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thejusticelounge2013-02-06 09:18 am
bossymarmalade) wrote in thejusticelounge2013-02-06 09:18 am
Entry tags:
the unhungry games
“I know what you’re doing,” Ollie intoned direly, raising one eyebrow at the giggling little girl who was half-hiding on the other side of the red-clothed table, just her button nose and big brown eyes visible over the top. “You’re trying to get me all hopped up on sugar so I’ll give you an airplane ride like last time, aren’t you?”
Little Priya giggled harder and ducked entirely out of sight for a moment, leaving Ollie to check his watch as he licked sugar syrup from his fingers. Steph should be along any moment now, and he’d brought one of Mia’s bows for her to work with. The rental bows at the range were good quality, but they weren’t built by Green Arrow. There was no reason Stephanie shouldn’t start with the best.
But still, there was time to get in at least *one* airplane ride. Ollie scooped Priya up and hoisted her into the air, flying her around as he mentally made a list of trick arrows Steph might like to try out.
Steph walked into the archery range Ollie texted her the address to and was pulling her hair up into a ponytail. She was psyched for their first lesson, and ever the troll, couldn’t wait to see Bruce’s face if she could pull off some trick shots in the Batcave. Spotting Ollie swinging a little giggling girl around in his arms, she popped up beside him sneakily and said in his ear, “BOO!” and laughed at his expression.
“What’s shaking, Olliewood?” she asked, and smiled brightly at the little girl. “Woah! You’re up high! Do you like flying, hon?” Men and little kids were undeniably adorable. Something shiny caught Steph’s eye and she swiped her thumb across Ollie’s chin to get the syrup off. “Been into the sweets again, huh? I hope you haven’t been eating waffles without me. The evidence is incriminating.”
“Hah! No, there has been no waffle eating on the sly, cross my heart.” Ollie brought Priya down into the crook of one elbow, where she sat clutching her own braids and blinking shyly at Steph. “Priya here is the mistress of all the land you survey — or at least, she will be when she’s old enough — and the sweets are all over there.” Ollie gestured with his chin over at the table, which was laden with trays and boxes. “It’s Diwali,” Priya meeped, then promptly hid her face in Ollie’s shoulder. He grinned at Steph.
“Her mom likes to put out a bunch of Indian sweets this time of year. Which is why I always make a point of showing up to try them all. Although the sugar gets overwhelming after a while, I must admit.” Ollie put the little girl down, and she managed a big smile at Steph before scampering away. “Right,” Ollie said briskly to Steph, “I brought some equipment for you, so grab one of the sweets to fortify yourself, and we’ll get started!”
Priya was too cute! Steph waved back at her as she ran away and grabbed herself a piece of some of the syrupy sweets. She gave an exaggerated sound of approval. “Dear God, I am done. My life has peaked. Whatever the heck it is that I’m eating, I’d like to be buried in it when I die.” Popping a couple more pieces into her mouth, she wiped her fingers off on her work out pants and saluted Ollie. “Blood sugar fortified, General Quiver!”
Eyeing the bow set at their feet that wasn’t green, but instead a familiar red and yellow. Steph picks them up and looks them over. “Does Mia know you’re letting me borrow these? Because I sure wouldn’t want to be the sorry sucker who stole one of her accessories,” she joked, slinging the quiver over her shoulder. She took out an arrow at random and tried and failed to draw it back in the bow. “Okay! … How do I shoot this thing?”
“These aren’t Mia’s favourites, believe me — she keeps those under her bed and snarls if anybody even *thinks* of touching them. If it wasn’t kinda flattering, I’d think she was nuts.” Ollie watched Steph fearlessly wear the quiver and try out the bow, his eyes crinkling in amusement. She didn’t seem in the slightest bit worried about looking silly or unskilled in front of him, or self-conscious about not knowing how to use a bow and arrow; her bold curiosity and gung-ho attitude were both appealing and admirable, in his opinion.
