Barry sighed quietly as he left the bathroom, freshly showered and wearing mismatched pajamas. The bottoms were his own, a pair of red ones, but instead of wearing the matching top or not wearing anything at all, he wore one of Len's shirts, oversized on Barry and one shoulder slipping off.
Barry couldn't help it if Len had broader shoulders, alright?
He just missed his boyfriend so much. They were both often busy, but this time Len had been gone for a month so far and Barry was starting to really feel Len's absence in a way that felt almost urgent with the anxious feeling in his gut that he kept having.
So far, he was beginning to get some sympathetic looks from his friends and family, but nobody had begun commenting, yet. He was sure that was coming soon, though, because Barry was having trouble getting to sleep and staying asleep. He was so used to having Len in bed with him that the absence was just…not easy to adjust to, even after a month.
He had been hoping that Len would call to check in today, like he would do every once in a while when he got the chance. It had been a week since Len's last call and Barry was starting to get worried.
If something had happened to him, Rip or someone else would let Barry know…right?
But, in addition to Barry's worry and just the fact that he missed Len, today had been Valentine's Day. Part of him had hoped that Len would show up, mission completed, and they'd get to spend the day with each other. Or maybe shore leave for the holiday? But, no. Len hadn't shown up, there had been no note sent for him, no gift that Barry had to worry might be stolen ended up on his desk at the CCPD, and so far…no phone call.
Which meant, he wasn't going to be able to hear from Len at all today, because today was almost over. The clock on his phone read that in just half an hour it would be midnight, which would officially end Valentine's Day.
It wasn't their first together, but it would be the first one they missed. Barry understood, of course, there were some things that were more important than Valentine's Day and things like that. So, he wasn't mad at all, but he couldn't help being disappointed.
Getting into bed, he snuggled up with Len's pillow and breathed in against it. It had been a month since Len had left, so Barry had obviously changed the sheets and everything since then and the scent wasn't the same, but it was still Len's pillow and he could imagine what Len smelled like. So it wasn't a big deal.
Besides, he'd just spent fifteen minutes after he'd finished up with everything he had to do in the bathroom simply opening every scented thing Len owned and letting it fill the bathroom with fragrance. Len's shampoo and body wash, his cologne, his after shave…hell, even his shaving cream! So yes, Barry had a very vivid memory of what Len smelled like right now.
He might have actually gone a little overboard with opening all those things, though. He had closed and put them away before coming in here, of course, but he'd opened them all at once and let them stay open for 15 minutes so…the fragrance was pretty potent now.
Not that Barry was going to complain, but he did feel a little silly.
"Goodnight, Len…" Barry whispered, sighing, even though his boyfriend wasn't there to actually say goodnight to. He moved up onto his elbow and reached for the lamp to turn it off when suddenly his cell phone rang.
Frowning, he hoped it wasn't Cisco with an emergency because he really didn't want to deal with some metahuman who was probably getting better sleep than he was most nights deciding to interrupt Barry's attempts at what little rest he could get on what remained of Valentine's Day, which he had spent eating a carton of Rocky Road while watching a romantic tragedy alone when he had realized that Len was probably not going to show up tonight.
Not that…he was going to ever admit that that happened.
He made a note to make sure that wasn't going to be on his Netflix history as he picked up his phone and saw that the number was unknown.
Barry answered it immediately, because even though it could be some jackass calling in the middle of the night, it could also be Len. Whenever he called from the ship, it always showed up this way. Especially if he was really far into the future or the past, like he was for this mission at 300 years into the future.
"Len?!" Barry didn't even care if he sounded overeager and entirely too hopeful.
"Hey, baby, sorry it's been so long," came the glorious sound of his boyfriend's voice, even though Barry was aware that his voice had that tone to it that he got every time he was really tired and trying to hide it from Barry so he wouldn't worry.
"You sound tired, are you okay?" Barry asked, because that tone never worked on him and Len should know it by now.
"I'm fine. You sound tired, too. Should I not have–"
"No! I mean, yes! I mean…! You should definitely have called tonight. I was hoping you would…" Barry blushed at his own awkwardness.
The sound of Len's chuckle was rich and familiar and had Barry relaxing immediately.
"I just wanted to let you know I'm still alive. It's been busy so I haven't had a chance to call in a while…" Len sounded apologetic and Barry was pretty sure that he had a completely sappy look on his own face as he listened to Len's tone.
"It's fine, honey, I'm just glad you're okay…" Barry replied. "How's the mission going, then?" He tried not to sound like he was hoping that it was finished, even though he knew that if it were Len would be here already.
"It's going well, actually. Everything according to plan, now that Raymond has figured out that if you stick to the plan and if he doesn't over-indulge his mouth, things go much more smoothly."
"Overindulge his…?" Barry asked, a little surprised, eyebrows finding his hairline even though Len wasn't there to see the expression.
"Never mind, it's nothing. He just has a tendency to blurt things out. We should be done in a few days, though. Then I can come home."
Barry was sure that he heard a note of relief at just the thought of coming home from Len's voice.
"I really miss you, Len…" Barry's tone was quiet and he tried to keep the note of sad longing out of it, but he was pretty sure he'd failed at it. It was just…he didn't want to make Len feel worse, or feel guilty, for being gone. Len's work with the Legends crew was important, he was doing good. Barry didn't want to make Len regret that.
