A/N: Hello once again! For the next 12 days I will be posting Snowbarry oneshots that are winter and Christmas themed. These oneshots are not connected to each other at all. Enjoy!
"What in the world are you wearing?"
Barry, who had just gotten off the elevator, paused to look down at his usual button-up shirt, jacket, jeans and sneakers assemble. Quirking an eyebrow up confusingly, he blankly looked at his personal physician. "Um…clothes?" he stated unsurely, walking the rest of the way into the cortex.
"No, on your face," Caitlin clarified, swiveling her chair around to follow Barry as he moved further into the room.
Instinctively, Barry reached up to drag a hand over his face. He didn't feel anything but a little fuzz of stubble. "Is this a hint that I should shave?" he joked tiredly, falling into a chair besides her.
"No!" she immediately exclaimed, her eyes immediately widening at the realization of her sudden outburst. "I-I mean, only if you really…want to," Caitlin eventually stuttered out.
Barry smirked, watching her amusingly. "You okay there, Dr. Snow?"
Caitlin huffed, turning her attention to the computer instead of the cocky speedster. "I am perfectly fine," she insisted. "What's with the facial hair anyway?" she asked.
Barry sighed, his eyes heavy. "As you know, I had a huge case this weekend at the precinct. Well we were so busy that even with my speed I could barely eat or sleep so-"
Caitlin's typing paused. "But you did eat and you did sleep, correct?" Caitlin interjected, the doctor in her surfacing.
He rolled his eyes fondly at her. "Yes, Caitlin. But that was literally the only time I had to myself this past weekend. And since I just got off work, I never got around to shaving."
Caitlin hummed, letting Barry know that she was listening despite her attention being on her work.
Barry fell into the chair next to her. "What are you working on?" Barry asked, noticing that she was very focused on whatever she was reading. She was only this zeroed in when it was either life-threatening or it was something she was passionate about.
She shrugged. "While you were away I looked into one of my old projects that I had put on the backburner, but I think I may have just realized something that could help me make this theory into something tangible. But I'm just cross referencing some things," she answered, her eyes never wavering from the screen.
"Need help?" Barry offered with a cheeky grin.
Caitlin tore her eyes away from the screen long enough to give him a grateful smile. "No, I think I've got it handled. But thank you."
A stretch of silence followed with only Caitlin's diligent typing on the computer keyboard reverberating throughout the cortex. Barry closed his eyes, letting the sound lull him into a sleep-light state.
"Barry," he suddenly heard his name called, jolting him fully awake. When he opened his bleary eyes, he saw Caitlin looking at him with a frown. "Why don't you head home and get some rest? You've been working hard all weekend and you look tired."
Barry stubbornly shook his head as he sat up straighter in his chair. "I'm fine, honestly," he insisted. "Hey, what would you think if I grew out my facial hair?" he asked curiously, diverting the subject. He rubbed at the small hairs poking out from his face in thought. "Because I kinda like it."
Caitlin bit down on her lip, as if she was holding herself back. "On a scale of Oliver Queen to Dumbledore, how much are you intending to grow it out?" she instead asked as she flipped from one file to the next on her screen.
Barry let out a bellied laugh. "Hmm, I'm in the holiday spirit," he said, crossing his arms with a shrug, "maybe somewhere in the middle, like Santa Claus'," he joked.
Caitlin looked at him for a moment before her face scrunched up, eyes closing and head tilting back, letting out a beautiful laugh. His heart may have stumbled over its next beat.
"You're going to give Santa some competition, huh?" she asked teasingly once she had stopped laughing, though her brown eyes were still shining playfully.
"I think I can beat him out," Barry said mock seriously, getting up from his chair to lean against the area of the console next to her. "With my speed, I could travel the world and deliver all the presents."
"I wouldn't doubt it," she told him with a sincere look, one filled with the belief she always had in him. "Plus, you already have a red suit too," she said, nodding to the mannequin across the room holding it. "Not to mention, with your fast metabolism, you could probably eat most of the cookies as well," she added with a wicked grin.
A smile bloomed across Barry's face as he shook his head fondly, looking at Caitlin who was smiling very similarly.
"So all I need is the beard, and I could pretty much be Santa."
Caitlin wrinkled her nose. "I don't know if a beard of Santa proportions would be a good look for you," she admitted warily.
