p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"Barry starts showing up to class with brightly colored band-aids wrapped around his fingers. At first, it's just one or two, easy to miss, but then it becomes five, six, ten, twelve. Orange seems to be the favourite, followed by pink and green. There are no red ones. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"("Barry, how many times I tell you? Do not pick, is bad for skin! Here, which color you want? Orange again? Okay, sure." /span)/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"He picks at the edges of them, rather than at the skin on his fingers. It hurts a lot less. And when there are no more wounds, sometimes he'll quietly set the packet on Hank's lap. And Hank will smile at him all big and gentle and it makes Barry's chest hurt, and he'll wrap them around his fingers just as carefully as he had when each of them was covered in blood. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"Hank doesn't usually manage to coax Barry out of the apartment. He's happy to sit there, huddled under blankets, and play video games until his heart stops or he has to go to acting class. Hank does usually convince him to shower regularly, and eat sometimes, and take his medication. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"But today, Barry's feeling… Spontaneous, apparently. So he lets Hank talk him into going out for brunch and even daringly allows Hank to hold his hand while they're walking, which he never does. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"His hands are covered in rainbow band-aids, rough and calloused. Hank's, by contrast, are extremely soft. He uses some kind of fancy moisturizer that makes his skin smell like green tea. Barry sometimes let Hank put it on his cracking elbows and knees. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"So, they're holding hands, and Hank is chattering, and it's good. "-Think it would be great, good movie, I have heard much good things- Oh." /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"Barry has stopped dead, and his hand stays tight in Hank's, dragging him to a stop too. "Barry?" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);""Barry!" Calls another voice, an unfamiliar voice. Unfamiliar to Hank, anyway. "Hey!" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"It's the blonde girl from Barry's acting class. Barry rips his hand away from Hank's so fast he's worried they both get a friction burn. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"With him, Barry is loud. Well. Louder, anyway. He kicks Hank's ankles when he tries to change the TV channel and sighs a lot and complains about the coffee and about the volume on the radio and about the temperature and the weather and just about anything that crosses his mind, really. He doesn't exactly span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"talk /spana lot, not like Hank does, but he'll grumble under his breath often. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"He knows Barry can field strip a rifle with his eyes closed. He knows Barry can hold his breath for upwards of three minutes. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"He knows Barry gets nightmares, bad ones. He knows Barry howls for someone named Albert and cries in his sleep, quiet weeping that breaks Hank's heart. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"He knows Barry isn't a good person. He span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"knows /spanthat. He knows Barry gets angry sometimes, but it never scares him. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"He span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"knows /spanBarry better than Barry knows himself. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"These people - they're Barry's friends. But they don't know him the way Hank knows him. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"They don't seem to know that the hands shoved in the pockets and the slightly hunched posture means span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"go away please /span. They don't seem to know that the jut of his jaw and the tension in his shoulders means span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"i'm nervous, i don't want to be here./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"Hank does. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);""-All going out for drinks, maybe you and your friend could join us." The girl from the acting class is saying, ignoring all of the screaming warning signs from Barry to back up. "If you want to, no pressure." /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"Barry nods, scratching his cheek. "Uh, yeah, sure. Sounds good." He nods, and Hank wants to slip his hand into Barry's to squeeze it and make sure Barry knows he's there. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"But Barry had pulled away from him, in that split second moment, and Hank can't pretend like it didn't hurt. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"Barry, Hank is coming to realize, is like some kind of untamed animal. Nervous and flighty, equally likely to bite your arm off as he was to bolt in the opposite direction given half the chance. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"He's also coming to realize that Barry, like an abandoned dog, is also extremely eager for any sort of affection or comfort anyone is willing to offer him. It's incredibly easy to tell him what to do, and something in Hank is fiercely protective over him because of that. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"Yeah, Barry's a grown man and all, but he never learned how to grow up. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);""-This is Hank, by the way." Barry is saying now, and Hank shakes out of his thoughts to give his best charming smile to the girl despite how he wants to rip her nose off with his teeth. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"Maybe he and Barry aren't so different after all. He offers his hand to shake, hauling his messenger bag on his shoulder with the other. "Sally Reed." She tells him, and he smiles wider, tightens his grip a little when she shakes his hand. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"It's a bit petty. