Chapter Text
Barry had wanted to wait to meet again, "until the bruises were gone," and he had wanted an actual date. At 6:58, two minutes before the time they had agreed on, he knocked on the door to Len's apartment. He was wearing a black Henley under a garnet button up shirt, and dark blue skinny jeans, and he was holding a bouquet in his hands. He looked absolutely delicious, and Len wanted nothing more than to keep him here and taste every inch of his skin. But he had promised they would go out, so he smiled and welcomed Barry into his home.
"Blue roses? Very nice. Did you special order them just for me?"
Barry grabbed his neck and looked away. "Uhm… Actually… I colored them myself."
That was so sweet. The flowers' symbolism, a mystery or something unattainable, and the enchantment of new love, told Len that Barry had gone out of his way to make it a gesture about them. He touched Barry's cheek and leaned in for a peck on his lips. "Even better," he said, as he took the bouquet and put it in a vase.
Barry blushed a lovely scarlet, and Len couldn't wait to find out how far down that blush went. But there'd be time for that later. First, he firmly intended to charm the pants off the speedster, the old-fashioned way. He took Barry by the arm, and they walked together leisurely through the downtown neighborhood. It was hushed, only a few straggling people in suits power-walking past on their way from work, and the nightlife hadn't started yet. Perfect time for a romantic dinner. They stopped by a tiny Italian restaurant, one of Len's favorite places to eat. He sat down diagonally from Barry at a small table with a red tablecloth over a white one.
"I'm aware of your metabolism, Barry. I've seen you faint from hypoglycemia, remember?"
That had been a memorable museum heist, ending with Len carrying Barry all the way back to STAR Labs and watching over him until he was awake and coherent again. Needless to say, the loot had been forgotten at the museum, and nobody had tried to stop him from getting away.
"Please, don't remind me," Barry said with a laugh. "That was embarrassing."
"Not as embarrassing as a panic attack in a cage." He smirked. "I figure we've already got enough blackmail material on each other by now."
"True. And we've met each other's families, so that part is done."
"What are the odds of Joe West threatening me with his gun the next time we meet?"
"Oh, about the same as Lisa threatening me."
That was true, and he acknowledged it with a tilt of his head. His mind, always trying to be ten steps ahead, was telling him this easy familiarity didn't feel like a first date, and that he had a reasonably good chance of taking Barry home afterwards. He tried keeping his hopes down, and just enjoy the moment, hard as it was for him to relax.
"What I wanted to say was that I know how much you need to eat, so just order what you want, maybe a little bit more, and we'll share. As long as you order the risotto; it's delicious. This date is on me."
Barry's whole face lit up with unrestrained joy. They ended up ordering three pasta dishes, the risotto, lamb, chicken, steak, a cheese plate and a charcuterie plate, as well as three desserts. Len took a bite or two of everything, more of the risotto, and sipped a glass of sparkling white wine. Barry ate the rest, with gusto, but chose to drink plain water. They talked, but only about the kind of insignificant things they didn't know about each other.
"Of course I had an emo phase, everybody did. I'm going to regret saying this, right, but if you dig hard enough on Facebook, you can probably find the photos."
"Black clothes, piercings, My Chemical Romance quotes? You better believe I'm going to try. I wonder if Ms West-Thawne has any good ones?"
"I regret scrubbing you from the net."
Len huffed a laugh. "Believe me, nobody wants to see me in my Fresh Prince phase. The nineties were a strange time."
He suddenly felt very old, and Barry seemed to take notice of the age difference, too. Barry laid his hand on top of Len's. "I don't mind. As long as you don't call me kid, that kinda takes me out of the mood."
Fair enough. "There goes," he made a quick calculation, "about fifteen percent of my material."
"I'm sure you'll make up for it with more bad temperature related puns." Barry's eyes were glittering with amusement.
"My puns are not bad," he huffed, in fake exasperation. "Watch what you're saying, or I may not take you home tonight." They were done eating, so it was time to up the volume of the flirting. He turned his hands to hold Barry's, much like he had done when they were trapped.
"Oh no, whatever would I do with myself?" Barry asked, with one eyebrow raised and a cocked half-smile. That scenario, Len could vividly imagine.
"Probably not half the things I'd like to do with you," Len said, his voice deliberately pitched low. When Barry blushed, he knew he had won this one. He asked for their check, and they left hand in hand.
***
By the time the elevator doors closed in Len's building, they were busy making out like teenagers, with deep kisses and none too careful groping. Len had Barry's left leg around his waist, and both hands on his ass (which felt just as good in his hands as he had imagined). When the doors opened, Len pulled at Barry's other leg, and Barry was definitely with the program, letting Len carry him with both legs around his waist. It wasn't the first time either of them had carried the other, but this closeness was much better than Barry's bridal carry or Len's fireman's carry.
While Len was looking for his keys, Barry was pressed against the door and making full use of his unfairly clever tongue on Len's ear. "Not making this any easier, Red," he said.
