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

[runningstart]

[Wally hums.] Thanks. [He traces over a crack in his wall, where the paint's started chipping a bit. He digs a fingernail into the edge and flakes some of it off.] ...how's your leg doing?

[performance]

[ He watches the motion of Wally's long fingers, the way his blunt nail catches at the paint, the only part of him that's moving. God, he's so still. ]

I'm gonna get it healed. I've been dumb enough for long enough.

[runningstart]

[Wally half rolls over to regard Dick.] I know someone who might be able to heal it for you, all secret-like. If you don't want Batman to find out.

[performance]

[ He shakes his head, shrugging cooly. ]

Nah. I'm trying this new thing where I actually tell people about important stuff.

[ He'd told Artemis he knew her secret after months of watching her squirm under the pressure, and she hadn't bolted. Wally had wrenched an entirely different truth out of him before that, and even though the absolute non-reaction aches like a day-old bruise, the world hadn't ended for them. Maybe this can be okay, too. ]

[runningstart]

What, you're gonna tell Batman? What's he gonna do? [Wally's not so sure about this Bruce -he really needs to meet this version of Batman, but right now it's not that high on his list of priorities- but if Robin can get along with his not-mentor, that's awesome. One more person in his support network.]

[performance]

... Well. Like you said. If he doesn't approve of me, then that's his problem.

[ He's not entirely sure that he believes what he's saying — it feels almost like sacrilege — but Wally was right. He'd done things without Bruce's permission or approval before. He can live without it, if he has to.

Anyway, he's tired of fighting it. ]

Who knows? Maybe he'll think admitting I made a mistake is mature.

[runningstart]

[Wally shifts his weight so he's lying on his back instead, looking up at Dick quietly. He punches him softly on the hip.] Good on you, dude. Don't let The Man get you down.

[performance]

Yeah, well. Thanks for talking me through it.

[ Dick smiles down at Wally, and it's hard not to think about how fiercely he'd missed him. He doesn't want to talk about it, he doesn't, but— ]

Did... any of my messages actually get through?

[runningstart]

[The smile that had started to crawl into place fades.] ...yeah, sort of. I thought I heard you for a while, but... [Wally shakes his head, pushing himself up to sit with a sigh. He's not going back to sleep anyway.] I couldn't make anything out.

[performance]

I called so many times. It kept bouncing back. So I finally tried using my powers — felt like my mind was stretching out to find you, and then...

... anyway. I'd never had the motivation before.

[runningstart]

You used your powers? [Wally stops scrolling through his comm, looking up at Robin in surprise. He hasn't even mentioned them beyond that first 'by the way' Wally got when he'd arrived.] And they worked. Dude, whoa.

[performance]

Sometimes you just need the right incentive.

[ Dick fights the urge to look back down at his comm. The sentiment is genuine, even if the phrasing made it sound purely professional, and that still makes him feel a little off-balance. ]

[runningstart]

Yeah, I guess you're right. [There's not a much better motivator for trying out questionable methods than a teammate -a friend- in danger.] So, d'you think you'll ever use them again?

[performance]

Might as well practice. Who knows when it'll come up, right?

[ There was an ego thing in there somewhere, the idea that if he didn't work for it it's somehow cheating — that if he needs powers to keep up with everyone else, then he's not good enough.

But it's different, having done it. ]

It's just a tool. Like anything else. And, you know it's kinda cool to be able to do it.

[ He grins a little. ]

[runningstart]

[The powers-no powers thing had never been exactly a point of contention between Robin and Wally, but it had always been a topic where they usually parted ways in terms of opinion. It could sometimes get heated, so they didn't talk about it often, but Wally knew that Robin didn't use his powers probably because he didn't think he needed them. And he didn't.]

It's not like it's that far past what you already do. With all the hacking and stuff, just think of it as like, uber-hacking. Leveled up hacking.

[performance]

Robin has leveled up! What? Robin is evolving!

[ HUMMING... ]

[runningstart]

[Wally glances up from his comm, over at Robin and raises a brow. Robin insists on humming the entire level-up theme so Wally follows it up with,] What would you even evolve into? A seahawk? Maybe like, an albatross.

[performance]

[ Robin tries not to frown when Wally doesn't laugh at his terrible joke. ]

That's way too metaphorical. Maybe like... the night owl.

... No, no, that's lame.

[runningstart]

Makes you sound like a grandma. Or like a grandma named you. [Wally stares dully down at his comm again, scrolling through old Google searches.]

[performance]

How dare you.

[ He flops back against the pillows, back to his own comm, and he's quiet for a few long minutes. Then, out of nowhere: ]

... have you ever seen two giraffes fight?

[ He asks, like that's a completely normal and highly relevant question. ]

[runningstart]

Huh? [Wally glances down at him, a little thrown by the question.] ...no. I don't think so. Why, you got tickets to a giraffe fight or something?

[performance]

Uh-huh. Front row seats. You and me.

[ Dick smiles and rolls onto his side, holding his comm in front of Wally and pressing play on a video montage of giraffe fights, whirling their heads around like a carnival ride, locked in epic pool noodle-esque combat with their necks. It's... mind-blowingly ridiculous. ]

[runningstart]

[Wally leans over to watch, brow furrowed. The corner of his mouth quirks up.] What the heck... [He takes the other side of Robin's comm to help him support it.] I can't tell if this is really threatening or hilarious.

[performance]

It's kind of hilariously threatening.

[ He grins, watching Wally's smile out of the corner of his eye instead of the video. ]

[runningstart]

I kind of feel like raving to it. [Wally doesn't laugh during the video, but that half-smile stays on his face even after he hands Robin his comm back.] I don't know where you find this stuff dude. What's your browsing history even look like?