A/N: (Partially inspired by the eating scenes in this gif set - post/139719606593/so-is-kinda-meant-to-go-for-a-college-au-theme-but) I have no clue why they would be hanging out together, or what debriefings they would be at together, but just go with it…xD

It's not the first time Len notices the intense way Barry watches him eat.

It had been a little unnerving when it started, and Len was more than ready to call Barry on it, until he really paid close attention to how much it affected him. They were sitting in a bar, talking over nothing while Len was eating his lunch. Len had just grabbed a French fry. The minute it touched his lips, Barry came to a full stop mid-sentence and stared. Len thought Barry was hungry, considering the way he licked his lips and swallowed hard. Len was ready to defend his lunch after he finished that fry, but Barry continued on with the conversation right where he left off, and Len became suspicious. With some experimentation – a few more fries, a pickle, the cherry from his ice-cream sundae – Len realized that Barry's initial reaction was just the tip of the iceberg.

Every time Len reached for a new food, there Barry's eyes went, straight for Len's fingers. Len drew it out, grabbing the food item and rolling it between his fingertips when he could, listening with a smug grin as Barry stuttered and stammered through his sentences, sometimes repeating things a few times, or starting over from the beginning. But Len didn't stop there. He ate slowly, devouring every bite with relish before he swallowed, and licked each finger one at a time. Then he raised his beer bottle to his mouth, pausing before he took a sip, letting his lips hover around the rim.

That little move made Barry hold his breath, almost causing him to keel forward on to the table and pass out altogether. As it was, he strangled the poor Heinz ketchup bottle until the neck nearly shattered.

No, it's not the first time Leonard's noticed it, but now that he knows for sure what it is, he makes sure he keeps something on hand at all times in order to exploit it.

Namely, Red Vines.

He always has a bundle of licorice in his inside coat pocket for any occasion when he wants to derail Barry's train of thought…which is pretty much all the time. Mostly at debriefings, but for Len, any moment will do.

As soon as Barry has his eyes on him, Len goes for his secret weapon.

"So, I was thinking," Len starts, Barry's eyes blowing wide when he sees Len reach inside his coat, a Pavlovian response to what his subconscious knows is coming.

"Yeah," Barry says, swallowing reflexively. But whatever else Len says, which is basically bullshit anyway, only weaves in and out of Barry's brain as Len sticks the end of the Red Vine in his mouth and chews.

"But then there's the matter of…" Len sweeps the licorice over his lower lip before he sticks it in his mouth again, and Barry nods, more in agreement of what Len's doing than over what he's saying.

"Okay, okay," Barry agrees, sure that he's contributing something to the conversation even though he has no clue what it is.

"Then Grannie said, "Little Red, what big eyes you have…"" Len continues with a chuckle, sucking the end of the licorice into his mouth and pulling it slowly back out again, stopping at the very end to nibble.

It's only then, when Len is laughing too much to keep going, that Barry seems to sense something's amiss, and the final thing Len said to him snaps him back into focus.

"Grannie?" Barry asks, pulling a face. "What the…weren't we talking about…"

Len laughs harder at the expression of complete confusion on Barry's face. The Red Vine whips off the end of his lip, and Barry finally seems to notice how his eyes fly to it, to the way Len's mouth clamps around it, and then, the way his body reacts to it – his chest tightening, his heart skipping, his pants suddenly less than comfortable. Barry's face goes hot.

"What was that, Little Red?" Len sniggers, holding tight to the licorice in his mouth. "I didn't quite catch that?"

"Can you grow up just a little bit?" Barry scolds, covering for the fact that, even now, as he's berating Len for acting immature, his eyes still can't help fixing themselves to the candy clamped between Len's lips. "We're having an important discussion here!"

"Really?" Len props an elbow on the table and rests his cheek on it, chewing exaggeratedly. "And what were we talking about?"

"We were talking about…" Barry's mouth stops, a choked uh…uh…trying to keep his argument going when his brain shorts out on the topic. "We were discussing…" He looks at Len's teasing eyes, his mouth still working around that blasted licorice, with Barry becoming aroused and annoyed all at once watching him. "Give me that!" Barry swipes the Red Vine from Snart's mouth.

"Don't be like that!" Len snickers, but that laugh turns into a moan when he sees Barry stick the bitten end of the licorice into his own mouth and chews.