little.

FIC: No Waiting (Harry/Sirius/Remus, NC-17, 1/1)

2008-04-18T14:09:27Z

Title: No Waiting
Author: EntreNous (entrenous88)
Pairing: Harry/Sirius/Remus
Rating: NC-17
Disclaimer & Distribution information found here
Notes: As I was organizing various writing obligations, I realized I nearly forgot to post this bit of dirtywrong for posterity. the_con_cept called for comment porn, and I wrote her this Harry/Sirius/Remus. Pure PWP, no explanations whatsoever, just sexy sex. 257 words.

**********
No Waiting
By
EntreNous
**********

"Where's my godson?" Sirius's voice sounded from the stairs.

Harry tried to call out a greeting. But since he was sliding his mouth up and down Remus's thick length, the best he could manage was a welcoming sort of moan.

"Well, now, there's a picture," Sirius murmured as he entered the bedroom he shared with Remus and Harry. Though Harry didn't turn, he swore he could feel Sirius's heated gaze sweep over his naked body. "Started without me, have you?"

"He wouldn't hear of waiting," Remus said a bit breathlessly. "Came in after I'd had a bath, knelt on the floor and backed me up onto the bed."

Harry hummed in agreement, pulling his mouth off Remus's erection with a pop before easing his lips back down that velvety hardness. In return, Remus's fingers tightened in Harry's hair, and his slim hips bucked upwards. Choking just for a moment, Harry soon adjusted to the angle and pace, and eased his hand down to fondle and stroke Remus's sac.

"The trouble is, he's just so eager," Sirius observed as he cupped Harry's arse with a warm palm. "I can see how he might have worn you down."

Harry pushed back into the touch, making small hopeful noises until Sirius chuckled and started to ease a slick finger inside of him.

"Do you want to be fucked, Harry?" Sirius crooned.

His back bowed, his arse grinding against Sirius's finger and hand, and his cock hard against his belly, Harry communicated consent that was wordless yet eloquent all the same.

*~* the end *~*

c is for cookie, that's good enough for me

2008-04-15T17:49:20Z

Just now I was in the kitchen after having lunch, and thinking I wished I had something sweet. Then I remembered that there were cookies, and said aloud, in this really cheerful voice, "Why yes, I will have a cookie, thank you!"

Never let it be said I am not polite.

birthday wishes // weekend highlights

2008-04-13T23:38:09Z

Mr. Nous is diligently doing our taxes in the living room, and because I like to avoid reality, I'm hiding in my study.

So it seemed like the perfect moment to wish Happy Birthday to zandra_x! I hope you had a supremely lovely day. All the best to you for this year ahead. <3

Highlights from this weekend: making banana bread; buying presents for our brand new coffee table (it needed coasters, and a subtly scented pillar candle, hobviously); taking many sudden naps (I'm still feeling very run over from this cold, and did a lot of "I'll just sit here for a second to catch my breathzzzzzzz"); having a phone conversation with Miss C about the many positive attributes of Snickerdoodles; and writing myself into various corners for this fic that's past due. Hope you're all finishing up good weekends.

truest of trufax!

2008-04-13T00:59:21Z

The Trufax Meme!

You leave your name and everyone can comment with true facts about you. Including true facts that are... not true.

My thread is right here.

Check out the comments-- some of them are hilarious. Now you go do it too!

Also, I am ready for this cold to be over. *claps authoritatively*

lurgy; yoga; write something, you miscreant

2008-04-11T14:07:47Z

Who currently has some version of the Death Plague? *raises hand* I may have caught it from aimeelicious, though I don't remember making out with her. She's wily, though.

Despite that, I dragged myself to yoga class again yesterday morning, after a week and a half break. Still tough, but definitely easier this go-round. Oh, and so cool -- in the interim after the last class/before this one, my yoga teacher had actually sent me a nice postcard saying, "Good job today - I hope you join us again!" When I saw her yesterday, she remembered my name and immediately said, "Welcome back!" Best. yoga teacher. ever.

After yoga and driving to and attending a meeting, I came home all exhaust-a-mat-ated. There was weird not-napping, staring at the ceiling and feeling like it would take too much energy to move. This morning I've got a cough and sore throat, but at least it feels like something is happening rather than just feeling awful and waiting for onset of real symptoms. My plan today is to sleep, make many business calls, write stuff, and play weboggle.

