•••

Gunn woke up to the throbbing of sore, protesting muscles. He felt like he’d slept on the floor all… “Fuck.” He *had* slept on the floor—well, ground—all night, as well as a good chunk of the day. The werewolf shifted slightly, grimacing at the feel of dirt and pebbles digging into his skin. If it weren’t for the soft warmth of Cordelia pressed against him, he’d have been completely miserable.

“FUCK!” Gunn jerked hard, rolling into Cordelia and waking her up. Just as he’d resigned himself to being sore all day, he remembered the previous evening… all of it. Cordelia elbowed him as she woke, pushing him onto his back. His right arm flung out and hit cold skin. “Shit!” He’d just touched vampire skin. Normally that wouldn’t have bothered him, but he wasn’t sure what he’d just touched.

“Would it kill you to be quiet?” Wil growled, rubbing the spot on his thigh that Gunn had struck. “Some of us are trying to sleep here.”

Gunn’s eyes widened. Sleep? How could anyone sleep when they were in a big, disgusting pile of naked people?

“It didn’t bother you last night,” Xander mumbled from underneath Oz. The Raphe was half-propped on Angel’s legs, the vampire thoughtfully providing cushioning from the hard ground. Oz growled warningly at Gunn. Now was not the time to start getting puritanical and huffy.

“We…you—“ Cordelia slapped a hand over Gunn’s mouth and snarled.

“Shut up, Charles,” She said in a low voice. “We all remember very well what happened last night. In fact, most of us are thinking about it right now, since you woke us up. If you’d bother to notice, no one else is flailing around and cursing.”

“Indeed,” Wesley said softly, “Regardless of how appalled we are at our debauched behavior, those of us with some measure of upbringing are keeping our horror to ourselves.”

“It was just sex,” Wil commented. “The only difference between what happened here and what goes on in the farm house is that there aren’t any walls here.”

“Um… that’s not exactly true,” Oz murmured. “Usually you don’t let us watch.”

“You never asked, did you?” Wil shot back. Angel just shook his head, burying his face in Wil’s shoulder. Only Wil…

“You guys do that at Vince’s?” Xander inquired. “’Cause if you do, he should be paying you more. Lots more.”

Wil laughed. “Not often, Xander; the dancers would get jealous—we’d get all the tips.”

“Can you NOT joke about this?” Gunn asked, having freed himself from Cordelia’s restraining hand. “It’s wrong!” He looked over towards Wesley, who was huddling with Fred at the edge of the group. The dim light in the cave didn’t allow him to see Wesley’s reactions to the discussion.

“What do you want us to do, psychoanalyze a rather spontaneous bout of semi-group sex?” Xander spat, annoyed that he wasn’t going to get to go back to sleep.

“Semi-group?” Oz murmured questioningly.

“No partner-swapping, you know,” Xander replied.

“Ah. I did suspect that we forgot something,” Wesley said idly. Fred tried to choke back a laugh.

“Damn. I’ve been wanting to do Oz for so long!” She crowed.

That comment was so absurd, so obviously false—and incredibly shocking coming from Fred, that the entire cave, minus Gunn, broke out into hysterical laughter. Soon they were gasping out rejoinders, rolling on the floor, and trying to catch their breaths.

“Oh, man, you mean I could’ve had Wil?” Xander whined, trying to catch Oz, who was avoiding the Raphe’s tickling fingers. “My only chance to figure out if he’s a natural blonde!”

“He is,” Cordelia assured the Raphe. “I looked.”

“Speaking of missed opportunities,” Wil said, leering at Cordelia. “You know, y’ could’ve gotten vamp sandwich you’ve been hankering after.”

The seer bowled over, deep caws of cackling laughter flowing from her mouth. “Say it ain’t so! Reconsider! I’m good! You’ll love it!” When Gunn made a disgusted face and moved away, she chose to ignore him. If he couldn’t see the humor in the situation, so be it.

