Leading up to the wedding of the century, Len and Barry's bachelor party is truly an event to remember. Especially when Flash-proof liquor is introduced, and the only strippers end up being the grooms to be.
Barry could admit that in the beginning he was excited to plan his wedding. Not because he'd spent too many days as a young boy imagining his wedding day—though there may have been a few passing daydreams—but because he was marrying the love of his life, who'd somehow managed to sneak up on him like a thief in the night.
He grinned to himself at the thought. Then groaned when he remembered where he was and who he was with.
Lisa and Iris as his and Len's maids of honor were driving him crazy. A passerby would think this was their wedding they were planning. How Len had managed to skip out on cake testing, Barry had no idea, some nonsense with Saints and Sinners that Len as owner had to be there for—a long overdue health inspection most likely—and Barry was stuck with their sisters all afternoon until Len managed to get away.
At least Cisco and Mick as their best men could have cared less about the details, as long as they knew what to get for their tuxes and where to go for the bachelor party.
"Barry you have to make a decision," Iris said, shoving another piece of cake toward him at the shop Len had personally chosen to do their catering. Apparently, it was the best in town. Barry trusted Len's opinion on that, but he had no idea how to choose between four options for red velvet cake.
"I still can't believe you're having a red velvet wedding cake. Who does that?" Lisa said, not with distaste, more like wonderment, amazed at the selection and a little curious.
"There's a Steel Magnolias joke in there somewhere…" Iris snorted.
"It's my favorite," Barry said, though after all of the red velvet he'd tried today, it might not be his favorite for long. "And Len likes the idea too. Coz it's red." He let his grin turn a little crooked, before instantly losing it as he downed the most recent piece of cake sample in a single bite. It was heavenly, he could admit it, but he still wasn't sure he tasted a difference between that and the other three samples.
"I like the first one," Lisa said, "it has the most vibrant color."
"But the second is the most chocolatey," Iris commented.
"True."
The pair had become true girlfriends between Team ColdFlash business and wedding planning. Not that Barry minded—normally.
"But with buttercream or cream cheese frosting?" Lisa asked, as they both turned to Barry.
Barry shrugged helplessly. "Uh…"
"Cream cheese. Always cream cheese with red velvet," Len's voice floated over to Barry like the most beautiful melody he'd heard in weeks.
He spun in his chair to see his…fiancé…striding across the cake shop to join them. Len always looked so good, so stylish, donning a high collared jacket today to finish off his ensemble in shades of navy and black. Barry's grin just about split his face as Len reached them and leaned down to kiss his temple.
"Not the first one," Len said pointing to the one Lisa had been vying for, without so much as a greeting to the girls. "Too red means too much food coloring. The better taste comes in the darker cakes." He snagged a sample of the last one Barry had tried, which looked more burgundy for the cake part, and had cream cheese frosting instead of buttercream. "Perfect. Good for you, Scarlet?"
Barry could have kissed him—he really, really wanted to lick the frosting from the corner of Len's mouth actually, before Len's tongue darted out to do it himself. "Yes," he said, looking right at Len in gratitude, then turned to the woman who had been patiently waiting on their decision from across the counter. "Number four, please."
There were times when Len was just as exasperated with Lisa and Iris's planning as Barry was, but in a pinch, Len had the knowhow for this sort of things much more than Barry did. And while Barry was fairly easygoing about most of the decisions, Len was dead set on several items.
Their colors would be navy and burgundy, Len had decided on that early on. And there would be no church or clergyman.
Len's father had been a church going man in his earlier days, when Len and Lisa were small. That in no way endeared Len to the idea of organized religion. Barry though had fond memories of growing up going to church. It was tradition with his parents. And while Joe had never told Barry he had to go with him and Iris, Barry had picked up the tradition with them as well. It wasn't something they kept up with anymore, Barry's thoughts on religion were…complicated at best, something he and Len had talked about at length and seemed to agree on what they believed, but there was one thing Barry insisted they have as part of their wedding.
"Just one reading from the Bible. It's from the book that might as well be a romance novel, okay, hardly religious other than its source material, and it just…feels fitting. Please?"
"Let me see it first," Len had said, but once he read it, he agreed completely.
"What about flowers?" Iris asked as they left the cake shop. "You still have to decide."
"It's an outside wedding," Barry lamented, "and neither of us is carrying a bouquet."
"So are you both wearing garters?" Lisa smirked. "Please say yes."
Barry gaped at her. "For real?"
"You need something to toss at the reception," Iris shrugged, sly smile indicating she was mostly joking along with Lisa.
"Flowers will be red roses for Iris, and blue hibiscus for Lisa," Len said succinctly. "We can throw those if you insist. No need to waste money on anything more than what the two of you will be carrying."
"We at least need boutonnieres for the men," Iris argued. "The groomsmen and ushers."
"Fine, color coded to their vests. Otherwise, Joe and Henry can both have roses, Martin the hibiscus."
"I love it when you're decisive," Barry said, linking his arm with Len's and clinging for fear that at any moment Iris and Lisa would tear them apart for more of this madness. At least if he was attached to Len, his fiancé would have to come along.
Lisa and Mick, despite also being in the wedding party, were the only ones qualified to 'give Len away' while Barry had both his fathers for the occasion. Martin Stein would be performing the ceremony. He had seemed quite touched when Len asked him.
"But seriously, guys, other than the food tasting tonight, what other decisions are left? We already know everyone involved in the wedding, everyone invited, music, finally chose the cake design and type—shoot!" Barry stopped suddenly along the sidewalk as he realized, "What about cake toppers? Were we supposed to choose that too?"
"Oh, that's already taken care of, hun," Lisa said with her usual devious grin.
"That decision we made without you," Iris replied just as cunningly.
Barry glared at them both, while Len just looked between them all in amusement. "I swear, if it's some cheesy topper with one of the grooms holding the other one like a bride, I better be the one doing the carrying."
"Oh really?" Len raised an eyebrow at him.
Barry turned away from Iris and Lisa to lean in close to his fiancé. "Well it would be more true to life. I think I've lost count of how many thresholds I've carried you across, Snart."
Len leaned in closer to Barry to counter, nearly brushing the tips of their noses together. "Better get used to doing away with that name, Scarlet. Going to be Allen soon." He bridged the gap between them and lightly kissed Barry lips.
Barry kissed him back, just as chastely, but held it a little longer. "I won't forget. That's my favorite part of all this."
"Mine too."
"You know, lover boys, there is one thing we still need to finalize," Lisa's voice broke them from their private moment.
Barry peered around Len at her and Iris, both smirking at them after their blatant PDA on the sidewalks of Central City. It wasn't as if that many people were out and about. "What?" Barry asked suspiciously.
The girls shared a smirk, before Iris said, "The bachelor party."
"I thought we agreed," Len frowned at them. "Joint party, both men and women allowed, simple affair at Saints and Sinners."
"And that's still the plan," Lisa said, "For later. But we had an idea for during the day if we wanted to start the party a bit…earlier."
"Barry's dead again!" Hartley called out loudly over the paintball course. "Off to the side, groom to be! How many times has your sister gotten you by now?"
"She's not my sister!" Barry called back—though it was the first time in a long time he was actually upset that someone referred to him and Iris that way.
He ducked behind the safezone to wait for the next round, where Eddie, Oliver, and Ronnie were already out ahead of him. At least this time Barry hadn't been the first to get shot.
"Why did we let Iris be on the Rogues team again?" Barry rubbed his sore arm where the blue paint pellet had struck him like a rubber bullet. Just because he wouldn't bruise for as long as the others, didn't mean it didn't hurt him just as much to get hit.
