Heavy Healing

9 Wade

Peter looked occupied when he came down to meet Wade. Or mentally occupied, his hands were otherwise empty when he came walking out of his apartment.

"Hey Petey." He smiled, grasping the young man's attention. "Say, are you ever going to invite me up?" He asked curiously as he closed the distance between them.

The previously thoughtfully frown on Peter's face vanished. His eyes widened and he gave Wade the most . . . Well he couldn't think of the word but he looked incredibly guilty.

"Not right now?" Peter gasped, the question as much an exclamation though Wade didn't think it was supposed to be a question.

"No?" He raised a brow and linked Peters's arm in his, stuffing his hand in a pocket so Peter had to unchain himself if he wanted out. "Why the guilty look?"

The brunette tripped on an upheaved cement block but caught himself quickly as they started to move. He pulled at Wade slightly but hardly enough to actually make him budge which he supposed was to Peter's benefit as he straightened.

"My apartment is just dirty." His face was growing red and he was staring straight ahead.

"Does it smell?"

"Of course not." Peter glanced over at him.

"Then it's probably fine. Only retired folks and weird people have super clean homes. Or people who can afford to have someone clean their place for them. No need to get so worked up, besides I think you're lying."

"Lying, why would I lie?"

Wade scoffed "with that beet red face? Clearly you're embarrassed about something you just did. What sinfull acts have you gotten yourself mixed up in this evening?"

"Nothing."

"You're a terrible liar, Peter." He sighed. "But it's alright. I won't press. For the next twenty minutes at least." He gave Peter a teasing nudge. Honestly his curiosity was beginning to gnaw at him, the voices chattering like mad parrots in the background. He was hoping seeing Peter would give him something to focus on so they wouldn't over stimulate him again. Every time they came back now, it was harder and harder to handle them. So maybe that meant he was becoming sane enough to react normally?

Peter sighed loudly and looked over at him with his pale eyes. He stared at Wade unusually, actually taking the time to analyze his features which was something Peter just didn't do. Normally he didn't look at him differently.

He looked away, growing uncomfortable.

"Hey, are you alright? You look off today."

"I look off everyday." He muttered.

From the corner of his eye he could see Peter frown. "I mean you look sick."

"I am sick."

Peter slowed, forcing Wade's pace to an abrupt misalignment that made him skip a step to keep steady. "I'm not talking about your scars you idiot, sure they're worse than I've seen them but you look gaunt. Like you want to hurl. You've said it goes in phases, are you in a bad part?"

He hesitated. "Do you actually care?"

"I wouldn't waste my time asking if I was an ass who didn't give a fuck." Peter pointed out. "Of course I care, man you look awful. Are you sure you want to go out?"

Honestly? No. He wanted to sleep but he couldn't.

"I need a distraction. If I stay home any longer . . ." That was a detail he didn't need to disclose. "I just need something to focus on to take me mind off some of the bad stuff, you know? And I like food, you like food. Food is good. That engages a handful of the senses and I was hoping you could keep my mind busy."

"So you're using me?"

When he looked over Peter was smiling softly which allowed him to relax enough to smile even though the act pulled at his skin. "Totally."

"Ah well. At least you're taking me to dinner first... but are you sure where we're going isn't going to be too much? I've heard it can be a bit of a riot there. I'm just worried it could be too stimulating."

He hadn't told Peter a lot of details about his condition. Just enough to have a general understanding of what was wrong and what he was treating, but Peter seemed more perceptive then he'd been giving him credit for.

"Even if we take the bus, any food we pick up is going to be cold by the time we get back to my place." And he really didn't want to go back there right now.

"I mean... I guess we could just hang out at my place. But I don't have anything to do when we get there." Peter said quietly, looking off towards the faint sounds of someone yelling in the distance. It sounded like teenagers goofing off to Wade.

"I thought you were embarrassed about how dirty your place is?"

Peter sighed again. "I'm willing to make an acceptation for you."

"Aw, really? You're so sweet, but honestly it's fine." He offered a smile, hoping that his lies wouldn't escape his teeth. He wondered if Peter knew Spider-Man was in his building? Or at least the hero had physically been in the building at one point, he couldn't say the guy lived there since he'd only ever seen the arachnid leaving the place once and that was like what... a month ago?

Honestly he was surprised he hadn't blurted something out about it earlier in some manic reaction to seeing the building. Normally he didn't have a filter during these episodes.

"Wade, seriously. You're going to make me feel bad. We can take it back okay?" Peter said softly, looking over at him. Wade didn't meet his gaze as he forced them to continue walking.

"Alright . . . "

(This is a microscopic chapter, my apologies)