eloquentness | mask or menace

[ how Barry still manages to compartmentalize parts of himself, iris will never know.

He is the Flash, and the Flash is him. If he doesn’t believe that he would wield this influence, this kind of power just by being his charming, lovable self - then she’ll just have to make him believe in it. She sits up straighter, steeling herself for a probing question - ]

In what sense is it overwhelming?

[ for the time being, she’s not iris ann west, the best friend who’s hopelessly in love with him. she is, in this moment, the fearless reporter who has to set her inherent biases aside. she has to be neutral for her national audience. she also has to tell the story, while protecting his identity from the world, and act like she has no personal connection.

God, it’s a struggle and she doesn’t even have a secret identity of her own. ]

Or maybe I should rephrase... [ . . . ] What do you think “the Flash” represents to people?

[ that's the easiest question anyone's ever asked him. ]

Hope. [ with a shrug of his shoulder. ]

[ yes, the newspapers and magazines had outlined it in bold colours and blurry images repeatedly during the first year of the flash being active, but barry has seen a change in the city. he may be moving at lightning speeds, the world around him otherwise blurred, but he still notices things with sharpness. the city is better with the flash, even if, sometimes, he wonders if it'd be stronger without him. ]

[ ccpd aren't equipped to deal with the metas who flank the city. the flash, at least, can ensure a dad or a mom don't die on the streets, trying to protect the people of central city from a being that's ultimately more powerful than their muggle selves. ]

[ he smiles, ] Or confidence that you're pizza's actually going to arrive on time. No one has to wait sixty minutes ever again. [ barry allen, impatient for his pizza. if the internet tells him delivery time is an estimated fifteen minutes, he expects it in ten. ]

[ only Barry could manage to place "hope" and "pizza" in the same sentence. Iris laughs at the juxtaposition, and at the mental image of her best friend as the best pizza delivery man the universe will ever know.

she jots down that one word - hope - because it's succinct. it sums him up better than anything else she could ever say. ]

You're right on both counts, I think.

[ impartiality, out the window in 2.5 seconds. that has to be a world record. Iris stares down at that written out word - at hope and what it represents - before circling it again. ]

Central City believed in the Flash. They believed in you - and this world, this universe believes in you too. [ . . . ] I've seen it on social media. Your name's usually a trending hashtag.

[ she tilts her head, ] How does that feel, by the way? To be famous not just as the Flash but also as an imPort?

[ barry scrunches up his face. ] No way.

[ it shouldn't be surprising, given patty spivot's reaction to meeting him. but someone admiring his work is different to someone admiring … him. he's always chosen to hide in the shadows. perhaps it's what made hiding his secret identity so easy from most people … though, not all people happened to be iris. ]

[ crossing his arms against his chest, he raises his brow in a challenge. ] You're just trying to embarrass me. We're here to talk about the Flash, not Barry.

[ although, haven't they already discerned that they are one in the same? barry cannot exist without the flash … the flash cannot exist without barry. eobard thawne had travelled back in time to hurt barry allen, and thus hurt the flash. it isn't a thought that pervades him. instead, he thinks about how the flash has always come back to iris west, who has always been, without a doubt, the biggest part of his life as barry allen. ]

You want to know his favourite pizza toppings?

[ nice deflection, slowpoke. ]

If I were trying to embarrass you, I would've just brought up the time in ninth grade where -

[ Iris promptly presses her lips together, already mad at herself for stooping so low and taking the bait. Ninth grade stories were meant to be in the past, along with her inability to keep a neutral attitude and a solid, steady hand. She’s a gosh-darn professional, and professionals do not go around and embarrass their interviewees just because they feel like it!

(Though, she supposes, that's the danger in interviewing her best friend. She can't be impartial, no matter how much she wants to be.)

Iris breaks eye contact, glancing down at her interview guide and the notes she’s scribbled in the margins. “Pizza toppings” was not one of them. ]

Okay, fine. [ She sighs, though it’s certainly not of exhaustion so much as of her crushed hopes of being neutral and kind of professional towards her biggest fan and supporter. ] In an ideal world, what would the Flash put on his pizza? [ Quickly, she adds: ] Don’t you dare say pineapple.

mask or menace | ic contact

ACTION.

ACTION.

ACTION.

ACTION.

ACTION.