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Post by Bixir on Oct 8, 2024 6:58:06 GMT
Now, Flash Thompson wasn't always that bright. Or attentive. Some may even say that Flash Thompson was a little dense (but just a little). But when we were looking lazily out at the cafe, and eventually at Barbara, well... well. We smiled, too. We just- didn't know why. There was something there. Maybe good. Maybe bad? Now that didn't feel right. Maybe we were finally on to something.
While Barbara leaned in, Flash leaned back. Our mischievousness matching her own, we smiled a little too smugly. We performatively stuck our hands on our hips, if only for a moment, then resting on the table, like they were in disbelief. "If I didn't know any better, Miss Gordon..."
We finally leaned in, close enough to whisper. "I might think you're asking the wheelchair boy out on a pity date~"
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Post by Countess on Oct 10, 2024 0:41:04 GMT
Barbara takes a sip of her coffee, still leaning forward even as Flash leans back. Smugness suits him, she thinks to herself.
"I guess that depends..." Barbara murmurs, having not moved an inch as he started to whisper. He's close enough to feel her presence, smell the salt on her skin. "Does wheelchair boy say yes?" she asks, finger tracing the rim of her coffee cup. He could say no- she wouldn't be bothered either way. Today had been... more than she thought, in a few ways. Seeing him again, it feels... nice. She always felt safe with him, and it had nothing to do with his status in a chair. No, as grouchy as he is, she could tell he looks at a room the same way she does... Every exit, every weapon, every threat. How could she not feel safe with someone like that? Someone like Dick, but not as... duplicitous.
Dates. Such a strange thing, a few months ago, she was playing that game with Charles. She thought-
"Sorry," Barbara says, leaning back. Her heart beats faster, and not from the flirting. Is she trying too hard? "I don't mean to be so forward, I just thought... It is okay if you'd rather hang out as friends. I miss you- and the others- but... you were always someone special to me."
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Post by Bixir on Oct 14, 2024 3:33:53 GMT
"Wheelchair boy... says... yes." We couldn't help it anymore. Flash was grinning like an idiot. We kept in close proximity to Barbara, because... she was doing the same thing, or whatever. Yeah. This was flirting. We could still flirt. It was a weird thing to think about. But, then she leans back. She can't stand your smell. Only natural. For a moment, we grimace. Better that than just yelling at a ghost. Asshole.
We raised our hands up in front of us, an apologetic gesture. Now who was trying too hard? "N-No, it's not that at all. I just, uhh..." We rubbed our neck, doing our best to maintain eye contact. Our skin burned hot. We hadn't felt like that in... a long time. "I had no idea. That we- that you, me... yeah."
We took a few hearty sips of our coffee. Oooh, that hit the spot. Anything to not put our foot in our mouth for a minute. What do you mean we were someone special?! If this were anyone else, we would know that they were full of shit, saying something like that. But, it was Barbara. And, she wasn't. Full of shit, that is. So...
"I'd like that, Barbara. Babs? Doesn't that mean something in like, Danish?" We actually couldn't for the life of us remember what it was. But, she had called herself that - others too - all the time in group. It sounded endearing. We shook our head, and took another quick sip. "But, really. I could use... that. Someone special."
That thought pulled us in a few different directions. None of them good. Back in Qurac, back in our dad's shitty apartment, back at... Betty's place. Pick your poison. All this time, we stared into Barbara's eyes. Then, just like that, we were back. "Uhh. I take it this isn't the date." We smirked at her. This was our shot. This totally had to get us some nerd cred. "What about... second date?"
No, seriously, what do you mean Flash Thompson was special to someone?
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Post by Countess on Oct 14, 2024 13:02:00 GMT
Damn, Babs, fumbled. "Sorry... No, I'm not sorry," she says, pulling something from the group they had been in together. "I really like you Flash, and dating, serious dating because that's what I'm proposing here, has some... baggage for me. Curtesy of Charles Dante," she says, the last bit a touch bitter. "Funny how what we take away from relationships are scars," she mutters, not really thinking it is funny.
Barbara can't help it- she grins. Anything to get past her past. "Yeah- it means tit," she says, laughing. Not at him, but rather the silliness of it. "Singular, of course," she adds, letting him in on another layer.
