Teaser – Hartley just needed to get out of the apartment and not feel like he was completely alone this New Year's Eve. He wasn't expecting to run into Cisco and he certainly wasn't expecting to have actual fun. Or to have the night somehow turn into a very nice date...
Notes – Mentions of Rogue One, but nothing you can't tell from the trailers. Slightly more spoilery discussions of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Ignores what's been going on in Arrow so that Thea, Oliver, and Felicity can be mentioned as having a normal New Year's eve. (Normal for them, anyway.)
New Year's Luck
Hartley had hoped that reuniting with his parents would mean no more holidays or birthdays alone. But reality never quite lived up to wishes, so what it really meant was that he went from the disowned gay son to the acknowledged, but inconvenient, gay son.
"My birthday is coming up and I thought maybe we could have dinner?"
"Sorry, son, but I've got a business trip that week. Your mother's coming with me since its Boston."
Of course, having dinner after they got back was somehow out of the question too. Thus, Hartley was unsurprised to hear that his parents were going to be out of town for the winter holidays, though they hoped he had fun with his friends.
What friends, exactly, was he supposed to be spending the holidays with?
Certainly not his co-workers. Hartley got along with them well enough to sort of consider a few of them friends, but not to the point of spending the holidays with them. Team Flash? He heard from them maybe once every few months when they wanted a second opinion on something that happened to be his specialty. The closest he came to a real friend was Lisa Snart and Hartley knew that at least part of why she'd befriended him in the first place was to freak out Cisco and part of it was because she was secretly a good person at heart.
Cisco, Barry, and Caitlin had found the two of them having lunch together one day and Hartley had not enjoyed explaining that, no, he wasn't going to be joining her in a crime spree (Lisa pouted, "oh come on, Hart, it'd be fun." "Not helping, Lisa.") and that Lisa had basically rescued him when his dampeners failed to work as well as he'd hoped at a club, leaving him disoriented while being hit on by a handsy asshole; so, no, Hartley wasn't going to stop hanging out with her either no matter what anyone else had to say on the matter. He could decide who his own friends were perfectly fine and he was well versed now in telling Lisa 'no' when she tried to get him to join the Rogues for a bit of 'fun'. (Lisa denied that when she said 'fun' she meant 'theft'. Everyone ignored her objections because they all knew perfectly well that 'fun' meant 'theft' when translated into 'Snart'.)
Regardless, Lisa was also out of town for the holidays. Too many memories of Lenny here in Central City, she'd told him. She'd gone to Star City and Hartley hoped that she wasn't stupid enough to try and pull a heist under Oliver Queen's nose. The last thing he wanted to deal with was getting roped into helping her recover from an arrow to the knee.
In the end, all Hartley really had in the way of company was his dog, a scruffy little terrier mix who answered to the name of Missy. She was good company and learned fast, but at the end of the day she was a dog. She could demand petting or play time or walks or dinner, but she couldn't discuss the scientific breakthroughs he found fascinating or his favorite episodes of The Magicians. Still, as far as self-bought birthday gifts went, as a scruffy, tail-wagging creature who liked to lick him on the nose and danced with joy when he came home from work every evening, Missy was absolutely perfect.
He'd even had a nice Christmas, just him and Missy... though Missy got all the presents under the tree. She loved the new blanket and ripped through the first of her toys in under an hour. Fluff went everywhere – more fluff than he'd realized the toy contained – and, when Missy showed no interest in eating the fluff, Hartley ended up leaving it where it was until the evening. It looked like it had snowed in patches all over the living room and Missy gave him offended looks whenever he moved the fluff out of his way on the couch. (No doubt she considered that fluff to be hers to decorate with as she pleased.) Missy had also appreciated her new treats, though she'd have liked to have eaten them all instead of just one.
He'd gotten himself some new ebooks he'd been wanting for a while and then curled up on the couch with Missy for most of the day, just reading while Christmas music played on the radio and a fireplace app crackled merrily on his TV.
