Remus felt like he had been knocked off the surface of the Earth, off-kilter and ungrounded. Regret had flooded through him, having been so close to wrestling out of the man’s embrace to run back to Black. To do what, exactly, he hadn’t know. Cuss him out, cry - beg for his silence, even.<br/>He hadn’t come back to himself before the man kissed him, mercifully allowing the panic to morph into spite, riled into annoyance by the thought that he was expected to be<span style="font-style: italic">ashamed</span>.<br/>His stomach was still in knots, though, by the time Remus made it back to the dorm several hours later. No matter how he turned it, no matter how he personally felt about his job, Black was still in the position to end Remus’ academic career.<br/>Remus had made a greater attempt to straighten himself out, going as far as to having a quick shower before leaving, but he knew better than to expect that to hide anything. He didn’t know whether to expect Black asleep, but it didn’t matter, having every intention of waking him; Remus felt too certain that his colleague had seen him for them to feign ignorance in the morning.<br/>Despite every sense of annoyance drawing his muscles tight, Remus still stalled when he opened the door to find Black still awake.