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! )

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[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.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only