The Not-so-abandoned Warehouse: Monday

[badassprodigy]

Barry was feeling pretty relaxed today.

Which of course meant he was doing three things at once. The first two seemed to involve headgear while the third was the continued work on the gremlin trap.

And in the middle of it all he called out to his cell phone and called an old friend from home.

"Call Jeremy," he said over his shoulder as he continued to tighten down a couple of the cage bars.

A few seconds later the call was connected and the friendly face of Jeremy Ramirez appeared. "Dude? What the fuck? I was about to get level up on meta for Assassin's Creed!"

"Well excuse the fuck out of me," Barry replied in greeting. "I just thought maybe I'd see how my best friend is doing but if you're going to be that way then fuck off."

"Whatever dude. And thanks for getting me in deep shit with Roxie."

"Roxie?" Barry said looking up from his work. "What the fuck did I do with her?"

"Ass rocket."

"You did that to yourself, asshole," Barry shot back. "Don't blame me for the powder burns on your ass."

"Yeah, well we're good now but no thanks to you," Jeremy muttered. "Only I'm not allowed near fireworks anymore."

"It's for your own fucking good," Barry said rolling his eyes. "How are things back home?"

"Good," Jeremy said. "Just spending the summer playing video games and working shifts at Subway. I see Roxie and Sara about every day. And fucking Nelson."

"Hmm," Barry said suddenly returning to his work. "So they're still seeing each other."

"Yeah and he's a total fucking tool," Jeremy groaned. "No fucking sense of humor whatsoever."

"Well it is what it is," Barry said with a shrug. "If Sara can't see that then it's her own problem."

Jeremy gave his friend a long look over the monitor. "All right dude. Spill it."

"Spill what?" Barry said looking over his shoulder.

"You usually have about twenty different things to say about Nelson and none of them good and usually with a good amount of swear words. What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"Nothing," Barry said. "Why the fuck should I care who Sara is dating?"

"You always care who Sara is dating," Jeremy countered. "You gave the last guy leprosy for fucks sake."

"Hey I fucking cured him!" Barry shouted defensively.

"After I fucking lectured you for a fucking day," Jeremy shot back. "What gives? You've been obsessed with Sara since fucking middle school."

"Whatever," Barry growled. "I've just fucking moved on, okay?"

"Oh, yeah? With who?" Jeremy said now with a leering grin.

"With no one, fuck off!"

"Is it one of the girls you've been telling me about?"

"We're all just friends," Barry said firmly.

"Yeah, like you and Sara were just friends," Jeremy shot back sarcastically. "Did you give another class food poisoning just so you could hang out with any of them?"

"Fuck you! I was eleven when I did that," Barry snarled back. "And as a matter fact we all had a party the other night which included a sleepover. We all had a good time. I didn't poison anyone and I'm not dating anyone so fuck you and fuck off and leave me the fuck alone."

"Oh, yeah!" Jeremy said sticking out his tongue and throwing up his fists of rock. "That's my man! Having a fucking orgy at private school!"

"Oh shut the fuck up," Barry said. "I don't know why I'm fucking talking to you."

"Because I'm your best friend and you love me for calling you on your bullshit," Jeremy said with a smirk. "Hey! You're coming home for my birthday party right? Whole fucking school is going to be there."

"Yeah, sure, I'll make it," Barry muttered.

"Good!" Jeremy grinned. "I'm getting fireworks."

Barry groaned. "You are one dumb motherfucker, you know that?"

"Love you too, bitch," Jeremy replied with the same grin and hung up before Barry could shoot back another insult.

"That idiot is going to fucking blow himself up," Barry grumbled to himself and returned his full attention to his experiments.

[OOC: That got longer than I intended. Open doors and open post.]

Comments

[spin_kick_snap]

At the party, Barry had promised Kathy a new gi. And considering her current one was now sporting a long, jagged tear in the side, it couldn't come at a better time.

...Not that she'd be showing that to anyone. No one needed to know just how close that knife had come to actually hurting her. In face, she didn't want to know. She was quite happily Not Thinking About It.

It was hard to knock politely on the door instead of pounding a tattoo against it and then letting herself in. But she did, because she was Kathy and polite was second nature.

Wiggling in excitement was completely okay, though.

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

"Door's open," Barry called over his shoulder. "Unless you're an evil person coming in to steal my tech. If that's the case you can fuck off."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Does that work?" Kathy asked, strolling inside with that charming invitation. "Telling thieves and crooks to--go away?"

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

"Nah, I saw you on my security camera," Barry said pointing up at a monitor. "I would have shot you if were a thief."

[spin_kick_snap]

...Her expression suggested that Kathy wasn't 100% certain if Barry was joking. She was pretty sure he was, but, yeah, not quite entirely certain.

"I'll keep that in mind if I ever come skulking about in the middle of the night," she said. "I've had three guns pulled on me since I started going around in Baltimore. That's more than enough for me, thanks."

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

"If you think that's the last time you're going to face a gun, you better re-think your profession," Barry said straightening up. "I'm betting super heroes in real life don't have that much of a life span."

