( OPEN / 4TH WALL ) YOU MAY THINK I'M FOOLING FOR THE FOOLISH THINGS I DO

[accelerate]

Who: Barry Allen x3 ( REAL, MIRROR, EARTH-2 ) & Katherine Pierce x2 ( REAL, MIRROR )
Where: Everywhere.
When: September 1 - 10.
Rating: PG for now.
Summary: The Barrys attack Wonderland, and the Katherines attack one another. Open for fourth wall shenanigans!
The Story:

ALLEN

B1
( to interact with the real barry allen, replies will come from accelerate! )

[ it's no surprise to anyone who knows barry allen that he's eating all that he can. it's not really his fault, in all honesty. wonderland places a plate of food before him, and it'd be rude of him to not take it and eat it. ]

[ it doesn't matter if he's at a party or not, barry's always got some food in his hand. either having stepped inside a room like a normal person, not accompanied by any golden kinetic energy, or having flashed in, swept the room in wind, and left with a good portion of the food — barry's always nibbling on something. ]

[ with his mouth full, he'll always point to someone who looks a little overwhelmed by the display of wonderland hospitality. ]

Hey, are you going to eat that?

B2
( replies will come from a visitor from earth-2, analyse! please be aware there is a good chance earth-1 barry allen will appear. )

[ bartholomew from earth-2 has wandered away from barry from earth-1. it's a little confusing to think of one another as the same person, but bartholomew takes it in stride. after his doppelgänger had pitched they pretend they're the olsen twins, he'd been left on his own to explore, phone in hand to send out a distress signal if he so much as happens to encounter the mad hatter and an invite. ]

[ barry has the belief bartholomew may have better luck than him in scoring that, after all. ]

[ dressed in clothing that isn't quite modern, bartholomew allen wears glasses, shoes with great tread and winged-tipped, and looks around the mansion and outside in wonder. he's never seen such a place like this before, and never in his lifetime did he expect wonderland to be real. ]

[ for someone who takes great pride in always noticing the small details, bartholomew — that's what we'll call him for differentiating purposes — walks with his eyes on the ground, ceiling, or walls, and bumps into plenty of people along his way. ]

Oh! I'm so sorry —

B3
( replies will come from barry's mirror disintegrate! )

[ unlike his earth-2 counterpart, whom he hasn't quite stumbled across, barry's mirror walks the hallways with a confidence barry allen in all of his flustered glory lacks. his attire is less of a man who's awoken and slapped whatever happened to be on the top of his closet shelf on; wearing his infamous converse shoes that are clean and in good condition, barry walks around the halls comfortably in jeans and a blazer. ]

[ the way he walks is with confidence, slow and steady steps winning this particular race. he looks around the mansion with an expression that isn't in awe, but if one was to look more closely, they'd notice how his eyes linger on the walls, doors, even the windows. ]

[ sometimes he can be caught there, simply staring out at the techincoloured and large fields outside. ]

[ he's in the bar, drinking but keeping note of his own pace and limitations, and outside, walking through the grounds without much of a care, as he hasn't had the pleasure of being able to do this on the mirror side. ]

B²
( replies will come from both accelerate and analyse! )

[ there's nothing like showing your doppelgänger around a world you've both read about. barry takes his earth-2 counterpart around the mansion, showing him the sights and sounds, goading him to eat food, open doors, even help him find the mad hatter. the two are always smiling, barry's grin a bit wider as he pulls bartholomew around like he's an excitable child, and his earth-2 doppelgänger digs his heels in with hesitation quite a lot. ]

[ basically: they can be found anywhere in the mansion, so feel free to stumble upon them being nerds about something wonderland related, or jot down where they can bump into your character and we can have a great barry time. ]

PIERCE

K1
( replies will come from the real katherine pierce manipulative! )

[ katherine crumples up her invitation to any of the parties for the week. ]

[ she still attends, makes an appearance, lingers in the shadows, flirts, openly eats and drinks, and often wears an expression of pure distaste. there's nothing more that she dislikes than an open party like this, and so she tries to keep low, but fails in doing so many times over the next several days. ]

[ she can always be found at a party, drink in hand, eating a cupcake with a delicacy of pulling it apart and with boredom in her expression. and she can be found walking around the mansion, peering up at the walls, looking and hoping for a rabbit hole to leap into and leave. ]

[ wonderland is grand, and it's as honest as she'll ever be about what she likes about this rabbit hole, but she feels trapped and like she's on borrowed time, and katherine never likes taking a favour from someone she can't quite interrogate or intimidate. ]

