mostlyajerk | Big House

Well. That hadn't happened before, not here anyway. Barry looked up and -- oh man, he knew that face. Of course he knew that face. Everyone knew that face. It was pretty much all over the office not long ago. Leonard Snart. And that dude by him was Mick Rory. These two were pretty notorious, Joe had nearly pulled all his hair out trying to catch them, clearly he'd managed.

This wasn't exactly what he expected from meeting them. They looked exactly like their pictures yet not, there was an odd sort of realism he didn't expect, things that stood out more. Mick's burns, Leonard's eyes, the way both of them held themselves.

Barry swallowed and realised he was staring, nodding his head dumbly despite the fact that, no, he had not showered but he didn't really want to go back in there, he mostly just wanted to put his clothes back on. He stood under the water, he was going to be fine.

"I'm good. Totally good." Barry grabbed the towel and tied it around himself, pulling himself to his feet with a nervous smile. "Just kind of winded, my gut hurts but otherwise, totally cool. Thanks, erm, I'm Barry." Did people give names here? Too late, he had given it. He really needed to stop doing that, at least he wasn't offering his hand any more. "Good to meet you." He thought. Maybe.

"I'm Snart. You can shower, I'm not interested. Just get clean and get out." Leonard glanced at the door to make sure Mick had closed it. He didn't like company while showering. He didn't mind the kid being there, as long as he'd make it quick. "You're Axel Walker's cellmate. He mentioned you."

And from the looks of it, he'd been right. "You have to time your showers. Mick and I hit them at this time. Always. Come then, because I don't like a show. You'll be fine."

"Yeah, I am. He didn't mention you." Axel was weird and odd, he never knew what to do think of him but he was pretty sure he was clearly trading vertigo in here so maybe if he stuck near him, he'd get to whoever was supplying it and he'd get more names. As it stood, he had something to go by. Progress. "He seems nice."

Barry set the towel aside and tiptoed into the shower awkwardly, grabbing the soap out of the drain. He had to rinse it to get the hairs off but once he did, he started to wash as quick as he could. "Guys here are really hard up, huh? They keep trying it on with me. It's weird." He'd never had this many people trying to fuck him before. It was terrifying. "But thanks, that's pretty cool of you. It'd be nice to shower in peace."

"He's not nice. He's a rat. He's selfish and a coward, just smart enough and with some survival instinct. People in here aren't nice. Not if they want to make it through." Leonard had turned away to mostly face the wall, not about to watch some stranger shower. Didn't really rock his boat the way it apparently did with most of the guys here.

"They're horny and it's power play. It's not really about you, just about sticking it in." A shrug and he sighed. Another kid and he didn't really want to see him get hurt. "Stick with me, Barry. Or Mick. They won't mess with you."

"He doesn't seem all bad." He didn't seem at all good either but Barry didn't want to speak ill of Axel before he really knew him. Sure, he said some cruel stuff and ignored him when he crawled in the cell the other day and pretended to not know him but -- well, no, that was literally all he knew about Axel. "Not everyone is that bad. I met some okay guys."

Says the guy with bruises on him so dark, they were almost black. Barry was clearly trying to see something that wasn't here but he didn't believe everyone here could be that awful. "Stick with you?" Stay with Leonard Snart? Was that a wise idea? He supposed it wasn't the worst. "Would that be cool? ... What would I owe you?"

"There's a couple that aren't so bad. But from the looks of you, you've met none of them." Leonard waited for Barry to finish up, not really in the mood to teach him about how bad the world was. He thought it was a lesson best learned each person for themselves. "You don't have anything I'm interested in, so just owe me a favour and we'll be even. I'll cash it in when I feel like it."

Was that a good idea? Owing Leonard Snart anything. What if he wanted him to do something illegal or stab someone? He couldn't do that? Barry didn't answer for a while if he debated if this was a good thing or not. Like Leonard had said, people didn't tend to be nice in here. That might include Leonard himself. "I don't know. I don't like the idea of owing favours. I'm hoping to get up for parole and all so I don't need to make my situation worse owing people dodgy deeds."

"Then I'll promise you that whatever favour I'd ask of you, if any, won't be anything illegal. Now are you going to hurry up, because I want to shower at some point and so does my partner." Leonard finally turned around, although he kept his eyes firmly fixed on Barry's face. "Tell them that you're with me. They can decide if they want you that much." Leonard took a step closer, waiting for Barry to finally dry off. "You don't belong here. They can all sense that."

Barry stopped the moment he was pretty much told to, not wanting to cause any trouble. He grabbed his towel and nodded his head, smiling with an unsure look, despite that cheery front he tried to have. "Okay, deal. I'll owe you something totally legal." Barry dried his hair off and then pulled his towel around his waist, slightly flushed but meeting Leonard's eyes with determination. "They can? The courts seemed to think I belonged here. I don't want to be here, I just sort of -- fucked up." Which wasn't a total lie, hence why he could pull it off. "I kind of want people to stop sensing it. Maybe I'll blend better."

