Chapter Text
Wade watched him sleep, vigilant and completely and totally distracted by him.
[..How can you be vigilant and distracted?] White questions.
{Pft. The same way you can be high and wet!} Yellow screeches cheerfully.
[Okay, the saying is 'high and dry', not 'high and wet',] White corrects, to the point.
{What would you know!?} Yellow demands, affronted. {We're always high and wet!}
'Point,' Wade mentally gives Yellow that. Although he thinks the definition of high is kinda wonky. i they high-high? Or high-high? He doesn't think anything could make him high with his metabolism or anything, but maybe high with insanity is a thing? If so, Wade can't even see the ground.
Peter moans softly in his sleep making Wade jerk back to reality.
“Whoopsies~ Stopped petting you, didn't I? My bad,” Wade says with a smile, going back to running his fingers through Peter's brown locks.
{..What a hottie, amiright?} Yellow speaks up.
[For once you're not wrong.]
Yellow gasps. {Did you just say I'm right!?}
[I said, 'you're not wrong'. There's a difference,] White disagrees instantly.
Yellow pretends to stage whisper to Wade, {White totally said I'm right.}
'Not exactly…' Wade can't help but point out. 'But A for effort.'
Wade finds himself talking to Peter. Well, asleep Peter, but it's him. He talks softly in whispers, telling Peter all the fun stories that he loves to hear when he's awake to stave off nightmares. And when he thinks Peter gets tired of the stories? He goes on to tell Peter what he wants to do with Peter.
“I found the perfect little aquarium in Maine that we should totally go to,” Wade babbles on. “I mean, it's not – it's really big actually – but it's not like the one here. It's cleaner, if you get my drift. Has this great area with penguins – I know how much you like those – and you can even pet a penguin. If you really want to, I'll steal one for it. It can't be that hard to steal a penguin.”
[And where is it going to live?] White questions.
{Oh! Oh! Oh! I know! Pick me, pick me!} Yellow practically screams in Wade's head.
[God, just say it. We're going to end up deaf if you keep screaming like a baby.]
{I'm not a baby! You're the baby!} Yellow retorts.
[How childish,] White responds blandly.
{Psh! Anyways! The idea is – get this, it's such a good idea – we can keep the penguin in… a inflatable pool!} Yellow says, making imaginary jazz hands.
'What the fuck,' Wade couldn't help but think.
[I just – I – Is is guy for real? What a stupid idea!] White states, surprisingly still capable of being stunned by Yellow's idiocy.
{Hey!} Yellow cries, insulted.
[First of all, an inflatable pool? Where the hell would we put in? Second of all, penguins actually like the cold. How's it going to survive in NYC in the summer, huh? Thirdly, what if we kill it on accident? Do you want to see Peter cry? Do you!?] White explains.
'Fuck no,' is Wade's instant reaction.
{But – But… Maybe we wouldn't kill it?} Yellow tries for.
White raise an “eyebrow” at that. [Have you met us?]
Wade should feel insulted about that, but he remembers the time he tried to take care of a starfish. And that…didn't turn out so well. He'll never be able to figure out how Starry ended up in the oven… Wade cried over it for like two minutes – new record for things other than Petey-pie.
'...How about we stick to taking Petey to the aquarium every month?'
[Approved.]
Yellow huffs. {Fine…}
At least that's over. Wade gets back to talking to Peter about beaches and sharks. He tells Peter about this little shark that's absolutely adorable and freakin' glows in the dark! “The dwarf lantern shark is cute as fuck, Petey. I swear, if I could keep one, I'd play fetch with it and rub it's tummy and everything!”
Peter sleeps for a long time this time. Wade doesn't want to count the hours, but the clock in the infirmary makes him hyperaware as 1 hour becomes 10 hours. 10 hours becomes 20 hours.
Clint comes in every now and then with some food, asking him if there's anything Wade needs. Wade says 'no' each time. The archer can't make Peter better, so no.. there's nothing he needs that's physically possible. He pretends not to notice the sad looks from the featherhead, preferring to watch Peter's beautiful face instead.
By the time they hit hour number 30, Wade hasn't talked in a while. For once, he can't find any words to speak. He remains silent, but taunt. Waiting for Peter to wake up again is making him uneasy. He wants to do something useful, but he can't. There's nothing he can do except wait.
Somehow Yellow and White end up singing softly. They sing Angela Aki's 'Love Song', Monkey Majik's 'I Miss You', and even One Ok Rock's 'Be the Light'. Wade can't help but curl into Peter's side as he listens to the songs. They're soft, but full of meaning. He feels Peter in them.
Wade lets himself drift away to the singing in his head, comforted by the fact that he's with his spider. He'll be there when he wakes up. It's just a short nap. He lets himself fall into a dream of taking Peter to see the aquarium, of his smiling face and lush lips. It feels good to dream…