K2
( replies will come from katherine's mirror coerce! )

[ katerina wears several corset dresses with large skirts over the next few days. with her hair curled immaculately, she walks with a skip to her step and always with a smile on her face. her expression is always kind and open, and katerina is the complete opposite of the disdain and often coerced kindness her real always presents. ]

[ as taken as she is with the colour of this mansion, katerina doesn't let herself become swept up by it and distracted. she's in search of her real's room, and walking through the corridors is giving her an incredible sense of deja vu. but there's colour in the corridors the mirror side lacks, and she admires it with an almost childlike wonderment, hands behind her back as she twirls on the spot and sometimes doesn't look as to where she's going. ]

[ but there's something in her hands, whenever she's in the corridors. a photograph she wishes to leave just for her real. she keeps it behind her back whenever she sees someone in the distance or passes someone inside of the mansion. it isn't for anyone to see but katherine. ]

( i will match action spam or prose! for any threads that involve more than one barry, i'll indicate in the subject whether or not to wait for a reply from one of them. feel free to pop a starter anywhere in the mansion, katherine and barry will be there to hang out with you! pm bogans if you want to do anything specific! ♥ )

Comments

B²

[catchacold]

[Leonard is sitting on the ground in the hallway, because why not? Chairs are overrated. So's maturity and that makes it fairly unsurprising that he decides to stretch out his long legs just at the right moment to - hopefully - make at least one of the two Barrys stumble. They are Barrys after all, not stumbling would be the bigger twist.]

...didn't realise I'd drunk that much.

[Yet here he is, definitely seeing double.]

[accelerate]

[ unfortunately for barry from earth-2, he stumbles. it doesn't help he's closest to the outstretched feet and lacks a certain type of special skill set. he saves himself, but with a lot of stumbling, fixing his glasses up and peering at snart as though he's bambi with his wide eyes and his obvious disorientation. whether he recognises snart remains to be seen, but barry stops focusing on his doppelgänger once he realises he's not going to fall and break himself into pieces. ]

[ the barry snart may be more familiar with stands over him, expression slightly amused, if unimpressed by snart's antics — it had to be on purpose, after all. ]

What are you doing out here? There's a party for you to case nearby.

[catchacold]

Thanks, Barry. It's nice running into you too.

[He's just going to ignore the actual question and focus on what's clearly more important here than Barry's attempts at being... insulting? He's not quite certain, but either way, it's not a very good effort.]

Into you two, I guess.

[He focuses on the somehow nerdier version, leaning back against the wall and smiling up at him.]

How do you do.

[Such manners.]

1/2

[analyse]

[ barry steps forward, feeling slightly more confident given allen's demeanour with this man. (is it wrong he takes joy in the fact dr harrison wells calls barry this? he shouldn't. he knows he shouldn't. but it'd been his — earth-2 barry's — idea they differentiate that way, since neither of them particularly want to claim "bartholomew" for a name badge. besides, it has too many letters to fit nicely on one.) ]

[ the interaction between these two isn't overly warm like he'd witnessed with cisco ramon of earth-1, but it's better than the chill of killer frost. ]

[ earth-1. talking this lingo, he's going to need a stiff drink later. ]

Hi ... [ he lifts his hand in a wave that isn't as enthusiastic as it could or should be. ] I'm … visiting?

[accelerate]

Snart, Barry. Barry, Leonard Snart. Captain Cold? [ he shrugs his shoulders, looking to his doppelgänger for a reaction. ]

[ (there isn't one. not for now, anyway.) ]

[ barry glances at his doppelgänger, who stands as he leans. shifting against the wall, his shoulder rests against it as he looks down at snart. arms folded, his brow arches, ] Did you guys ever deal with alternate universes?

[catchacold]

Alternate timelines.

[More or less. But either way, enough time spent around Rip and Martin Stein and Ray and Gideon to not be surprised or shocked at the reveal.

Also, it'd be difficult to be shocked by this alternate Barry Allen. If Barry looks like a lost deer, this one is like a bunny. If they had to go with a woodland creature analogy.]

You're cute.

[This to the alternate, then he turns a slightly more cynical smile Barry's way.]

Can I keep him?

