#coldatomfw2016

“I’m obviously the clever one,” Ray argued from his place on the couch his head in Mick’s lap. “I built the ATOM suit almost completely by myself while being the CEO of my very own company!”

“That makes you smart, not clever,” Len drawled from the kitchen, where he was cooking them a delicious breakfast of pancakes and sausage. “There’s a difference. Anyways, you’re clearly the cute one.”

Mick grunted his agreement, glancing down at the man spread across him. Ray had his arms crossed over chest and his lips curled down in an adorable pout.

“Fine, whatever! But you have to be the cool one, Captain Cold,” Ray quipped, the pout turning into a bright smile at the dumb pun.

“Which leaves me to be the clever one,” Mick quickly jumped in, sounding somewhat gleeful at this.

“Yes, but only by process of elimination,” Len quipped as he flipped the last pancake onto the plate with the rest. “Clearly, I’m the clever one, too, but I’ll let it slide this time. Now come on, breakfast is ready.”

Ray and Mick were quick to get up, each playfully pushing at the other as they made their way to the kitchen table. Len set a place stacked with food in front of each of them, kissing them both lightly as he did.

Len glanced over his shoulder back at her and snorted, “Get out of there, trainwreck, those curtains haven't been washed since you were born.”

He turned his attention back to the card, not needing to look to know that Lisa had stuck her tongue out at him, “where did you steal this from, then?”

Arms wrapped themselves around his neck from behind as Lisa rested her chin on his shoulder. “For the record, I could have stolen it if I wanted to, but sadly, this time I was properly invited.” She reached out with one finger and poked the card in Len's hand. “Cisco invited me. And I was thinking that you could come as my plus one.”

Len raised an eyebrow. “Shouldn't Ramon be someone else's plus one?”

The pillow that hit the side of his face wasn't all that unexpected.

“Don't be rude, jerkface,” Lisa climbed over the back of the couch and settled next to him, pulling the throw pillow back into her arms. “Cisco is friends with the host’s son, apparently. And he was feeling generous.”

Len hummed in thought. On one hand, it was nice to see Lisa this excited about something. It had been too long since the last time. Len had to begrudgingly admit that befriending Cisco Ramon had been one of the better choices his sister made, not that he'd ever let either of them know that. On the other…

“Does it have to be me? Couldn't you take, I don't know, Shawna?”

“Shawna’s out of town.” Before he could speak, Lisa continued, counting off the names on her fingers. “Axel is too young, Mark has another gig that night, I can't get Brie five feet away from her buzzing friends during honey season, Mick will stick out like a sore thumb and probably burn the place down, and Hartley, actually, is Cisco’s plus one.”

The hand that had counted out all the names was now an open palm, and Lisa let out a gasp of mock surprise and placed it against her chest, “Well, gee, Lenny, guess I'm stuck with you!”

Len's eyes narrowed. “You planned this.”

“I would never,” Lisa said with feigned innocence, and then she winked and laughed, her eyes softening. “Come on, Lenny, it's just one night. You’re always in the house or working, I don't even remember the last time I've heard you laugh. Come with me to the party. Go have some fun! If not for you, for me, okay?”

Len stared at her, eyes still narrowed. He knew she meant well, but the thought of attending a high-class party surrounded by rich arrogant assholes wasn't exactly appealing.

But then again, Lisa was looking at him expectantly, and he knew he had already lost.

“I don't have a suit,” he said as a last ditch effort, and wasn't at all surprised when Lisa’s face broke into a smile. “Don't worry about that, I've already got it covered.”

“What if I had said no?” Len was genuinely curious.

Lisa only smiled. “Love you too, big brother,” she sang before rolling off the couch and skipping towards her room, leaving Len to roll his eyes after her.

He sighed, then ran his thumb over the card still in his hand. He still didn't really want to go, but if it could make Lisa happy…

Well, he could always hope it wouldn't be as much of a disaster as he imagined.

The night came a few days later and Len found himself driving the car they rented to the part of the neighborhood he only ever dreamed of living in when he was a child.

“You could've at least worn the tie,” Lisa complained from the seat beside his.

Len smirked. “Thought you wanted me to have fun. Can't do that if I'm suffocating.”

She glared at him. “You're lucky you're driving, jerk.”

“I know,” he drawled back easily.

After the twenty eighth handshake, Ray was starting to get tired.

Oh, he loved shaking hands, loved getting to know new people and making new friends, but Ray knew these people were only shaking his hand out of courtesy to his parents.

It probably didn't help that he was always standing right next to them silently when they happened. Or the fact that he and his family were the only ones without masks.

He still had no idea how his mother could recognize everyone that came to greet them, actually.

Suddenly a tap on his shoulder broke him out of the trance he’d allowed himself to fall into. Ray spun around, coming face to face with an elaborate blue mask laced with golden ribbons. Or he would have, if the other person had been the same height as him.

“You seem zoned out.” The person said. Ray blinked before the familiar voice finally clicked with the blue eyes behind the mask. “Felicity! Hi! I, uh, thought you said you couldn’t come?”

“I did, but Oliver had a um, last minute errand to run for Thea. Guess that’s what happens when you work for your sister who owns a nightclub,” Felicity explained, “so I turned out to be free for the night, and you did lend me this dress, so I just, thought I’d drop by.”

Ray smiled. It was nice to see a familiar face. Well, half a familiar face. “You look amazing.”

“Why thank you, Mr. Palmer,” Felicity joked, twirling her dress a little to go with it, then she cocked her head to the side and looked up at him sympathetically, “and how are you holding up? I wasn’t kidding about the zoned out thing.”

“Well,” Ray huffed, trying to think of a way to answer that doesn’t completely sound negative, “watching my mother figure out who’s behind the masks before they reach us has been fun.”

A hand landed on his arm and rubbed gently, “Ray, this is a party. You don’t have to chain yourself next to your parents. Go have fun! Meet new people! Wow them! You’re great at that.”

Ray bit at his bottom lip. As appealing as that sounded, he didn’t want to abandon his parents. He’d promised them he’ll be with them, especially since Sydney had refused to attend.

“Hey, you’re doing that face again,” Felicity said.

“What face?”

“The Ray-is-blaming-himself face.” She patted him on the cheek and gave him a small smile. “You know that face is bad for you. Go. I’ll cover for you with your parents.”

His eyes widened. “You’d do that?”

“Of course! Won’t be the first time I helped a friend get away from authority.” She paused. “Not what it sounds like, I swear. Anyway. I’ll talk to your parents and you go do what you do best.”

“Piss people off?” he offered with a laugh.

“Make people love you,” she laughed back, then pulled him into a hug. “Go have fun, Ray. Be happy. You deserve it.”

Ray hugged back, grateful, not for the first time, for the friend he found in her. “Thank you, Felicity.”

“Consider it payback for the dress and we’re even.”