About a week later, however, Hartley felt like he was going a little stir crazy. So he decided to field test the improvements he'd made to his latest set of dampeners and see if they were good enough to make bar hopping bearable. There were a few places nearby that he'd been considering visiting but, considering the disorientation, the handsy asshole, and the migraine he had afterwards the last time around (not even Lisa could make up entirely for the experience), Hartley had been waiting until he could upgrade the sound dampeners to better deal with the noise in those places.
Tonight, however, was New Years Eve. He didn't want to ring in the new year alone. He didn't really want to ring it in with strangers, either… but better a crowded room full of loud strangers than greeting yet another new year alone with a bottle of cheap wine.
So Hartley put Missy away in his bedroom and then headed out into the cold December night.
"Cisco?" Hartley slid onto the seat beside the engineer, offering the other man a smile. He signaled the bartender and got a nod. "Surprised to see you here alone on New Years Eve."
"I didn't want to deal with yet another holiday with my parents after how Christmas went," Cisco told him, already nursing a drink of his own.
Hartley ordered a beer when the bartender came by and then turned back to Cisco. "So you picked a gay bar over your friends?"
Cisco shrugged. "Caitlin's spending the holidays with her mom and… things are awkward with Barry right now, which rules out all the Wests too. Even if HR hadn't gone back to Earth-19 for the week, I wouldn't want to be hanging out with him on New Years either. He's way too... perky all the time." He shrugged. "I'm pan; why not a gay bar? I'm surprised you'd pick some place this loud, though."
"Trying out some improvements to my hearing aides," Hartley told him. "So far, so good." It helped, though, that the place was more bar than club; the music wasn't so loud that the beat throbbed in his veins as well as his ears and the lighting was bright enough that, even if the sound of the place overwhelmed him, it wouldn't lead to an immediate migraine.
They sat there quietly for a moment and, just as Hartley started trying to think of an excuse to move elsewhere before things got awkward, Cisco asked, "do you want to grab a table, maybe catch up some?"
"Sure." He hadn't thought Cisco would want to spend time with him, but Hartley wasn't going to complain. Glancing around, he gestured to an empty booth off to their left. "That one fine with you?"
When Cisco nodded, they both headed over to cozy little two-person booth.
"So… um… how have you been?" Cisco asked, looking like he felt kind of uneasy about the whole thing. "I don't… I don't think I ever really heard how things went with your parents.
"I've been doing fine," Hartley replied, wondering if maybe he was going to need an excuse to get out of there after all. "I was a little… overly optimistic about what reconciling with my parents would really mean. They've always had a habit of… not exactly ignoring me, but not really being interested in having much to do with me unless it was convenient for them. I kind of thought that would change, but it hasn't. I'm no longer disowned but..." he trailed off with a shrug. "Honestly, I'm not sure what I was expecting to happen."
"That sucks." Cisco fidgeted and then took a drink of his beer.
"How have you been?" Hartley wasn't sure if he should bring up Dante directly or not. He'd sent Cisco an email after hearing about his brother's death, expressing his condolences and letting him know that if he wanted someone to talk to outside of his usual group of friends, all he had to do was call. Cisco never called, however, and Hartley left it at that. They weren't close, so he hadn't really been insulted, and Cisco had probably gotten the same offer from pretty much everyone he liked better than Hartley.
"I saw Dante the other day," Cisco replied, just barely audible over the music and the chatter from the other tables. "This meta we were dealing with, he could manipulate people with hallucinations. So he made me see Dante… made me think that I could bring Dante back if I'd just do what he wanted."
"Shit..." Hartley's eyes widened and, instinctively, he put a hand over Cisco's. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." Cisco's eyes darted to their hands and he blushed slightly as his gaze returned to Hartley's face, but he didn't pull away. "Well… not fine exactly, but you know what I mean. Then, Christmas turned into stories about Dante and how much he loved Christmas and playing carols and… well, everything my parents missed about him, anyway. Kind of like with your parents, mine aren't really all that interested in me either.
