"Aw, c'mon, Wade, it'll be fun!"
"That's highly debatable," the Brit mumbles, watching as Boodah, encouraged by his owner's excited voice, bounds around the living room, scattering his toys all over the place. He sighs, glancing up at Heath and rolling his eyes. "Look at what you've done now, Slater. That dog of yours is making yet another mess." As Heath turns towards Boodah and catches him, baby talking him, Wade releases a deep breath that whistles through his teeth. "Bloody hell..."
Heath smirks over at him, still hugging the dog around his neck. "See, Brit, all you have to do is say 'yes' and we'll be on our way, and Boodah'll chill out. Your precious media schedule'll still be here when ya return." As if to confirm his allegiance, Boodah whines and looks up at Wade with eyes that almost match his owner's in pleading. Wade resists the pull of even looking at them... for a moment, anyway, but knows as soon as he looks up and his eyes lock on the very distinctive, yet similar, deep brown eyes of both dog and owner that he's lost the argument.
As he hangs his head, shoulders slumping, Heath cheers and Boodah barks, the ginger lifting his dog's paw and high fiving it in an over-exaggerated fashion. "You bloody idiots." Nonetheless, he'd agreed, so he makes it to his feet and collects car keys, phone and wallet before going to stand by the door and shaking his keys. Boodah immediately lunges away from Heath and dashes towards him, where Wade obligingly clips his leash on and looks up. "Well, are you coming, Slater?"
"Yep! Wouldn't miss this for the world." He stands up hurriedly, collects his own things, stuffs his feet in sneakers and follows his roommate and dog outside. It's a long drive so Heath's relieved that Wade had agreed as early as he had, before things would be shut down.
Besides it's not often Barrett agrees to go to a carnival. Heath isn't about to ruin this opportunity.
An hour later, Wade stares at the massive fairgrounds and sighs, his eyes narrowing as Heath double checks Boodah's leash before leading them through the gates to pay for admission and then begin to explore. It's a blur of lights and sounds, smells and whatever else. He makes his way through a crowd of people, careful to keep close to Heath and Boodah, not wanting to lose them this early in the evening, and he can only imagine how ridiculous it'll get the longer they remain here. There are fenced off areas to keep animals near by and Wade watches with a bit of a smirk as Boodah eyes them suspiciously, sniffing at whichever creatures are brazen enough to come up to stare back at him.
Heath finds a roller coaster and, when Wade refuses to ride it with him, hoists Boodah off on him before running off to buy tickets to get onto the ride. "Well, at least we'll get some peace and quiet for a few minutes, huh, boy?" But yet not, because he can hear Heath hollering all the way across the grounds, where Wade sits on a bench to wait. Despite himself, his lips twitch up in some facsimile of a smile as he pets Boodah. He would never admit it, but Heath definitely makes things interesting.
It's a thrumming, excited ginger that returns to them a few minutes later, his hair all over the place and eyes gleaming as he throws his arms around Boodah once more and takes the leash, thanking Wade quickly before leading the way back through some games and stalls, looking for what to do next. "Hmm, haunted house, dart throw, palm-readin's..." His words die away and Wade knows immediately what's coming next, especially when Heath ignores his rapid refusals, his strength surprising the taller Brit as he grips Wade's hand and drags him inside, Boodah not perturbing the woman standing behind the small table in one corner.
"Hello," she greets them, holding her hand out coolly to the dog, allowing him to sniff her. He calms immediately and sits at Heath's feet, tranquil as can be.
"Huh, would'ya look at that," Heath mumbles, looking back up at her with a smile. "Howdy. Guess Boodah here likes you."
She merely smiles before gazing up at Wade, a searching look on her face as she takes his hand and shakes it. "Welcome to my shop. As the sign states, I do palm reading but there are also many things here to see, to buy... to experiment with. Feel free to request assistance whenever you please." She sits back down behind the table and rests her hands on the wood, watching them curiously as they leave Boodah where he sits, glancing around at the various bottles and jars lining the shelves.
"This must be some kind of a racket," Wade mumbles to Heath as they pass each other by, the ginger rolling his eyes and nudging him hard in the side, causing him to oof slightly before swatting at him, only just impacting with the back of his head before they continue looking around on separate sides of the room.
