Never Surrender [ Snape x Lupin ]

Chapter Thirty Five

One thing was for sure, hazelnut truffles and ice cream have always been the easiest, quickest way to Remus' heart. They started to make going out for a walk and having something there as a common date for them. They even went to other places as well, getting to know the neighborhood better as time passed.

It is intriguing how sometimes people are only able to identify how something was suffocating them when they need to catch the breath to speak, but there seems to be no air for it. This is how Lupin felt after confessing his love for Severus. He had no idea that keeping something so "obvious" to himself was making him sad until they finally confessed their feelings to each other and everything seemed to clear out.

It was a relief to know Severus loved him too, that he had never stopped loving him. For a werewolf with abandoned issues, this was possibly all confirmation he would ever need to be sure about what he was planning for them.

Remus couldn't believe himself feeling silly as he heard Severus speak of ordinary things. He was finally allowed to find him fascinating, charming, and desirable all over again. Remus was getting himself distracted while Severus was mentioning which type of cake they could buy for Teddy's birthday.

"I am so in love" Remus thought to himself happily. It was such a blessing to know that after all he went through, he could still feel comfort and beauty in such a vulnerable feeling such as romantic love

Severus noticed Remus was giving him the tail-waving look again. He found it endearing, how he could maintain eye contact with everyone in conversations, he didn't like to miss a single expression with who he talked. Even if he was dozing off a little.

"You know what I was thinking," Snape asked as they sat at one of the rounded tables inside the coffee shop. "Potions, additional potions, crystals, secondary versions of potions, all that surely worked in my favor but..." Remus knew what he was going to say, he was giving his crooked smile to him already. "Had I known you'd like this flavor of ice cream so much, maybe I would have kept the research to my working hours, I could never possibly compete with the power this thing has. It's unbelievable" he said as Remus started having his ice cream

"Look who's talking, you chose this vanilla one every time"

"At least something in my life has to be vanilla I guess," Snape said distracted in a low voice, but Remus had to postpone his own desert again in an attempt to not laugh too loudly

There was this topic that Severus wanted to ask for a while. He had been terribly shy about it, although it was common knowledge between them that he had kink interests. Seemed that now that they were more into their relationship, he feared this would not be appropriate, although Remus was a very open-minded person.

The werewolf had always loved how intense Severus was in their intimacy, how he meant every touch. If in conversations he would look aside sometimes, with the doors closed, he would never look away. And now he understood Severus' way to be came from BDSM, from the things he studied, witnessed, and experienced. It was all related, so even if between them he hadn't given it a name from the start, the concept of aftercare has always been present. Remus noticed that Severus and Pixie seemed to understand his shifts in mental spaces better than anyone he had ever met and that is because they understood what is to have their senses altered during sessions.

It was visible Severus was suddenly a little nervous, but Lupin was very sure, they had spoken about it before. They would all go together, it would be interesting, to say the least.

"Speaking of which, what did Magnus say?" Remus asked kindly, trying to make Snape more comfortable

"It depends on Pixie's friend, actually. But I believe we could go in two weeks. This is the first time he will be teaching anyone something, he doesn't like to think of himself as a mentor. Are you sure about this? You don't have to do it just to please me"