Barry Allen (akatheflash) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2019-02-24 17:11:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, barry allen (the flash), iris west |
Who: Barry and Iris
What: Reuniting
When: Early February
Where: LAX to the West home
Warings: Low
Status: Log | Complete
To say that it had been a stressful week or so would be an understatement. Then again, that tended to be the case when one was suddenly let go. And given she’d been based in New York? Iris didn’t even get the benefit of having her paid time off paid out. So really, that was great. But it was the nature of the business and there wasn’t all that much that could have been done about it. Could she have tried to find another job in New York? Sure. But journalism was unpredictable and rent was ridiculous and with things uncertain… Well, it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to go back home and Joe had been understanding. Which was why Iris found herself at the baggage claim of LAX after a cross country flight. Though Iris well knew it could have been worse. She could have been on assignment overseas when the news broke. Still, it would be nice once she was back home. It would probably be an adjustment but Iris knew she was lucky that her dad was okay with her coming back while she got things figured out and a new job lined up. But no. No thinking about trying to find a new job or freelance work right now. No, she just wanted to get her things and get to Orange County. One step at a time as the saying went. * Barry was pretty excited that Iris was coming home. He wished it was for different reasons, not because she lost her job, but still, he was pretty ecstatic about her return. It meant no more Skype and five hundred text messages and different time zones. Not wanting to wait around, he had asked Joe if he could be the one to pick up Iris. With a little persuading, Iris’ dad had finally said that Barry could be the one to go. And of course, he had to mention not telling Iris. He wanted it to be a surprise. Once he was at the airport, he made his way inside and headed towards the baggage claim that he knew Iris would be at. He could call out for her once he saw her, but what fun would that be? Instead, when he finally spotted her, he walked up behind her, tapped her on the left shoulder and then moved to stand beside her on the right, looking forward as if he had been a passenger waiting for his baggage. When he felt her eyes on him, he finally looked at her, smiling. “You look familiar. Don’t I know you?” * It had been an easy enough ruse at the end of the day. Iris had gotten a text from her dad about how a case came up and so he wouldn’t be able to get her from the airport and well….she couldn’t ay she was all that surprised. Being a detective did lead to him having to cancel things. So while it wasn’t ideal, it wasn’t as if Iris couldn’t just get a Lyft once she got what she needed. With her focus on the luggage going around, Iris was completely unprepared for what just happened. So feeling the tap on her left shoulder, she blinked and looked to the side only to see no one there trying to get her attention then to the right. And it was Barry. Well that was a welcome surprise. “Ohmigod, Barry!” And with that, Iris promptly hugged her best friend. * “Hey!” He greeted happily as he wasted no time in hugging Iris back. He had missed her and he really hadn’t realized how much until this very moment. If he could stand there and just hug her forever, he probably would. He did finally let her go. “Glad to have you back home.” Even if the reasoning behind her homecoming was not a good one. But, he wasn’t going to mention that. Who wanted to talk about losing their job? “Let’s get your stuff and get out of here.” * It really was one of those you never know how much you’ve missed someone until they’re right there type situations. Skype calls and texts really didn’t make up for being in the same area and able to hug someone even if they were great for being able to at least keep in touch. So like Barry, it wasn’t until this actual moment that Iris realized just how much she had missed him. Yes, skipping over the why of her return was fine by Iris. It was a lot to deal with and she wanted to not think about it all the time as there would be plenty of time later to do so as she tried to find something more permanent than freelance writing. “It’s good to be back.” And it wasn’t just a line, it felt right being here with Barry and knowing her dad was waiting for her. Maybe losing her job wasn’t the worst thing that could have happened. Still, getting out of the airport would be great, “Yes, let’s do that.” And just like that, it seemed her bag came around the bend so going to grab it, Iris returned to where Barry was and smiled. “Lead the way.” * They could talk about what went on about her job at some other point in time, like, whenever she was ready to. Right now everything was happy and great and