thescarletspeedster | (no subject)

At times, Barry wishes he could speed through his food at Semele's. It doesn't diminish any of the taste, and his metabolism is more than up to ten hamburgers hitting his system at once, but the sight of his vibrating mouth and throat is too obvious.

Which is a shame, because if there's any place to be openly unusual in Darrow, it's at its resident supernatural bar.

Barry picks up the third hamburger before him and sighs, forcing himself to take slow, large bites. For more than a year he's been known here as the owner's human boyfriend and not a supernatural himself. There's surely one or two clairvoyants in the room who know the truth, but either they respect the bylaws of the place or they just don't care, because no one's ever outed him.

In a town he can't escape, Barry knows it's only a matter of time before his identity as the Flash is common knowledge, but after both his mother and father died for no better reason than being loved by the Flash, Barry's not willing to risk anyone else. So he eats normally, he drinks normally, and if he can manage to leave at the end with one of Bitty's pies, he'll reward himself by eating it in seconds flat.

He's just picking up his fourth burger when he notices someone new standing near his table, a menu in their hand. "Burger's always a safe option," he calls, gesturing to his small stack of them as if to say obviously.

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From:

consummate_beta

Lyall's been told about Semele's by Biffy, a haven of sorts for the supernatural, or at least a gathering place that welcomes those like himself. It's with intrigue -- a bit of trepidation, but a bit of hope -- that he ventures out there on his own. The restaurant rewards him with a plethora of smells, both of food and of both recognizable and unrecognizable non-humans.

It's both comforting and even more unfamiliar than he had reckoned. At home, there would be very strict social guidelines to the interacting of such parties, and a very particular social class to nearly all of them which doesn't seem quite represented by this place. Rather, he feels incredibly over-dressed. Something he's going to have to try to learn not to do, but he rather likes his style.

Still, it's more like home than anything has been besides Biffy's, and he picks up a menu, pondering the still-unfamiliar territory of quite a lot of it.

Lyall picks up his head at the call from the young man nearby. "So I see," he says, raising an eyebrow at the veritable buffet he's digging into, with a smile. He doesn't smell like a werewolf, but --

He does, actually. He smells like the alpha Lyall had met transformed a young woman a few weeks earlier. Derek. But not like him. Like he's been rather close to him. The boyfriend, perhaps? Or a very close friend, at any rate. He'd been given a strict warning to give them their room, but -- this can't count as trespassing, surely.

"You've got an appetite for your size," he says with no judgement. "Busy day, or are the burgers that good?"

From:

thescarletspeedster

Barry's about to exclaim that he's not little, but he can't very well claim not to be skinny. He's always been a beanpole, even before he had to eat thousands and thousands of calories a day to keep up with his metabolism, so he just shrugs and smiles.

"Both," he says, taking another bite. "Derek makes amazing burgers, especially the Winchester! And Bitty makes the best pies I've ever had, so you'll definitely want to save room."

From:

consummate_beta

He turns that unusual feat of metabolism over in his head, but Darrow's so much on its own that Lyall can't expect himself to figure it out. He's seen plenty of wolves -- and a few teenage boys -- go through what seems an unfathomable amount of meat in a sitting.

"Would it be too much to take if I admitted I'd never had a hamburger?" Lyall asks with a small smile, searching for The Winchester on the menu. He finds it, but finds himself more at home with the idea of Hale's Bite -- he at least is somewhat familiar with steak.

Pork ribs might be safer than either. Though, perhaps an adventuresome spirit is a good thing to cultivate here.

"Would it be terribly imposing if I join you? I have the feeling you might be the one to ask about the options." Lyall smiles.

From:

thescarletspeedster

"You've never had a - " Barry begins, speechless, and he's just glad his mouth is empty because it's hanging open wide. He hastily closes it and pushes his plate to the center of the table.

"Please, impose away," he says, "And have one of mine, I can get more. I know the owner," he says with a smile. He doesn't mind sharing the table, and anyway, the man's accent makes for a nice change from Darrow's usual offerings. It's a bit fancy, Barry thinks, not like royalty fancy, but with that voice Barry has to assume he's at least come from some money.

"Have you been here long?"

From:

consummate_beta

Lyall can't help but laugh out loud at the young man's aghast expression, and sits with a nod of thanks. "Thank you," he says, and offers a hand. "I'm Randolph Lyall. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Are you sure?" He's surprised by the open offer to have a burger. That sort of smile when he says he knows the owner makes Lyall only more sure that this must be The Boyfriend, though. Which suits him just fine; he'd like to know his fellows and their family. He is a bit jealous of those who can attach titles so easily to their lovers these days. He's not sure it would roll off the tongue for him.

"I suppose it's something I should try," he admits. "In the time I'm from, they aren't common." He eyes the sandwich -- the young man had been scarfing them down with both hands, but he's not sure he could do that and maintain any sort of dignity. Though, Biffy had gotten him to eat barbecue.