Holding up his own bow, Ollie nocked an arrow, tilting it so Stephanie could see where it hit the string, how the fletches sat, which side of the bow it rested against. “Like that, on the arrow rest over your hand. Now, the most important thing to do at this point is learn how to draw your bow, with your back, not your arms. Put your hand on my back, you can feel the difference—” Ollie did a weak, incorrect pull with his arms, then a proper one to full draw. “Don’t worry about drawing like I’m doing on your first try. Your bow’s got a 40 pound weight, if you do a full draw every time it’ll wear you out quick.”
Ollie considered that last statement and the way Stephanie was interestedly prodding at the muscles of his back in an investigative fashion as he held his own heavier bow drawn. “Not that you’re not strong enough to use a bow and use it well, mind you,” he amended. “It’s just a particular skill set to get used to.”
Steph lowered her bow and watched Ollie take his stance and draw back his own bow. In battle, it wasn’t anything that would catch your eye, but she realized just how precise one had to be to do it right. She leaned in closer and ran her palm none to shyly along the muscles locked into place in his back, marveling at how taut he needed to be to make one shot. Letting out a low whistle, she gave his side an experimental squeeze and told him, “Damn. Arrow Abbs, here I come. You’ve got some pecs on you, General Quiver.” Yep, she was keeping that nickname around.
Mimicking his stance as best she could, though she knew it was probably off somehow, Steph fumbled with keeping the arrow straight and against the string. “This is a lot harder than I thought it might be-Not that I thought it would be easy, I mean!” she amended. She tried again and partially drew back the arrow, feeling her back tighten up, her shoulder popping audibly. Steph laughed, lowering the bow. “Okay, prof, what am I messing up?”
Steph’s handsiness was entirely endearing; Ollie bit his lip to hold back a delighted snort as she sized him up like a side of beef. “‘General Quiver’ sounds like a porn name!” he observed. “Not that I’m protesting, mind you. It’s more inventive than the usual archery-themed smutty names, that’s for sure — nary a shaft or bullseye to be had.”
He lowered his bow to lean on as she attempted to copy him, still completely willing to try even if she didn’t get it right away. It was a rare personality trait — Ollie hadn’t realized how rare until he was actually looking at it. “You’re not doing too bad, there’s just a lot of little steps with archery. Your index fletch has to point towards you, not the bow, or the arrow won’t rest properly—” he turned the shaft and let her nock it again, “—and the trick with pulling with your back is to bring your shoulder blades together, like you’re doing a push-up. I know you Bats know how to do *that*, heh.”
Ollie watched her do it again, more smoothly this time, and put his hand on Steph’s back to feel if she was drawing correctly. “Atta girl,” he said when her muscles flexed. “Didn’t Bruce teach you kids any archery at all? It figures that he’d leave it out of an otherwise comprehensive fighting knowledge. He was good when I taught him — he’s good at everything — but he never enjoyed it.”
“Hey, what you do with your Saturdays is your business, Olliewood,” she teased. “How you made your fortune and thought up the concept for your costume is between you and your ‘clients’.” She used finger quotes at the last bit, grinning. Watching Ollie’s stance a bit more closely, now knowing what to look for, Steph attempted to mimic him again and this time it felt more fluid, comfortable.
Ollie’s patience was much appreciated. Steph knew it had to be annoying to keep showing a newbie something you were a master at over and over. “Ha! Yeah, Bruce made us all do one armed handstand push-ups as a part of our Robin training. We’ve all got the calloused hands to prove it, too. But no archery, actually. He showed us how to use swords, eskrima sticks, bow staffs, and batarangs, and stuff, but no bows and arrows.” She shrugged. “Meh, I’m glad you’re the one teaching me, anyway. I don’t have a the best track record with training with Bruce.”
She drew back into the stance he’d just shown her and only slightly jumped when Ollie put his hand on her back in surprise. Having nothing else on her stomach, Steph was a little keyed up from Priya’s syrupy sweets, could already feel the silly starting. “Wait, you taught Bruce?” she laughed. “Let me guess? Total macho snarkfest going on the whole time? Maybe even criticized your form once or twice?”