[spin_kick_snap]

"I know it's not," Kathy said, making a face. "But that doesn't change the fact that three guns are still three too many. Just because I don't like one aspect of my hobby doesn't mean I'm gonna give it up."

She sighed and looked around for somewhere to sit that probably wouldn't interfere with Science!

"Better I'm looking at that gun than someone else. I don't like it, but I'm better equipped for dealing with it."

No, she couldn't outrun a bullet. But if she couldn't, than what hope did anyone else have?

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

"All right then," Barry said with a shrug. "Just be careful out there okay. Anyway, I assume you're here for your new Gi?"

Barry walked over to a small chamber and pressed a button which opened up to show an almost exact replica of Kathy's Banzai outfit.

"What do you think?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"Well, you told me to drop by and I need a new one before I head out tonight..." Kathy said as the chamber opened. And then she was quiet, wide-eyed and staring at her new gi.

"Looks good," she said, running over to examine it. "Looks just like my other one. But you said it's more durable?" Her hand paused a fraction of an inch above the fabric. "I can touch it, right?"

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

"Yes, but you'll die a painful fucking death," Barry deadpanned. "Of course you can touch it!"

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy pulled a face at him. "I'm not taking anything for granted in your stupid lab," she said, even though it had been a idiotic question. "What? Didn't your mama ever tell you to mind your manners, offer your seat to the elderly and pregnant women, and not to touch anything without permission in a super-science lab?"

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

"Eh. Good point," Barry said with a shrug as he plopped himself into a chair. "And if my mother was any good at keeping me in line do you think I'd have a potty mouth like this?"

He let out a small chuckle.

"Why don't you try it on?" Barry suggested. "There's a bathroom over there in the corner."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Do you really swear like that in front of your parents?" Kathy asked, pausing in the process of clutching her gi to her non-existent bosom gathering up her gi to turn on him in surprise. "I figured you swore like this because we're on the island and no one really cares what we do."

Kathy couldn't imagine swearing in front of her parents. Ever. She could be fifty and she'd still watch her tongue.

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

"Yeah but they gave up on me after a while," Barry replied. "Besides my Dad curses like a sailor. It's all his fault for being a bad role model."

The grin on his face clearly indicates his dad is not really a role model at all.

[spin_kick_snap]

She was just going to raise an eyebrow at that and head for the bathroom he'd indicated. "Sure," she called over her shoulder. "Poor little lamb, you were just a blank slate that absorbed all his bad habits."

Kathy was calling you out on your bullshit, Barry.

A few moments later, there was a small scream from his bathroom and Kathy flung herself out the door, the gi still wide open over her sports bra. She'd tie that in a second, but--

"POCKETS!" she yelled. "Oh my god, Barry, you gave me pockets!"

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

At the sound of the scream, Barry had jumped out of his seat and grabbed the nearest ray gun and was racing toward the bathroom when Kathy had popped out.

"Jesus fucking Christ!" Barry said skidding to a stop. "I thought something was wrong."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Pockets!" Kathy said again. Because perhaps if she said it enough times, he'd realize that her scream was an entirely reasonable reaction. "You don't even understand--pockets! And they fasten! And I can put things in them!"

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

"Yes, I'm aware how pockets work," Barry said looking up at the ceiling when he finally registered the sports bra. "I have a 350 plus IQ. And I've used them on a regular basis."

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy was still in pocket-heaven. Besides, Barry, it was a sports bra, god. People worked out in them all the time.

It was what she wore under her gi, okay?

"Have you ever seen girl pockets?" she asked. "Like, the few we actually get which aren't many at all? Seriously, have you ever seen them?"

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

"Jesus Christ, Kathy!" Barry shouted. "I just built you a high tech new super suit can we get beyond the fucking pockets please?"

[spin_kick_snap]

Hands on hips, Kathy looked up at Barry and snapped, "You haven't told me anything about my new gi, so the new pockets are the only thing I have to go on!"

And, screw you, Barry, pockets were totally worth the squee.

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

"Because you keep going on about the fucking pocket!" Barry snapped back.

As he continued to look at the ceiling.

"It's a new fabric I developed that can stop bullets. Except at point blank range. So don't get cocky."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Gee, how terrible it must be for you, having someone really excited about something you made!" Kathy argued. Loudly. "I'm so sorry I wasn't excited about the right thing!"

Then she was glancing up at the ceiling, too. "...Is there a laser or something that you have programmed to go off if you're yelling?"

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

"No. Your... top is open," Barry said looking uncomfortable. "And I think bulletproof fabric is a bit more interesting that fucking pockets."

[spin_kick_snap]

"My top--?" Kathy asked, looking down. Then gasped and immediately yanked it closed, tying her belt tightly enough that it almost hurt. "It's a sports bra," she mumbled. "It's not even underwear."

Hey look over there! It was a thing! A thing to look at!

"Anyway," she said, determined to return to the previous conversation that didn't involve the word 'bra' in any capacity, "I still think you'd know what a big deal functional pockets are if you wore girl clothes." Pause. "But the bulletproof thing is really awesome, too. Can you give me a demonstration? Without me getting shot at, I mean?"