For kid_flash_found

[timetopaythepiper]

After sending his last text, Hartley set his phone down and decided to keep himself busy until Bart got there by playing with his rats. He probably should have considered making some dinner, since it was getting close to that time anyway, but Bart said he'd be there in ten minutes, so Hartley figured it would make more sense to just wait until he got there and then order something if he was hungry. Besides, his mind was on other things at the moment anyway. Like Bart's texts.

Hartley was used to his conversations with Bart taking a vaguely flirtatious tone, but there really hasn't  been anything vague about any of this since their road trip. Things were different now, but at the same time not very different at all. They were still friends, but they were also more than that now. They didn't have to limit themselves to subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) flirting anymore.

But it was still sometimes difficult to tell whether Bart was being serious, sarcastic or just plain corny for the hell of it, so Hartley was looking forward to seeing how this evening was going to go.

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[kid_flash_found]

Bart smiled as he opened the door to the apartment, having taken time to change into a button-down shirt and slacks. It just seemed right to dress up a little, and definitely better than his uniform. Although he could get rid of the clothing just as easily if needed. Besides, the skin tight material did tend to show certain things that looser clothing didn't. His hair was still loose, curling slightly from having recently been dried, and he closed the door and leaned against the wall, sliding his hands in his pockets.

"Hope I didn't leave you waiting."

[timetopaythepiper]

Hartley looked up from his spot on the floor (where the rats were climbing all over him) to give Bart a smile. He was surprised by how good Bart looked right now. He was so accustomed to seeing him in his uniform or jeans and a t-shirt, so it was a pleasant surprise Bart dressed up a little bit. It almost made him wish he had put a bit more effort into his own appearance before Bart had gotten there.

"Hey, you got here right when you said you would," Hartley said, gently disentangling himself from his rats so he could get up to greet Bart with a kiss. "You look good."

[kid_flash_found]

Bart liked watching Hartley with his furry friends, and he would like to say he could tell them apart, but sometimes it took a bit of watching to see one particular patch of color or other difference between them. They weren't dogs, and it was really hard to tell when one was truly happy, but they were smart. Especially with the things that Hartley was teaching them.

Of course, Hartley had some things to teach him, too. Besides, getting greeted with a kiss was nice, and he smiled into it. "I aim to please. Sometimes I even hit the target."

[timetopaythepiper]

Apparently Hartley wasn't the only one who wanted to say hello to Bart, because by the time he leaned back from the kiss, the rats were right there at their feet. One of them looked like it was considering climbing up Bart's pants leg while the others sniffed at him. But as endearing as his rats' curiosity tended to be, Bart had the majority of Hartley's focus at the moment.

It was tempting to slide his arms around him and kiss him again, but Bart has just gotten there and the night was still early. "I'd say you hit the target fairly often from my experience," he said with a fond grin. "So, are you hungry? We could order something if you want."

[kid_flash_found]

Bart knelt for a moment to pick up the rat sniffing at his pants cuff before it made the less-than-pleasant decision to go up the inside of the pants, and then smiled, resting the animal in the crook of one arm for now.

"You know me, I'm always hungry," Bart said. "It's totally up to you. I'm not the one who wanted to take charge."

[timetopaythepiper]

It was weird seeing how good Bart was with his rats. Most people would have cringed or run away screaming if a rat started paying them any sort of special attention, but Bart didn't seem to mind. It was one of the many reasons Hartley liked him so much.

"We should order something to eat. Then I'll take charge once I manage to convince our little third wheel over here to find something else to do," he said gesturing to the rat trying to groom Bart's arm.

[kid_flash_found]

Bart absently pet the rat, not really minding the grooming in exchange. He knew objectively that people found rodents creepy or had all sorts of incorrect ideas about what they were like. Hartley's rats in particular were intelligent, inquisitive, and very well behaved. For rats. There were some things nobody could teach, like not pooping everywhere in an attempt to claim territory.

"Yeah, as cute as the furry hitchhiker is, she's not going to be anything other than a distraction. I assume I'm not interrupting quality time of the rodent variety," Bart said. "So, you want to go with the easy stuff like pizza or Chinese?"

[timetopaythepiper]

"The rats and I had plenty of quality time before you got here. This one is just really nosy," he said, unable to hide a fond smile as he watched Bart pet the rat. "And out of all of them, I think she enjoys attention the most, no matter who it comes from." She liked making new friends, not that she often had the opportunity to. Bart was the only one Hartley really brought around to the apartment.

"Sure, let's go with something easy tonight. I'll let you decide what we get, since I've been snacking on cookies off and on all day." So while he was a little hungry, he wasn't that hungry.

