MOON MAN. remus lupin ✓

ii. without reflection; there lies a beast

The entire process was simple. As he sat there, Liam asking the basic questions, he couldn't quash that tiny feeling that this was all a fever dream. The next full moon was getting nearer and nearer. It was possible.

     Despite his own feelings on the matter, Liam seemed quite content in the small space. His quiet, yet entertaining, commentary kept Remus from wanting to fade into the floor and helped stop some of his less-than-desirable thoughts. He'd expected the process to be quite arduous, as it was with all of his past employers. He was glad to find himself proven wrong.

     He left after all of the questions were answered and all of the paperwork completed. Liam saw him out and Remus walked to the end of the street to avoid any suspicion. He quickly ducked into an alleyway. With a flick of his wand and a crack, he was outside of his apartment complex. The building was rundown and seemed to sag. There were a number of sketchy characters loitering around the area but Remus payed them no mind as he made his way to his apartment.

     It didn't take him very long to find himself passing into his place of residence, the wards buzzing across his skin in recognising of his magical signature. Remus hadn't been used to the feeling at first, but soon he took comfort in their presence. They were a barrier between him and the outside world.

     He ignored his kitchen as he walked past it, as well as the bare living room and his bedroom, going to the bathroom. He walked in and shut the door, his eyes looking anywhere but the mirror.

     The feeling of water on his face was refreshing. The days were still hot and left a thin layer of sweat on his skin. The musty, polluted London air didn't help either. His entire body felt inexplicably dirty.

     Needing to get out of his clothes, Remus stripped down ( avoiding looking in the mirror ) and stepped into the small bath. The pipes shuddered as he turned the shower handle. Cold water spurted out the shower head and Remus took to his flesh with a rough washcloth. It stung, blazing red trails appearing on his scarred flesh, a moment of heat against his gooseflesh, but he welcomed it as one would painkillers after falling from a bike and tearing apart their hands.

     It was over too quickly, and he was forced to abandon his shower. He did not shake from the cold of the bathroom, invisible fur heating his body like a tattered blanket.

     He dressed in loose, airy clothing and entered his bedroom, seating himself by his pillow. On his bedside table was a small stack of books, all second-hand and well-read, a vase of dried, withered lilies, and an alarm clock. His hand went to pick up a book, but fell at the last moment, his fingers grazing the worn, cracked spine of Hamlet.

     The desire to read was overcome by the desire to do nothing.

     Averting his eyes from the book, its front cover glaring, he turned his eyes to the sole window in his bedroom. He thought he was lucky, in a way, that it wasn't facing a brick wall. His apartment was the first in the corridor, and his bedroom overlooked the front of the building. That night, however, he would give anything to gaze at the monotony of faded red bricks.

     Because high in the sky, its bright light illuminating his face, was the moon. It was a half-moon, no where near the main event, but just looking at it brought such a profound pain to the surface and Remus was forced to glance away.

     He could feel the tendrils of light stamped on his face. His scars, silvery and faint from time, burned. They were a permanent reminder of his condition.

     For the countless time since he had moved into that apartment, Remus shut the blinds to the only window in his bedroom and curled up around his pillow, the howl of his demon loud and frightening.

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