Soothsayer ⚡ Barry Allen

And To Your Left...

Iris West

"I burn calories like fire on gasoline. I'm like a black hole of snacks -- a snack hole." I almost choked on a fry as a laugh ripped up my throat, watching as Barry hungrily munched on a burger. I had lost count on how many he ate, his "snack hole" deduction was fairly accurate.

"No kidding," I giggled behind my hand, sure I'd gain a six pack from all this laughing. We'd only spent like, three hours together but I was already sore. Meanwhile he had eaten half the city out of house and home without gaining a pound. I wish my metabolism still worked like that.

Barry had shown me Central City in a different light, and I actually found myself liking it here. On instinct, my eyes picked out good spots for a crime, places I had committed crimes, and people who were committing crimes. But after the first hour it all fell away and I only saw Barry or whatever he was showing me. If you pulled your head out of the shadows, it was a beautiful city.

He still wasn't done giving me the grand tour, though. When he finished scarfing down his last burger and I filled up on the fries and passed them off to a more-than-happy-to-eat-them Barry, he led me into a little coffee shop called CC Jitters. "I love this place," he sighed, and I soon noticed why. They had a highly caffinated coffee named after his alter-ego, "The Flash."

"Oh, I bet," I giggled, adding, "egomaniac," jokingly under my breath. He refused to let me pay for anything, which was nice considering the only money I currently had was borrowed from Selina, so I stood and looked around as he ordered us both a coffee to go. My eyes fell on the TV in the corner playing the news and for a moment I just got sucked into it.

I was an escaped inmate, freely roaming the city, surely at least one person had heard of my escape and saw me around. I bit my lip as my thoughts continued to travel but the voice of reason in the back of my head spread slow calm to the rest of me; Blackgate's warden liked to keep things under wraps, he didn't like public announcement of escapees. Horrible system, really, but it kept me safe. For now, at least.

"Hey," Barry's voice sounded in my ear, pulling me out of my head with a hand on my back. "You okay?" I nodded and gratefully accepted the hot coffee he had stacked on top of another disposable coffee cup. I went to make some explanation but noticed the way his eyes drifted away from me as he stared off.

"Are you okay?" I chuckled as I followed his stare. It didn't take long to find his object of focus, a beautiful dark skinned girl whose eyes looked green at a distance but were really a light brown when you looked closely. Well, I couldn't say I blame him, she snared even my attention.

"Barry?" she lightly laughed, as if she couldn't believe her eyes.

"Iris," he breathed, accepting the hug she offered. Well her name was fitting, she looked like she could rule over Egypt. Until her untimely death, a dark thought floated through my mind. When they finally pulled apart, Barry turned his head towards me but didn't break his eyes from Iris. "Andy, this is my childhood best friend, Iris," he breathed rigidly, like a man who's girlfriends just met.

"It's nice to meet you," I greeted with a small smile, keeping all pleasantries. Her breath taking eyes finally broke away from Barry as she reached out to shake my hand. "I'd say I've heard good things, but this is the first time Barry's mentioned you." She looked a bit hurt by that, and I have a feeling that wasn't the right thing to say but she blew past it.

"Yeah," she sighed. "I helped him out after his mom past." I raised my eyebrows in intrest as she released my hand and looked back to Barry, his wide eyes still on Iris as she turned back to him. "I haven't seen you since you went off to college... Where have you been?"

"A-around," he provided weakly. They both took a moment of silence to simply take each other in before Iris remembered something and it shot across her face almost in horror.

"I have to get to a job interview but it was really good seeing you, Barry. Don't be a stranger." She pulled him into another hug and when she pulled away she waved at me, moving to order herself some coffee. Barry was still shellshocked by the time Iris recieved it and left the shop.

"Earth to Barry," I giggled, wiggling my fingers in front of his eyes. It took about two seconds for his focus to be reined in and after it was, I had his full attention again. "Enjoy you blast from the past?" I lightly laughed, linking my arm through his and guiding his still unsteady stature through the door again.

"Yeah, you could say that..." I watched as he brought his coffee to his lips as if he was a starved man recieving his first meal in ages, a small giggle slipping past my lips when his eyes remained wide.

"So," I laughed, deciding to steer the conversation away from Iris, "how'd you get that shop to name a coffee after you?"

"I didn't," he supplied, his eyes finally softening out. "They're just appreciative, I guess."

"They should be," I admired. "You've been cleaning up the city longer than I've known you. You deserve more than a coffee named after you."

"I got you, didn't I?" he wondered as he tightened his arm around mine. A rare, small flush came to my cheeks and I slowly nodded.

"You sure did," I lightly laughed. When I felt his eyes on me, mine slid over to him, finding that same triumphant grin that he had on Christmas, nearly two months ago. I loved the way it lit up his whole face, bringing to life even the darkest spots of his eyes. I had seen so many different smiles in my time, but Barry's was by far my favorite.