"It was infuriating when Dante was alive, how much they fawned over him for being the son they understood. He was the concert pianist and charming and… had the sort of dress sense you'd approve of," Cisco smiled at Hartley, taking the sting out of his words. "They never really got me. I was always more interested in finding out how things work and burying myself in all things science-fiction. They didn't understand why I'd want to waste my time as a mechanical engineer instead of going into a career where I could be constantly overshadowed by Dante everywhere instead of just with family. When I came out to them, first they thought I was making a joke about dating a chef and then they couldn't figure out why I couldn't just make up my mind about which gender I'm attracted to." He scrunched his nose up in irritation and Hartley was surprised to realize that he found that to be kind of adorable. "Dante, at least, thought it was funny up until mom and dad started trying to to tell me pansexuality wasn't a real thing. Probably the only time he ever took my side of an argument over theirs."
Cisco went quiet for a long moment. "But now with Dante gone, I still find it so infuriating that they're playing favorites… and now I feel guilty too because I'm still mad at him for all the times he encouraged them to treat me like this. Like I don't matter. And also… because of every time we promised to spend time together and fix our relationship and it never happened. Part of that's on me, but he never made the effort either and now he's just gone and… I can't remember the last time I really, truly liked my brother. Loved him, sure. That's why I wanted to fix things between us. But… I don't know what happened to the brother who'd save me from bullies in High School even though I'd skipped enough grades for us to be in the same year and that had to be embarrassing, or at least really annoying for him.
"Sorry, I'm kind of rambling here."
"It's a lot easier to be angry with the living, than the dead," Hartley replied, squeezing Cisco's hand lightly. "The living can be angry back."
"Yeah..." Cisco looked away at that and Hartley wondered what was going on in the other man's head.
"Have you seen Rogue One yet?" Hartley asked, changing the subject for the other's comfort.
"Oh, yeah, it was awesome." Cisco perked up, switching to the new topic with a grin. "I haven't been following Rebels, so it was great to get a look at the grittier side of the Rebellion – the people who actually gave their lives for the fight and not just the people with main character immunity in play. It was nice to see a version of Darth Vader who was badass again, too."
"I know, right?" Hartley grinned back at Cisco, retracting his hand. "I could accept little Anakin as a dorky pod-racer. That, at least, wasn't as obnoxious as Jar Jar Binks. But the Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith versions of Anakin? I honestly don't understand why Padme didn't take out a restraining order on him instead of marrying him. So getting to see him as a respectable villain again was a treat."
"Yeah… though it is kind of hilarious that Kylo Ren wants to be like Vader, but does an amazing Anakin Skywalker impersonation instead." Cisco gestured slightly with his beer as he spoke before taking a drink.
"He looks like young Snape to me. I kept expecting him to call General Hux 'Bill Weasley' and ask him why he'd made himself look like a Malfoy. I wanted Poe to sing or play the guitar every time he was on screen too. I had to pull up videos of him singing after the first time I saw The Force Awakens." Hartley contemplated pulling up Oscar Isaac's rendition of Fair Thee Well, but then concluded that it was way too loud for cell-phone sound to be worth it to anyone except him.
"He sings?" Cisco looked intrigued. "That explains the fan fiction trend, I suppose. What about Fantastic Beasts? Have you seen that one yet?"
"Newt reminds me of the Eleventh Doctor," Hartley said instead of answering directly. "I could also see why Luna would fit in so well with his family. Everything with the obscurus, though, made me wonder if maybe Dumbledore's sister had one."
"I thought so too," Cisco agreed. "It fits with what little is said about Ariana's magic turning inward and being so unpredictable after the muggle attack made her afraid of her own magic. It also makes Dumbledore's decision to leave Harry with the Dursley's that much worse. Dumbledore knew the risk that an obscurus poses to abused children – specifically children abused by people who hate magic – and yet he just leaves Harry there to grow up in a household that made it a point to say magic, and people who believe in magic, are freaks and, oh by the way, you're a freak too Harry. Of course, that's setting aside that leaving any kid in an abusive situation is a really shitty thing to do."
"Yeah, it was with good reason I wasn't thrilled that Dumbledore became the one acknowledged gay character in the Harry Potter series," Hartley mused. "Too much about his decisions and back story fall under a combination of unfortunate implications and fridge horror."