[kid_flash_found]

"Chinese, then. Easy enough to warm up if we get...distracted," Bart said.

He arched an eyebrow at the nosy comment. The rat was exploring, but also not really being upset when he moved a hand to create a larger platform before she took a nose-dive to the ground. "She'd burrow inside my clothing given half a chance, that's for sure, but she's not taking the obstructions badly. Some animals would get upset at being continually blocked from certain things."

But quality time with the rats wasn't his reason for coming over. "I guess I can pick a half-dozen favorites and we can pick and choose later?"

[timetopaythepiper]

"Do you foresee us getting distracted?" Hartley teased.

He glanced down at the rat (Piper), reaching over to pet her as she explored Bart's arm. "My rats aren't like most animals," he said, trying not to sound too smug. It felt good seeing Bart get along with his rats, especially one as friendly and curious as Piper. But part of him hoped she'd lose interest soon so he could have his date back.

"That works for me. I'm not sure how much I'll be able to eat, but there's nothing wrong with having leftovers for later."

[kid_flash_found]

Bart kinda hoped the same thing, because as amusing as being the center of a rat's attention could be, he had other ideas of how to spend the evening. Maybe another time Hartley could show off all the things he'd been teaching them to do, but right now, he wanted to spend time with the his favorite person.

When Piper hopped over to Hartley's arm and climbed up to a perch on his shoulder, Bart took out his phone and used the app to order from their favorite Chinese place for delivery. It was easier to just type in the relevant details rather than call. Half the time, he had to switch to his stilted Cantonese to try to get the specifics right. No chives, no green onion, no scallion in any form on any dish. No MSG, of course.

"That depends on what I'm allowed to do, sir," Bart said, smirking a little. "I promise that you will have my whole attention."

[timetopaythepiper]

When Piper hopped onto his arm, Hartley used that as an opportunity to show her all the fun her brothers and sister were having without her. It wasn't long before she was on the floor, playing with her siblings. He imagined they were going to tire themselves out chasing each other around. And now that they were keeping themselves entertained, Hartley could have Bart to himself.

"Yeah, I'm not sure how I feel about the sir thing," Hartley said, raising an eyebrow. Normally he'd find that sort of thing kind of hot, but considering the age difference between them, it mostly made him feel old. "But it's good to know I have your attention. Perhaps we'll finally have a distraction-free night."

He waited until Bart was done ordering their food before moving close again, wrapping his arms around him as he gave him another, slightly longer kiss. Just to give him an idea of what kind of night they could have.

[kid_flash_found]

"I'll keep that in mind," Bart said, sliding his arms around Hartley as he returned the kiss, letting the older man call the shots regardless. "Barry will have to go it alone if anything comes up. He's good at that."

Because he wanted to spend the night here. With his other half. "One last distraction. We'll have to open the door for the delivery guy. But after that, I told them not to call me. I won't pick up."

[timetopaythepiper]

"Aren't they curious about why you're unavailable for the night?" Hartley asked. Because surely they had some questions about why Bart suddenly decided he was taking a night off, regardless of whether or not Barry could handle things on his own (which he was more than capable of doing).

"I suppose we'll just have to keep things pg until the food comes," he murmured, slipping a hand beneath Bart's shirt and brushing his fingers along his back before reluctantly sliding his hand away and taking a step back.

[kid_flash_found]

"You kidding? Of course they asked," Bart said, grinning. "I may have said something to the effect of if I was going to get disgustingly sweaty on a night like this, it might as well be naked with a hot date."

Because, well, sometimes saying the outrageous truth was the best thing.

[timetopaythepiper]

Hartley wasn't sure whether to be scandalized or amused that Bart would say something like that, but he was leaning heavily towards amused at the moment. "Do they know who you're planning on getting sweaty and naked with?"

Because Barry busting in to yell at him for seducing his grandson would probably be a bit of a mood killer.

[kid_flash_found]

"I'm not that dumb," Bart said, shaking his head a little. "They have enough problems with the fact that I keep making sure they can't follow me here. I wish people would remember I was best friends with a guy who makes your world's Green Arrow's paranoia seem like a mild affectation."

He wasn't about to let them know anything that wasn't their business to know, at least not until it was time.

"I'm not going to have my grandfather and great-grandfather making your life even more miserable."

[timetopaythepiper]

"I'm pretty sure Cisco already suspects we're sleeping together," Hartley pointed out. Not that Cisco was in a position to judge considering his weird thing with Lisa Snart. "I'm not really worried about Barry. He doesn't scare me. Your great-grandfather, on the other hand... Well, he's a different story."

