(no subject)

[absbylightning]

I've got a date? What? How?

Comments

[absbylightning]

...I’ll take the IPA.

It’s more for taste than anything.

[apricitous]

IPA it is.

[ He gets a Bud for himself and pops the top off both before passing Barry's to him. ]

Same here.

[absbylightning]

Thanks. So. Meteor?

[apricitous]

I'm still waiting for my answer.

[absbylightning]

[There's some pensive chewing before he answers]

Can I make everyone happy?

[apricitous]

[ He shakes his head. ]

No, Barry, you can't. I can't.

And honestly, we shouldn't.

[absbylightning]

[He doesn't like that answer and picks up another pizza]

I want Iris to be happy. And Joe. And all of my friends. Is that too much to ask?

[apricitous]

That everyone feels a certain way so that you don't feel bad?

[ He keeps his tone light, but the implication is clear. ]

Yes, it is, Barry.

[ He takes a breath before plunging on. ]

It's not too much to want: of course you want the best for them. But it is too much to ask. Too much to expect. Not just of you, but of them.

[absbylightning]

Times like this, I wish I could get drunk again.

[apricitous]

That's a temporary solution. To a much simpler problem.

[ He turns to look at Barry then, meets his eyes directly with the kind of focus he rarely turns on people. ]

Have their been times when you didn't want to be happy?

Either... you felt you didn't deserve it. Or it felt wrong when someone else felt so poorly? Or you looked at the world around you, the way things are, and for whatever reason, you couldn't bring yourself to smile?

[absbylightning]

[He knows that Clark is right. Clark is rarely ever wrong. Instead, he plays with his food, deep in thought.]

My world used to be so much smaller.