When Goku awoke, it was to a rumbling stomach and a dark room. He briefly considers going back to sleep but the ache of hunger dismisses the notion. Instead, he uses the hand not wrapped around his son's waist to clear his eyes. In this position, extricating himself from Gohan will be difficult but, similar to himself, the half blooded saiyan is usually a heavy sleeper.
Goku takes a moment to savor the weight of Gohan snuggled into his side, soft breaths puffing along the skin of his neck, and carefully rolls the other onto his back before fully exiting their slumbered embrace.
Gohan grumbles a bit, shifts into a more comfortable position, and settles back down. An amused smile creeps onto Goku's lips. He remembers Gohan acting similarly when he was a child, getting all pouty when he or Chichi would put him to bed when he fell asleep on one of them. It was cute back then. Goku thinks it still is now.
With the bare amount of moonlight filtering in through curtain-covered floor to ceiling windows, Goku stepped over the plush carpet to the door, taking care to keep his steps quiet. He doesn't bother putting clothes on with the summer air warming the interior of the cabin.
He walks down the hallway and the stairs to the front door, feeling his way around in the pitch black, where their bags were left earlier in favor of much, much more pressing matters. Goku feels his face warm in remembrance, a dopey look melting over his face as he stands in the foyer.
Images of their intimate encounter flit through the full blooded saiyan's mind like a major motion picture. His son laid out before him and on top of him overwhelmed and overloaded with pleasure because of him.
A flush of arousal warms down his abdomen to his cock and he reminds himself why he's downstairs rather than in bed with the man he's fantasizing about.
Goku slaps his cheeks with both hands to refocus and quickly rummages through his bag for the capsuled food they'd brought with them. He walks, presumably, in the direction of the kitchen, passing by what he can vaguely tell is a sitting room and then a formal dining area. He manages to get to the kitchen with minimal toe stubbing and flicks on a nearby light switch that bathes the room in a yellow tinted light.
On the island countertop, he releases one of the capsules and a spread of various foods falls before him. Going for a light midnight snack, he settles on eating some of the dinosaur meat he had grilled before they left with a side of potatoes. He turns the oven to a probably reasonable setting and throws everything in with their foil wrappings. Goku's not much of a cook if it's not over a fire but he feels like there's a good chance the house won't burn down.
He puts the rest of the food in the fridge and leaves the other capsules on the counter. There should be enough food to last them the week with Chichi's earnest preparing not wanting her boys to go hungry and the saiyan's own time spent hunting and fishing.
Goku leans against the counter, waiting for the food to warm. It had been nice just spending time with his son, well, sons since they had invited Goten along as well who was, for once, not busy hanging out with Trunks.
It made Goku realize how rarely all three of them, or even just him and Goten, casually hang around each other. He's slightly ashamed to admit that it's pretty obvious who his favorite child is. Whatever time isn't spent training or working the farm is often with his oldest son.
Even so, that time isn't as much as they might want. That seems to be an ongoing theme between the two of them. Always wanting more time together than they have.
Gohan hasn't voiced any objections to their current arrangement but, then again, Gohan's probably just happy to not be rebuked completely for his affections.
As a kid, Gohan had never demanded more attention from him. Instead, when they did spend time together, he would wholeheartedly throw himself into whatever activity they were doing, that usually being training. He was determined, eager to hold his attention and make his father proud, never mind the fact Goku could never truly be disappointed in him.
He thinks of this and the way Gohan grumbled earlier before settling back to sleep. Some things don't change, Goku thinks in fond exasperation.
The only difference now, besides the obvious, is that Gohan is less concerned about making him proud and more worried he's going to change his mind about being more than just father and son.
But that's silly, Goku muses as he begins to rummage around the kitchen for something to take the food out of the oven with.
Goku never fully understood Krillin when he spoke about the deep seated romantic love he held for Eighteen, or Master Roshi when he drunkenly exclaimed about carnal attraction and desire, but with Gohan, he gets it.
Suffice it to say, Goku can't imagine himself getting cold feet about their relationship any time soon.
His focus shifts to moving everything to the island countertop and he grabs eating utensils from one of the drawers.
