“Okay, I gotta ask, did you guys have– like, a whole alter-ego figured out?” For all he knew, Cisco might be having some competition when it came to coming up with the best names. “Name, outfit, catchphrases, all that jazz…?” You would have thought he was actually making research, taking advantage of the situation to inspire some catchphrases of his own, seeing as his very own name and outfit were already taken care of and unlikely to be changed to anything else. But seeing how much Blaine seemed to like to be able to discuss that particular stage of his high school life, everything regarding the Flash was pushed aside and replaced by a genuine curiosity, not to mention a desire to see just how many more of that smile he could get out of him, which needless to say would be a reward on its own. “I– Yeah.” He awkwardly scratched the back of his head. “I kinda… fell earlier, so.” And tripping and falling at the speed he was going meant rolling on the wet pavement for a block or two, which probably explained why he looked like he had just taken a swim with his clothes on. At least his phone had gone by miraculously unharmed. “I thought I could just run home and I wouldn’t need my umbrella, but I was wrong. When I got back up, I took it out and everything but it was kinda late by then.” He crossed his arms over his chest, partly to provide himself with the warmth his soaked clothes were absorbing right out of him, mostly because he was slowly beginning to shrink as much as his standing position allowed out of mere embarrassment. “Oh? Well– No, it’s… It’s fine. Don’t worry about it, I’ll be fine,” he assured as he shook his head no, for something about agreeing to wear the clothes of a guy he had never even met, just like that and without said guy’s explicit consent -even though Blaine was second-handedly offering it himself, in a way- did not sound right to his own personal moral code. Then again, neither did leaving behind a puddle after having been standing on the same spot for over a few seconds. Which he currently was, he realized after glancing down at his own feet. “Uh… I mean, only if it’s not too much trouble.” 

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.” 

“Okay, I’m gonna need a more detailed version of that story.” Amused as that request had sounded, Barry was genuinely curious regarding what all of that had actually meant. The story behind it could have involved two hall monitors, to two kids on a Superhero Club at school -yes, he had seen one of those in his school; no, he had not joined it-, to yet another two vigilantes in the area who were just not as concerned as the current ones about the concealment of their identities. He figured if it really were the latter, he would have heard about it on the news at some point, perhaps even read of it online. At the moment, he could not think about reading anything of that nature; nothing beyond the works of one they called the Hood, whose appearance had suspiciously coincided with Oliver Queen’s return from the dead. Of course it only looked suspicious now, from a distance, when he knew what all of that had been about. He shook his head, realizing how fast he his train of thought had sidetracked. “Hm? Yeah! No, yeah, I’m fine. I’m sorry.” He noticed, to make matters worse, that Blaine must have been speaking the entire time he was unknowingly dragging himself back into his thoughts. “So, where do you perform, exactly?” he asked in order to fill up the information he must have missed. “Now that you’re on a break.” Looking up at the sky, seeing nothing but dark clouds that displayed no intention of letting the sun show any time soon, motionless, like there was not enough wind to carry it away, Barry gathered they were in for quite a storm. Perhaps the wisest thing to do would be to accept Blaine’s offer. “I mean, I don’t wanna impose or anything, if you’ve got stuff to do…” He had run on water before, he could give it one more shot at doing it again. “But yeah. Yeah, if you really don’t mind, that’d actually be kinda great.” He could feel his phone buzzing in his pocket every couple of seconds, probably the work of his concerned foster father. “Besides, you’ve still gotta finish telling me that whole superhero story, so.”

When Barry glanced up at the sky at the sound of thunder, his distress was evident for anyone who as much as glanced his way. Thunder– the possibility of lightning to be more specific, made him particularly nervous. He had survived being struck by lightning before, and it wasn’t as if he was not fast enough to dodge a striking bolt, getting Blaine to safety in the process as well. But having had his speed taken from him before, just like that, like it were but a loosened possession rather than his very DNA, anything remotely related to how he had gotten them to begin with genuinely scared him. Almost like he had read the other’s mind, his own pace accelerated as he wondered how long he would have to stand under the building’s stoop, waiting for the rain to lighten or to cease altogether. He turned his head, perhaps hoping to see he wasn’t the only one as discontent with the weather, so he wouldn’t feel as bad for carrying a pout on his lips. One look at Blaine’s face and he turned it to a smile. “You’re not one, like– of those guys who ran around in masks, are ya’?” When he turned his head to look at him, he arched an eyebrow and narrowed his eyes, as if he were trying to picture him in the suit of any of the vigilantes he was acquainted with. “I– Yeah! I mean…” It seemed as though he was getting less and less free time every week, now that he thought of it. But he certainly got enough free time as a CSI to be able to carry out a less than conventional second job on the side. “– I get some time, I guess, yeah. How about you? How much leisure time have you got?”

The young speedster wasn’t entirely sure he could provide a very thorough description of its connotation, but there was some form of sensation that invaded him that made him actually glad it was raining so often, especially since the weather seemed to have led to a chain of events that concluded with the two of them meeting on both those occasions. “That sounds kinda nice.” Of course, he had never been to Ohio himself and quite frankly, Blaine didn’t sound all too enthusiastic about actually making such a trip and seeing his family, but he actually envied him, in the healthiest way anybody could envy somebody else, of course. He envied him for actually having the chance to be annoyed by his parents, to be so used to them, so used to a home he found them tedious. He would have pointed out just how lucky Blaine was, but he couldn’t figure out how he could do that without sounding ninety. Besides, he was merely making assumptions without much for a research; all he knew was the little the other had told him. “Uh, well, working, basically.” Neither one of his two jobs took the chance of a spring break into consideration. After all, it wasn’t as if crime scenes would cease to exist for a week or two so he could catch a breath– oh, but how he wished they would sometimes. “I work for the police– I think I told you that.” He couldn’t remember. “So it’s not like people out there are gonna gimme a break and stop committing crimes, y’know?” he remarked with a grin.

“Well, it seems like a little too much of a coincidence for it to be just ‘cause of Spring, so…” If he hadn’t known any better than to make assumptions based on the little Blaine had revealed with what he had said, Barry would have jumped to the conclusion that the universe had perhaps decided they could both use yet another bad weather friend. A conclusion that brought a small, amused smile to his lips, for it sounded like something right out of a poorly scripted, particularly corny Disney movie. There was no denying that he had his fair share of friends that he knew would stay with him through thick and thin, friends who were far more loyal and devoted than he believed he deserved, friends who were more like a family to him than anything else. Nevertheless, and taking into consideration everything that had been going on lately, he most certainly would not have minded one more friend to turn to. Not that he expected to drag Blaine into all the craziness his life had been consisting of those past couple of years, but he definitely looked the type who managed to brighten other people’s day simply by standing in the same room with them. “Sweet, what did you have in mind, like a trip?” He chuckled faintly, running a hand through his hair. “Yeah, it’s– I never liked carrying an umbrella around, you know? I feel it’s so impractical, and you’re always gonna end up getting wet anyway, but… I only lasted a couple of blocks before I realized it’s just pouring today.”