barry.

It was not the kind of thing Barry would normally do, that was for sure. In two years, the craziest things he had ever done had been singing at a karaoke bar with one of his best friends and gone to a club with his whole group of friends, and not necessarily to a very popular one. Two things normal people his age had probably done a thousand times, more times than they could keep track of. Of course he had done crazier, much crazier, but those were things that normal people did not really have the chance to do. This was one of those moments in which he got tired of the fact that his social life did not go anywhere beyond Netflix and gatherings at his own place because he couldn’t be bothered to meet up anywhere else. “Yeah!” he therefore exclaimed, content with his decision. “Yeah, I could totally stop by one of these nights. I mean, if I get to see you play…” He ran his hands through his soaked hair as he wiped his shoes on the welcome mat, only then allowing himself to step in, noticing just how freezing his clothes suddenly felt against his skin now that he had somewhere warm to contrast it with. “Uh, where can I hang this to dry?” he wondered after having taken his jacket off. Superspeed would hardly keep a horrible cold at bay. “Wh– No! No, that doesn’t sound nerdy at all.” He was smiling, sure, and had actually been smiling throughout the story, but only because he found it absolutely endearing that they would actually venture themselves into something like that, evidently overlooking what people might think. “Absolutely not,” he assured him, for it would take a whole bunch of far more embarrassing stories to scare him away the idea of dinner. “Actually, I think if there’s one thing this world can’t have too much of, that’s superheroes. And the fact that you guys were ready to become one, that’s… that’s pretty admirable. I mean, no matter what mission that was, it’s– I think it’s pretty courageous of you.” 

“Thanks.  You’re right about superheroes.  The world needs more of them.  If for no other reasons than to get us through the rougher days.  Right?  I don’t know about courageous but,” he shook his head thinking back, “Determination can get you to go pretty far when it comes to things–no matter how small–that matter.”  Blaine felt his cheeks grow warm and aimed a lopsided smile at the floor. At least the guy wasn’t judging him for his high school fantasy dreams of being some sort of superhero swooping in with his best friend to save the day.  Honestly, that fantasy helped get him through days that didn’t have much good to focus on or think about.  A rough time made easier by daydreams, flooding his plate with so many goals that would drive a sane person to exhaustion and fantasies to escape into.  And he wouldn’t change the oddness of it all for the world.  Because it was his own piece of something to make his own.  Besides–the Nightbird costume was legendary. Handmade to a painstaking everything’s just right detail and still in his closet–in the back where no one could see–but Blaine loved it too much leave it gather dust in his bedroom in Lima.  “Here.  Let me take that,” Blaine reached for Barry’s coat and cringed at how soaked he was.  “You know..you look a lot worse than I do.” Even if he could feel his hair creeping into curls and cringed at the idea of them falling loose and his pants legs were wet along with his coat–Barry was far worse.  Which said a lot if Blaine considered his hair coming undone lower on the list of damage done from the downpour. Because we’re talking curls here and plenty of them just waiting to break free.   “Were you even under your umbrella? It’s hard to tell,” he hummed and wondered if this was too awkward of an offer but he didn’t want the guy freezing in soaked clothes. “My brother left a some clothes on his last visit.  Some flannel pants and a few shirts.  If you want?  I can grab them and you can change while I start something?  We can toss your clothes in the dryer? Better than being uncomfortable all night?”