runningstart | MASK OR MENACE IC INBOX

MASK OR MENACE IC INBOX

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! )

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[ok

smack]

Centrifuge. Don't play stupid, you spelled it fine before. [Wally had heard Bart stop at the doorway, but decides not to bring it up. Bart does weird stuff sometimes. If Wally nitpicked every odd thing he did then he'd be here all freakin' day.

What he's doing is adjusting the meager pieces of equipment he has (and wiping down the inside of the centrifuge, THANKS AGAIN BART) and writing down notes in an open journal. And, sitting nearby in a clear plastic case, is a small, nondescript stone.]

Ow.

[Look at this whiner whining.]

Okay. Centrifuge. [He just grins and zips over to Wally's side of things, peering over his shoulder like the annoying brat he is and-- he recognizes that stone. Thinks he recognizes it, at least. It looks like the stuff they'd been looking for way back when. Back when SB got Ally.]

So what're you doing?

Leveling the table. [Wally waves a torpedo level at him before resting it on the edge of the table and squatting to peer at the bubble wobbling between the lines.] Ground's uneven and all the stuff I'm gonna have on here is gonna be delicate. Hand me that journal. [one of the blank composition books from the stack he's pointing to]

Oh. [Bart zips over to crouch by one of the edges, frowning as he... doesn't actually see any significant wobbling.] I dunno it seems pretty level.

[But he will grab the journal for him.] But I meant more of the sciencey stuff not the actual stuff.

[Wally hesitates.

No. He promised himself he'd rely on Bart more. He's not some little kid who needs to be protected.]

I wanna try running some tests on that continuum we snagged. [He doesn't look at Bart as he wedges that journal beneath a table leg.] See if I can figure out some of its properties. Maybe we can replicate it back home.

[Bart's eyes drift over to that stone all held up and tucked away like it's something important-- and it is. He's not surprised that Wally snuck some out, that's just what they do, isn't it? As a team. They go in, sneak things out, work in secret. It's the whole basis of who they are, what they do.

Still. Of all the days for Wally to bring him into the loop on this, it just had to be today, didn't it? Then again, it's not like he knows. Bart never told him dates he just... told him the general story.]

Yeah. [He says after a thick swallow, wrenching his eyes away from the stone to instead glance down at his wrist, already reaching up to absently rub at the faint lettering there.] It works with the nanites right? I mean I probably won't get any of the rock and composition stuff but I could maybe figure out what these things are made of with the right tech.

[Wally can get the chemistry, Robin can get the programming, and Bart can get the machinery. Seems like a plan, actually.

But.]

Hey. Are you... gonna be doing lab stuff all day?

[Wow, he's actually unable to act anywhere near normal right now. That's... concerning, actually. He's going to have to work on this.

Just... tomorrow. He'll work on that tomorrow.]

[Getting Bart in on it would be a good idea. It'd probably be good for him too, on some level. Help him feel useful in the face of the problem or something.

Wally straightens up and peers at the level and the way the bobble bobs serenely between the lines.] ...nah, probably not. I don't have a lot I can do until I get more equipment. Lemme finish with this and we can go running.

[Bart can't help the breath of relief he's letting out at hearing that. Or the way the tension immediately drains out of him, the way his shoulders relax and the grin becomes a bit more genuine, his expression a little less tired.

He's not used to this. He's not used to this uneasy feeling in his chest, the way he's felt a lump in his throat ever since he woke up and realized what day this is, what this day was back home, just a few months ago.

He's not used to death actually affecting him. And he doesn't like it.]

Crash. [He zips away, coming back with the closest chair he could find and plopping it down, sitting backwards in it and crossing his arms over the top, resting his chin on his arms and watching what Wally's doing, the promise of a run placating him for now.] Why can't you just borrow stuff from the lab at work?

[ """""borrow""""" ]

[buddy] Because that's actually called stealing and it is, like always, a crime. [kiddo you have been here almost a year pls]

Besides, [Wally takes the level to the other table and sets it down to peer at it,] I don't want Mr. Stark to know about this. We're not supposed to have this crap and he's pro-government everything, so I don't know if he'd turn us in. We can't lose this stuff.

[The table is level and Wally straightens up to give Bart a more attentive look. His shoulders and face are stiff, though not as much as when he first came in, and he looks tired. Muted and gray. Like when he has to talk about the future he grew up in.

He reaches over and scrubs his hand through Bart's hair.] C'mon, let's go. I found this bangin' waterfall cluster over in West Virginia along the range, it's awesome. And there's all these cool steakhouses in the town at the base of the mountains.

[It's an ongoing problem, okay.] Not if you give everything back.

[Still, what Wally says makes sense, even if Bart's slowed down and tired enough to just hum in agreement. At least until his hair's getting ruffled. That gets him to huff and make a face, pushing at Wally's hand like the petulant child he is.]

Waterfalls? [It's hard to not show how excited some parts of nature still make him. He hasn't seen actual waterfalls yet. And besides, swimming will be amazing. And just spending time with Wally today... yeah.]

Sounds crash. [He grins, getting up from the chair and stretching] We gonna get food before heading there?

[At least he's aware of how muted he is? He's just trying not to think about it too much.]

[And Wally doesn't point it out, because every time he does Bart is apparently compelled to force some cheer and that's...while it makes Wally more comfortable, he doesn't think it's what Bart should do.

Jeez. He's starting to learn how to handle this kid like he's learned to handle Robin.]

I'm just gonna shove something in my face, we can eat there. It's not that far anyway, just a couple hundred miles. You're gonna love it dude, it looks so awesome.

[The closer they actually get to going and running, the more that weird weight seems to lift from Bart's shoulders.

Part of him, the part that listens to people like Jaime and Superman and is related to Barry Allen, says that he should... probably tell Wally exactly why he's acting weird. But then there's that West side of him. The part that just gets worse and worse in Wally's company that tells him naaah. He's not being asked about it, so why mention it at all?

So long as he gets to hang out with his older brother today, he's happy. He'll just... tell Wally about it later. For next year or something. So he knows, and Bart isn't keeping it a secret. Yeah.]

Heh. [There's a moment where Bart pushes a slightly awkward smile out, but it's quickly becoming more and more genuine as he lets himself tumble forward into a bit of actual excitement.] Are they like the steakhouses in the midwest? Y'know around ranch country 'cause unless they're like that they're totally not winning the steakhouse award.

[Careful, Bart. Your post-lightning cowboy tastes are resurfacing again.]

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