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Hal landed on their balcony as the yellow light from the apartment inside flooded his vision, signaling the owner's awake. The glow of the ring on his finger quickly washed over his body and his black and green suit of armor disappeared along with his mask. He stretched a little in his civilian clothes, finally free of the weight of his suit after days and days of being in outer space. The winds of autumn messed up the dark auburn hair on his head, making goosebumps appearing on his forearms. Ah, he didn't realize how chilly it could be this late in the night. The last time he was on Earth, he had left his worn and battered bomber jacket in the basket in time for his boyfriend's weekly laundry, and even though he never got out of his Green Lantern suit, he already missed it dearly. The jacket had seen better days, but it had been Hal's favorite piece of clothing for decades and he felt, well, naked, without it. And cold, too.
"Honey, I'm home." Hal called out in a sing-song voice as he climbed through the window inside, a wide grin on his face, but heard no reply. Huh. "Baby?"
It was past midnight. He should be home already. He should be lying in bed adorably asleep right now, and all Hal needed to do was slipping under the blankets with him. Instead, the bed was empty. Hal closed the window and made his way into their living room, looking for the familiar blond head. Was it an emergency that he had to leave home at this hour?
Hal walked in and let out a sigh of relief when he saw the man's hair poking up behind their sofa. His idiot must be having the headphones on. Hal chuckled as he jumped in and nearly scared the shit out of his boyfriend.
"Hal!" Barry groaned as he ripped his headphones off, face blushing furiously. He had just let out the tiniest, and yet most embarrassing squeal, and unfortunately, Hal had heard it all. "Stop messing around!"
"What are you doing, staying up at this hour?" Hal placed a shamelessly loud smooch on the other man's lips after the question, and Barry rolled his eyes.
"Are you trying to be my dad?" He pushed Hal away, clearly still embarrassed, but Hal rained his face with his annoying smooches until he was finally subdued.
Barry was in his usual sleepwear, which was only a thin, loose pair of red shorts covered in little yellow lightning bolt logos, and nothing else, showing his perfectly lean upper body and creamy, unblemished skin that was practically begging to be kissed. It was only a few days and Hal already missed him like crazy. But then he looked down to see what Barry was doing, and eyes widened.
"Barry? Is that my jacket?"
His boyfriend nodded. It was Hal's jacket. In Barry's lap, inside out, with the old ripped up linings replaced with a fluffy layer of beige fleece. Only now did he notice the needle and thread in Barry's hand.
"The super cheap linings of your jacket were ripped apart in the washing machine, so I made you a replacement. I was going for wool at first, but I figured fleece should be the most comfortable for you." He shrugged nonchalantly and cut the thread with a pair of sewing scissors before putting the needle away. It looked like he had been working on this for a while now, with only the hems of the sleeves were left unattached. The rest of the fleece layer was already sewn in place with careful, neat lines of stitches that were hidden so skillfully in the material that Hal almost didn't notice. Almost like a sewing machine's doing. "Really, I would recommend throwing the whole thing away and buying a new one that can properly warm you rather than just look pretty, but I know you're weirdly attached to this jacket so I wanna make sure you don't freeze your ass off when you wear it. I never noticed how thin it was."
Hal picked up the jacket and touched his fingers on the soft fleece. God, it was the most fluffy, amazing and comfortable material he had ever laid his hands on, and he immediately wanted to bury his face into it forever.
"Here, let me show you." Barry scooted closer and took the piece of clothing from Hal's hands. He carefully turned the jacket inside out from a hole he had left between the layers, returning it to the original form. Then, he straightened it and lifted it up for Hal to see. "There were also a few loose threads and scratches here and there, so I cleaned all of those up too. And I replaced the broken zipper. Is that why you never closed your jacket? Because it's broken? Not because you were trying to be sexy?"