1/2

[analyse]

[ allen should've prepared barry a little more for the characters of wonderland. it's a note this barry will remember when he's safely tucked in his bed beside his wife in earth-2. ]

[ he's easily flustered, brows rising, mouth opening, and he's all familiar frantic desperation in his movements. ] I'm sorry, but I'm married — [ and even lifts his hand to show snart that wedding ring he often keeps fiddling with when he's not being dragged all over wonderland. ]

somewhere out in the back of your mind comes your real life and the life that you know

[analyse]

[ it had only been a matter of time before he lost barry. his doppelgänger moves too quickly even when he's not enveloped in the golden streaks of his own kinetic lightning, and one wrong turn in the mansion has lead him to being abandoned inside of it for the first time since he arrived. ]

[ he understands barry's been keeping an eye on him, and he knows the reasons why. wonderland had pushed him down the rabbit hole into a universe where his doppelgänger has been getting his bearings for, and it's only kind that he allies himself with his doppelgänger after having unsettled his life. it's an unfamiliar disorientation he feels, it never quite letting him go, that he suffers from, and he honestly can't wait to go back home and tell iris about this. but he suspects barry's keeping him within arm's reach for iris, too. ]

[ forgetting he can easily text barry with the phone he's been given from wonderland, he walks around the mansion, beginning from the ground floor and leading up to the second. he finds nothing until he stumbles in the library, and when he's there, inside that grand room filled with books that are both familiar and unfamiliar to him, he finds her. ]

[ it's still a surprise to see her, even though barry had prepared him the best he could for wonderland. he knows what they are to one another: they're best friends, growing up together as kids. joe had raised him, and though that had been difficult to picture, barry didn't want to think unkindly about his father-in-law. and his own parents weren't necessarily in the picture anymore. but iris was, and always seemed to be, and she, at least, knew of earth-2. ]

[ despite the information overload, he still feels tempted to spin on his heel and walk out of the library. he doesn't. it's of his own choice to dress as he would on earth-2, ensuring to keep both his doppelgänger and himself easily separated and identifiable. it may prove to be a poor choice if the house of cards they're building falls the wrong way, but it's a risk barry thinks he has to take. ]

[ so is this one. he finds himself walking over toward her at her table, hands in front of him, and he stands over her shoulder. he's only ever prided himself in helping solve crimes, but peering over her shoulder and seeing a sudoku puzzle — he's never been talented in biting his tongue whenever it comes to these types of puzzles. ]

You shouldn't put the 9 there.

somewhere out in the back of your mind comes your real life and the life that you know

[demonstrate]

[ it's not an unfamiliar sight, for those that have experienced her late work night rituals.

iris has secured a table at the library, one with favorable lighting. a legal notepad sits at her right, and scattered in front of her are pictures of the second mansion's walls; certain corners are splashed with paint, revealing a set of numbers. sudoku isn't her strong suit, but iris is sharp and definitely no quitter. she'll be working on this puzzle for as long as she needs to. that is, until a new-old voice pulls her out of her own thoughts, and iris jumps in place.

whoa. ]

Barry?

[ her voice carries uncertainty, and shortly after, she dismisses ]

Not Barry. [ at least, not her best friend. not the barry she's grown up with. a mirror...? ]

somewhere out in the back of your mind comes your real life and the life that you know

[analyse]

I'm … Barry.

[ despite him sounding unsure of it, he most definitely is. if not for how he's the spitting image of barry allen of earth-1, it's for the awkwardness he says it, knowing that he's not the only barry to exist in the multiverse. will that become an identifier when wonderland's filled with multiple barrys? the only one who doesn't identify himself awkwardly being the mirror? ]

From … Earth-2? [ he closes his eyes and inhales deeply, disliking how this never gets easier. he's practiced. when allen had been in the shower, he'd been practicing in the mirror before he remembered that mirrors were dangerous, and then proceeded to do so by the window. ]

[ he has half a mind to excuse himself, but barry never got the girl by stumbling away. ] You're Iris West. He told me you were here. I just didn't … expect to see you.

somewhere out in the back of your mind comes your real life and the life that you know

[demonstrate]

Oh.