*makes tea for anyone who needs some*

results show -- american idol top 8

2008-04-11T01:13:12Z

Oh man, I can't believe Michael Johns got cut! This was the first cut of the season that got a "No!" from me when it was announced.

I'm not a huge fan of Michael's singing -- he always seemed more pretty than talented -- but awww, he was a pretty genuine guy, and he seemed so hurt in the first moments when he realized he'd be leaving.

It's that time of the season, too, that all the contestants were visibly shaken. Carly couldn't have looked more shocked or upset.

But seriously, based on the performances and reactions, I'm genuinely surprised that he got the boot. I thought Syesha or Carly would be far likelier to go home. Wow.

Anyone else surprised, or did you all see this coming?

tuesday night stuff

2008-04-10T00:52:46Z

It is a little bit sad when I go get take-out soup that looks really delicious, only to find a big hunk of meat in the first spoonful that means I can't eat any of it. But in the scheme of things, not even a thing, so. *eats bread*

My mother is being screened (an interview, basically) for one of the assisted living places on our short list tomorrow. Please spare a good thought for the process to go well.

Sort of random, but I got all choked up about news of Elliott Yamin's mother passing away last week, which I stumbled across this afternoon. Sure, Elliott is one of my favorite AI contestants ever, and his mother's death is a terrible shame, especially since she was relatively young and had suffered so much from various medical issues. I watched her in the audience when he was a contestant, and I know how emotional he is/close to his family he is, so I felt saddened on his behalf.

But I think in part I got weepy because I feel frustrated and sad about my mother's situation of rapidly aging and suddenly needing care and supervision all the time. It's somehow easier to experience those emotions for something/someone not directly connected to me. Most of the time I just have a to-do list that seems yards long, trying to get through one task to the next and manage everything efficiently, and I don't have much space to react. My feelings for my mom are incredibly complicated, but I wish for the best situation possible for her. Here's hoping I can help make that happen.

American Idol Top 8

2008-04-09T16:21:47Z

Inspiration night! Gosh, you know, you would expect some really passionate and memorable performances, but... I think Inspiration Night fell prey to a classic AI contestant problem, which is that often the stuff they really, really like isn't what showcases their voices and performances best.

Case in point, we have Michael Johns singing "Dream On", which is less about inspirational, "hey, we can all make it in America! :D!" message than epic kamikaze-like adolescent desperation (plus, dudes, I love Aerosmith, and I think it's safer for contestants to back awaaayyyy from the Steven Tyler vocals). I would have thought the minor key would have clued Michael in, but oh well. Then again, maybe the ascot he was wearing was affecting his judgment. Seriously. An. Ascot. It wasn't awful, and though Randy insisted that type of song isn't who Michael is, I disagree -- his niche is the melodramatic rock song. But it wasn't a star turn in that niche this week. Also...did Simon call him a wannabe or a wallaby? Because if it was the second, that's totally Australian-ist! Okay, I'm pretty sure it was the first, but the second would have been an awesomely weird AI moment. The high notes bring out the Chihuahuas, which apparently want to attack wallabies!

And then we had Carly Smithson. Except I kept thinking, "What happened to you, Carly?" That aqua & black Speedo-style swimsuit tank and black jeans were bad enough, the shrill take on Queen was pretty embarrassing, but she even pulled a sour grapes move at the end, when she said she was thrown by glancing at Simon in the middle of her song. Come on. That's the equivalent of "You didn't like it? Well, so's your face! >:(" I think she must be a bit emotionally raw, because who can't know that sort of fail-at-funny and ungracious comment will leave audiences with a bad taste in their mouths?

Kind of fascinating that the judges are so in love with Jason Castro. Even Simon is under his spell! Is it his baby blue eyes? (and I just talked myself out of writing Ryan/Simon/David Archuleta, so I need not get drawn in to Jason/Simon, right? Right). I mean, I love Jason Castro, because he really has himself as a performer figured out -- choose genuine songs, vulnerable moments, quiet but carefully crafted phrasings, and it's all win. I'm just surprised that the judges like him as much as they do,t hough I agree he has one of the most definitive sounds of all the contestants.

Damn, but David Cook crashed and burned on this performance. I think, again, it was a case of succumbing to the temptation to doing a song that he loved without thinking it through in terms of his abilities and talents. The range was too low for him, the arrangement was just sort of...dull, and his own evident belief that he was rocking sincerity-style made the whole thing a bit embarrassing (the "give back" written on his palm was the capper that made me cringe). And man, his white jacket made Michael's ascot look like a great fashion choice. Why would David wear something that wardrobe had clearly been planning to inflict on Remiele? Only the high-waisted matching shorts were missing.