"Good," Barry whispered. "I'm trying to make it hard."
Len leaned into him, breathing hot puffs of air into his neck. "And you have the nerve to complain about my puns." He finally found the key, and unlocked the door. His bed was fifty feet away, and the couch only ten feet away. The decision was easy. He let Barry fall onto his back on the couch. He was so gorgeous, flushed and breathing hard, his legs spread and his pupils dilated to the point where his irises were just a thin glimpse of green. Len wanted him.
"Come here and kiss me," Barry said. "I've wanted to kiss that smirk off your face since the first time I saw you properly."
Len was all too happy to oblige, straddling him before diving in and devouring Barry's mouth. He held his face gently, stroking the hint of stubble on his cheeks, dragging his fingers slowly along Barry's neck. The contact made him gasp, and it was a beautiful sound, one that Len wanted to hear as a permanent soundtrack. He reluctantly made their kisses more shallow, just lips meeting open lips, until he could disentangle them and start kissing downwards. Barry leaned his head back, stretching that lean neck for him, and Len took the invitation to nibble. He brushed a hand over Barry's stomach, where the shirt had scrunched up and left a sliver of skin for him to explore above Barry's hipbone.
"Oh, right there, right there," Barry said, his hands clenching Len's thighs. Barry relaxed his grip, and moved the hands upwards, with a teasingly light touch. Len ground down, and he could feel Barry's hard cock moving against his own.
"How," he panted, and started over. "How do you want this?"
"Nngh, don't make me choose." Barry's voice was strained, and he didn't stop thrusting. "I've imagined this so many times…" he paused, and Len was, once again, distracted by thoughts of Barry touching himself, thinking about him, of all people. He kissed him, just to let Barry know he wasn't alone in fantasizing. "I want to get my mouth on your cock at some point tonight."
"That can… definitely... be arranged…" Those lips, red and swollen from kissing, that mouth, yeah, Len was on board for that. "Bedroom?"
Before Len knew it, he'd been moved to his large bed. He was on his back, Barry above him, with a wicked smile on his lips. He smirked and raised an eyebrow, not backing down just because superpowers had been involved.
Barry kissed down Len's neck and chest, unbuttoning his shirt as he went. Len froze, not comfortable with his scars, and Barry must have noticed. "Do you want this?"
"Not… Not yet. Later."
"It's okay." He stopped, and sat up to remove his own shirts, showing off his lean chest and defined abs.
Len couldn't resist sitting up with him, stroking that chest and those small, brown nipples. He wanted to be naked with Barry, but he couldn't be, not yet. What he could do was to unbutton their jeans, and drag Barry's down past his hips. He licked those nipples, and teasingly stroked along the elastic of Barry's boxers. "I want to be inside you."
"Yesss…" Barry kissed him, arching his back. "Riding you is definitely on the List, capital L."
Len chuckled. "I'd be interested in seeing that list." He nibbled his way from Barry's nipple and downwards. Barry's hands grasped at the back of his head, trying to find a grip in Len's short hair. Len rolled them over, and tried to work Barry's jeans, his very skinny jeans, down his legs.
Barry laughed. "I can't believe we forgot to take our shoes off," he said. He stood up to get undressed properly, and Len enjoyed looking at every inch of newly bared skin. "Your turn."
He dragged Len up with a slow kiss, and Len took everything but his undershirt off. Barry wrapped him in his arms, and Len tried to just hold on, to feel all that naked skin against his own. This was a luxury he rarely, if ever, had the opportunity to indulge in. He stood there, just holding Barry and breathing him in. "You feel so good," he said, not even trying to hide the emotions in his voice.
"Just you wait," Barry replied, not letting go. They must have stood like that, hugging, for several minutes, but even Len lost count of the seconds. His erection was flagging, but he didn't care. Barry started kissing Len's neck, working his way up to his ear. "This is awesome, but I was thinking about going further, if it's okay with you? Would you mind if I went down on you?"
Len could imagine just holding Barry the entire night, but the offer of oral sex was too tempting to resist. "Please," he said.
Barry smiled, one of those grins that lit up an entire room, and fell to his knees. Not quite a superhero landing, but it was a very close thing. He looked amazing on his knees, his cock hard and red against the creamy skin of his stomach. His hazel eyes looked up under long eyelashes, and he opened his mouth to take in Len's cock.
"Wait," Len said, suddenly all too aware of what they were doing. "Condom."
"Really?" Barry looked up at him, head cocked to the side in question. It struck Len again how young he was. Barry had never been aware of a world where HIV was anything other than a chronic, manageable condition. Len still lit a candle every December 1st, remembering lost friends and a few lost lovers.
"Yes, and we'll talk about this, but not now. Just do this for me, Barry." He picked up a strip of condoms, some lube and wet wipes from the bedside table, and rolled a condom on.
