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Pickles

Summary:

She gives it an apprehensive sniff and takes a slow bite. When it's apparent to her that pickles contain no kryptonite, the rest of the pickle disappears in steady fashion.

Ultimately, the jar ends up in the middle of the table and they all take turns grabbing a pickle and eating it in due time.

Work Text:

"Ngghh."

Barry groans in his feeble attempt to open the jar of pickles held firmly aginst his fingers. When it becomes apparent that the lid will not budge no matter how much he strains to crack it open, he sets it down on the counter with an annoyed huff and looks at Barry.

"So let me get this straight," he starts, hands waving to form an explanation. "We can phase through walls, but that doesn't translate into any kind of super strength?"

"What about speed force even makes you think of super strength?" Barry retorts with a question of his own as he shifts in his seat, the wood poking past it's worn cushioning. "I'm pretty sure that what you're struggling with now is just an isolated incident."

Barry looks offended and opens his mouth to respond, but stops when he gets a better idea. With an indulgent smirk, he picks up the jar of pickles and walks over to set it down in front of Barry, "Well if I'm so weak and you're so strong, then you open it."

He offers only a moment of hesitation before grabbing the jar and beginning to work on the lid, twisting this way and that and double checking the instructions to make sure that he's twisting the right way. When his hands are red and sore, Barry sets the jar down in defeat, refusing to meet the 'told you so look' of his counterpart.

"First off, told ya so, second off, I'm starving," Barry laments. "You'd think a rich guy like Bruce Wayne would have a fridge full of rich guy food, but no, all he has is a jar of pickles. One we can't even open." It's in the middle of his complaints that his eyes drift over to the alien sitting on the other end of the long table. "Dude," he whispers loudly to Barry, eyes shifting to indicate his intention.

"No," Barry whsipers back firmly. "I'm not going to ask her to do something that stupid."

"It's not stupid to want to satiate this endless hunger that you cursed me with," Barry argues. "And who knows, maybe she wants a pickle too."

Barry raises an eyebrow, "Y-you think she wants a pickle?"

He nods his head eagerly.

"Look, we'll just find Bruce and then–" Barry starts but has to stop when Barry has already picked the jar up and held it in her direction, an action which immediately grabs her attention. 

"Hey Kara, a little help," there's a gentle chuckle under his voice that only becomes more apparent when he makes sure to add: "please?"

Barry tucks his hand behind his face, the embarrassment he had become accustomed to seeming totally unfamiliar in the moment. When no angry grunt of refusal or scraping of a chair follows, he warily looks up to find Kara gently cracking the lid open before promptly returning the jar to Barry.

"Thanks," he says gratefully before promptly shoving a pickle into his mouth and then another and another. His appetite is endless. "Man these are really good," Barry talks between the crushed bits of pickle in his mouth. "Oh sorry, where are my manners?" He holds out the open jar to Barry, who in spite of his insistent maturity, cannot deny that he feels a touch of hunger. "Here you go," he says as he passes it over to Kara who is slow to take one, but does so anyways.

She gives it an apprehensive sniff and takes a slow bite. When it's apparent to her that pickles contain no kryptonite, the rest of the pickle disappears in steady fashion. 

Ultimately, the jar ends up in the middle of the table and they all take turns grabbing a pickle and eating it in due time. 

Barry takes up their shared silence as an opportunity to strike up a conversation, "If the guy from your time-line is called Superman," he says, pointing at Barry with a juicy finger, "then would that make you," he points at Kara, "Supergirl?"

"I mean, not necessarily," Barry speaks up when it becomes clear that Kara does not plan on answering. "From what I know, that was more of a media thing anyway, I don't think he actually went around calling himself–"

"Superman," Kara says the name with a soft fervor in her voice. "Super means powerful and powerful can be good or bad. Which one is he?"

"Good," Barry answers almost instantly. "The best actually. You two should meet up some day, I'm sure you'd really like one another. Or I mean obviously you'd like one another cause cousins duh, but..." he trails off and presses his lips together in a tight line. "He was a little scary when I first met him, but once you get to know him, the real him... yeah, he's great."

Kara nods, "He must be if his entire existence is dedicated to protecting this world, even when this world seeks to persecute the way they've persecuted me. Do you think my Superman will be the same way?"

"Totally," Barry confirms. "As soon as we find him. We could always have a race or something for fun. I raced him once you know."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, easily won by the way."

"Our powers are similiar enough," Kara says before grabbing the last pickle from the jar. "Perhaps you'd like a rematch?"

Barry is just about to come up with an excuse, but Barry cuts in before he can get it out.

"Dude that would awesome!" Barry exclaims. "Flash, Flash and..." he trails off and let's his frozen expression meet Kara's gaze. He goes on when she gives him a warm nod, "...Supergirl in a race for the ages. Who will win?"

"Barry..." Barry starts but is unable to finish when his immature doppelganger grabs Kara's hand and leads her up the stairs and out of the giant mansion. The action elicited a small gasp of surprise from her, but she did not protest, meeting his pace in quick strides. 

"C'mon Barry!" Barry's voice echoes in every last hallway, making his counterpart cringe.

With a sigh, he eventually stands, the chair beneath him softly creaking as his weight leaves it. He screws the jar shut and is about to toss it away when a voice stops him.

"It's 2013, we legally have to recycle those things nowadays."

Bruce takes the jar from him and shakes the air inside of it. 

"Geez, if you kids were so hungry, you could have just told me. I would have taken you to McDonalds, picked up a few of those new minion happy meal things."

"Ah," Barry releases a commonly uttered sigh of relief. "So minions are a thing in this time line."

"Those little blue things? Yeah, they're real popular with the new movie coming out this year. I think it's called 'Admirable Us'?"

His eye twitches and for some strange reason, he can feel his loose tooth pushing and aching, "T-that's stupid!"

"I know," Bruce agrees. "Back in the day, McDonalds were making toys about me, not those annoying little shits."