"Maybe you will. But don't model yourself after Axel. He's a bad choice. Just try to be less open." This was a lost cause, but he might as well give him some advice. "Sit with us at breakfast." Leonard finally started to unbutton his shirt, not that he planned on getting naked while Barry was still inside. "You'll be fine." The only reason he would be fine was because he'd decided to step in, but that was the only way a guy like Barry could be fine, so Leonard didn't mind. Hartley had been a rare exception. Smarter than he'd have thought. Axel had his own ways of finding misery. This was a death or he stepped in move.

"I don't think I could model myself after Axel, he seems more into getting on his knees than I am." Barry shrugged his shoulders but tilted his head to the side at the offer, a little shocked that Leonard Snart was inviting him to breakfast. Was it a set up or was he actually trying to help? This wasn't the sort of guy Joe made him out to sound like. "I'll get out of your hair but yeah, I'll totally come to breakfast. Might be nice to actually finish my food for once." Usually someone took it before it finished. "I'll see you tomorrow morning then."

Breakfast. Most important meal of the day.

Hartley looked as if he hadn't slept and all he did was nurse his coffee, eyes on the mug and nothing else. Mick was stealing Hartley's food, not that he seemed to mind, and Leonard waited for his tea to cool enough to be drinkable. "Barry's going to sit with us. The new kid."

"I figured, since you showered with him yesterday." Word got around and Hartley earned himself a look with that.

Barry entered the lunch room with Axel, joining the line and picking up two trays, offering one to a clearly fed up Axel who seemed just entirely done with Barry. It wasn't a shock. Barry was constantly making mistakes, being an idiot, getting himself in the firing line and Snart's protection only extended so far. Axel was pretty much keeping an eye on him and keeping him alive at this point. Also trying to make sure Snart didn't kick his ass for failing him.

Barry loaded up his tray with as much food as he could get, waiting politely for Axel to finish and gesturing for him to come with him. A dodgy move given Hartley was there but eh, he'd chance it.

The two sat down and Barry grinned. God, he grinned. It was painful. "Hey guys."

Hartley moved over more than he strictly needed to to make space for Barry and Axel, which meant he wasn't too close to him. So, yes, he was salty and he wouldn't just get over it, but whatever. They had had something and now they had nothing. He had nothing. He didn't want to pretend that it didn't bother him, he wasn't that good an actor. Looking at Barry he mostly just arched his eyebrows.

Mick grunted, Leonard had just a bit of a smile as he watched Barry grin. Ray of sunshine, this damn puppy couldn't be for real. "Hey. Sleep well?"

Yes, apparently he was going to make conversation with the kid.

"Mostly. I slept pretty solid until like two am or something when the guys next door to us started to fight. Then me and Axel just talked until I got tired." Judging from the look on Axel's face, no, he didn't want to talk and no, it had not been a fun experience. Mostly just talking about aliens, the potential existence of a yeti and, weirdly, if he knew where to get vertigo. The kid was a druggie. Made a lot of sense.

"Oh it was magical, like a sleepover." Axel rolled his eyes and shuffled closer to Hartley, grinning playfully. "Morning handsome. It's rude to give the cold shoulder to me. And Barry, he's new."

"Hey." Barry greeted, smiling at Hartley. "Nice to meet you."

"...morning." No, Hartley was not a morning person and the looming threat of having Axel all over him really wasn't helping matters. He took a sip from his coffee, while Leonard was watching. Mostly Barry, because he was fairly sure that there was something to him. Something interesting.

"What did you talk about? Maybe I need you around. I can never fall asleep." Leonard finally drank his tea and Mick snorted, clearly not anticipating an actual cellmate exchange. He might have said something, but he was busy eating.

"Oh. Well. I was just telling Axel about Allagash Waterway Abduction. It's fascinating. Have you ever heard of it? Basically these four guys are on a boat and--"

"They get their asses probed by aliens. End of story." Axel was not listening to this again. Instead, he slid away from Barry and closer to Hartley. Not touching, he just had to be away from crazy boy.

"Well, no, that's not really the ... okay, well, that's fine. Doesn't matter." Barry was a little dejected his story was interrupted but he supposed he could explain it later if Leonard was actually interested. He smiled at Leonard and shrugged his shoulders somewhat. "I don't like sleeping here much, the beds aren't very good and there's not much light, it's kind of creepy."

This kid just couldn't be for real. Telling conspiracy theory stories and honestly talking about what sleeping here was like. What was he expecting. "Don't say that around people, Barry, they'll offer you company."

Hartley pretended Axel wasn't there, because the alternative was either to storm off or to touch him and neither of those were good ideas. Better to just listen to Leonard actually showing interest in someone. It was fascinating in a very disturbing way.

