some spell work

[thebloodtraitor]

It had taken Sirius the better part of two days before he'd finally found a pair of cuffs tucked into the postbox of an abandoned house. It's fuzzy and pink, as promised, and Sirius holds them like a prize as a woman eyes him suspiciously and pointedly crosses the street.

After tucking the cuffs inside his jacket, Sirius heads to Dimera. There's no guarantee Kieren will be in, but it's not as though Sirius has much else to occupy his time.

He can't quite keep the grin off his face as he taps his knuckles to Kieren's door. It's the first he's been here, though Kieren had given him the address weeks ago. There's a bit of a knot in his stomach as he waits, a mix of excitement and anticipation as well as fear. Or perhaps fear isn't the right word, but Sirius isn't certain how else to describe it.

When he hears the turn of the knob, Sirius props his arm against the door jamb and quickly pulls the cuffs from his jacket with his other hand, grinning proudly as they dangle from his finger.

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[roartonrisen]

Kieren sets his book down when he hears the knock, a touch suspicious that it's for him. After all, it's not like he's the most popular person on this floor, with his grand total of no visitors. Still, when he really listens, he realizes it is for him. Tucking his book away, he heads to the door to open it, a little shocked and stunned (and beyond pleased) when he sees it's Sirius. "I didn't think you'd take up my of..." he trails off when he sees what Sirius has in his hand.

It actually makes him forget about all the drawings pinned up to the walls, about a quarter of them being Sirius at this rate. "Where'd you find those?"

[thebloodtraitor]

Kieren's smile is wide and surprised and beautiful and Sirius finds himself easily mirroring it, swinging the cuffs gently. "Postbox," he says. "Few streets over. Did you really except I wouldn't start looking? I said I would, didn't I?"

He nods then, swinging the cuffs to catch them easily in one hand. "Are you going to invite me in?"

[roartonrisen]

Kieren thinks that if his neighbours manage to see a man standing in a hall with fuzzy pink handcuffs, the damage is already done and he might as well let Sirius in. He steps back and gives him an amused, wary look, huffing out a fond laugh at how ridiculous this whole thing is. "And if I go rabid by that postbox, my cuffs aren't going to be there anymore," he says, a lighthearted protest if any. "That's on your head."

[thebloodtraitor]

"Oh, don't get your knickers in a twist," Sirius says, still grinning. He lowers his hand, cuffs still gripped tight, though he pushes off from the door jamb. He doesn't step forward, aware enough to not simply invite himself in. "I'll put them back, I promise. But I had to swing by to show off and claim my prize. And I do get a prize, do I not?"

[roartonrisen]

Kieren tries not to grin even wider, but he finds he has to tamp down on it because it's a difficult thing. He steps back and away from the door, gesturing inside. "I hope this doesn't turn into you being a vampire that I'm inviting in," he says, leading the way inside. "It'd be inconvenient for you to find out I'm not exactly a great source of nourishment."

He turns once he hits the living room, tidying the place a bit. "What sort of prize are you after?"

[thebloodtraitor]

As Kieren holds the door open, Sirius steps inside, letting one cuff fall away again, jangling lightly, his smile once again widening. Particularly when he catches a glimpse of a drawing that is most certainly of himself.

Turning back to Kieren, his eyes alight, he says, "Well, a kiss, of course. For starters." And he steps in close, reaching out with his free hand to lightly touch the curve of Kieren's elbow. "Is that not appropriate. I promise I'm not enchanted this time, by mask or chocolate or otherwise."

[roartonrisen]

Kieren knows he shouldn't be embarrassed of all the drawings hanging in his place, but so many of them happen to be Sirius that he feels like any normal person would end up a little ashamed or maybe just wary. Still, it's not like he's focusing on that. "Well, if you say so," he replies and grins as he leans slowly into Sirius, off-balance and only stopped when his lips meet Sirius' for something a little more than just perfunctory.

"Better?"

