Chapter summary: Peter nervously waits for Wade and actually enjoys the start of their date.

Chapter Four: Meeting Wade

Peter had well over-thought his situation and, despite waking up early, had freaked himself out over what to wear until it was almost time to go. He'd cycled through his shirts until he had none left and then went back through the ones he'd tossed onto his bed as soft maybes. And even then it took him almost a quarter of an hour to finally decide on one. It was a Minecraft shirt he'd found at a thrift store; a black base that had three contemplative Creepers looking up at the square, pixelated moon. It was honestly a ridiculous shirt, based off of that one joke that had been floating around more frequently a few years ago, but he'd found it too funny to pass up, and it had only been three dollars - three dollars well spent.

He wiggled into his faded blue jeans, ones that had become so threadbare around his knees that holes had formed, but he liked them too much to get rid of them. Besides, that was coming back into style. Then he pulled on green socks and his black and white knock-off Vans. He wanted to at least look like he could competently dress himself. Finally, he set his father's glasses on the bridge of his nose.

He left his apartment, locked the door, started walking down the hall, and then ran back in because he hadn't grabbed his wallet. He'd put it by the door specifically so he wouldn't forget it, and look what wound up happening anyway. Ugh, he really was a wreck.

Who could blame him, though? He hadn't… he hadn't done this in so long. First impressions were what made people leave knowing they were going to block you as soon as they got home, or text you to let you know they had a good time. They both knew that their matches were into Pokémon Go, which meant that it was possible for them to be into other overlapping games, or even be branded as 'nerdy'. So he felt like his choice in clothes wasn't too frowned upon. He hoped.

After pushing his hair around several different directions, he eventually gave up and let it do what it wanted. His hair had always been thick and a little curly, which made it nearly impossible to style. Finally, after checking himself out for the umpteenth time, he nervously pocketed his wallet and phone, and then left his apartment.

Aunt May had been absolutely ecstatic at the news of him finally meeting someone. He hadn't let her know all of the details yet - and he wasn't sure he'd ever get the chance to. If this didn't work out, then it wasn't a huge loss, was it? He didn't know much at all about this Wade guy except for his skin condition. And 'skin condition' was putting it lightly. His stomach tensed a little, and he rested his left hand over it as he started down the stairs to the first floor. He tried not to be judgemental, but it was just human nature to be that way. He really hoped that he didn't upset the other man by showing any disgust on his face or for staring too long. He removed his phone and opened the other's dating profile back up, and he eyed the image for a few long seconds. He'd been doing this every few hours, trying to get used to it by expose alone.

Wade had a very strong jaw, and where his eyebrows should have been were jutted out and surprisingly expressive. The lack of hair creeped him out a little bit, and after a lot of personal reflection, he realized it was because eyebrows were a huge tell on a person's thoughts and emotions. Without them… it was like he was hiding something suspicious and was untrustworthy. It was an uncanny valley kind of deal. But even without them, Peter could see that Wade was frowning. Maybe it wouldn't be so awkward after all.

Once he opened the front door to the apartment complex, the summer heat slammed against him like a solid wall. He almost staggered back, and his first lungful of the outside air was difficult to take in.

Okay, so maybe wearing a black shirt, pants, and shoes that covered his entire feet was a bad idea. He should have checked the weather before he'd decided on his clothes, and he was self-conscious about showing up to the date like he'd been out in the sun, sweating profusely all morning. He was pretty sure that smelling like a ripe onion was a huge turn-off for the first date. He actually was debating with himself about whether or not he wanted to eat the cost and take the bus. He wound up decided against it - the AC probably wouldn't even help, and the amount of people would just make the place bake. There was almost no air circulation on busses, windows open or no.

It took him roughly twenty minutes to get to the Pokéstop they'd agreed on, and it felt like it had to be twice that. He was already wearing down, and sweat was dripping down the back of his neck. Oh, what he wouldn't give to be out and about as Spider-Man right now - no matter how hot it got in the city, the rush of air as he swung around made him almost shiver from the cold. And right now, that sounded like a dream come true.