[ the word is breathed out, lower lip almost trembling with realization. she's staring, and she knows it. iris isn't sure what she's expecting to see. it's not like she can find the answers on his face. it's not like looking hard enough will let her know what their wedding day was like, how growing up with nora allen has changed him, the similarities she shares with his iris, and what being married to him must be like. it's a different world. one that was never meant to intersect with hers.

she has to remember that. ]

Why? [ the question is simple, but no less sincere and confused. if he's here in wonderland with them... if he's not a mirror, and he really is earth-2 barry, why would he not expect to see her if he's been told she is around? did barry — ]

somewhere out in the back of your mind comes your real life and the life that you know

[analyse]

[ barry knows how to tell himself and his doppelgänger apart. allen is confident in all his lanky and dorky glory; he's brave and he's capable, and he doesn't think twice about being there for someone, even if it gets him thrown inside of a prison he can't phase through. his doppelgänger is everything he never thought he wanted to be, and one of those characteristics is being able to lie easily. ]

[ or to be able to frustrate or entertain people as much as he had him, and thus be distracting enough to pull them away from a particularly horrible topic of conversation. allen had been all nervous energy when he'd discovered his arrival in wonderland, and barry had noted how he stood still while his doppelgänger bounced off the walls. ]

[ he wrings his hands together, and remains standing still. ] I've been … [ his face scrunches up in sheepishness. ] trying to avoid you. [ quickly, and in a higher pitch, ] It's not what it sounds like!

I wanted to know what you were like when he was at my home, because who could resist knowing what their wife would be like if something was different about her? Except … it sounds like it's something bad. It's not, I — [ he fiddles with his ring on his finger before he stops himself. ]

You know how you get butterflies in your chest [ he gestures toward his chest in a way that may be familiar to her, given how every barry seems so animated with his hands. ] and you want them to go away so you avoid the reason why they're always there? That's sort of it.

somewhere out in the back of your mind comes your real life and the life that you know

[demonstrate]

[ iris brings herself to her feet with slow, measured movements.

she takes a step forward as barry launches into a tangent that would be familiar to her, if not for the higher pitch in voice, and the utter lack of regard he displays. it's endearing, in all the ways it likely shouldn't be, in light of him expressing his desire to avoid her. iris does not interrupt him, too busy searching his face. his demeanor reveals certain key differences, but he's still him, and the tension in iris' shoulders melts away. ]

Barry.

[ her voice is filled with warmth, but no less firm, as she settles her hand on top of his once he's gestured to his chest. she keeps their hands there, where she can surely feel the beating of his heart. ] I understand. [ she always understands, for better or for worse. ] But you and your butterflies don't have to avoid me.

[ at least, she hopes that he won't. ] I promise not to make this weird.

b squared }

[prosecutorial]

[Wonderland is ... wow.

Laurel's been mostly sticking to the real side of things, trying to absorb as much information as she can and trying not to worry about the fact that she may be getting farther and farther away from the Clock and her friends that are still trapped there. She doesn't want to leave Felicity behind so soon after her arrival, but right now, it doesn't seem like she has much of a choice.

She catches the sound of a familiar voice getting ready to round a corner, and she starts to move faster towards it. Part of being here has involved tracking down as many friends as possible, so she beats him in rounding the corner with an excited smile.]

Barry!

[Then she blinks, because ... what.]

Barrys?

[accelerate]

[ the one thing barry knows to expect when he travels through worlds and times is that the dead sometimes aren't that. travelling back to thawne's time for the speed formula had been a shock when he saw eddie, and then seeing laurel — black siren, it doesn't feel right to call her by laurel's name when she'd lacked her heart and her spirit — from earth-2 had been another lesson to prepare for the unexpected. ]

[ so had the real jay garrick. ]

[ but it's still a surprise when barry rounds that corner, mid-conversation with his doppelgänger about beyonce the artist (it's a slightly heated debate), and he comes to a quick stop at his name. ]

Laurel?

[ brows furrowing together, it's obvious he's in shock. but in typical barry fashion, he recovers quickly, and his face relaxes as he breaks out into a wide smile. his footsteps are quick toward her. believing in the impossible has prepared him for what his life is like now, and though his heart's beating rapidly in his chest and his brain's taking a little longer to catch up, he can't help but embrace this moment with full force. ]

Laurel, hey! Are you here for the party?

[ he doesn't quite notice his doppelgänger's standing where barry's departed, looking at laurel with reluctance to take a step further. ]

[prosecutorial]

[Oh good, we're hugging! Hugs are good and Laurel returns it just as warmly, because Barry had been the missing piece of the Central City crew, and it felt weird to be spending time with Caitlin and Cisco without him.]

Apparently. I definitely got an invitation when I got here.

[She pulls back after a moment with a smile.]

What about you?

