[ he crosses his arms as his smile tempers to a neutral. ]
Time travel has a way of... messing with your sense of time. You say it's been a long night, but to me you've only been gone a few minutes. [ he glances up to the countdown for a brief moment, then back to her, lowering his arms to his sides again. ] That's the beauty of it though. As long as you know what you're doing, you could stay in the past for a long time. An hour, a day, months. Years.
...Then you come back here and it's been just a few minutes.
[If she times everything right. Nora glances up at the countdown as well, wincing when she realizes how long she was gone to that baby shower. That's five minutes she won't get back. That's five minutes where he could have taught her something else about being a speedster.]
I thought you said time wraiths will stop me if I stay too long.
[ not quite infinite, no, but from her perspective it may as well be. it'll be one of the longest hours of his life, that's a given. ]
Only if you're not careful. Time wraiths mostly come for us when we go to a point in time we already exist in. You won't run into that if you're going to a Pre-Crisis era.
[ that's how he sees the timeline. Post-Crisis and Pre-Crisis, because everything comes down to that day when the skies turned red and the world came closer to ending than any time before. ]
Ok. One more test. November 27th, 2017. Does that day ring a bell for you?
[Of course she knows that. That picture of Iris and Barry on their wedding day is one of her favorites. She'd stolen it to keep in her room as a kid so many times that Iris had another one printed up just for her.]
You said I wasn't ready to meet my dad yet either. And I'm not going all that way so my mom can yell at me for something else now.
You're not meeting your mom. Just your dad. [ he leans into the corner wall of the cell, gently tapping the glass with one hand of fingertips. ] You can disguise yourself as reception staff easy enough. Say hello to the groom and come back.
Two travels through time undisturbed proves you can handle yourself in terms of getting from Point A to Point B. Now, blending into significant days in insignificant ways - that's the test of a seasoned time traveler. You need to be inconspicuous. Don't say anything to give yourself away. [ he stops, then smiles to himself. ] Adopt a role. Play the part. No one will question it if you believe it.
[ no one ever did for him, at least not for fifteen years. ]
[He's going to see right through her. Nora is a bad liar on her best days and today has been a very bad, no good day. But there's really no other way, since Eobard isn't going to make it to the morning.]
[Yeah, actually, she does kind of want to know his entire life story. There's clearly a lot of gaps between what she knows from the articles her mom has written, the museum and how the guards are treating him here.]
I just... realize there's a lot I don't know about you.
[ he deflates a little, only because it's nice to have someone care after so long, but- ]
There's no time.
[ so much as he likes talking about himself, there are more pressing matters. and it may be for the best she doesn't know. she wouldn't be standing here if she did. ]
[That's 100% true that she'd drop him like a hot potato if she knew the truth from the beginning. But she doesn't. So all aboard the train to conflicting moralities town.]
Doesn't it bother you, that when you die, there's no one that will know anything about you?
[ he smirks, he can't help himself. she's so... kind, and he's not used to it. ]
I'm the Reverse Flash. My destiny since before I was even born was to wear that suit and fight your father. That's what I'll be known for, even when I'm gone.
[Because if that's true, then why the frick are you bothering to help her? She's the Flash's daughter, which is still a thought that's blowing her mind.]
[Nora opens her mouth, like she wants to protest and demand more answers from him. Except he's right, and they're working on a limited timeline and honestly, if it came down to seeing her dad alive and real over knowing Thawne's story well--
Kind of an easy choice to make.
Meeting her dad, actually seeing him as a real life person and not a photo on her desk or an old vid is nothing like she thought it would be. She stares at him for so long that he almost figured it out. He knew something was up, asked her if they'd met and it actually stung to plaster a fake smile on her face and tell him no.
No she was just a complete stranger.
She left right after that conversation, slipping away easily because no one was paying attention to the water girl. Comes back still in her catering outfit and a bag of jordan almonds she swiped because she could and she was hungry again. Sorry. Gonna eat them in front of you but it's still nicer than eating a taco right?]
He almost recognized me. Is it me? Or because we're both speedsters?
[ he waits, again, quietly pondering until she returns. it's all he can do. he makes a grimae at those almonds, his eyes ruefully staring at them as he responds. ]
He can be perceptive... when he chooses to be anyway. [ when he really wants to, which isn't often. he trusts too easily, believes others for good intent too often. except when it comes to eobard thawne of course. ] Did you say anything odd that might have tipped him off?
