milliways_bar | (no subject)

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A man walks in.

He's moderately tall, black hair a little long on top and curly, falling into his face. Blue eyes look down at the bundle in his arms, the little tuft of similarly black hair sticking out the top the only indication of what it might be other than the absolute adoration in his eyes. Nestled in the crook of his arm is tall golden staff, hook on the end gleaming in the low light.

He's not dressed up really. There's a Hawaiian shirt, open and showing a wifebeater underneath, accompanied by a black leather jacket tied around his waist. Green goggles sit atop his head at a rakish angle. He's in loose slacks, accompanied by black boots, and he looks like he's had a long day.

"Hello, Kyle...how're you tonight? Daddy's home from extra work and Mikey and Tony are all gone and it's just you and..."

He looks up.

Blinks in confusion.

"Me?"

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Iris zips on over. "Hello." He looks vaguely like someone she knows but not really. Ah well.

He blinks at her.

"Uh...hi."

He nods down to the baby and makes a shushing gesture.

"You...you, uh, remind me of someone."

She blinks and makes an effort to be quiet. "Sorry."

Someone else who knows her father? Interesting. "I'm Iris West."

He raises an eyebrow, looks her up and down, and blinks.

"You look...a little too old to be who I'm thinking of. Name's Jack. Jack Knight, nice to meet you."

He grins down at the bundle.

"And this is Kyle."

Curious. "Who were you thinking of?"

She waves quickly and smiles. "Hello, Kyle."

He shrugs.

"Kid of a friend."

And then the fatherly pride comes out.

"Sorry. He's a little sleepy right now. Daddy just got home from..."

A look to the Cosmic Rod and a quick jerk of the head to it.

"Hm. Another girl Kid Flash?"

She eyes the Rod and...hm...okay, that is familiar. Hoo.

She smiles. "He looks like you."

He shakes his head.

"No, uh..."

He peeeeeers at her. And decides to go with 'paternal pride' instead of 'complete confusion'.

"And yeah, the little guy's a spitting image. I'm just glad Pop got to see him."

Tilts her head. "Hm?"

Uncertain it's wise to ask but..."To see him before?"

"Before he died."

And there's a bit of a lump in his throat but he figures he should have dealt with it by now, the funeral having taken place a few days past now. But it still hurts...mostly because he feels as if there are a thousand different things he could have said that he didn't.

Iris looks guilty.

"Oh."

"I'm sorry."

Her father's not dead but being bound here, the chances of seeing him...well, and the strangeness of finding the door but not being able to leave.

"I'm...it was stupid of me to ask..."

He shrugs.

"It happened. He went how he would have wanted to go, like Mikey said...he went out saving his city and me and everyone else."

He looks down at Kyle.

"You know, I used to have problems with a lot of how he did things, but...now? Sometimes I don't know if I'm even half the man he was."

Iris struggles for something to say.

Gently. "He must have loved you and your city very much."

She sighs a little and nods. "My father was...is... Anyway,I feel a lot like that. When I think about him."

"Funny how you don't realize that kinda thing till they're gone, right?"

And he's looking down at Kyle for a moment before blinking up.

"Oh. Sorry. Didn't mean to bring that up. Just..."

He looks to her.

"Ever been to the Opal?"

Iris shrugs. "It's okay. It's always been necrotic between me and my dad. He might not be dead. I really don't know."

She smiles a little. "A few times. It's a nice place."

"Best city there is."

And he says it with all the pride of a Knight, of a Starman. The Opal is his home, a part of him he'll never be entirely disconnected from no matter where he is.

"Though...I'm sorry about your dad. Me and Pop weren't exactly close for a long time, so I can sort of understand."

Iris grins. She feels that same way about Keystone.

"He tried in his own way. He just moves too fast. Faster than anything now. It wasn't worth his time to speak to me. He spent time with my brother and he left me holographic messages.

But since I got here three days ago, all I can think about is what will happen if I'm stuck here for good. We never patched things up."

He nods.

"Yeah, I know how that is. My brother was the one who was all set to take up the red and green...not me. He was all hot on it, taking after Pop like he did. Me? I was the rebel. Then David got shot and my life blew up and here I was, taking up my jacket and my badge and taking up the name."

He looks down at Kyle.

"Hated it at first. Thought it was stupid. Still do sometimes, the whole superhero thing. I mean, I only took the job originally because Pop promised to work on harnessing the cosmic energies for a clean power source...but I guess it grew on me."

He looks back up at her.

"Don't worry too much about being stuck here. My dad was stuck for a while...and he came back. And, well...if you can't leave, not much to do about it anyway."

"My brother was the rebel actually. I always wanted to be the superhero. My father just didn't think it was something I could do. He'd always tell me to stop playing around. I don't know if it was because I'm a girl or what."

"It can be stupid but I can't see me doing anything else. Not really."

"True enough. There are worse places to be trapped. And I've met a lot of apocalyptic people already."

He laughs.

"Hey. Girls are some of the most powerful people I know. Dian, Hope, heck...ever heard of the Phantom Lady? Who knows, Iris...Fathers are weird."

He looks down at his own bundle and smiles.

"And I guess I'll start worrying after I stop worrying after this one. Cause, uh, fathers are weird."

"I know the Phantom Lady. She's mega-apocalyptic." A ghost in Iris' time but still the Phantom Lady.

"They do their best though." Most of them.

She chuckles. "Don't worry. I'm sure you'll be a great dad."

"She's family. The original one anyway..."

He smiles and looks down at Kyle before turning to Iris.

"Want to meet the latest little Knight? He's starting to wake up..."

And a little fist rises to prove just that.

"Your sister? Or a cousin? Or...?"

Aw. "Sure I do. How old is he?"

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