text: un: burninate

[kelvins]

[those in cadelle who've stopped by criminales earlier in the month may have noticed the lights off and the interior darker than usual. which is saying a lot since most of the light can't really even be seen through the grimy windows. there's been no sign of the cheerful manager in the librarian chic glasses or the grumpy owner who is as likely to be holding a lighter as he is to be holding a beer.

early on the 17th, mick goes downstairs, flipping the switch on the neon 'open' sign and begins to sweep up around the bar. he hums quietly to himself as he wipes off glasses and the bar tops. good morning, cadelle. it's good to be back. but where are his customers? he fumbles for his device and types a hurried post to the network.]

i'm running a little low on slush funds, people.
did someone else open a bar while i was gone?

Comments

[kelvins]

[oh hello there, mr. allen. he's home from having seen the eventful wedding of none other than barry allen and iris west...]

went home for a few days.
it was... interesting.

[speedforcer]

[wait, hold up--]

you never said you were going back
WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY ANYTHING???




are you okay?
did anyone get hurt?
is everybody safe??

[kelvins]

[barold please.]

figured it was worth a go
i'd say sorry but you know i don't do goodbyes, red.

i'm fine.
had a little stint where someone made me quit drinking cold turkey
headaches were killer
but that's all fixed now

[he knows full well that this isn't the kind of information that barry is fishing for, but with the number and extent of issues they've had with people altering the timeline. (and yes shhhh he knows he's to blame for at least some of the chaos) he's not about to immediately up and spill the beans on just what kind of messed up shit he's encountered back home.

he's especially not going to talk about alternate earths or painful memories that were trudged up or of people that he's annoyed to admit that he misses.]

[speedforcer]

yeah but
this was different
what if you decided not to come back??



hold up
are you telling me you don't drink anymore??
who made you do it?
HOW DID IT HAPPEN???

[#priorities]

[kelvins]

you'd have seen me again.
if that's what you're wondering.
we had ourselves a fun little team up when i got home.

[...really barold? what kind of drugs are in that superbooze of yours?]

nah. i said it was fixed. didn't say i quit drinking.
soon as i got here, i had a beer.
but you can thank your patron saint of ice puns for that shitty... uh... few days, i guess. i don't really remember.

[speedforcer]

[there's a lot he could be saying in response to all that. questions he should be asking about them teaming up again. about what could possibly be bad enough that they'd need the legends to come back, or for team flash to go looking. but it's that last mention of a familiar face that has all other thoughts disappearing at once. and instead--]

it worked?
he's alive?

[kelvins]

[he knows that little glimmer of hope that he can practically hear in the text that comes back to him. he knew he'd get that kind of response too. mick remembers the way barry's eyes lit up when leo had come in for a hug — of his own initiation no less — because he'd felt it himself when he'd seen leo on earth x, but the honeymoon period had faded and it'd faded fast.

best rip the bandaid off before barry got too hopeful.]

don't get too excited.
you know how there's more than one earth, right?
well there's definitely more than one snart.

this one was just a disappointing other one.
you might like him though. who knows?

he goes by leo, and he's about as different from the snart we know as possible.

[speedforcer]

[he should've known better than to get his hopes up. to let himself believe that maybe things had actually worked out right for once. but it's a realization that comes far too late to do him any good. so mick's reply hits hard, and for a long while, barry's lost for how to respond.

eventually, minutes later--]

okay

[WAS IT WORTH THE WAIT?]