Caffeine Fix

[run_barry]

Things are finally starting to calm down in Central City. The epidemic is starting to let up, and those affected are on the road to wellness. The antibodies Caitlin developed (and farmed in Cisco) were shared with CCPD first and now the department is regaining its ranks from the previously bedridden.

Barry could probably do with a vacation sometime soon, but with Yamato's help, and short stints at the comm from Cisco and Caitlin, The Flash has seen Central City through the crisis.

With a break in the chaos achieved at last, there's only one way to celebrate. Coffee.

Holding the front door to CC Jitters open, Barry gestures Yamato inside with a flourish.

"And here we are, best cup of coffee in Central City."

It's the typical trendy sort of joint, high-tables with modern stools, couches and overstuffed chairs, and a hipster huddled with their laptop in every semi-dark corner.

The air is fragrant with the smells of fresh-ground roast, and behind the counter an espresso machine sputters under the deft control of a barista, while another woman loads fresh pastries into the bakery case.

Comments

[run_barry]

"You guys are literally the worst," Barry informs the pair.

[angry_friendship_wolf]

"If I successfully steal from you twice, does that technically make me a supervillain? Just asking."

He grins, nudging Barry's shin with one foot.

"Do you want me to go get you another slice? Without stealing it, I swear."

Sure, he doesn't have any cash on him, but it's fine! He's long mastered the art of persuading and bartering his way to free food!

[makes_the_toys]

"Does seem like it's started," Cisco notes. "Fought too hard against becoming a hero, and now you're the villain."

Breaking off another piece of cake, he pops it into his mouth.

"It's tragic, really."

[run_barry]

"That was actually the last slice of coffee cake they had," he informs Yamato, confirming Yamato has in fact become a villain.

"It's fine though," Barry says wistfully. "I'm sure I won't starve or anything."

Can you see him, Yamato? Practically wasting away in front of you.

[angry_friendship_wolf]

"Well, guess I had to become your nemesis sooner or later," Yamato says, amicably. After a moment, he adds to Cisco: "Although you're eating it, so that makes you a worse villain than me."

Barry's remark about not starving does prompt a tiny smirk and a raised eyebrow from Yamato, just to make it clear that he is, for Barry's sake and to not tip off Cisco, stifling a barrage of jokes and sarcastic comments about Barry and starving.

[makes_the_toys]

"Hey, I have to keep my strength up. I'm recovering from being down with the sickness and donating gallons of my blood to save this city," Cisco argues.

[run_barry]

"C'mon, it was not gallons," Barry says, shaking his head.

Realizing what he's brought up without intending to, Barry casts a look at Yamato and reads that lifted eyebrow.

Changing his tune rather quickly on trying to milk the situation, Barry declares, "It's really fine though. I'm alright."

[angry_friendship_wolf]

"Right, right, cool," Yamato says, nodding firmly. "Just say if either of you want more food, though."

He may be trying to lean back just out of Cisco's eyeline and, through a series of eyebrow gestures and one enthusiastic thumbs up, indicate to Barry that now would be a great time to bring up That Whole Thing.

Or put another way: Someone has to be first on the chopping block and Yamato's willing to argue for it to not be him, as a few more aggressive eyebrow gestures indicate a second later.

[run_barry]

Barry's return expression to Yamato, with lifted brows and a late hand on Barry's chest clearly asks, 'why me first?'

With his own not so subtle gestures that includes a chin nod in Yamato's direction and then another in Cisco's, Barry indicates that Yamato should be the one to bite the bullet.

[makes_the_toys]

Cisco polishes off the piece of cake and then looks at Barry, ready to rub in how delicious it was one more time, when he catches Barry's weird facial gesturing at Yamato.

Automatically turning to look at Yamato, Cisco then eyes the pair of them.

"Whaaat are you guys doing?"

[angry_friendship_wolf]

Yamato is just starting to angrily jab his chin at Barry and then at Cisco's, complete with a mouthed 'your world, you go first' when Cisco looks over at him, and he goes very still.

(Maybe Cisco's like a dinosaur.

Maybe Cisco just won't see them if they don't move.)

"What? Us? We're not doing anything, are we, Barry? We're just enjoying this refreshing coffee. What are you doing?"

[run_barry]

Barry is ready to make the silent argument that Yamato's incident happened first and therefore he should be the one to start, when Cisco catches them.

Freezing in place, the idea crosses Barry's mind that all he has to do is hold still longer than Yamato and then the T-rex Cisco will get Yamato first.

Yamato making a terrible denial and then lobbing it back at Barry ruins that, and Barry tries then fails to keep it going before he relents.

"No, not doing anything. At all. It's all about the coffee. And y'know talking... about stuff. Couple things that happened, without you around."

[makes_the_toys]

"I'm not doing anything," Cisco denies. "You guys are being weird. Conspiring or something."