The slight disappointment on Barry's face was quickly replaced by hunger, and he came close again with renewed enthusiasm. He licked along the underside of Len's cock, and swirled his tongue around the ridge of the head, before taking the head in his mouth and sucking hard. Len wobbled, trying hard to stand still, but failing. He could feel Barry's smirk. One hand with long fingers wrapped around his shaft, pumping in counterpoint to Barry's head bobbing. When he looked down, he could see Barry's other hand wrapped around his own cock, just slowly stroking. He couldn't resist grabbing a large handful of Barry's hair, tugging gently without trying to fuck into his mouth.
"Hnggh… Keep doing that, don't stop…" His words were garbled, but nothing could hide the enthusiasm. Len tugged harder, and thrust shallowly into Barry's mouth. Barry kept sucking, with no finesse left.
"If we keep this up, I'm not gonna be able to fuck you," Len panted, feeling the crescendo of his orgasm approaching.
"You're making this so hard for me, Len," Barry said, licking his well-fucked and wet lips. He ducked down and gave the head of Len's cock a sloppy kiss, and then another, before coming up to kiss Len on the lips.
Len twisted them around, toppled Barry onto the bed, and started nibbling at his hip bone. He slipped a condom onto Barry's cock and lubed up two of his fingers. He was way beyond caring about taking things slow, so he swallowed down on Barry's cock and took it almost all the way to the root in a single movement. One careful finger circled Barry's hole.
"Don't go slow."
Len choked a little at the pun, and Barry must have heard it himself, too, as he groaned and put his arm over his head.
"I swear, you'll be the death of me with those puns. I can take it, I like the burn."
Len raised his head with a pop. "Not freezer burn, I hope." Barry laughed, his head thrown back. When Len entered him with a not overly careful finger, he hissed and arched his back. Len followed with a second finger, slightly more carefully. His other hand massaged the lovely, round globes of Barry's ass. "I can definitely get behind this."
Barry started shaking with laughter. "Oh, God, you have to stop, this is so bad."
"Don't you like being pun-etrated?" His fingers found Barry's prostate, and he started rubbing. "I always knew you had a little bad in you."
"Wait, wait, pause… Red!" Barry was howling with laughter, but that was a universal safe word if he'd ever heard one. Len removed his fingers and cleaned them with a wet wipe, looking at Barry for a clue about what just had happened, but he just kept laughing until he started crying.
Once the laughter died down, Barry wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. "Could you, maybe, not make me laugh like that when we're having sex? My stomach hurts. Just, chill it with the puns."
Len looked into his eyes, beautiful even when they were glistening with tears. It took a little while, but then, Barry heard his own pun and started groaning. Len leaned in for a quick kiss, and rubbed his nose against Barry's. "We should probably have a safeword that's not one of my nicknames for you." He stroked Barry's cheek. "How about 'swordfish'?"
"'The password is always swordfish?'" Barry quoted. "Works for me, but let's just not do things that needs one."
"Barry, you needed one for my puns." They looked at one another, and burst into laughter again at the same time. Len let his head rest on Barry's chest. This was so weird. He hadn't had sex this awkward since he was a teenager, and if it had been anyone else in his bed, he'd have kicked them out long ago. But this was Barry, who laughed and cried openly, and who wanted to be here with him, not just because he was a good fuck. And who kissed the top of his head gently, when Len lay there, just taking comfort in his warmth.
"Let's be honest, Barry, we're not gonna fuck tonight. Not because we don't want to, but because we both have too much tension going on. On the bright side, I'm not going anywhere. We'll get more chances, and I really want to see that list of yours." He took them both in hand, and kissed Barry deeply. They both fucked into his hand, quickly losing their rhythm. Barry came first, with a deep sigh. Len had never seen him relaxed before, not like this, all loose and comfortable. That was the image that brought him over the brink. He came all the harder for the times he'd been teased and denied. Afterwards, he bent down to kiss Barry when he cleaned them.
"You're amazing, Len," he said, voice slurred and eyelids drooping. "Don' know what I'd do wh'out you." He took a deep breath, and Len saw him tense up again, starting from the shoulders. "I don't know what I'll do at all."
"We can figure it out," Len said, reaching out to take Barry into his arms. "You lost your job, and I'm sorry. Still sure you don't wanna become one of my Rogues?"
Barry smiled a sad little smile. "I think you'd find that I'm not exactly a great underling. I tend to do what I think is the right thing, not what anybody else tells me to do. Also, the whole stealing thing?"
"I know, I know. But you still have your friends over at S.T.A.R. Labs, right? Couldn't they help you find a new job, if you don't want to take my offer?"
Barry sat up straight. "Holy crap, I own S.T.A.R Labs!"
Len buried his face in Barry's lap. "Did you forget about that?"
"I am such a giant disaster." He leaned against the headboard, laughing weakly, and scratching Len's head with his long fingers.
"No, Barry. You're a hero. You're my hero. And I'm your villain."