"Uhhh…" Hal bit his lip and grinned. Well… That's debatable. Barry shook his head with a smile. It's like a different jacket already. Clean, smells heavenly like Barry's favorite fabric softener, all rips patched up, with new zipper and fleece linings? Hal almost forgot how gorgeous his own jacket could look. Don't get him wrong, it had always looked good and made him the hottest pilot in the airline, but this was a whole rebirth.
"I just need to finish sewing these sleeves and it's done." Barry took a look over the whole thing with pride sparkling in his eyes. He looked gorgeous. "But now that you're finally home, I'll do it tomorrow and you can try it on after, okay?"
Hal pulled him into another kiss, a deep one this time, as he poured all of the sudden surge of affection into the other man's mouth. Barry could only let out a small gasp before both himself and the jacket were wrapped into Hal's embrace, and he returned the kiss with the gentleness that melted Hal's insides. God, Hal loved him so much. Just the thought of Barry, his stressed out, overworked scientist and superhero boyfriend, despite everything, still spent time sewing Hal's jacket up for him made Hal want to burst with warmth. It was the most domestically romantic Hal could ever think of, and no one had ever done that for him before. He didn't even think of it - but now it was all he could think about. Barry cared about his old jacket. Barry was worried that he was cold. Barry wanted him to be comfortable. Hal was lightheaded.
When they finally parted, both a little out of breath and flush, Barry stared up at Hal wide-eyed from under his eyelashes. "What's that for?"
"Can't I just kiss my boyfriend because I love him?" Hal pouted, and Barry chuckled.
"Yeah, I miss you too."
The older man kissed the blond locks, humming. "I never knew you could sew."
"Really?" Barry blinked at him. "You don't know? I don't have a fancy ring that can design a cool suit anytime I want, Hal. Where do you think I got my Flash suit?"
That was… A good question. Which Hal had never asked himself before. He saw Barry in The Flash suit every time they went into the missions and just assumed that it had been there since the beginning of time. He did see Barry changing into it a few times, but the man had been so fast that it looked like the supersuit simply appeared on his body in a flash of lightning.
"...Wherever Batman got his?" Hal raised an eyebrow, and Barry pinched his own forehead.
"Hal, Batman's suits and armors cost millions of dollars. He probably has a bunch of designers and scientists working on it for him. Or Alfred, I don't know, but I don't have that. I had to make my own suit. From scratch."
"...There's no store selling it?"
"God, Hal." Barry burst into laughter. "It's not a Halloween costume. Jesus, this ring must've made your superhero job so convenient, huh?"
Now, to think of it, the Green Lantern ring must've saved him so much trouble. Hal only needed to imagine himself wearing the same thing as other Lanterns' and it already put a perfectly functional suit onto his body. It was basically just a work uniform to him. He wasn't like Barry who had to navigate himself alone in the superhero territory - he didn't have to figure his powers out, or make up his hero name, or design his hero suit. It was simply being accepted into a group of intergalactic space cops and blending in.
"Alright, alright, bedtime." Barry patted on Hal's thigh and stood up, yawning. He looked clearly exhausted, and Hal's heart shook again when he thought of how Barry was obviously waiting for him to come home before going to bed. "And no steamy time tonight, I'm shutting down."
"Too bad. I'll just cuddle you and kiss you and make you breakfast in the morning then." Hal smirked, and Barry laughed. Hal would never say it, but it was one of his pride to be the one making Barry laugh the most. No one in the whole multiverse could be able to beat him in that, he made sure of it.
Barry pulled at Hal's hand as the two of them left their sofa and moved into their shared bedroom, which he was dying to lie in these last few days. Before Hal closed the door of the bedroom, he took a final look at the jacket left on their sofa, and wondered if there's anything Barry couldn't do. Probably not, Hal smiled. He couldn't wait until he could put on the jacket tomorrow. It'll probably feel like being in Barry's embrace.
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It was probably the warmest jacket Hal had ever put on in his life, and he never wanted to take it off. He supposed this jacket would officially be glued onto his body until he died. Barry laughed again when he heard Hal saying that, because he clearly didn't get how much Hal loved it, but he was not lying. He was even more in love with his jacket now, something he used to think was impossible.