[ he smirks with tooth, unbridled amusement at her careless flub, but does his best to hide it with a hand brought up to his mouth to rub at his stubble. it feels like he's in 2014 again and barry tried to convince iris to break-up with eddie for him, in so many words. ]
If it makes you feel any better, your father screwed up way worse the first time he time traveled. A little thing like that will be forgotten.
[It's not funny! Nora keeps frowning at him, popping an almond into her mouth as if to prove a point. He can laugh it up, she's the one who isn't going to die in an hour. She can eat anything she wants.]
He did? What did he do? How do you know so much about him? I thought you... I thought you were enemies.
[ they haven't seen each other in a long time, but time travel - always so tricky. ]
I mentored him back when he first got his powers, right around your age. He altered a whole day's worth of history because he didn't like how it went the first time. [ his smirk tempers to a low smile, leaning his side into the glass and tilting his head against the glass, lost in reminiscing. ] You two are a lot alike. Full of light. You just don't know it yet.
[Every time she asks a question, he gives her an answer that inspires a dozen more questions. They were enemies but he mentored her dad? What does that even mean that she's full of light just like her dad? How is she going to learn if her dad is out of her reach and Thawne only has an hour left?
She steps right up to the glass, looking up at him.]
What do I have to do to get to know him like you do?
[ isn't that just the millionaire dollar question. what does she have to do? a lot, and in a short amount of time. he needs to strip it down to the most essential elements. ]
Well, for starters... you're going to have to learn how to lie. [ he turns his head over to look at her, look down at her. ] You can't tell your father about me. Not that you met me, or talked to me, or that I taught you how to use your power. Not a word, not to anyone.
He won't understand. Because it's me, he won't understand.
[ the flash has worked with his enemies in the past, even came to him for help with zoom, but he's not going to understand when it comes to his daughter. the daughter he of course just so had to name after his dead mother, who eobard killed -- no, barry won't take it well at all that he's teaching her. caring for her when he can't. ]
[So this whole thing is doomed because Nora is a shitty liar on her best days and has no concept of a poker face at all. She sighs, deflated by her own personality flaw.]
If he asks, I won't be able to hide it. So I'll just have to have a different answer when he asks why I'm there.
[ he hums a sound of agreement. the best he can do is give her pointers in the short time they have. ]
Lets practice then. [ he pushes slow off the glass and stands upright, hands clasped behind his back. ] Why do you want to see him? What will you tell him if he asks?
[What now? She gives him a wide eyed look, clearly taken off guard just by the suggestion of practicing her lying. It almost seems comical, since she fumbles her way through on it good days and this has really been the ultimate of very bad, no good days.]
Well. Um-- [Buying herself a second, she pops an almond in her mouth. And then talks around it anyway.]
I just want to see him. Isn't that a good enough reason?
[ ...he has so much work to do it's not even funny. it's depressing actually. ]
Only if you plan on being there for, say, a day? If even that. [ he sighs, despairing for himself. ] You don't need to lie to him, but you need to be... deliberate. Appeal your case. Once "spending time with dad" runs its course, what can you say to make him want you to stay?
[ eobard, as any good teacher, knows the correct answer. he just wants her to get it. ]
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Time travel has a way of... messing with your sense of time. You say it's been a long night, but to me you've only been gone a few minutes. [ he glances up to the countdown for a brief moment, then back to her, lowering his arms to his sides again. ] That's the beauty of it though. As long as you know what you're doing, you could stay in the past for a long time. An hour, a day, months. Years.
...Then you come back here and it's been just a few minutes.
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[If she times everything right. Nora glances up at the countdown as well, wincing when she realizes how long she was gone to that baby shower. That's five minutes she won't get back. That's five minutes where he could have taught her something else about being a speedster.]
I thought you said time wraiths will stop me if I stay too long.
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Only if you're not careful. Time wraiths mostly come for us when we go to a point in time we already exist in. You won't run into that if you're going to a Pre-Crisis era.
[ that's how he sees the timeline. Post-Crisis and Pre-Crisis, because everything comes down to that day when the skies turned red and the world came closer to ending than any time before. ]
Ok. One more test. November 27th, 2017. Does that day ring a bell for you?
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[Of course she knows that. That picture of Iris and Barry on their wedding day is one of her favorites. She'd stolen it to keep in her room as a kid so many times that Iris had another one printed up just for her.]