Oh, Brooke White. When the pool of contestants was crappier she stood out, but now she seems good in a way that makes me think of the word "sufficient", and that isn't really good at all, is it? She's like a very good performer at the high school talent show, but she never, ever does anything unique or just personal on the songs she sings. Simon's characterization of it as a "pleasant walk in the park -- was it original? no. was it pleasant? yes." made sense, but there's a limit even to how pleasant those very safe and repetitive performances can be. I'm guessing Brooke will once again be in the bottom three this week.

Familiar ground too for David Archuleta, back at the piano, doing his best to adult-contemporize his way to the top. The best part of that performance was the fog machine. You could see it blowing the smoke out onto the stage! And man, if that's the most exciting moment in a number, there's trouble right here in River City. But you know what, it was solid, and safe, and like most of the songs David chooses, just unknown or unusual enough to make audiences think he could perhaps be doing something pretty original. He's probably standing at number 1 or 2 in the votes right now, with plenty of adoring 12 year old girl fans and grandma fans spraining their fingers calling his contestant number.

Kristy Lee Cook looked hot tonight. There, I said it. When Simon told her she looked like a star, it was more like, "Kudos to your breasts, Kristy Lee!" Bu hell, this was one of the few songs that was genuinely inspirational, and that the singer showed a real investment in -- honestly, and I never would have thought I would say this about Horse-Seller Cook, but it was one of the best performances of the night. *hides*

I like Syesha Mercado, I really do. The girl has got pretty god pipes, she has the most appealing facial expressions of all the contestants, and you can tell she's working hard. But she just seems to have a misunderstanding of her abilities, because she's not the diva material that she seems to think . And the diva-songs she keeps choosing more highlight shortcomings than provide her with "ooh and ahh!" stage moments. Plus, you know, I think she had a genuine question about what Randy was telling her, but quizzing him that way made her seem slightly bitchy, which audiences will consider terrible form and therefore shun her voting line.

So I'd say Syesha Mercado is going home, but Brooke and Carly will join her in the bottom three, *unless* viewers decide to punish David Cook for his god-awful performance, and he switches places with one of the last two women.

Your thoughts on who'll get the boot tonight?

Also, is anyone watching AI Gives Back? Now that the show has separated the telethon from the elimination night results, I think ratings will nose-dive but quick, but maybe I'm being too cynical.

weasleys, weasleys, everywhere!

2008-04-08T13:57:16Z

Happy birthday to the lovely rubywisp! Hope it's a fantastic day (and day off!) my sweet. ♥

So I decided to do the HP Slash Superchallenge -- I'm sorry, but how could I resist with a name like that? SUPERCHALLENGE! It makes me want to flex my arms, or at least my fingers, and say, "Yeah, baby! Yeah!" and then write killer porn. Anyway, it works like this: you choose a category, easy or hard, and then knowing there are, say, 30 characters in your category, you offer three possible pairings/combinations of numbers, picking randomly any numbers from 1-30. Then the mod tells you which characters correspond to those numbers you chose, and you have your three pairings from which to choose.

My "easy" m/m pairings turned out to be:

Ron/Fred
Percy/Arthur
George/Charlie

As the person runing the challenge said, "Well, I hope you like Weasleycest." Hahahahaha, omg, I guess I do now! But hey, numbers don't lie -- fate means for me to write hawt Weasleybrothersmexing! Or, you know, Arthur/Percy smexing, but I don't think I can, because Arthur is...Arthur, and I can't slash him with his sons! Mr. Weasley, noooooo! Though of course now that I've been presented with the pairing, I guess I could see someone writing a post-DH reconciliation type scenario that features Percy and Arthur mending fences with an unexpected sort of intimacy, and... *tries to shut brain off*

In non-related news, I think someone should make some Michelle Trachtenburg icons from this set of pics. So pretty, the hair and the makeup (though ignore the actual outfit, because no, no)! Love her divalicious sunglasses. They're probably too bright, aren't they? Still.

Now I am off to crunch numbers on the various assisted living places I've visited on behalf of my mother, and talk to my sister about the options. The whole time, I"ll be wishing I was watching Hot Fuzz instead. Maybe tonight, if I get enough done! Though tonight = American Idol, which will in and of it self be very exciting! (shut up *g*).