Not once in their years-long friendship had Remus turned James away, and yet he was struck with the urge to do just that. There was such an uncomfortable vulnerability by having a stranger brought to his door that Remus could barely stand to look at the other man, only daring to do so in uneasy glances. When he did, it didn’t even seem to matter; the blond seemed absorbed by anything but Remus, anyway, though that hardly felt reassuring.<br/>It was a small town, and Remus knew for a fact that he had never seen the man James had dragged along. He felt tempted to excuse James’ urgency and both of their states of undress to the strange man being inebriated, but his eyes were just as attentive and bright as the rest of him.<br/>Eventually Remus forfeited, too indebted to James and his family to do anything else. He stepped back to open the door wider, before venturing further inside himself. Besides for a light burning in the tucked away kitchen, both Remus’ living room and workspace were cast in deep shadows to increase his visibility when looking up at the night sky, moonlight washing through the open sky light.<br/>“Go ahead,” Remus finally said, and though his words were curt his voice wasn’t; feeling out of his element, he didn’t know how else to express to James that he was willing to hear him out.<br/>He turned on the solitary oil lamp on his table, finally shedding light over the cluttered space.