From there they just sort of chatted about everything and anything. Turned out Cisco also watched The Magicians and they had the same favorite episode, though neither of them had been pleased with the season finale and were both hoping season two would make up for it. Hartley recommended Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries to Cisco ("You'll adore Phryne and Jack… and, well, all the main cast, actually. Also, Aunt Prudence is played by Professor Sprout and she's pretty awesome.") and was in turn assured that Sense8 lived up to the hype. They were both looking forward to the new version of A Series of Unfortunate Events and excited that His Dark Materials was rumored to be getting a second chance as a mini-series in the UK and would, hopefully, find its way over to the states not too long after.
Then they spent about half an hour debating what their daemons would be.
Around 11:20, however, Hartley began to be aware of a dull ache behind his ears and his ability to tune out everyone else in favor of listening to Cisco was faltering. He started wincing at noises Cisco couldn't hear, which gained him some concerned looks and then, finally, Cisco reached out and took his hand. "How about we go someplace quieter?"
"Yes," Hartley nodded emphatically, relieved to be leaving… but not to be leaving Cisco behind.
So they paid off their tabs and stumbled out into the dark, cold street, both having to take a few moments to recover from the abrupt change in atmosphere.
"So, um, did you have a place in mind or… well… my apartment is just down the street and you could meet my dog, Missy." Hartley managed not to stammer over his words too much, but this was the most fun he'd had talking with someone else in a long time. He didn't want the night to end.
He didn't want to go back to being the 'second opinion' guy.
He wanted…
"I didn't really think that far ahead," Cisco admitted. "You just looked like maybe the noise inside was getting to you and… I'd love to meet your dog." Cisco looked like he was blushing, but maybe it was the bad lighting or the cold air. "Which way?"
Hartley grinned, feeling warm despite the weather when Cisco smiled back. "This way," he said cheerfully, heading off to the left.
He wanted Cisco. That was new.
Missy loved Cisco.
She brought Cisco all her favorite toys for him to inspect and demanded all the petting. She draped herself across his lap, upside down so that he could give tummy rubs. Then she scrambled off for the toys again, because obviously Hartley had brought Cisco home just for her.
"Alright Missy, scoot over or I'm sitting on you," Hartley warned, handing Cisco a mug of hot chocolate and then moving to sit down on the couch beside his guest. Missy grumbled, but moved when it became clear that Hartley was serious about putting his butt on the part of the couch where she was lounging.
"She's adorable," Cisco declared, scratching Missy's ears since she'd climbed onto Cisco's lap to avoid being squashed. He'd set aside his drink on the coffee table so that Missy wouldn't knock it out of his hands.
"She loves people, but is terrible with other dogs. She gets all possessive of me at the dog park and I can't let her off her leash without her picking a fight over who gets the chase all the squirrels." Hartley caught Missy's attention and waggled his fingers at her, laughing when she pounced him and proceeded to follow his hand around, trying to gnaw his fingers all while growling playfully. "She's not used to guests, so you being here has gotten her all wired. Usually around this time, or earlier, she tries to convince me its time for all good puppies to go to sleep and that I should be shutting off the lights because they bother her."
Cisco laughed at the wriggling little dog as she 'caught' Hartley's hand and gnawed lightly, her eyes darting about mischievously, front end down, rear end up, and her tail wagging hard enough to vibrate her entire little body. "You named her after the Master from Doctor Who, didn't you?"
"Maybe." Hartley offered smile as mischievous as Missy. "Want to put on the count down?"
"Sounds good to me."
"Alright, Missy, enough," he moved to grab one of her rope toys, but Missy snatched it away instead to go gnaw on it on the floor. Then Hartley grabbed the remote and flipped on the TV, switching the channel to one of the local news stations where it was showing fireworks from across the country, a countdown clock in the corner of the screen. Six minutes left until the New Year.
"Made any resolutions?" Cisco asked, snagging his cocoa off the table.
"No. The last time I made resolutions for the New Year, I resolved to take down Wells. Putting myself in the path of a speedster serial killer? Not my brightest moment. A few years before that, I resolved to tell my parents about me being gay… and got disowned for my trouble." Hartley shrugged. "New Years resolutions and I don't mix well. What about you?"
"Try and be a better friend to Barry," Cisco admitted. "I got so caught up in my grief over Dante, I… sort of forgot he was still grieving for his father. We both screwed up, but he's been trying to make up for it while I've just been... I've been kind of shitty to him lately. Now it's really awkward between us. He's all for forgiving and forgetting, but I don't know how to go back to normal."