"We had an uneven number for heroes versus villains," Eddie shrugged, covered in colorful blue himself, and a small smear of red from when Felicity's first shot had gone rogue. Once she'd gotten a better look of the course and had the chance to math some things out in her head, she'd improved by leaps and bounds and was one of the last ones out for each of the rounds so far. Barry was glad she was on their side. But Iris was a beast for Team Rogues.
Still, somehow Team Flash was leading 4-3.
"Sara and Thea are enjoying being on the Rogues side a little too much as well," Oliver said. "Might not have been our smartest move introducing everyone to each other."
"I thought it encouraged both sides to play nice in the field?" Ronnie said with a smile.
"That was the idea," Barry peered through a crack in the safezone wall to see Iris take out Caitlin and Laurel in rapid succession. "At this rate Len's going to recruit Iris into the real Rogues and we'll have another supervillain on our hands."
Eddie had a proud smile on his face when Barry turned back to his friends.
"Hey, we said no powers, Piper!" Cisco's voice rang out over the course. "Lose the gloves!"
Barry peered through the crack again. Hartley had been mostly hanging out in the crow's next sniping people and calling out locations to his team, while calling out anyone shot who didn't immediately leave the field. Barry hadn't seen what Hartley had done, but assumed it had something to do with the way Diggle was off to the side shaking his head like he'd been struck by a sonic blast. Barry intimately knew how that felt.
"Mark gets to use his powers!" Hartley's called back.
"He's keeping the rain away, dumbass!" shouted Mick from the other safezone with Shawna and Lisa.
"No cheating, Hart. Give up your position," Len said, just before he appeared gunning side by side with Sara Lance for Diggle. They waved him away for a free pass since Hartley had compromised him, then moved in on Cisco and Felicity.
Barry marveled at the way Len moved, holding a paintball gun much the same way he held his cold gun, and using it just as efficiently. He also worked in a team remarkably well, always playing to his partners' strength and having a true knack of gaining tactical advantage over his opponents. He also looked sexy in the blue paintball gear Cisco had made for them to counter Barry's team's red. The pants hugged Len's ass enough that even with a full mask over his face, Barry could recognize his fiancé from all the way across the course just from his swagger.
"I take it the reason you keep getting shot early on, Barry, is you're prone to distraction?" Laurel teased him as she and Caitlin joined the group in the safezone.
Barry didn't even bother turning away from his view of the field. "If I claim distraction for every time he ever beat me in a fight, does that earn me points or lose them?"
A chorus of "Lose" rose up from behind Barry, though he distinctly heard one "Earn" that he knew came from Eddie. Eddie understood. Iris had been the one to shoot him almost every single around, after all.
"I accept and totally don't care," Barry said as he continued to watch Len.
Diggle had recovered and reentered play, his training making him a force on the battlefield as he took out Thea from behind, then Hartley as he was climbing out of the crow's nest grumbling. Mark appeared having been about to take Hartley's place as overwatch, and as he and Diggle met eyes, they managed to shoot each other at the same time.
"You're out, John!" Felicity called from…somewhere. Barry was certain he'd known where Felicity and Cisco were a moment ago.
"You too, Weather Wizard!" added Cisco's equally disembodied voice.
Mark growled, but he and Diggle shared respectful nods before parting to head to the safezones, Mark grabbing up Hartley and dragging him after him as he went.
Len had snuck around one of the main obstacles, out in the open again, looking around as if just as confused as Barry was about where Felicity and Cisco could be hiding. Sara was no longer with him. Barry couldn't see Iris anymore either.
Then, otherwise having seemed to have keen awareness of his surroundings at all times, Len fell into Cisco and Felicity's trap. He turned a corner, unable to protect his blind spot, and BAM, Cisco appeared out of hiding from around an obstacle at the same time Felicity dropped down from the upper platform. They opened fire, catching Len in the chest and back in perfect unison.
Len raised his gun and hands in surrender.
"Ha!" Cisco called happily. "That's right, we are too cool for Cold," he said as he walked up to Felicity and high-fived.
Everyone had protective masks on, but Barry would swear he could see Len smirk from where he stood, watching, as the now 'dead' man's hands dropped. "You got me, white hats. But you forget I'm playing both sides these days."
"Meaning…?" Felicity said, already checking their surroundings, turning to be back to back with Cisco as they scanned for the remaining Rogues.
Len shrugged. "Sometimes the hero has to sacrifice himself for the greater good."
Iris and Sara appeared as if from nowhere, boxing Felicity and Cisco in, and got off clean headshots before the other pair could even fully aim their weapons. This round went to the Rogues.
They were tied 4-4.
"One more for the tie-breaker?" Thea suggested, lifting up her mask to catch a breath of fresh air as the groups met in the center of the field.
"Then I'm ready for a drink," said Mick.
"And a backrub," said Hartley, glancing around for any takers.
Cisco rolled his eyes when the meta's gaze finally landed on him.
"Should we add a wager?" asked Shawna, wiping streaks of red from her mask before putting it back in place. "What does the winning team get? Or what does the losing team have to do?"
Barry had taken a long weekend off from work so they could have the bachelor party today, rest and recuperate tomorrow, then the wedding was Saturday. By Sunday Barry and Len would be official in the eyes of the government—well, sort of, it was complicated, but Felicity had her ways—and whatever deities might be watching.
Wow.
"What's our stance on strippers?" Mick asked with a wicked glint in his eyes.
"No strippers, Mick," Len deadpanned. "We discussed this."
"Nah, nah, here me out," Mick pushed on in the wake of amused expressions and snickers. "This is all for you two. So I say, whichever team loses this next round…the leader of the losers is the stripper."
Barry was already shaking his head before Len could say, "No way," but both were drowned out by the instant ooos and ahhhs from their crews.
Hartley jumped up and down, "Yes, please, THAT. I don't even care which one is the loser."
"No," Barry looked right at Hartley, then at Iris, Lisa, and Felicity—and Caitlin, really?—who were sharing particularly conspiratorial smirks. "No! Are you crazy? We all know it's going to be me, okay, and there is no way. I would have to be drunk to even consider it, and I don't get that luxury with the rest of you tonight, remember?"
"Actually…" Caitlin said, glancing over at Cisco who shrugged. "We were saving it as a surprise, Barry, but Cisco and I think we may have finally gotten a working formula that should keep you drunk for an extended period of time. We were going to give it to you as a bachelor party gift tonight anyway."
"Really?" Barry's eyes lit up at the prospect. He had never been the get trashed every night in college type, but there had been times, several fond memories of drunken escapades, and well, his own bachelor party seemed like a must. It had bummed him a little to know he couldn't even manage a slight buzz.
"Sweet, the bet is on!" Hartley clapped his hands together.
"What? No!" Barry looked around at the others in a panic. "That's not what I meant!"
"No one's agreed to—" Len tried again, a slight tension in his neck, though Barry hadn't been oblivious to how Len eyed him with fondness when the topic had been focused on Barry being the stripper.
"Just have to make sure you don't lose then," Mick grinned, smacking Len on the back to cut him off before he could finish his protest.
"We're so seeing you out of all your layers tonight, Captain Cold," Felicity waggled a finger toward Len. Oliver raised an eyebrow at her. She shrugged like, seriously, can you blame me? Which Barry understood, but—no, wait, why was everyone already heading back to their starting positions?
"Neither of us is stripping tonight!" Barry called over the dispersing groups. Laurel tugged on his arm to pull him back toward their side. "You're all awful, awful traitors."
"Better up your game then, Allen," Diggle said, setting his mask in place, before he nudged Oliver. "And remind me to leave the party before we get to drunken stripping of one of the grooms."
Oliver snorted.
Only Eddie seemed to feel any pity toward Barry and offered an apologetic shrug.
