I'm not usually one to write on Tumblr posts, but I just found this again and its too short to post on Ao3 but I think this lovely little snippet deserves some attention.
I saw some amazing art and then read an equally amazing fic and WallyKyle is terribly unloved for how amazing they are, so i wrote this, hope you enjoy!
The fridge stares at Kyle ominously, Kyle continues to watch it. Its a refrigerator its not going to attack him, so why cant he open it? He glances away toward the clock gently ticking on the wall, going on and on as if mocking for his inability to complete a menial, meaningless task, he looks back at the refrigerator.
He's kind of friends with Roy, so maybe he should talk to Dinah about this, he can feel his hands shake where they lay heavily on the island countertops, just in front of the refrigerator in the Watchtower kitchen.
The fridge has not moved, its just a refrigerator. Kyle can open a fridge, he remembers being able to do so long before... he remembers being able to. He huffs and pushes off the counter and stumbles toward the refrigerator.
Its a fridge he can open a stupid fridge. It seems so daunting as it creeps up on him, larger than anything it could possibly know, what could be inside it Kyle only dreads.
He's not even hungry—not anymore, and if he did decide he was hungry he could just steal from Wally's speedster stash. The nonperishable bars kept in the pantry. Not the fridge.
He should open the fridge.
It cant hurt him. Everyone he knows now... really knows, at least, are superheros, the same thing couldn't happen.
Kyle should open the fridge.
He stares at the stainless steal handle. He feels like it stares back. He breathes out and puts his hand on the handle. Its cold under his shaky touch, he can feel obscure oils rub off on him and it simultaneously feels completely different and exactly the same, the ridges bend and curve until they match the memory.
He should really open the fridge. Alex isn't going to be there—literally, figuratively, metaphorically, all of the -lys, because she already was, she already was there—and nobody else is going to be there because its quite possibly the most protected fridge on the planet. Its in the center of the Watchtower, Justice League base-of-operations, head quarters, where some of the most powerful people spend a lot of there time. Nobody is going to be in the fridge.
He should really open it.
He imagines doing the action, pulling the door open centimeter by centimeter and watching the pale blue light spill out and all of the shelves missing and ankles, connected to legs, connected to—Kyle stumbles backward, yanking his hand back and incidentally opening it. Bright orange hair peaks out, connected to a head, connected to a body—Kyle screams.
"Holy shit!" Wally west yelps, dislodging several cold burger wrappers, they crumple softly to the ground, next to Kyle's curled position as he hyperventilates and Wally stares in shock.
Wally'sdeadWally'sdeadWally'sdeadWally'sdead repeats like a mantra in Kyles' head, completely dropping his flimsy front of rationale while Wally lets out a little "Uh," contemplating how moral it would be to just leave.
He hadn't meant to scare anyone, even if he wasn't overly fond of Kyle he certainly hadn't meant to traumatize the poor bastard, he was just moping.
He crawls out of the fridge and to the now crying man on the floor. "Uhmm, Kyle? Can you hear me?" He taps on his shoulder. Kyle all but shrieks, rapidly shoving himself away and Wally jerks back, letting Kyle slowly, visibly adjust to more present times.
"...Wally?" He asks eventually, breaths mostly evening out and posture relaxing. Wally carefully scooches closer, letting himself relax too.
"Uh, yea, dude, what the hell was that?" He asks accusatorily, Kyle bows his head in shame and brings a hand to clutch it, beating back the oncoming headache.
"Fuck, sorry, man. I didnt expect you to be in there—fuck i thought you were dead." He confesses, mask dissolving in a flurry of green particles as he wipes away tears, Wally stares.
He sits back on his legs and crosses his arms, huffing "Well I'm not. I didnt mean to scare you, or anyone, actually, i was just chilling."
Kyle laughs wetly, "in the fridge? That's just... That's just uh, exactly how I found my girlfriend." He curls in on himself as Wally gapes.
Wally knows, intellectually, that Kyle had a girlfriend at some point, and he also knew that she died in a very, very terrible way, but Wally had never really been told how. Not that it was at all his business, but "Oh shit, now I really feel bad, I had no idea.. Do you like—want water, or something?"
"...Don't," Kyle starts, "Feel bad, I mean. I was pretty adamant that nobody knew... I was actually trying to get over not being able to open the fridge, umm." He rests against the islands cabinet, facing the open fridge and Kyle takes the minute to observe every clean, untouched detail of it, including the burger wrappers littered everywhere.
Wally huffs again and rises, grabbing two solo cups and filling them with water, soon he collapses next to Kyle and offers him a cup, "Well, at least you were trying, I guess. I'm still scared of locking doors, cheers?" He tilts his cup after Kyle takes his.
Kyle raises a brow but clinks the plastic anyway, matching with sips as they both crack a grin. It takes a while for Kyle to convince himself to get up, but Wally stays with him the entire time.