17685/Reconnecting

Reconnecting
Date of Scene:	18 April 2024
Location:	W01 - Caitlin's Dorm - Titan's Tower
Synopsis:	Caitlin and Wally finally take a leap of faith.
Cast of Characters:	Wally West, Caitlin Fairchild

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Wally West has posed:
Wally's been...

Well.

He's been missing Caitlin. The situation between them has always been strange. Awkward. They have a time-displaced child together from a far off future where they married. But none of that is a guarantee to happen. Course, Wally's always had feelings for Caitlin but, before and underneath all of that? She's always been his friend first...and what do friends do when they haven't spoken in awhile? They bridge that gap, no matter what.

And that's why Wally West - dressed casually in black sweatpants, a simple comfy-looking red Flash T-shirt, and easy running shoes - is a blur of movement throughout the Tower until he finds himself standing directly in front of Caitlin's door. A hand runs through his red hair, green eyes closing as he takes a long deep breath. A slow exhale.

His hand lifts and he tentatively knocks on Caitlin's door.

Caitlin Fairchild has posed:
For her part, Caitlin is having a fairly innocuous day. She's in her room, sitting at her desk. A pencil occasionally works at a small notepad next to her, but the lion's share of her attention is on the laptop sitting directly in front of her. Her fingers dance over it from time to time, as she adds a thought here and there, occasionally returning to the notepad.

In other word, she's burying herself in her work. What a shock? Surely, not Caitlin. But that's her activity, and she's lost in it, right up until the sound of a knock at her door. She tucks the pencil behind her right ear, and stands from the desk. She's just in casual attire for Metropolis in April; white shorts, and a green t-shirt. She hasn't even bothered with shoes since she's relaxing in her room.

She walks across the room, long legs covering the distance quickly, and opens the door. A blink of slight surprise, then a smile. "Hi, Wally. How's it going?" She steps back a step, offering a symbolic entry through the doorway, even if she hasn't verbalized it yet.

Wally West has posed:
"Alright Wally, just breathe. You're the fastest man alive, this is nothing. Totally nothing, you've punched Kryptonians in the face at Mach unknown, you can talk to a girl." Wally tries to give himself a little peptalk, little whispers that might give him that ounce of courage to help him out in this endeavor. Though once that door opens to reveal the ever-beautiful visage of Caitlin Fairchild? Wally's eyes briefly widen in surprise, as if he wasn't expecting her to even be home at all.

Put up or shut up, Wally West.

"Hey Cait. It's going pretty good actually. H-How're you?" He stumbles over his words towards the end, but she steps back a moment to let him inside, and in that moment, Wally crosses the threshold into her dorm properly, just enough to allow the door to be closed behind him.

He glances to her work, a little smile touching his features, before he lays eyes on her once again, that smile becoming far warmer. "Didn't interrupt too much work, did I?"

Caitlin Fairchild has posed:
Caitlin smiles. "I'm pretty good, actually. It's nice weather, and no, not at all!" She closes the door behind Wally. "I'm just working on a paper. It's slow-going. But it's giving me something to keep busy with." As if she ever needs help keeping BUSY.

"I've got some remnants from the baklava experiment the other night. Would you like some?" There's a tin on her desk; the sort of thing that almost always holds butter cookies when it's new, and usually holds sewing supplies when it isn't. But apparently this one holds Middle Eastern pastry.

Of course, is she offering because she knows how many calories Wally goes through? Or just because it's polite? Or for some other reason? She takes off her glasses and sets them on her desk. It isn't that she needs them; her vision's been perfect since she manifested her powers. But it just...feels right having them on when she's doing science. So she keeps a pair as an affectation.

Wally West has posed:
Hearing how well that Caitlin's been brings genuine joy to Wally's thankfully-still-beating heart. The door closed behind him, Wally laughs a little bit. "As if you ever needed anything to keep you busy, you absolute workaholic." Wally teases her in affection, though he tilts his head. "What's the paper about? I have a Masters in business, so if it's about that, I'm your guy." Add that he could probably collect information faster than most people can finish a sentence, maybe he can be useful?

"Baklava? Ooooooh, gimme-gimme." Wally nearly turns into a child when it comes to food. A self-professed foodie, Wally not only likes food so he can keep his metabolism happy, but also because he loves the *flavor* of the food itself. It's heaven to try new things, and Wally *loves* Caitlin's cooking.

When she takes off her glasses and Wally can see the perfect green hues of her eyes? Wally noticeably starts to blush. "I-if it's okay, a-anyway." He clears his throat, trying to calm his nerves.

