Reciprocal Altruism || Snowbarry College AU

The Cait-alyst or the Snow-hibitor I

Catalyst: Any substance that increases the rate of a reaction without itself being consumed by the reaction.

Inhibitor: A compound that blocks the action of an enzyme by reversible attachment in such a way as to prevent binding by the substrate or to prevent a reaction even if the substrate can still bind.

***

Her room had never been warmer. Caitlin hummed lazily, cuddling deeper into the warmth.

Then the warmth moved, adjusting his arm to bring her in even closer, as if that was even possible. But Caitlin complied anyway, adjusting her head down to fit snuggly against the warmth's chin and splaying her hands precariously close to his lower back.

She moved one of her legs so they fit in-between the warmth's legs and sighed happily. Best sleep ever, she thought hazily.

"So freakin' cute!" A voice squealed above her and the warmth's head.

Groaning, Caitlin rolled over in an attempt to block the noise, but found it to be a difficult task with a body sleeping right beside her!

Eyes widening comically, Caitlin took in her current state of dress (pajamas and a serious case of bedhead) and hurriedly tried to push herself off of Barry Allen, who had currently made his home in her bed.

Untangling herself from the deep sleeper took a long time and when she finally got herself free from his long, perfectly tanned, well-toned (get a hold of yourself, Caitlin) arms, she turned to face the other way only to be met by—

"Mornin'." Felicity Smoak, dressed in her professional work clothes and high heels, stared her right in the eye, a devilish smirk permanently stuck on her face.

Caitlin let out a loud yelp and fell unceremoniously off the side of her bed. On a positive note, that action finally woke the snoring Barry on her bed and he pushed himself to a sitting position and yawned nonchalantly as if he and Caitlin weren't caught in the act of literally sleeping together.

"Good morning, Barry," Felicity Smoak sang once she realized she was not going to get a coherent response out of her roommate.

Finally realizing the situation they were in, Barry pulled the blanket that had fallen up to his chest and smiled sheepishly, a light blush dawning on his face. "Morning, Felicity."

"Go away, Felicity," Caitlin grumbled, standing up from the bedroom floor and throwing her many fallen pillows and blankets, which she had tossed away in her sleep since Barry's heat was enough for her, back on the bed. "You're being weird again."

"I'm always weird, Caitlin, but you guys are so cute! I am actually obsessed with your love. I remember the good old days with me and Oliver and how it was in the beginning, all cuddly and shy! Check out these pictures I took of you guys while you were sleeping!"

"I hope you realize how creepy you sound," Caitlin deadpanned.

Barry leaned over curiously to look at the pictures on Felicity's phone, and Caitlin couldn't help but sneak a peek as well.

In the image, Barry was lying on his back with one arm falling off the bed and the other curled around Caitlin to pull her in closer as she laid most of her body weight on top of his. One of Caitlin's hands was placed right on top of his heart, feeling its slow, rhythmic beat, and the other hand had dug its way under his body and fit into his lower back, where his body heat was most reserved.

Caitlin looked quite peaceful in her sleep; so peaceful, in fact, that she could make out a little line of drool dripping unceremoniously down her face and onto Barry's chest, since she was fit comfortably under his chin.

Embarrassment filled her entire body and she was just about to grab her best friend's phone when Barry said, "Send these to me."

"Huh?" Caitlin asked, at the same time Felicity responded, "Sure."

She handed her phone over to Barry for him to put in his contact information and text the pictures to himself. "We look cute," Barry responded to Caitlin's silent question. "I might make this my screensaver."

"Please don't." Caitlin covered her face in shame and sat on the edge of her bed.

"Then I guess we need to take more pictures of us, so I can show you off," Barry said, flirting unashamedly.

"Oo! Oliver hates taking pictures!" Felicity exclaimed. "Caitlin, can we trade boyfriends?"

"You can take him for free."

"Hey!"

Felicity laughed. "Be nice to your boyfriend, Caitlin. It's his first morning with us, so we want to be as normal as possible before we show off our true selves."

"This is you being normal?" Caitlin grumbled, not used to Felicity being so supportive of her new (fake) boyfriend. She doesn't remember Felicity ever being this excited when she and Ronnie were a thing.

Very cleverly avoiding the question, Felicity asked the guest of honor, "So what do you think of our little home, Barry?"

"It's really nice! At least from what I've seen in the dark. A lot nicer than my place."

"Would you ever consider living here? We're always looking for someone to split the rent," Felicity asked jokingly. Caitlin squinted suspiciously at the blonde... at least she hoped Felicity was making a joke.

Barry laughed, taking Felicity's wild nature into stride. "Maybe in the future. You know, after we've dated for more than a month."

That's right, Caitlin realized. It had been less than a month since their first agreement. She felt like it had been forever.

"Anyway," Barry said, changing the subject with ease. "You guys have a bathroom?"

"Do we ever?" Felicity answered, "You'd be surprised to learn we even have a kitchen and a living room."

"You're being sarcastic, but I spent the first three years of undergrad in a tiny dorm with communal showers, bunk beds, and the campus dining hall, so bathrooms and kitchens are amazing things I will never take for granted again."

"Your apartment now has a nice kitchen," Caitlin said, "At least from what I saw from the couch."

"Hmm, yeah, I love to cook, so I really focused on the kitchen when I went apartment hunting. Everything else in my apartment is pretty crummy though."

"Maybe if you cleaned up and organized a little..."

"Bathroom, Felicity?" Barry interrupted loudly, so Caitlin wouldn't get back into one of her long rants about his organization skills (or lack of).

"Down the hall to the left. And there's a spare toothbrush in one of the drawers you can use."

Barry sprinted down the hall at lightning speed, leaving the two girls alone. Caitlin sighed as she stood up from bed and stretched. "Do you live to embarrass me, Felicity?"

"No, but it's truly one of the highlights of my existence."