♛Choose a character from my muselist. ♛Put their name in the subject line. ♛Leave me a starter or a request for a starter. ♛Prose, comment spam, and everything in between is welcome!
Hey, hey now, don't think I'm going to let a pretty girl go just like that.
[ He cuts into the way, but carefully — there's no venturing into her space and she has the entire half of the aisle to walk past him and leave. Roy hasn't been on the receiving end of recognition like that for a while. ]
[Laurel can't help it, she laughs at the 'pretty girl' comment, feeling distinctly awkward to hear that from him. It makes her want to reach over and shove him but she refrains.
She stops in her tracks, raising an eyebrow in his direction and considering her next move. Well, she's already this far in, might as well go the whole way.]
Laurel. We haven't met, but we have a friend in common.
That would be the one. [Laurel's eyes drop to the basket in her arms and then to the doors.]
It's kind of a long story. If You'd like, I can tell you about it. [With her shoulder she motions towards the doors, doing her best to convey a silent 'but not here.']
[She takes Roy's weird and raises it tenfold. So far she's yet to meet anyone that she actually knows, and even knowing that he's not the Roy from her world doesn't make this any less strange.]
I'll be here a while. I'm stuck here for the time being. [The words aren't as strained as they might have been. She misses home, honestly she does, but here...things are so different here. People treat her differently here. It's refreshing to be treated as if she's competent in a way she hadn't even realized she was lacking back home.]
Coffee would be fine. [Pause.] I'm sorry, this is really weird. Is this weird for you, because it's. Well. You're supposed to be like twenty. [Another laugh, this time more genuine.]
[ So she's been here a while, and without anyone knowing? This has the stink of Bats all over it. He can't — never will — begrudge Dick his caution, but Roy doesn't always do so hot with secrets when it's the people he loves. And Dinah is number one on that list. ]
I'm twenty six.
[ He runs a hand through his hair self-consciously. ]
You get used to weird. Here — uh, my phone number. You have a place you like to go?
[He's only a few years younger than her and isn't that strange? Laurel shakes her head, brushing her shock off and giving him a short nod as she takes down his number.]
This sort of thing isn't, or at least wasn't, common where I'm from. It's all pretty new to me. [Another sheepish smile and then she's pausing to think.]
There's a Starbucks two blocks from here. [Her eyes rise to meet his and her smile turns amused] When I can't even escape a franchise by changing universes, I figure they must be doing something right.
[Another half smile and a gentle nod thrown his way.]
I'll be there. [Laurel gives him one more smile before turning and making her way down the aisle.
It's an hour later that finds her sitting in the back corner of the specified Starbucks, vaguely annoyed with herself for not setting a clear meeting time. After lunch could mean a lot of things, and in an effort not to miss him, she'd gone straight to the Starbucks after she'd dropped her things off where she was staying. She'd at least had the foresight to bring a book and order a drink so that she didn't draw too much attention to herself sitting there alone for over an hour. Not that she'd made much of an attempt at reading.
If she's honest with herself, she knows she didn't have to get here that early, but nerves and eagerness had her unwilling to sit at home and wait around. After all, it's Roy. Roy who she loves dearly but who was always more likely to side with Oliver's way of thinking and Roy who was probably wondering why she was staying in Gotham instead of Star.
Roy who was more Oliver's protégé than her friend and who she has no reason to believe would be any different here. (Even if so many things are different.)
It's amazing how a few weeks in another dimension away from Oliver can make her feel so much trepidation at the mere idea that someone here might look at her the way he did.
(It's not that she doesn't still care about him, it's just that the time away from him, the time around Tim has given her perspective on what it feels like to be around someone who believes in her. It's a jarring realization to suddenly get something she didn't even know she was missing.)
And so she sits and waits, trying not to be tense and failing horribly.]
[ He's late only because he buys flowers. Plastic and decorative, because he realises last minute she might be allergic where Dinah isn't. They're the best ones in the shop; realistic and reusable. There's a car parked on the street opposite and Roy can see it from his seat. No surveillance but Oracle. It's Gotham, hey, at least O makes it feel safe. ]
Hey.
[ He grins brightly at her, and pulls the bouquet from his back. ]
[Her greeting dies on her lips and she has the foresight to close her mouth instead of gaping at the display of flowers held out to her. (Laurel has the most ridiculous urge to turn around to see if he's looking at someone else behind her but she resists.) After a few seconds, she gets her words back, taking the bouquet from him with a confused smile.]
I-wow, that's. Thank you, Roy. That's really sweet. [And it shows in her voice how touched she is, though she can't quite hide how stunned she is as well. After a beat, she takes a seat and motions for him to do the same.]
Before we talk about anything else, I want to apologize for not telling you...or Oliver about this. To be completely honest, I didn't know what to say to either of you.
