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Barry nodded to the bouncer as he slipped through the doors of Verdant, sidling up against the bar and waving a hand in greeting at the petite brunette speaking to the guy pouring drinks. He’d met Thea at a speed-dating event three years ago, where both had bonded instantly over the idiocy of their situation and been best friends ever since.
There weren’t a lot of platonic soulmates, as far as Barry knew. Census studies usually put them in the five-to-seven percent range of the roughly twenty-one percent affected population, depending on region densities. Thea fell into the bulk of that minority, simply labeled non-conducive pairing-- the socially acceptable, "normal" reasons, ranging from sexually-incompatible to, in her case, a blood relative. Barry, on the other hand, was just an outlier among outliers; sure, he’d grown up with his best friend Iris, and her father had even taken him in when he’d lost both of his parents at eleven, but really there was nothing biologically or socially keeping them from becoming a couple. Even Joe had pushed the idea when they were growing up. The two had just never felt any romantic inclination toward each other, and he was in fact thrilled for her when she’d found love with a cop at CCPD. But that didn’t stop people from trying to push them together: after all, she was straight and he was bi, and they’d known each other all of their lives, were best friends, and literally destined to stay connected; so who could be a better romantic match than each other, right?
Thea meanwhile, had strode over to Barry’s side and happily wrapped her arms around the lanky man. “Good to see you, Bear,” she told him happily. “It feels like it’s been ages.”
“Work’s been busy,” he admitted, “but thanks to my nerd-prowess, we've at least got this week. Plus, I’m hoping to get out here more often with the new hires.”
“You’d better,” she told him, holding up her left hand in display. Barry’s eyes reflected her joy as his bright green gaze fixed on her left finger where a crimson design had been carved into her skin.
“Oh my god, Thea! Congratulations!” Barry reached out toward her, and the younger girl happily placed her hand in his to allow him a closer look. Creating your own mark was somewhat risque in today’s society, but Barry had been on a lot of forums, and he was well aware of people that felt uncomfortable with their soul marks, or simply disappointed that their “true love” wasn’t ingrained from birth. For them, it was a sort of powerful statement toward the cosmos, like taking their own destiny in their hands. The woven band was beautiful, elegant though still simplistic. “Roy finally made the leap, huh?”
Thea nodded, still wiggling her hand happily in Barry’s. “Mom wanted to get a more traditional gold ring, but I just...I love this so much.” She smiled down as she pulled her hand and its tattoo back.
“I’m so happy for you, Thea.”
She looked back up at him and settled onto the stool, signaling to the bartender as they drank a round to celebrate and catch up. After a while, she finally smirked and leaned backwards, crossing her arms deviously.
“Okay, so Iris, me-- when are you going to let us set you up with someone, Barry? It’s definitely your turn,” she asked with a light tease.
“Uh, yeah, after the last time the two of you conspired against me? No, thank you.” Barry loved the women in his life, but he hardly trusted their judgment when it came to matchmaking. Iris had about a fifty-fifty success rate, setting him up with Eddie’s partner Patty for a fairly enjoyable few dates, as well as a disaster of an attempt with a coworker in his CSI department named Julian. Thea was even worse, continuously pushing him toward people that Barry had a feeling she'd only ever seen in the club and barely knew beyond their name. Barry found the idea of dating in and of itself fairly frustrating, as situations like Iris’ and Thea’s-- where they managed to find someone despite the soul mark working against them-- were hard to overcome. In the end, with people like Patty and Julian and Whatsername at the end of the bar-- they were all looking for that person that the universe selected for them, tattoo or no, and in some cases actually outright refused to believe that Barry wasn’t destined for his own. Sharing his connection with Iris, in some ways, was as much of a death knell for relationships as not sharing one with someone else, and it was this as much as an uptick in cases that caused him to bury his head into his work as opposed to spending time in Starling City and the social scene in general.
Thea, however, simply rolled her eyes, before her gaze became distracted by something off in the distance. “This is not over,” she warned, before excusing herself to take care of owner-manager business, and Barry simply shook his head and took another pull from his bottle.
After about twenty minutes, Barry wondered if maybe it wouldn’t be okay to shoot Thea a text and duck out for the night. He was in Starling City all week, after all: they could easily catch up in the afternoon or the day after. The longer the night wore on, the more crowded Verdant became, and brushing off the invasion of personal space became more difficult.
The seat next to him finally opened up again as the very enthusiastic patron accepted her martini, and Barry had just signaled for the bartender's attention when a figure stepped in the line of sight between him and the employee, raising his hand and grinning.
