harrisonwells | EUDIO: IC INBOX

[ in another world, one with more time for him to dilly and dally, eobard might have deliberated before he made the call. but when there’s a man faster than him involved, well, there’s never enough time.

the foyer of his condo is almost in pieces: claw marks long on the wall from where zoom’s nails had shrieked on the paint, shattered glass and ceramic everywhere. eobard kneels down with his shoulder arched to keep the phone to his ear. he starts collecting pieces of a vase with his hands, clinically observes their slight unsteadiness, the uptick of adrenaline that has his mouth a little pulled back from his teeth. ]

Harrison. Are you well.

[Well, that's not likely to make him stop frowning.]

Of course. Why? Are you?

[It's actually a little dry, he certainly doesn't expect the answer to be no. Eobard is always well, except when occasionally touched by more curiosity and sympathy than he'd anticipated.]

I had a visitor … a man. Well, “man” might be a strong word.

[ this said with a gentle self-effacing nod. he collects the larger pieces of ceramic one after another, sets them in an idle pile at his feet, lifts his eyes to survey the damage further. it occurs to him he has insurance. ]

I wanted to make sure you hadn’t also had the pleasure.

[Harrison glances over at Barry, but that can't be who Eobard means. For one thing, it's a bizarre insult, saying 'man' is too strong a word. Eobard is more straightforward than that.]

I doubt I have. Who are we talking about, exactly?

[ he’s still crouched down when he pauses, thinking. he wonders if he’s the first one who’s encountered zoom in the city, if he has to be the one to break this news to the people who survived him only to move onto this newer threat.

his face hardens; as he rises from the tile, his voice on the phone goes from soft and restrained to its usual distant frost. ]

He has a flair for the dramatic. Your Zoom.

[He can't. That can't be right. That hadn't been what he heard. On the other end, Harrison becomes distantly aware that it's more difficult to breathe, and he can feel the edge of the desk cutting into his hand where he's gripping it too hard.

It's barely a whisper, pushed out past whatever knot of anger and fear is blocking his throat.]

Zoom. You saw. Zoom.

If we’re talking about the same speedster … black suit, blue lightning … all macabre and ego. I did more than see him; he owes me a new foyer.

[ this said flatly, maybe intentionally without compassion for harrison’s staggered surprise. maybe it’s intended to be soothing, in its own way, clinical and businesslike. or maybe the circumstances have an inherent irony to them that eobard can’t help but distance himself from, with the cynical amusement of someone who doesn’t have more to fear than their own death.

that doesn’t change the fact that in another life, at another time, he may have said i’m glad you’re safe. ]

Harrison. I’d like to check on Jesse.

[The description is certainly accurate enough to paint a vivid picture of Zoom, light and darkness sparking on the backs of Harrison's eyelids. He owes Eobard a new foyer? For a moment, the phrasing makes no sense, and then he realizes that means Zoom...well, he didn't attack Eobard. But he didn't threaten and run either.

Somehow his hand has covered his eyes, and his voice is still raw.]

Jesse. Yes. Find her, please, make sure she's safe. Do whatever you need to to keep her safe.

[ it’s not asking for permission, except for where it is. ]

Understood.

[ there’s a pause. he wants to say more, maybe even words that could soothe. he thinks about the dozens of times caitlin and barry and cisco faced danger, threats always more mundane than himself but still very real; he knows the things he thought then, the realm of sordid things he would’ve done to keep them safe, even if back then it only felt like delaying the inevitable. even if he hadn’t known how to love them, really, not in any way that mattered, these people who seemed at first relics of a time long gone and then later became his enemies. ]

Tell Barry.

[ barry, who’d still do anything to protect his friends. barry, who isn’t fast enough. barry, who can do anything, eobard thinks, truly.

the line cuts. ]

EUDIO: IC INBOX

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