Barry turned back to see the ladies of Team Rogues, which was over half their number, talking hushed and giggling before looking back at him. He was so screwed. Len, at least, looked equally put out before Mick dragged him behind Team Rogues' walls.
They took five minutes to plan their strategy, Cisco and Felicity doing most of the talking as they called out who would start where. Barry was still gaping as the round was about to start that Eddie was the one who came up with a plan for how he could distract Len in the beginning and maybe get the upper hand. Not that it mattered if Len or Barry got taken out directly, just which team was the victor in the end.
Eddie's idea was pretty slick though. And wasn't technically cheating.
Barry held back as the others burst onto the field, watching and waiting for a moment when Len would be alone. After only a couple minutes, with Diggle and Lisa being the first casualties, Barry spotted Len moving to the upper platform to hide himself behind one of the walls.
Barry took a breath, bounced on the balls of his feet, then flashed off across the field to Len's location before he'd even finished exhaling.
Len was crouched, too unprepared to bring his gun up before Barry was upon him, not that Barry had any intention of shooting Len right then. He held up his hands to show that he'd left his gun hanging from its strap around his shoulder, and lifted up his facemask.
"It just dawned on me amidst all that teasing that after this, I'm probably not gonna get a moment alone with you until our wedding night. Care to remedy that?" Barry crouched down and slowly reached forward to lift up Len's mask as well. Len's eyes held familiar suspicion even as he let Barry crowd in close and lean in for a kiss.
Not cheating, since Barry wasn't using his powers to shoot anyone, but for a few minutes, Len would still be out of play.
Barry let his tongue delve in between Len's lips. His mouth felt warmer than Barry was used to, a bit of sweat making his lips taste salty sweet. Len didn't bother dropping his gun to reach for Barry, but Barry gripped the back of Len's neck and held him in place.
When they parted, Len hummed and smirked at Barry for a moment in the cramped space, just the two of them with the sound of chaos between their friends below and all around them.
Then Len's expression hardened. "You have five seconds. Better run."
"Wha—"
"Five…" Len began to count.
"Wait!" Barry held up his hands.
"Four…"
"I just wanted a kiss!"
"Three…"
"Hang on," Barry scrambled to his feet, not sure if he should flash out of there and risk the others seeing his lightning trail when he'd already risked that once already.
"Two…"
"It was Eddie's idea!" Barry shouted and took off at flash speed.
"Powers are in play!" Len's voice echoed after him.
Barry gasped as he skidded to a halt back on his team's side and heard a chorus of cheers rise up from the Rogues.
"You heard the man," Mark said with that sinister lilt of his.
"Wait, no!" Barry shouted over the wall. "That's not fair! That's one against three with Stein not here for Ronnie! Come on!"
"Too late, cutie," Shawna said from suddenly right in front of him. He had seconds to flash away, just narrowly avoiding the shot she aimed at him.
He zipped past the safezone seeing only Diggle still, then flashed by the Rogues side to see that Iris had joined Lisa, gunned down by Cisco and Felicity as revenge for last round's final ambush.
Barry watched in barely contained horror as Mark shot out a jolt of lightning toward Oliver that thankfully went purposely wide and hit the ground in front of him, making Oliver falter long enough for Thea to take him out.
"Guys, this is dangerous! No powers!" Barry tried again. He slowed, spun, and shot Mark just as he was lifting up to fly after his next victim. Mark glared at him, but settled back to the ground and raised his hands to show he'd at least still head to the safezone without protest.
"Careful, Barry!" Eddie shouted before shouldering into him and then firing to hit Shawna just as she bamfed into view again.
"Shoot," Shawna said, "but I still got the doc out first." She disappeared just as quickly, presumably to the safezone.
Caitlin was out too? Barry was losing track, but at least now they were back to one against one for meta humans on each team. How much could Hartley do during a paintball skirmish anyway?
Felicity and Cisco ran into view motioning for Barry and Eddie to take off too as they let their guns hang freely at their sides and held onto their ears. Hartley appeared behind them, chasing them with little jolts of sonic ripples through the air that looked more annoying than threatening but were still an advantage in a fight.
Drawing up his paintball gun, Hartley got Cisco in the back, then nicked Felicity in the arm before Barry came to his senses and whisked both Eddie and Felicity out of there. Cisco was down, unfortunately, but an arm shot didn't count as a kill.
"We're out!" Laurel's voice called over the course.
"Watch out for Snart!" yelled Ronnie.
Shit, that meant Barry, Eddie, and Felicity were the only ones left.
"Okay, they want to play dirty, we'll play dirty," Felicity said, rubbing her recently shot arm. "Barry, do a quick zip around to find their locations."
"Couldn't he just take the rest of them out at Flash speed while he's at it?" Eddie asked.
"What would the fun be in that? Barry, go," she ordered him in full on Team Arrow mode.
Barry nodded. In seconds he knew where everyone was, and had been sorely tempted to shoot Len as he passed him. He shouted to Felicity as Sara and Thea came up behind her.
"Now!"
Felicity took them both out just as they breached the corner.
"Eddie, Mick's coming around from that way. Hartley moved to the upper floor above him. Len's mine." He nodded to the pair before taking off for the last place he'd seen Len. He slowed, wanting to take the shot at normal speed, so Len saw it coming, saw that Barry was capable of winning this fight no powers involved.
But Len wasn't there. Barry considered doing another super-speed pass of the field, but too many flickers of his lightning trail would give him away, and Len had become an expert at knowing where to aim to knock him out of a run.
Barry peered through the obstacles to see Felicity and Eddie shoot Hartley out of the second level. Only he seemed to stutter back as if he'd legitimately fall to the ground, only to settle and remain upright like he was floating. Felicity and Eddie both stared in awe, no doubt wondering if they were wrong about which part of the course Hartley was on, and maybe he had more leeway before falling off the platform, when suddenly—
Barry ducked and took aim as he saw Hartley seemingly coming around the corner in mid-air to get to Felicity and Eddie, only it was actually Mick with Hartley on his shoulders! Mick took out the pair before they could collect themselves at the sight of how they had been tricked.
Barry took the opportunity to shoot Mick square in the center of his chest. The large Rogue looked down with a scowl then bodily lifted Hartley from his shoulders to set him back on the ground. Hartley looked a little dazed and impressed as they headed for the safezone, and Felicity and Eddie did the same the other way.
Which meant Len was the only opponent still in play. Crap.
Barry turned, already feeling the hair on the back of his neck stand up, as if Len might be right behind him. He wasn't, but Barry could still feel him. Somewhere. Somewhere close.
"Get him, Barry!" Cisco called.
"We're gettin' that striptease tonight, Flash!" called Mick, and since when was he on Hartley's side with this sort of thing?
Barry moved glacially slow toward the closest bend in the course, but stopped cold as he saw the end of a gun peek out into the open. He dropped to his knees, waited for Len to take the risk of peering out around the corner, and as soon as he did, Barry burst up onto his feet, colliding their guns and knocking Len off balance.
Only because their guns were connected with straps around their midsections did they not drop to the ground, but the force sent both of their guns swinging around their chest. Barry fumbled to get a good grip on his again, but Len recovered his balance first, ramming Barry into the wall of the course.
Barry gasped. He had a loose hold on his gun; Len didn't yet. Barry just needed to get it up and aimed.
"All because you thought it would be cute to steal a kiss, huh? That's low, Barry."
"In the end still down to you and me, so I'd say we're even."
"Not yet…" Len said in a husky whisper, lifting his facemask with one hand, while the other held Barry in place against the wall. He reached to lift up Barry's mask next, mirroring how this whole ordeal had started.
Barry's stomach flipped, the way Len leaned in close, one leg insinuated between his, hand gripping the front of his chest gear, going for the kill with all the predatory allure Barry always felt from Len, that thrilled him and made him ache for more.