You said I wasn't ready to meet my dad yet either. And I'm not going all that way so my mom can yell at me for something else now.
no subject
Two travels through time undisturbed proves you can handle yourself in terms of getting from Point A to Point B. Now, blending into significant days in insignificant ways - that's the test of a seasoned time traveler. You need to be inconspicuous. Don't say anything to give yourself away. [ he stops, then smiles to himself. ] Adopt a role. Play the part. No one will question it if you believe it.
[ no one ever did for him, at least not for fifteen years. ]
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How do you know so much about time travel?
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I just... realize there's a lot I don't know about you.
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There's no time.
[ so much as he likes talking about himself, there are more pressing matters. and it may be for the best she doesn't know. she wouldn't be standing here if she did. ]
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Doesn't it bother you, that when you die, there's no one that will know anything about you?
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I'm the Reverse Flash. My destiny since before I was even born was to wear that suit and fight your father. That's what I'll be known for, even when I'm gone.
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[Because if that's true, then why the frick are you bothering to help her? She's the Flash's daughter, which is still a thought that's blowing her mind.]
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Go see your dad. Time's short.
[ the longer she stays here, the less time both of them have. ]
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Kind of an easy choice to make.
Meeting her dad, actually seeing him as a real life person and not a photo on her desk or an old vid is nothing like she thought it would be. She stares at him for so long that he almost figured it out. He knew something was up, asked her if they'd met and it actually stung to plaster a fake smile on her face and tell him no.
No she was just a complete stranger.
She left right after that conversation, slipping away easily because no one was paying attention to the water girl. Comes back still in her catering outfit and a bag of jordan almonds she swiped because she could and she was hungry again. Sorry. Gonna eat them in front of you but it's still nicer than eating a taco right?]
He almost recognized me. Is it me? Or because we're both speedsters?
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He can be perceptive... when he chooses to be anyway. [ when he really wants to, which isn't often. he trusts too easily, believes others for good intent too often. except when it comes to eobard thawne of course. ] Did you say anything odd that might have tipped him off?
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No, I... I was myself actually and said something stupid about remembering to say I do and that I really love weddings. Then he asked if we'd met.
[She's going to lose sleep over how stupid she was in front of her dad. For like a year.]
I'm so dumb.
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[ he smirks with tooth, unbridled amusement at her careless flub, but does his best to hide it with a hand brought up to his mouth to rub at his stubble. it feels like he's in 2014 again and barry tried to convince iris to break-up with eddie for him, in so many words. ]
If it makes you feel any better, your father screwed up way worse the first time he time traveled. A little thing like that will be forgotten.
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He did? What did he do? How do you know so much about him? I thought you... I thought you were enemies.
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[ they haven't seen each other in a long time, but time travel - always so tricky. ]
I mentored him back when he first got his powers, right around your age. He altered a whole day's worth of history because he didn't like how it went the first time. [ his smirk tempers to a low smile, leaning his side into the glass and tilting his head against the glass, lost in reminiscing. ] You two are a lot alike. Full of light. You just don't know it yet.
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She steps right up to the glass, looking up at him.]
What do I have to do to get to know him like you do?
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Well, for starters... you're going to have to learn how to lie. [ he turns his head over to look at her, look down at her. ] You can't tell your father about me. Not that you met me, or talked to me, or that I taught you how to use your power. Not a word, not to anyone.
He won't understand. Because it's me, he won't understand.
[ the flash has worked with his enemies in the past, even came to him for help with zoom, but he's not going to understand when it comes to his daughter. the daughter he of course just so had to name after his dead mother, who eobard killed -- no, barry won't take it well at all that he's teaching her. caring for her when he can't. ]
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If he asks, I won't be able to hide it. So I'll just have to have a different answer when he asks why I'm there.
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Lets practice then. [ he pushes slow off the glass and stands upright, hands clasped behind his back. ] Why do you want to see him? What will you tell him if he asks?
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Well. Um-- [Buying herself a second, she pops an almond in her mouth. And then talks around it anyway.]
I just want to see him. Isn't that a good enough reason?
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Only if you plan on being there for, say, a day? If even that. [ he sighs, despairing for himself. ] You don't need to lie to him, but you need to be... deliberate. Appeal your case. Once "spending time with dad" runs its course, what can you say to make him want you to stay?
[ eobard, as any good teacher, knows the correct answer. he just wants her to get it. ]
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back here like 100 years later, my bad