[thebloodtraitor]

Kieren leans into him, Sirius's hands falling easily to Kieren's sides to steady him as the kiss lingers. It's cool to the touch, as always, but Sirius pulls away with just a bare taste of Kieren's bottom lip, grinning as their eyes meet once more.

"Much," he says. "Surely, that's not all I get, however. I spent hours searching for this prize and didn't use even an ounce of magic in the process. Though I could have. Quite easily, even."

[roartonrisen]

He's never going to get used to it. Honestly, he isn't. And strangely, like a little flicker, Kieren swears that for one fleeting moment, he'd felt warmth. He inhales sharply and grins through half-lidded eyes at Sirius' lips when he asks for a bigger prize. "Well, if that's the case..." he fists a hand in the fabric of Sirius' shirt to tug him in for a deeper kiss than before, mouth parting lazily to deepen it as he works his tongue into Sirius' mouth.

[thebloodtraitor]

Despite Sirius's goading, he isn't quite expecting Kieren to react so forcefully, a hand fisting tight in the front of Sirius's shirt and pulling him in closer, Kieren's lips pressed against his own and parting to push into a kiss much deeper than they've yet shared, Kieren's tongue filling his mouth, wet and cool and hungry.

Sirius doesn't bother muffling the sound it pulls from his throat, the hand holding the cuffs pressed to Kieren's side as he lifts the other to cup his cheek. "Fucking hell," he breathes as he pulls away, more than a little dazed. "I'll find every last one of these if it means more of that."

[roartonrisen]

Kieren is breathing a little harder himself, purely out of habit but he is, and he runs his tongue along his lower lip roughly, staring at the cuffs at the side of him before he reaches down to nab them from Sirius, claiming them with a little look of victory and joy. "Mine," he claims neatly. "I paid good money for these, I can't let them out of my sight so easily."

[thebloodtraitor]

Kieren moves quickly, only the briefest flicker of his gaze giving him away before he has the cuffs snatched from Sirius's grip.

Sirius's mouth drops open in mock outrage before he snaps it shut in an equally dramatic huff. "I said I'd put it back!" he insists, easily crowding in on Kieren again, barely fighting a grin. "I can find all the others one by one. How many are there anyway? I'll need to keep track. Or maybe I should mark each one so I know when I've accidentally stumbled on one I've already found."

[roartonrisen]

Kieren doesn't want to step back, but he's grinning so idiotically that he needs to before this gets out of hand. He stares at the cuffs and then makes a show of very considerately handing them off to Sirius, with a trusting smile. "There's three pairs, around the places I go most often." Which means he's out of luck if he happens to go rabid in the wild, but he can't plan for every eventuality, can he?

[thebloodtraitor]

"Three total or three in addition to this pair?" Sirius replies, his tone utterly sincere even if his grin betrays him entirely. He does take the cuffs carefully though, holding them with both hands.

He does take a step closer, however, not letting Kieren slip away too easily. "You said they're not all pink and fuzzy, yes? How many are and how many aren't? These are important details, Kieren. I've a mission to accomplish."

[roartonrisen]

"Three in addition," he says, if his memory and his math are right. It's been ages since he'd stowed them away, so who knows how many will still be there. Maybe this is a good reminder that he ought to check them and see that they're untouched. "They're not all pink and fuzzy," is his wry reply, standing his ground when Sirius steps closer.

"These really amuse you, don't they?"

[thebloodtraitor]

"That is entirely unhelpful," Sirius replies, but his grin doesn't waver any and he flicks one cuff free. Reaching between them, he takes one of Kieren's hands, easily slipping the cuff over his wrist and snicking it into place and smiling wider at the sight.

"But, yes," he says, admiring the pink fuzz around Kieren's wrist for a moment before meeing Kieren's eyes again, grin still stretching wide across his lips. "Undead or not, you're rather unassuming. Apart from where you've stashed a load of pink, fuzzy handcuffs around town just in case. I realize the necessity, of course, but do you not see at as even a little bit amusing?"

