eloquentness | mask or menace

[ it's something he should've done two years ago. fear had kept him in place, running from iris' desire to discover the truth about who the flash was. it'd been born out of the need to protect her and keep her far from what his life had become — something that was upside down and inside out, and almost unrecognisable — and it'd also stemmed from fear. the kinetic energy that he created was very similar to that of the man in yellow, and he so desperately didn't wish to be like the reverse-flash. ]

[ he's confident in this now, that the flash and reverse-flash are two separate identities. keeping iris in the loop is the best way of protecting her, as it ensures he's looked after as well. iris telling the flash's story is how it's meant to be. ]

Name the time and place, and I'll make sure the Flash will be there. He listens to me. ;)

Well, what about this evening? Think you can tell the Flash to meet me on top of the Roasted Bean?

[ The Roasted Bean being one of Heropa's local coffee shops. Iris isn't their biggest fan, but her superpower had saved the day once or twice, and she's now the proud owner of an extra key - just in case the machines break down again before the morning rush.

(She's up anyway. The curse of being a successful florist.) ]

Oh, and he should wear his suit. (:
I'll make it up to both of you with extra Thai!!

He says yes. Definitely yes.

[ she knows a way to a superhero with super speed's heart. it's always with food and fantastic company. always. ]

[ a part of barry had been thinking this interview would take place without the suit, but that's not incredibly authentic, is it? it's the flash she had chased on that rooftop that evening, and it's the flash she'll meet on the roof of roasted bean. barry allen may be the flash through and through, but it's not the skin he wears. ]

...
I'll make sure he picks up his suit from the drycleaners. He's had a very busy day ...

If he's that busy, then we can take a raincheck and just do the Earth-1 equivalent of Netflix and chill.

[ It takes her a long, long moment before she realizes that she sure did show her impatience and ask her roommate and best friend out on a date. Like, the kind that involved more than kissing - ]

wait no
forget that metaphor
Just regular take-out and my trusty notepad????

[ Because in the end, the Flash and her dork are the same, and that interview will be the same whether it's in their apartment or on top of the coffee shop nearby. ]

[ his answer is quick: ]

No way! The Flash has a clear schedule AND just got his suit back from the dry cleaners. You're going to the rooftop of Roasted Beans, then you're going to come back and tell me all about it. I'll grab takeaway. Your choice.

[ it'll be later that barry realises what iris has said. when he'd come back from earth-2, they'd joked about netflix and chill; though he doesn't think about it now (thus the memory currently stays intact), he knows that it's meant to be friendly. ]

[ a platonic netflix and chill. ]

[ he thinks. ]

[ what he does know: iris will get her interview. ]

You're the best. 💛 ❤️

(and surprise me?)

[ She means every word. No matter what obstacles were thrown their way, Barry's gone above and beyond for her - even humoring her by dressing up in that red suit that makes him look super dashing.

After the Roasted Bean's closed up for the evening, Iris makes her way up to the roof and stuffs her hands in her pockets. Florida weather means that it's still nice and warm, even in October - and she can't quite help the butterflies in her stomach. Two years ago, she'd had a plethora of questions. Who was the Flash? Where did he come from? Why did he choose to keep on fighting?

And even now, knowing most of those answers, she can't help wondering why she's getting that interview now. Does Heropa - and this universe by extension - need to know just how amazing her favorite hero is? ]

Edited (wow html fail) 2017-10-22 04:59 (UTC)

[ is it even a surprise the flash is waiting on the rooftop of the roasted bean before she arrives? as promised, he's dressed in his flash suit, mask off, feet shifting on the ground. even when waiting, he acts like he's impatient, unable to keep himself completely still. ]

[ when he hears her, he turns and smiles, a little sheepishly. hair mussed from wearing the mask on the way here, he forgets in that moment to put it back on. it breaks the illusion and the authenticity that she's meeting with the allusive flash right now. but barry has gotten so used to not pretending with iris he doesn't even think. ]

[ that dorky smile of his doesn't once shift. ]

Glad you could make it, Miss West.

Edited (shhhh ) 2017-10-22 05:14 (UTC)

Like I'd miss this for the world.

