run_barry | Guy's Night Out

After everything that's been going on lately, the time has come for a break. A planned visit from a friend is just the thing and with no major crisis going on at the moment, it's the perfect time to make that happen.

So, with an itinerary that includes science, food and video games, Barry is excited to bring Yamato in from Milliways for another trip to Central City.

Opening the door from the bar that's a broom closet in S.T.A.R. Labs, Barry gestures Yamato through.

"Here we are," Barry says with a smile. "Welcome back, dude."

The corridor, like most of rest of S.T.A.R. Labs that doesn't get used by Team Flash much, is usually pretty dimly lit, but today the passageway is bright in anticipation of their guest and the science that's about to commence.

Nodding down the hallway, Barry says, "Cisco and Caitlin are in her lab and we're all set up for you."

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"RAWW!" GP squawks happily, heading over to take the food from Yamato, and then munching on it contentedly.

Joe looks down at what's left of the octopus dumpling he doesn't intend to finish and sighs.

"Here... " he says, picking it up.

GP sees this and shrieks, leaping up onto the table and losing his towel in the process.

"Nah-AH!" Joe scolds, pointing a stern figure at the bird. "Off the table."

GP stops abruptly, turns around and jumps back down to the chair.

Joe is surprised, but doesn't show it. Instead he passes over the food.

"Good," he tells the porg.

"Cisco's got him pretty well-trained," Yamato says approvingly. "Maybe not perfectly trained, but he'll get there eventually. Maybe."

"Now we just gotta figure out how to train Cisco," Joe says, wry.

"Hey Joe?" Barry calls out in his most very 'everything is fine' nonchalant voice. "Where's the-- oh, never mind. Found it!"

"Don't ever have kids, Yamato," Joe intones to the young man, dreading finding out what's happened to his bathroom.

Yamato chuckles a little.

"Noted, I'll keep that in mind," he says, his gaze flicking in the general direction of the bathroom as he tries to figure out exactly what kind of horror Cisco and GP could have unleashed in there.

It isn't long before Cisco and Barry come back, casually.

"Alright, everything is totally cool," Cisco announces, lifting GP up to take back his seat and settling the porg in his lap. "Joe, your bathroom is sparkling; shampooed top to bottom. You're welcome."

"Coincidentally, Cisco owes Iris a new bottle of shampoo after a bird dumped hers into the tub," Barry says, sitting down.

Joe doesn't trust the report until Barry provides some details and then Joe's eyes widen and he shakes his head at Cisco.

"Oooo, she's gonna kill you."

"That's not as bad as I was expecting, I've gotta admit," Yamato says. "... Does kind of sound like you're going to die, though, kid."

"No I'm not," Cisco scoffs. "Random question for you, though. In a life and death situation, would you fight a girl?"

Barry's eyes swing up, and then away, and he is not going to say anything more about how things may or may not have been before his involvement on the scene, or after.

"We uh, we should probably get going soon," Barry says, looking around at every wall trying to find a clock. "Still got a video game session to get in."

"You know I know you're running away, right?" Joe intones.

"I'm not fighting Iris for you, Cisco," Yamato says flatly. "If she wants your head, that's completely justified vengeance."

He shakes his head, glancing over at Barry and noting his -- obvious nervousness.

"All right, once I've washed the dishes we can go, Gramps."

"Yeah well, that's fine. I'm thinking Iris might be my rival," Cisco replies, feeding GP.

"She would eat you alive," Joe informs Cisco flatly.

"You know, I can-- " Barry makes a gesture at the table and nod towards the kitchen to indicate he can take care of the mess.

"Now I know for sure you're running away," Joe says, his amusement showing he's only joking. Mostly.

"Good for you, kid," Yamato says, in a voice that indicates that he's very dubious about Iris being Cisco's rival.

He looks a little surprised at Barry's offer. "-- Sure, if you want. Don't feel like you have to, though."

"He's sure," Joe says to Yamato.

"Everybody done?" Barry asks, indicating the plates and what's left on the table?

"I'm good," Joe says, taking up his coffee mug and leaning back in his seat to clear the area around his plate.

Cisco shovels what's left on his plate into his mouth and grabs one more dumpling for GP and nods.

"'Mf 'one," he says with a full mouth.

Yamato quickly scarfs down another okonomiyaki and a takoyaki, then gives Barry a thumbs up.

"Yeah, all done here, Gramps."

Yamato's signal is Barry's 'go' and once it's given Barry moves; clearing the table in a speedy blur, then hitting the kitchen next.

"See?" Joe says to Yamato. "But it's not just the showing off. Barry's always been very... mm, domestic?"

Joe chuckles, sipping his coffee. "Which, lucky for me, because with him I had at least one kid who liked keeping a clean house."

"Wish I had a speedy maid," Cisco says, breaking off pieces of his last takoyaki and feeding them to GP. "I've gotta settle for an upgraded dishwasher."

Wryly: "I approve of domestic-ness. I'm pretty sure if my old man was left to look after our apartment, it'd be uninhabitable in two weeks."

In fact, he knows it would be.

He glances at Cisco. "... You upgraded your dishwa -- you know what, I don't need to know, you probably fitted rocket boosters on it or something."

"Rocket boosters? No, that would be crazy," Cisco scoffs.

"I was thinking lasers... " Joe muses about Cisco's dishwasher, then shakes his head to get rid of the thought. He'd rather not know, either.

"What does your father do?" Joe asks Yamato.

Yamato just gives Cisco a Look. They both know he'd put rocket boosters on anything.

"He's a journalist," he says to Joe, rather than trying to press Cisco on his dishwasher upgrades. "Although I think these days he mostly does editor work."

Cisco returns that Look, and he'll keep on denying it up until the day he actually does put rocket boosters on a dishwasher.

"A journalist. That seems like a pretty interesting profession," Joe comments.

A little too interesting considering how Iris has been gravitating in that direction with her blog, and how there have been dangers that have come from that, but Joe tries not to let his thoughts go there right now.

"Must keep him busy."

Yamato's parents have both ended up in their fair share of danger because of their journalistic pursuits -- Yamato would be worried about Takeru's apparent interest in going into journalism, except the kid's in more danger from being a Chosen anyway.

"Yeah, pretty busy. I've got the apartment to myself most days," he says with somewhat forced nonchalance, rubbing the back of his neck.

Of course, he's acutely aware that his father's unwillingness to come home has always only been partly to do with work, and partly to do with not knowing how to deal with looking after a kid.

Joe nods, not commenting but definitely noting Yamato's answer and actions.

The slight din that's been going on in the kitchen this whole time cuts off and Joe lifts his voice a little when he replies to Yamato.

"Oh, and you haven't burned the place down yet?"

"That was one time," Barry says, suddenly back in his seat.

"Happened a few times," Joe says evenly.

"A few times," Barry corrects, "but the one big one wasn't even fire, just a little smoke."

"A lot of smoke," Joe says, giving Yamato a look that says 'you see what I had to deal with?'.

"A lot of smoke," Barry amends again, "but it was fine."

Totally fine.