“Two of whatever he’s having,” the voice requested, sitting down and leaning in Barry's direction, causing his eyebrow to quirk and his mouth to open to decline the offer.
“You don’t--” the rest of the sentence got a little lost in his throat as he caught sight of the man next to him, recognizing the well-built, impeccably-dressed figure that was none other than Oliver Queen. He’d met the man in passing once or twice, of course-- he was Thea’s older brother and soulmate, after all-- but never really this closely, or with any direct interaction. The man was the epitome of playboy millionaire according to the tabloids, after all: sort of the stereotype that came to mind when people thought of platonic soulmates, honestly. Not that Barry bought into that reductive bullshit, of course, but it wasn’t like the older Queen sibling’s exploits were kept quiet by any means.
“Actually, I do,” the man replied after a brief pause in which Barry still hadn’t quite recovered. He flashed a faux-sheepish smile. “You see, my sister owns this club, and she’s a bit of a brat, and I’m trying desperately to keep her from setting me up tonight.”
“You too?” Barry managed, cracking a short laugh, which caused the blue eyes watching him to arch upwards curiously. “I’m actually friends with your sister-- Barry. Allen.” He managed to add, gesturing awkwardly to himself.
“Oh, yeah-- I think she’s mentioned you.” Oliver nodded as he held out his hand, but seemingly unable to place Barry from anywhere. Not surprising-- Barry was hardly God’s gift to man, and unlikely to be someone the other would be keeping track of, assuming he kept tabs on his sister’s friends at all.
“Oliver!” a voice sing-songed from the crowd, and both men turned to see a smirking dirty blonde weaving her way toward them, the white top and pants she seemed to be sewn into commanding as much attention as her confident stride.
“Oh boy-- I’m going to kill Speedy,” Barry heard the other murmur beneath his breath.
“Oliver: I was promised a dance,” the woman reminded him, her lips twitching mischievously, as she trailed her fingers along his leg. “Maybe a drive? Your sister said you just got your bike fixed back up? I’d love to take a ride.”
“You know, Sara, I would, but, uh, Barry-- and I,” he nodded over toward the younger man before looking back, “-we just got our drinks, and I promised him we’d talk about some...stuff.”
“Stuff?” the girl echoed skeptically, casting a skeptical eye at Barry. “Can’t it wait? I’m sure he won’t mind.”
“Well, actually, it’s kind of important, because--”
“Because I’m his date for his sister’s wedding,” Barry spoke up, his cheeks flushing at his own brazenness and the two people now staring at him in surprise. “Yeah, you know, with Thea just getting engaged, and, well, me not actually living here in Starling City, we kind of have to take every opportunity we get to talk about what we’re doing.”
Sara froze in disbelief, mouth slightly agape at the announcement, but Oliver seemed thrilled by Barry’s quick thinking. “Exactly,” he agreed, leaning in closer so that his shoulder was nudging the younger man’s. His free hand lightly rested on the other’s thigh, causing Barry to swallow thickly as he tried to look at ease. “I just really don’t get a lot of opportunities with Barry here, to...talk. So I’ll have to raincheck.” He shot Barry a look that caused a shiver to shoot down his spine before shrugging at the petite woman.
“Oh. I didn’t realize… Well, I guess I’ll just...see you later then,” Sara cast a second, more critical look at Barry as she drew the response out slowly, biting her lip unhappily before bidding Oliver goodbye and turning back toward the crowd and striding away.
“Sorry, about that,” Barry said quickly, shifting slightly in his chair to try to get some space between them as the room started getting significantly warmer than it had just been a few minutes ago. “I didn’t mean to insinuate that you were-- you know--”
“No, you didn’t,” Oliver was quick to reassure him. “I mean, you did, but that was kind of the point, because I am. Bi,” he added in clarification, as if sensing that Barry still seemed nervous. “And pretending to be taken. Trust me, that was perfect. Good thinking-- really, I appreciate it.”
“Yeah, well-- sure. Anytime,” Barry’s head was flopping on his neck like a bobble-head, as he licked his lips nervously and extended his foot toward the floor to leave the awkward situation he'd created for himself.
“Wait!” Barry froze, eyes wide, heart pounding like the bass blasting from the speakers. Oliver gave a small huff of embarrassment at his outburst, but shrugged. “I mean, stay another minute. You know Speedy-- she’s kind of stubborn, and...at least finish your drink.” His calloused fingers touched the base of the full glass on the counter, pushing it carefully toward the other. “Just...give me a couple minutes. Until I’m sure Sara’s moved on, at least, you know? If she finds out I'm lying while she's drunk, she'll probably kick my ass.”