"Explains why you'd pick a bar over the West family," Hartley mused.
"Well, I can't exactly regret picking the bar over the Wests when I've had so much fun talking with you all evening."
Both of them were blushing.
Hartley ducked his head, looking away. Tonight had been fun. Maybe too much. What happened when Cisco left after midnight and Hartley went back to being just the second opinion again? Cisco had friends, after all. What did he even need Hartley for?
"Hartley… what's wrong?"
"I haven't had this much fun in a long time. I used to be the fun one… but then I was the closeted gay Catholic and I started spending less time having fun and more time hating myself. Not… not an easy habit to break. Now its just difficult sometimes… remembering how to have fun." Hartley brought a hand up, running his fingers through his hair. "Sorry, I shouldn't..."
"Hey," Cisco murmured, touching Hartley's hand and gently tugging until suddenly they were holding hands. "I guess I've been struggling with the whole 'having fun' thing lately too. Maybe we could work on that together." His other hand reached up and smoothed Hartley's hair, fingers trailing down along his cheek.
Hartley leaned into the touch, his eyes flickering shut for a moment. "Cisco..."
"Kiss for New Year's luck?"
This was happening. This was really happening… "yes."
It had been a while – a long while – since Hartley had last been kissed. So he was hesitant and nervous and then Cisco's mouth was on his and… everything just tuned out. The countdown on the TV, Missy's soft grumbling noises from the floor, the sound of his neighbors fighting next door… it was just all gone because all Hartley could concentrate on was the rustle of their clothes, the taste of Cisco's lips, the almost inaudible sound Cisco made in the back of his throat, the thudding of their hearts…
Then there was Cisco's phone ringing and Missy gnawing lightly on Hartley's fingers again.
They pulled away and Hartley leaned back, glancing up at the ceiling with a ridiculous grin on his face. Then he looked down at his irritating puppy who, upon seeing that she had Hartley's attention, vaulted over the back of the couch, botched her landing (she was so lucky the carpet was soft), then hurried over to the front door to paw at it while glancing anxiously over at her leash.
"Whoa, whoa, Barry, slow down a little. Where are you?"
"Near the docks, not far from where we dealt with King Shark," came Barry's voice, slightly tinny sounding over Cisco's cell phone speaker.
Hartley sighed quietly and then tapped Cisco's shoulder. "I'm going to take Missy outside for just a minute," he said softly, waiting for Cisco to nod. Instead, Cisco held up a hand.
"Just a second," Cisco tells Barry, then pulls the phone away. "Sorry. It's an emergency. Can I borrow your computer?"
"I kind of figured as much," Hartley replied. "I keep a laptop in here," he gestured towards the corner of the room where it sat of in a corner, charging, an HDMI cord long enough to reach the TV wrapped around it, "and my PC is in the bedroom. Both of them have the same password, so just pick one." He grabbed the a pad of sticky notes off the kitchen counter and scrawled the password on it before handing it over.
"Thanks, Hart." Cisco offered Hartley a lopsided smile, reluctantly returning to his emergency and making his way over to the laptop.
"Who are you talking to?" Barry asked.
"I'm at Hartley's," Cisco was saying as Missy led the scientist in question out of the apartment, down the nearby stairs, and out into the cold.
There were fireworks going off in the distance in practically every direction, which Missy didn't appreciate in the least. Not that she acted scared. Just startled, and then annoyed, casting offended glares at the sky whenever a firework cracked loudly enough to make her jump.
"I know how you feel, Missy," Hartley muttered, wincing at the cacophony. Inside, the walls had helped mute the noise and Cisco's presence narrowed his focus even further... especially when they'd been kissing. He licked his lips thoughtfully at the memory. "New Year's luck, huh?" What did that even mean? Had Cisco just used the old tradition as an excuse to kiss him or... was Hartley reading too much into what happened?