He knew it was a ploy. Knew Len was plotting something, but damn it, he could enjoy a kiss, right?
Somewhere in the distance, Team Rogues were cheering, while Team Flash yelled at him to not fall for such an obvious trick. What they probably couldn't see, for those who even COULD see them, was that the grip Barry had on his gun was easy to shift so that he had his finger on the trigger—ready, waiting. All he needed was the chance to lift the gun up.
What even he couldn't see, however, was that while Len licked between his lips and sucked on his tongue—lewdly, slowly—he too was shifting his gun, getting ready so that the moment he pulled from Barry's embrace—
Barry pushed just as Len leapt back, both of them lifting their guns at the same time and—
Fired.
"We have to do another round," Thea demanded when the others rushed them. "We can't end on a tie!"
"What tie? Lenny totally wins by default for stealing that kiss," Lisa said.
"I think Barry's gun went off first technically." Caitlin shrugged.
"And I think it's time we retired for dinner and drinks," Len called over the others. "A tie means no one's giving a striptease tonight."
Hartley and several others audibly groaned.
Eddie shrugged. "Or you know…you both have to do it."
Barry gaped at him, especially since all of the girls and several of the guys—seriously, Mick, what the hell?—jumped at this suggestion. So much for pity. "For real, Eddie? I so hate you right now."
"He is secretly quite devious," Iris grinned, hooking her arm with Eddie's, who beamed.
And here Barry had thought he had to worry about the supervillains.
"To Len and Barry!" Oliver raised his glass first amidst the throng of heroes, anti-heroes, and semi-reformed villains.
A chorus of, "To Len and Barry," resounded throughout the room, followed by clinking glasses and a round of cheers.
Len had never had so many people in one place there to support him, to celebrate with him as friends and family, far more than just his sister and the man he was about to marry. It was…humbling, to say the least, that such a thing was even possible, and he knew it was only possible because of the man sitting at the table next to him.
Saints and Sinner had been cleared out for the night for their private party, just the group from paintball, which was sizeable on its own, many of whom were regular bartenders and thus knew how to mix good drinks and which beers were on tap. Len made everyone keep close tabs on what was used, even if he was picking up the final bill. He needed to know what to replace later, after all, as they would likely go through a few bottles and kegs of various contents by the end of the night.
They'd had food catered in rather than worry about anyone manning the kitchen. Everyone was spread out amidst tables covered in food and drinks, finishing up their dinner while chatting amiably and nursing their paintball bruises.
Felicity and Hartley were in competition for largest most badass wounds, but complained it was only because they had the palest complexions and therefore their bruises showed up brighter. Of course, once people started saying one had it worse than the other, each insisted, "No, trust me, it's me."
"All right, losers, let's get this party started!" Lisa called over the din as she, Iris, Mick, and Felicity delivered trays of shots to the various tables. "Dinner's over. Round of shots and then we're splitting into teams for the real festivities."
"Hey," Cisco complained to Felicity, "who's best man here? Why are you shot pushing with the bridal party?"
Felicity shrugged as she passed him a shot from her tray. "Better up your game then, Ramon."
Cisco scowled the way only a true friend could when another was throwing shade. "I remember vividly that you cannot hold your liquor, Smoak."
"True. But we're playing pool, darts, and beer pong, all things I get better at when drunk." Felicity gave an unabashed 'woo', tapped her shot glass on the nearest table, and downed it.
"Felicity's on my team!" Barry called out from beside Len.
Len chuckled at the antics of those around them, and downed his own first shot of the night. It would help dull some of the soreness around his shoulders. He was lucky he didn't have any bruises up along his neck where they would show above his suit come the big day. Barry of course, was already bruise-free, though Len wouldn't mind double checking on that later tonight.
"I claim the genius brothers!" Thea called out, grabbing up Cisco and Hartley, both of whom looked startled, and eyed each other skeptically.
"Who are you calling brothers?" Hartley shot back. "He wishes his IQ was as high as mine."
"Twenty bucks says you pass out before I do, Rathaway," Cisco glared.
"I'll take that action," said Mick. "And I claim West."
"Deal," Iris bounded over to Mick all too happily. "Oliver, you be on our team."
Mick and Oliver sized each other up companionably enough and didn't seem to deem each other worthy of protesting over.
Lisa snagged "Officer Pretty Boy" to Eddie's immediate frown at the nickname, before eying Diggle with a quick, "And how about you, handsome?"
Laurel and Ronnie ushered Mark over to join them, to which he seemed mildly amused.
Shawna, Sara, and Caitlin formed a rather intimidating all female team, leaving Len to suddenly realize…
"You're all ours, Snart," Felicity grinned, dragging Len out of his chair to join her and Barry.
"Hey, wait, how did that happen?" Cisco pouted. "The grooms can't be on the same team!"
"Didn't see anyone make that rule," Len countered, preferring the chance to keep his hands ever within groping distance of his fetching fiancé. It wasn't exactly a traditional bachelor party, after all.
"Just remember, tomorrow night, you two are sleeping alone," Iris wagged a finger at them.
"All the more reason to be naughty tonight," Len said, and reached around Felicity to pinch Barry's ass.
"Hey!" Barry jumped, but he was smiling so wide, the sun would have been jealous.
They'd agreed that the night before the wedding, they should sleep separately, one last night apart before they made things official and were never apart again. It would be the first time in months they'd spent a night without the other, Barry back at home in Iris's old room, since his room had been turned into an office when Joe decided not to replace the broken bed, and Len staying with Lisa. She'd insisted, even though he'd initially planned to sleep at home in his and Barry's apartment alone.
"That's not the same, Lenny," Lisa had chastised him. "One last night staying with your baby sister is better anyway, and that way you'll have both been away before coming home to walk across the threshold together as man and…boy toy." She'd winked for good measure.
Len hadn't been able to keep himself from laughing, and agreed to her terms.
But tonight, later when everyone was too drunk to leave, which Len assumed would be nearly everyone, they'd be crashing upstairs. He'd long since turned the upper floors of the building into living quarters. Office, kitchen, living room, several bedrooms. A sort of unofficial safe house for anyone who needed to stay over.
"One thing first, Barry," Caitlin said, coming up with Cisco to present Barry with a flask.
"This it?" Barry asked excitedly as he accepted it, already unscrewing the cap to take a whiff of the contents. He reared back as though it smelled like paint thinner, which is about what Len expected, given what Barry would need to actually get buzzed, let alone drunk. "You really think this'll work?"
"Dude, we have spent the better part of the last month perfecting this recipe just for tonight." Cisco rested his hand on Barry's shoulder. "It better work."
"Take it slow," Caitlin said. "More is not better. Sips only. And when you feel it, space your sips out to maintain the buzz, and don't drink too fast or you might…" Her face scrunched as she struggled for how to finish that sentence.
"Pass out?"
"Suffer alcohol poisoning," she shrugged, as if that wasn't a huge red flag. "It'll be fine."
"You trust him to remember to go slowly after he's drunk?" Len deadpanned.
Caitlin and Cisco shared a look as if they weren't in the least bit worried. "Put some in a beer or regular shots," Caitlin said, "and it'll almost be the same as everyone else. We'll keep a close eye on him."
Len wasn't so sure. He could tell that Barry was mildly concerned too, while also eyeing the flask with an unmistakable expression of eagerness. Kid hadn't been drunk in about two years, and this was a celebration.
"Bottoms up, Scarlet." Len gave Barry a nod and reassuring smile.
"Please tell me you meant that as a pun," Hartley interjected as he came over dragging a whiteboard on wheels that Len was pretty sure had been buried in a corner of the storage room not long ago.
Barry promptly choked on his first sip in lieu of Hartley's innuendo.