1/2

[accelerate]

[ when she pulls away, he's still all smiles. as confronting as it'd been to see laurel's earth-2 doppelgänger, it isn't frightening to see her now. she's still the laurel he knows, and he hopes wonderland treats her well during however long her stay happens to be. ]

I'm kind of a permanent party-goer for now? [ he lifts a shoulder in uncertainty. would he call himself a resident? he doesn't think so. but he peers over his shoulder and looks to his doppelgänger. ] But Barry's here for the party. That sounded weird, didn't it? I … Uh. Have a doppelgänger? We all do. Mine's just ... here.

Come on, dude. You have to meet Laurel so you can tell everyone about how cool she is.

[ and how she's nothing like her earth-2 doppelgänger. ]

[analyse]

[ seeing how his doppelgänger reacts to the woman he knows to be black siren, barry has no other choice but to trust him. barry allen from earth-1 has done nothing to earn his distrust, other than pose as him and kiss his wife. but he did defeat zoom, and he had helped them in a time of need, despite being the reason for that time of need existing. ]

[ it's all very confusing. but he closes the distance and holds out his hand, all formal-like in comparison to how allen had practically thrown himself at an old friend. ] It's nice to meet you.

[prosecutorial]

[Laurel can match formality with formality, being an ADA for as long as she has. She reaches out to shake his hand with a small smile of her own.]

Laurel Lance. Pleasure's all mine.

[There's a beat as she pulls back and tips her head to the side.]

Are you Barry's ... mirror?

[She doesn't want to just assume Earth 2, but maybe she shouldn't have assumed mirror shenanigans either.]

b1!

[breacher]

[ Harrison scowls at the sound of that familiar voice and turns, narrowing his eyes and scrutinizing Allen carefully. Same old Barry Allen — probably, anyway. It was hard to tell right now, with all the interlopers and the mirrors able to freely move from one side to another. Only one way to really find out. ]

I was thinking about it.

[ Which as much of a "yes" as anything else. He snatches up an apple from the table and takes a bite out of it, making a point to chew as loudly as humanly possible. ]

[accelerate]

So …

[ he waits expectantly, but doesn't give wells much leeway in that regard. a minute for barry is often a millisecond for anyone who isn't blessed with a level of speed force impatience. ]

[ then wells eats the apple. okay, that apple he'd been eying for a total of two seconds and had no desire to eat is now no longer on the table. there's something about other people eating food that makes it appetising for him to want it. ]

Are you enjoying the party? I was thinking of starting a croquet match later. That's sort of your thing, right?

[breacher]

[ He tosses the apple from one hand to another idly as he eyes Allen flatly. ]

Croquet? Really, Allen, you think that's even remotely my "thing"?

[ With a sigh, he shakes his head, taking another bite of the apple and chewing it thoroughly. Harrison waits to finish chewing and swallowing before speaking again; he's a grump, not a monster. ]

But . . . it's not bad.

[ Which is as much of a concession with him as anything. ]

[accelerate]

[ barry arches his brow, looking at wells as though he's sprouted his earth-3 doppelgänger on the outside of his neck. glancing at the apple, he looks up at him again. ]

Croquet isn't … bad?

[ if he sounds incredulous, it's because he is. it's unfair to have the perception wells hates everything when barry knows this to not be a true fact (he likes jesse and science and the star labs gang and harry potter), but it's a pleasant surprise he's conceding. ]

[ he glances at the apple as though it's magic, and doubts it extends to a cupboard under the stairs and a convention wells just happens to know about. ]

[breacher]

What? No. The rest of it, it isn't . . .

[ He shakes his head. Harrison hadn't felt up for parties in the longest while but now, with everything else surrounding it all, even he could admit that it wasn't entirely terrible. Far from it, in fact. ]

It could be worse.

[accelerate]

[ if barry hadn't let his doppelgänger from earth-2 catch up on some well-earned rest, he'd be whispering to him to see whether or not the harrison standing before him wasn't the one from earth-2. (and then he'd discover, if this was an actual moment happening at this precise second, that his doppelgänger had never had the chance to get to know the dr wells from his earth.) ]

[ he could leave it be, let wells unsettle him a little at how he's not rolling his eyes at his own antics. barry knows better than anyone that wells often puts on a farce, letting them all believe he has a very short tolerance for cisco's rambles and barry's misbehaviour. in wonderland, wells has always reacted to him in a way that's been comforting and normal when everything else has been turned upside down and inside out. ]

Don't take this the wrong way, but are you okay? You seem more … tolerant of me poking you with a stick. Did you drink something with a label? Because you should know you shouldn't do that in Wonderland.