[roartonrisen]

Kieren doesn't necessarily feel it, but he goes a little still when Sirius cuffs him in, staring down at them warily as he thinks about the last circumstance in which he'd been banged up like this. "Can you undo it?" he asks, as politely as he can before he starts getting snippy. It's not like Sirius knows, and besides, it's not really like most people should have a problem with sex handcuffs, but Kieren just thinks about going rabid and what they're protecting against.

[thebloodtraitor]

Sirius doesn't miss the way Kieren seems to tense up with the click of a single cuff around his wrist.

Arching a brow, Sirius only smirks, mistaking Kieren's quiet tone as mere question and not request. With another swift click, Sirius has both of Kieren's wrists locked in place and he presses in close again. "Of course I can," he says. "And I don't even need a key."

[roartonrisen]

Kieren gets a little more panicked when the wrists are locked in place, feeling like a thing again, feeling like he's about to be carted off. "Please don't," he gets out, his voice getting more strained and brittle by the second. "Take them off. Now," he says, a touch frantic. "Sirius, get them off me."

[thebloodtraitor]

Sirius's smile falters little by little, and then all at once. Kieren's tone is frantic, pleading, and Sirius instantly realizes it's not a tone he ever wants to hear.

"Alohomora," he murmurs as he quickly closes his fist around the chain connecting the cuffs. Instantly, the locks spring free and fall away from Kieren's wrists to drape limply. Sirius's heart is still pounding, panic melting quickly into guilt as he meets Kieren's eyes.

There's no reason for Kieren to trust him, of course. They've only known each for a month, if that. Why had Sirius thought that could be enough time for anyone to trust someone like him? "I didn't meant to scare you," he says, voice quiet as he quickly stuff the cuffs back into his jacket pocket and runs a hand through his hair. "I'm sorry, I only wanted... it was just a bit of fun."

[roartonrisen]

He sags forward with relief when they come off, holding onto Sirius with both newly freed hands, trying not to seem so affected, but ... "When we were rabid, they brought us in cuffed and restrained and tethered and when they started the drugs up, I could start remembering. And I hate it, I hate feeling so helpless," he confesses.

"These things are for the worst case scenario. I don't want to ever have to use them otherwise," he says, not even blinking as he stares at Sirius. "I don't like being reminded of those times."

[thebloodtraitor]

Kieren leans in close and, tentatively, Sirius rests his hands on Kieren's sides, almost afraid his touch might further frighten him.

"You could've said," he says, almost a plea himself before he shakes his head. Guilt is still twisting in his belly, his heart mixed in the mess. He feels stupid in a way he hasn't quite managed in a few years. "I didn't realize, I was only trying for some fun. I can return them now if you'd like. I remember exactly where I found them."

[roartonrisen]

"I thought you were just returning them to me and we'd have a laugh," he admits, leaning forward and resting his forehead against Sirius' before he tangles his fingers in his hair. "We can put them back later," he promises. "I'm okay," he promises. "I'm fine now that you've taken them off. Really."

[thebloodtraitor]

"Yes, well, that was part of the laugh," Sirius says weakly, though he's calmed somewhat by the feel of Kieren's hands in his hair and the fact that he's still pressed close, isn't yelling at Sirius to leave or calling him the git Sirius knows quite well that he is.

He forces himself to take a breath, smoothing his hands gently up Kieren's sides, more for his own comfort than that of the boy who can't even feel it. "I'm sorry," he admits, a whisper this time. "I won't do it again. I'd know idea it would upset you. You can lock me up if it'll make you feel better. Or thwack me about a bit."

[roartonrisen]

"I don't want to lock you up," Kieren protests, because he doesn't think anyone would have much of a fun time in the midst of that. "Can we maybe just start over?" he suggests. "You can come to my door and I'll get excited to see you and try not to make it look like I'm too into it. And then you can come see all the embarrassing portraits I've done and I'll let you sit down before asking if you want tea..."

He offers a small, hopeful smile. "Sound good?"