Cisco's intensity while they were lip-locked argued for the kiss meaning something more, though, and Hartley really hoped that this wasn't all one-sided and just in his head. There was really only one way to find out and that was to just ask, so Hartley walked Missy around and willed her to hurry up. Eventually she found a bush that smelled just right, darted behind it, and did her business, prancing out from behind it. Then she tried to run for the door only to find herself gently tugged back so that she had to walk alongside Hartley. She did so, making little huffy noises that were probably complaints about how cold it was outside and how slow Hartley was about getting her back inside where it was warm and there were comfy things to snuggle on.
They got back inside and upstairs to the apartment quick enough, though, and Hartley walked back in to the sound of Barry telling Cisco, "thanks, man. I'm really sorry about interrupting; I didn't realize you were on a date."
"It's not a date… or, it kind of is now but it wasn't one to start with. We just ran into each other at the bar and started talking and then it got too loud for Hart so we went back to his place..." Cisco was blushing bright red as he looked up from the laptop screen to meet Hartley's eyes.
"Back to Hart's place, huh?" Barry teased, putting emphasis on the nickname. "Are you two going to be having breakfast together?" he added in a faux-innocent tone.
"Oh god… just… just stop. You know he can hear you, right?"
Hartley laughed outright, grin on his face as he took off his coat, hooking it beside the door.
"Oh… uh, yeah, forgot that. Well, you two enjoy your date… or your not-date-turned-date or whatever you want to call it."
Cisco face-palmed and ended the call. "Why, oh, why is my best friend so annoying?" he asked, sliding the laptop aside and abandoning the couch in favor joining Hartley by the door.
"I'm sure he asks himself the same thing sometimes," Hartley teased, hoping he was doing a good job of hiding his nerves. Was Cisco planing on leaving now or...
His worried mind shut up entirely, however, when Cisco kissed him again, at first just light brushing of the lips that had Hartley leaning in for more until he was melting into the other man's touch.
"So," Hartley murmured as they finally pulled away, "we have a problem now."
"What's that?"
"I didn't unhook Missy's leash before you did that."
Cisco frowned in confusion and looked down, only to realize that Missy had been prancing around them in circles while they were… distracted and was now sitting beside them, wagging her tail. Their legs were surrounded by several loops of her leash.
"Your dog is living up to her name."
"Yeah, she's trouble alright."
Eventually they untangled themselves and moved back to the couch. Not before they'd each used the excuse of passing the leash around as an excuse to cop a few feels, but it was New Year's and they were both a little giddy… and apparently on what had turned into a very nice date.
"So, why do I get the impression the breakfast comment was some kind of inside joke?" Hartley asked.
Missy was sprawled out on her pad, upside down, paws sticking up in the air, making little yippy noises in her sleep. Hartley assumed she was dreaming about chasing rabbits or squirrels or squeaky toys.
"It was," Cisco replied, savoring the last of the cocoa. "That was really good. So, a little over a year ago I had this date with one of the baristas at Jitters. Turned out she was a reincarnated priestess from Ancient Egypt with hawk powers from Horus and had a long lost soul mate with the same abilities... who is actually kind of a control freak. But, anyway, I may have made an off-hand comment about taking her out for dinner, a movie, and then maybe breakfast… and Barry played dumb about 'why breakfast' and I bought it. Harry had to point out Barry was screwing with me." Cisco wrinkled his nose in remembered irritation, which was every bit as adorable now as it had been at the bar earlier.
Without hesitation, Hartley kissed him on the nose. Cisco went slightly cross-eyed for a moment when Hartley pulled away, which just made Hartley want to kiss him again. So he did. On the mouth this time.
A hand slid under Hartley's shirt and he whined softly at the touch, scratching his own fingers lightly down the back of Cisco's neck. The resulting moan sounded like music to his ears and Hartley pulled closer, repeating the action in order to see if Cisco will make that sound again. He did and Hartley had to pull away, dizzy and breathless and already addicted.
"Hartley..." Cisco's eyes are blown wide, his gaze hungry, and Hartley felt flushed all over at the sight. "Hart…" then they're kissing again, for just a moment, and a second hand slides under Hartley's shirt. "My Hart," he murmurs possessively, kissing his way along Hartley's jawline
"Maybe..." Hartley interrupts himself with a moan as Cisco nips at his ear and has to try again, "maybe we should take this to bed."