“Bingo,” Ollie laughed. “It was a big thing for me, though! I built my entire superhero career up to that point by copying the Batman as best I could, so for him to ask me for archery lessons? Man, I was over the moon.” Ollie moved his hand in long strokes against Steph’s back, feeling her muscles shift, grunting in approval when they moved the right way and she had drawn properly. “Anchor the end of the arrow at your chin or the corner of your mouth,” he instructed. “Put the crook of your thumb against your face to steady it.”
There wasn’t any real need for him to keep touching Steph, but Ollie left his hand there anyhow, steadying her. “God, we were young then, Bruce and I,” he murmured. “I was cocky as hell, and he was suspicious of everyone. And I mean *everyone*. That was when I knew he was starting to let his guard down, when he asked me for lessons.” Ollie watched as Steph loosed an arrow and it flew more true than the ones before.
“Jesus, girl,” he said admiringly. “You’re almost as quick a study as Bruce was. Is that why you had a rough time training with him? I know he tends to be even more demanding with people whose abilities he respects.”
“Wait? He actually humbled himself enough to ask for you help? Snrrk. That’s worthy of a full page diary entry with hearts and smiley faces,” she joked. Doing as instructed, her finger and arm placements finally correct, the arrow flew and hit an outer edge of the target. The aim was still very off and her shoulder blades were already sore from the new movement, but Steph was proud that she’d done it. She lowered her bow and was grinning triumphantly. “I’m glad that you got your chance to shine with Bruce. You’re a hell of a good teacher!” she told him, turning into his arm against her back and hugging Ollie around the waist.
She pulled back and was already picking through the quiver for another arrow. She snorted. “Yeah, right. I was Tim’s replacement, the perfect Robin. My training was a constant comparison to his perfection.” Steph straightened and shrugged, not bitter. “Bruce liked people with natural talent, and I wasn’t up to snuff. Enough about my teen angst, though. What’s happening in your world, Olliewood? You and Kate still in the honeymoon phase? Ooh! What’s this one do?” she asked, the tip of the arrow had an orange capsule on it.
“I’m not sure if people my age have honeymoon phases to their relationships, kiddo,” Ollie said, amused at Steph’s interest in him and Kate. He rummaged around for an arrow for himself, idly lifting his own bow to send a shaft into the target next to hers. “We, ah … well, it’s been an interesting progression for us, y’know? I mean, I found her attractive enough when we started working together, and all that, and it took a while of us doing press junkets and drawing up operating procedures and learning each others’ professional talents before we even slept together, but neither of us expected this. To fall in love and get so woven into each others’ lives, to the point where I can’t even contemplate not having her as my partner. I’ve been in love before, and in a very long-term relationship, but I’ve never felt as *intense* as this.”
Propping against his bow, Ollie frowned. “Huh. Y’know, I can’t remember talking about Kate like this with … anybody, really. How in the world did you manage to ootch it out of me, girlchik?” He tugged a lock of Stephanie’s bright blonde hair and peered at the webbing arrow she’d selected. “Try it and find out. You’ll be adjusting for the weight and shape of the arrowhead, so aim higher than you feel you should.” Ollie stood behind her to watch, and added, “And take it from me, Steph — perfection isn’t everything. Some of us imperfect beings kind of like it that way. God knows *I* prefer people who have flaws and peccadilloes — makes things more interesting!”
Listening to Ollie talk about Kate, how he took on a softer demeanor, speaking with a warmth Steph hadn’t heard from him before, she smiled at him, batting his hand away from her hair. “I dunno. Maybe it’s the baby face?” she joked, batting her eyes. “One love sick puppy to another? I’m really happy for you, Ollie. It is dauntingly difficult to find someone who makes you feel like that, even after as much time that’s gone by as is. If Kate makes you feel this dopey in love, why not seal the deal?” It was impulsive advice, but not something she regretted.
