OOM: Boys Night Out (It's not a man-date, Shawn)

[thesupersmeller]

After a little bit of time to think at Milliways, Gus slips back through the locker door and instead of going home he boots up the computer and gets to work on the expense report from the rare coin theft they'd wrapped on. Try as he might, he couldn't forget about what he'd told Demeter when he got to visit her again - how half of what was on his mind wasn't about the Devil and it wasn't about being alone... it was about missing Shawn. And their office of all places is probably the worst place to get that sort of revelation when every time he opens his eyes there's a little piece of what they've built over the years.

Not that his apartment is much better.

On a whim, he takes a break from Excel and sends Shawn a text:

Busy tonight?

Comments

[thesupersmeller]

Not a date.

Gus is oiling his head in the mirror when he hears the rumble of the bike pulling up, eliciting his usual frown. He still hates the bike, mind you, and really does wish Shawn would take him up on his offer of helping finance a small, reliable used car with the money from the proceeds of it's sale.

He's got better things on his mind, it feels good to actually see Shawn outside of work and face time hanging out where he spends more time on his phone with Juliet than actually doing their thing. He looks up from the mirror in time to see Shawn coming through the door.

"I'm thinking that Mexican karaoke bar downtown. Tacos and Journey?"

[psyched_you_out]

Suuure, Gus. You don't oil your head for just anyone.

"You always did know what I like."

You can have the Norton when you pry it out of his cold, dead.... okay, bad choice of cliche there.

[thesupersmeller]

"Only this time, I get my pick of the drunk girls who want to sing country music."

He flashes Shawn a brief smile; "Does your girl know you're going out?"

The oil is for the ladies, Shawn... and maybe because he knows you like lavender and honey.

[psyched_you_out]

A worthy aspiration indeed.

"Yeah, she was fine with it. I think she's worried about you."

[thesupersmeller]

Gus rolls his eyes and grabs his keys off the hook as he heads for the door.

"I keep telling her that everything is fine, but she's got it all in her head that things aren't fine."

He shrugs animatedly as he slides into the drivers seat, grabbing a tube of M&M minis before Shawn gets in this time. "I mean, why wouldn't things be fine?"

[psyched_you_out]

... You're still not fooling anyone, Gus.

"You're our friend. We just want to make sure."

He gives Gus an affectionate pat on the shoulder.

"Plus, after the thing with her dad, she might just want me out of her hair for a while."

Things turned out pretty well, it's true, but it's still best behavior time.

[thesupersmeller]

"Out of her hair, we can do."

Even if it does kind of feeling like a bad reason for them to be hanging out. And since when were he and Juliet officially a 'they'? Are they making couple decisions now?

Gus frowns slightly and pops open the lid after starting the car.

"Are we calling heads or tails for designated driver tonight?"

[psyched_you_out]

Man, can't a guy hang out with his bestie without it being a big freakin' deal?

"Think it's your turn to call it."

[thesupersmeller]

Maybe, maybe not.

"You know I call tails every time, Shawn. And I'm flipping - you cheat."

He takes the quarter out of his pocket and flips, palming onto the back of his hand before lifting his fingers, looking away as always.

"And..."

[psyched_you_out]

He sighs.

"Look, man, why don't I drive tonight? You need all the relaxation you can get."

[thesupersmeller]

Which means he lost the toss.

"No, no... it's all right. You won fair and square." Of course, he always wins, which is why Gus is sure he always cheats... he's just not sure how.

"Why does everyone keep saying I need to relax? What I need is for people to stop telling me something's wrong."

He shakes his head, downing the rest of the tube of candies before pulling out and headed toward their destination.

[psyched_you_out]

He raises his hands. "Fine, if you feel that way about it."

He just wants them to have fun together without all the tension.

[thesupersmeller]

Which is really what Gus wants too, in his own way. He's not very good at making that clear.

"I do," he mutters affirmative, shaking his head with a sigh. "I miss you, man. You know how it's been."

[psyched_you_out]

"Yeah." He looks out the window at the hazy evening.

"You pick a song for kareoke yet?"

[thesupersmeller]

It's an easy change of subject and Gus kind of appreciates it.

"I'm thinking of just hitting the randomizer and seeing what comes up." The last time he did that, it was "Barbie Girl" and it kind of brought the house down. And his firm grip on masculinity.

"What about you?"

[psyched_you_out]

He shrugs. "I'll decide when we get there."

Gus probably shouldn't let him sing anything by Lady Gaga again. That did not end well.

[thesupersmeller]

In their mutual defense - they did bring down the house in a big way and Shawn does a killer Gaga.

Looking briefly at his friend, Gus offers him a slight smile; "Thanks for coming out with me though, man. It feels like we haven't been able to hang out in a long time."

[psyched_you_out]

He nods. "No problem, buddy. You know you're important to me."

It does seem to need a lot more restating lately.

[thesupersmeller]

"Yeah, whatever Shawn..." he murmurs back, mostly playfully. But, with a little bit of bitterness underneath it in all honesty.

"I think they're doing the $9.99 taco bar tonight."

[psyched_you_out]

Hew frowns slightly at the muttered implication, but the thought of tacos lifts his spirits a bit.

"How would you feel about something from the mid-90s boy band oeuvre?"

Because clearly that's what they need to be talking about right now.

[thesupersmeller]

It's a good, safe subject.

"I'm not doing N'Sync again, Shawn. You always take the Justin Timberlake parts."

And everyone knows those are the best... even if he can't always hit the high tenor range as well as Shawn.

[psyched_you_out]

"Okay, fine. I do think we should do a duet, though."

Tonight is all about togetherness, right?

[thesupersmeller]

"I think we can make that happen - any ideas what?"

The road rolls beneath them right at the speed limit and they're already pretty close to the restaurant. Gus can practically smell the taco bar.

[psyched_you_out]

"I'm open to suggestions."

Mmmm, tacos.

[thesupersmeller]

"I'm open to tacos."

Gus lets out a soft laugh and it occurs to him how nice it is to actually laugh. A real laugh. Not the nervous, throat closing gotta do something to look normal laugh.

"Maybe 'You Got a Friend in Me'? We could totally duet that up."