"To think of it, you don't even have a proper wardrobe, so no wonder it's the best piece of clothing you own." Barry shrugged as he tugged slightly at the collar of the jacket, straightening it with a hand while the other placed on Hal's leather-cladded chest. "You basically just wear my clothes all the time."
"Well, they smell like you." Hal replied, hands mindlessly tracing up and down Barry's side. It was true. He had to keep his Green Lantern uniform on all day during the mission, but when the team crashed onto a neighboring planet to get fuel and some rest, he'd always change back into his civilian clothing and fall asleep surrounded by Barry's scent. Now, with the brand new jacket, he'd never been more confident in the next mission.
Barry pried his hands away so he could lead Hal to the full body mirror in the corner of the room, and Hal looked in, and saw the most handsome man in Sector 2814, with a hot speedster blondie standing next to him. Barry grinned at his reflection.
"What do you say, Mr. Pilot? Is this edgy enough for you?" And oh, Barry embroidered his name on the left chest. Hal Jordan, beautiful writing and beautiful work, dark cursive letters on a light gray rectangular background, making the whole thing pop.
"Gosh, you are perfect, you know that?" Hal let out a huff of disbelief, and Barry grinned even wider.
"I do. Now get your ass up and take care of the dishes, I'll handle the vacuuming. This house needs to be spotless by noon." He patted Hal's shoulder, pressing the rubber gloves onto the man's hands. He sped up into the kitchen to retrieve them, Hal knew it. He rolled his eyes.
"Come on, it's Saturday. Can't we just cuddle and watch Netflix? The dishes can wait."
"Nope." Barry shook his head. "Wally's coming over for lunch, so we have to be ready. I want him to have the completely false belief that we're two perfect hero figures who absolutely had everything in our lives under control. So come on, go clean up the mess you made trying to make me breakfast."
Okay, so there's one person that Hal knew could beat him in the battle for Barry's affection, and that was Wally. He wasn't even surprised - he himself adored the kid, and he couldn't stifle his own excitement knowing that the teenage redhead was coming over. It's been a while since he saw Barry's, no, their nephew, and he started mentally preparing the galactic stories to tell the kid over lunch. Wally was the sweetest, most energetic, kindhearted and bravest kid Hal had ever known. He used to be trained by Barry to practice controlling his powers, and was now a teenage hero in a team led by Batman's Robin. He's moved out, and they don't meet up as frequently as before. Hal knew his boyfriend was dying to see the kid coming over. The blond quickly finished tidying up the house while Hal wrestled with the dirty dishes, and went on preparing Wally's favorite food for lunch. He could probably clean the whole house in a blink by himself, but he liked making Hal work for it.
When the doorbell rang, the mouthwatering smell of grilled cheese and baked chicken already filled the apartment. Hal came over to open the door, and the redhead boy on the other side went wild.
"UNCLE HAL!!!" Wally's face burst into a bright grin and he jumped into Hal's embrace, basically vibrating with joy.
"Good to see you too, Kid Flash." Hal laughed, ruffling the boy's hair. He's grown so much taller. Well, puberty was kind to him. "How's the hero team doing?"
"Oh, everything's great. It's been ages since anyone from the Justice League had to come cleaning our mess, so." He shrugged, and Hal chuckled as he led the kid inside.
"Whatever, you'll always have Batman breathing down your neck anyway." Hal waved his hand, and Wally grimaced hilariously. "His son's in the team, he'll always be watching. Heck, Barry and I weren't his sons and he kept glaring at us all the time. We weren't even doing anything!"
They got into the kitchen, and Barry already set up the table and brought out the steaming food. Wally zoomed over to give him a hug, and Barry kissed his forehead. "Well, to be fair, Hal, you were deliberately making PDAs with me to piss him off, so of course he would glare."