Len could already feel his first beer and that recent shot warming his belly. Lisa, Iris, Mick, and Felicity had gathered up the shot glasses and were filling orders for everyone at the bar to have regular drinks to sip on during the games. Len figured he'd switch things up to whiskey and soda, then switch back to beer if he got too tipsy.
Meanwhile, Hartley started writing out the teams into brackets for each of the three competitions they had planned. "Everyone plays each game. Winners of each round play each other—"
"Six teams doesn't work with brackets, Piper," Cisco broke in. "We'll have three teams set to play each other for the finals."
"I'm aware," Hartley shot back without ceasing his frantic writing. "Points matter. Third place winning team gets dropped out of the final round, based on score in darts, how many cups they beat the other team by in beer pong, and how many balls left in pool."
Felicity giggled, presumably at the mention of 'balls', but didn't otherwise comment.
"You lot take competition seriously," Diggle said.
"Why yes we do," Mark grinned coyly. "Good thing powers can't help anyone with these types of games, right, darlin'?" He eyed Shawna over at her group.
She smirked, popped out of view to reappear beside Mark, and leaned slowly forward to kiss his cheek, something that didn't even make him flinch—her appearances never did anymore—then popped back to where she'd been. "You better watch your back, darlin'," she said, "because Team FemmeFatales is taking you down."
Hartley wrote FemmeFatales as their team name on the whiteboard, along with names he and Cisco came up with rapid fire for all of the others, leaving only their own that Thea dubbed, 'SpeedyScience', which Cisco and Hartley sneered at but accepted.
"Okay, Team GroomWatch, you're on beer pong first against Team DeathGlare," Hartley said, meaning Oliver, Mick, and Iris, which…yeah, Len couldn't really argue with that one.
Barry eyed his flask suspiciously as he, Len, and Felicity headed for the table they'd setup for beer pong.
"Working already?" Len asked.
"I don't know…" Barry said slowly, eyes squinting for a moment in thought. He shrugged, took another sip. "Guess we'll find out."
Lisa played waitress with Mick, delivering drinks to everyone as they settled into their games for round one. Len got his whiskey and soda, and Felicity and Barry each had a beer. Barry tipped some of the contents of his flask to add to his drink as Caitlin had suggested.
"Safer than drinking it straight, right?"
The game started easily enough, each team member rotating their turns to throw. Mick missed most of his shots, grumbling that he was better at the drinking part of the game, but Oliver had natural precision on his side, and Iris had been a beer pong champ in college. Len went toe to toe with each of Oliver's throws though, and Barry kept up with Iris about half the time. Felicity bounced as much as Mick.
"Better when you're drunk, huh?" Barry chuckled. "Drink faster then."
Felicity stuck her tongue out at him, but amazingly enough, sunk her next toss, forcing Mick to knock back a pull on his beer. They threw the ping pong balls into cups filled with water, and took losing drinks from their own beverages rather than downing the contents of the cups. Those balls were not clean, especially if they went bouncing off into a corner.
About two-thirds of the way through the game, on equal footing against Team DeathGlare, Barry blinked as if having trouble focusing.
"Scarlet?"
"Wow…" Barry blinked again, hand wavering in front of him as he readied a toss. "I think it's working."
He botched the throw, ricocheting widely off the rim of one of the cups toward the pool game, where it hit Eddie in the shin. He tossed it back at them, but Barry fumbled and failed to catch it after several attempts, giggling when Len had to reach out and snatch the ball from the air on the next bounce.
"You're good," Barry stared at Len's closed fist in open amazement.
"Felicity, drink faster," Len said, since it was her turn again after Mick's next toss. "Barry…slower." Len prevented Barry from knocking back the last of his Flash-proof spiked beer, making him sip it instead.
Barry batted his long lashes over the rim of his glass, and darted out his tongue to lap at the contents of the drink as he took in a slow swallow.
Len needed to drink faster too.
They lost their round of beer pong, even though Barry steadied slightly by the end, with two cups remaining.
Len downed an Irish Flag shot somewhere between beer pong and heading to the pool table, but made sure Barry stuck to spiked beers rather than any hard liquor. Then Lisa passed Len a Black Russian—he didn't care for cream.
"I better not—"
"Oh, loosen up, Lenny!" she clinked his glass with her own White Russian, celebrating having just beaten Mark's group at pool. "It's your bachelor party."
Len paused for only a moment before conceding. He did love Black Russians. He'd just sip it slowly, like he was trying to make sure Barry did.
They faced SpeedyScience for their pool round. Thea was actually quite good, and fairly steady despite whatever drink she was on by now. Her group had just come off of winning darts against Shawna, Caitlin, and Sara. Hartley was mediocre. Cisco miscued his first two turns. Len grinned as he realized this one was in the bag. Felicity was a shark, it turned out.
Then Barry sunk his first ball only to knock the 8 ball in as well. Damn.
"We're drinking. No automatic lose scenarios," Thea declared, and placed the 8 ball back on the table. "But that's your one save, Barry."
"Wait…that would have made us lose?" Barry leaned against the cue with adorably wide-eyed bewilderment.
Len snatched the cue from him and handed it to Hartley to be a good sport, since Barry should at least lose his turn. "Remind me to give you a proper lesson sometime, kid."
Barry leaned into him in place of the cue, hugging Len's arm and resting his chin on his shoulder. His eyes batted prettily at Len, pupils slightly dilated now, especially with the dim lighting, but still warm and vibrantly hazel green. "I like when you teach me lessons."
Shit. Len leaned forward to capture those pouting lips in a kiss.
"Foul!" Cisco shouted, though whether he meant because Hartley scratched on his shot, or to tear Len and Barry apart, Len wasn't sure. Felicity soon came up and pushed between them to make room for her next shot, sending Barry stumbling backwards with his lips still puckered for a kiss that never made contact.
A few turns later, Hartley tried to cozy up to Cisco to adjust his stance, and Cisco shot him a glare fighting through a blush. He quickly took another shot of something that Mick walked by with after Team DeathGlare defeated Vortex in darts.
Len made the winning shot for their game, masterfully sinking the 8 ball with three of SpeedyScience's balls still on the table. Felicity gave a loud 'woo!' and Barry pumped both fists into the air in triumph.
"Never give a superior opponent an advantage, Queen," Len cocked his head at Thea. She just rolled her eyes and shook his hand with a firm, "Good game."
The comment about an advantage seemed fitting as they made their way across the bar to play darts and passed Team Vortex heading to beer pong. Laurel's team had a decided advantage since her drink of choice was cherry Coke—not that anyone complained.
Len's team was facing Lisa, Eddie, and Diggle for darts. Eddie looked appropriately glassy eyed by this point, Diggle entirely clear-headed, and Lisa somewhere in between, though any amount of tipsiness she displayed was likely overdone to throw them off guard; Len knew her tricks too well. She nearly hit a bullseye on her first throw.
"Oh wow," Felicity slurred into a fresh Tequila Sunrise that she'd gotten from…somewhere; Len hadn't actually seen who served it to her, "you two are both so," she twirled the pointer finger of the hand not holding her drink in an inclusive and then downward spiral to encompass both Len and Lisa, "…all a this."
Lisa cocked her hip and winked. Diggle rolled his eyes. Eddie started laughing—and didn't stop until Barry joined in and they huddled together giggling like drunken teenagers. Len decided he was not drunk enough for this, and slammed back most of his second Black Russian before snatching up the darts for his turn.
They had six darts, each person throwing once per round. Most points after ten throws per person won. Len scored fifteen his first toss. Felicity three. Barry hit the wall above the twenty.
"Oops." He stared, mouth agape, at the new hole—admittedly amidst several others—that he'd just made in the wall, before Diggle had to push him out of the way for his turn. "Sorry, honey," Barry smiled at Len shyly, like he thought he'd actually get in trouble. Barry only used pet names like that when he was being silly, but tonight he sounded strangely earnest.