"I've been here about a month," Lyall explains, picking up the burger. No time like the present. "It seems both as though it's been forever, and no time at all, to be honest."

From:

thescarletspeedster

"Barry Allen," he answers, shaking Lyall's hand. "Yeah, I hear you. It's a strange place, and I saw plenty of strange before coming here. You can't even rely on time to function on a linear path. Which is cool," Barry hastens to say, "I never thought I'd get to study this sort of thing in my life, but it's kind of rough to live through."

Finally beginning to feel full, Barry picks up another burger, eating it slowly this time. "What time are you from? It was 2015 when I left."

From:

consummate_beta

"Barry," he echoes with a small nod. Lyall lights up a little when Barry mentions that it's cool that time doesn't quite function linearly. A man after his own heart, then. "Are you interested in physics, then?" he tilts his head, curious.

He takes a bite of the burger as Barry speaks, tentative and leaning forward over the plate to make sure nothing spills. There's catsup, and mustard, and melted cheese, and the beef, while clearly ground from some inexpensive cut and made back into a round, is still rich and juicy. It's not neat, and hard to eat as delicately as he would like, but he can't disagree with the flavor.

He chews, determined to mind his manners, and swallows with a hum of approval, waving his apology for not answering immediately.

"A moment before I arrived here, it was 1876," he says with a small rueful smile. "I was en route to Scotland. And then --" He makes a little "poof" gesture with his hands. "In a cemetery, here. When you arrived here, was it 2015 here, as well? Or 2017?"

From:

thescarletspeedster

"2015," Barry confirms, "And wow, 1876. That must've been a huge change." Maybe not as big a change as for the poor people who come to Darrow from other worlds entirely, but still! What an adjustment.

"I'm totally interested in physics," he adds with another bite. "And biochemistry, toxicology, ballistics. I'm a forensic scientist here in town with the Darrow PD. At home in Central City, too."

Barry sits back with a grin. "Well? What do you think of your first burger?"

From:

consummate_beta

"It was -- quite a shock," he agrees, with a chuckle. "It still is, to be honest. The technology, the fashion -- just the electricity everywhere! And, this world is not quite the one I left behind, actually, even in the future. The technology is somewhat different, and -- well,"

He glances around. They are in a diner owned by a werewolf, after all, one noted to be friendly to those of his kind. "A bit more open to those who aren't quite human, if you will."

Lyall's eyes widen, both intrigued at the young man's clear prodigy and also excited at a potential new friend.. If they'd been at home, he'd have certainly kept an eye on Barry as potentially useful to the BUR. "We will certainly get along over more than burgers," he says with a smile. "I'm something of a scientist myself," he adds, "though much more of a dabbler, I'm afraid, than a professional. I'm interested in biology, genetic predominiately; however, I worked in an investigation unit back at home in London, and served in the military, and all that gave me a chance to look into technologies and weaponry quite a bit more than I might have otherwise."

"I can't imagine how much those fields must have progressed in the last centuries," he adds with feeling. "I'll have to pick your brain sometime."

And here he is rambling. Lyall coughs politely and smiles. "It's delicious," he says, genuinely. "It's not -- quite like anything I've ever had before," he adds, "and I do feel as though I'm being terribly messy, but it is -- good, isn't it."

From:

thescarletspeedster

"That's alright," Barry laughs, "Being messy is just part of the fun of burgers. Of all foods you eat with your hands, really," he adds, picking up one of his long neglected french fries to drag through a patch of ketchup.

"And you can pick my brain anytime, you never know where scientific pursuits will overlap. At home, I worked with a particle physicist, a mechanical engineer, and a bio-engineer. My life wouldn't have been half as exciting without them," says Barry with a small, private smile, for without STAR Labs his life would have turned out exponentially different.

"Doing investigative work in England though, you must have some stories." Barry closes his eyes briefly, sorting through dates. "Dang, you missed Jack the Ripper by a decade. We still haven't figured that one out."

From:

consummate_beta

Lyall laughs. He hasn't eaten many foods with his hands since, oh, the early 1700s at least, but it seems to be coming back into vogue and he's just going to have to deal with it, he supposes.

"Jack the Ripper," he says with an eyebrow quirked. "No, I can't say I recognize the name, though I can't imagine it's anything good with a nickname like that. I assisted in investigations into the supernatural, though, so there are certainly stories. Immortals can come up with some long games when they're displeased."

He had been one of those playing a long game, too, but he's not about to reveal that, ever if he can help it. It still eats at him. He had to do what he did for the pack, he knows that, but had there been another way, a better way? He still doesn't know, and he still has to bear it.

"Bio-engineering," he says instead with some awe. He'd seen scientists manage to create likenesses of life, golems, which he supposes are some sort of bio-engineering, but this sounds much more microscopic. "Altering life and organic compounds, I suppose?" He thinks of his selective breeding and wonders at whether he'd like better if he could just push it into motion himself.