[ It hurts a little, the surprise — like her Roy doesn't share the same deep relationship he has with his Dinah. You can't expect everything to be the same everywhere, but it's so difficult to imagine himself without her good influence. She's his rock in this world. ]
Hey, that's all right. We've all got our baggage. Besides, this would be a little hard to explain to Ollie.
[Her shoulders lose some of their tension and she nods in agreement with him, relieved that it doesn't sound like he'll try to convince her to do exactly that.]
I woke up in Star and I was going to tell him, but I couldn't do it. We aren't doing great right now in my world. [She admits, sheepish at the idea of dragging her problems with alternate universe Ollie into this one.]
Dinah knows. I figured if anyone deserved to know, she did. [And it's very strange to talk about the other version of herself like this.]
After I ended up here in Gotham, I ran into some people who offered to help me find my way home and I've been staying here since.
Yeah, sounds like him all right. I'm assuming you mean our nocturnal friends. They're all right. Not how we do things in Star City, but they can be trusted.
Those are the ones. They aren't around where I'm from and they're growing on me. They've been a real help. [And she glances around carefully before returning her eyes to Roy.] Especially Tim. He's the first one I ran into. He reminded me of you when I first met him. [Only in age, but it's part of what had made her give him more of a chance.]
[Laurel laughs loudly and shakes her head in fond exasperation. When she'd first met the Roy of her world, he'd been quiet and uncomfortable in his skin. It wasn't until he'd grown comfortable with himself that she'd begun to realize that he was actually hilarious when he wanted to be.
This Roy is definitely comfortable with himself.]
Is that so? [It feels so good to sit here with him and laugh and before she can help herself, she's raising a hand to lay the tips of her fingers at his cheek for just a second before she drops them back to the table.]
[ No retreat: Dinah hugs and touches him all the time, but Roy's careful not to extend that without invitation. Her laughter hangs in the air, and then Roy turns pensive. ]
[Laurel hesitates for a minute, wondering at the ethics of sharing about her own world with him and eventually decides it can't hurt.]
You-he doesn't live in Star anymore. [Pause.] But even before that, we didn't spend as much time together as I wished we could have. He was always busy with Oliver and...well, it took both of them a really long time to allow me to be part of the team. We were just starting to really get to know each other before he had to go.
[It's the look on his face more than anything else that warns her that she's stepped into unknown territory. Something in her story hadn't settled well with him and without a basic understanding of the differing relationship this Roy has with his Dinah, it's impossible to know what she's missed.]
It wasn't his fault he had to leave. [And there's something hard to her voice this time because she's still not okay with Oliver allowing Roy to do it for him, but when had her opinion ever mattered to any of them?] He outed himself to keep Oliver's secret from coming out and then faked his death to start over. [The disapproval is heavy in her voice, thick with unresolved tension.]
[ After a moment he has the good sense to look a little abashed. ]
Uh, not to open up my suitcase of issues — Ollie and I were never that close.
[ Oh he'd do it in a heartbeat, something thoroughly stupid and self-sacrificial. It's not in Roy's nature to do otherwise, but bleeding for Ollie costs. It costs. ]
[That's somehow both surprising and not. The only person Oliver let in these days was Diggle and the rest of them were left in the dark.]
My-[No. It doesn't feel right to say 'My Oliver.'] The Oliver I know was Roy's mentor. I won't say they were close in a conventional way, but Roy looked up to him.
Me and Roy didn't have much time, but don't misunderstand. I care about him just like family. If I could have given myself up to keep him safe, I would have.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
no subject
No, sorry, I...[It's not as though she can say it was a mistake given she'd called his name.]
Um, forget it, sorry I bothered you. [She musters a laugh and then turns to go.]
no subject
[ He cuts into the way, but carefully — there's no venturing into her space and she has the entire half of the aisle to walk past him and leave. Roy hasn't been on the receiving end of recognition like that for a while. ]
You are..?
no subject
She stops in her tracks, raising an eyebrow in his direction and considering her next move. Well, she's already this far in, might as well go the whole way.]
Laurel. We haven't met, but we have a friend in common.
no subject
Dinah..?
no subject
It's kind of a long story. If You'd like, I can tell you about it. [With her shoulder she motions towards the doors, doing her best to convey a silent 'but not here.']
no subject
Are you going to be in the city for a while? We could uh — meet up later. Coffee?
no subject
I'll be here a while. I'm stuck here for the time being. [The words aren't as strained as they might have been. She misses home, honestly she does, but here...things are so different here. People treat her differently here. It's refreshing to be treated as if she's competent in a way she hadn't even realized she was lacking back home.]
Coffee would be fine. [Pause.] I'm sorry, this is really weird. Is this weird for you, because it's. Well. You're supposed to be like twenty. [Another laugh, this time more genuine.]
no subject
I'm twenty six.