“We could’ve had a pack bonding moment,” Oz commented.

“Pack bonding?” Fred murmured. “That’s not like family bonding, right?”

“Male bonding?” Xander asked.

“Bondage?” Angel inquired hopefully. “With leather?”

“He’s partial to jadeite,” Wil suggested. Angel squeaked.

Oz grinned. “You know what they say.”

“Even when it’s bad, it’s good?” Xander replied.

“The family that sleeps together stays together,” Oz answered.

“Ah!” Wil murmured. “The incest model of marriage and family therapy.”

“We are in the South,” Angel said speculatively. “But all of us are of age.”

“Ah. I am consoled,” Wesley stated firmly. “We’ve only broken every other statute in the state.”

“Which state?” Fred asked. “We’re near the border.”

“Oh, no, we’re so not getting into North Carolina AND Tennessee sex laws,” Xander insisted. “Besides, nobody committed adultery, right?”

“I didn’t see any adultery,” Fred said.

“I didn’t participate in any,” Wil added. “But if anyone’s offering…”

“Wil,” Xander began, “How is it that you had lube with you?”

Wil shrugged. “Should’ve been a boy scout.”

That got even more laughter. “Boy scout… cave…” Xander gasped. “Lube? Man, I want to see that troop!”

“So, do we start the game again at sundown?” Wesley asked, mostly out of pity. Perhaps if he changed the topic of conversation, Gunn would calm down.

“Vote on it,” Oz said. “Who wants to?”

“Do we get to spend the night in another cave?” Fred inquired. “Or even a nice, big hayloft?”

“Ugh. Hay itchy,” Cordelia protested. “But I vote to finish.”

“Me too,” Xander said.

“Sure,” Angel murmured. Wil nodded his agreement.

“We may have to alter the rules so that the game actually ends,” Wesley warned.

Oz thought for a moment. “Why don’t we just start over? New teams, new rules.”

“No paper,” Xander reminded him.

“No partners, then,” Oz replied. “New rules… Ok, sort of a free-for-all. First person to get back to the cabin with a captive wins. We leave at sundown, with a twenty minute head start.”

“Gunn, you in?” Cordelia asked shortly. Her boyfriend was still sulking in the far corner of the cave.

“Fine,” He said sullenly.

“So we’ve made light of the uncomfortable topic of our orgy, offended Gunn, and decided on a course of action for the evening,” Wesley summarized. “Unless there is other business, can we now go back to sleep? Sunset is not for several more hours.”

“Fine by me,” Xander stated as he curled up with Oz. The others must have agreed, because they too paired off and returned to resting. Even Gunn relented and rejoined Cordelia, who made very clear how dissatisfied she was with his behavior.

•••

“Sun’s down,” Wil said from the mouth of the cave. Without any other warning he took off at a run. Angel followed soon thereafter, moving in a slightly different direction.

“Boy, they don’t play around,” Xander commented. He finished putting his shoes on while Oz and the other werewolves left. By the time he finished, even Wesley and Fred were gone.

Humming tunelessly, Xander left the cave, snagging the lube on his way out. There was no reason to shock the bears.

•••

“I know you’re here, Wil,” Angel murmured as he wandered along the banks of a shallow creek. “I can smell you.” Tinkling laughter answered him. He cocked his head, trying to orient on the sound. The blonde must have been up the ridge a bit—the sound was up high.

Wil watched as Angel wandered off in the wrong direction. “You’re getting colder,” He sang out lightly. The younger vampire didn’t really want to hunt anyone; he was enjoying being outside and free from the day to day hassles of internet-based research.

Angel spun around and looked up into the trees. He backtracked for a bit, looking at all the tree trunks as he passed. After another fifteen minutes, he found the one Wil had climbed. Grinning madly, he started up the tall oak, intent on finding, if not catching, his childe.

“Took you long enough,” Wil commented when Angel pulled himself up on a nearby branch.

