#table ship

Suzy has a date with Barry.

Suzy has a date with Barry.

This is something she’s wanted for a long time but, until recently, never had the courage to ask for. She wasn’t nervous until about five minutes ago and now she’s nothing but nerves. The butterflies in her stomach are beating a torrent with their wings and she can hear her own pulse in her ears. She’s been pacing back and forth in the foyer for several minutes, passing her phone from hand to hand. She has to set it down, once, to wipe her sweaty palms on her jeans. She’s both glad and not glad that Arin isn’t home to comfort her.

She’s so wrapped up in her thoughts, in picturing all the ways that things could possibly go wrong tonight, that she nearly jumps out of her skin when Barry knocks on the door. She reaches for the knob, pauses just long enough to check her teeth one last time in the nearest mirror, then puts on her best smile and swings the door wide.

“Suzy,” Barry says, smiling like the sun has just come out. Then, “Hi.”

“Hi,” Suzy parrots. She stares. Barry looks- well, he always looks good, but he’s clearly put in a little extra effort for the occasion. His clothes flatter him and, even though he’s only wearing a button-down and nice slacks, Suzy suddenly feels underdressed. She tugs at the hem of her blouse, smile faltering. “I thought- I mean, we said nowhere fancy-“

“You look lovely,” Barry assures her, and the worst part is how damn genuine he sounds. He steps closer, brows knitted together, like he can sense that something’s wrong. He’s always had a knack for reading her, despite her best efforts. “Everything okay?”

She laughs, once, more self-deprecation than anything. “Yes, I’m just…” She flutters her hands to indicate her entire being. “A mess.”

Barry catches her hands in his. He gently squeezes her fingers. “Hey, now. No you’re not. You’re amazing.” He bites his lip before he asks, hesitant, “You’re not… Having second thoughts, right?”

“What? No! Not at all.” She shakes her head at herself. The last thing she wants to do is make Barry feel bad. “It’s been, like, ten years since I’ve been on a first date, Bar. I’m just a little… Nervous. And rusty.” She looks up at him from under her lashes and admits, quietly, “And I really, really want tonight to go well.”

Barry’s smile returns. This time it’s a small, relieved thing. “That makes two of us.” He tilts his chin up. “Look, I even trimmed my beard.”

Suzy giggles despite herself. She closes her eyes and takes a slow, deep breath. Finally, she squeezes his fingers back, and lets go. “Good,” she says. “Then we can be nervous together.”

“Together,” Barry agrees. He crooks his arm and proffers it to her. “Shall we, then, m’lady?”

Suzy laughs and loops her arm through his. She doffs an invisible hat. “We shall.”

[more prompt fills]

Pairing:Table Ship - Suzy/Barry 
Rating: G
 Words: 1253

A/N: The prodigal writer returns, with a ship I haven’t written for before! It’s set after the Pvs.Z-let’s play. I hope you like it. Also, I love you.

*

In the span of three hours, Barry had realized several things. One was that the office was rarely, if ever, silent. Even in the middle of the night, even in a soundproof room, there was the soft hum of pipes in the building and various electronics over by the TV. Another was the fact that a sleeping Arin Hanson would be very effective as a space heater, something potentially useful to know if the heating would die or if a storl hit them. Then there were the things that he wasn’t sure if he wanted to call realizations, the things he didn’t know what to think of at all.