he didn’t want to ruin the mood by poking and prodding. “That’s it?” For some reason he pictured her having more than just the one bag. “Let’s go then.” He started to lead the way out of the building and to where he parked. Once her bag was in the trunk and they were both in the car, he looked at her and asked, “Where do you want to go first? Home, bug your dad at work real quick or something else?” * Well, eventually it would come up, there was no way for it not to come up. But that didn’t mean it had to come up right then and there. Not as far as Iris was concerned when she now had time to actually reconnect with Barry as opposed to Skype calls and texting. “Yeah, I shipped a lot so that I would only need to have the one bag.” Iris could be reckless in the face of a story, but she did at least try to plan ahead for major things. Like having to move back home. So following Barry to where he parked, bag was put in and then it was into the car. “I mean, I have plenty of time to bug my dad now. Anywhere new and exciting in Orange County that wasn’t here before I left?” * “Right, of course you did.” And he would have realized that if his mind was too busy screaming yay, Iris is back home! There would be no more need to try and keep up with one another through texts, emails, and Skype. They could actually see each other in person. Actually hang out again. Once she was settled back in again, of course. “Okay. I thought maybe you would want to say hey now instead of later.” It was why he had given her that option. “Uhh, yes? No? I don’t know.” He really hadn’t been going out or paying that much attention to any new places that might have popped up. “Been kind of busy with work.” And Evie and her antics. But he left that bit out. * Smiling some in amusement, Iris just gave a slight not. “It seemed to make more sense than checking a bunch of things.” A quick stop in after being gone for years at the precinct really was a nice idea but also unrealistic that it would remain quick, which was Iris’ main reason behind deciding not to go that route and say hi to her dad. Better to be able to catch up with him fully once she had his full attention. That and they never knew if he’d even be at the precinct. “You and I both know quick wouldn’t happen in this situation.” Though as Barry admitted to not actually knowing if anything new was in the area since she’d moved away, Iris just quirked a brow. “Okay then, your next day off? We’re going to explore and investigate to see if there has been and the only reason I say that is I just got off a cross country plane flight, so just going home and watching movies with you and catching up sounds like a better use of our time.” * Barry thought about it for a moment and Iris was right. There would be no way they could just drop in on her dad real quick. “You’re right. You can bug him later.” Not that he was too sad about that. It just meant he could have Iris’ attention to himself a lot longer. And he wouldn’t have to feel awkward standing in the background while Iris and her dad reunited. “What? Don’t look at me like that.” He couldn’t help it if he hadn’t been paying that much attention to anything new being built or opening or whatever. The only time he really went out was when Evie decided to drag him out. “Okay, it’s a date,” he said before adding in quickly, “but not really like a date-date.” He glanced away from the road and over at Iris. “Just two friends hanging out…” And he really needed to shut up now. “Catching up and watching movies sounds good.” As long as they didn’t hit any traffic, it wouldn’t be too long before they got there. * If it were actually feasible? Sure, Iris would have loved to go say hi to her dad before heading back to the house. But as it was, she knew that it would never be a quick drop in - and that would be assuming he was even at the precinct and not out in the field on a case. “Like what? I’m not looking at you in any weird way.” She was teasing of course, Iris well knew what look Barry was talking about but how could she not? She would give him that it seemed there was always something new being built but really now. The pretend confusion on what Barry could possibly mean when he said to stop looking at him ‘like that’ was broken at the having to verify that ‘it’s a date’ wasn’t a ‘date-date’, which just caused Iris to shake her head in amusement. “I look forward to it.” Because much as Barry was looking forward to having her undivided attention until her dad got back, Iris was looking forward to being able to actually hang out with Barry again now that they were in the same area. There had always been that feeling of something missing even if she hadn’t really noticed it while she’d been away. Only now did she seem to realize it for what it was. And it added in getting to look into things, which was just an added bonus to the journalist. “I thought so.” Now it was just making sure they got through L.A. traffic - that was the real trick. |