“So why are you up here?” Angel asked, edging closer.

Wil shrugged. “Freshly fed, don’t feel like chasing wolves.”

“Squirrel?” Angel inquired. “Or rabbit?”

“Both. You?”

“Rabbit. Squirrel’s gamey,” Angel replied. “Why didn’t you say anything earlier?”

“Because I like being out here. Don’t you?”

“It’s nice. Quiet,” Angel agreed. “So…”

“Forgot the lube,” Wil murmured.

“Has that ever stopped us before?” Angel asked.

“No.”

•••

Gunn figured that God must have forgiven him for the insane depravity of the previous evening, because he stumbled right over Wesley without even trying. The faun put up a good fight, but Gunn was stronger and more accustomed to hunting than Wesley was. “Come on, let’s get back to the cabin. I’m starving,” Gunn said. Wesley thought about it for a moment and agreed.

“You do have a point. The local roughage leaves something to be desired,” Wesley remarked. He could and had snacked on some of the local farmer’s crops, but such things paled in comparison to a hero sandwich—which could be had back at the cabin. He walked beside Gunn, more than content to be a willing captive if it got him home faster. Putting up with the inevitable conversation about the cave incident was a fair price to pay.

“Aren’t you bothered by…” Gun began a few minutes later.

Wesley sighed. He’d been expecting that question. “Initially, yes. However upon reflection, it doesn’t really bother me that much.”

“Why not?” Gunn asked incredulously. “I mean, we…”

“We live together, in the closest of quarters,” Wesley explained. “Despite joking to the contrary, we have all seen each other naked, doing just about everything. I was under the impression that after all these years we were all rather comfortable with each other and ourselves.”

“It’s not *that”, Gunn retorted. He didn’t care that Wil and Angel had gotten it on… well, no more than he was that Wesley and Fred had. “Sex isn’t a public thing.”

“Tell that to every other species on the planet,” Wesley shot back. “Humans are well-known for their puritanical beliefs about sex. No demon species is so close-minded.” The ex-Watcher thought for a moment. “And we’re not human, you know.”

“I know,” Gunn said sharply. “Believe me, I do.”

Something about the way Gunn was acting made Wesley suspicious. “Charles, are you upset because of what happened, or because of your response to it? Is it that you think you should be appalled, but you aren’t?”

“What? It’s sick and wrong!” Gunn said hotly.

“Is it? Not for any of the species present,” Wesley reminded him. “Vampires have notoriously… explicit sexual habits, werewolves live in packs by nature, Raphe run in herds, and fauns are associated with Pan and chthonic gods for a reason—just look at some Grecian pottery if you don’t believe me.”

“It’s wrong,” Gunn repeated.

“If you say so,” Wesley murmured. He’d gone through the momentary panicking when he’d first awoken that afternoon. However, once he realized that his own distress was more due to him not feeling the way he thought he should have, he recovered quickly. After more consideration, Wesley realized that what had occurred really wasn’t that surprising. After all, they had all been under a lot of stress, and had just added to that a massive amount of adrenalin—a perfect setup for sex. As for the group aspect, well… they were a family and very comfortable around each other. Angel made sure that both the same and opposite-gender couples got to use his employee discount at Vince’s—something that actually helped Gunn and Cordelia out the most. They were the only couple who needed to use contraceptives; for obvious reasons Wil, Angel, Xander and Oz didn’t need them, and rather early on Wesley had determined that fauns couldn’t reproduce with either humans or vampires. Cordelia and Gunn, however, could procreate if they weren’t careful, and due to hormonal differences birth control pills were ineffective. Angel’s job saved them a lot on condoms. Thinking about that made Wesley realize that Cordelia and Gunn hadn’t had any protection the night before. That was a troubling thought.