A different story with a badge, a gun and a protective streak towards family. And Hartley didn't particularly want to cross Iris either. Annoying Barry could be entertaining though.

[kid_flash_found]

"See, that's the thing. You never expect someone like Barry to be scary," Bart said. "If he really were half as absent-minded as he can seem, he never would have managed college, let alone a demanding career as a crime scene analyst."

And, of course, he didn't dare refute that Joe West was scary. "I never actually told Detective West outright. Because, yeah, loads of awkward and I don't need that kind of helicopter parenting."

He considered the bit about Cisco, then shrugged. "I assume you asked him if he was jealous. Cisco, I mean."

[timetopaythepiper]

"I don't think Barry's absent-minded, but I also don't find him intimidating or scary." Partially they were so close in age. In fact, Barry was actually a few years younger than him, which made it difficult to take him seriously as Bart's protective grandpa. There was also the fact that Hartley was pretty sure he could take Barry if it came down to it (not that it ever would), assuming there was no interference from the rest of team Flash.

"You still call your great-grandfather Detective West?" Hartley asked, giving him a quick side-eye. Personally, Hartley thought there was something rather endearing about Detective West's parenting. Probably because he'd gone so long without any parenting at all.

Hartley gave Bart an amused smirk. "No, but I did ask him to tell Lisa I said hello the next time he sees her." Cisco quickly lost interest in questioning his relationship with Bart after that.

[kid_flash_found]

Bart sighed. "It's just not that simple. You really think he'd let me give the bare-bones story I gave you about my parents? Let's not even go with the part where my mom is a freaking Thawne. I don't want to have to answer the bajillion questions that he and Iris will have. Suspicion they have, but I really don't want to go into what happened to the Tornado Twins, Mom has enough suspicions on that front, and she's not a trained investigator."

No, he didn't really talk about his heritage much, especially since it was not something they wanted to prove. Yes, a simple comparison of DNA would show that it was likely Iris was his grandmother, although not as definitively as the Y-chromosome he inherited from his grandfather. Still, those doubts aside, things would be crazy.

"I'll remember to take a photo of his reaction for you if I ever have to use that retort," he offered, trying to change the subject.

[timetopaythepiper]

Hartley frowned. "You think they're suspicious of you?" he asked. For all he knew, they very well could be. Hartley didn't spend enough time around any of them (besides Bart, of course) to know how they interacted with each other. But he did know things were complicated between Bart and his family. That much has been very clear for a while. Still, they always seemed to Hartley like such a loving family. The kind of family he sometimes wished his own could be more like.

But he supposed every family had their issues.

"That's bound to be pretty entertaining," Hartley said, allowing Bart to change the subject. "Cisco always has the most amusing reactions." And luckily for them, Cisco was the only one in that group who was in absolutely no position to judge them. Which Hartley was looking forward to reminding him about in the future.

[kid_flash_found]

It was more that they suspected he was related, but hadn't really said. Because he didn't know how to relate to his family, or the people who were almost his family. It was weird enough that Wally and Iris were siblings. Adding a grandkid to that mix didn't really seem fair.

"He kinda reminds me of Conner, in a way, or Gar," Bart said, shaking his head a little. "It's still really weird, being here. Better than I might have expected, all things considered. But then, any world where there's still a Flash to save it is pretty damn awesome."

Well, maybe not Walter West. He was a bit psychotic.

[timetopaythepiper]

"You've told me a bit more about Conner than you have Gar," Hartley said, wondering for a moment what it was about Cisco that reminded him of them. Bart's friends never sounded particularly irritating when he spoke of them in the past, so that couldn't be it. Then again, Bart probably didn't find Cisco nearly as irritating as Hartley sometimes did.

"So you're adjusting better to being here?" Hartley asked, pulling Bart by the hand to sit down with him on the couch. "You'd be okay with staying in this world for a while?" He was asking for Reasons.

[kid_flash_found]

Bart chuckled a little at that, realizing he had mostly mentioned his generation of heroes, or the League-level guys. Still, he shrugged a little at that, letting himself be pulled along to flop on the couch, turning so he could face Hartley.

"Gar was one of the Titans Tower chaperones. Beast Boy. Also, pretty much a dried up child actor, but that's because green and can turn into animals apparently isn't as cute in your twenties. Last audition he mentioned, they wanted him to play a talking horse."

The real question, though, was one he wasn't about to duck. "You think I'd abandon you? Of course I'm fine with staying. It isn't just a vacation for me. I don't know if I could undo the kind of sweeping shifts to the timestream that landed me here, and even if I could...well, they've settled in after all this time, so they'll resist changing. Anything I try now would probably be worse than staying here. At least I still exist."