Pulling back the arrow in the more comfortable position, Steph did feel a definite difference in the weight and adjusted her angling to suit. In hindsight, she should have taken it as a warning that Ollie had stepped back behind her. The arrow his the target in the same off center fashion as before, but this time exploded into a bright orange, gooey web. Some splattered onto her cheek and she laughed in surprise. “It’s like a gooperang!”
“Very useful for slowing down low-grade punks and without doing too much damage. Except to their dignity, I suppose.” Ollie grinned, flicking the bit of neon orange webbing off Steph’s cheek before the dye set in. “Think you’re ready for one of the big guns?”
He gave her an arrow with a slightly larger green capsule on the end — the boxing glove had to be green when it popped out on impact, otherwise it just didn’t look right — and helped Steph aim the bow before stepping away. “Seal the deal like get married?” Ollie asked. “Well, that’s complicated when you have two partners, but I’ll tell you a secret: I *did* ask her to marry me. Unfortunately it was right before all this stuff with the Eden Corps and her going undercover came out, and that put us on shaky ground for a while.”
Ollie turned his foot on the side, scraping the side of his shoe against the ground thoughtfully. “We will, though,” he said slowly. “Kate and me. Get married. I honestly don’t think I could contemplate anything different at this point. I need to be her husband and she needs to be my wife.” He looked up at Steph, her clear forthright gaze. “I’ve never even thought about getting married before. It’s a helluva jump from that to feeling like I can’t go on without it.”
Shaking his head like a big dog, Ollie threw his hands out and refocused on the targets. “Anyhow! Try that arrow and tell me, how’s your own love life going? Jason Todd, the scuttlebutt says? You really like the sullen Batboy type, dontcha, sunshine?”
Steph bumped hips with Ollie playfully and tilted her head back to look him in the eye, smiling widely. “That’s why I say you should propose, though. You two just went through arguably the biggest fight of your relationship: trust issues. And you know what? You two worked at it and came out okay. You both completely lost your minds at the thought of losing each other. You two went through worst case scenario and said and did things you might regret in hindsight, but you know what That just cemented the bond, I think. You’ve been with each other through your best and worst and are still together,” she explained matter of factly. “I think the best way to show her that you forgive her and want to move on is to show her how you already feel and just propose already. We’re all waiting, hon. And quite frankly, it’s getting a little sad it’s taken this long,” she teased.
Angling the new, green colored arrow, the heaviest so far, she had to stiffen up considerably to keep her arm from shaking and shot for the target. A cartoony boxing glove popped out and Steph cracked up laughing until she started snorting when it almost punched the bulls-eye. “Oh my God! This actually exists?! Aaaaah, I thought it was just a running joke, but the Boxing Glove Arrow is real!” She turned towards him and slapped him a high-five. “You, my good sir, have just become my trolling hero.”
She did, however, end up bopping him lightly on the back of the head at his crack about her taste in men. “Hey, now! Don’t go making comparisons about my current and ex Bat boyfriends. That’s just 50 shades of creepy.” She shuddered, but some color did flood her cheeks, looking away a little shyly. “Jason and I are really good right now. He’s just … Fantastic. I mean, we’re both totally screwed up in different ways, but it doesn’t matter when we’re together, you know? We don’t have to hide our hero sides or our dorkier sides. We just get each other. Even if we don’t always agree, at the end of the day, I’d still choose Jason in a heartbeat. He gives me this feeling, like I want to tell him everything about myself and hear everything about him and have sexy and not sexy naps with him and for better or for worse, he just makes me really happy. I haven’t felt this giddy over a guy since Tim, to be honest. Is that totally corny? Fuck, I don’t care. Call me cornball!” she rambled, laughing.
Ollie mulled over Steph’s impassioned summation of his and Kate’s relationship as he took a long drink of water from his bottle. “It’s true,” he admitted. “I didn’t consider the other things we’ve weathered — all the work stuff, dealing with press and governments, both of us nearly being killed, other people being in the mix — all of that, somehow it didn’t seem like anything that would break us up. This last thing, the trust issues, that would’ve done it. But we managed to come through that, didn’t we? Although,” Ollie scoffed, “I seriously doubt other people in the League are that interested in the state of Kate’s and my relationship and whether or not we’re hitched yet. Not when there’s other pairings in this ‘burg with waaaaaay more Shakespearian drama than ours.”