If he'd thought Cisco's gaze was hungry before, now it was downright predatory. "Yeah, I think so..." then his expression softened some and he asked, more hesitantly, "are you sure you..."
Hartley cut off the question with an impatient kiss and then stood up, dragging Cisco to his feet at the same time. "I wouldn't have suggested it if I wasn't sure."
"I guess I am staying for breakfast," Cisco mused, looking very pleased.
Hartley woke up later that morning to the comfortable feeling of using someone else as a pillow. He was sore, but in a very pleasant way, and wanted very much to go back to sleep. Except… there was an impatient scratching at his door and the sound of his phone ringing.
Grumbling to himself and gently disentangling himself from Cisco, Hartley got up and started hunting around for his clothes so that he could take Missy outside. The phone stopped ringing by the time Hartley was pulling on his socks and shoes, but by then Cisco was stirring.
"Where're you goin'?" he slurred, only really half-awake.
"Missy needs a walk or I'll have to clean up after her on the carpet," he told him. "How do muffins sound for breakfast?"
"Good..." Cisco's eyes were starting to close again.
"Then you," Hartley grinned impishly, whipping the covers off Cisco and pausing a moment to enjoy the view, "can get started on the muffin mix while Missy leads me around to whatever patch of icy grass smells the best to her this morning."
"Hey!" Cisco was definitely awake now, grabbing for the covers. "Hart!"
"I'll make it worth your while, Cisquito," Hartley promised, grinning when Cisco flushed.
"Where's the muffin mix?" Cisco asked, caving.
"In the pantry, right in front. Can't miss it," he promised, heading out of his room for the morning routine of letting Missy drag him around the apartment complex's courtyard.
On his way out, he checked his missed calls and then hit the call button with a grin. Lisa picked up on the second ring.
"Happy New Year," she greeted in a cheerful tone, not quite singing.
"Mine is certainly turning out that way," Hartley agreed with a laugh. "How about yours?"
"I made a new friend," Lisa told him. "Thea Queen. She has amazing aim with a bow and arrow, did you know?"
"I'm starting to understand why everyone freaked out when you befriended me," Hartley responded dryly. "Has she learned the Snart definition of 'fun' yet?"
"You have no faith in me," she drawled dramatically. "If you could see me, you'd know how crushed I am. Anyway, what's made your new year so happy?"
"I ran into someone we both know at that bar down the street, somehow managed to turn it into a date, and now he's upstairs in my apartment making muffins while I walk Missy."
"While Missy walks you," Lisa corrected. "Is it Cisco? Tell me it's Cisco. The UST between you two has been killing me ever since that first time I heard you call him Cisquito and he got that protective look on his face when he heard about that twerp I rescued you from."
"It's Cisco," Hartley chirped, bouncing lightly on his feet.
"Is he good in bed?"
"What does my mood tell you?" Hartley knows he sounds like he's smiling.
"That I should have had him nail me when I had the chance," Lisa sighed. "Oh well. You deserve all the happiness and it never would have worked between him and I anyway. You're going to be insufferably happy when I get back, aren't you? Is your face sore from all the uncharacteristic smiling yet?"
"Nope. So how'd you end up meeting Thea Queen?" Hartley asked, diverting the conversation back to what sounds like a terrifying team up.
"Oh, I was out clubbing and ran into her. Ended up introducing myself and asking if she'd heard anything from the Legend's since the alien fracas. Lenny was terrible about keeping in touch, but Mick is twice as bad; Thea was really sympathetic about it all. So she shared with me a message from Sara Lance about how they recently visited Chicago in the 20s. There were pictures of all the guys in fedoras. I'll have to text you a copy later. Mick looks ridiculous, so I may have to print it out and frame it somewhere he's sure to see it whenever he finally shakes off his guilt over Lenny and visits again. She ended up introducing me to her brother and their friend, Felicity, and I spent the rest of the night partying it up with them… well, until Oliver went to shoot arrows while Felicity played the voice in his ear, anyway.
"If I'm a good girl today, I'll even get to meet the rest of Team Arrow. Oh, did you know that your boyfriend still thinks I don't know Barry Allen's secret identity?"