Caitlin Fairchild has posed:
She looks a little flustered at the accusation of being a workaholic, mostly because it's absolutely true. "I'm working on a theory demonstrating a way to use a solar array through conjunction with the spaceport. Collect some of the radiant energy to help offset the energy costs." In other words, typical high-end Caitlin nerd stuff.

She smiles and hands over the tin to Wally. "I don't think I got it quite right. The honey-to-filo ratio isn't there, so it's more sticky than it ought to be. But it's still tasty enough." Cookies she has down pat. Branching out into other pastries is new.

When HE blushes, SHE blushes...there's definitely that vibe of both of them tiptoeing around each other, which is certainly awkward. "So...what brings you by?" She reaches up to try and tuck some hair behind her ear in a nervous gesture. Of course, the pencil's already there, so she just ends up knocking it free as it falls to the ground.

Wally West has posed:
"W-wow....I uh, I might need that in english." Wally chuckles a little bit. "But that sounds really cool. I uh, I'm back in college to try and get a bachelor's in Criminal Justice, since, you know...I feel like it might be helpful, but I don't think ANY of that knowledge is going to help me help you there. You've always been the brains of the operation." and the beauty, but that compliment alone is a heartfelt one from Wally. He's always been attracted to her mind, to how she thinks and can seemingly solve any problem that's ever been put in front of her.

She's - simply put - the most incredible woman he's ever met in his entire life. Though as she hands over the tin to him, Wally is quick to take a bite of the baklava, humming softly. "Mmmm...." he practically groans at how good it is. He's polite enough to swallow before speaking again. "Honestly, even if the ratio was off? It's still /delicious/." Wally nods approvingly.

Then...they tiptoe around each other. They blush and give each other sweet and bashful retreats. She tucks that hair behind her ear and it just makes him /weak/. Wally opens his mouth to speak, as though to say something, but nothing comes out. He ends up just blushing more.

"W-well...I uhm....you know...-" normally he'd catch that pencil as soon as it fell from her ear, but instead, it just hits the ground. When it does? Wally just silences himself, his face softening into an expression of nothing but absolute affection.

"I missed you."

Caitlin Fairchild has posed:
Caitlin blushes a little more at the praise. "I don't know about that. We have lots of smart people here. And thanks. I'll do better with it next time." Because she is nothing if not a perfectionist.

"I...missed you too." It's awkward, as if she can't find the words. But she does know some. "I've been giving thought to the situation. I mean, with us. Everything." Irie. She's nervous, and she isn't sure what to do with her hands, or with anything. Not for the first time, she feels all elbows and knees, awkward in the way she was before her powers...and still is in some ways.

"I'm really new to all this. You know that. And...I know that the future isn't set, and none of us know where it's going to go. But...I don't have anything against that future." Stupid, stupid Caitlin. Those aren't the right words.

"I mean..." she adds, hurriedly. "...that I like the idea of that future. I don't know how to get from here to there." From awkward fumblings to marriage and more. "But...I think we should try to figure it out together. I mean, if you want!" She adds the last hurriedly, and she's blushing about as red as a tomato.

Wally West has posed:
"Trust me Caitlin, pretty much everything you do is the best there's ever been. I think that's because of that 'jack of all trades' thing you have going on." Wally smiles at her then, even as she blushes. He knows she's always been a perfectionist. It's one of the reasons why Wally is /VERY/ careful around her lab. Though he looks at her when she tells him she missed him too. That she's been thinking about their situation. That she's been taking everything into question.

...and she likes the idea of them.

Wally's eyes widen as shock looks strewn across his face. She doesn't hate that future. She wants to get there. She wants to /try/ with him. Wally meets her eyes in that moment, shock written on his face as he gently sets aside the tin and reaches for his arm, pinching himself slightly after she had asked him if he wants to figure it out together.

"Sorry...I had to test if I was dreaming."

He steps close to her then, his hands reaching for her own to hold them, to feel her warmth and for her to feel his own. He looks up at her, Caitlin's 6'5" height dwarfing his 6'0" frame, but he doesn't seem to mind that in the slightest. He mutters one word to her as he gets up on his tip-toes to gently nudge her nose with his own if she allows such a contact.

"Yes. A thousand, million, billion, infinite times yes. Let's figure it out together."

He hesitates in that moment then.

"Is it...bad that I really want to kiss you right now?" He asks her with a shaky, nervous breath. "I-I mean, we don't have to!" Now it was his turn for his face to be red as a tomato.