Heath is sifting through stones and rocks with signs all around claiming various benefits to each one when the shopkeeper surprises him by scooping up a dark red stone and holding it out to him. "Ruby," she tells him simply. "I sense you were born in July?"
He stares at her, agape, before nodding. "Uh, yeah... how did you...?" Her smile is mysterious and leads him to cut off mid-sentence, swallowing as he takes the stone from her. "What does this have to do with that?"
"Before times changed, rubies were once the birthstone for those born in July. Along with all of its other limitless qualities, I get the feeling it will do well for you." Her mysterious aura grows, seems to fill the entire area as he follows her over to where Wade is standing, dazed. She stares up at the dark haired man before reaching past the bottles that he's sneering at and rests her finger against a certain one, drawing it out smoothly without hindering its fellows. "I see you are intrigued by my locator potions. Anything in particular you're seeking?" She stares deep into his eyes, Wade gaping down at her, for once speechless, and she smiles, handing over the bottle to him. "Perhaps this will assist you..."
"Who says we're seeking anything?" Wade wonders, suspicious despite his confused awe as he stares at her. "If it had been my choice, I wouldn't have walked in this building at all."
"Mm hmm," she says, a sigh of a murmur. "Well, luckily for you, fate intervened." She seems bored of them now, returning to behind the table to wait for them to make up their minds.
Wade rolls his eyes but finds something deep inside won't allow him to let the bottle go, staring at it in confusion as Heath walks up to the woman, holding the ruby out to her. When the Brit follows, she smiles in a self-satisfied fashion, ringing both items up. "$8," she says simply, packing both carefully in separate bags. "One last thing before you go. These items are only to be used by the person who bought them." She stares at Heath significantly but he's busy with Boodah and barely notices her deep gaze.
"Right," Wade mumbles, thinking it'll basically be a waste of his money, but even so, he hadn't been able to leave it behind so perhaps... Giving himself a rough shake, he turns back to Heath. What the bloody hell am I thinking? Resting a hand on the other man's back, he all but pushes him out of the door, relieved when Boodah revives enough to go bounding out ahead of them like nothing had happened.
Wade remembers very little of the rest of the trip, Heath suggesting a little over an hour later that they head home. He jumps on the suggestion happily and leads the way back to the car, helping Heath settle a sleepy Boodah in the backseat before they take their places in the front, Heath driving them back while Wade fingers the bottle and considers what to do with it. As soon as they arrive home, Heath bids him goodnight and ducks into his bedroom with Boodah, all of them exhausted after all of the walking, and the rides, and the long drives to and fro.
Wade watches the door close behind them before heading into the kitchen, poking around his tea supplies. He's restless but it still seems like a ridiculous idea, drinking this so-called locator potion, so he sets it down and resumes making just plain tea, looking forward to stretching out in bed and resting, if not out-right sleeping. His insomnia's been worse than usual lately, and he's not entirely sure why. But tonight, not so much. He barely makes it through half a cup of the tea before his eyes start to drift shut. He downs the rest of it quickly and rinses his glass out before resting it in the sink to wash in the morning, slowly feeling his way down the hall to his bedroom. He kicks his shoes off, his jeans shortly following them, and tugs his shirt over his head before throwing it onto the chair across the room. He then rolls over and immediately falls into a deep, badly needed sleep.
So deep that he doesn't hear the muffled sounds of Heath opening his door, peeking out and slowly tiptoeing towards the kitchen, his ruby stone in one hand as he approaches the counter where Wade's tea supplies are spread out. He stares down at them until he notices the bottle from the carnival, picking it up and reading the small set of instructions on the side. "Pour in a teaspoon to any drink. Do not exceed recommended suggestion. Sounds easy enough," he murmurs. Getting a glass and filling it with water from the tap, he pours out the potion onto a teaspoon and dunks it into the water, a curious look in his brown eyes as he lifts it to his mouth and drinks most of the glass down. "Here goes nothin'..."
-x
Wade wakes up feeling more rested than he has in ages. The sun is shining through his bedroom window, he feels comfortable, not too hot, not too cool... just right. He even has a smile on his face when he sits up. "Who needs a bloody so-called locator potion, when there are perfect mornings like this?" He's just pulled himself out of bed, about to go out and offer to make breakfast for Heath, when he realizes that his roommate's bedroom door is wide open and the faint sound of Boodah whining is coming from the kitchen. "Are you hungry, boy?" he asks, wondering where Heath's disappeared off to at this hour, but deciding first to handle the dog before he focuses on his former Corre teammate.
