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[thescarletspeedster]

You've reached Barry Allen

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[defaulthawke]

I met the most interesting man the other day

[thescarletspeedster]

[He doesn't hear this often, and he's equal parts curious and suspicious.]

Oh yeah? What was he like?

[defaulthawke]

muscles, scars, kind of gruff. really sexy

[thescarletspeedster]

[Nearly everyone is 'really sexy' to Garrett, and Barry smiles, even as he rolls his eyes.]

Sounds like Oliver.

[defaulthawke]

yeah, that was his name

nice guy ;)

[thescarletspeedster]

[For a moment, it's enough to make Barry's heart stop. Ever since seeing Oliver again after so long, all he's thought of is introducing him to Garrett, but after a moment more he realizes that no one would meet Oliver Queen in Hell and declare him a nice guy, not even his idiot boyfriend.]

Very funny. He's actually here, I've been looking for you to tell you!

[defaulthawke]

I met him, love. He's was very grateful for the body heat.

[insert a detailed description of three of Oliver's scars, information he could only have gotten in person.]

[thescarletspeedster]

what?

[defaulthawke]

Are you busy right now?

[thescarletspeedster]

y tho

action; vaguely post-stepford

[knucklesdirty]

He probably should have texted first. But he'd been literally walking by Oliver's suite, so it just sort of happens. Francis pausing to knock on the door of the rooms he shares and sort of hoping that Ollie's home. He has an idea that he's sort of mulling over with regard to their archery range anyway, not that it's really why he's stopping by.

There's a chance that Garrett could be the one answering the door, which is still sort of complicated. But it's no one's fault, really. And when you grow up in the aftermath of an Apocalypse, not dealing with the things that hurt is second-nature.

He knows Barry lives there too, but he's the uncomplicated one, so Francis isn't really thinking about it until the door opens. "Oh, Mister--" He sort of catches himself, a little awkward at how he still hasn't entirely shaken that place off his skin. He's not in a cheerleading skirt and he's gained about five years, but otherwise it's pretty easy to make the connection.

"So uhm. Is Barry Allen your real name?"

[thescarletspeedster]

Barry knows who's on the other side of the door before he opens it. He's still as friendly and solicitous as he'd been as Mr. Allen, but he's a hell of a lot more paranoid, especially here, and there's no surprise on his face when he swings the door wide enough for Francis to enter.

"It is," he says, shuffling in discomfort. He's not exactly proud of what he'd taught while in that strange version of reality, definitely not proud of how easy it'd been to extend his knowledge of science to torture, but it can't be helped. "But I'm a CSI, not a teacher. I used to...solve crimes, not cause them," he says with the ghost of a smile, looking Francis over.

"Are you here for me, or...?"

[knucklesdirty]

Francis steps in, notes the lack of surprise, but he's about the last person to fault someone for a healthy dose of precaution. "I was hoping Ollie was home, actually," he admits, and it's brief to most people, but there's a slight flush there, a slight shift to how he holds himself

"But uh, if you're not busy, I wouldn't mind getting to know the real Barry Allen. I used to be... well, I guess sort of a- refugee leader turned vigilante, or something like that. Hopefully that police background doesn't hold it against me too much," he says, but it's a little bit playful.

"But you know, mad men pulling tech they shouldn't have out of the future seemed a bit outta their range, at least in the worlds I've been to." Even SHIELD had been out of their depth, but they'd managed to deal with AIM and Forson, at least.

"Can you really move that fast, or was that a Stepford thing? I mean. If you don't mind me asking?" He's different, but there are similarities. The way he talks a bit too much when he's interested, for instance.

[thescarletspeedster]

"Pretty sure Ollie's out jogging, or doing something to make his big dumb muscles even bigger," says Barry with a faint smile. He opens the door wider for Francis to come inside, and like the giant, terrifying angels they are, Ox and Blue watch from their dog beds with sleepy interest.

"I'm still that fast," he explains, going into the kitchen to get them both water. He sets them on the table in front of the couch and sits down. "And it would be hypocritical of me to judge you for being a vigilante, considering I used to race around my city in a onesie fighting other metahumans."

[knucklesdirty]

Francis can't help the soft laugh at Barry's estimation of Oliver's activities as he steps in. "Well, Penance appreciates his efforts, of course," unable to resist teasing the man a little, even if he's not actually here for it. Even if he still sort of owes Oliver a sorry and an explanation.

He gasps at the sight of the dogs, because they are giant and look like Good Dogs. Because all dogs are good dogs. "Oh, what are their names?" He hasn't met the dogs before Barry, please correct this great injustice. "My dog-- well, actually my dad's dog is Lucky. Still not sure what he's doing here because he's great, but I'm sort of.. glad anyway?"

He joins Barry on the couch with a grin. "Yeah? What was your superhero name? If you had a costume I know you had a name. I guess my uncle had powers like yours and his was Quicksilver. I never got to meet him, though." Fran can be paranoid, but not about this stuff, since things like names and costumes was what so much of his world had been built on. Legacy.

"I used to go by Hawkeye, if you were wondering. But uh- that wasn't really mine, either."

[thescarletspeedster]

"I went by the Flash," says Barry with a slightly bashful smile. It's a name that used to mean something, and he's proud of it, even if he knows what it sounds like. "Kind of...flasher-y, I know, but they first tried calling me the Streak so it's a definite improvement."

His expression smooths with surprise when he mentions Quicksilver. "Peter? I knew him on one of the other worlds Garrett and I went to before this one. He was a good man. He'd be proud to hear his name lives on, I think." He'd barely been more than a teenager, but Barry had seen it in him, the man he would become.

"If he was your uncle, maybe I met your parents too, somewhere in my travels?"

[call]

[aintmyfirstprisonbreak]

Bartholomew.

call

[thescarletspeedster]

Leonard. Why are you being so formal?

[aintmyfirstprisonbreak]

It's attention-grabbing. Worked, didn't it?

[thescarletspeedster]

Since when do you need tricks to grab someone's attention?

[aintmyfirstprisonbreak]

Never. Thought I'd give it a try. It's not for me - when can you be here?

[thescarletspeedster]

[Barry's lips curl into an unconvincing smirk, one he's grateful Leonard can't see after the fact.]

I'm the Flash, I can be anywhere when I want to be. Is now good?

[aintmyfirstprisonbreak]

Now is very good. Get a move on, Flash.

[He expects him to rush on over the instant he gives the okay, so his eyes are already turned to the door.]

[thescarletspeedster]

[Barry takes a breath. He's spent so long in the speed force, it's almost hard to say how well an ordinary human like Leonard will be able to perceive a decrease in speed. Mach 2 isn't Mach 14, after all, but it's still instant to the naked eye. Gathering himself, Barry races at a pace that's near leisurely towards his door, slipping out of the speed force to muss his hair before he knocks - and to wrestle down the nausea in his stomach.]

It's me!

[aintmyfirstprisonbreak]

You don't need to knock.

[Says, as he walks over to the door and opens it up, looking at Barry and trying not to think about how good it is to see him.]

But you do need an appetite.