MARVEL & DC IMAGINES

] marianas or the moon [

[barry allen x reader]

author's note: i always thought kissing booth fics were kinda cute, figured i could try my hand at it. hope y'all enjoyyy

word count: 2,036

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Barry Allen is a nervous wreck 90% of the time, and 80% of that time it's because of you.

He already doesn't know the first thing about interacting with people. Not in a way that doesn't embarrass himself or leave him a stuttering mess. Just the other day, someone sat next to him in criminology, shook his hand and gave him their name. And Barry had smiled because that's the easy part but instead of giving his own name he'd said the same one back. Then he'd gone pale realizing what he did and the classmate had just laughed, calling it a coincidence, and now Barry's convinced that whenever he sees this Sam in class or around campus, he'll need to pretend his name is Sam too. Because correcting the mistake is much too difficult. Oh no. He'd already committed to it.

But when he first met you, he'd given you the right name the first time. Thankfully. And it's odd that he had because all that was flittering through his mind as he introduced himself was how pretty you were. He'd bumped into you when walking to his next class. The force of the impact knocked your notebooks out of your arm and he'd apologized profusely as he helped you pick them up. You'd smiled reassuringly and told him it was okay. And then he looked at you, really looked at you, and he was hardly paying any mind as he said his name, getting it right by sheer luck because your eyes were like the soft oscillation of a hypnotist's pocket watch—entirely mesmerizing, and at the sight of them, he thinks he'd do anything you asked him to.

You still have that effect on him, and Barry's certain that it will last in perpetuity. He wonders if you can tell, if you can spot the way his own eyes seem to get glossy when he watches you, transfixed, entranced, equal parts by his own will and yet not by his own will at all. It's like a superpower (and at first he did genuinely wonder if you had persuasion). With one glance you have someone wrapped around your finger—Barry, in this particular example. But there's still a part of him that would do whatever you wanted, even if he wasn't under your supposed powers of persuasion. (You don't actually have persuasion, he knows that now. You're just you. And maybe that's the strongest superpower of all.)

As such, it might be safe to say that a majority of his life after having met you has been spent in a state of hypnosis. You're his best friend, and he sees you often. It's strange that it came to that because you're practically his opposite. He's all flustered dork and you're... well, you're just not that. When it comes to interacting with strangers, other students on campus or customers at the local coffee bar also waiting for their drinks, you do the majority of the talking, easily carrying on light conversation like it's your job. It seems to be a feature that emanates from you, like there's a sign above your head, numerous light bulbs forming an arrow as if to let others know you're friendly and open to talk, if they wanted to. And almost always, they do. They gravitate towards you. You always try to pull him into the conversations. You're sweet like that, never wanting him to feel left out, and you figure maybe it'll be good practice for his people skills. Because you know most are too slow for him but you're there to close that gap, giving him guidance, gentle nudges in the right direction.

One time while at his apartment, preoccupied with a game on your phone while Barry sat at his computer, you'd asked if he found you too slow for him. He glanced at you but you hadn't once looked up from the screen and he already knows that no, he doesn't think that. You have no problems keeping up. If anything—

"I think it's me who should be asking if I'm too slow for you," he says, smiling slightly.

And it's true. At least Barry thinks so. Whenever he's around you he can't help but feel inadequate, especially when you interact with others. He wishes he could do it as well as you could. He wishes he could do it at all.