"Come on, it was just a kiss." Hal rolled his eyes, and Wally 'ew'ed. "I'm pretty sure--"
"Uncle Hal, I don't wanna hear your kissing stories." Wally pouted, and Hal gasped.
"How could you?"
Barry shook his head, pushing them all down to start the meal. They continued to banter, laugh, and stuff their mouths full of Barry's lovely cooking, the empty apartment suddenly became so warm. Hal started telling his space adventure stories in front of Wally's wide eyes, and Wally started telling his teenage hero team adventure stories in front of Barry's wide eyes, and their laughter and chattering filled the space. With Hal always on long missions and Barry's work hours, it's rare to see such a sight. Hal coming back after a mission, and Wally coming over, it felt as if his longing heart was suddenly filled and started shaking. He never imagined his world to be so tightly packed into only 2 people, but then they were in front of him, giggling about some bad space puns, and Barry wanted to wrap them in bubble wrap to protect them forever.
"Oh, and then one of Heat Wave's shots got me and nearly melted my arm off." Wally said with his mouth full, wincing at the memory, and both Barry and Hal flinched in their seats. "Man, it sucked. Hurt like hell."
"How bad was the injury?" Barry asked, frowning, and the kid immediately realized he slipped up.
"Oh, no, it's not bad. It's just a tiny--well, I healed anyway, right? Only a small scratch. It was only a few hours and I'm good as new. It won't happen again." Wally nervously stared at his uncles as he awkwardly tried to play off the damage, but they all knew it was far more serious than just a small scratch. From Barry's own experience with the Rouges, they could leave some terrible damage if they tried, and even when you're a speedster with super healing powers, the pain was still there. Sometimes, the pain from his own cells healing was even worse than when he got injured, and the hollow feeling of hunger that came with healing could be horrible if he had to stay in the battlefield for long without food. Did Wally's team know how much food he needed to heal from his injuries? Did they cover for him? Did they even communicate effectively? If they did, why did they let Heat Wave hit Wally? If--
Hal's hand reached over to place on his thigh under the table, calming him. Barry looked aside, and Hal gave him a small smile.
"It's part of the job. You know that. At least he always has a team who has his back."
Barry nodded, sighing. Wally had been a hero for a year. He learned all he could under Barry's wings, and he managed to save people on his own, while working with others seamlessly. Being injured was a part of being a hero, and no matter how much Barry wanted to rain hell on Heat Wave for being stupid enough to harm his nephew, he had to accept that Wally could hold his own in the battlefield. God, he had thought he finally got used to this after dating Hal.
"Have you recovered entirely from that, at least?" He started, trying to hide the concern in his voice. He didn't want Wally to think he distrust the boy, or underestimate him.
"Yeah, totally. I'm doing great now." Wally scratched his head. "But my suit's damaged, so I'm waiting for it to get patched before I can go out on missions with the team again."
Barry stared at him. "Who will patch it for you?"
"Robin." Wally replied, voice confident. "He knows everything about these technologies, he'll fix the damage on my suit."
Hal and Barry looked at each other.
"I can do it."
"Barry can do it."
They spoke in unison, and Wally giggled.
"I know, I just don't want to bother you with it. You have your job, the League, and Uncle Hal. You seem to have no time for other stuff."
"What? No, of course I have time for you." Barry waved his hand. "And sewing helps me relax. Leave the suit here, I can do it better than those Bat boys. I can't let Batman's butler fix my nephew's suit."
"He made me new jacket linings. He's really good at this." Hal pointed at the inside of his jacket, and only now did Barry notice the man still wearing it. Damn it, he's obsessed.
Wally laughed.
"Besides, who made you the suit in the first place? Was it Robin?" Hal raised an eyebrow, and Wally shook his head, still chuckling.
"No, Uncle Barry did."
"So it's obvious that he should be the one fixing it for you." Hal shrugged.
