[ that is such an unfair tactic. an incredibly unfair tactic. ]
[ barry visibly relents, shoulders slouching, the air leaving him with a small exhale. there's no point in fighting iris west when she plays like this — he'd been too slow, and that's often the crux of the issue when he only wants to be faster. ]
[ but iris isn't hurt. there's no shard of glass protruding from her shoulder. he hasn't run at the speed of light to only be behind by a minuscule of a second when he had wanted to be fast and harness his desperation to save her. iris doesn't need saving. she's not the one trapped in this ivory tower as he's the one uncertain of what to do. does he leave via the stairs or leap from the window? will the dark matter be attracted to other dark matter? does the aether sense the people other dark matters have touched? those are all questions he should've asked, but he hadn't had the capacity to do so. ]
[ at the end of the day, it's him who needs saving. instead of barry calling iris to come catch him from the base of a building as he takes a leap of faith from the fourth floor, she calls him and takes a leap of faith by climbing the stairs to him. ]
[ it's all backwards. but barry doesn't quite mind. ]
Most of the time I don't want to be.
[ it's quiet. he knows it means something much more than this, but he doesn't take the time to analyse it where the world slows down and he has a second to decide whether or not he'll snatch a flying bullet from the air or let it hit its target. but he has to relent on this one and drilling it into her head this had been a stupid idea, and he does, eighty-five percent. ]
[ okay, maybe seventy-three percent. ]
[ possibly a sixty-eight percent. ]
[ coming up to the fourth floor when there's dark matter charging this way and that had been stupid. one hundred percent stupid. but barry doesn't love iris any less for being stupid. ]
[ his hands don't move from her. a part of him is afraid if he does, she'll disappear, wrapped up in the dark matter that wants to slip over the threshold of his room. barry looks at her, brows rising, as he repeats once more with feeling, ] Are you sure you're okay?
ACTION. | 🐻
[ barry visibly relents, shoulders slouching, the air leaving him with a small exhale. there's no point in fighting iris west when she plays like this — he'd been too slow, and that's often the crux of the issue when he only wants to be faster. ]
[ but iris isn't hurt. there's no shard of glass protruding from her shoulder. he hasn't run at the speed of light to only be behind by a minuscule of a second when he had wanted to be fast and harness his desperation to save her. iris doesn't need saving. she's not the one trapped in this ivory tower as he's the one uncertain of what to do. does he leave via the stairs or leap from the window? will the dark matter be attracted to other dark matter? does the aether sense the people other dark matters have touched? those are all questions he should've asked, but he hadn't had the capacity to do so. ]
[ at the end of the day, it's him who needs saving. instead of barry calling iris to come catch him from the base of a building as he takes a leap of faith from the fourth floor, she calls him and takes a leap of faith by climbing the stairs to him. ]
[ it's all backwards. but barry doesn't quite mind. ]
Most of the time I don't want to be.
[ it's quiet. he knows it means something much more than this, but he doesn't take the time to analyse it where the world slows down and he has a second to decide whether or not he'll snatch a flying bullet from the air or let it hit its target. but he has to relent on this one and drilling it into her head this had been a stupid idea, and he does, eighty-five percent. ]
[ okay, maybe seventy-three percent. ]
[ possibly a sixty-eight percent. ]
[ coming up to the fourth floor when there's dark matter charging this way and that had been stupid. one hundred percent stupid. but barry doesn't love iris any less for being stupid. ]
[ his hands don't move from her. a part of him is afraid if he does, she'll disappear, wrapped up in the dark matter that wants to slip over the threshold of his room. barry looks at her, brows rising, as he repeats once more with feeling, ] Are you sure you're okay?