You know, the usual. Cuddle, traumatize Barry, try to do as little work as possible in the meantime.

( if it seems like linda's avoiding the question, it's because she's definitely avoiding the question. the fry's good, though, salty and crispy and all of the terrible things that doctors and health nuts tell you to avoid. she's happy to linger with sara's hand on hers, too. why move? )

What's this shit about you being unemployed?

( cuddle? yup. traumatize barry? sounds about right. hell, sara's felt like doing the same lately. try to do as little work as possible? sold. )

Oh, right.

( like she's forgotten already. but she's not even vaguely tipsy yet — probably why her hand reaches out to snatch her second mimosa before it's even set on the table in front of them. perks of league of assassins training, or something like that. )

Magnus and his boyfriend left the city, so they closed Pandemonium when they went. Honestly, I'm gonna miss his weird magical cocktails more than I'm gonna miss the job itself, so it's no big thing. ( and she shrugs, chasing a sip of the mimosa with another french fry. )

What, they couldn't find some hot girl to run the club for them? ( linda doesn't have much experience with whoever magnus or his boyfriend were, but now that they're gone, it seems a little silly to be falsely positive about the situation. closing a business when there are other people around to run it is the sort of idiot idea that she'd fully expect back home. not here, where people come and go so often.

sara's lack of an immediate reaction, coupled with her casual shrug, means the topic can be laid aside with just a quip or two. no need to drag the discussion out; if sara's happy to be unencumbered by a work schedule, linda's happy for her. plus, it makes scheduling things like this considerably easier if there's only one job to keep in mind.

her own mimosa is bright and sweet, definitely needed over the salty tang of the fries, and linda casually downs about half of it before she pipes back up again. )

And, oh — I've been seeing a guy, actually. ( "a guy", as if it's just some random stranger totally unrelated to their ridiculous web of known associates. ) Hence the torturing Barry part.

Oh? ( cue the eyebrow raise, and a little squeeze given to linda's hand as a mischievous smile creeps onto the corners of her mouth. ) Do tell.

( the torturing barry part is still of particular interest, if only because from the periphery gossip she gets via leonard, things are already fairly complicated for barry as it is even without a healthy splash of linda park stomping all over his heart thrown in. more power to linda.

and, catching the previously flirtatious waitress who doesn't seem particularly thrilled by sara's proximity to her new brunch companion, she orders: ) A stack of chocolate chip pancakes for us, thanks.

( the waitress' poorly disguised huff of displeasure only encourages linda's grin around the rim of her glass. she can't blame the girl for her apparent jealousy — sara's easy on the eyes even on her off days, and today is clearly not one of those.

no, sara looks radiant as ever, mischief and barely repressed laughter curving her mouth into a smile. it's the sort of smile that linda burns into her own memory, too sentimental a gesture to even admit to herself, and then returns in kind. )

You remembered. ( not that it's much of a surprise, but still nice to express her satisfaction. ) And I don't know if you know him.

( maybe she does. they all seemed to know of each other, at least, those volunteers whose lives at home had crisscrossed over central city and its neighbors. in any case, linda shrugs slightly before continuing, ) Wally West?

( astute — or even just non-brain-dead — followers of the central city and co romance saga may recognize the last name as that of barry's other female romantic interest, miss iris west herself. because, yes, the universe would have it that linda would unintentionally find herself dating (and, if she's quite honest, liking) the pseudo-brother of her former flame.

isn't it #ironic, dontcha think? )

West, huh?

( thankfully, sara isn't brain-dead; she knows that the re-arrival of a certain iris west caused quite the shakeup of barry's love life — or, you know, so she's heard through the grapevine. she doesn't know if iris has any brothers, or maybe he's just a cousin or something.

either way, it's pretty amusing in a kind of messed up kind of way. ) You are something else, Linda Park.

( the kiss pressed to linda's cheek, the cheesy grin sara wears in the lead up and the aftermath, are pretty clear indicators that she's a million times more impressed than judgmental. things like this are (part of) the reason she likes hanging around linda — and a reason why she takes pre-orders for pancakes very seriously. )

I mean, as far as torture goes... ( linda cuts herself off with a draining sip of her mimosa, dropping the empty glass at the far end of the table where it can be swept by a passing busboy or their increasingly bitter waitress. ) It's kind of messed up, actually.

( maybe it's the fact that she and sara have never actually bothered to define their particular brand of Gal Pals that makes it so easy to talk to her. the fact that she knows sara's more likely to enjoy the gossip than feel any sort of jealousy or possessiveness, or that sara's position in their web of paramours makes her perfectly aligned to enjoy the ridiculous situation linda's found herself in — in any case, there's no hesitation as she begins to explain the situation, though it's not an explanation that comes out particularly succintly. )

Like, you know about me and Barry, obviously, and how that's... not a thing anymore, whatever. And Iris is my best friend. I mean, we worked together and she basically saved my life, so. ( linda shrugs a bit, flipping sara's hand under her own, exposing her palm to idly exploring fingertips. ) Wally is Iris' brother, which I guess kind of makes him Barry's brother too? In a... weird way, considering the whole Barry-and-Iris thing.

( sorry, barry. it is weird to be Soulmate Obsessed with your psuedosister. there's no amount of past-tense relationship status that would ever cause linda park to not find that weird as hell. )

Which, I mean, I only found out about the brother part here when I found out they were living together. Wally and Iris.

( a beat, and then, ) I would have preferred to find that out maybe not half-naked in the kitchen, but...