It appeared that he was early, because he didn't see anyone who had Wade's skin who was currently at the Pokéstop. Well, at least there was shade just above it, and someone had dropped a lure. Peter could at least distract himself by catching Pokemon until Wade showed up. (It also gave him something to do with his hands that wasn't nervous fiddling - he felt like he was about to get up in front of a class and recite a speech. He hoped that he didn't say anything stupid or stumble over his words when they finally met up.) Unfortunately, his anxiety plus the sweltering heat made his hands slick and if it wasn't for his sticky fingers he would have probably dropped his phone about seven times by now. And at least the day wasn't a total waste - he managed to get a Bulbasaur! Nerves very momentarily forgotten, he fist-pumped gave a victory cry.

"Hey, uh, you catch anything good?"

Peter's head shot up immediately and every muscle in his body felt like it was tightening up. His mouth went dry but he tried to swallow on reflex anyway, which caused him to start coughing. Great. This was definitely an amazing start to this date.

"Wade?" he asked, his voice a little hoarse from clearing his throat.

And there the other man was, slouched over and head down, almost like he was scared to meet Peter's eyes. He was wearing exactly what he had been in his profile picture, and Peter had absolutely no idea how the guy wasn't suffering a heat stroke. Peter was burning up and he was wearing short sleeves and no hat! On top of that, Wade had his hands shoved in his pockets. If Peter hadn't known what temperature it was, he would have thought a cold front had come through.

"Peter?" Wade pressed, but he sounded like he was trying to make himself small. Like he thought Peter was going to bolt the first chance he got.

Peter felt overwhelming pity rush over him.

"Are you really okay wearing all that?" he asked, as he moved to get to his feet. He autopilot dusted the grass off of the back of his jeans.

Wade shifted uncomfortably. He shrugged. "Yeah," he lied.

Peter felt like he'd already said something wrong, and he got even more jittery and self-conscious. "Well, uh, yeah, I'm Peter, Peter Parker," he introduced, and he switched his phone to his left hand and extended his right out for a greeting. Wade seemed to have an inner debate with himself before he pulled only his own right hand out of his hoodie pocket and twitched once before accepting the handshake. Peter immediately felt that he was the only one sweating - his date's palm was completely, painfully dry. The texture of his skin was uneven, bumpy, like he had mounds of scar tissue covering every inch of visible skin.

"Wade Wilson," the other said, but at least he seemed minutely more relaxed. Poor guy.

Peter smiled, and he cocked his head slightly. "It's nice to meet you," he said, and was surprised that his voice hadn't trembled. Maybe he was picking up the slack instinctively, becoming the confident one to balance out Wade's insecurity. This was certainly a new thing.

"Yeah, it is," Wade agreed. Then he added, "Alliteration buddies."

Peter chuckled. He hadn't even thought of that. "Yeah, we are, huh?"

Wade's chapped lips pulled into a small smile. "So, didja catch anything good?"

It took Peter a second for his mind to backtrack to what he'd just captured. His face lit up and he opened his list of Pokémon before he showed it off to his date. "Yeah, a Bulbasaur, actually. It's probably still around if you wanted to try to catch it. Someone dropped a lure, and I actually got a few high CP Pokémon while I was waiting." It was so bizarre for Peter to be the one filling the space between them with conversation, and he didn't even sound like he was rambling uselessly.

Wade had started to take out his phone before he paused, and he shrunk in on himself again. "I'm not late, am I?" he questioned. Peter felt guilt wash over him.

"No, no, I was just really early." Geez, Wade had lower self-esteem than even he had. That was impressive. There was probably a medal out there for such an achievement.

Wade looked like that made him feel a little better. "Well, uh, I'm here now. So, you wanna get coffee, or… just hang around here for a while?"