Cisco eyes them both some more.

"What things?" Cisco has the suspicion that these aren't good things. Whether for him or for them, he's not sure quite yet.

[angry_friendship_wolf]

Yamato just glares at Barry. The two of you totally could have fooled him, Barry! You are both such exceptionally good liars, after all!

"Nothing big," he assures Cisco. "Minor stuff. Tiny things that barely matter at all, otherwise we definitely would've brought them up by now."

Exceptionally good liars.

[makes_the_toys]

"What Kind of minor stuff that barely even matters?" Cisco asks, not liking where this is going.

[run_barry]

Barry gives Yamato a pointed look. Clearly they were never going to maintain the ruse, and now everything that happens is definitely Yamato's fault.

"Little small things," Barry says, holding up his thumb and forefinger pinched together.

"For instance mine, I had a little bit of a sugar crash. Almost passed out a couple of times on a high-speed chase. I had some orange juice and stuff and it was cool," he says, talking fast. Maybe a little too fast to be fully understood, but that's totally not on purpose. Right.

"And Yamato... " Barry gestures at Yamato, indicating he should go right ahead now.

[angry_friendship_wolf]

In the interests of supporting Barry, Yamato makes a gesture with his fingers an inch apart to indicate that it really was a little bit of a sugar crash, nothing to worry about, look how fine Barry is.

"Right, right, I, er ..." He says, rubbing the back of his neck. "I ended up in the desert with an infected open wound, and instead of treating it or finding water, I may have just walked through the desert for four days while it and also dehydration got worse. And I might've been in a tiny bit of a bad way when I was found."

Beat.

"But it's cool and fine and stuff, and also I'm fine? And also Barry's fine. We are both so fine."

[run_barry]

"Totally fine," Barry pipes in quick after Yamato is finished.

"One hundred-- ninety... mmm, eighty? Eight-six percent back to normal?" Barry peers at Yamato, hoping for help with coming up with a solid number, then deciding to just say, "We're good. My glucose levels are totally, mostly, back to normal and Yamato is once again fully hydrated. And minus that gnarly scar on his arm, he's cool."

[makes_the_toys]

"What are you guys crazy none of that is fine," Cisco exclaims after all their horrible attempts to downplay the matter.

"Why the hell weren't you monitoring your glucose levels, Barry? And what hell were you doing wandering through a desert, Yamato? Are you a horse? Is your name 'no name'? Why did nobody tell me this stuff before?"

[angry_friendship_wolf]

"Barry's totally, mostly, back to normal," Yamato echoes, nodding firmly. "And I'm hydrated and took antibiotics and also my arm is fine."

He demonstrates this by giving his arm a quick, solid punch. See! It didn't burst into blood! That is how you know it is fine.

"Barry was just, you know, trying to keep on top of everything while the CCPD were down and forgot a few things. But he -- totally had it in hand when I saw him," Yamato says, and definitely does not mention that 'having it in hand' here means 'was failing to set up a drip,' because he recalls Caitlin's reaction to that. "And I, er, I don't get those references, but we were attacked, and got scattered, and I wanted to find the others. And I did! Or they found me. I'm not sure which. But it totally paid off in the end."

Those last six hours or so are really blurry, and also about fifty percent hallucination, but still, they met up somehow.

"... We didn't want to worry you while you were sick. You had your own stuff to deal with."

[run_barry]

"Don't flip out man," Barry says, holding up a hand. "We're both fine. It's like Yamato says, we just didn't want to worry you when you were going through your own thing."

Rubbing his neck, Barry shrugs a little, "It's been a bit of a rough time, but we've all made it through. That's the main point."

[makes_the_toys]

"The main point is you two obviously can't be trusted to take care of yourselves when I'm not around," Cisco counters.

Before either of them can try to argue him on this, he starts to list out, "Both of you almost died, wrecked my robot, and oh yeah, I found the blown up lightsaber, one of my suits is missing, and you've spilled the beans about the end of the universe to Dr. Wells and Caitlin. Am I missing anything?

[angry_friendship_wolf]

"Hey, hey, the lightsaber isn't our fault, that was Camera Commander. He switched it on and it exploded, that's on him."

That might be the only part of this they can claim no responsibility for, but at least they have that.

[makes_the_toys]

"Of course it exploded, I had to shelve that project because an irate Jedi made me, which means I never stabilized the plasma containment field. You're lucky that explosion didn't take out you or the whole building," Cisco returns, not mollified in the least.

[run_barry]

"Dude, none of what happened could've been helped. Things went pretty badly in Yamato's world and he did what he could to handle it. Things were pretty crazy here and I was just trying to help get the city through it."

Barry gestures with his hands, palms out.

"The rest... I needed help, and telling the truth was the easiest way to explain Yamato. And it's definitely Camera Commander's fault that your tech got destroyed."