He's just about to dig in when he hears, "Late night snack?" He looks up to see Gohan leaning against the entryway wall in fitted boxers and Goku's own t-shirt.
His eyes dart to Gohan's slightly exposed collar bone. They're about the same height but Goku's frame is wider than his son's. He tears his gaze away from the tantalizing sight and attempts to formulate a response. "Yeah, I got hungry. You're wearing my shirt?"
Gohan smiles knowingly, "Figured I'd play around in Daddy's clothes. What're you eating?" He walks across the kitchen to his father where he stands on the opposite side of the island.
Goku pointedly ignores the first part as well as the warmth that runs to his cheeks, and uhh other places, and motions to the food on the counter when Gohan makes it over to him.
Appraising the spread, Gohan leans into his father's space. This close, Goku can better see Gohan's sleep tousled hair and his eyes still bleary from waking up and his shirt slipping across his shoulder.
Goku suddenly turns fully towards his son and places his hands on his lover's hips to bring him opposite Goku.
A startled noise escapes Gohan. "What're you -" his words are cut off by warm lips on his own. Gohan responds on reflex but begins to reciprocate in earnest after a moment. His hands gravitate to Goku's strong shoulders as lips press onto his over and over again.
Goku's hands work under the hem of his shirt to smooth over the skin of Gohan's hips. He pulls him even closer, molding them impossibly, wonderfully close together.
Goku considers doing this forever; kissing Gohan is as satisfying as breathing and it feels as necessary at times, too. He almost thinks he could do it but the tempting way his cock finds friction on Gohan's pelvis reminds him why that's not possible. He wouldn't be able to resist escalating.
Between the insistent meeting of their lips, Gohan manages to get out, "I thought you were gonna eat."
"Rather do this," he responds and mouths at Gohan's jaw line. "You're wearing my shirt."
Gohan chuckles and rocks into Goku's swelling cock. "Well, you won't hear me complaining."
As soon as the sentence leaves his mouth, a disapproving growl sounds from Goku's stomach, interrupting the older man's intention of reconnecting their lips.
"Seems like there's another opinion to consider, though," Gohan laughs, grin widening at the embarrassed flush on Goku's face. He leans up and tenderly molds his lips to his father's once more before pulling away. "Hey, we have all week for this. No rush, right?"
Goku's already forgotten about his fluster in favor of taking in his lover's shining eyes full of mirth and earnesty. "Yeah, that's right."
Gohan then disengages from their embrace and playfully wheedles at Goku to let him have some of his food to which his father easily agrees. A father provides for their son after all.
With another set of cutlery obtained, he settles on the other side of the island across from Goku.
Goku speaks in between bites, "I didn't wake you up, did I?"
"No, I just noticed you weren't there. Should've figured you'd be eating somewhere naked," Gohan replies teasingly.
Goku looks up innocently from the piece of meat he's cutting and sort of shrugs, "I was hungry."
Gohan chuckles around the food in his mouth, using the back of his hand to cover the lower half of his face. A couple moments pass peacefully and then, "So, you like the shirt." You would think Gohan was the cat who got the canary with the pleased grin he was wearing.
Goku corrects, gesturing with his fork like it's an important distinction, "Hm, I like you in the shirt." His eyes flick to that drooping collar before meeting his son's eyes again.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah, I like you in a lot of things," he says brightly, "I like you in a lot of nothing, too." He grins, cheeks bulging with the bite he just took.
They continue back and forth like this for a while, banter and laughter filling the quiet air of the cabin.
Gohan opens his mouth to say something else but he freezes up for a second as he seems to quickly rethink his words. He attempts to steamroll through the awkward moment. "Should we clean up now?" he says, cringing at the slightly higher pitch of his voice that comes out.
Goku watches his lover take dishes over to the sink with a bemused expression. When Gohan rounds his way back to the island, he inquires, "What were you going to say?"
Gohan doesn't bother playing dumb, "Ah, nothing important." He tries to dismiss the topic entirely and continue cleaning.