•••

“You knew nobody would want to hunt,” Xander accused. Oz just shrugged and continued pressing soft kisses on Xander’s neck. The werewolf had waylaid Xander at the mouth of the cave and the two men hadn’t made it any further—going right back inside.

“You picked up the lube,” Oz reminded him. “Wouldn’t get any use out there.”

“I might have needed to grease a squeaky gate hinge, or get myself out of a tight spot,” Xander rationalized. “What if someone comes back?”

“They can watch,” Oz growled. “Do you really want to play?”

Xander grinned. “Nope, just jerking your chain.”

Oz snarled and pounced.

•••

“Are they still talking?” Fred asked Cordelia. They’d met up an hour after leaving the cave and had decided to just play around instead of going straight to the cabin. They’d hunted down a deer and feasted on it, choosing not to think about how they’d brought down and dismembered Bambi’s daddy. After finishing dinner, they spied Gunn and Wesley heading for the cabin. They decided to tag along, out of sight, for a while before taking a faster route in and ‘winning’ whatever it was they got for being first.

“Oh, yeah,” Cordelia replied. “I hope Wes doesn’t get too offended. Gunn can get…” She wasn’t always proud of her boyfriend’s mouth. Sometimes he didn’t think. Of course, the same could be said of her, but at least she’d learned to control that most of the time.

“He’ll be fine,” Fred reassured her. “Besides, how worked up can they get? They haven’t stopped for food, besides some grass.”

Cordelia nodded and led Fred away towards another path. She was actually glad that Wesley was getting a chance to talk to Gunn. The faun had a knack for not offending her occasionally-touchy mate… well, he offended less than others. Besides that, she figured Wes would catch on to what was really bothering Gunn, which wasn’t the public sex at all.

Gunn had advanced a great deal in terms of tolerance and acceptance over the years. The man she was with now was very different from the one she’d cussed at in a grocery store parking lot all those years ago. He’d learned to accept her werewolf side, even taking steps to learn about what she was. Even so, she’d been shocked when he’d told her he wanted to be changed, should anything happen to him. Living with vampires, werewolves, and other assorted demons seemed to give him a better perspective on such issues. Still, she knew he had areas that bothered him.

He’d been a werewolf for almost five years and had generally adapted well. However, in the back of his mind he was still human—he could accept certain nonhuman behaviors in others, but in himself? No. It never occurred to Gunn that perhaps there was more to those behavior differences than simple learning. He never questioned why he found it so easy to hunt in a pack, or submit to his alpha, or why his territorial possessiveness of Cordelia grew from simple human posturing to feral rage. Cordelia, however, knew that it was because werewolves weren’t human—they didn’t act like humans, or think like them either. When she was human, Cordelia thought about herself first and last—even when she was making a conscious effort to help others. Now, though, she thought about the pack, even when the pack was expanded to cover all eight of them.

This afternoon, when Gunn had woken up and started freaking out, Cordelia started to suspect that it wasn’t so much what had gone on the night before that bothered him but the fact that it hadn’t bothered him at all. Had he really been opposed to the presence of others, nothing would’ve happened—they would have called a halt and everyone would have stopped. But Gunn didn’t even think about it. The day after, he found himself wondering when he’d become so different from who he had been.

Cordelia knew how he felt—she too had changed a lot over the past few years. No one from high school would recognize her now, but that didn’t bother her in the least. After all, she wasn’t exactly proud of who she’d been as a kid. Gunn had a lot of thinking to do; she just didn’t want it to disturb the group too much. The last time he’d done this was in Los Angeles, right after she’d been changed, and it had caused problems all over the place.

“We’re almost there, aren’t we?” Fred asked. “Just over that hill.”

“Yeah,” Cordelia murmured. “There’s Oz’s mark.” She pointed at a scratch on a nearby tree. “So, who got caught?”

“Me,” Fred replied instantly. “But you have to make something to eat. I’m hungry again.”

“Me too. That deer didn’t hold up as well as he should have,” Cordelia replied.