Sirius knew that baking wasn’t exactly seen as the most masculine thing that he could be doing, and to be quite honest, he wasn’t really bothered by that. Most frequently though, he got asked why it didn’t bother him, usually by his male friends that were so concerned with looking tough that they went out of their way to end up bruised and battered, which was something that he never really understood. His answer was simple, though: he didn’t really care what other people thought of him. It was also a lie. He did care what people thought of him, especially his parents, but how “manly” he was never really came into question, and he credited that to the fact that he could literally turn into a giant wolf and rip some people to pieces if he wanted to. Besides, it relaxed him, and none of his friends were complaining when they were high and he showed up with fresh baked goods.

When Astor walked into the kitchen, Sirius smiled at him. He had a… complicated relationship with his brother specifically, and there was a part of him that wondered if it was because they were both wolf shifters and spent a lot of time together. The problem was that he kind of resented Ash, and that he felt like an odd man out in his own family. His sister and his brother got along very well, and seemed to have a lot of the same interests. He knew that Asha in particular had ideas for Phalanx House, and to be honest… he had never really thought about it. As far as he was concerned, this house was not going to be his future. That was Ash’s legacy, and while it might be selfish of him to think this way, he wanted his own. What exactly that legacy would be, well, he had no real idea, but he was working on it. Kind of. That was what he believed anyways, he just knew that his future wasn’t exactly going to be realized in a classroom. That was the reason that he didn’t do his homework, that he didn’t bother participating in class… well, that and because he absolutely hated getting told what to do. That was another reason that he and Ash clashed sometimes, not that he was going to talk about that to anybody. The only person who really knew how he felt was, well, Asha.

And of course, who but his brother would walk into the kitchen? Sirius grinned up at him as he worked. “Nah, these are strawberry filled.” Though he wasn’t going to say it, he had every intention of taking these up to his sister’s room. He could tell that her roommate and best friend, Cora, had been having a hard time for the past few days, and since he knew how much Cora meant to his little sister… he wanted to do something nice for her. Of course, the second he admitted that to his brother, he had a feeling that he would get the shit teased out of him and asked if he had a crush on the blue haired girl. He didn’t, for the record. Cora was way too sunny and, well, there was no nice way to say it, she tried too hard. He felt bad even thinking it, because she was so damn nice, but it always seemed like she was trying to prove something to someone, and he didn’t understand it.

“That… you know that coffee is probably stale, right? It was in there when I came in.” Sirius was notorious for getting up early, mostly because he was used to it for work; the bakers usually got there well before the place opened so that the cafe could have fresh, warm pastries when they actually opened their doors. For someone who worked in a cafe, the idea of coffee that stale was enough to turn his stomach.

Speaking of turning his stomach… one of the things about being a wolf shifter was that Sirius had an extremely keen sense of smell. He hadn’t really been paying attention, but as he turned to preheat the oven, he took a deep breath in. Now that he was turned away from the fresh fruit that he was working with, he could smell a few distinct things: the faint evergreen smell that seemed to cling to Ash, and… oh no. Oh god no. Most people wouldn’t be able to pick up on it, but just under that very familiar scent was one that he recognized. It smelled like sweat, and… something else that he definitely didn’t want to think of his brother doing. Lazy morning? Sure, he felt like that the morning after he had slept with someone too. Blessedly, he was still facing the oven, because he definitely couldn’t control his face as his lips flattened out, and his eyes widened in an expression that was equal parts horror and disgust. Of all the things that he didn’t want to think about, Ash having sex with someone was near the top of the list, clocking in just under getting stuck mid-transformation and what it would feel like if someone ripped off all of his fingernails.

Once Sirius regained control of his face, he turned back, focusing on the dough that he was working on. At his brother’s question, he sighed quietly. “Just… frustrated, I guess.” He folded the dough again, kneading it in a way that was probably more aggressive than he needed to be. “That and a certain little wolf cub let slip that her roommate has been having a hard time with some stuff. I’m hoping this’ll help her cheer up a little bit.” He hadn’t heard the whole story, and he was immensely curious, but he figured that if he needed to know, Asha would tell him. “Big day ahead of you?” Sirius glanced up from where he was now rolling out the dough, looking pointedly at the files that Ash had brought down with him.