"You're scared of the dark? Not much to do about that, I'm afraid." Not as if they could just get a nightlight.

"Yeah, I kind of figured. Three guys offered to cuddle me just this morning." They didn't offer to cuddle, that was just what Barry thought they offered and it was obvious by how Axel was barely fighting off laughter. What a dork. "It's not so bad though, I mean you expect this when you get sent to jail. I fucked up, now I get a crappy mattress and an itchy blanket. Don't know why it's even itchy, fabric softener isn't that expensive."

He thought that was a valid point. Barry took a drink from his coffee, pale and loaded with sugar, looking at Len with amusement. "I learned to cope. There's a certain age when having a super cool nightlight with stars becomes less badass and more dorky. I guess the little light that comes through the bars is okay."

God, was he talking about having a nightlight? This kid was a mess. Axel rolled his eyes and turned his head to Hartley, a mock pout on his face. "You never offer to cuddle me any more."

"Unless you want to get your ass probed, you probably shouldn't accept cuddle offers." This kid couldn't be for real. How did he even end up here? Actually, Leonard was beginning to wonder whether he didn't have some mental issues, because there was naivety and then there was whatever this was. "They don't want you to be comfortable. Punishment and all that. You're lucky you have a blanket, most guys like you would have to earn it. Axel's taking it easy on you. Good for him."

Leonard had stated he'd look out for this kid and he meant it. Meanwhile Hartley actually looked at Axel, expression unreadable. Whenever he actually said anything, Axel just made sure to mock him for caring at all, so what was he supposed to do?

"I'd rather cuddle myself."

"I'd have to earn my blanket? That seems unfair."

"The guy who had your bed before made me earn mine. Three months and a lot of dick later, I got it. I didn't get the actual bed, I had to sleep on the floor." Axel was as blunt as he always was, his eyes still on Hartley. Oh Max, what a prick Max was. The one who wanted him to get rid of Hartley. Mission accomplished. "Well, I guess he wasn't the one who had your bed before technically. The one who had your bed before hung himself because he was gang raped in the work yard."

Barry looked at Axel in horror, his eyes wide because Christ, that was awful. How the hell did anyone get away with that? What the hell were the guards doing? Man. He needed names. That family deserved justice. "Someone died in our room?"

"Yeah but they scrubbed it over so it's all good and I got to keep all of his stuff." With a shrug, Axel reached out and put his hand on Hartley's arm. "Speaking of, we should trade some time, darling Hart. I have something you might like."

"It's what happens. Would have happened to me when I first got here, but I got the jump on the guy and he spent a lot of nights in the infirmary instead. Now I'm still stuck with my second cellmate." Leonard shrugged, obviously not minding that one too much, even if Mick was currently taking care of the majority of his breakfast. Whatever, he had snacks in his cell. "You should have at least read up some to prep yourself for this, Barry."

"Don't show anyone that you might be happy," Hartley recommended, "Just leads to them making sure you're not."

He held his breath when Axel touched him, turning to pull his hand away, but also to face him. "What?"

"What was the guy's name?"

"How the hell should I know?" Axel dismissed, his focus on Hartley and Hartley alone. "I got something musical. And it's good. I could buy protection with it if I wanted but I thought I'd save it for you to have first dibs. So it's up to you if you want to trade or not."

Barry blinked. How could someone be so dismissive? A poor guy hung himself and he was attacked, people should care. There should be a case about it. Worrying his lower lip, Barry frowned and looked at Leonard. Sure, he did research but no one at the precinct told him about these politics they had here. How callous it was. "I'll try to be less happy then." He probably didn't need to start more trouble.

"I could tell you the name. But it's more curious that you're asking. Never a good idea to ask too much." So he had to give the puppy a crash course in prison etiquette. Not that shocking, but how had his life led him down that path? How did he end up here while being this naive? "We've leisure time coming up. I'll be in the library. What about you?"

While Leonard talked to Barry, Mick had finished eating what was there and leaned back, balancing his palms on the bench. He was watching, which he tended to do more than people thought. Hartley wasn't paying attention to him. He finished his coffee and shrugged. "Come see me in my cell then."

"I'm curious, I can't help it. I'm a scientist." Barry shrugged, better to say scientist than cop and he was hoping it'd explain away why he asked so many questions. He guessed he wasn't giving the right vibes as a criminal being so caring and thoughtful but surely good people got sent here all the time. Just look at his dad. He was a good man. "I can be in the library too. I could use a book, Axel says I should talk to him less."

"I didn't say less." Axel assured with a soft smile. "I said entirely but I will accept less." He would have spent more time knocking Barry back but oh man, how could he care right now, Hartley agreed to let him go to his cell. Amazing. Axel grinned and practically bounced in his seat. "It's a date."

Big House

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