"I know…I miss you, too, Scarlet…" Len said, the nickname having turned into a pet name long ago.
"I love you…" Barry knew he was being a sap but he really couldn't help it. It'd been a week since he'd been able to say that to Len last, and it had been a month since he'd been able to physically hold his boyfriend, since he'd hugged him and kissed him goodbye. And all of the Legends missions were dangerous. You just…never knew. Although, Barry was confident Len would be fine because his boyfriend really was just that badass.
"I love you, too, Barry. Which reminds me…Happy Valentine's Day. Sorry I couldn't call sooner or get something sent to you. We were literally busy right until I called. I'll make it up to you, babe, I promise."
"No, Len, that's fine. Just hearing from you now and knowing that you'll be home soon is gift enough. Seriously, you could have sent me anything and it wouldn't have been as precious as this." Barry blushed, because wow…he'd never been so sappy before.
Except that time Caitlin managed to figure out how to get him drunk and he just spent all of his time in Len's lap telling his boyfriend how beautiful he was. Cisco had said it was trainwreck horrible to watch but worth it for the blushing and stuttering Len apparently did when he was flustered. Barry wished he could remember it…
Len had found a way to erase all of the footage from the STAR Labs security footage. Cisco suspected Hartley, but Barry wouldn't be surprised if Len had figured it out himself.
Anyway, that had been at the Christmas party last year.
"Still gonna make it up to you," Len insisted, voice stubborn.
Barry couldn't help the smile that spread across his face.
"Alright, fine. You can make it up to me right now…" he said, voice a hesitant kind of hopeful.
"How…?" Len asked, suspicious. He was probably wondering if Barry was going to beg him for a quick visit, which he would have to say no to as much as he would rather say yes.
"Don't hang up, yet…"
"Are you sure? It's late, Barry, don't you have work in the morning?"
"I do, but I don't care. I haven't heard from you in a week, I really just…want to keep hearing your voice for a while longer. Please?" Barry was not above begging his boyfriend if that's what it took.
There was a pause, before his boyfriend's voice, tone fond and understanding, finally replied, "Sure thing, Scarlet. We can talk a while longer."
Barry wished he could wrap his arms around Len and thank him properly!
"Thanks, Len," he whispered, trying not to sniffle. He really was so relieved that Len could stay on the phone!
They talked about everything Barry could think of. Len mostly had stuff about the mission to talk about, but he didn't say much, which made Barry think it must be an especially dangerous one. Which would make sense considering how long it was lasting. They must really need to be careful. He knew Len would tell him all about it when he finally did get home, when they could share a kiss and a hug and when Barry could see Len for himself, in the flesh, after it was all over and know that Len was safe and sound. Until then, Barry knew that Len wouldn't want to worry him, especially during a situation that Barry couldn't help with. There was no reason for Len to make Barry feel even more worried and add helpless frustration on top of that.
Still, there were some hilarious goings on at the ship, like when Sara had walked into the communal showers completely naked, thinking it was empty, only to find Ray there already showering…and then proceeded to continue acting like it was nothing and went to take her own shower. Apparently, Ray hadn't been able to stop stuttering for an entire day.
Or the time that Mick had played up his idiot act to the maximum just to piss off Rip for two days straight because of some ignorant thing Rip had said. The descriptions of Rip's epic frustration had been hilarious and had Barry laughing until he was crying.
Of course, Barry had his own stories to tell. About Cisco having some ongoing feud with a cop at the CCPD on the Metahuman Task Force who happens to also be a giant nerd…except apparently this nerd cop things Deep Space Nine was better than The Original Series and how it somehow has escalated into a full-on prank war at this point and the pranks had Len literally giggling and that was so goddamn cute that Barry just had to keep on about the prank war for a good 20 minutes.
Naturally, he also couldn't forget to tell Len about the epic war between Eddie and a mouse that was in the apartment he shared with Iris. Apparently, Eddie was terrified of the little thing and Iris wouldn't let him use snap traps, so Eddie and the mouse had had a civil war going on for about two weeks until Iris decided enough was enough, caught the mouse herself, and did a humane release in the country. But the descriptions of Eddie literally jumping up onto furniture like in the old Tom and Jerry cartoons…? Priceless.
It was at about that time, though, when the stories about Eddie and the mouse were winding down that Barry realized he hadn't heard anything from Len for about 10 minutes.
"Len…?" he asked, quietly, but there was no reply.
For a moment, Barry had felt disappointed, thinking that the call had disconnected or Len had had to hang up on him for some reason. But, no, he heard Len breathing. Deep and relaxed and every once in awhile he'd give the cutest soft snores Barry had ever heard and it made Barry grin.
His boyfriend had fallen asleep to the sound of Barry's voice. That was…that was incredibly sweet, actually.
And not a bad idea. It was after midnight now. In fact, it was after 1am. So, he situated the pillows properly and put his phone on speaker before laying it on top of Len's pillow, and turned out the lamp, cuddling up with his own pillow and closing his eyes.
Len's breathing and soft snores coming from the phone in exactly the place Len would be if he were at home right now, accompanied by the scents still wafting in from nearby, didn't take long to lull Barry into sleep, as well, with a soft little contented smile on his face.
It was the best sleep either of them had gotten in a month.