36 Questions - Wolfstar

Patrick Orion

"For the record, it is now 7:06pm, my husband Remus has not kicked me out, and–"
"Ex husband." The dark haired man frowned at the correction.
"That's not official yet." He said firmly. "You can't lie to the record, it's besides the point." At that, Remus snorted.
"Rich coming from you..."
"Right–" He muttered, looking back down at his phone. "Well anyways– Right now Remus is looking through the contents of the envelope I brought." Lowering his phone, he pointed at the manila folder Remus was currently examining. "Oh you're gonna want to shake that out–" Remus tipped it over and a box of matches, a ring, and a folded packet of paper fell onto the table. He raised an eyebrow. "For the record, that is Remus's wedding ring that he left on our kitchen table before leaving without a word." The man's voice was a little tight and Remus shot him a very agitated glance before picking up the packet of paper. He mouthed the words out as he read them, the man with the phone watching him closely. After reading the first page, he looked up, confused.
"My wedding band, matches, and a scientific article–?" He paused, looking back down as he flipped to the next page of the packet. He read just a little further before closing his eyes and scoffing. "Jesus... The 36 questions.." He muttered.
"The 36 questions." The man repeated. Remus set down the paper, laughing a hollow laugh.
"Well you always were one for gestures like that, weren't you– Recreating our first date, right?" The man smiled despite the angry look in Remus's tired eyes.
"That's not the end of the gesture– I brought the matches on purpose."
"And what purpose was that.." The man shoved his hands into his jacket pockets and produced several forms of ID, tossing them down onto the table. "I thought we could have a funeral of sorts." Remus stared at him blankly.
"A funeral..." He repeated. The man nodded, gesturing towards the cards and papers. Remus sighed, looking closer. When he read the name on the drivers license he froze, his eyes gone wide. "This is crazy– You are being crazy–"
There was a long silence as Remus looked through all the forged documents. The man cleared his throat. "For the record, Remus is looking at all of the identifying documents I had to fake over the two years I lived as Patrick Orion, which I want him to burn before we start the 36 questions." Remus's head snapped up.
"So you want me to light this all on fire so we can have– what? Some sort of symbolic funeral for my fucking husband??" The man nodded and Remus let out an explosive breath. "You really are crazy..."
"I don't think it's crazy– It's about what it represents for you–" Remus mouthed wordlessly as the man gathered up all the documents and cards, tossing them into a metal trash can. "For the record," He murmured into his phone speaker, "I am putting all my fake IDs into Remus's trash can so we can burn them–" There was a pause, no words, only the noise of pouring liquid. "Alright– We're set on lighter fluid I believe— Are you ready Remus?" There was a thick silence. "All you have to do is light one match and drop it in–" Remus shook his head, seemingly amazed by how ridiculous this all was.
    "Right– That's all I have to do... Burn your legal documents for you.." The man made a dismissive gesture.
    "No. Not for me... For you. This is letting go. Symbolism, remember?" Remus closed his eyes.
    "Right... Symbolism..." He did not take a match. Instead he sat with his eyes closed, shoulders tense. The other man sighed.
    "Well— I can light the match if you want to drop it in..." Remus shrugged, seemingly resigned to whatever strange ritual was happening in his dining room. The man lit the match, eyes fixed on Remus. He leaned down slightly, "For the record... Remus is not seeming to understand the symbolism..." Remus's eyes opened.
    "I just don't understand why this is important. This has nothing to do with you explaining yourself." The man frowned.
    "What's important is that we do this together so we can let go of Patrick and start understanding me. That's what you want, right? To know who I am?" Remus pursed his lips, eyebrows furrowed. "Once we burn these, he'll be gone. Then you can focus all your energy on something new. He'll be just– A memory– Not real anymore. But I am real... So— can you and I really do this? Or not?" Remus let out a long breath, sitting up slowly and holding out his hand.
    "Give me the match." The man nodded, handing it over. He watched Remus drop it in.
    "Good– We say goodbye to Patrick, right? And in saying goodbye to him, we can say hello to me." As the flames grew, reflecting in Remus's dark eyes, his jaw set.
    "This shouldn't be my responsibility... You were the one who made up this– alter ego– Or whatever you'd call it.." The man tilted his head slightly, tipping his hand back and forth. Remus closed his eyes again, leaning back in his chair. "I want the same thing I wanted a month ago... All I want is to know the truth about you— and Patrick– I want to know why you lied to me— And why you kept lying.." There was a very long silence as the man looked down. His hair fell, covering his face like a curtain and he tapped his foot thoughtfully on the ground.

    "Remus– When you and I met... I wasn't at peace." He murmured, swallowing. "I didn't really like myself– The kind of person I was at the time—"
The two of them shared a quick glance. The man seemed rather uncomfortable, fidgeting with the fabric of his shirt as he looked down again.
"I dunno— When you gave me those questions I guess I thought maybe I could use them to build someone I could see myself liking better–"
There was another, thicker silence following this confession, filled only by the sounds of the fire.
The man cleared his throat self consciously. "I guess I thought I couldn't really be proud of Sirius, but maybe I could be proud of Patrick." He didn't look up, but Remus stared down at his bowed head, an unreadable expression on his face. The man cleared his throat.
    "I don't– Expect you to fully understand that, but we both loved you– Patrick and I. I think– I think that he'd want you to help me with this." As the man said it, he finally did look up.

Slowly Remus nodded, staring back at the fire. They watched it burn together.