[ He actually did it!! He wore the suit, just for her - and even though she knows she would do the same, where their roles reversed, she can't fight the giant grin across her face. Without thinking, she reaches over for his gloved hand.

The lack of a mask breaks the illusion, sure, but some illusions are meant to be broken. Her best friend - her Barry - is a hero. He's also the boy-in-the-room-next-door (literally), and sometimes, she can't reconcile the two as easily as she'd like.

She may also take the opportunity to intertwine her fingers with his, just because she can. ]

I uh, I might have to change up my questions. [ . . . ] Since I wrote a lot of them before I put two and two together.

[ iris west will hopefully soon learn barry will do anything for her. ]

[ he glances down when her fingers wrap around his. he doesn't pull away; he entwines hers with his own, holding her hand with a stronger grip. ]

[ he's taken aback, and expresses that with a slightly embarrassed laugh, ] You have your old questions? [ heat blooms under his skin. he doesn't turn as red as his suit, but he's worried he might. having iris west interested in the flash had made his chest bloom with a confidence he had rarely felt during his first few months as the flash. every time she spoke highly of his alter-ego was another burst of confidence, making him stronger. it pushes him to remember he's capable of almost anything — being the impossible makes things possible, after all, and having the person who had always believed him about the man in yellow makes him want to puff out his chest and run. ]

[ his feet stay still and firmly on the ground now. ]

[ to think she has the questions she wanted to ask him — even though they're so simple, a bundle of "who are you? what are you? why are you the way you are? when did you become the way you are?" — makes him wish he had done this sooner. ]

For real?

[ He's really cute when he's surprised. Iris laughs, not unkindly, as she gives him a little nod and leans in closer. ] I might've memorized them.

[ She'd been wanting to give this interview for a long, long while - and while she could never bring herself to say it out loud, she'd refined that list until she'd gotten it down to a science. Interview questions had to be constructed just right: you can't lead a person into giving an answer, nor can you ask them yes/no type questions. She had to think long and hard, and that thinking had led to her knowing them all by heart.

Then she'd pieced two and two together, and that list had fallen by the wayside.

She should've asked sooner. Better late than never, right? ]

Before you say anything - they weren't anything special. [ she lies. ] They were just, you know, all about why you run, where you come from, you know. The typical stuff people ask superheroes in this world.

[ is this what the arrow would be asked? why does he shoot? why does he dress up? what prompted him to claim the right of being the saviour of the city? a part of him wishes oliver was here so he could lean on him for support, but he doesn't need oliver's advice when it comes to iris. after all, hadn't he been he idiot who told him he'd never get the girl? ]

[ barry nods, acknowledging those questions make sense — because they do. it's almost the same questions a detective would ask of a witness or a criminal, although the flash is neither. he hopes the flash doesn't become the latter. ]

[ glancing around, he holds up his free hand, fingers bar his index folded into his palm. ] We're missing something. Hang on one sec.

[ before iris can even hold on for a second, he's gone — hand gently removing itself from her own — and he's back as soon as he disappears, golden electricity lighting up the rooftop. a few steps away from them are two lawn chairs, already set up for them to sit on. when he appears next to her, his feet aren't placed where they were before, a little closer to iris now; his hand slots back into her own as though it belongs there. ]

[ with a sheepish cock of his head toward the lawn chairs, ] I figure it'd be better to sit. Unless you want to stand, then we can stand. I don't mind standing.

[ Once again, he moves faster than she can even process it – and before she can even draw a breath, he's pulled out chairs. Iris laughs, shaking her head a little, ] I'm not gonna make you do that.

[ Yet she doesn't quite let go of his hand as she takes a seat. She's been especially fond of holding onto him, as if she's afraid the porter will snatch him away again. Barry is home, and when he's not with her (when he's not in this world), the world doesn't feel like home. Even if they've found a new rooftop for their nighttime rendezvous. She does, however, shift so she can pull out her trusty tape recorder. ]

Just to make it all official. [ ... ] I'm legally obligated to ask you if it's okay, so... if it's not, we're good. I brought my notebook too.