Len sucked an ice cube into his mouth, while staring at Barry's hands wrapped around his glass.
Barry finished his current drink with a final gulp, which was quickly replaced as Lisa grabbed the flask out of his back jean pocket—a little too slowly for Len's taste—and added it to a fresh reddish colored shot and a new beer before handing both back to Barry. She reached around him to shove the flask away again.
"Stop groping the goods, Lise," Len grunted. He took a step toward them and swayed slightly. He glared at the empty glass in his hand, wondering when that had happened, but it was definitely the drink's fault.
"Those hands feel s'rprisingly familiar," Barry slurred, smacking his lips around the shot he'd just taken. "Smaller…" he added like an afterthought, as Lisa gave his rear a smack. Then he giggled again, watching Len the entire time as he took a sip of his new beer.
Lisa and Eddie both seemed to spiral down further with Barry as they each downed similar looking red shots. Len asked where his was.
"Well you do have an affinity for rrred," Lisa purred. She called to Mick to bring them a couple more.
Mick was on autopilot. Drunk but still flawless at making drinks. Guy was remarkable when given something to focus on. He was already making a round of shots for the FemmeFatales since they had just beaten Team DeathGlare in pool. Shawna, Caitlin, and Sara buzzed around him, giggling, and Len couldn't help noticing that while Mick valiantly kept his focus so as not to spill any booze, he had a sideways grin on his face at the attention.
The three women downed their own shots in victory then delivered a pair of those red ones to Len and Diggle.
Diggle tried to refuse, "Oh I don't—"
"You're being sober enough, handsome," Lisa thrust the shot into his chest. "You can have one Redheaded Slut. Huh…" She pouted as she looked around the room, Vortex cheering as they won their bout of beer pong against SpeedyScience, the others scattered about the bar. "This group is suspiciously lacking of redheads. You'd think there'd be a couple. Law of averages." She shrugged.
Len and Diggle clinked glasses and downed their shots, then Len asked for a water because damn…he was definitely swaying now. He nearly put a few holes into the wall himself as they finished up their remaining dart throws. It was a close game. He had no delusions though that they lost because Diggle was mostly sober, and he and Lisa were evenly matched.
Somehow Eddie was the only one who never once missed the board.
"Final rounds!" Hartley called. He had his arm looped around Thea's waist—they'd clearly bonded as teammates—while Cisco helped tally up points to decide the winners. "Beer pong is Vortex vs DeathGlare!"
The ladies at the bar with Mick all whined at being knocked out of contention despite their win, but the margin of remaining cups for the other teams was against them.
"Darts is SpeedyScience versus DeathGlare! Battle of the sharpshooters!" Hartley squeezed Thea to his side with a glance between her and Oliver. "But we'll have to wait since they're doing beer pong first."
Len was not at all surprised that Mick, Oliver, and Iris's team were in two final matches.
"And Pool is GroomWatch versus FemmeFatates!"
Just as the ladies at the bar had complained about beer pong, they likewise cheered at being part of the pool finals. They immediately chatted to Mick about preparing them new drinks for the occasion.
"Hey, we got one!" Barry shouted, toasting his beer up into the air, which was already half gone, and so barely sloshed over the sides at the movement. It spilled enough though that he brought it back down with a frown and started licking the beer that had splashed onto the back of his hand.
Len watched the coil of Barry's tongue with rapt attention. He quickly downed another gulp of water. If he finished the glass, he could handle one more beer. Maybe.
He must have said that out loud, because the next thing he knew, they were at the pool table—he didn't fully remember walking over, but he enjoyed the press of Barry against his side—and he had a fresh beer and the water glass still in his hand. He worked on finishing the water first, then nearly dropped it to the floor as he tried to set it on a nearby table. A slight nudge with his finger got it situated.
"You're drunk," Barry whispered loudly in his ear.
Len's cheeks felt flush, his head swimming, but the water helped quell any nausea from having drunk those Black Russians so fast. "So are you, Mr. Allen," he grinned back, while Sara racked the balls for their game. Len's team had won their earlier round with more of the other team's balls on the table, so they got to break.
Barry hung onto him tight, half his body weight leaning forward and unbalancing Len somewhat as he said, "Yer gonna be Mr. Allen soon."
Len grinned wider. "That I am."
It turned out that Felicity had not been lying. She was toasted—and played better than she had all night. She sunk three balls in a row on her first turn. Barry scratched twice. But then so did Caitlin. Shawna had lost control of her powers, or stopped caring about not using them, and bamfed around the table whenever she was choosing a shot, something that Sara watched with fasciation, and made Caitlin jump and giggle against her hand every time.
When all was said and done, they were evenly matched, but Sara had a final streak with the last of her team's balls, and sank the 8 ball before Len even had a chance. While her eyes insisted she'd kept up drink for drink with the others, her stance never wavered.
Across the room, Laurel, Ronnie, and Mark's Vortex team did indeed win beer pong, to which Mark and Mick shook hands amicably, Laurel teased a clearly tipsy if not outright drunk Oliver, and Iris shoved Ronnie over to his wife as if completely put out that her team had lost, while quickly seeking out her own significant other.
Eddie was between Lisa and Hartley, and had a flush to his face and somewhat scandalized expression in response to whatever they were saying to him. He eagerly intercepted Iris when he saw her approaching.
"No fraternizing yet, Miss West," Hartley gestured a shaky hand at her, which he used to latch onto Eddie's arm and pull him right back between him and Lisa. "Your team has darts next against…" He blinked over at the board, having entirely forgotten that the other team was—
"Us!" Cisco dashed over and clapped Hartley on the shoulder.
"And no fraternizing on your part either," Thea nudged both Cisco and Hartley toward the dart board, though her comment was definitely aimed at Hartley since he glanced at Oliver as part of the opposition and dragged his eyes all the way down his body.
Somehow, Len ended up in a chair near the dart board to watch with Barry in his lap—not that he minded—while Felicity mirrored them in Diggle's lap, loudly sheering on Oliver and Thea alternatively with equal vigor.
The background music turned up louder as several of those not participating in the final showdown started dancing—Mark and Shawna, Caitlin and Ronnie, and Sara, Lisa, and Laurel in a tight circle. Len watched the chaos with a warmth in his chest, as well as some warmth in his lap from Barry, letting the lingering buzz of his last beer wash over him. Eddie sat nearby, cheering on Iris.
The final dart was a fluke to be sure, but a masterfully dead-center bullseye from Miss West, overpowering her teammates' combined points and bringing in the win with her last throw. Everyone cheered, including the dancers, as Iris turned to glomp both Oliver and Mick in turn, then fell into Eddie's lap and kissed him soundly.
Barry's giggling at the whole display was the best sound. Len hugged his fiancé's waist tightly.
The loss had Hartley pouting and Thea rolling her eyes at her brother while also hiding a smirk. But Cisco seemed undeterred, producing a long black box from somewhere and declaring it time to play Cards Against Humanity. Len knew of the game, but had never played. He doubted he could get through too many rounds or many more drinks coherently, but somehow he ended up at a table with Barry and a handful of others to play, with another beer in hand.
It all went by in a daze for the most part. Oliver won one round with: You have my sword. And you have my bow. And my… (Firm buttocks.)Everyone laughed at the Arrow reference, then laughed harder when Felicity pawed at Oliver, saying, "I have proof, see!"
But everyone was in stitches when Eddie played: Dear Sir or Madam, we regret to inform you that the Office of (Powerful thighs) has denied your request for (Pulling out).Iris looked particularly proud of herself when it was revealed the two-parter belonged to her man, which said more than enough.