Normally, Goku would just drop it but something about the way Gohan holds tension in his shoulders and the forced casualness in his voice makes him want to press the issue. And curiosity aside, Gohan shouldn't be afraid to tell him anything.
"Why don't you want to tell me?" He gently takes the trash from their meal out of Gohan's hands and walks it over to the bin.
With nothing to do, Gohan leans his hip against the counter. "It's… just not something I should bring up. I don't want to kill the mood by talking about unnecessary things."
Goku comes back and stands at the corner perpendicular from Gohan. "If you really don't want to talk about it then okay, but don't do it because you're worried about how I might react," he turns over Gohan's hand that rests on the surface of the island and brushes his thumb over the inside of his wrist, smiling at the way his pulse jumps at the tender touch.
Like this, barely a foot apart from each other and sharing the same air, with Goku looking like Gohan could tell him he destroyed a planet and he would just keep holding his hand with that stupidly soft expression on his face, well, it's no wonder he caves to his partner.
Sighing, Gohan tries to maintain eye contact but they drop to where their hands are connected instead. "Fine, I was just going to ask if- if it had ever been like this…. between you and mom."
"Been like what?" Goku's head tilts in confusion and Gohan huffs a nervous laugh before clarifying.
"Y'know, natural, easy, fun. If you two had ever really been-"
"In love?" Goku finishes, amused by his son's discomfort with this topic. Goku isn't sure what the big deal is but, he supposes, they usually try to avoid talking about Chichi. Really, it's Gohan who's quick to change the subject whenever she comes up, not that Goku can blame him.
Gohan's stilted silence is answer enough and through chuckles Goku reassures, "Relax, sweetheart," he tangles their fingers together, "You've been around almost as long as Chichi and I have been together, Gohan. How you've seen us is pretty much how we've always been."
Seeing Goku's relaxed disposition allows Gohan to release some of the tension he was holding. He flexes the fingers intertwined with his father's and asks curiously, "Did you ever want more, in your marriage or outside of it?"
There's nothing but genuine inquisitiveness in Gohan's tone, like he just wants to take this opportunity to learn more about Goku. "Ah, to be honest, I didn't know what more there could be. Chichi is one of my closest friends and she's the mother of my children. She gave me a family and she lets me train. I never bothered to wonder about more. But then," it's Goku's turn to avert his eyes as a ruddiness fills his cheeks.
Gohan seems to realize where Goku's going with this and his disposition turns pleased and teasing. "But thennn," he prompts and rounds the corner of the island so they're directly facing each other with Gohan's hand now resting on his lover's forearm, thumbing at the vein that sits just under the skin.
"But then, we started. Apparently, there's a bit more to the whole relationship thing than I thought," he says, almost wry, but continues seriously, reaching an arm around Gohan's hip, unable to resist the temptation of furthering contact between them, "It's so good, Gohan. I love it, being with you, I love you." His cadence is soft and beseeching, as if imploring Gohan to internalize the meaning of his words as well as hear it.
Gohan opens his mouth to respond but shakes his head and instead leans up to convey reciprocation through the meeting of their lips. He can taste the richness from the meat they ate as well as his lover's inherent flavor. Neither of them have the intention of escalating; simply feeling each other is enough.
When they part it's as slow as possible. Their eyes glitter with emotion as they gaze at each other, twin smiles occupying their mouths, and Gohan quietly speaks, "I love you, too." And right now, in the isolated hush of the cabin, away from looming questions brought on by the future and the presence of their friends and family, that's all that holds significance.
For several moments, they exist in an embrace, heads tucked into each other. The kitchen is the only illuminated space in a several mile radius and as they stand in the center of that light, it's as if they're the very source of such warmth.
Goku feels his lover lean into him more and more, and feeling drowsy himself, he guides them out of the kitchen, flicking off the light which douses their pocket of space in darkness once again, but does nothing to dampen the glow between them.
They make it back to the bedroom and sleep soundly through the remainder of the night and well into the morning.
hope you enjoyed the read! lmk what you thought ie please gush with me about this ship lolll. also, fair warning i have no idea when the next chapter will be out so don't hold your breath! i'll be working on it but i take a long time to do anything lmao. have a great day/night!