Notes: For Flufftober - A Sweet Treat
The Mystery Lady
Iris sighed and glanced at her watch. "Barry, if you don't stop primping I'm gonna tell everyone you're Nancy Drew and I'm... which Hardy Boy you are again?"
"I don't think Frank Hardy would pull off that dress," Barry said, popping out of the bathroom and sticking his tongue out at Iris.
They were, currently, at Barry's apartment - a place he shared with two other grad students attending Opal U with him. Marcie and Jack were both very nice people, though Jack was out with his own friends tonight and Marcie was currently out of town to spend Halloween with her siblings. Though she'd let Iris use her bedroom instead of taking the couch, so Marcie was currently Iris' favorite.
However, there was a mystery party at a co-ed frat house tonight, which Barry and Iris were planning on attending... though they were going to be late to the party if they didn't leave now. Barry might be okay with being late, but Iris did not want to miss out on any vital clues.
The frat was largely for the medical and bio chem departments, but they were pretty friendly with the forensics students too which was how Barry got his invite. Everyone was encouraged to dress as a detective, so Iris had gone with a classic Nancy Drew look, the green dress from the cover for the book The Secret of the Old Clock. In part because it was an easy costume for her to throw together at the last minute and in part because it went along, sort of, with Barry's costume. Barry was doing a more modern take on the Hardy Boys - he was Frank and this guy he kept blushing over was going as Joe Hardy. They probably wouldn't be the only ones, since Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys never quite seemed to lose popularity, though Iris had no doubt she'd be meeting a number of Sherlock Holmes in deer stalker caps once they arrived. But it wouldn't matter who else was there because Iris had every intention of solving the murder first and winning the prize.
The prize being a $100 visa gift card per team member (two people to a team) that was going to buy Iris at least one fun thing and a lot of coffee. She had her own graduate program in psychology she was working on back home at CCU, after all. And everyone knew grad students converted coffee into thesis papers.
"How do I look?" Barry asked nervously.
"Like your Hardy 'brother' is gonna be begging to enact some live action incestuous fanfic with you in the bathroom," Iris drawled, snickering when Barry blushed. "Maybe don't suggest sibling characters as a couples costume next year if you want the guy to realize you like him. Or at least pick one where it's more obvious, like with Sam and Dean Winchester."
"I hate you," Barry grumbled. "I panicked, okay? Hardy Boys just popped into my head. Don't judge me."
"There, there," Iris teased, patting Barry's shoulder. "Can we go now?"
"Impatient." But Barry did grab his wallet and keys, so they were indeed good to go.
They caught an uber to the party and they were, thankfully, not so late that the murder game had started without them. Barry met up with Cisco, who was definitely eying his costume buddy in a way Iris hoped Frank and Joe Hardy never did in the books. He was very sweet, though, and Iris decided that Cisco Ramon had her stamp of approval for now; so she told them to buddy up for the investigation sign ups. She'd either go it solo or make a new friend before sign ups came to an end.
It helped that Iris already had her eye on someone who seemed to have come to the party alone. Amongst all the femme fatale types - and a number of fellow Nancy Drews - there was one woman who seemed to stand out for being deliberately dressed modestly... but attractively too. Blue skirt paired with sensible brown shoes, a lighter blue button up shirt, and a scarf tied at the neck that might have been navy but looked black in the party lighting. Her brown hair was done up in a bun and a book was clutched in her hand while an oversized purse hung off the opposite shoulder. It was a good attempt at an eighties look, even if the cut of the clothes was a little too modern to pull it off entirely.
She looked nervous and, oh, that wouldn't do at all.
Iris made her way over. "Hi, do you have a partner for the game yet?" She grinned and held out a hand. "I'm Nancy Drew, for the night. Or Iris West, if you'd like." She winked flirtatiously.
"Oh, I, uhm... I'm Caitlin. Caitlin Snow. But, um, my costume is..." she held out the book with a home made cover on it titled Murder, She Wrote. "Jessica Fletcher. And I don't have a partner yet. But I'd like one, if you're offering."
Iris nodded. "That I would, indeed." Snagging a Twix from one of the many candy bowls spread across the open plan living area of the frat house, Iris could already tell that no matter what she'd find in the bowls... the sweetest treat she'd be seeing tonight was the lovely Caitlin Snow. And who knew, maybe Iris would be writing her own little cross over fic in her head tonight. One where Nancy Drew, all grown up, retires to Cabot Cove and meets the most gorgeous widow and mystery novelist...
And maybe in the real world, Iris could score herself Caitlin's phone number... and a kiss.
