Title: When the Sun Goes Down
Author: viciouswishes
Beta: spartacusjones
For: callmesandy
Fandom: Angel
Pairing: Gunn/Wesley
Rating: R
Setting: Post-NFA
Words: 1170
Request: post-NFA, both alive, and a really big axe
Summary: For the
Gunn round, Gunn's made a new life for himself when Wesley finds him.
Gunn's eating a mango under a palm tree when he looks up and there's Wesley. Neither of them should've been alive. He wipes his face with the sleeve of his shirt, toes digging into the sand. "Hi."
"Hello, Charles," Wesley says. Still too damn formal, even in his beach shorts with his skinny-ass pale legs.
Gunn thinks that he should be saying that they shouldn't be here and asking questions. They should be finding reasons and missions. But he likes the sweet tang of mango on his tongue and the sun in his face. Gunn swore that when he woke up in the hospital that he was never going back to L.A. again. That was a different him.
Wesley sits down beside him. "Lovely day, don't you think?" He pulls off his sunglasses and something about seeing his eyes assures Gunn that he's not evil. That and walking in the sun without catching fire. But Gunn's learned that evil things can and do walk in the sun.
"It's always a lovely day and that's why I like it." Gunn leans back. "I don't know why you're here, but I'm not coming back. If I run across a vamp, I'll kill it, but I'm not hunting or working for questionable soul-having vamps."
"Neither am I."
"Good to know." Because it's Wesley, Gunn doesn't give a crap that they sit out there until the sun goes down. Even if they don't say another word. Wesley found him and is apparently rather tight-lipped on the reason why. If it wasn't for Angel, then who was it for? "So, Wes, what's your game?"
"I don't have a game. I wanted to see an old friend."
"Well, here I am."
*****
Gunn lives in a tiny house tucked up on a hillside. His truck's parked under an easement - there are some things that he couldn't get rid of - and there's a porch facing the beach. Greenery grows right up on the side of the house and Gunn knows that he should trim it, but he can't seem to care. He hands Wesley a beer from his fridge and doesn't act surprised that Wesley's bags were waiting on the stoop when they got back. Though he was surprised that the neighborhood kids didn't run off with them.
"Do you spend every day on the beach?" Wesley asks.
"Sometimes."
"And your nights?" Wesley eyes Gunn's large axe in the corner.
"Already told you, English, that I don't do that anymore. Tonight, we're going to Señora Reyes for her and her husband's 50th anniversary. Neighbors, you know." Gunn knows that Wesley doesn't know. That Wesley never had a family until becoming part of Angel's motley crew. But Gunn's always had family. He's never known how to be a hermit, unlike Wesley.
The Reyes lives two houses down and her backyard is full of people by the time Gunn and Wesley get there. The children call him tío and ask him who Wesley is. "My friend Wes," Gunn says. Julia, the youngest, holds her arms out for Gunn to pick her up. She reminds him of his own sister when she was this age. Her arms wrap around his neck.
"Hola, Señora." Gunn leans down to kiss Senora Reyes' cheek, making sure not to smack her with Julia, then introduces her to Wesley.
"It is good to have friends." Señora Reyes smiles at him. "The more the merrier, yes?"
He leaves Wesley's side when Julia insists that he help her play kickball. Gunn knows that Wesley's perfectly capable of fending for himself, at least until they eat anyway.
Gunn's always surprised that he hasn't gained 100 pounds since moving down here because his plate is always full. He's the cute, smart bachelor, the one on the street who every married woman keeps trying to set him up with their sisters, cousins, or nieces, and they always send him away with a home-cooked meal. In return, he does what he can whether it's helping fix a roof or going over legal documents. Wolfram & Hart guaranteed that he was versed in more than one type of human law.
Julia perches on his lap as she eats another plain tortilla. She refuses to eat anything else despite her mother's worries and falls asleep against him as soon as she's done.
"It seems as though you have an admirer," Wesley whispers.
"Yeah, she's a cutie." Gunn grins at Wesley as someone lights homemade fireworks. "Though I'm kind of grateful that I can give her back."
"I always thought you would be the one to have children first."
"I guess Angel threw you for a loop." Gunn regrets mentioning Angel when he sees the dark look on Wesley's face. He wonders if Wesley, like himself, woke up in the hospital with all his memories intact. Of course, Wesley had his before then, hadn't he? He clears his throat. "I'd like kids one day. Just got to find the right person to raise them with."
"Of course." Wesley nods and declines the cake that Maria, Señora Reyes' grown granddaughter, offers him.
"Now who's got the admirer?" Gunn teases him when Maria's gone.
Wesley rolls his eyes.
*****
Gunn's yawning and the sun's coming up by the time they make it back to his house. Plenty of the children were making their bed under the stars, but Gunn's too old and broken for that shit. "Have a good time?" he asks Wesley, holding open the door for him.
"I did." Wesley kicks off his shoes. "However, I don't think that I'll be eating for a week."
Gunn chuckles. It almost feels like old times, just hanging out and goofing around. He's missed this, missed Wesley. Gunn touches Wesley's shoulder and leans in to kiss him. This isn't the first time they've done this, and Gunn's damned if it's going to be the last. He might just be damned anyway, but he doesn't care. This time it's only them.
Wesley kisses him back, familiar and hungry. He has Gunn pulling him closer and toward the bedroom, determined never to let him go again. They're awkwardly pulling each other's clothes off and Gunn almost falls on the bed when the backs of his knees bang against the frame. He manages a graceful thud instead, dragging Wesley on top of him. Gunn kisses Wesley again as he takes both their cocks into his hand and jerks them off. If they weren't so tired, perhaps they'd make this slow and soft or slow and hard. But right now, all Gunn wants is to feel Wesley groan and come. And when he does, Gunn's own orgasm follows.
It has been too long. All their wasted time, chasing each other around and trying to do some good when they failed at it. Gunn now knows that he can't do good while getting a helping hand from evil or the almost evil.
Lying next to Wesley, Gunn places his hand on the side of Wesley's face. "Why'd you find me?"
"Because I missed you."