Felicity laughed so hard she fell off her chair. Barry nearly did as well. But while Len knew he shouldn't find it that funny, he started laughing liberally himself…and couldn't stop. He was in tears by the time he was able to take in deep breaths again. Alcohol was a wonder.
Thankfully, he started to feel back to buzzed more than black out drunk about the time the card What will always get you laid was played, and he was in line to judge.
Eddie: A sassy black woman, which everyone guessed was his long before the cards were passed back.
Iris: Aggressive Legolas hair flips.
Cisco: Darth Vader.
Lisa: Fingering—Len really should not play this game with his sister present.
Oliver: Being rich.
Felicity: Playing Counter-Strike too seriously.
Diggle: Some god-damn peace and quiet—played like a true parent of a toddler.
But when Len was reading through the cards, before the identity of who put what was revealed, one of the more famous of trump cards was played, and everyone was torn between trying not to look at Diggle and grinning at him.
A bigger, blacker dick.
Everyone except Barry, of course, who looked right at Len, and much to Len's horror, opened his mouth—
"No!" Len leapt forward half out of his chair to cover Barry's mouth with his hands, about the same time Lisa did the same from his other side.
"You say one word about my brother's dick, Flash, and I'm pouring ice down your shorts."
The others erupted in laughter, while Len tried not to be traumatized and smirked at his partner's adorable giggling behind his and Lisa's combined hands.
He still let Barry's card win.
The game ended when Felicity declared she wanted to dance, as several others were still doing, and jumped right up onto the table, kicking over piles of black and white cards. She reached down to hoist Barry up as well, nobody minding the interruption, least of all Cisco, since Lisa was whispering in his ear and making him blush.
"We forgot the striptease!" Eddie announced when he saw Barry up there with Felicity, which managed to sober Len almost immediately, and caused everyone off in other corners of the room to turn toward them and join in on hollering for a show.
"Yesssss," Felicity said, wobbling her way down onto a chair, which prompted Oliver to dart to his feet and grab her arm to steady her. She made it to the floor without incident, leaving Barry to somewhat obliviously continue dancing on the table alone, only to haul Len to his feet and push him at Barry to take her place.
"Ooo, Lenny, come on!" Barry called when he noticed him, reaching down to grip Len's wrists at lightning speed and then—CRACK, Len was on the table, with Barry holding him by the hips, dancing seductively closer, the rest of the bar almost a soft haze around them that Len could have easily forgotten since he got to have his hands on the Scarlet Speedster.
"Take it off!" a feminine voice yelled to break Len of his ignorance, which he was fairly certain was—Caitlin, seriously? Several other voices soon chorused in kind.
"Who's got some ones?" Hartley called. "I have a twenty here and I am seriously looking forward to reaching in for change."
Laughter responded that was downright infectious, even though Len tried to find Hartley in the crowd to glower at him.
Barry waggled an eyebrow at Len to keep his attention forward—cheeks flush, eyes glazed but still focused enough to be aware of what he was doing, as he started rocking his hips more suggestively to the music—Len thought it might be that 'Paralyzer' song Lisa liked so much.
Barry really had no idea what a treat he was for the eyes, how alluring he looked when he moved, especially when he danced. His normal insecurities were far away with actual working alcohol in his system, so for once he seemed to enjoy additional attention on his physical form. He started to undo his button down, sporting a T-shirt underneath.
Len was likewise in layers, tank top beneath his sweater, but he was more reserved with so many onlookers. Knowing what he did to Barry usually made it easy to undress for him, despite the conscientiousness he had about his scars. He could ignore that with Barry…but a crowd? Butterflies and old, foolish anxiety stirred within him.
"You are so sexy," Barry raked his eyes down Len's body, even though all Len was doing was standing there.
The combination of Barry's adoring gaze, hollers and cheers from their closest friends, and the alcohol still saturating Len's veins, relaxed him enough that he told the annoying voices in his head to shut up and let him enjoy himself tonight. He gripped the hem of his sweater and slowly started inching it upwards.
"Don't look, it's awful!" Cisco cried, covering Lisa's eyes from behind.
She shoved his hands away with a wide smile. "Nice try, honey, but I can still enjoy half the show." She waggled an eyebrow at Barry. Len and Cisco's matching glares did nothing to deter her.
Barry had let his unbuttoned shirt fall from his shoulders, doing a slight chest shimmy that made Len laugh as he tried and no doubt failed miserably to be as effortlessly sensual as his partner. Fully clothed, Len was a pro at it. Naked, he knew all the ways to drive Barry wild. But a public strip tease was too carefree and foolish for him. He felt his face heat up in embarrassment and tried to channel some of Barry's boundless energy.
Sara catcalled him loudly and, when Len turned to look at her, she added a wink. He laughed again as some of the tension eased from his shoulders. As he tugged his sweater over his head to reveal his toned arms with only a tank top on, he swung the article around and tossed it at the young Miss Lance.
Hartley audibly protested, "Hey!" so Barry threw him his button down.
Shawna and Mark produced an impressive amount of $1 bills from somewhere—better not be the till, Len thought idly—which they distributed to those who didn't have cash, and soon the table that had already been littered with Cards Against Humanity also had a collection of dollars. A few bold members of their group reached up to tuck bills into Barry and Len's jeans. Hartley got several into both of their waistbands. Iris and Eddie seemed to enjoy sharing their dollars between them. And Len definitely felt Thea linger her hands on his ass at one point.
Oliver stood back with Diggle, who was shaking his head at them, but everyone else gathered about the table to watch.
"Lose the shirt, doll! Your dancin' skills ain't that special!" Mick shouted, and laughed rumbling and deep when Barry complied, revealing inch by inch his toned abs and then flinging his T-shirt into the crowd. Felicity snatched it out of the air.
Len had a few scars on his arms, more on his chest and back, but as he looked around at their friends, he reminded himself that he was one among many—many companions, many scars, many hard times and good. Suddenly, it didn't feel so strange, being bare in front of these people.
He tore his tank top off, disrupting several dollars out of his waistband as he sling-shot it toward Caitlin, then danced his way closer to Barry, reaching for the tantalizing sway of the younger man's hips. He didn't mind giving the others a show, so long as the only person he ever had in his arms was the man in front of him.
He licked his way into Barry's mouth, and started to undo the other man's jeans for him during the lip-lock.
"At how many future bachelor and/or bachelorette parties can we request this as an encore?" Caitlin, with her husband wrapped around her from behind, said with scientific and thoughtful precision in an obvious attempt to sound less drunk than she was.
Over Barry's shoulder, Len saw Iris, Shawna, and Mick's hands all shoot up into the air—the traitor. But Len was having too much fun to care. He felt a tug on the back of his jeans, and turned to find Felicity, one hand in his waistband, the other hanging onto Oliver's wrist who'd she'd pulled up from the outer rim of onlookers.
"Make room for one more!" she said with a gleam in her eye.
Oliver shook his head when she whirled around to grab him by both shoulders. "Felicity, I am not drunk enough for that. Yet." He said it with the hint of a smile, mischievously as if might be coerced to give a striptease later.
Felicity pouted as she pressed her palms to his well-muscled chest.
"Please let me in on that," Hartley crowded his way to Oliver's side.
Cisco was right behind him. "We need to get you a boyfriend, Rathaway."
"That's what I've been saying!"
Len devolved into laughter again. He tried to listen for the newest song that was playing, tried to find the beat again to keep dancing, but he stopped cold when he turned around to the sight of Barry already out of his jeans, shoes and socks kicked to who knows where, left in only a pair of very tight and very skimpy black boxer briefs. Len licked his lips at the sight. Those thin hips. Long legs. Long everything, really…
Barry teased his thumbs into the elastic, pulling the shorts lightly away from his skin in a circle around his body from front to back, shimmying them just slightly down, but never enough to actually show off the goods. It was somehow exponentially hotter that way—the tease. The thrill of what it would take to get him to keep going…
Len snapped back to his senses as he remembered that he was not the only one watching the show, and he definitely didn't want Barry going that far. Barry wouldn't want to either if he was sober. So Len made his way back across the table, making sure to capture Barry's attention.