"You know, actually, I'm making you a new one." Barry chimed in. "The team in STAR Labs have just developed a new material that's perfect for speedsters' suits. It's superior to the one I used for the suit you're wearing. Lightweight, durable, and comfortable. It's also wonderful at stabilizing temperature, it won't overheat when you move in highspeed, but will keep you warm in case an ice blast hits you."
"Wow, sounds amazing." Wally's eyes lightened. He must've been hit by enough ice blast that the idea of this new material was heaven to him. "You'll make me an entire new suit?"
"I'll help." Hal said, ignoring the fact that his participation in the process might actually slow Barry down instead of helping. He didn't care, he wanted to make Wally something too. And if Barry did it on his own, he'd be too fast and Hal wouldn't have the chance to watch him sewing. He wanted to watch Barry sew.
"Definitely." Barry nodded with a smile. Wonderful.
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They stopped their car outside of Lena's and Hal eyed the shop with awe as Barry parked the car and took him in. He clearly had no idea these kinds of fabric and sewing accessories shops existed, and Barry was basically showing him a whole new world. The familiar pre-recorded upbeat tune filled the space as they opened the door, and the woman behind the counter gave Barry a playful smirk.
"Oh, finally took my advice and came for the sewing machine?" She asked, and Barry shook his head, nose wrinkling adorably as he grinned.
"Why bother? I can sew faster."
The shop assistant laughed it off without a thought while Hal snorted to himself. The same Barry that didn't bother to buy a car because running would be faster for him.
"And who is this?" She turned to take a look at Hal, and he gave her his signature blinding, flirtatious smile.
"Hal Jordan. Test pilot. Barry's man."
"Oh, you're the Hal Jordan?" She looked at Barry, and the blond man's cheeks reddened. Seemed like someone mentioned Hal a lot. "You do look very dashing."
"Thank you." Hal took a slight bow, and the woman gestured at his jacket.
"I assume that's the fleece lining that Barry sewed in for you?"
"Yeah, did you buy it here, Bear?" He turned aside, and Barry nodded. "I have to say, ma'am, it feels amazing. It feels like a different jacket altogether. I think I can go to Antarctica in this."
"Great to hear." She giggled. "So what do you need today, Barry? What's the project?"
"Just a new male mannequin." His boyfriend said, shrugging. "Hal and I are making our nephew some clothes."
"Wonderful. Feel free to rummage through the mannequin section then, it's moved to aisle 3 to 5. If you need anything else, just call me." She pointed in the direction, and Barry hummed before taking Hal's hand and started walking.
They went past rows and rows of sewing machine models, all sorts of sewing supplies and colorful threads, and past the wool and fabric section before finally reaching the mannequins. Hal eyed the whole store with awe the entire way - he could never imagine only sewing could require this many complicated tools. And he never knew threads needed to be in so many colors.
"So when did you start this hobby of yours? How come I never saw you sewing before?" Hal asked as he studied something that he believed helped people to thread a needle while Barry picked out a mannequin that resembled Wally.
"Because you're busy staring at my butt to notice I've been sewing your clothes the past three years." Barry rolled his eyes, crouching down to pull out a particular mannequin.
"Wait, so the whole time I thought the shirts healed themselves like The Flash - was it your doing?" Hal asked playfully, and Barry pinched his leg.
"Yeah, like the way your cell phone charges itself every night after you fall asleep snoring and drooling."
Hal gasped dramatically, making Barry snicker.
"It's fine, you don't even care if it's my shirt or yours you're wearing, of course you won't notice how a tiny hole disappeared. Anyway, I started ages ago, when I was around ten? Twelve, maybe? Yeah. My mom loved sewing, so she taught me."
Hal's expression softened. He squeezed Barry's shoulder. "Hey, you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."
"No, it's alright." Barry shook his head. "It's one of my best memories of her. It's her legacy, she used to patch my dad's ripped clothes and sew him new ones. Even my clothes were mostly her work. If she knew I'd be good at this as well, she'd be glad."
Hal helped him pull out a mannequin under the stack, giving him a small smile. "And now you're making clothes for me and Wally. She'd also be proud."
