Heath Slater sighs, leaning his head back against the couch, humming under his breath as songs shift, one Christmas melody switching into the next on the playlist. He smiles into the crook of his elbow as he listens to the cats wandering around, batting at ornaments and whatever else is scattered around on the floor. He had tried to help, really he had, but his abs and... that entire general area was still sore, so Wade Barrett had only tolerated it for a brief couple of minutes before gripping him by the shoulders and lightly pushing him onto the couch. He blinks into the darkness as he remembers the command behind Wade's gruff, Stay, order and peeks out at his significant other with a smirk. "Hey," he calls out. "Brit."
"Yes?" he asks, his patience clearly hanging on by a thread as he looks up from where he's sitting, tangled up in garland. "What is it, Heath?"
Heath pouts a little at the lack of their standard back and forth with nicknames before shrugging it off. "You can give me that, I'll untangle it."
Wade considers, looking up at him with his brows furrowed. "Huh. I suppose I could," he says quietly. "There's one problem."
"And what's that?" Heath prepares to argue his case that he can easily do such an easy task sitting down without aggravating his injuries further, when Wade stands up and Heath realizes it wasn't just an exaggeration to say he was tangled up, the bright, shiny red and green garland is clinging determinedly to his sweater, draped under his arms, circling his neck, and...
Heath bursts out laughing as Wade glowers. "I can't reach it," he grouses, trying futilely again to grip where the garland had bunched up right between his shoulderblades, twisting together something horrible.
"How did you-?" Heath demands, laughing even more as he motions Wade over to get a better look.
Wade ends up having to kneel in front of the couch just so Heath can reach, and Heath chuckles, running his fingers over the twist in the garland. "I don't know," he huffs, face flushing in a disorienting mix of mortification at Heath's humor at his plight, and both his warm breath rushing against Wade's neck and how his fingers feel whenever they brush against his bare skin.
Heath finally finds the issue and smooths it out, coiling the garland around his other arm while taking advantage of this to touch Wade, hand creeping down his neck to rest high on his shoulder. "You're free now," he murmurs, and Wade nods, not seeming too eager to move, break their connection.
"Thank you," he says softly, turning to look at Heath in the soft light. "I'm glad you're going to be ok," he finally says after a long moment of their staring at each other.
"Me too," Heath says, fingers now trailing over his lips, shivers rolling down his spine each time Wade lightly kisses them. "It kinda scared me. Gettin' injured so suddenly, and without knowing for sure-."
Wade nods, eyes dark and resolute. "Me too," he sighs, and Heath grimaces at him before tangling his fingers in the neck of his sweater, drawing him in with little protest.
"But I'm gonna be fine, and I have a contract now, and you're happy in NXT. It's all uphill from here now, baby."
Wade's tense look shifts, little by little, as Heath kisses him, slow and gentle, but definitely not lacking the usual slow-building heat that's always resided between them since their Corre days. "I think you're right, ginger."
Heath grins, sharp and thrilled at the resumption of his nickname as he slowly pulls back and presses his forehead to Wade's. "I always am, Brit."
Wade huffs but doesn't argue against it, simply tilting his face and going in for another kiss as the garland drops out of Heath's hands and lay at Wade's knees, entirely forgotten. Until later when they'll inevitably find it tangled in ways that seem impossible once more. But for now, neither man care about such things.