"Yeah... You could come to my place, dinner and a movie, meet my brother. He's kind of the test you have to deal with, actually," Barbara says, warning him. "He's thirteen, but acts like he is more adult than me. He had a rough life, rougher than ours... and you know that really means something," Barbara murmurs. She may not know all the details of Flash's life, but she knows what he has said in group. He knows what she has said in group. To think the kid might have gone through worse than war in less than thirteen years, at least in Barbara's estimations... is a bit daunting. "I'm trying to help him out, let him... be a kid for once," she says, and there is a fondness and a worry in her tone. This kid, she loves him dearly.
"Win him over, and I'm all yours, wheelchair boy," Barbara says, laughing. "Plus, if you kidnap me, he will straight up murder you," she says, snickering a bit. Bat humor- doesn't always land. She could use someone special, too.
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Post by Bixir on Nov 16, 2024 20:32:55 GMT
Relationships... Scars... Babs doesn't- no, she does know how right she is, about both of them. It was why she said it. Broken people are meant for each other. We decide to take that as a compliment, and smile at that, and the joke about the tit. Singular. Of course. Was that an in-joke, knowing that trivia? Flash knew it now, so...
"I'm, uhh... familiar with tough kids. Probably not like your brother, but I'm sure he's a good kid." We had been a teacher before, but that was different, and in Brockton. Sure, Babs and her brother grew up in Gotham, so it probably wasn't that much better than what his students had gone through... well, hopefully better than one. Our face faded a bit as that memory bubbled to the surface. We beat it down, smiling through whatever pain it brought out.
We raised our hands in mock alarm. "Look, I'd be impressed if Wheelchair Boy could get past step one." We took a few sips of our drink. We had almost forgotten why we had come here - or rather, some of the reasons. "But, uhh, challenge accepted... Babs." We hoped that she had forgotten, too.
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Post by Countess on Nov 20, 2024 15:34:18 GMT
"He is..." Barbara says, something worried and sad passing over her like a cloud on a sunny day. She looks away, eyes drifting to the window. "I think that's the tragic part. Sometimes, I can see who he would have been, if he hadn't dealt with the things he did. He is so smart, so kind, so gentle... but everything else made him hide those things. I really..." she murmurs, sounding more like a mother than a sister at the moment.
Barbara looks back, a smile pun on. He's seen this look before, when she's trying to move past a hard topic, and instead focuses on something else. Usually, it has nothing to do with her. Flash should know by now... Barbara doesn't forget anything.
"Gunna show me that injury you've been hiding?" she says, taking a self satisfied sip of her coffee.
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Post by Bixir on Nov 20, 2024 20:51:35 GMT
We aren't sure what to make of all of that. In a way, we do, but it's not quite the same. Their lives are similar, but not that similar, it seemed. Perhaps that was for the best, and yet we couldn't help but feel that that wasn't the case, either. To play both sibling and parent, that was never easy. Flash didn't know what that was like. But we were willing to learn.
Damn it. Nothing got past Barbara Gordon. It was something we really liked about her... most of the time. We were thankful that not that many of our own details had come up in this chat. Thankfully, indulging her on this should keep her from asking any more probing questions about what we really did. Now that was definitely for the best.
Flash winced. There was no getting around it. We sighed, and lifted our hoodie and layers underneath to show the scar in question. It looked... bad. Like, more than a scrape or bruise bad. There weren't stitches, but whatever had happened to Flash's side must not have been pleasant. And that was true - this scar had been much, much worse for at least a few days. We hoped it had had enough time to recover into something that could be explained away. "See? It's nothing."
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Post by Countess on Nov 20, 2024 21:57:24 GMT
Barbara chokes a little bit in surprise at the wound- that really is the only way to put it. Poorly healing, the bruise more colorful than an easter egg... That needs stitches. It needed it days ago. What the hell?
"Why haven't you gone to a hospital?" Barbara asks, clearly alarmed. She isn't freaking out, but by her inflection and wide eyes, this is a big deal. Looking from it, to his face, she does far too many mental maths and gymnastics. "How did this happen? It-" she starts, peering at it closer. It almost looks like an animal attack... Not any animal she has seen, though. That's saying something. She's seen everything from hyena to crocodile bites, thanks to her moonlighting...
"Flash, I can't just let you go in good conscious, this needs medical attention," Babs says, concern leaking into her voice. She has to fix this, has to do something. From his perspective, he might think she is taking this on as if he were her own. That's... a bit much, for the relationship they have. This just reminds her so much of her brothers... "If- shit, Flash, is this about money? This is beyond me..." she says, honest in that. If it were fresh, she might be able to do something. But this? "If this was an animal, you might get an infection, this is beyond normal."
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