wickerpark | (no subject)

Christmas was fucking cold, Gael thought as he walked down the street. His phone would buzz occasionally, and he'd pull it out to a snapchat from Carlos. At first those snapchat conversations had been pretty damn dirty, with pictures to go with it. Over time they were getting just more conversational, innocent.

This was not one of those moments as Gael watched Carlos's hips roll suggestively before he pulled the camera up and winked at it saying he missed Gael. And fuck him if he wasn't groaning a little, because he missed Carlos too. For more than the sex, which was probably just...wrong. The guy was in the Navy, Gael told himself. What could possibly come of a relationship like that? Carlos would break his heart, no doubt.

"Hey," a voice said, catching Gael's attention as he looked up. Seth Mansour was a sexy, middle-aged, mild-mannered, sexy a fuck accountant that lived next door to him. Gael had met his kids, and even grew up with the eldest daughter. And while she was pretty, her dad had always captured Gael's imagination. More so when the man and his wife got a divorce. He'd been 14, then. And like all 14 year old boys, he let his lower half do most of his thinking- especially when it came to watching Mr. Mansour from his bedroom window. And then he saw Mr. Mansour bring the first guy home, and Gael had always wondered if the man knew Gael could see into his living room from his bedroom...Because, well. There wasn't much effort to hide what came next.

"Hey," Gael said with a smile before he bit his lip. His phone buzzed again as Gael leaned against Mr. Mansour's gate. "Been a while."

Mr. Mansour laughed gently at that, nodding his head as he smiled a bit shyly. The man was not shy, though. At least not once they were behind closed doors. And Gael knew that well enough from first hand experience. And that had his body stirring at just the thought of it.

"Your dad's still working?" Seth asked as he bit his lip, looking Gael up and down lewdly. It was clear that he'd missed him, and their little...adventures. For a man who was 'new' to the gay scene, Gael thought with amusement, he'd certainly not gone at it timidly.

"Uh, yeah. For a while yet. He's taking next week off, which leaves me with a lot of free time. To catch up with friends..." He said stepping up closer as Seth grinned and laughed a little more nervously. Or maybe that was excitement. His phone buzzed again, and he ignored it. "You know...you could come by some time."

"You could come in, now." Seth countered, and Gael felt his heart skip a little. For a moment, his thoughts drifted to Carlos, and his heart sank just a little.

We're not dating, he told himself as he looked back up at Seth and grinned and nodded before he opened the gate and let himself in. They weren't dating. And he couldn't say no to this, he thought.

It was much later, and after a shower in Seth's bathroom, before Gael left the man's building. Seth walked him down, and even pulled him back for another suggestive kiss, grabbing his ass as he murmured something about Gael needing to come back upstairs. But Gael could only smile at him, kissing him again before he turned and started down the steps...

And then froze. Because Daniel Prochazka was not the person he expected to see standing outside the gate to their neighbor's building.

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"Hmm..." Daniel said almost noncommitally, smoothing down Gaël's hair a bit. They didn't know anyone in any of the branches of the military. Daniel's side of the family was a little too nerdy, and Léon's a little too not American. He did have a few concerns - mostly about the idea of his son falling for someone who might not come back.

But he'd just finished telling Gaël to trust himself to love.

"Maybe it won't," he said after a moment. "But you should give yourself a little more credit. You're your father's son, and I was mesmerized most of my life." Still was, if he was strictly honest about it. Even though he'd never see Léon again. "Your Navy kid probably likes you at least as much as you like him, you know."

He smiled a little, though. "Thank you," he said. "But I'll get you some local recommendations from mine. I think the budget can stretch to handle therapy appointments." He raised a brow. "And that apartment you've been asking me about."

"Really?" Gael asked, turning to look at Daniel with a bit more sparkle in his eye. "I mean...You...you just said we'd talk about it." But he certainly wasn't going to complain. His phone buzzed again, and he read the text.

Typing back he just sort of sat for a moment, staring at the coffee table.

"You wanna rent a movie, order pizza?" He asked as he leaned back and put his phone away. "Just, you know...Hang. The two of us." Something they hadn't done in a very, very long time.

He was becoming a sucker in his old age, apparently, Daniel thought. And for some reason he was more pro-apartment when it seemed like it might not be the revolving door he'd been afraid of.

He blinked, though before smiling at Gaël. It wasn't really like the smiles he'd had before Léon died, but it was a brighter effort than he'd put forth in some months. "Yeah, sure," he said. "That sounds good. But you know, we've entered the 21st century in this house. I do have Netflix."

He stretched to his feet and tossed the remote to Gaël. "Pick something out, kiddo. I'll get the pizza ordered."