Reciprocal Altruism || Snowbarry College AU

Out of Airplanes Into Pools of Sharks III

A couple of minutes later, their delicious dishes of food arrived and they all began to dig in heartily. Conversation steered towards more light-hearted topics after that, with Barry and Iris regaling her and Eddie of their wild adventures as children.

Caitlin understood why Barry was so enraptured by Iris. The girl had such a brilliant way with words that made her the best story-teller. She was charismatic and pulled her audience in without even realizing it. Caitlin found herself hanging onto every word from Iris's mouth, laughing at all the right moments without even trying.

"—and then Barry started flopping on the ground like a fish out of water!" Iris finished the tale.

"I was dancing!" Barry protested, smiling nonetheless.

"Not by human standards, you weren't." Iris grinned cheekily. "But he's gotten better, I suppose."

"Why do I find that hard to believe?" Caitlin asked, stealing a glance at her fignificant fother.

"What is this? 'Hate on Barry's dancing' Day?"

"I mean, he used to be like a fish out of water, but now his dancing is more like... a fish in water. But a clumsy fish."

Barry harrumphed, leaning back in his seat while the two women in his life laughed at him.

Iris leaned forward and tossed a fry at him, letting him catch it in his mouth. "Cheer up, Bare. At least you're getting better at it!"

Chewing the fries, Barry turned to Caitlin with a little smirk. "I really like these fries," he said.

She didn't understand why he said it so weird, but Caitlin nodded. "Great. You should dip them in your milkshake."

"Oo, I love doing that," Iris said. "What's your favorite flavor?"

"Vanilla for me," Caitlin said.

"Boring!" Iris announced jokingly. "I'm more of a strawberry person."

"Cookies 'n' Crème for me," Eddie added.

The two girls hummed in agreement. "Oh, that's good."

Barry cleared his throat and repeated, "These fries are really great. Perfectly salted fries. Crispy fries."

Iris glanced at Barry strangely. "Okay, we get it."

"No, I don't think all of us do," Barry glared at Caitlin. He waved his arm a little and raised an eyebrow at her.

She wondered what was wrong with him. First, he obsessively talked about fries and then he started moving his... "Oh," Caitlin realized. She probably should have looked at the flashcards Barry made her, as it finally struck her that fries was code for putting her arm around him. Finally understanding Barry's intentions, she wrapped an arm behind his back and nuzzled her head into his shoulder.

Their bodies were close enough that they could talk without being heard by the other side of the table, so Barry leaned down towards her and whispered, "Now our code word is too casual, you didn't even notice."

"You could have just put your arms around me without mentioning 'fries' a million times," Caitlin suggested.

"I didn't want you to think I was being weird if I just randomly started touching you."

"I appreciate it, but Barry, you were being weird by just talking about fries all the time for no reason."

Barry let out a tiny groan. "I knew I'd end up embarrassing myself."

Caitlin chuckled. "Relax, Bare. Look." She directed his eyes to the other side of the table where the other couple was having a conversation of their own.