barry.

     "Man, it is freezing out there.“ It was weird how one could get
so used to the warmth at home, they’d forget all about the fact
they had been walking out in the streets with everything
covered but the eyes. “Uh, you an hang your coat up there if
you want.” Being known for his tendency to just drop his jacket
wherever the moment he walked through the door, he hardly ever
remembered the hanger on the corner. “Exactly, let the record
reflect I gave you fair warning.” He grinned at his own joke and
shrugged his shoulders. In that weather, everyone around the
city seemed to be getting a cold left and right– not him, of
course, not with his immune system 400 times faster than it had
ever been the first twenty-five years of his life. “I meant you’ll have more nog on that cup than this one,” he then
revealed with a smile, picking up the Rudolph cup once again.
“Hm!” he hummed against the rim as he sipped from it, nodding
his head. “Grandma Esther liked her beverages– spiky,
apparently. Although she was actually my foster dad’s grandma,
I’ve never even met her.” He did, however, benefit from her
recipes Joe had inherited almost his entire life.

Remembering what Blaine had promised to bring along,
enthusiastic like a child who remembered there was still candy
left from the night before, he took the liberty of leaning over
the coffee table, uncovering the plate. “Ooh, these look good,” he
commented as he parted a small piece for himself. “I mean,” He
paused to swallow. “unless I’m sleepwalking again.” He smiled,
more out of embarrassment for the lameness of his joke than
amusement and shook his head. “Relax, I was wide awake.” He
shrugged, his smile fading into a warmer one. “I’m not that…
normal, I guess.” Normally, he wouldn’t mind. Being a meta, after
all, was his favorite thing about himself. But if everything, his
life as the Flash and the burden it implied, were to come to a
pause at night so he could get some sleep like normal people
did– he would have sealed that deal without thinking twice.
“Wow, these are good,” he remarked on a more cheerful note,
helping himself with a second piece. Normally, he would let his
mind slip into that kind of gloomy train of thought, reliving nightmares like he couldn’t help it. Nothing about him
seemed as cheerful as it had once been. That night, however, was
different. He accounted it on the holiday season, but deep down
he knew Blaine was a highly contributing factor to his unusually good mood. “It was nice. Our friends came over, my
foster dad brought his girlfriend… It was a good time.” A
peaceful time, which to them meant a whole lot more than most
people could have realized. “How was yours?”

“You did give me fair warning.  So it is duly noted, Sir.”  A lively smirk and a wink followed Barry’s pardon from being in too much trouble for giving him Grandma EggNog firewater.  Yeah.  As sweet as he was?  Short of grievous harm or–who knows?  burning all his bowties in a fit of rage?–Barry could probably get away with most things when it came to Blaine being bound to forgive him.  They might not have known each other for long?  But in the short time that Blaine had the fortune to get to know him?  Barry was one of those good sorts of people.  The ones that come into your life because karma did you a favor and planted someone worth keeping right in your pathway for you to discover.  Weather from hell that brought them together aside? He knew he lucked out finding Barry Allen.  His life just felt so much warmer when Barry was around.  “I think she found the miracle cure for frozen bones.  Because two swallows in?  The chill from outside has been effectively removed from my veins,” he smiled fondly and moved to take a seat beside Barry.  Minutes into his arrival and he could tell that the old saying was right. Like attracts like.  It was peaceful here.  Comforting.  From the smell of Christmas in the air to the left over energetic buzz created by company and people who loved one another–it was simple to relax back and just feel at ease.

An eyebrow quirked up at the sleepwalking comment. “Joking or not?  You make a pretty lucid sleepwalker.  I’m impressed,” he poked back.  “I could’ve used that talent in school. I’d be kind of jealous.”  Clamping his mouth shut–Blaine’s gaze turned as warm as his smile. Barry couldn’t have been any cuter than his childish excitement when realizing he had cookies waiting for him. Oh boy–did he just think cute?  Yeah, he did.  “I like not normal.  The best kind of people are the unnormal ones,” catching up to the lighter note–he perked up and took a cookie.  “Thanks.  An old friend’s recipe. His mother taught it to him when he was little.  I got to be one of  the privileged few that it was handed down to.  Promised to only make them for special occasions. That was the stipulation for such,” he drew out the word with a over serious lowbrow glare, “sacred knowledge.”  One bite of the cookie and he agreed.  They were good.  “I’m glad you had a good time.” Grandma Esther would get a proposal from him if she were here for the next sip when it was mixed with his cookie.  “Mine?  Mine was quiet.  A few phone calls and a whole lot of baking.  I volunteered last night at a center downtown for teens that don’t have any homes to go to for Christmas.  It was great seeing them happy and dancing.  Tonight’s been getting much better.  Must be the company. Or the drink?  Not sure which one yet but I’ll let you know when I figure it out.”  There came that wry grin again.  One that broke away into chuckles as he nudged Barry’s shoulder with his own. “This is a great place, by the way.”  Uncurling from his spot, he sat his mug on the coffee table before standing up and offering Barry his hand. “Show me your tree?  I purposefully went for the whole Charlie Brown theme this year.  Yours looks gorgeous from here.”