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When they were sixteen, Iris enlisted Barry’s help when she decided she would learn to relax her own hair instead of going to a salon. After watching several online tutorials and insisting it couldn’t be that hard, she bought all the supplies that she needed and commandeered the kitchen one Saturday afternoon.
"I don’t understand why it’s burning!" she had exclaimed halfway through the process. "I bought no-lye relaxer! It’s supposed to be more gentle!" Iris bounced her legs frantically and glared at the timer she’d set that traitorously insisted she had to keep the creamy substance in for five more minutes.
Barry studied the box. “But just because it’s no-lye doesn’t mean it won’t burn.” Off Iris’ confused look Barry continued. “See, in lye relaxers, the main active ingredient is sodium hydroxide, and in no-lye relaxers, the main active ingredient is calcium hydroxide.”
Barry didn’t notice Iris’ bewildered face as he absently grabbed a pen and piece of scrap paper and begun sketching out molecules and labeling them. “So the pH level of the no-lye relaxer, sure, will be lower, but the hydroxide is what makes the relaxer reactive in both lye and no-lye products so it can still….burn” He looked up and noticed her eyes comically wide and continued sheepishly. “Which you didn’t need a science lesson to understand because, you already know it was burning. Because, you know, it’s burning.”
"Barry, ‘nerd alert’ doesn’t cover it anymore. I need a nerd siren. A nerd - I don’t know - what’s the loudest sound in the world?"
Barry responded simply. “Krakatoa.” A beat. “In fact, the shock waves from that explosion were measured all the way - “
"Are you kidding me?" Iris shouted exasperated but laughing because Barry’s face had broken into an excited grin as he started talking about the eruption. His grin turned sheepish again, and she smiled at him so fondly her eyes appeared to dance. They stared at each other for a second like that, and then the timer buzzed.
Iris laughed with relief and happiness and looked gratefully at her best friend who had distracted her from the pain without her even realizing it.
Now that she’s older, she doesn’t usually relax her own hair, preferring instead to spend the money to get it done right. But every once in awhile when her schedule doesn’t line up with her stylist’s schedule, or she simply doesn’t have a weekend morning to spend at the salon, or it rains and she finds herself in need of a last minute touch up, Iris heads to Central City Drugstore and picks up a box of no-lye relaxer. And she doesn’t usually tell him what she’s doing, but on the nights she relaxers her hair at home, Iris always calls Barry.