Hartley rolled his eyes. "Doesn't surprise me in the least. Are you planning on sticking around Star City a while longer?"
"Might stay a few extra days. Cisco nicknamed me the Golden Glider. Starting to think maybe I should get some mileage out of it. Put it in a few headlines as a virtuous thief."
"Virtuous thief. Right. You're a regular Robin Hood."
"Oo-de-lally."
"I wonder what it says about you that the animated version is the one you think of first." Hartley tugged at Missy's leash to get her attention. "Inside, Missy."
"Hey, don't knock the animated Robin Hood. It gave us classic songs like Prince John, the Phony King of England," she sang. "Also, the Hamster Dance reused the Whistle Stop song. So there is much to thank that movie for."
"Or blame, for those of us who don't like the Hamster Dance," Hartley grumbled.
"But, I should note, you immediately recognized my oo-de-lally reference," Lisa teased back. "Lenny taped the movie for me when I was a kid. I watched it so much, I wore the tape out. I was utterly devastated, of course. Years later, when it finally came out on dvd, Lenny bought – or maybe stole? Probably stole – me a copy for my birthday. I think he meant it as a joke, but I made him and Mick sit down and watch it with me anyway."
"Figures your favorite Disney movie is one with a thieves for the protagonists. What are your thoughts on Tangled, then?"
"Flynn Ryder can save me from a tower any day of the week. Oh, Thea's here. Gotta run. I'll let you know when I'm back in town," Lisa promised before cutting the call.
Hartley corralled Missy back into his apartment and took a deep breath, savoring the smell of blueberry muffins baking in the oven. "So, just talked with Lisa. She's made friends with Thea Queen."
"Seriously?"
"Seriously." Hartley hung up his coat and then looked over at Cisco… who was wearing some of Hartley's pajamas while wandering about barefoot. His stomach flipped over in a very nice way.
"Dios mio," Cisco muttered. Louder he said, "well, that's Oliver and Felicity's problem to deal with."
"Except she may have charmed them too. She wasn't clear on that. Just that she wants to make a name for herself as a virtuous thief called the Golden Glider." He snickered as Cisco face-palmed. "She said you gave her that name."
"I did and now I'm regretting it." Cisco sighed and then smirked. "I believe I was promised that you'd make getting up to bake muffins worth my while."
"Why yes, I believe I did," Hartley agreed, kicking off his shoes and wandering over to his… boyfriend? He liked the sound of that. He'd have to ask what Cisco thought of it… later. "I'm kind of cold now. Want to warm me up?"
Cisco laughed. "You're a dork."
"I thought the proper term was geek?"
"That too," Cisco allowed, motioning Hartley over.
Hartley immediately hurried over, snuggling into Cisco's embrace… and then sliding his cold hands under a certain pajama top.
What Cisco said next was both Spanish and incredibly rude. Definitely not to be translated in polite company. Followed by, "dammit, Hart!"
Hartley just snickered and started kissing and sucking along Cisco's neck. "I did warn you I got cold out there, Cisquito." He reached a hickey he'd left on Cisco's shoulder the night before and paid it extra attention, enjoying the breathless whines his actions elicited. The, slowly, he kissed was way around to the other side of Cisco's neck and, recalling the reactions he'd gotten from scratching the back of Cisco's neck the night before, Hartley lightly scraped his teeth against Cisco's neck. The other man let out a startled moan, his whole body shuddering in unexpected pleasure at the teasing.
The sound of the kitchen timer going off startled Hartley with the unexpectedness of it. Usually he could hear the soft sound that preceded the louder blaring noise and would already be halfway to the oven by the time the actual alarm would sound. Instead, he'd been so wound up in Cisco that he'd lost track of everything else… something he'd noticed last night as well.
It was kind of nice, actually, to be able to not notice a sound. It was almost like being normal again. Maybe, once he could find the right words, he'd try to explain that feeling to Cisco.
For now, though, Hartley smiled slyly and watched his boyfriend – oh, yeah, he definitely liked thinking that, so hopefully Cisco was okay with 'boyfriends' and didn't have some other label for their dating in mind – bend over to pull the muffins out of the oven.
A/N - Missy's behavior is 100% copied off my own dog, Estelle.