Disclaimer: Peter Venkman and Egon Spengler don’t belong to me. They belong to DIC, and I did not make any money off of this fan fiction. The song lyrics aren’t mine, but belong to whoever wrote the song.

Warning: This is a slash story, which includes an m/m situation. If this offends you, you are free to leave.

Rating: G

Notes: Thanks, Lethe for the inspirational hammock picture. Also, anything in asterisks and the song lyrics should be italicized. Also, I’m assuming that the guys graduated in ‘75 and Egon and Peter have been together since ’76.

Feedback is welcome at: bianki@hotmail.com

Archive at T’Yanna’s Fortress, and anywhere else, please ask me at the email address mentioned above.

****

Swaying in the Summer Breeze
(by Trent Grey)

Creak. Creak.

"Mmmmm…"

Egon smiled at the contented purr that came from his lover and hugged Peter closer to him as the hammock they lay in swayed gently in the breeze. It had been earlier, while looking for things in the attic to cannibalize for parts that Egon had found Ray’s old hammock. . .

*****

"Did you have any luck, Egon?" A new voice caused the blond physicist to turn around to see it was Ray.

Egon shook his head. "A fruitless search to be sure. I could only locate an old record-player that was Winston’s, and even then, it will not provide us the parts we need."

Ray frowned, but when his wandering gaze caught sight of the cloth Egon was absently holding onto, his face brightened. "Oh, hey! You found my hammock!"

"This is yours, Ray?" Egon looked surprised.

"Oh, yeah!" Ray grinned, squatting down next to Egon, gingerly taking the cloth from his hands and examining it with newfound curiosity. "I remember when my Aunt Lois gave this to me before I went to college. She thought she had lost this one, and had bought a new one, but by the time me and Uncle Robert had found this one, Aunt Lois figured that the new one could hold up to the rain and she didn’t need this one, so she gave it to me."

"That was very kind of her." Egon said absently, looking over the hammock. "However, I do not see where we could conceivably hang this up."

"Oh, yeah." Ray’s face fell.

"Don’t worry, Raymond." Egon half-smiled faintly. "I am sure we will find a suitable place for the hammock to be put into good use."

"Well, I don’t think we’ll find any more adapters up here than we already found, so we may as well buy them from the parts store." Ray shrugged, folding the hammock back and slinging it over one shoulder almost absently. "Maybe we can get Peter to go."

Egon chuckled as they got back down from the attic and headed toward the lab. "If there is a way to convince Peter that going out for a purpose that does not sound like getting a pizza or going on a bust, I do not know of it."

Ray burst out laughing at that one. "Yeah, you’re right. I’ll take the Ecto and I should be back in a little while. Oh, here." He deposited the hammock in Egon’s arms.

Egon nodded. "I shall see what can be finished before we’ll need the parts."

Ray grinned at the taller man. "Great!" He started heading downstairs, but then stopped himself briefly. "Oh, and if you can find someplace to hang the hammock, that’d be great!"

"I shall see what can be done." Egon nodded, watching as Ray hopped down the stairs, his usual enthusiasm as evident as ever. With a smile, Egon was about to return to the lab when he saw Peter trudge up the stairs, looking downwards at undoubtedly Ray’s retreating figure. "Wonder what’s happening now?"

"Raymond’s leaving to buy parts for the PKE dampener."

"Oh, hey, Spengs." Peter looked up from the stairs to look at Egon and flash him a quick smile. "Hope he’s not gonna use a check again. The budget’s getting tight enough as it is."

"If I recall, Winston deposited fifteen hundred yesterday." Egon frowned. "That in itself should last a while, provided we not spend the money frivolously." He gave Peter a hard, knowing look.

"Hey, I’m not the one buying three hundred dollars worth of coaxial cables." Peter reminded him.

"We have yet to account for the $200 that were withdrawn from the account." Egon returned, folding his arms across his chest and asked gently, "Peter, did your father—"

Peter’s expression grew dark at his father’s mention. "No, he hasn’t been around."

Egon nodded, looking relieved. That was when Peter noticed what was in his hands.

"What’s that? New shower curtain?" He asked, eager to change the subject.

Egon shook his head. "Ray’s hammock. I found it in the attic."

"I didn’t know Ray had a hammock."

"Neither did I until I discovered it."

"Ya gonna hang it in the lab so you guys can catch some Z’s while you’re working?" Peter grinned.

Egon shrugged. "I do not know. I was going to return to the PKE dampener and worry about this at a later time."

"You two have been working on that thing for three days now." Peter replied, easily taking the hammock from Egon’s hands and slinging it over his shoulder as Ray had done. "I don’t think even Einstein can run on Twinkies and adrenaline without some sleep."

