Lovepoweredspeed - Tumblr Posts
Barry seemed even more nervous than usual, which said a lot since he tended to be a nervous ball of energy. Grace had been concerned with his eating, or rather that he ate a lot (haha, he was trying to keep it to a minimum), but that he still seemed to have lost weight. Telling her why would put her in danger and he didn't want that, but after persistent nagging, he had promised to see Dr. Thompkins. Barry knew about her even if they had never met before, but she probably didn't know who he was or rather what he could do, but Alfred had promised she could be trusted. "Hi, I'm Barry Allen, I think Grace have talked to you about me. I-I also know Alfred and Bruce," he said, hoping she might get a hint that something was... unusual with him, since he wasn't exactly Bruce's usual crowd kind of person. (lovepoweredspeed)
@lovepoweredspeed
Leslie looked up to the fidgeting young man. “Barry - yes, hello. Grace did mention you, a few times.” The young woman had hardly stopped mentioning him, partly why Leslie had agreed to see him.
Her eyebrow raised at the mention of Bruce and Alfred. For someone who had next to no knowledge of Gotham’s vigilantes, Grace sure did have a habit of getting mixed up with their civilian counterparts. Not entirely unlike herself. Leslie didn’t recognise the young man in front of her though.
“It’s just the two of us in here. While Grace might be concerned, I can appreciate that you might not want to discuss this kind of thing with her. Would you like to tell me what’s been going on?”
Leslie blinked, taking a moment to process the ramble of words that Barry had thrown her way. Hyper-accelerated. “Flash I presume?” She asked, eyebrows raised.
Without waiting for his confirmation, Leslie’s mind continued to cycle. “Meta-enhanced metabolism?” Some of the more recent conversations she had had with Bruce were making a little more sense in light of this new information. The man had been talking about developing a new kind of high calorie snack to keep him fuelled during his nightly patrols.
“Alright. Yes, I’ll help you keep Grace in the dark a little longer. I don’t like lying to her, but I agree. The longer she stays out of all of that, the better. She is training to be a doctor herself though you know.” Any medical condition that the boy told Grace about she could easily research herself. It might be easier to convince him to not give her a specific reason at all - he had a right to his privacy.
“Did you have something in mind?”
cont. from [x] with @docthompkins
Barry was pacing, looking something between a nervous rabbit and a cage tiger. “Well, I.. I was kind of hoping that you could tell Grace that I’m fine or make up something that will satisfy her without telling the truth because as I hope you might have kinda understood I’m one of Bruce’s teammates and I don’t want Grace to know that not because I don’t trust her but because it would put her in danger and also risk Bruce’s identity to be revealed not that I think she’d do anything on purpose but there’s a lot of really wicked bad people out there and some have abilities and I just don’t want anything to happen to her because I really like her she’s a good friend and I don’t have many of those and she’s doing so much good and can help so many so I want her to stay safe so that’s why she can’t know what I can do and to hide that I have to minimize how much I eat in front of her but I need a lot of food and there’s only so much time I can spend eating and I spend quite a few hours with her and on lectures and stuff where I can only snack relatively normal so I’m not sick it’s just how my body works everything is hyper-accelerated.” Barry finally had to breath and he was now standing in front of Leslie, looking at her like a lost puppy, but a puppy that still had hope. It was a look that were hard to resist and that he wasn’t fully aware he even made. “Will you help me to come up with something to tell Grace?”
lovepoweredspeed:
Barry smiled, looking both proud and sheepish at the same time. “Yeah, I’m Flash.” He might not always think very highly of himself, but he was proud of the work he did as the Flash and he loved his ability. He loved the freedom of running. The only downside was the whole energy burning thing.
He nodded. “Among other things, everything is kind of accelerated with me. Though the good thing is that I also heal as fast and my immune system kills viruses within seconds. I would be screwed otherwise since I trip or get punched and stuff while running at or near the speed of light. The impact is pretty nasty. I was close to crying every time at first.” Now that only happened occasionally and when he got some really bad injuries, something worse than cracked bones and bruised organs.
“I know, but can’t we just say it’s something I don’t want her to know? The whole doctor-patient confidentiality? I don’t have any specific thing in mind, but I guess some kind of metabolic issue. I mean, it’s the only thing that makes sense, right? Besides the truth and I’d like to keep her out of that danger as long as possible.”
Leslie nods, her eyebrows climbing higher as the boy demonstrates a clear disregard for his own wellbeing. What was it with these vigilantes and throwing themselves into harms way?
She sighs, taking a moment to think about their options. “Well, I for one, won’t be telling Grace anything. Doctor-patient confidentiality indeed. However it’s up to you what you say to her. If we are going down the metabolic route, then I would be sending you for tests, asking you to complete a food diary and monitoring you regularly. Of course, you don’t have to tell her any of that. She may be a worrier, but if you ask her to respect your privacy she will.”
Already, Barry had earned a fair amount of respect from the Doctor. Grace was her mentee and any move to protect her from the dangers that such knowledge came with was appreciated. She’d learn eventually, but hopefully that was some time off.
lovepoweredspeed:
“As long as she knows I’ve been here and that you can vouch that I don’t have worms in my stomach or are dying or something. It should be enough that I told her I’m going here, she knows I wouldn’t lie about something like that and I guess she can see that I’ve had an appointment if she checks the system or something.” Barry was mostly thinking out loud now, but then he laughs. “You wouldn’t want to see how my food diary would look, I need about 10.000 calories a day and that’s without any vigilante work. I’m so glad Bruce is rich and that Alf convinced me it was ok for them to pay for most of my food. I’ve never eaten this well, except before… before things happened.” There it was, something traumatic having happened, something he shared with most vigilantes.
“I just don’t want Grace to keep worrying when I know nothing is wrong with me. I guess that depends on who you ask, but I don’t have any illness anyway. And just so you know that if it came to choosing between keeping my abilities a secret and Grace’s safety, she’ll always come first, even if I had to out myself officially.” There was no way Grace was going to get hurt if he could stop it, no matter the consequences.
Leslie huffed in amusement, allowing the boy to ramble uninterrupted. She noted, as with most people in his particular line of work that there was hints of a sinister past. She decided not to press at that moment. If it came up later then she’d inquire, but for now he seemed content enough.
Still, that was a sizeable amount of calories. It was a good job he had found himself with Bruce and Alfred, who would be able to cater to that kind of need.
“Grace is a lot more capable than she gets credit for usually.” She mused. “I imagine it’s only a matter of time before she does find out one way or another.” Leslie frowned slightly, undecided if it would be a good thing or not, glad it wasn’t something she was to decide on. “Still, I’m grateful that you have her safety in mind Barry.”