However, he's barely made it a few steps into the kitchen when it registers with him- Boodah isn't whining due to hunger or needing to go out, no... The large black dog is standing by the counter, whining and pawing at familiar pant legs, which are attached to the rest of Heath's motionless body, sprawled out on the floor. Wade's eyes widen as he gapes at the scene before him, rushing forward and resting his hand on Heath's chest. Breathing, he registers first. Heart's beating... alright, those are good things... Christ, he's pale though. And why isn't he moving? How long has he been here like this? "What did you do?" he demands, spotting the abandoned water glass and bottle on the counter. "Bloody hell, what kind of poison is in that thing?" Scrambling, he finds his phone and dials for help, absently answering all of the operator's questions while he keeps a hand on Heath's chest, monitors his breathing as best as he can.
It feels like a lifetime when finally, finally the EMTs arrive and begin checking his vitals, preparing him for transport. Wade can hear neighbors whispering and gossiping outside of the apartment but he ignores them, patting Boodah and quickly checking his water and food bowls. "Sorry, boy, I'll call someone to come look in on you... Justin, how's that sound? You like him, right?" He pats Boodah's side and leans down to look at the dog. "Heath'll be alright. I'll make sure of it." Feeling only slightly ridiculous for promising such a thing to the creature, he quickly turns and follows the EMTs out, wanting to ride in the ambulance with Heath. They argue very little with him and so he sits next to his roommate and considers all that had happened, the bottle held in his hand so that they could test it at the hospital, determine what exactly Heath had done to himself now.
There really isn't much to do when they arrive. Run tests, sit... wait... Heath's heart beat is strong, his breathing is regular. There's no sign of why this should be happening, his brain scans come back clean, chest scans, everything else. When a nurse asks Wade if he knows of anything Heath might have digested in the last day or so, he immediately holds out the bottle. "This is going to sound bizarre, but we went to the carnival yesterday and a woman running the palm-reading stand advised me to purchase this. When I woke up this morning, he was unconscious on the floor and this was sitting on the counter, opened, with a glass of water next to it. I think he took this and it has something in it that caused all of this."
She stares at him oddly for a moment before taking the bottle from him. "Alright," she says doubtfully. "I'll send this to the lab, maybe they can determine what exactly is in it. See if something did cause Mr. Slater to fall ill." But Wade can tell by the look on her face, sound of her voice, that she's trying not to crack up laughing at him.
He holds his temper in until she's far down the hall, her shoes making an obvious clacking sound, before rolling his chair in closer and staring at Heath with a grimace. "This is the last time I ever indulge you by going to some ridiculous American carnival. Did you hear her, I think she wants to alert a psychiatrist on me now!" But his rampages are never that enjoyable when Heath can't shoot back with some ridiculous insult, and Wade quickly falls quiet, examining him. Leaning forward, he rests his hand on Heath's arm and sighs. "You bloody idiot, you better wake up soon from this. If you don't, I may have to go back to the carnival and get that charlatan shut down..." In fact, the more he thinks about it, the better an idea it sounds. But he doesn't want to leave Heath behind, so he remains in the seat until a doctor comes in, examining Heath once more. "Did the nurse put something through the lab that Heath digested?" Wade finally asks before the man could duck back out again.
He skims the records, finds a certain notation and looks up at him. "Yes, she did. Something labeled... a locator potion?" He lifts an eyebrow incredulously but Wade nods, somewhat relieved that she at least had taken him seriously enough to do that. "Your friend is hanging in there. We're not sure why he's still unconscious, but his heart rate is strong, brain activity is normal... everything seems fine... except for his not waking up."
"Thank you," Wade mumbles, watching his friend sleep on peacefully. Once the doctor is gone, he stands as well and rests a hand on Heath's arm. "You listen to me, if I come back and you've done anything else ridiculous while I'm gone, I will drag you into that wrestling ring, unconscious or not, and teach you a lesson... alright?" Lowering his voice, he mumbles, "Hang in there, Ginger. I'll figure this out."
-x
Wade's back at the carnival grounds in about half of the time it'd taken him and Heath to drive there the day before, slamming the car door with such force that it rocks on its tires but he barely notices, halfway to the carnival entrance. He thrusts money at the man running it, barks at him to keep the change, and continues his brisk walk through the lanes of games and rides until he sees the sign that now will be burnt into his nightmares for the foreseeable future.
