What Lovers Do

Say Hey Now, Baby

    The scarlet blur was all too familiar.

            
   He couldn’t lie----Len felt something other than annoyance at the sight of the vibrant red whizzing by. He had long since traveled past the stage of convincing himself that he was not remotely gratified by the random visits of Central City’s very own superhero every now and then. The first time the kid had shown up at his ‘crime’ scene, Len had only considered him a pest, trying to monitor if he abided by the petty deal that they had established between themselves. Barry Allen would cast some cheeky comments at his face or throw him off guard by freely invading his personal space using his goddamn speed…just to mess around. But the more it happened, the shorter the duration got, and over the course of time, even the frequency of the stay lessened visibly. Before he knew it, Len was bitterly feeling the lack and found himself involuntarily checking his surroundings for anything resembling a flicker of crimson prior to fleeing from the site.

            
   That was why his heart rate climbed noticeably when a lightning came into his sight. Yes, it was the same slender boy in that silly red skintight outfit casually leaning against a lone streetlight in the dead of night. How long had it been since the last encounter? Seven, eight days? Len hadn’t realized how much he missed seeing Barry until now. He nearly dropped the suitcase stuffed with the spoils of war won from the fierce battle with the mighty ATM out of joy that took so much effort for him to hide. To be honest, this ‘robbery’ was more of an accident that kind of just happened on a whim on his part. It wasn’t any more than a stroll in the wee hours for him in which even the Cold Gun or his signature goggles served no purpose other than getting him into the spirit. Which was one of the reasons why he hadn’t anticipated the speedster to spare his precious time for this insignificant visit. Not that he was complaining.

            
   “Leonard Snart, robber of ATM’s,” Barry remarked, tittering. Len shrugged nonchalantly.

            
   “Nice to see you, too, Barry,” said Len dryly.

            
   “Oh, you bet.”

            
   “So,” Len started, taking a step down the stairs, “what kept you so busy? Lost interest in the worn out toy?” He was hoping he sounded indifferent enough like he was asking about the weather or anything like that kind of shit. Luckily, Barry didn’t seem to have caught on the accusing undertone in the question. Or did he?

            
   “Well, you know I’ve got a handful of crimes to deal with day and night. As much as I fancy stalking you, you’ve got to understand the life of a CSI and a superhero is pretty tight.” Sometimes, the amount of arrogance in the kid’s words was astonishing. Len figured that Barry probably didn’t speak to his friends and family in this manner often, if not never.

            
   “Then should I be obliged you kindly dropped by for a hello?” said Len, mockingly.

            
   “Exactly,” Barry chuckled. “But I promise it’ll be longer than a hello.”

             
   Len’s spirit was lifted automatically at the speedster’s word. He fixed his gaze on Barry as the boy made his way toward him. Even though he was stepping out of the domain of amber illumination of the streetlamp, Barry’s facial features were becoming more and more distinct as their distance closed. Len appreciated the fact that there was no mask covering half of his ravishing visage----considering there was no need for the traditional identity concealing given that they know each other very well----and that what little glow there was was creating an effect somewhat reminding him of a halo. He took the time to study Barry’s eyes almost shimmering amidst the dark, failing to make out the precise color they wore like he always did (despite the fact that his goggles probably tampered with his ability to name hues this time). The undefinable shade that sometimes looked like green and other times hazel or even blue just about summed up its owner’s character; inscrutable. Barry left Len baffled most of the time and he seemed to enjoy it.