Steph’s delight at the boxing glove arrow made Ollie chortle, gleefully returning her high-five. “My own invention!” he announced proudly. “Well, most of these trick arrows are my own invention, but not all of them have the longevity and, shall we say, notoriety of this heah boxin’ glove. I could never switch these babies out’ve my rotation, I love ‘em so much.”
He listened intently as she started talking about Jason, her stance changing from open and active to more soft, contemplative, blushy. ”It’s always easiest to date people who’re in the game, that’s for sure,” he nodded. “And finding somebody who can accept everything you’ve been through, all of the not-so-pretty things you’ve done and been — that’s rare and valuable indeed. Everything you’re talking about, the wanting to share everything with him, good and bad, sexy and not, not to mention the giddiness? That’s exactly how I feel about Kate. So we can be cornballs together, chickadee!”
“Hey, cute couples are cute couples are cute couples, hon. Trust me, we care. It’s a wonder you two aren’t already engaged on principal by now, really. Isn’t there a civil union thing, where if you live together at least seven years in some states that you’re legally married without ceremony?” Steph picked out a regular arrow and shot it at the target, still off on her aiming. As they talked, she kept picking them out and retrying, intent on getting this right.
“Hey, you keep these around no matter what and don’t let anyone tell you differently. These are the good kind of cheesy,” she reassured him. Steph laughed “We chose the right season to be corny, then,” she quipped, breaking out the Thanksgiving jokes unashamedly. “But seriously, though, General Quiver. You feel this way about the lady and I’ve never seen you light up like this before. You look like Dick whenever he’s around a redhead, Superman, or bowl of cereal. Tell her how you feel and put a ring on it already!” Steph released the arrow and it hit the bulls-eye dead on. She shrieked in triumph, “Aw, yeah! Stephzilla is bringing the swag!”
“Stephanie!! Kate and I have barely been together a year, we’re hardly in the time range to count as common law spouses.” Ollie watched as Steph managed to land a centre shot and whooped along with her, hoisting her up for a quick triumphant swing around before setting her back down again. “Shit yeah, that’s the stuff! This is what happens when a brilliant teacher meets a talented student, and no mistake. Shoot me a few more and we’ll call it a day — don’t wanna wear you out, it’s easy to get fatigued before you realize it’s happening. Here, try this one.” He selected an arrow with a fuzzy pink tip from his quiver, laughing at the look Steph gave it. “The first Arrowette had some very entertaining gimmick arrows,” he explained. “Along a more girly bent than mine.”
The powder puff arrow was a funny one, and Ollie figured Steph would get a kick from seeing it pop out of the capsule. “So what’re you doing right now for the 9-to-5 again? Waitressing? Man, I would never be able to do that. Too many assholes to deal with. I wouldn’t last a week before I lost it on somebody. You’ve got the right temperament, though! Snappy and friendly and take-no-shit. All you need is to chew gum while you’re taking orders, heh.”
Steph took the funny pink puff of an arrow and inspected it curiously. “Details, details,” she told Ollie with a dismissive wave. “I’m just saying that if you don’t nut up in five or so years, the law will do it for you. Dibs on bridesmaid, fyi.” She winked, letting the arrow fly. It hit a bit off center, but exploded into a poof of pink powder. “Something tells me Arrowette and I would have gotten along,” she snickered. Some of the cast off reached them and she feel into a sneezing fit.
“Oh, yeah! I am! I like it a lot.” Sneeze. “It’s hard on my feet, but I like working with people.” Sneeze. Sneeze. “I’ve gotten super passive-aggressive with this job though. Bats don’t take shit lightly! Like, I can’t not be nice to the customers, but I’ll totally screw with the rude ones sometimes. I shouldn’t be proud of that, but I am!” she laughed. “What was your first job? Working for your dad in his company?” Sneeze.
