Work Text:
People don't so often treat them as a set, these days. There was a time, in the minors, their first years in the big leagues, when they were gunnarandadley, adleyandgunnar. The more time they spend in the big leagues, the more that time slips away. It's bittersweet, in a way, Adley thinks. They're forging their own paths, making their own names, but to Adley, what he shares with Gunnar will always be more important than that. Adley thinks maybe that's why he loves these moments on the beach so much, watching the sun set in the early Florida spring, their first taste of so many stifiling summer afternoons and cool october nights to come, just him and Gunnar and the ocean. Here, they're still gunnarandadley, adleyandgunnar. Here they are woven together like one wave blends into the next. Here, with Gunnar's head in his lap, with Gunnar's soft curls falling like sand between his fingers, things are simple. Here, with nothing but the sound of waves and seagulls and Gunnar's quiet musings about some country song or whatever lego set he and Cowser are going to do next, Adley can finally breathe. There's no scouting report to pour over, no game to call, no staff to manage. There's just Adley and there's just Gunnar and there's just gunnarandadley.