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"Hank just didn't get how she could ignore such clear warnings from his Barry about how close she was./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"-/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"So. Drinks. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"It's Later, and they had gone home first. Barry had spent forty-five minutes sitting under the shower until Hank had barged in and brushed his teeth, which was enough to stir him. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"He climbs out laboriously, like every limb is laden down, and picks up a towel to dry himself off./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"Sometimes the silence is alright. Sometimes, Barry needs the quiet. But Hank is slowly learning to recognise the different breeds of Barry Silence, and this, he knows, isn't a good kind. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);""I think we should go out with your friends." He says, watching Barry in the mirror. Watching him ruffle his hair dry, watching him glance up at Hank. Sees the confusion in the furrow of his eyebrows where anyone else would see anger. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);""Why?" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"Hank doesn't even know. "It will be fun, no? Meet, break bread, have nice time." It's like poking the bear. "What is matter? Are you ashamed of me, Barry?" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"He's still stinging, still smarting from the friction burn of Barry's hand ripping away from his./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);""No!" Is that anger, in the tilt of his shoulders, or fear? "No, I'm not- I'm not ashamed of you, Hank. I just- Haven't told them, about any of this, about-" Hank watches him swallow and look at his feet in the mirror. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);""What?" Hank prompts, maybe a little viciously. "What is it, Barry? If you are not ashamed of me, then-" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);""It's span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"me. /span" Barry says, cutting him off despite how quietly the words come out. Dejection, now, in the slump of his shoulders and the curve of his spine. "It's me I'm ashamed of, Hank, not you." /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"That wasn't normal. Normally, if Hank pressed and pressed, Barry would get angry. Usually, Hank knew the buttons to push to get a reaction. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"This, the sad curl of his body, it wasn't something Hank knew. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);""I… They don't know I even span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"like /spanmen, and I…" He tugged at one of the green band-aids on his fingers, hard. "I don't want to tell them." /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"And suddenly, like the rush of blood following a ruptured artery, Hank span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"understands. /spanHe understands what that curved posture means. "Oh. Oh, Barry," /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);""Don't. Just… Don't, Hank." /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"And span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"there's /spananger, now, wrinkling the bridge of his nose and furrowing his brows, all the signs Hank knows, but it seems tired, like he's just going through the motions of anger without feeling it. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"Hank can't help himself. He goes to Barry and hugs him with all the fierceness he has in him, and Barry, as he always does, seems shocked, lifting his arms and tensing his chest and making a startled little noise. Then, as he always does, he relaxes into it, bowing himself almost in half and tucking his nose against Hank's neck and breathing deep, hitching like he's going to cry. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"He doesn't. He never does. But Hank croons gently and runs his fingers through Barry's hair. It's a little bit funny, a guy as big as him curled up against a guy as small as Hank, but he doesn't mind. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);""You don't have to tell them." He murmurs, once Barry's breaths have evened out again. "We don't even have to go out with them." /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"Barry shakes his head against Hank's shoulder. "We should." /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"Hank sighs, still trailing his fingers through Barry's hair. "Do you want to?" And listens to Barry's little huff against his neck. It makes him smile, despite himself. "Because if you do not want to, we will not go. We can sit on couch and watch reruns of your show." /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"Barry shakes his head again, not detaching himself just yet. "No, I said I would, and I've been blowing them off for weeks." He mutters, and Hank feels his jaw twitch with how he grinds his teeth, a new habit he's picked up. Then he sighs. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"He sighs a lot. At first, Hank had just thought Barry was annoyed with him, but he quickly learnt that it was quite the opposite. Like the different brands of Silence, Barry has different brands of Sighs, too. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"It's a whole language, and Hank is flying towards fluency in it with a speed that surprises even him. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"This sigh is soft and slow, and Hank knows it's just him calming down, releasing the thoughts that are swirling. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);""Okay?" Hank prompts, when Barry doesn't talk again. Part of him wants to go, wants to show Barry off. He always sort of feels like that, though - Barry is big, broad, tall dark and handsome. Hank knows people look at him./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"Barry nods. He still hasn't removed his head from Hank's shoulder. He doesn't plan to, it seems like. "Do you want to go?" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"Another sigh, this one angrier. "Yeah, yeah." Barry mutters. "I guess so." /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"And that's that. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"Barry finally pulls away, straightens up. He runs his fingers through his hair and sighs, shaking his head. Hank watches him, watches the broad planes of his chest inflate, the gentle curve of his shoulders, the bend of his knee. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Gee, /spanHe thinks to himself, as he watches, span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"you've got it bad. /span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"And he does. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"So Barry gets dressed, stacking the layers on as usual, even though usually when they're at home he'll brave a t-shirt or even a tank top on rare occasions when it's really hot. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"Hank, meanwhile, gives his clothes a lot of thought. He always does. Barry has his stupid basic shirts, and jackets and yeah, sure, they look great, sure, whatever, you're hot, shut up. Hank doesn't span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"have /spanthat boring shirt luxury. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"So he digs around in their (mostly his, since everything Barry owns can fit in one drawer of their shared dresser) closet for a while, muttering to himself while Barry watches him from the bed, his hair starting to curl. He needs a haircut. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);""You need haircut." Hank says, glancing over his shoulder. Barry touches the slight curl of his hair and shrugs. Hank knows he gets nervous at having someone with scissors so close to his neck. "I will do, later." /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"Immediately the tension goes out of him, and Hank smiles knowingly. It's easy to reassure Barry if you know the right words to say. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"It's just as easy to rile him up if you know the wrong ones. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"As Hank watches, Barry pulls at the green band-aid on his left middle finger again. He's got one knee drawn up to his chest, cheek resting on it. If the band-aids weren't there Hank knows he'd have pulled off almost all the skin around his nail by now. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"It had been a spontaneous choice on Hank's part. The band-aids, that is. He had found them during a CVS run and thought it might be nice to have just in case, and then Barry had showed up with bloodied fingers and Hank didn't have any regular ones, and Barry seemed to really like them. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"So he kept getting them./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"On a usual night, he and Barry would be winding down. Barry would probably already be in his pajamas. They'd watch TV, maybe make out a bit if Barry was in a good mood, and go to bed. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"This isn't a normal night. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"Instead, now, they're stepping outside together, one excited, one not so. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"Hank squeezes Barry's hand and for once he doesn't pull it away. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"This, he thinks to himself as he looks up at the underside of Barry's clenched jaw, is going to be a rough night./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"(That turns out to be the biggest understatement Hank has ever made.) /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"("Barry, how many times I tell you? Do not pick, is bad for skin! Here, which color you want? Orange again? Okay, sure." /span)/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"He picks at the edges of them, rather than at the skin on his fingers. It hurts a lot less. And when there are no more wounds, sometimes he'll quietly set the packet on Hank's lap. And Hank will smile at him all big and gentle and it makes Barry's chest hurt, and he'll wrap them around his fingers just as carefully as he had when each of them was covered in blood. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"Hank doesn't usually manage to coax Barry out of the apartment. He's happy to sit there, huddled under blankets, and play video games until his heart stops or he has to go to acting class. Hank does usually convince him to shower regularly, and eat sometimes, and take his medication. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"But today, Barry's feeling… Spontaneous, apparently. So he lets Hank talk him into going out for brunch and even daringly allows Hank to hold his hand while they're walking, which he never does. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"His hands are covered in rainbow band-aids, rough and calloused. Hank's, by contrast, are extremely soft. He uses some kind of fancy moisturizer that makes his skin smell like green tea. Barry sometimes let Hank put it on his cracking elbows and knees. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"So, they're holding hands, and Hank is chattering, and it's good. "-Think it would be great, good movie, I have heard much good things- Oh." /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"Barry has stopped dead, and his hand stays tight in Hank's, dragging him to a stop too. "Barry?" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);""Barry!" Calls another voice, an unfamiliar voice. Unfamiliar to Hank, anyway. "Hey!" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"It's the blonde girl from Barry's acting class. Barry rips his hand away from Hank's so fast he's worried they both get a friction burn. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"With him, Barry is loud. Well. Louder, anyway. He kicks Hank's ankles when he tries to change the TV channel and sighs a lot and complains about the coffee and about the volume on the radio and about the temperature and the weather and just about anything that crosses his mind, really. He doesn't exactly span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"talk /spana lot, not like Hank does, but he'll grumble under his breath often. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"He knows Barry can field strip a rifle with his eyes closed. He knows Barry can hold his breath for upwards of three minutes. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"He knows Barry gets nightmares, bad ones. He knows Barry howls for someone named Albert and cries in his sleep, quiet weeping that breaks Hank's heart. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"He knows Barry isn't a good person. He span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"knows /spanthat. He knows Barry gets angry sometimes, but it never scares him. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"He span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"knows /spanBarry better than Barry knows himself. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"These people - they're Barry's friends. But they don't know him the way Hank knows him. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"They don't seem to know that the hands shoved in the pockets and the slightly hunched posture means span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"go away please /span. They don't seem to know that the jut of his jaw and the tension in his shoulders means span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"i'm nervous, i don't want to be here./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"Hank does. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);""-All going out for drinks, maybe you and your friend could join us." The girl from the acting class is saying, ignoring all of the screaming warning signs from Barry to back up. "If you want to, no pressure." /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"Barry nods, scratching his cheek. "Uh, yeah, sure. Sounds good." He nods, and Hank wants to slip his hand into Barry's to squeeze it and make sure Barry knows he's there. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"But Barry had pulled away from him, in that split second moment, and Hank can't pretend like it didn't hurt. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"Barry, Hank is coming to realize, is like some kind of untamed animal. Nervous and flighty, equally likely to bite your arm off as he was to bolt in the opposite direction given half the chance. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"He's also coming to realize that Barry, like an abandoned dog, is also extremely eager for any sort of affection or comfort anyone is willing to offer him. It's incredibly easy to tell him what to do, and something in Hank is fiercely protective over him because of that. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"Yeah, Barry's a grown man and all, but he never learned how to grow up. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);""-This is Hank, by the way." Barry is saying now, and Hank shakes out of his thoughts to give his best charming smile to the girl despite how he wants to rip her nose off with his teeth. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"Maybe he and Barry aren't so different after all. He offers his hand to shake, hauling his messenger bag on his shoulder with the other. "Sally Reed." She tells him, and he smiles wider, tightens his grip a little when she shakes his hand. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"It's a bit petty. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"Hank just didn't get how she could ignore such clear warnings from his Barry about how close she was./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"-/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"So. Drinks. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"It's Later, and they had gone home first. Barry had spent forty-five minutes sitting under the shower until Hank had barged in and brushed his teeth, which was enough to stir him. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"He climbs out laboriously, like every limb is laden down, and picks up a towel to dry himself off./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"Sometimes the silence is alright. Sometimes, Barry needs the quiet. But Hank is slowly learning to recognise the different breeds of Barry Silence, and this, he knows, isn't a good kind. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);""I think we should go out with your friends." He says, watching Barry in the mirror. Watching him ruffle his hair dry, watching him glance up at Hank. Sees the confusion in the furrow of his eyebrows where anyone else would see anger. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);""Why?" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"Hank doesn't even know. "It will be fun, no? Meet, break bread, have nice time." It's like poking the bear. "What is matter? Are you ashamed of me, Barry?" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"He's still stinging, still smarting from the friction burn of Barry's hand ripping away from his./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);""No!" Is that anger, in the tilt of his shoulders, or fear? "No, I'm not- I'm not ashamed of you, Hank. I just- Haven't told them, about any of this, about-" Hank watches him swallow and look at his feet in the mirror. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);""What?" Hank prompts, maybe a little viciously. "What is it, Barry? If you are not ashamed of me, then-" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);""It's span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"me. /span" Barry says, cutting him off despite how quietly the words come out. Dejection, now, in the slump of his shoulders and the curve of his spine. "It's me I'm ashamed of, Hank, not you." /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"That wasn't normal. Normally, if Hank pressed and pressed, Barry would get angry. Usually, Hank knew the buttons to push to get a reaction. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"This, the sad curl of his body, it wasn't something Hank knew. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);""I… They don't know I even span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"like /spanmen, and I…" He tugged at one of the green band-aids on his fingers, hard. "I don't want to tell them." /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"And suddenly, like the rush of blood following a ruptured artery, Hank span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"understands. /spanHe understands what that curved posture means. "Oh. Oh, Barry," /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);""Don't. Just… Don't, Hank." /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"And span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"there's /spananger, now, wrinkling the bridge of his nose and furrowing his brows, all the signs Hank knows, but it seems tired, like he's just going through the motions of anger without feeling it. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"Hank can't help himself. He goes to Barry and hugs him with all the fierceness he has in him, and Barry, as he always does, seems shocked, lifting his arms and tensing his chest and making a startled little noise. Then, as he always does, he relaxes into it, bowing himself almost in half and tucking his nose against Hank's neck and breathing deep, hitching like he's going to cry. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"He doesn't. He never does. But Hank croons gently and runs his fingers through Barry's hair. It's a little bit funny, a guy as big as him curled up against a guy as small as Hank, but he doesn't mind. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);""You don't have to tell them." He murmurs, once Barry's breaths have evened out again. "We don't even have to go out with them." /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"Barry shakes his head against Hank's shoulder. "We should." /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"Hank sighs, still trailing his fingers through Barry's hair. "Do you want to?" And listens to Barry's little huff against his neck. It makes him smile, despite himself. "Because if you do not want to, we will not go. We can sit on couch and watch reruns of your show." /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"Barry shakes his head again, not detaching himself just yet. "No, I said I would, and I've been blowing them off for weeks." He mutters, and Hank feels his jaw twitch with how he grinds his teeth, a new habit he's picked up. Then he sighs. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"He sighs a lot. At first, Hank had just thought Barry was annoyed with him, but he quickly learnt that it was quite the opposite. Like the different brands of Silence, Barry has different brands of Sighs, too. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"It's a whole language, and Hank is flying towards fluency in it with a speed that surprises even him. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"This sigh is soft and slow, and Hank knows it's just him calming down, releasing the thoughts that are swirling. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);""Okay?" Hank prompts, when Barry doesn't talk again. Part of him wants to go, wants to show Barry off. He always sort of feels like that, though - Barry is big, broad, tall dark and handsome. Hank knows people look at him./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"Barry nods. He still hasn't removed his head from Hank's shoulder. He doesn't plan to, it seems like. "Do you want to go?" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"Another sigh, this one angrier. "Yeah, yeah." Barry mutters. "I guess so." /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"And that's that. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"Barry finally pulls away, straightens up. He runs his fingers through his hair and sighs, shaking his head. Hank watches him, watches the broad planes of his chest inflate, the gentle curve of his shoulders, the bend of his knee. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Gee, /spanHe thinks to himself, as he watches, span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"you've got it bad. /span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"And he does. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"So Barry gets dressed, stacking the layers on as usual, even though usually when they're at home he'll brave a t-shirt or even a tank top on rare occasions when it's really hot. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"Hank, meanwhile, gives his clothes a lot of thought. He always does. Barry has his stupid basic shirts, and jackets and yeah, sure, they look great, sure, whatever, you're hot, shut up. Hank doesn't span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"have /spanthat boring shirt luxury. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"So he digs around in their (mostly his, since everything Barry owns can fit in one drawer of their shared dresser) closet for a while, muttering to himself while Barry watches him from the bed, his hair starting to curl. He needs a haircut. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);""You need haircut." Hank says, glancing over his shoulder. Barry touches the slight curl of his hair and shrugs. Hank knows he gets nervous at having someone with scissors so close to his neck. "I will do, later." /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"Immediately the tension goes out of him, and Hank smiles knowingly. It's easy to reassure Barry if you know the right words to say. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"It's just as easy to rile him up if you know the wrong ones. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"As Hank watches, Barry pulls at the green band-aid on his left middle finger again. He's got one knee drawn up to his chest, cheek resting on it. If the band-aids weren't there Hank knows he'd have pulled off almost all the skin around his nail by now. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"It had been a spontaneous choice on Hank's part. The band-aids, that is. He had found them during a CVS run and thought it might be nice to have just in case, and then Barry had showed up with bloodied fingers and Hank didn't have any regular ones, and Barry seemed to really like them. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"So he kept getting them./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"On a usual night, he and Barry would be winding down. Barry would probably already be in his pajamas. They'd watch TV, maybe make out a bit if Barry was in a good mood, and go to bed. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"This isn't a normal night. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"Instead, now, they're stepping outside together, one excited, one not so. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"Hank squeezes Barry's hand and for once he doesn't pull it away. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"This, he thinks to himself as he looks up at the underside of Barry's clenched jaw, is going to be a rough night./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);"(That turns out to be the biggest understatement Hank has ever made.) /p