Barry’s lips twitched involuntarily as he gave a shy shrug and nervously dropped back into his seat. “Sure. A couple minutes,” he agreed, green eyes sparking as he leaned against the bar to face the older man properly.
***
Of course Oliver knew who Barry was: he knew all of Thea’s friends. Even if he hadn’t been the girl’s soulmate, he was still her big brother, and Thea was the most important thing in the world to him. So even though they hadn’t really formally spoken, Oliver was aware of Barry and his presence in Thea’s life.
Plus...well, it was kind of hard not to notice Barry Allen. Not to say Oliver didn’t make an effort, because Thea’s friends were all zoned as off-limits for the older man. He knew the reputation the newspapers gave him-- he'd earned it back in his college days-- and the last thing he wanted was for his Speedy to be dragged through the mud because of it. But even from a distance he could definitely appreciate the tousled brown hair, the radiating smile, the perfectly carved jaw set on a painfully long neck. And those goddamned eyes-- from one hundred yards, Oliver could still see the perfect shade of green in those puppy eyes, wide and eager on whomever they turned their gaze toward.
And right now they were turned toward him, barely over a foot away, and as much as Oliver knew he should leave-- finish his drink and make his way back into the fray-- doing so was proving more than a little difficult.
So he used his sister and her meddling in his love life as an excuse. Which turned out to be a good one, if Barry’s empathy was anything to go by. Speedy really could be a pain in the tail.
“So, Barry, what brings you to Starling City?” Barry seemed surprised by the question, or maybe the interest behind it, but his eyes flickered back to the crowd and Oliver could read him like a book. They’d crafted a story about being together, after all, so obviously they should be in comfortable conversation.
“I’m here for a seminar with the SCPD,” the younger man supplied with a smile. “I’m a CSI for the Central City police, and was sent as a representative for this conference. Well, I volunteered, honestly-- I actually really like these sorts of things.” He smiled and shrugged shyly. “I just took the weekend so I could see Thea: it’s been forever.”
The demure body language was definitely getting to Oliver as they chatted, and the way Barry's skin colored around his freckles made him want to lean over and connect the dots with his tongue. He managed to refrain from doing so, but couldn’t convince himself not to take advantage of the fact that Barry seemed willing to go along with the ruse-- hell, the man hadn’t even touched his drink yet.
Moving to brace one foot on the floor, Oliver reached beneath him to grab the seat of his stool, tugging it forward so that when he returned to it, the space between the two men was considerably lessened. Barry’s wide eyes, if possible, looked even more bewildered as Oliver’s leg barely brushed his, his hand a hairsbreadth from the other’s. Oliver didn’t want to overreach, but ten-to-one this was going to be his only opportunity to get even this close, so why not enjoy it?
Barry still hadn’t moved from his stunned position, and Oliver arched an eyebrow questioningly. Maybe he had overstepped his bounds. His fingers slowly curled back towards him as he moved to straighten, not wanting to make Barry uncomfortable, when the other seemed to jolt back to life. The younger man's own hand moved to close back up the distance, careful fingers brushing uncertainly over Oliver’s as he gave a small smile, sending a jolt of adrenaline coursing through his veins even as her returned the gesture with a broad grin.
“So, the wedding?” Oliver eyed him quizzically at the spontaneous outburst, and Barry blushed a little, making his stomach twist. “I mean, that’s what we’re supposed to be talking about.”
“Oh, yeah. I mean, I think our mother is planning it as the event of the season type of thing,” Oliver replied. It wouldn't be a Queen party if she didn't, after all. “Poor Roy: I’m pretty sure he’d rather just elope.” Barry’s laugh wasn’t overtly loud, but it cut through the club to Oliver’s ears like it was the only sound in the room. “But I think it’ll be really something that makes Thea and him happy. You are coming, right?”
Barry chuckled. “Assuming I’m invited,” he joked. “I mean, of course. Thea’s one of my closest friends. I’ll definitely be there for her.”
“And you’ll be taking her?” Oliver asked, gesturing to the design that was peaking out from behind the younger man’s wristwatch. Barry balked slightly in surprise-- that Oliver had noticed the mark, that he had known in general?-- before recovering himself.
“I don’t know,” he answered after a moment’s thought. “Iris is getting married next March, so Thea will probably send her and Eddie their own invitation.” He chewed his lip awkwardly, and Oliver’s eyes followed the movement, his tongue darting out to wet his own involuntarily.
