harrisonwells | EUDIO: IC INBOX

[he makes a point of calling when he knows that harrison is busy. it's a time when he's hoping that the man will be too distracted to actually hear the phone ringing, leaving him free to leave a voicemail instead. it's easier that way. easier than having to scramble for a response to whatever harrison may have to say to him.

he takes a deep breath as the voicemail message reaches a close, the beep leaving him floundering a moment because now he has to actually talk.

okay, he can do this.]

...hey. It's, uh-- It's me.

[alright, so maybe he should have written this down or something first. but then, he hadn't expected this to feel as awkward as it does. it's not as though he really knows harrison that well, afterall. a handful of conversations, and even then, it'd mostly revolved around a future that he hasn't lived through yet. definitely not the best way to get to know someone.]

I'm still not happy that you guys hid who he was from me. But I do get why you did it.

[especially given that his first reaction to finding out about eobard had involved a confrontation with a man that could easily run circles around him. if it wasn't for their location, he knows he wouldn't have gotten away with just a few, self-inflicted, cuts and scrapes.]

I just wanted to let you know that I'm okay. I'm...staying with some friends. [because the rogues are his closest friends, now. whoops.]

And I-- I wanted to apologize for the way I reacted. I'm sorry.

[there's a pause then, as though he's about to add something to it. but instead, he just lets that breath go, shaking his head slightly as he pulls the phone away and disconnects. that definitely didn't go quite to plan.]

[It might have taken a little too long for Harrison to answer this message. Maybe Barry thinks his apology isn't accepted. It's actually just Harrison thoroughly unsure how to approach starting over, knowing what he knows, knowing how badly it had gone the first time.

And right when he'd been putting together an answer, he'd been approached by a Eudio rep and told that his incentive had been fulfilled, which had just. Changed everything. Again.

So when he finally calls, he sounds distracted.]

Barry. I've. I'm going home. But before that I wanted to. [A quiet hiss of exhaled breath, you can almost see him scrubbing one hand through his hair.]

I wanted to see you before I left. I have something for you. At the lab. If you'd like.

[And that's it. He hangs up before he can say anything else.]

[after he'd sent his message, barry had done all he could to try and distract himself as he waited for some kind of a reply. a run had been the natural first attempt, but in the end, he'd fallen back to taking on an extra shift at the bar. questions hadn't been asked when he'd turned up an immedietly began tending bar, and it's one of the many things about living with the rogues that he's grateful for.

it's later that night, after he's forced to head off to eat again (you collapse one time...) that he finally gets round to checking his phone. and once the massage finally gets played, he's gone, shift abandoned as he speeds off towards the lab.]

Harrison?

[his sneakers are still smoking a little as he comes to a halt in the middle of the lab. he's not too late, is he?]

[Harrison is at the computer, one hand under his chin, watching the progress of compiling files, but he straightens when he hears the telltale crackle of an arriving speedster.]

Barry.

[There's enough time to spare Barry a slightly skeptical look at the smoking sneakers. Really, you came that fast? But never mind, that isn't important. He's not too late, in fact he's just about on time. The file transfer finishes and Harrison pulls the thumb drive out and pushes out of the chair to hold it out.]

This is everything on Barry's speed, the other Barry Allen who was here before you. It might help...you with your speed.

[the offered thumb drive is only given the briefest of looks before he's left staring at harrison instead. the man had told him he was leaving and this is what he was doing right now?]

I don't need it. You could help me instead.

[because for all that they may not be particularly close right now, at least from barry's perspective, he knows that that could change. that it will change back home. and if he hadn't have run away after finding out about eobard, then maybe they could have started back along that path already.]

...you can't leave yet.

[Harrison exhales on a long, quiet sigh. He sounds exhausted. He is, a little. The idea of returning home, not knowing what he'll find, or who he'll find, is...it's a weight.]

Yes I can. You don't need me, you don't need to learn from me. This— [He shakes the drive a little, although he's not going to decrease its importance by tossing it] —this is what you need. Take it to Cisco, and be patient with him, he lost someone important when the other you went home.

You said you were going to help me. You can't do that if you're not here.

[though he knows it isn't his place to try and guilt the other man in to staying. not when he isn't the same person that harrison knows from home. and especially not when he clearly has a reason to be leaving now. but there's still a part of him, a large part, that already regrets losing the opportunity to get to know him a little better first.

he doesn't take to losing people very well.]

Yeah I can. This is going to help you.

[Barry isn't going to take the drive. Harrison sets it down on the table halfway between them and folds his arms. If there was another way, he'd be jumping at it.

And in truth, if he'd known this would happen so soon, Harrison would have pushed Barry a lot harder to come back earlier. He'd let him adjust, given him space, and maybe he shouldn't have been quite so generous. Too late now.]

Besides. You—the you I know from home—you got a long way before I ever came along.

Yeah, by trusting the man who murdered my mother.

[there's a bitterness to his tone that has little to do with harrison's imminent departure. the idea that the man responsible for his mother's death, for his father's false conviction, had been so close all that time... it may have been weeks since he discovered the truth, but it still stings.]

And now you're going to leave me here with him.

I'm not telling you to trust him. Or even go near him. Barry. You have other allies here. You don't need me.

[And Eobard is a very dangerous topic, for very few reasons, none of which he wants to go into now. He changes the subject, violently.]

You might not realize it yet but Cisco Ramon and Gwen Stacy would do anything for you.

[the switch in subject catches him entirely off-guard, and for a moment, he does little more than stare back at harrison, his confusion clear. quite why he's bringing up cisco and gwen, he isn't sure. but, well...cisco he can at least explain. they're working together back home. they're friends. he knows that one day, he'll come to trust cisco with his life. but that's a future that's still too far off for him to rely on just yet.

gwen, on the other hand...]

O...kay...? I know about the team already. Cisco and Caitlin. And you. What does Gwen have to do with it? She's not from our world. [so to speak]

Because, Barry. [Gwen is going to kill him for this. Cisco may well join her. But Harrison is leaving, he's leaving Barry behind, he's leaving Eobard behind and he has no idea how that's going to affect the distance that Eobard is keeping from Barry, and—

And he wants Gwen and Cisco to be happy. Frankly. He does. He's seen them together, all three of them and then just the two of them, and he's seen both of them trying to recover from finding this new Barry who doesn't know them...they deserve to be happy.]

They are—were, and are—in love with you. And you were with them, before you left. It worked, and you were happy. I know you don't remember it, why would you, this you has never been here before, but. [He spreads his arms, lets them drop again. There it is. Can't be unheard.]

EUDIO: IC INBOX

audio. (i know you're hiatused so ignore this for now)

audio, leavin' a message back

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