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

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?

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From:

thesupersmeller

Warmed with their friendship - and probably a good fair amount of tequila - Gus leans even harder against Shawn's side and smiles wide as he sings.

And it's true, the one thing he can be sure about is no matter how insane Shawn makes and how much they really truly hate each other sometimes - nobody will ever know him like Shawn does. And he'll never love another person in quite the same way.

"And as the years go by - Our friendship will never die (because you won't let it)." He shakes his head as he brings the microphone closer to his mouth for a somewhat lower tone; "You're gonna see it's our destiny, Shawn. You've got a friend in me."

Squeezing him tight, Gus leans on him with a warm flush and sheepish grin as the crowd whistles and shouts and he's pretty sure the bridesmaids think they're a couple, but whatever. It's all Randy Newman's fault.

"You owe me another margarita, man."

From:

psyched_you_out

It's not the first time they've been mistaken for a couple, nor is it likely to be the last. Shawn is sort of okay with it.

"Sure thing."

He keeps a hand on Gus's shoulder to steady him as they head offstage. It's not very high, but Gus is tipsy enough to warrant the concern.

From:

thesupersmeller

It's questionable how Juliet feels about it - but really, nobody gets in the way of their friendship. Not even them.

Leaning a little more heavily than he normally would on Shawn, he lets his best friend lead him toward the taco bar for another awesome round of meat and cheese goodness.

"That was pretty fun, Shawn... I gotta give you that."

From:

psyched_you_out

Juliet knows full well that no one's ever going to come between them. (As for the "mistaken for a couple" thing, he has a feeling she sometimes finds it amusing.)

"We are all about fun tonight, Gus."

And he'd better not forget it.

From:

thesupersmeller

"You got that right."

He digs into his second plate of tacos and halfway through his third 'man-sized' margarita things are pretty warm. And spinny. And nice.

"You know what, Shawn - I'm glad she's gone." He attempts to focus on Shawn's face and ends up finding a waitress that's a little easier to follow. "I don't need to be scared of her no more."

From:

psyched_you_out

Shawn's halfway through his own taco when he realizes Gus is trying to focus on him. He waves a hand in front of his face.

"Over here, buddy."

He takes a sip of his virgin pina colada. Mmm. Refreshing.

"Scared of who?"

He doesn't like the sound of this.

From:

thesupersmeller

"I'm all right, man..." He stays focused on the girl a little longer, muttering; "It's all right, baby... I'll catch you after work..."

He chuckles under his breath as he looks back to Shawn.

"Aww, you know man..." He hisses and makes a claw face that totally makes sense in his head.

"Last time that was just too much for me, I mean I'm a nice guy, right? I can't be all like that."

From:

psyched_you_out

The claw face actually almost makes sense to him. Which kind of says a lot about how drunk Gus is.

"Ohhh, you mean the... yeah."

This conversation is sliding quickly towards awkwardville.

From:

thesupersmeller

"Yeah, well forget her. I wrote her off. No more playin' with my heart, you know? I don't need that tough guy thing..."

Even if she did make him feel like a real man.

Even if the sex was amazing.

"Demeter's right, I gotta find a girl like me... Like I met this guy, right?"

He stops mid-thought to take a long tequila laden sip and chases it with chips and salsa that could put hair on Dr. Evil's cat.

From:

psyched_you_out

... Yep, definitely awkward. He pats Gus on the shoulder.

"Hey. Good things are gonna happen for you, man."

It feels like kind of a lame thing to say, but he's certainly due for them.

From:

thesupersmeller

"It's not like that, Shawn!" He shoots back with a frown at an implication that sober he would know wasn't there; "I didn't sleep with a guy, we talked... and maybe fistbumped. Just once. But he's really nice and he cooks better than my grandma."

And no human on earth cooks better than his grandma.

"If I could meet a girl like him that was single and not crazy I'd be set."

From:

psyched_you_out

That was a sharp turn to the conversation.

"W... Oh, you met a guy friend."

Under normal circumstances, he'd making a joke about feeling jilted, but Gus is nowhere near sober enough for it to land. Besides, there's nothing wrong with Gus hanging out with other guys.

(Keep telling yourself that, Shawn.)

"Better than your grandma? Nuh-uh."

From:

thesupersmeller

"Totally better than grandma - I'm telling you, ribs that can make a grown man weep and chili that could drop a viking."

He shifts in his seat, leaning back slightly; "I think maybe if I see Nancy again I might ask him to cater it."

From:

psyched_you_out

Shawn is still skeptical. He's never actually met the elder Mrs. Guster, but her culinary skills are the stuff of legend.

"Oh, you met Nancy. How'd that go?"

From:

thesupersmeller

This guy is the bomb and Gus ignores the question long enough to send himself a note so that he'll remember to introduce them after the tequila's out of his system. Which by the slowly lowering surface of his fishbowl margarita could be a few days.

"Good, good..." he smiles, nodding easily; "I mean, I went right when you told me to. We sort of hit it off I guess. She's nice. Friendly."

He rolls his eyes and considers a third wind at the taco bar; "We had Julio's fish tacos and I made my special sundaes to eat while we watched 101 Dalmations on VHS." He shrugs, once more catching sight of the pretty waitress; "It was all right, she's kind of a little young... and she's got kids, and a war and all that at home."

From:

psyched_you_out

Gus, you charmer.

"Yeah.... glad it went okay, though."

The age gap is pretty significant, to say nothing of Nancy's other responsibilities, but he's pleased to hear things went as well as they did.

From:

thesupersmeller

It was kind of nice to not feel any kind of pressure on a date for once.

"I don't know..." he shrugs; "I don't think she's really... you know, like you know."

It makes sense in his head. "I think I'm just gonna lay low for a little bit, wait it out until Luci's out of my system."

From:

psyched_you_out

"No spark, huh? At least you're meeting new people."

He takes another sip of his drink, which is almost as comically large as Gus's, though entirely less alcoholic.

"So tell me more about this amazing cook."

From:

thesupersmeller

"You know it is;" he shrugs; "I wouldn't say no spark... just... problematic."

Gus considers his tacos, briefly considering just what said cook could do with them, and then quickly realizes that even drunk that's a little too weird for him.

"Um... he's pretty good. Kind of sad, though... you know? He can't go home."

The thought curls an even tighter ball in his gut than it did the first time he heard it, though it might be the t-n-t talking.

From:

psyched_you_out

"Is he stuck there, or can he not go home for some other reason?"

From:

thesupersmeller

"Stuck," he replies quietly, shaking his head until the room's just a little too wobbly to keep doing so.

"Door won't open, and he's got a girl he misses real bad. I mean... can you imagine not being able to come back to me or Juliet?"

The thought alone's enough to make his voice crack slightly.

From:

psyched_you_out

He really can't.

"No. Man, that'd be awful."

From:

thesupersmeller

Gus sniffs and nods into his taco, tapping down a piece of lettuce apparently bent on escaping it's shell.

"You're tellin' me. Man, I'd probably die."

From:

psyched_you_out

He scoots closer to Gus, half leaning and half holding him up.

"I wouldn't let that happen. If we got stuck, it would have to be together."

... Don't ask how he'd make that happen, realistically.

From:

thesupersmeller

Gus frowns and shakes his head, letting it rest easily on Shawn's shoulder. Maybe that was a little too much margarita.

"Yeah, but what about your girl? I mean, the three of us for ever and ever - I think that might be even worse."

He doesn't mean to make it sound like it does, and he'd never admit it without the liquid assistance, but he sighs into Shawn's shirt no less.