“Well, at least you know someone else will be there with the same situation,” he offered with a smile, causing Barry’s face to reflect the gesture.
“Yeah, I guess there’s that.” His gaze lingered on Oliver, and the older man was close enough now that he considered the flecks of light dancing in the emerald hue. He didn’t even realize he was staring until Barry cleared his throat. “So, um...do you think she bought it?” Oliver blinked in confusion. “That girl. And Thea. Do you think we’re in the clear?”
Blue eyes blinked dazedly as Oliver’s head shifted side to side, taking in his surroundings. Obviously Sara had moved on-- he didn’t even really know why she’d put up a fight to begin with. They would sometimes hook up, but she’d admitted that really she’d just liked the idea of sleeping with a guy with a mark, rather than any romantic interest in the man himself. Oliver got that a lot-- girls especially liked the romantic nature of having a soulmate, and for some reason they assumed he was more sensitive than guys who didn’t because he had one. Sara’s reasoning was actually more logical, in Oliver’s mind-- she liked his loyalty, the way his mark bonded him to his sister as closely as Sara felt to her own, even if she didn’t have a visible sign declaring it. But recently, Sara had seemed to be over Oliver, not to mention she tended to prefer girls anyways, and so the best he could figure was that she must be pretty hammered if she was acting the way she was, which meant if she hadn’t come back, she’d probably found a better offer. Or hotwired his bike.
And as for Thea-- Oliver internally admitted he’d barely seen his sister since he’d first shown up tonight. And while a precursory glance around the room told him that Barry had at some point finished his drink and now his fingers were scratching lightly on the counter next to Oliver’s, it told him nothing about his little sister.
“Yeah, I guess…” He trailed with a slow nod; however, he hardly wanted to be done with the man’s company for the night. “But maybe better safe than sorry. Do you want to grab some coffee?” Barry’s eyes widened in surprise, but Oliver arched an eyebrow. “I mean, if we’re going to the wedding together, it’d probably be good if we knew more than each other’s names and soulmates, right?”
“Going to the wedding together?” Oliver felt a little flustered by the confusion, but he kept a confident smile and shrugged.
“Yeah-- I mean, why not, right? We’re both going to be there, and it saves the trouble of having to deal with the plus-one question Thea’s no doubt going to hit us both with the next time she sees us.”
Barry blinked rapidly, and Oliver wished he could read the man’s thoughts better. He’d read his interest before, but now that the older man had decided to go ahead and make his move, the other seemed to be considering backtracking. It was kind of disappointing, to be honest.
“Um, yeah-- okay.” Oliver grinned as Barry accepted his invitation, but felt his stomach drop a little in disappointment as the lean form moved to stand.
“Oh, you’re going?” Wow, that sounded pathetic, but Oliver hadn’t expected the night to end so soon.
Barry tilted his head in confusion. “I thought you wanted to get coffee?” he asked.
Oh. “Now?” He’d figured that since Barry would be around all week, coffee would at best be an eventuality. Instead Barry had thought they were going to be leaving together. Not that the thought was something Oliver was against at all.
Barry, however, blushed. “Well, I just-- I thought you meant--” he stammered, retreating a step away from the sandy-haired man.
“No-- I mean, yeah. I mean, I’m sure there’s a place we can grab something nearby.” Oliver was mentally berating himself for his lack of skills here, but going to a coffee shop after Verdant had never actually been something he’d done.
“Or, there’s a drive-thru kiosk by my hotel. We could…” The offer was so quiet Oliver would have missed it if he wasn’t staring directly at Barry’s lips. His stomach leaped-- did Barry Allen seriously just ask him for a caffeinated nightcap?
Oliver didn’t care at this point which way it went. He smiled again. “Coffee sounds good,” he replied, gesturing with his hand to help guide the other toward the exit.
***
From the balcony, a blonde and a brunette were sipping drinks and smirking mischievously.
“Pay up,” Thea demanded, holding out her hand, and Sara rolled her eyes and dug a ten dollar bill out of her pocket.
“Don’t forget to call Iris too. My god, I can’t believe he fell for that,” the woman scoffed. “That had to be the worst acting of my life.”
“Yeah, I wouldn’t quit your day job, Sara,” Thea laughed. “But seriously; Ollie’s been ogling Barry ever since I brought him home from college. There was no way that wouldn’t work if they actually talked.”
“Then here’s to soulmates in love,” the other declared, and the girls clinked their glasses as the boys disappeared from the club.