Egon blinked owlishly. "The PKE dampener nearly finished, Peter. Raymond and I are hoping to have it completed in time for the demonstration we are to give in Utah next Tuesday. And, as a matter of fact, I do not feel fatigued." The yawn that almost cracked his yawn begged to differ.

"Yeah, sure, Spengs." Peter grinned at him. "How about you go lay down, and I’ll go find some place to hang this up."

"Peter, I do not require a second mother." Egon said stiffly.

"You might not, but I don’t want you conking out from sheer exhaustion and hurting yourself in the lab. Go to bed, Egon."

Egon tried to imitate one of Peter’s long-suffering sighs, much to his lover’s amusement, and left for their room, giving Peter a quick kiss before closing the door behind him. Peter, frowned down at the folded hammock in thought. It was a dark green, and it didn’t look like the rats that seemed to be prevalent in New York had gotten to it. Still, they didn’t have any trees in the yard, for the obvious reason that they lived in a renovated fire station, so that was a no go. So, where else?

"Nmeter!!" The excited shout caused Peter to look up in alarm, just in time to receive a big, sloppy, ectoplasmic kiss.

"Slimer!" He shouted. "Geez, could you lay off with the kissing?" Peter spat a couple times to get some ectoplasm that had found its way on his tongue. Not a pleasant taste.

Slimer’s face drooped at the statement. "Nyor-ry." He was about to turn and drift away before Peter stopped him.

"Sorry about that, spud." The psychologist said soothingly. "You just surprised me there." He looked around quickly before leaning toward the little green ghost and whispering, "Did you give the ring to Winston?"

Slimer gave a vigorous nod. "Slimer ngive."

"Good. Thanks, spud."

Slimer gave Peter a toothy grin, but was stopped from giving the psychologist another slimy kiss.

"Uh, that’s okay, spud. I can feel the love."

Slimer floated away, sinking into the floor and leaving a puddle of green goo in its wake.

"Well, just as soon as Winston comes back from that car show, I can propose tonight." Peter gave himself a very satisfied smirk. "Now, what to do about this hammock…"

*****

Peter was feeling very proud of himself. A little while ago, he had found supports for the hammock to hang from, and now he was ready to put his plan into motion. Right now, though, he had finished setting up a cozy, romantic scene, with a chilling bottle of champagne and all, and he was laying on the couch waiting for Winston.

The door opened, and Winston came in. "Hey, Pete."

Peter sat up to look over the back of the couch. "Hey, Zed. Did Slimer give you a ring earlier?"

Winston blinked. "Yeah. How’d you know?"

"I gave it to him to hold on to." Peter put his Dewey LaMort novel down and got up from the couch.

"It’s yours?" Winston asked in surprise. "What’s the occasion?"

"Let’s just say I have a little proposal for Egon." Peter smirked.

"Really?" Winston grinned. "That’s great, m’man!"

"Whoa. He hasn’t accepted yet." Peter told him. "Where is it? I was thinking of asking him tonight."

"Right here." Winston took a small burgundy velvet box out of his jeans pocket and handed it over. "Hope it works out."

"After twenty years?" Peter grinned. "How could it not?"

*****

"Egon." Peter sighed, leaning against the door jam and looking at his lover, dutifully working on the PKE dampener with Ray.

"I will be just a moment, Peter, I assure you." Egon said absently. "Ray, would you hand me that screwdriver?"

Ray shot a quick look at Peter, seeing the green eyes give his lover a calculating look and then shoot him an almost pleading glance. "Hey, I can handle putting the rest of it together. Why don’t you take some time off, Egon?"

"I have already taken time off earlier today." Egon told him, his hand still waiting for the screwdriver. Ray cast a rueful glance at Peter and shrugged helplessly.

"Egon, I think it can wait a little more. You can put it together, right, Ray?"

"Of course, Peter." Ray grinned.

Egon looked up from the half-finished machine and sighed. "Very well. Ray, would you inform me if you finish tonight? I would like to run some preliminary tests before we attempt any field-testing."

"Sure, Egon. Have fun, you guys." A faint flush spread over Ray’s cheeks as he ushered the two out of the lab. "Don’t stay up too late."

Peter grinned at Egon as the two of them found themselves in the hallway.

"What are you planning, Dr. Venkman?" Egon asked suspiciously. "I know you would not take me away from the dampener without good reason."

"Oh, believe me, Dr. Spengler." Peter smiled. "It’s a good reason." He stepped closer to the blond physicist and gave him a slow, meandering kiss. When they drifted apart, Egon could see a mischievous twinkle in the psychologist’s eyes. "C’mon. I wanna show you where I put the hammock."

"You found a suitable place for it?" Egon asked in surprise. "We do not have any trees in the yard."

