Being a speedster definitely had its perks: the extra half hour of sleep he got since he didn't have to do a traditional commute, the money he saved from not having to pay food delivery fees, and the cash saved on tickets to visit his friends in Star City were definitely major ones. However, there was one definite drawback: the ire he drew from his friends when he inevitably startles them.

The first time it had happened was early on in his tenure as the Flash. Barry could remember it quite clearly: it had been one of the worst ear boxings he had gotten in a long time, and a lesson in not rushing up on friends.

Barry's heart was pounding, his feet slapping the concrete at lightning pace as he weaved through the busy streets of Central City. His heart pounded (out of excitement and not exertion) and he found himself genuinely smiling for what felt like the first time in forever. Veering to the left, he darted over the bridge out of the city and into the wilderness.

After several laps of the county, the novelty started to wear off, and he figured he might as well return to STAR Labs and see what Cisco was up to. If anything, he could probably learn some new engineering jargon as Cisco tinkered on his latest gadget.

Barry dug his heals into the dirt, spraying it for several feet in front of him.

Crap, did Cisco mention if dirt stains this stuff? Barry internally panicked, patting at the now brown speckled legs of his suit. He groaned, he was definitely going to get an earful about abusing Cisco's baby.

Sighing, Barry set off for STAR Labs, choosing to face his fate right away. Within seconds, he arrived to the cortex but found no one there. Without pausing, he started weaving down the corridors, seeking any sign of life in the building.

It wasn't until he searched the very last of the rooms Cisco used for tinkering that he found him. Coming to a screeching halt in front of Cisco, ready to show him the damage to the suit.

"Cisco, so I may have stained the su-" Barry started to say, not quite making eye contact with Cisco.

Apparently, he had not given Cisco enough warning as he jumped backwards in shock, knocking his work table. The force against the table had been enough to send the tools and what seemed to be hundreds of screws in various sizes rolling to all corners of the room.

"Man! What the hell! Jesus, you're going to kill me if you sneak up on me like that!" Cisco shouted, bending over and clutching his chest.

"Crap, I'm sorry, I didn't -" Barry started to fumble over an apology.

"Agh, no. Just… leave the suit on the mannequin and let a dude know when you enter a room." Cisco said with wide eyes.

As Cisco exited the room, Barry could have sworn he heard him mutter something along the lines of needing to attach a 'damn bell' to the next iteration of his suit.