Caitlin Fairchild has posed:
"I...kinda think we have to kiss if we're going to get there." Well, not just kiss. But as nervous as she is, kiss is certainly about the farthest she can possibly think about. She swallows, and then says, a little under her breath. "I'm probably going to be absolutely horrible at this."

She leans in, and will try to kiss Wally. Objectively, she's right. She has no real clue what she's doing with this, and she's just mimicking what she's seen in movies and the like. The kiss is a lot more G-rated than anything else.

But it IS a kiss.

Wally West has posed:
"I....I agree....and, if it helps? I'm probably really bad at it too..."

Wally gulps then, nervous energy flooding his body so much that he might drop from heart failure. Yet, even as she leans in, his eyes look at her, then down to her lips, closing his eyes as their lips slowly meet and he feels the raw ELECTRICITY. Was this Wally's first kiss? Most definitely. Yet, he stays there in that moment with her, the kiss quite G-rated indeed as he presses his lips perhaps slightly firmer to her own than how she began that intimate contact.

His breath is shallow. Quickened, but he doesn't pull away at all. His body slowly relaxes as he melts into the touch.

She took him to heaven immediately with a word. With a kiss? Wally feels immortal.

Slowly, one of Wally's hands leave hers, lifting up to cup her cheek with his palm. His lips start to - as if instinctually - mold against her own. One kiss becomes a slow, sweet array of multiple, if she allows.

Caitlin Fairchild has posed:
It's certainly Caitlin's. Romance is not something that she's ever tried to bring into her world before. But...there's a number of reasons for this. She could make a detailed list. And...then there's ones that she would never put on a list. Never write down because they belong nowhere but in her head. Or her heart.

She tenses, ever so slightly, as one kiss turns into more. And then she relaxes, some. The first extra kiss, she's still for, but then she returns a second. A third. And then, somehow transcending into new shades of red, she'll stop and take the tiniest step back. "But...I think we should definitely move slow. New ground. I mean. We're supposed to date first, right?"

Isn't that how this is done?

Wally West has posed:
It was so sweet a kiss. But as it went longer, it grew more heated. And even Wally had to take a moment to take a step back. Not that he wouldn't kiss Caitlin all day long given even a fraction of the chance, Wally just respects and loves Caitlin enough to take things slow, to take things honest and easy. When she steps back, so does Wally, a near simultaneous break. Wally's...always been the flirt. He always thought flirting made him cooler or more likeable.

The only time he was ever honest about his flirting was with Caitlin. "I...I think that's a good idea." Wally looks at her then, reclaiming her hands as he met her eyes, his own face redder than a tomato as they embark on a terrifying, lovely new journey together. "We should date. Yeah."

Wally still ca't believe this is real.

"Dinner tonight?" He asks her, meeting those eyes again. Caitlin is the only woman he's ever fell hard for.

And Gods, he just doesn't want to fuck this up.

Caitlin Fairchild has posed:
"Dinner. Um...I can try to get out to the store and pick some things up." Because of course if cooking is involved, Caitlin immediately defaults to "she should be cooking". The notion of being taken OUT for food hasn't clicked into her head...at least not until the very last moment, at which point she blinks.

"Or did you mean going out somewhere? You did, didn't you. We just started and already I'm messing this up." She turns into a little bit of a motormouth as her nervousness and uncertainty of this take over.

Neurotic Caitlin is neurotic.

Wally West has posed:
Wally can't help but laugh as Caitlin's nervousness starts to break her down a little bit from her lack of understanding Wally's request. He listens to her as she ramps up her words, but it's only when she claims she's messing everything up that Wally slowly guides her hands to his cheeks, smiling at her as he keeps his hands resting over her own.

"Cait."

It's soft, sweet. A gentle touch, a little reminder that everything is going to be okay. "You're not messing anything up. I want to take you some place nice. Nicest in town, if I have anything to say about it." Wally tells her softly, nearly whispering to her. "I don't doubt I'll have plenty of time to enjoy your cooking, but for now...let me take some work off your shoulders."

His lips slowly curve upwards. "Okay?"

Caitlin Fairchild has posed:
She nods, slowly. The touch helps. It gives her something to focus on and to anchor her. She smiles, a little awkwardly and nervously. "It sounds great." Although "nicest in town" suddenly has her stressing her outfit. She's going to have to emergency consult with some of the Titans' ladies.

"Sounds good." She takes a deep breath. "We'll get there together."