Nick & Wade | Sunday Afternoon (backdated)

[x-deadpool.livejournal.com]

Wade surprises Nick in the woods.


"John" let out a sigh of relief as he found his way to a clearing in the woods. Between his prodding for medical exams, going through the stuff in Nick's old room, and meeting his old friend's, the boy was about ready for some alone time. Leaning his head back, he took in a deep breath and closed his eyes, finding a moment to just relax.

It was virtually impossible to sneak up on someone when the snow and ice on the ground was a thick as it was in New York - that was why Wade wasn't trying to sneak up on anyone. Instead, was practicing his stealthy snow walking. It was a skill he hadn't acquired yet and he felt, given the likelihood of him staying at the mansion, he ought to try to work it out.

He sort of sucked at it - right up until he found a set of footprints in the snow leading out into the woods. Then Wade decided he should put a little more effot into it. Also, it was easier to stay silent when he was putting his feet on already-compacted snow - it creaked less.

The mercenary caught sight of his apparently prey and grinned. He got as close as he could, nearly fell over once, and then said, "Wake up, sleeping beauty."

The boy lept nearly a foot straight in the air. "What the hell is going on!" As he spun around, his fists were up in front of his chest and he was breathing deeply before he caught sight of the man who had made his way much closer than he would have thought was possible.

Wade grinned - he couldn't have asked for a better reaction. "Naptime's over, princess." Then he gave the kid a small salute and waggled his eyebrows. "Sneaking up on people in the snow's a lot harder than you'd expect. Also, what are you doing falling asleep out here? Don't you know that's pretty much the best route to hypothermia?"

He was still trying to catch his breath as he answered. "I'd still rather go by hypothermia than a heart attack. At least that way's peaceful..." He shook his head from side to side as he tried to refocus. "I take it this was a little game that you played with Nick or something like that?"

"Who's Nick?" Wade asked, glancing back at the trail of footprints in the snow for a moment. None of the drifts in the area were big enough for him to jump in, but he could probably build himself an igloo out here and no one would ever know.

The boy squinted as he walked forward, shuffling his feet through the snow. "Wait, so you're not talking to me just because you think I'm Nick?" This could end up being a very welcome relief.

"The only Nick I ever knew was about two feet taller than you and a good two hundred fifty pounds heavier," Wade answered, quirking an eyebrow. That wasn't strictly true, but for the purposes of this conversation, that didn't really matter. "And he's dead now, so I'm pretty damn sure you're not him."

"Not dead yet." Was all the boy could get out. As he approached Wade the relief continued to grow that he wasn't about to try being someone he didn't remember. "So I take it you're new here too then?" He added with a smirk.

"Yeah," Wade said. "Been here a couple weeks. If one more person welcomes me to the madhouse or tells me I'll never want to leave - or will always come back - to this place, I might just leave to prove a point. It's the principle of the matter, you know?" The mercenary held out his hand to the kid. "I'm Wade. Who're you, if you're not Nick?"

"John". The boy reached out his own hand shaking it. "And you forgot to mention one more person offering you a tour that you'll never remember where anything is."

Wade grinned. "I've got a good memory for layouts and things, so the tours don't really bother me. Nice to meet you, John." Letting his hand drop, he shoved his fingers in his pockets and then tipped his head back toward the trail of footprints in the snow. "Do you eat meat?"

John squinted his eyes together in confusion. "Yeah..." Turning his head to the side he tried to read into the question, but couldn't find anything bellow the surface oddity of it. "Yes, I do eat meat. It's one of the very few things that I'm sure of." With all the questions swirling around him, it was nice to have a question he could be sure of for once.

"Good," Wade said, still grinning. "How about you stop hiding in the woods and I make steak? You're invited to the steak party, of course. Big steaks. They'll be delicious."

The boy shrugged his shoulders. "Sure, I guess I got nothing else to do." Of the many things that might get to him at the mansion, the amount of food most definitely was not going to be one of them.

"Excellent. To the mansion, Johnny-boy. Food awaits."