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Post by Deleted on Apr 20, 2015 0:40:17 GMT
December 14th, 2017
Dinah's apartment wasn't exactly new or strange to Oliver. The two had been together for years, and of course he'd been here numerous times, and she'd been to his place as well. It was an old affection (he was hesitant to use the word "love"), an old relationship, and a very familiar one. There was great comfort in familiarity, and one Oliver took great comfort in. He was sure Dinah did as well. This had worked for so many years so far, and neither appeared to be sick of the other. There were arguments and fights, sure, but what couple didn't have those?
Oliver had probably used the word "love" once or twice in the past, but tried not to dwell on it. Part of him believed that the connection was even deeper than that, that they had such a deep bond that a word wasn't needed. Oliver was pretty good at being a romantic, but even this one sounded rather cheesy to him. Still, he kept that to himself and never voiced it, for obvious reasons. He figured Dinah would get a good laugh out of it and be able to mock him.
Oliver was sitting on the couch with a bottle of wine in his hands. He was rolling it around, looking at the label. He missed his money, but still, he was able to do some things from time to time. Sure, he had weapon caches and the like hidden, but he didn't have fine things like wine hidden away. If he were smart, he could have done that. Heck, he could have hidden older wines and let them age even more and resell them higher. Man, why hadn't he thought of that?
He set the bottle down on the table and waited for Dinah to come back.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 20, 2015 2:33:46 GMT
Dinah was happy to lock the Black Canary outift away for once. Literally, she put it in a lockbox under her bed to ignore the temptation to whip it out at some point during the night to chase down some bank robbers or stop a carjacking. There were other people that could handle that, and she felt oddly okay with having a night off. Probably because Ollie was around. When she was with Ollie she felt just a little bit happier.
That's not to say that she wasn't happy without him. No, she was perfectly content with her life. But she found herself smiling a lot more than she usually did. She was just a lot more comfortable around him. They had never really used the word 'love', but they both knew without saying it.
Her thoughts were drowned out by the sounds of her smoke alarm as she managed to burn what she was attempting to cook. She quickly dumped salt onto the fire that had started on the stove, trying to get it to die. As the smoke alarm blared, she sighed as she turned off the stove. She walked towards the living room, turning off the smoke alarm as she walked. She stuck her head into the living room.
"Weird question" Dinah said, blushing as she spoke. "Are there any delievery menus lying around?"
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Post by Deleted on Apr 20, 2015 2:50:54 GMT
Oliver felt like he had a weird habit when he traveled, even just to here, if he could call that traveling. He brought a few materials with him, primarily a quick hood, a bow, and some arrows, and a mask. Of course, he didn't bother getting that out. Like Dinah, he was more than happy to put the suit away and just have time together like this without having to get into their alternate lives or have to go and deal with crime. Of course, he wanted to deal with crime, but he knew that Dinah wasn't going to want that, not when they were together.
He heard the smoke alarm and let out a small sigh. He turned the bottle over in his hand again, "Looks like you're not getting used properly tonight. Sorry little guy," he muttered. He'd brought this wine so it could go well with the meal, but if it was on fire, like he assumed the smoke alarms were indicating, then it was probably going to waste. But then again, did good wine ever really go to waste? Not really.
It started to come to Oliver's mind that maybe he should check on the fire situation, or maybe even consider leaving (well, with Dinah, of course) assuming it got out of control. Weird how fighting for your life for so many years seemed to dull your sense of danger in a common situation such as this. Wow, wouldn't that be a way to go. A member of the Justice League burning to death because he didn't think it was real.
Oliver heard Dinah's question and started to look around, "I...uh...," He didn't see anything so he shook his head, "I've got nothing."
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Post by Deleted on Apr 20, 2015 3:52:16 GMT
Dinah smiled sheepishly, looking don for a moment. She nervously messed with her hair using her hand and responded with "At least this time I have a backup plan" she admitted before whipping up one of the only foods she could competently cook - grilled cheese and bowls of potato chips. She had some eleven years of superheroing under her belt but she had never learned how to competently cook. She never really got a chance to learn a lot of domestic skills from her mother, and she definitely didn't learn any from Ted.
Ted Grant's house always looked like a pig's sty when she lived there. Neither of them knew how to clean, she was the only one who knew how to do laundry, and Ted, having grown up in the twenties despite how old he looked, didn't really feel inclined to learn how. They managed to afford a housekeeper that kept the place from being completely a disaster. She learned how to sew at least - to Ted's horror upon seeing almost every design Dinah created for Black Canary's outfit.
Dinah brought the grilled cheese out on two plates with a bag of chips. "It's not exactly a candlelight dinner, but maybe a nice relaxing night on the couch with Netflix and some wine could work out?" Dinah asked as she put the glasses down on the table and snuggled up next to Ollie.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 20, 2015 4:14:33 GMT
Oliver didn't actually do much cooking himself. He could, but his level was basic. Granted, after seeing what Dinah had prepared, it was probably only a bit better than hers. All his life (well, most of it) he'd had people who cooked for him in the Queen Mansion. Since losing it, he had to adapt and figure things out himself. In the League, he had food provided to him. But still, one of them (if not both) would benefit from cooking class. Maybe he should suggest that as a couple. It would be a nice, romantic thing to do.
Oliver looked at his bottle of wine. He was about to say something when he realized he'd been talking to a bottle of wine, and he should probably stop that before Dinah realized he had been doing just that. Sure, he had some quirks and a fun personality, but this might be going too far. Or not. He wasn't sure. Still, better not to take the risk, he guessed. But would Dinah really think much of that, or consider leaving him or something over something so minor? It was just a quirk, and wasn't that one reason people stayed together? Their quirks and their personalities?