Barry childishly frowned. "So, you're not a fan of this?" he asked, gesturing to his facial hair.
Placing her tongue against her cheek, Caitlin's eyes diverted. "I didn't say...that," she reluctantly admitted, pushing back from the console and getting up to move across the room to the computer near his suit. "Just that I didn't think a Santa beard would be fitting for you…"
The speedster's eyebrows furrowed as he watched her walk away, a tantalizing smile slowly creeping up on his face. "So you...do like my facial hair," he questioned aloud, though the way he phrased it came off more as a statement. He walked over to her rigid frame, smiling cheekily. "Don't you?"
Caitlin looked over at him only to roll her eyes before going back to her original task. "It's...not a bad look for you to have some stubble," she tried to say with nonchalance, but her face was pinking with embarrassment.
Barry felt confident and light on his feet. "I'm looking hot, aren't I, Dr. Snow?"
Caitlin put down whatever she had been working on to look at Barry. She looked tired and frustrated yet also somehow amused. "Barry..." she let out in that same weird mixture of emotions, a stunted laugh falling from her lips. "Yes, okay. You're looking supremely hot," she deadpanned. "Is that what you wanted to hear?"
Barry snorted. "Only if you actually believed it," he answered back, sauntering up close to her, his eyes gentle as he regarded her but his grin was full of amusement.
Caitlin looked up at him, acknowledging his closer presence. She tilted her head to the side, watching him affectionately as she reached her hands out to lay them on his face, her fingers absently rubbing against the grain of his facial hair soothingly. "You know I believe it," she then said before stretching up to peck him fully on the lips.
As they separated, Barry's hands went to her waist, pulling her body flush against his own. "I've missed you this weekend, Cait," he confessed, leaning down to rub his nose against hers tenderly.
Caitlin let out a pleasant hum. "I've missed you too," she replied back, letting herself melt against him and appreciate the feeling of his body against hers.
"Leave work early and come back to my apartment with me," he said, jutting out his lower lip in an adorable pout, knowing the effect it had on her. "I just want to be with you. Just cuddling, if you still want to do your work."
She pursed her lips, tilting her head to the side as she thought of how to say what she wanted to say next. "Barry, if I go back to your apartment with you, I'm not going to get any work done because I'm going to jump your bones," she admitted with a chuckle. "In fact, it is taking every fiber of my being to not jump you right now."
Barry raised an eyebrow, trying to refrain from grinning smugly, though he knew he was probably failing spectacularly. "Miss me that much, huh?" he asked, his hands gripping her waist just a little bit tighter. .
Caitlin laughed again. "No - well, I mean, yes, of course I've missed you - but," she paused, biting down on her lip again as she took in the features of his face, "You just...you look really good with facial hair. Like, really good," she confessed, her voice even dipping into a huskiness, leaving her cheeks tinging with a reddish hue.
A laugh sputtered from Barry's lips. "Caitlin Snow," he falsely admonished, "Have I just unearthed a secret fetish of yours?" - Barry paused to watch the blush spread across her face - "Please tell me it's not a Santa fetish though."
She made a face that resulted in her nose scrunching up ever so adorably before playfully swatting at his chest as she shook her head. "Oh, God, no."
"Well, there was a lot of Santa talk today. Just wanted to be sure," he stated, his lips spread wide in a dopey grin.
She quietly laughed to herself, shaking her head some more. "No, no fetish. It would be all you," she said, her hands wandering over his chest.
Barry smiled contently as he plopped another short kiss on her lips. "So you're going to stay here?"
Caitlin sighed wistfully, because honestly all she wanted to do ever since he stepped off that elevator was be with him, but she had to remain focused. "Just let me finish up with this research - it shouldn't be much longer," she compromised. "I'm close to a breakthrough here."
His eyes twinkled down at her proudly, a hand of his reaching out to caress her face sweetly. "Okay, I can wait."
"Thank you, thank you, thank you," she rushedly expressed, quickly reaching up to give him a kiss on each cheek and then fully on the lips. "I'll try not to take long and then afterwards I will jump your bones!" she exclaimed, already making her way back to her computer.
Barry chuckled as he watched her diligently start working again. "Can't wait."
A/N: Please Review! Let me know what you thought of it!