"Every time I hold the needle, it makes me feel like I'm close to her. Like I'm taking care of my family the way she took care of us." Hal tried not to let his heart speed up at that. Barry considered him family. The way the word came out of him so easily... "It calms me down, you know? I'm sure you find it tedious, but it's like meditation for me. Sometimes I spend so much time with the Speedforce that I don't even feel the ground under me anymore, so I need to sit down and do this. Helps me a lot."
"I just think you look adorable while sewing." Hal shrugged, making Barry's cheeks reddened. "And my jacket's probably the most fashionable thing in all of the planets I've been to."
"Great." Barry smiled. "Let the aliens know you're taken."
"Please, my face screams taken already." Hal laughed, and the two of them carried the mannequin out to the cashier. "You can teach me how to sew, you know."
"I saw how you held a needle just now, Hal." Barry patted his shoulder and pecked on his cheek. "I think it's best that you just watch."
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Turned out Barry didn't get anything else from the shop because he literally had everything at home. He clearly was this some sort of sewing expert, with a basement full of supplies that could be used to make both normal clothes, and superhero clothes.
"So if your super fabric is impenetrable, how can your needle go through it?" Hal asked as he stared at Barry's art design of Kid Flash' new suit, and his boyfriend rolled his eyes.
"I used Batman's batneedle." He said dryly as he worked on the art design, and Hal laughed. They were sitting together in their kitchen, and unlike Hal's initial expectation that they would go straight into cutting the thick roll of fabric, Barry made him sit down and started to pull out a sketchbook.
Everything needs a plan, Jordan, Barry said when he opened his pencil case and started sketching out the general shape of their mannequin. So they sat down and started drawing together, making up a more advanced design as they go, so the next time Wally appeared on TV after a new Young Justice successful mission, he would look like the most dashing hero ever. This was more fun than Hal thought - he had seen plenty of clothes from planets all over the galaxy, and both of them had encountered different heroes and villains in their League work. They had seen the most practical suits and the most powerful-looking suits, as well as the weirdest and cringiest ones in the span of years on the battlefield, so of course making up the design for a perfect suit was the goal. It didn't just need to be protective, it also had to fit with a speedster's features and powers, and look sleek as well.
Hal gave out tons of suggestions, and they tried and then considered back and forth for what felt like hours before both agreed on the final design. And Hal actually felt helpful. Barry listened and tried out all of his ideas no matter how absurd some of them sounded, and he had an absolute mountain of knowledge on physics, combat and engineering. He truly was a wonderful scientist. Hal had quite a deep understanding of physics and fighting experience too, and they complimented each other so well it was incredible. Working with Barry again in such an unexpected way, seeing him thinking and planning, asking him questions, giving him insight, coming to a mutual solution… Hal had never felt more in love.
"Alright, I think this is perfect enough." Barry finalized the artwork with an excited clap of his hands and Hal nodded, sticking it up their board on the fridge like a detective sticking up evidence on his wall. "Let's get to work."
So Barry took out his giant chest of sewing supplies, fully opened it in front of Hal's eyes, and sat down on the floor with the roll of fabric and a pair of special scissors. This fabric was amazing, STAR Labs has exceeded themselves creating such a smooth and stretchy fabric, with such a vivid red that caught everyone's eyes the first moment they stepped in the room. Hal loved red, it reminded him of Barry, obviously. The yellow option for parts of Wally's suit wasn't really interesting to him, but Barry loved it, and they both loved the subtle texture of the fabric that deepened the color in different lights. If someone looked closely enough, they would see the mixture of lightning and lines mimicking force fields types of textures emerging from the surface.
He sat next to his boyfriend and helped with the testing of the fabric - Barry asked him to use his ring to try to destroy it in any way he could, and he jumped at the chance.
"What if I completely incinerate your new cool fabric?" Hal asked as he made a green chainsaw out of his ring, and Barry laughed.
"I'm sure you'd be able to pay for it."
