How can I deny such pleadingly open hands! You may have a little sneak peek, as a treat, for morale:

"Look who I ran into on my way here! What are you conspiring against me, huh?," James asked with a teasing laugh. "Having parties without me?" "Not my idea," Sirius said plainly and looked back into the listings on his screen. "It was suposed to be a surprise for you!," Peter explained quickly and began unpacking the assortment of drinks he had bought. It countained a concerning amount of Dark Fruit. "For me?" James dropped down next to Sirius and peered over his shoulder onto his phone. "Is it my birthday already? What are you looking at?" "Carbon brushes." "No, but it's his. Or, was," Peter kept explaining pointing at Sirius who had to hold back an eyeroll. It had been so quiet here after everyone had left and now it was so loud. "Oh," James said, suddenly hesitant. "I thought - Do you want to celebrate?" Sirius sighed. "We're not celebrating my fucking birthday, Peter just wanted to have a reason to hang around since he appears to yearn for your presence. Looks like you've been quite neglectful, James," he scolded him with a sneer. "I haven't been that bad. We saw eachother yesterday!" James dropped back into his chair and reached out for the cans on the table. "Did you buy anything zero?" Peter pushed a White Monster towards him. "We only met in the hallway at uni... I also got vodka, if you want to mix." James pulled a face and shook his head but cracked the can open. Then he finally spotted the white and partly assembled elephant in the corner of the kitchen. "What is that?" "Take a guess, Sherlock, I'm sure you can find out yourself," Sirius murmured, still entrenched in his research for parts. Apparently there were several places that sold washing machines in the area but none of them seemed to sell seperate parts. Sirius typed "scrapyard"" into the search bar. Maybe he could sneak on there and find a decently in shape one there and take the brushes with him... James swatted at him. "I can see that it's a washing machine. But why is it here and where did it come from?" "We carried it upstairs, from the pavement. The brushes are worn down and the shops around here are all fucking useless." "If you wanted a washing machine you could have just told me," James said and took a sip from his can. "I could have just ordered one."

I was yearning for Sirius being a sarcastic bitch again, so this was fun to write 😂 it's not from the next chapter though. Quite a bit ahead of us until then!

Thank you @plecotusauritus for tagging me! I debated a little on where to take the snippet from but here is some more of Chapter 9 Man in the Mirror!

“Look,” Remus said in that tone he always used when he found that James was going off the deep end again. “I may not know Sirius very well, but I have seen him and he looks like - Like someone who doesn't have issues advocating for himself.” James snorted at his tone. “Oh wait, is that why you are like that? You're scared of him?” “I didn't say that!” “But you are, aren't you?,” James chuckled, now full on amused. “Worried I bring the crazy man into our dorm and he'll stab you at night!” Remus pressed his lips into a line. “I'm more worried about you getting stabbed. I am hardly going to be his target if he flips.” If he flips. James didn't like the sound of that. As if Sirius were some volatile monster. But before he could even begin to protest, Remus seemed to become aware of the implications of his words as well and pulled a face. “I didn't mean it like that. It's just - Sometimes people do things that are out of their control at the moment and - I just know what it's like.“ “He wouldn't hurt me,” James said earnestly. “I'm sure he wouldn't. Not on purpose at least.”

Foreshadowing?? Who knows!!

Man in the Mirror | Chapter 15

Happy May Day to all comrades who celebrate!!! I hope none of you work today!

This is the first "seasonal" chapter and I am very proud I managed to actually line it up haha 😂 I'm taking you for a bit of a ride here but as always I promise things will be okay in the end!!! Hope you enjoy reading on AO3.

Man in the Mirror | Chapter 13

11k, E

"Higher!" "There?" "Little to the left - Oh yes, that's perfect. Okay keep it there - " "Are you coming? I don't know how long I can hold this." "Yes, wait, I'm almost there!" Sirius took an audible bite of his apple and observed the scene in front of him with unbridled amusement. "Do you think they notice what they sound like?," James chuckled and leaned against the bar next to him.

Hello lovely anon! Thank you!! I'm sorry this comes so late but I spent too much time debating which part of this unedited mess would be most suitable to share. This chapter is a little strange to pick from since it's so much dialogue that doesn't make sufficient sense without context 😅

Hope you enjoy your snack!

Thank you @plecotusauritus for tagging me. Here it is:

James laughed and sat up. "If I had know it was that easy! Cancel your therapy appointments, I'm getting another sack of them tomorrow!"

Sack of what? It's your guess!!