"Yeah, but I found some metal supports next to the boxes we have for Christmas lights." Peter took one of his lover’s hands and was now leading him up the stairs to the roof.

"You set up the hammock on the roof?" The physicist asked as they mounted the last few stairs and were now standing on the roof. "It does not seem very practical—"

He stopped, staring at the hammock, now swaying in the warm, summer breeze. There was a bucket of ice, complete with a bottle of champagne, and something he recognized as Peter’s stereo from college. With the sun now beginning to set, swirls of pinks and blues along with lines of purple painted themselves across the evening sky.

"Well?" Peter asked with a cocky grin. "Whaddaya think?"

Egon blinked, turning to his lover. "It’s… beautiful."

"Good." Peter said, very satisfied. "Champagne?"

"No, thank you." Egon wrapped his long arms around Peter’s middle. "What occasion do we have to celebrate?"

"Do we need a reason to?" Peter wrapped his arms around his tall lover, allowing one of them to weave itself into Egon’s thick, blond hair.

"I do not believe so. However, we rarely find time to ourselves since we’ve started the business."

"I’ll see what I can do about that." Peter kissed him slowly before maneuvering him toward the hammock. He bent down quickly and hit the play button on the tape player.

Trees, swayin’ in the summer breeze,
Showin’ off their silver leaves
As we walked by

"How romantic." Egon smiled faintly.

"Yes, I am." Peter grinned teasingly. "C’mere."

They kissed again, and sank down into the hammock. As they removed their shirts and got comfortable, the song played on.

*****

Soft kisses on a summer’s day,
Laughing all our cares away,
Just you and I.

They say that all good things must end someday
Autumn leaves must fall.
But, dontcha know

That it hurts me so
To say good-bye to you?
Wish you didn’t have to go,
No, no, no, no.

And when the rain
Beats against my window pane,
I’ll think of summer days again.
And dream of you.
And dream of you.

*****

The breeze picked up, letting the hammock sway. Egon tightened his arm a little around Peter, snuggling a little into the psychologist’s hair. The scientist could smell the strawberry-scented shampoo that Peter used as his lover lay on top of him. Peter’s face looked tranquil, with a little smile that looked almost boyish on his face. Peter snuggled closer into him, causing him to smile as one hand stroked his shoulder lightly.

Still, when Peter snuggled closer to him, Egon felt a peculiar digging sensation at his hip. The blond physicist smiled and ran a hand down over Peter’s denim-covered rear before carefully wedging a hand between them to see what he could do about the uncomfortable lump. It appeared to be in Peter’s left pocket.

"Egon?" Sleepy green eyes opened to look up at him.

"You should go back to sleep, Peter."

"Mmm…whatcha doin’?" "There seems to be something in your pocket. I was going to remove it."

Egon groaned to himself, realizing what he had said, felt Peter’s hand slip down to his pants. "Perhaps, I should rephrase that."

"Maybe you should." Peter smirked drowsily.

"Well, I felt—I mean, there is a… ah…" Egon stuttered, a faint flush spreading across his face.. "Perhaps I should show you."

"Oh, please do."

Egon’s flush grew darker, but Peter lifted himself up a little to straddle Egon’s legs and attack his long neck with kisses. Egon felt around on Peter’s jeans and found the odd lump.

Peter pulled away to look into Egon’s eyes as his hand went to meet Egon’s over his pocket. Before Egon could say anything, Peter gave him one last kiss and got out of the hammock.

"Peter?"

"There’s been something I’ve wanted to ask you, Egon." Peter told him seriously, sinking to one knee beside the hammock and Egon’s surprised look. He cleared his throat uncomfortably. "It’s a bit hard for me to ask this, so just bear with me, okay?"

Egon nodded. "Take your time, Peter."

"I love you, Egon. We’ve been through a lot together from when we were in college, and I’m pretty sure I can say that I love you as much as I did when we first got together."

Egon’s deep blue eyes watched him patiently, the small lift of one eyebrow the only thing revealing his curiosity.

"It’s been a long time, and I can’t even believe that we’ve lasted twenty years. So, Egon, I think I’m finally ready to make this permanent. Really permanent."

Egon’s eyes widened a little as Peter took out the small burgundy box from his left pocket, opened it, and presented it to him. "Egon Spengler, will you marry me?"

Egon looked into Peter’s eyes, seeing love and a little bit of doubt in the dark green irises. He had come to know Peter inside and out these past two decades, and they indeed had been through hard times as well as pleasant. With a small smile, Egon leaned over and cupped Peter’s cheek in one hand.

"Yes, Peter."

They shared a long, slow kiss before Peter settled back into the hammock and held each other the whole night through.

THE END