OPEN POST

[viridescere]

1. Earth II - what's Oliver like there, what's your character like there, let's make a scenario!

2. First Date

3. Rainy Evening - we all know Star City is somewhere in the PNW where it rains all the time. Hit me up with your rainy day fantasies and I will oblige.

4. Rescue! Let Oliver rescue your character from danger or, conversely, you can rescue him.

5. Anything Goes - suggest below.

Pick one and I will write a start for you :)

Comments

[viridescere]

"I owe you better than that," Oliver said. He couldn't read Laurel quite as well as he used to be able to and he wondered if "we don't have to," meant she didn't want to or that she did and was giving him an out. Oliver wasn't interested in taking the easy way out any longer.

"It's a part of my life that began when we were together and I feel like I need to talk to you about it, to discuss it, to let you have a chance to discuss it too."

[prosecutorial]

She lets out a slow breath, before turning to face him some more, before crossing her arms in front of her chest. It's hard to be vulnerable in front of him about something like this, something she thought she had finally put to rest and moved past, but she can still feel the way it stings, the way it hurts, and all she wants to do is move on.

"That's part of the problem. I'm not sure I can 'discuss' it when part of me just ... really wants to punch you in the face. And it's not about keeping William a secret because I understand why you had to do that - it wasn't your call to make, it was hers. But ... "

Was she really that awful to be with? To love? Was her loving him not enough? She hates that she's asking herself these questions all over again.

[viridescere]

"I wasn't a good man then, Laurel," Oliver started. "I thought that the world owed me something simply because my name was Queen. I thought that I could have everything I wanted on my terms, with no work, because that's how the world had operated for me up until that point."

He paused for a moment, trying to decide how to say what he needed to say. "It didn't have to do with you. You were...I wanted to marry you, Laurel, and that scared me. It scared me that for some reason I wouldn't be able to have everything I wanted when I wanted and instead of feeling like something precious, it felt like entrapment. I reacted against it in the worst way and I dishonored you and what we had. It had nothing to do with you, save for the fact that I loved you and I wanted something more with you than I had ever wanted with anyone else. My reaction to that connection was immature and unacceptable. I know that now. I also know that anything I say to you now isn't going to erase what I did. I know."

[prosecutorial]

It's an apology she never thought she would have gotten, even if it doesn't have the words "I'm sorry" in it, but it's as lose as she might get. Unfortunately, it doesn't make her feel like less of a fool in the aftermath, but it does make her feel better, that he understands why she's upset.

She takes a deep breath, just focusing on her breathing and doing her best to keep it together, because she doesn't want to cry, over this, again. She shed all the tears that she was going to for Oliver Queen a long time ago, and now she needs to move forward.

"Is there anyone else that I need to worry about crawling out of the woodwork? Just ... I don't want to be blindsided again, Oliver."

[viridescere]

"I don't think so," Oliver said, racking his brain so that his words wouldn't get proven a lie in the next days or weeks to come. He didn't want to keep hurting Laurel with their past and it seemed like no matter what he did, it just kept happening.

"I didn't even think this was out there, honestly. She told me that she lost the baby and I mourned and moved on a long time ago. It blindsided me to know that she lied to me about it."

[prosecutorial]

That, she can be sympathetic too. She can understand, in a lot of ways, why Samantha would have wanted to keep the baby safe from Oliver. "How did you even find out? Especially after this long - did she come to you?"

[viridescere]

"Alex found it when I was campaigning for mayor. Apparently my mother tried to buy her off," Oliver explained. "But she never cashed the check. Thea and Alex thought it was weird, so I looked into it."

Oliver swallowed a little, tried to get his bearings. "I met them, I had Barry test William's DNA. He's definitely mine. Samantha wasn't looking for anything."

[prosecutorial]

She nods as she processes that because yeah. That sounds like Moira Queen. Not that she's bitter about it or anything, but Oliver having to own up to his mistakes early on might have saved Laurel a whole lot of heartbreak. But that's not the conversation they're having and she's not there to speak ill of the dead.

"I'm sorry. That you lost so much time with him."

[viridescere]

"It's okay," Oliver said. "She...I've decided I'm going to wait until he's older, until he can understand what we do and how dangerous it is. I want him to make the choice about a relationship with me and not have it thrown on him and used against him when he's this young. I think that's probably the best thing to do in this situation, as much as it hurts me not to be involved."

[prosecutorial]

She nods a bit, before giving him a small smile. "I think it'll be better then, too. Instead of forcing a relationship on him, he gets to choose you. I think it'll mean a lot more that way." And while there is the chance that William may not choose it, and may want to keep his distance, that's his choice to make. Giving him that kind of choice is just as important.

[viridescere]

"I just want to keep him safe. It's going to be easier to do that if I keep my distance, minimize who knows about him."

Oliver was all about control and so much about this situation with William and the fallout of it had been outside of his scope of control.

[prosecutorial]

She knows how Oliver needs to control his surroundings and the actions of his team. She's been on the backlash of that on more than one occasion. But she also knows that sometimes keeping someone safe doesn't always involve keeping your distance or keeping secrets.

"I get that. And I get where you're coming from. But Oliver, that doesn't mean you're not allowed to be upset about what you're losing, too."

[viridescere]

"I want to be? But we can't afford for me to be upset," Oliver admitted. It was safe enough to admit to that to Laurel, who had known him before he was the Arrow and long before Oliver Queen was worth knowing, but it wasn't safe to admit to the others.

"I need to keep control of myself, my emotions. I can't get reckless."

[prosecutorial]

"So don't get reckless." She considers for a moment, before taking a small step closer and sliding her arms around his shoulders, pulling him closer. It's because she's known him so long, and he's been part of her life for so long that she can do this for him and pretend to the rest of the team that this never happened.

"It doesn't have to leave this room."

[viridescere]

It took Oliver a moment to return the hug, to fold his arms around her and take the solace that she offered. So long, he had bottled up all his emotions and held them close. It was a relief to finally let them out.

"I don't know if I can help it, Laurel."

[prosecutorial]

She rubs his back gently as she keeps him close, closing her eyes because she knows that that's as close to admitting he actually feels anything. She squeezes his shoulders tightly before pulling back to look at him again.

"Then use it. But be smart about it. Trust one of us if we call you out on it."

[viridescere]

"I always trust you to call me out on things," Oliver said. It wasn't something he'd admitted to explicitly before but his and Laurel's relationship was so far evolved past what it used to be that he had no issues with discussing it now.

"I trust your judgment almost more than my own, in some ways."

[prosecutorial]

"Then I'll keep you in line," she says with a nod, because she can do that, at least. "You just have to listen to me." Which she wonders if Oliver really does, sometimes, but if he's willing to trust her on this, she will try and trust him.