[ and two very empty coffee mugs, since every good interviewer brings a drink or two to the table. ]

Edited 2017-10-31 02:57 (UTC)

[ the thing about tape recorders is if someone's savvy enough, they'll be able to pinpoint his voice. fortunately for barry over the years, the vibration of his voice — still high, still emotional, still recognisable if one was to sit and listen carefully — is enough to fool people into not tying him to the flash. he's never trusted anyone to openly record him via a recorder before, either. ]

[ he grins, big and wide, at the thought of this being old school journalism. barry nods. ] It's cool. Unless I say something stupid, then you're obligated to rewind and tape over it at least five times until I sound cool.

[ he looks to the chairs, then sits, falling into one and almost unbalancing himself immediately. most of their kismet meetings on the roof had them both standing, but given this is an interview — the interview, the one they've both been waiting for — it's best to sit down. ]

[ he suspects he's going to be here for longer than his usual two minutes. ]

Hit me.

[ somehow, iris doubts he could ever sound that stupid, but she laughs loud and clear. this is it. the interview. the one she'd promised herself she'd conduct all professional-like, with the tools she'd acquired from journalism school. ]

You're gonna be fine. Promise.

[ she could still hear her professor's voice in the back of her mind. do her research. get a solid understanding of the person she'll be profiling. sit down and compile a file (or spreadsheet) with facts, times, and places. figure out everything she possibly can before sitting down and talking to the man of the hour himself. the wise reporter is a succinct one who also makes her interviewees comfortable. iris must've practiced these techniques on her poor dad hundreds of times - and okay, maybe barry himself back when she was still in grad school. back before the particle accelerator exploded.

prior to her big discovery, the flash's file had been barebones. she vaguely guessed his eye color and height, and she sure didn't know his age or birthplace. she couldn't even begin to guess motivations for saving people, beyond her mattering to him. iris couldn't even shake anything important out of interviewing the people the flash rescued. they knew as much as she did.

(or so she'd thought.)

it feels a little weird interviewing her best friend. it feels a little weird asking him about motivations and advice when she knows she's his driving star. she's too close, too biased for this. but she nods, peering down at their intertwined hands. she thinks she knows a good new first question - one that'll bridge the gap between csi and superhero. ]

Since I've got a better idea of your powers and what you can do with them, let's talk about your motivations. The reasons you save people and make a place like Central or Heropa so much better. [ she grins, ] I know that's a lot to ask, so we'll break it down bit by bit.

What's one thing you'd wish you'd known when you became the Flash?

Edited (god i forgot about our other thread, ignore that) 2017-11-04 18:09 (UTC)

[ that's an easy answer. barry wishes he'd known about thawne, about mom, about everything which lead to the eventual discovery of gideon and that newspaper article. he wishes he had been smarter, had somehow known the man helping him wasn't a helpful man at all. the things he's responsible for — mom's death, dad's death, thawne chasing him through time, the obvious endangerment of those he cares about … ]

[ they're fleeting feelings, untouched right now by flashpoint's one consequence that's followed him here. ]

I wish I had known just how important he would be. [ it's not i. the flash may be him, and barry allen may be the flash, but he doesn't believe himself to be the man thawne hates so much he travels back in time to try and kill his defenseless eleven-year-old self. ] I mean … [ barry shrugs his shoulder, glancing away to focus on nothing in particular on the ground. ] The Flash helped save Central City, doing what the police couldn't. I get that. But the Flash ends up being something more than that — and to have someone come all the way from the future to try and kill him because of what he does or what he represents or whatever … It's pretty big.

[ if the flash was still trying to protect his identity from iris, he'd go for a more generic response — he hadn't realised how much hope he'd represent to the city at large. he never thought people would love the flash so much they'd create drinks after him and have even merchandise. but that isn't the biggest thing, and it's in iris' favour she knows who he is now. there's no secrets she needs to be protected from at the request of an overprotective and intense-loving father. ]

[ it's with a slight smile he looks at her, shaking his head. ] You don't realise how much he's going to mean to someone. It's still overwhelming.

[ for just the moment, those memories stay intact. it's almost like those ten second migraines have completely gone ... or are waiting ... ]

[ 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

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