Chapter Text
When Hal opened his eyes again, he was already in bed. The ray of sunshine slipping through the curtain illuminated the room, and he raised a hand to try to block the light - only to freeze and let out a loud groan. Fuck. Sharp pain exploded inside his arm, spreading to his fingers and went up to his shoulder, and his vision filled with stars. Gods, his entire body felt awful, but the pain from the arm left his head pounding. Both of his arms were heavy as if he was bound, so he tried to sit up to take a look, wiggling around, only to be stopped by a warm hand pressing down on his chest firmly.
A pair of soft blue eyes came into his vision, clearing it slowly, and Hal's heart slowed down as the familiar face appeared. Barry. His warm, safe and domestic Barry. Hal was home already?
"Hal?" Barry must've not known how much joy his voice was filling into Hal's heart right now, because he was frowning. "Can you hear me? Are you awake?"
"Babe…" Hal tried to bring out his sexy voice, but ended up groaning. "Hi."
Barry's worried expression immediately dissolved into a relieved smile, and Hal smiled as well, out of habit. He didn't know what was funny, but if Barry was laughing, something definitely was.
"How are you feeling?" His blond speedster asked as he cupped his jaw with a gentle palm, and Hal leaned into the warmth.
"Like I was run over by a truck." He mumbled, still wincing in pain, and Barry caressed his cheek with careful hands, sighing.
"Basically the same thing. You charged head on into a giant space monster and almost killed yourself." Barry sounded so sad Hal felt slightly guilty for doing it. "Broke both of your arms in the process."
"Any concussion?" Hal grinned, and Barry rolled his eyes.
"Not yet. Everything else was relatively fine, the ring confirmed it." He sighed, and Hal hummed.
"That's much better than last year." Anything was better than last year, really. Hal spent weeks in the ICU, then more weeks in the hospital until he refused to be locked in like a prisoner and Barry had to buy a hospital bed to put in his spare room for Hal. He hoped to never have to use it again, but then here Hal was, putting Barry’s money into good use.
Normally, Hal’s ring helped to both protect and repair his mortal body so he could come back to his mission as soon as possible, but it still took quite some time before he was fit enough to go back to the battlefield. Now with Barry and his Blue Lantern aura, Hal’s healing process was aided tremendously and he would recover much faster. Coming home to his waiting boyfriend, turned out, was just as therapeutic to his body as it was to his mind.
“Are you in a lot of pain? Do you need more painkillers?” Barry asked, and Hal peaked open his eyes, still drowned in the warmth of Barry’s arm. He didn’t realize his boyfriend had already slipped into the bed next to him, and was now carefully holding him in a way that didn’t hurt.
“How ‘bout a kiss?” He smirked, and Barry huffed before leaning in and kissed his lips gently. Slowly. Barry was always slow when he was careful. He didn’t pry Hal’s mouth open with eagerness like he usually did when they were in the heat of the moment, but he covered Hal’s lips with all of the gentleness and cherish in the world, making Hal’s chest swell with warmth.
And then Hal’s stomach growled loudly between them, and Barry broke away from the kiss with a laugh. Great, he didn’t even remember the last time he ate something.
“Good thing I made some soup.” His boyfriend climbed out of the bed and picked up the tupperware box on the nightstand. It seemed like Barry had everything prepared.
He pulled out a chair and sat down next to the bed, adjusting the bed so Hal’s head and torso would be propped up, and opened the box of soup. It smelled heavenly, and looked amazing as well. Hal could smell the barbecue sauce and spice flooding his senses, making his mouth water. He wished that he could just gobble up the whole thing right now, but then both of his arms were in casts, and he knew better than to try to move right now.
Barry stirred up the soup with a small spoon and scooped up a spoonful before blowing at the steam carefully, cooling it down. He looked so natural, doing that. Like taking care of others, being nurturing and caring, had become second nature to him.
“Say ahh.” Barry chuckled as he brought the spoon to Hal’s lips, and Hal ignored the man and just swallowed the whole spoon. God, it tasted divine. “Jeez, calm down. I made an entire pot of this, you can eat the whole thing.”
Wonderful, because Hal would. He would devour everything that Barry cooked for him, because it always tasted like Earth, like home, and love. The alluring smell of pepper and shallot, the light sweetness of onions and pumpkin, and the thick texture of stewed rice and pork ribs. He remembered helping Barry with soup a few months ago, when Wally was sick and his two uncles had to look after him, so he knew how much time and effort his boyfriend put into making this. Barry would put the ribs in to stew so the soup could absorb the protein sweetness, but take all of the bones out after that, and spend time plucking all of the leftover meat to put back into the soup, so Hal would have something to chew on.
"Okay, slow down, you'll choke." Barry smiled as Hal swallowed so fast Barry couldn't keep up with his spoon. Hal knew the warning was bullshit because Barry surely would've made sure a baby could safely eat this, but he didn't bother to say it. He was too busy swallowing down the taste that reminded him of every good thing that still existed in this world. Too bad all good things came to an end, and Hal's gnawing hunger slowly dissipated as the soup filled his stomach. It was as if his dead body came back alive.
"So… I suppose the soup's not bad?" Barry smiled as he put away the third empty tupperware. Hal finally decided that he was full.
"Are you kidding? It's the best thing I've ever eaten in weeks!" Hal exclaimed, and he couldn't help but grinning to himself like an idiot. Ahh, it sucks being injured, but eating Barry's food made up for all of it. "I love you, you know that right? I love you so fucking much."
Barry laughed, cheeks slightly rosy at the sentiment, and Hal wished that his arms weren't such a pain so he could pull Barry over and hold him. The blond man seemed to have read his mind, because he swiftly moved over and kissed Hal’s cheeks. "You're gonna love me even more when you see the dessert."