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“I don’t get it.” Way says miserably. “Why am I not enough? He never…he never took me seriously, did he.”
It’s not a question, Way knows the answer and is just talking aloud. He’s not even talking to Pete, he’s just…talking. Because the liquor isn’t letting him keep it inside anymore. Pete just happens to be around when it’s happening.
Though from what Way’s said tonight and the few other times they’ve ended up like this, Pete couldn’t even argue with the conclusion. Pete’s heard about the roses, the necklace, the jokes. No, Babe never took Way seriously from the very start.
They stumble into Pete’s apartment, Pete holds Way up and tries awkwardly to get the door closed and locked behind him. He throws the keys onto his side table and trusts that they landed properly when he hears the clatter.
“I don’t know how to stop.” Way says like a confession.
“Loving Babe? Or?” Pete asks, taking a second to try and find the conversation thread again. Way’s not the only one drunk right now.
Way laughs unhappily. “Yeah. Yeah, all of it, actually. I don’t know how to stop anything. Fucking…useless.”
Pete frowns, and they walk together over to Pete’s couch. Way is warm and heavy against him. “You’re not.”
“Babe clearly thinks so. Daddy definitely thinks so.” Way says, voice cracking a bit. He clears his throat. “And if they agree on something it must be true, right?”
“I could use you.” Pete says, serious.
There’s a moment of silence between them as the words hang in the air, and Way blinks a few times before breaking into a drunken giggle.
“…Wait. That –“ Pete says, realizing how that sounded and trying to claw it back. That wasn’t what Pete meant. Or, it was but it’s still far too early for that. Pete isn’t ready to make a move yet, and Way isn’t ready for that either.
That makes Way laugh harder, and the two of them go tumbling down onto the couch. Pete can’t help but laugh too, it’s just nice to see Way having fun even if it’s at Pete’s own expense. Eventually the giggles stop, leaving the two of them in a tangled heap on Pete’s expensive plush couch that is large enough to qualify as a twin bed, if one were too tired or too perhaps too drunk to make it all the way to the bedroom.
Pete can’t help but stare at Way’s face, relaxed and tired and open. Way meets his eyes and his gaze turns considering.
“You could, you know.” Way says.
“What?” Pete asks.
Way shifts, sinking further into the cushions. He raises a hand and traces the skin at Pete’s cheeks, just under his eyes so gently it’s barely there.
“I see the way you look at me. I’m not blind.” Way says.
“And how do I look at you?” Pete asks, curious enough that he won’t stop digging the hole he’s in.
“Like that.” Way says, triumphantly. Pete has no idea what he means but can acknowledge that he looks at Way more than is healthy – for either of them, probably. His fellow Enigma has been on his mind for years, Pete always wondering how Way has fared left behind under Tony’s control. And now Way is right in front of him, grown and lovely and sad. Could anyone really blame Pete for looking?
Way, at least, doesn’t seem put off by it.
His hand slides down Pete’s face to the back of Pete’s neck, leaving little tingles behind. He comes close, so close, to brushing Pete’s scent gland but skitters past it in a deliberate tease, it feels like.
It makes Pete’s teeth itch.
“Way.” Pete breathes.
“It’s fine.” Way says, trying to be reassuring, but how can Pete trust that when Way had just been so upset about Babe?
He could always look.
Way had offered, when he’d agreed to help Pete take Tony down for good. He’d held out his hand and given Pete an open invitation into his mind, so that Pete would know Way really meant it, that Way could be trusted to do what they had to do. Pete hadn’t taken the opportunity. He hadn’t needed to.
Pete kind of wishes that he had. He wanted to know every corner and hidden space within Way, desperately. Which is why he hadn’t done it. He needed the boundaries, for himself and for Way.
Still, the temptation is strong.
While Pete battles the wolf within himself, Way gets impatient and pulls Pete down into a kiss.
It’s sloppy and uncoordinated – Way nearly misses even as close as they were, but he corrects it quickly. He opens immediately under Pete, warm and soft and a bit wet and Pete’s the useless one between them now. For a second Pete can’t think at all and can only kiss back helplessly, feeling nothing but want. For more, for everything that Way will let him take.
Way sighs contentedly and the sound only encourages Pete’s baser instincts. Pete kisses him even harder, climbing on top of him and Way wraps his arms around Pete’s neck and a leg around Pete’s hips so that Pete’s enveloped by him. His heat, his scent. It’s nearly overwhelming.
Pete’s lips slide over to Way’s cheek, just so Pete can get a second to try and get some of his control back. The skin under his lips is still a little damp and tacky from Way’s earlier tears, and Pete remembers.
Pete pulls away, in a show of self-restraint that he will be proud of later, probably. Way makes a confused, sad noise underneath him that makes Pete regret having things like morals and 10 step plans to achieve his goals. Pete lets himself kiss Way’s forehead, tender and gentle the way that Way should be treated after everything, in Pete’s opinion.
Way opens his eyes and blinks up at Pete, very obviously wondering what’s happening at the sudden change in the air.
Pete smiles at him, feeling so fond at his confused expression and put his forehead to Way’s.
“Ask me when we’re sober, okay?” Pete says reassuringly, and tries to project his thoughts into Way’s mind even though that’s not how Pete’s powers have ever worked.
“Okay.” Way mumbles, and makes no move to let go of Pete. They end up falling asleep like that, curled up together into the tight space neither of them had felt like leaving, though Pete does manage to pull down the blanket over them before they drift off.
Way doesn’t mention it in the morning, or in the days after, and Pete doesn’t push it because he has a plan.
Then the auction and the confrontation with Tony happens and Pete’s plan doesn’t matter anymore.