"Excuse you-" the woman they'd talked to the day before looks up angrily, just to fall silent and wary as she realizes that it's Wade. "What happened?" Her piercing dark eyes searches his face and she releases an exasperated breath."That orange haired man, he drank the potion, didn't he? I expressly said not to unless-"
"Please," Wade sneers, cutting her off and boxing her in behind the table, muscular arms on either side of her as she stares at him, shocked at his speed. "Heath barely listens to me half of the time, do you think he's going to listen to you?" Taking a breath, trying to calm himself down, he stares at her, cool blue eyes boring into hers. "He won't wake up. Doctors can't tell what's wrong with him, but he's just... lifeless. Because he drank your bloody potion! Now you're going to tell me how to fix this and maybe I will show you mercy..."
She stares up at him, her eyes gleaming with something. She smirks a little and shakes her head, releasing a sigh. "If you have any of the potion left, drink it as soon as you're able. And find his ruby stone. Both of those things will help."
He snarls at her. "If you think I'm going to drink it after what it's done to him-"
"The only reason he's fallen unconscious is because he drank something that wasn't his to drink! This potion was especially for you! He has nothing to find, the potion is sending all of these signals to his system, but he can't act on them, so he falls unconscious! There's only one way to fix it, and you need to sort that out for yourself! Now stop arguing with me, and go do it!"
Dammit all, she seems so sincere, so angry at his stalling, that he can't find any fault in her logic. "Fine, but if something happens to me, the police will put this all together, you will be in some massive trouble." He's out of the building within seconds, storming towards the car and ignoring all of the weird gazes he attracts as he peels out of the parking lot and back to the apartment. The only dose of the potion left not currently held in some hospital lab is in a water glass by the sink, and he hopes that if Justin had gone to check on Boodah that he'd left it alone. The apartment is quiet, Boodah staring up at him from where he's laying by the sink, where Heath had last been laying, and Wade's heart goes out to him. "He'll be home soon," he promises the dog before finding the glass and quickly downing it. "Please be enough," he mumbles. It has a weird aftertaste, but outside of that, he wouldn't have known it was anything but plain water otherwise.
He's still standing there, waiting for something to happen, some obvious change deep within him, when he spots a red stone under the counter, as if it had fallen and skittered under there. He kneels down and grips it, staring down at it as he pictures in his mind's eye, Heath holding this thing as the potion took ahold of him and sent him deep into unconsciousness, the stone slipping from his slack fingers as he'd hit the ground. "Damn," he breathes, something washing over him. He stands up and stares at a picture that Heath had snuck of him and Wade when they'd first moved in together. Heath's arm is wrapped around Wade's midsection, he's grinning so wide that you can't see his eyes, and Wade looks exasperated but his lips are twitched upwards, Boodah barely a black blur in the corner of the picture as he'd explored his new home. Heath has nothing to find... All that he's ever needed was always right here. Clutching the ruby tighter as realization dawns, Wade once more dashes out to the car and this time races to the hospital, his lips pressed together the entire way.
Bypassing nurses and other visitors, patients, whatever else might be in his way, Wade finds Heath like a beacon in the darkest night and stares down at him for a long, tense moment, before picking his hand up and pressing the ruby into his palm, folding his fingers around it carefully. "You're going to be ok now," he mumbles. "I'm here... and who would've guessed, but the one thing we've both ever needed was always right in front of our bloody faces?" Swallowing, he leans in, drawn by something indescribable, and searches Heath's face. When he kisses him, everything clicks into place- the insomnia that had been at its worst while Heath was on tour with WWE and he was at home, recovering, just to clear up after they spent the evening together... how he'd idly noticed the signs at the palm-reading building claiming that rubies' benefits were for love and passion... how easily they had just fit together as teammates, roommates, and whatever else over the years...
He notices when Heath begins to respond, lightly kissing him back, and he smiles, relieved. "Wade?" he whispers as the Brit slowly pulls away from him. "What happened? I'm... in the hospital?"
Wade stares at him for a long, tense moment, before rolling his eyes. "Never touch my things again, Slater," he snaps. Heath's eyes widen but before he can say or do anything, Wade's fingers loosely curl around his jaw as he kisses him again. "Idiot..."