Of Moose & Men

By Merzibelle

Wesley swung Fred's hand between them as they wandered through the twilit pecan grove, which she had referred to as an orchard as a few peach and apple trees were scattered amongst the pecans. He was still trying to recover from the sight of Angel, who in a vain attempt to impress Cordelia with his newly acquired fashion sense, had come downstairs in a pair of brilliant Bermuda shorts. Cordelia's affronted scream still caused him to laugh on occasion. "I can't believe it is THAT color!" she had exclaimed when she saw him, before demanding that he go change into proper attire before she staked him in self-defense.

Fred turned to Wes, listening to him trying to stifle his chuckle, and tried to step in front of him to kiss him. She managed the kiss. It was the step that was the trouble as she tripped over a tree root. Once again her Wesley showed what he was made of as he caught her, managing to keep her from falling over the pecan's roots. Their romantic interlude was interrupted by a panicked Gunn running through the trees like a madman screaming, "Honk it, man. Honk it!"

Wes lifted his head to look at Gunn and the creature that was following him. He started laughing hysterically at the sight of Gunn being chased by a chocolate moose blaring what sounded like a mating call.

"What are you, a man or a moose?" Angel cried, stepping between Gunn and the sort of runny running creature that was chasing him. "I've never seen you run from a fight."

"Who said it was a fight!" Gunn cried in response. "This is all Wes' fault. His stupid anti-demon repellent attracted the thing!"

Wes looked up, slowly releasing Fred. "Hey! I told you it wasn't ready yet. Did you listen?"

"Shh…" Fred took a step away, flipping on her Walkman. Within minutes, her current favorite song, Only a Woman by Michael Bolton, filled the grove.

Everyone groaned variations of 'not that again.' Then Fred pointed to where the moose was, asleep, curled up beneath a low hanging branch of a pecan tree. Fred set the Walkman on the ground, squealing softly as Wes picked her up and headed back to the cars, leaving the sleeping moose beneath the trees.

~Fin~