[ He runs a hand through his hair self-consciously. ]
You get used to weird. Here — uh, my phone number. You have a place you like to go?
no subject
This sort of thing isn't, or at least wasn't, common where I'm from. It's all pretty new to me. [Another sheepish smile and then she's pausing to think.]
There's a Starbucks two blocks from here. [Her eyes rise to meet his and her smile turns amused] When I can't even escape a franchise by changing universes, I figure they must be doing something right.
no subject
So I'll see you there after lunch? I gotta get groceries first.
no subject
I'll be there. [Laurel gives him one more smile before turning and making her way down the aisle.
It's an hour later that finds her sitting in the back corner of the specified Starbucks, vaguely annoyed with herself for not setting a clear meeting time. After lunch could mean a lot of things, and in an effort not to miss him, she'd gone straight to the Starbucks after she'd dropped her things off where she was staying. She'd at least had the foresight to bring a book and order a drink so that she didn't draw too much attention to herself sitting there alone for over an hour. Not that she'd made much of an attempt at reading.
If she's honest with herself, she knows she didn't have to get here that early, but nerves and eagerness had her unwilling to sit at home and wait around. After all, it's Roy. Roy who she loves dearly but who was always more likely to side with Oliver's way of thinking and Roy who was probably wondering why she was staying in Gotham instead of Star.
Roy who was more Oliver's protégé than her friend and who she has no reason to believe would be any different here. (Even if so many things are different.)
It's amazing how a few weeks in another dimension away from Oliver can make her feel so much trepidation at the mere idea that someone here might look at her the way he did.
(It's not that she doesn't still care about him, it's just that the time away from him, the time around Tim has given her perspective on what it feels like to be around someone who believes in her. It's a jarring realization to suddenly get something she didn't even know she was missing.)
And so she sits and waits, trying not to be tense and failing horribly.]
no subject
Hey.
[ He grins brightly at her, and pulls the bouquet from his back. ]
Sorry I'm late.
no subject
I-wow, that's. Thank you, Roy. That's really sweet. [And it shows in her voice how touched she is, though she can't quite hide how stunned she is as well. After a beat, she takes a seat and motions for him to do the same.]
Before we talk about anything else, I want to apologize for not telling you...or Oliver about this. To be completely honest, I didn't know what to say to either of you.
no subject
Hey, that's all right. We've all got our baggage. Besides, this would be a little hard to explain to Ollie.
no subject
I woke up in Star and I was going to tell him, but I couldn't do it. We aren't doing great right now in my world. [She admits, sheepish at the idea of dragging her problems with alternate universe Ollie into this one.]
Dinah knows. I figured if anyone deserved to know, she did. [And it's very strange to talk about the other version of herself like this.]
After I ended up here in Gotham, I ran into some people who offered to help me find my way home and I've been staying here since.
no subject
Yeah, sounds like him all right. I'm assuming you mean our nocturnal friends. They're all right. Not how we do things in Star City, but they can be trusted.
no subject
Yours too, huh? [And then her smile softens.]
Those are the ones. They aren't around where I'm from and they're growing on me. They've been a real help. [And she glances around carefully before returning her eyes to Roy.] Especially Tim. He's the first one I ran into. He reminded me of you when I first met him. [Only in age, but it's part of what had made her give him more of a chance.]
no subject
Please. I dress way better.
no subject
This Roy is definitely comfortable with himself.]
Is that so? [It feels so good to sit here with him and laugh and before she can help herself, she's raising a hand to lay the tips of her fingers at his cheek for just a second before she drops them back to the table.]
I've missed you.
no subject
Do we not... talk?
no subject
You-he doesn't live in Star anymore. [Pause.] But even before that, we didn't spend as much time together as I wished we could have. He was always busy with Oliver and...well, it took both of them a really long time to allow me to be part of the team. We were just starting to really get to know each other before he had to go.
no subject
You're joking, right?
no subject
It wasn't his fault he had to leave. [And there's something hard to her voice this time because she's still not okay with Oliver allowing Roy to do it for him, but when had her opinion ever mattered to any of them?] He outed himself to keep Oliver's secret from coming out and then faked his death to start over. [The disapproval is heavy in her voice, thick with unresolved tension.]
He can't come back to Star now.
no subject
[ After a moment he has the good sense to look a little abashed. ]
Uh, not to open up my suitcase of issues — Ollie and I were never that close.
[ Oh he'd do it in a heartbeat, something thoroughly stupid and self-sacrificial. It's not in Roy's nature to do otherwise, but bleeding for Ollie costs. It costs. ]
no subject
My-[No. It doesn't feel right to say 'My Oliver.'] The Oliver I know was Roy's mentor. I won't say they were close in a conventional way, but Roy looked up to him.
Me and Roy didn't have much time, but don't misunderstand. I care about him just like family. If I could have given myself up to keep him safe, I would have.