Barry knew Hal couldn't pay for shit with the state of his credit card, which means he was more than confident with this new creation. Hal bit his lip in concentration as he turned on the chainsaw with his mind and cut into it. Of course, it stretched around the blade and came back into shape without so much of a scratch. A spear then, something pointy could do it, Hal thought. Didn't work either. A drill. A giant blade. Lasers. All failed. He then proceeded to try some more methods - opting for explosives and chemicals now, but after another few tries, it still stands.
"Alright, alright, you have to tell me what those scissors of yours were made of." Hal groaned after the tenth attempt at firing a blowtorch at it, but didn't succeed to leave a single burn mark. "And your needles too."
Barry just shook his head, chuckling. While Hal was on one side messing around with his fabric, he had already cut out a few pieces based on the pattern of the suit. He moved the pieces to the mannequin and carefully pinned them together into the front body of the suit, two sleeves, the pants, and the cowl.
"What about the boots?" Hal asked as he scooted over, abandoning his goal of trying to destroy the roll of fabric. "Will you make them too?"
"Hell, no." Barry laughed. "Speedsters' footwear is another world. I had to ask for them to be custom made by professionals. I used to burn off 2 pairs of shoes every week back when I was a beginner Flash, and I was so broke. Nikes and Adidas weren't cheap, but if I went with more affordable shoes, my feet hurt, so most of my money went into shoes and food."
Hal had worn the same pair for five years, so he couldn't relate, but he could relate to the being broke part.
"Oh, maybe you could help me cut the kevlar into sized pieces so I could reinforce them inside the suit later." Barry said as he started picking out a red roll of thread. "I put the dimensions down on the piece of paper over there."
"Anything for you, babydoll." Hal whistled as he got up to do the hard job, ignoring Barry's glares.
As the work went on, they turned on their favorite 80s rock music, the songs that made stress and stiffness left Barry's shoulders and turned Hal into a world class diva with his hair comb as a mic. Barry asked him to help with small side jobs, and then after everything was finished and all left was sewing the seams of the suit together, he sat down and watched his boyfriend working on it. Barry didn't use lightning speed to do it either, as he seemed to enjoy having Hal's gaze on him.
And watch Barry he did. He would goof around, singing like his life depends on it while making funny faces at his boyfriend, but eyes still solely placed on Barry. Look at his messy hair, his soft features, his small smile. Look at his adorable old pajamas, the way his hands moved in a quick blur on top of the pieces of fabric as he sewed, the way he bit his lip in concentration. He was completely lost in the repeating pattern of pushing the needle in and pulling it out, and Hal was lost in watching him. He had never imagined something like this. Someone like him, who was terrified of commitment and expectations and family - now sitting on the floor of his own house, watching his boyfriend sewing clothes for his nephew, in the music that he chose. It felt as if nothing else existed beyond this planet's horizon, and he didn't have to care about gods and monsters and aliens and apocalypses. As if he was just an ordinary man, in a small, ordinary domestic life with the one he loved so much it sent shivers down his spine. He just wanted to be in this moment forever, watching the sunshine from the window dancing on Barry's blond strands of hair, down to his long eyelashes, and then his lips, as the rhythm from his sewing hands went on. He looked so beautiful like this - radiant, soft, and warm. Like Earth. Like home.
Hal crawled over and leaned in to kiss Barry's lips. The younger man's eyes widened in surprise, but eventually, he kissed back.
"What's that for?" Barry asked when they finally split, sewing needles temporarily forgotten, and Hal grinned, heart full of giddiness and blond sunshine.
"Can't I just kiss my boyfriend because I love him?"
Barry's cheeks flushed as he smiled shyly. "Right. I love you too."
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Kid Flash' new superhero suit was voted the most fashionable suit of the year by Central City Picture News, Coast City Ledger, Gotham Gazette, Daily Planet, and so, so many more newspapers, magazines and even TV channels. Barry couldn't stop grinning for days after that, and Hal could only chuckle.