"Come here…" He curled his pointer finger all come-hither.
Barry bit his bottom lip and sashayed closer. Len kissed him, harder this time, deeper, lewder with an audience, which caused several more renewed cheers, and felt Barry seek out the clasp of his jeans to make them even. Len let him get the button open and zipper down, before stopping Barry's hands with a coil of his fingers around each of the kid's wrists.
"All right, folks!" he called out when they broke from their kiss. "Can't have this show getting too X-rated."
Len was pretty sure Mark and Mick were among those who protested loudest with drawn out 'awws'; he'd so have to get both of them back later.
"So!" Len called louder, while Barry giggled and kept trying to recapture his lips. "If you'll excuse us for the remainder of the evening, I have a fiancé to debauch. Diggle and Miss Lance have graciously agreed to herd you all upstairs when things get too roudy." He dropped his voice to a whisper only for Barry. "I have a surprise for you."
Barry snickered and turned his hands, captured as they were in Len's hold, to palm Len lightly through his jeans. "I bet you do."
"Barry," Len said warningly, "get us to the roof, and I'm all yours."
Len barely even felt the trip. One moment they were surrounded by cheers and laughter and music, the next there was silence, punctuated by the occasional sounds of the city streets below them.
Releasing Barry's wrists and stepping back, Len spread his arms wide to encompass what he had waiting on the roof, which Barry didn't seem to notice at first, still trying to paw at Len and kiss him again, but then Len said, "Barry," more firmly, and the speedster stopped. And looked. And sobered just enough in that moment that his eyes went wide and his mouth slack.
Saints and Sinners was only two stories tall, but the rooftop still had a nice view of the surrounding city, even of STAR Labs in the distance. More than that, Len had brought up a futon and table earlier, complete with carbs and protein rich foods in a Tupperware container and several bottles of water. Barry's favorite blanket from home, a knitted one in alternating shades of red and navy, was spread over the futon, and since Len hadn't believed candles would still be lit by this point, he'd positioned flashlights pointing upwards, and beside them bookending the food was one of each of the flowers in the wedding—a red rose and a blue hibiscus.
There they were, drunk for the first time ever together, at least still tipsy, with Barry in his underwear, and Len shirtless with his jeans undone, ready for a midnight picnic on the roof.
Barry's blinding smile turned to him and—ZOOM, they were on the futon, blanket around their shoulders, as Barry cracked into the Tupperware and ate one of Len's homemade chocolate chip cookies first, then grabbed a bottle of water, handing another to Len.
"I love how romantic you are, Captain Cold," Barry grinned around devouring his first cookie.
"Don't go spreading that around now, Scarlet. This is just between us."
They ate. Downed a water bottle each—Barry two—and let the cool but still pleasant night keep them awake as the fading alcohol left them sleepy. When they snuggled back on the futon to look up at the stars, dulled by the city lights but still beautiful, it was easy for Len to kick off his shoes, slip out of his jeans, and soon find both his and Barry's underwear dropped onto the floor of the roof as well.
Barry kissed his neck, smiled adoringly at him, his hazel eyes more alert now, but not yet sober enough to regret any of his drunken decisions earlier in the night. In the moment, that moment, his whole world was Len, and Len felt the same, felt like everything was perfect for tonight, with nothing but hope and something to look forward to on the horizon. No villains. No threats. Nothing too striking of reality other than knowing that in two days' time this man would be his forever.
"I'm already yours forever," Barry whispered, jolting Len to the realization that he'd said some if not all of that out loud.
"Promise?"
Barry linked their hands together, their left hands, where white and yellow gold bands—Len's with a snowflake cutout, Barry's with a lightning bolt—overlapped and complemented each other. Len had insisted Barry wear his too, since both of them deserved the experience of being engaged. They'd remove them Saturday only to have each other place them back on their hands once and for all.
"I promise," Barry said, kissing him again, "I love you," then trailed his free hand down Len's stomach beneath the blanket where he gripped the firmness he found there. Len had the foresight to bring a towel up as well, folded at the edge of the table, though considering how much he'd had to drink…
"Doubtful I'll be able to finish, Barry."
"Oh…I think I can help with that." Barry sounded devious and so certain. Len enjoyed the rare times that he was buzzed enough to get hard but took longer to climax, but he still had his doubts that he could finish tonight with the sheer amount of merriment they'd enjoyed.
He shouldn't have worried. The feel of Barry's hand made his pulse race, quickly slick from the precum building on both of them, stroking Len, then himself, then both of them together, and then—vibrating, familiar and yet always remarkable, always enough to make Len gasp and arch into his touch.
This man who loved him. Who wanted to spend however long they had left on this earth together. There might never come a day where Len honestly believed he deserved Barry Allen, but damn it if he wasn't going to enjoy every minute he had him regardless.
As Barry stroked them, Len tightened the hold of their clasped hands, brought his right hand to Barry's face, and kissed him, licked his lips, his neck, his ear, gripped his hair and tugged it roughly back to lick his Adam's apple as well, and eventually between his lips again. Len never wanted the taste and touch of Barry to end.
Barry's whole form blurred before long, and Len knew by now that the best way to ride it out was to give in, to drop his head back and let himself feel the way Barry pulsed against him—his Scarlet, his speedster, his miracle.
When Barry came, the warmth left between them made Len's insides heat up, made him want so badly to follow after him. But Barry's voice was what pushed him over the edge.
"Come on, baby…come for me…please, Lenny…you're so hot like this, all flushed and whining. I know you want it…know you need it. Come for me…"
And Len did, hips stuttering, back arching, soft whimper leaving him.
Barry pressed his lips to Len's neck and chuckled against his skin. "Told ya."
"I'll never doubt you again, kid." Len gripped Barry's left hand all the tighter and reached once more with the other for Barry's face. "I love you."
Barry smiled, and snuggled closer into his body. Eventually they cleaned up, and before they started to doze too dangerously close to actual sleep, left out in the elements as they were, they managed to have Barry zip them back inside where they claimed one of the bedrooms for their own.
Barry hummed to himself as he worked on breakfast. He'd been a little dehydrated when he woke up, despite the water he'd drank, but Len had extra water bottles waiting for him in the bedroom, and after two of those, and a bagel, he felt entirely like his normal self again. Praise be the Flash-proof liquor! So long as he didn't think too hard on some of last night's events.
Everyone crashed as expected, though it looked like Diggle had managed to escape, while Laurel remained to keep watch on the drunken horde. No one seemed too put out though when they started rousing to the smell of cooking food. Barry had been volunteered to make breakfast at the start of the night, since he would likely be the most sober in the morning, rechargeable speedster that he was. And he was partial host, after all.
Len joined him in the kitchen before too many of the others were up enough to groggily request coffee. Barry's fiancé kissed his temple, poured his own cup of coffee, then helped with the task of passing around plates and mugs.
Cisco awoke 90% sure that a few of his hickies were not from Lisa. Comments from Hartley about blowjobs under the bar were so not taken as a challenge by anyone—honest! Someone definitely had loud sex in one of the other bedrooms once they were all upstairs, though no one was fessing up as to whom. (It was Iris and Eddie, and Iris wasn't the loud one.) And Mark eventually confessed that it might have snowed in the bar for a good two minutes at one point after Len and Barry left, but he promised he would mop everything up before the bar opened.
All in all, Barry couldn't have asked for a more perfect bachelor party.
TBC...