Peter tilted his head in thought. "It's up to you," he started to say, before he realized that Wade was probably close to actually having a heat stroke - that must have been why he wasn't sweating and his skin had been like a furnace. Peter paled a little and he started kicking himself mentally for not thinking about that sooner. "Actually, let's go get inside where there's AC." He gestured to the Starbucks that was almost directly across the street. His mind was racing a thousand miles a minute about what to do if Wade collapsed from the heat. Call 911, get him hydrated and try to cool him down with ice while they waited for the ambulance, try to keep him conscious. Of course this was one day where he didn't bring his dollar-store reusable water bottle with him. It was just his luck to have left that when he actually needed it.

Thankfully there was a crosswalk less than a block up, and the signal for them to cross turned on just as they reached it.

"So what team are you on?" Peter asked, and he couldn't take his eyes off of how Wade's mouth was slightly open, like he wasn't able to get enough air. This date might actually turn out to be a complete disaster.

"Team Way Too Fuckin' Hot To Be On Fire," Wade replied, and he awkwardly cast a glance Peter's way. He had his phone out and was busy throwing Pokéballs at the Bulbasaur. It broke out and ran away. Wade cussed under his breath. "Little assfucker." Peter felt like he'd been hit with some kind of déjà vu, but after blinking a few times he shook it off.

"I'm Instinct," he replied.

Wade clearly raised a would-be eyebrow and gave Peter a look up and down. "Really? Mister Geek Chic is Team Meme?"

Peter laughed out loud - a little too loud - before he could stop himself. "Well, I was going to pick Mystic, but, well…" He paused, and then shrugged with one shoulder. "It's more of an inside joke." He couldn't just blab that it had been too fitting for him to pick Instinct when his spider sense saved his ass from being handed to him at least once a day. "And, well…" He tugged on the bottom of his shirt, straightening the fabric out and showing off the image.

Wade snorted.

Before Peter could open the door to the Starbucks, Wade beat him to it and held it open for him, gesturing the slighter male inside. "After you," he said, and it seemed like he was actually starting to get over his discomfort and let his personality slip out. Peter inclined his head and said his thanks before he even realized he was doing it. Aunt May raised him right, after all.

The rush of cold air felt incredible and Peter sighed blissfully. He also felt relief bubble up in him that Wade was going to be able to bring his temperature down. "How about we sit for a second and figure out what we want?" he suggested, and caste a glance at his date. He felt... oddly comfortable. Maybe that silly dating website really had matched him up well.

Wade immediately collapsed at two-person table, taking the seat that was facing the wall. Peter felt like that was definitely on purpose. He said nothing about it and pulled out his own chair before sinking down into it. "Feels good in here," he said, trying to keep up the conversation. He looked around at the other patrons and noticed that a few people were staring at them. He frowned. He almost never got eyeballed when he was out being plain Peter Parker. Was it… because of Wade, then?

Said man removed his baseball cap but kept his hood pulled up, and started fanning himself with his hat. "Fuckin' seriously," he agreed. Peter was once again struck by familiarity. "Feel's like Hell is tryin' to fuckin' take over," Wade went on, and he closed his eyes and leaned back slightly in his seat, enjoying the air-conditioning. They fell into silence for a few moments. Peter was nervously opening his captured Pokemon screen, sliding back and forth between them and his eggs. He actually hadn't been able to hatch many eggs because his way of transport as Spider-Man went well over the fifteen miles per hour cap. At least walking today had gotten him slightly closer by a few kilometers.

"So what d'you do?" Wade asked, and Peter lifted his head to blink at the other. "School, have a job…?"

Peter closed the app to save the battery and set it face-down on the fake marble tabletop. "College, but I'm on break right now," he said. His tongue ran over his lips to wet them, and his foot started bouncing up and down under the table. "And I do freelance photography. Occasionally the Bugle uses some of the shots I get."

Wade gave a clearly disgusted huff. "Man, that paper's so full of shit. It's more like a fuckin' gossip mag."

Peter couldn't stop the wide grin that covered his face. "No truer words," he agreed, and gave a few slow shakes of his head. "But money's money."

Wade nodded, and it seemed like Peter's smile was infectious. "Ain't that the truth."

Maybe, just maybe, Aunt May was right, and dating wasn't so bad.