MASK OR MENACE IC INBOX

[runningstart]

WALLY WEST
"You've reached the personal voice mail of the Wall-man. The honor is yours! Leave your deets, I'll holla back atcha."
[ BEEP. ]

KID FLASH
"This is the contact for Kid Flash. If it's an emergency, call Robin; he'll know where I am. Otherwise, leave your info and I'll get you back ASAP."
[ BEEP. ]


[ voice | text | email | action ]

( Please specify in tag subject line if the contact is for Wally West or Kid Flash! )

Comments

[performance]

[ Dick wants to reach out, take Wally by the wrists and pull his hands away from his face, look him in the eyes and tell him it's okay if you're scared, I'm scared too, it's okay to be scared if we're scared together. His fingers tense and twitch, and he worries at his lip with his teeth.

This isn't supposed to happen. He isn't supposed to be grieving for a friend who's right in front of him. How can anyone possibly know how to handle this?

He wants to be strong for Wally. He wants permission to not be okay. He can't have both. ]

Okay.

[ He steps forward, reaches out, sets his hand lightly on Wally's shoulder. ]

Just... please don't try to do this alone.

[runningstart]

I get it, [Wally says with a tinge of annoyance, but even though his shoulder bunches beneath Robin's hand he doesn't pull away.] I get it now, dude. I'm not gonna. Let's not drag this out. [It's uncharitable, he knows, but this entire talk has treaded all over his emotional boundaries and, while not as rigid as Robin's, Wally usually avoids approaching them with a lot more success. It helps that he's mastered the joke deflection technique, but...can't really joke about this. Not yet, anyway.]

[performance]

[ Robin nods. He gets it. ]

Okay. Subject dropped.

[ He squeezes Wally's shoulder once before backing off. But... ]

... I'm gonna get some ice cream from the fridge and finish my homework. Mind if I bring it in here? I could use another pair of eyes on my AP chem.

[runningstart]

So long as you bring me some. [Wally sets his chair right and picks up his pencil again.] And doublecheck my calculations on this worksheet.

[performance]

In that case, I'll bring the carton.