He smiled at Dinah as she set the plates and food down and got up next to him, "Yeah. That sounds like a good plan." Of course, there was more. He wanted to talk to her and have conversations, "Maybe not just all Netflix. We're alone, and, well, I'd like to just talk for a while. If you don't mind."
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Post by Deleted on Apr 20, 2015 14:26:04 GMT
Dinah was already reaching for the remote when she heard what he said. Dinah smiled at that last part, looking him in those beautiful blue eyes. She had always loved that Ollie was more than a big, tough man; he was kind, he was caring, he was funny. "Absoltely" she said, leaning back into the couch and putting an arm around his shoulders. Pretending to be stoic all the time got the best of her, and she certainly wasn't as good at it as Batman. "We can talk for as long as we want," she said happily. She let down her hair from where it had been tied up behind her cooking, ready to not have to lift another finger tonight.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 20, 2015 17:22:14 GMT
He watched as she didn't reach the remote. Good, they could talk at least. He gave her a smile as she looked into his eyes, staring back into hers. He found nothing but peace there. At times he remembered that island, and then he saw her eyes and any thoughts of that hell were banished and replaced by nothing but good memories and peace. Peace with her.
"I mean, if you get bored of talking, we can watch something." He didn't want to force her to make a decision one way or the other. Besides, this conversation might get too heavy and they might need to drop it for a bit for something else, like Netflix and mindless television. He wasn't even sure if he could get this conversation going the way he wanted to, because of how bad it might be on them.
"Can we talk about us?" he asked. He quickly realized how bad that sounded and added, "I mean...it's not like this is going to be a breakup conversation or anything."
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Post by Deleted on Apr 20, 2015 17:43:47 GMT
Dinah watched as Oliver squirmed and tripped over his words with an amused smile, which was kind of rare for him. It was very rare to see the great Green Arrow not know what to say, kind of like seeing a double rainbow or seeing Superman not be able to do something. Part of her wanted to record this moment so that scientists in the future could one day prove that, in fact, Oliver Queen did not always know what to say. "I'm fine with whatever you want to do Ollie" she said, trying to reassure him. "If you want to talk about us and where we are going, then that's what we'll do. And if you want to watch TV and drink wine, we can that instead."
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Post by Deleted on Apr 20, 2015 19:18:20 GMT
She was ok with talking about this. Well, he wasn't sure if she would be after he started getting into this in detail. He prided himself on knowing what to do and what to say. He knew how to survive, and could get through almost anything. But now his words failed him and he struggled to get the proper message out.
"Do you ever think about us, and this relationship?" Oliver asked her. He looked ahead as he said that, but then turned to look at her, "I mean...we haven't really...we've never said we love each other. We're just dating yet when most people at this point would be engaged." There was also that she was barren, but he wasn't going to bring that one up.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 25, 2015 19:40:11 GMT
Dinah didn't know what to say about that situation "We aren't most people Ollie" Dinah pointed out, taking the back of Oliver's hand. "Most people don't dress in leather and hang out with other people in tights occasionally hitting each other in the face." She did, however know that he was right about what he was saying. Usually in a relationship like this there's some formal step taken. Usually involving rings. "How long has it been, exactly? I can never remember the exact number of years." Dinah dreaded what might be coming, but she stayed quiet until she knew for certain.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 25, 2015 21:38:54 GMT
"It was 2008, so nearly ten years," he told her as he looked down at their hands. He looked back to Dinah, "Well, you know, there are a lot of people out there who wear leather and tights and hurt each other. It's just a kink of theirs though." He said that with a smile, trying to lighten the mood a little bit with her, but he knew what she meant. "And you're right, we're not most people. But then again, isn't love a universal feeling?" he asked her, using that word.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 27, 2015 12:04:50 GMT
Dinah chuckled at the leather bit. "Hey now Mister Queen, that's a different sort of leather" Dinah said, uncharacteristically being jokey. And then Dinah stopped joking and clasped her hand around Oliver's as she listened to him talk. She had felt so close to Oliver, even without using the L word she already knew she had a connection with him she'd never had with anyone else. She practically helped raise his sidekicks, which were as close to kids as either one had ever had. And... as close as she would ever get. She didn't know how she would tell him that honestly.
"Ollie, is this leading to a the question I think it is?"
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Post by Deleted on Apr 27, 2015 17:05:42 GMT
Oliver paused. Oh crap, did she think he was going to propose? He did want to someday marry her, or at least spend the rest of his life with her, but that's not what he was going for here. He just wanted to have an actual conversation about their feelings. He looked at her for a bit and then he opened his mouth, then shut it. He finally spoke up, "Um...I don't think so," he told her, "I mean, unless...unless you want it to be..."
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Post by Deleted on Apr 28, 2015 4:39:29 GMT
"Oh, oh no that's not what" Dinah said, trying to backpedal. Crap Dinah don't be that girl, don't try and force Oliver into the "I mean I'm not saying no as in no I'm saying no as in that's not what I was about to-" Dinah quickly clamped her mouth shut, her face beet red. She tried to figure out a way to claw her way out of this maze of awkward misunderstandings, but no words came out, just the starts of random words as she stuttered with her mouth wide open. "So, how about that local sports team? They sure did play at... some point."
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Post by Deleted on Apr 28, 2015 16:05:47 GMT
Oliver just started to laugh at that. Yeah, this was insanely awkward, and her cover wasn't that good, but could he have done any better in her place? Probably not. "Yeah, I mean, that team did great at that one game they play," he smiled. He let out a breath, "Um...should we just forget about this and...and figure something else out to do?" Pretty much anything would be a reprieve from this awkwardness, even if he wanted to have this conversation. He could put it off for a while, it didn't really bother him.
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