“Easy, easy,” Ollie laughed, rustling around in his jeans for a moment before coming up with a handkerchief and pressing it into Steph’s hand. “The powder in that thing’s probably a little, uh, aged now that I’m thinking about it. I would’ve warned you, but that woulda spoiled the surprise!” Ollie gave one huge a-choo! himself and shook his head. “Maybe I should’ve given you the lipstick arrow, or the nail file one, hey? Keep the hankie, I’ve got plenty.
“As for first jobs —” Ollie rubbed the back of his neck, screwing up half of his face in thought. “My old man was well dead and gone by the time I was working age, but yeah, I automatically got a position at Queen Industries. I didn’t know shit from shinola when it came to business, so they mostly let me run loose sweet-talking the people whose companies we were acquiring in takeovers. Of course, that was back when we made money from arms and munitions — the bad old days. Especially since I had all the business acumen of a fiddler crab.”
Ollie handed Steph another arrow and stood next to her, drawing his own bow. “Shoot that one with me,” he said. “Aim along the same trajectory as my shot.” Steph followed his instructions swiftly and well, and they watched as a bright blue streak of crackling electricity linked the two arrows in flight. “Very good for taking down uber-powered Solomon Grundies and the like, if you’ve got a fellow archer with you.”
Steph took the hankie and blew her nose. “Thanks. I’m always sneezy this time of year anyway. Ha! But please tell me you’ll invent those make-up arrows someday if they don’t already exist. Mia might take a stiletto arrow,” she joked, drawing back her arrow as instructed and watching the brilliant blue sparks fly. Steph watched the twin shots hit the target and smiled like a kid at 4th of July as they burned out, leaving a huge scorch mark. “I pity the maniacal monkey on the receiving end of these bad boys, fiddler.”
Yes. That was another new nickname for him now. No. Ollie did not get a choice in it. Her shoulder blades burning, she took off the quiver and bow and handed them back to Ollie. “Whelp, I’ve wasted enough of your time today, I think. I had a lot of fun, too!” Steph told him earnestly, smiling up at him. She wrapped her arms around his waist and gave him a big hug. “Thanks for teaching me, and sorry if it got frustrating. You rock the casbah, though. I owe you food or something sometime.”
The nicknames were coming fast and furious, but Ollie didn’t mind — hell, with his own predilection for showering people with pet names during the course of a conversation, it was fun to have it done back to him once in a while. And Steph’s were all affectionate, which was definitely a step up from “Green Jeans”.
“Not a waste of time at all, Stephanie,” Ollie said warmly, returning her enthusiastic embrace. “I wouldn’t say you’re a natural shot, but you’ve got general athletic skills enough to get really good if you want to keep it up. This wasn’t frustrating at all, I promise!” They headed out of the range, all their equipment packed up and Priya bounding over to wave goodbye, and before they parted ways Ollie added, “And you don’t owe me anything, but I am not one to turn down a meal with Stephanie Brown. That would be a wasted opportunity.”
Ollie waved goodbye to her, and wondered what Mia *would* think if he tricked her out in makeup arrows. Maybe she’d actually get a kick out of a stiletto arrow. Then again….
Little Priya giggled harder and ducked entirely out of sight for a moment, leaving Ollie to check his watch as he licked sugar syrup from his fingers. Steph should be along any moment now, and he’d brought one of Mia’s bows for her to work with. The rental bows at the range were good quality, but they weren’t built by Green Arrow. There was no reason Stephanie shouldn’t start with the best.
But still, there was time to get in at least *one* airplane ride. Ollie scooped Priya up and hoisted her into the air, flying her around as he mentally made a list of trick arrows Steph might like to try out.
Steph walked into the archery range Ollie texted her the address to and was pulling her hair up into a ponytail. She was psyched for their first lesson, and ever the troll, couldn’t wait to see Bruce’s face if she could pull off some trick shots in the Batcave. Spotting Ollie swinging a little giggling girl around in his arms, she popped up beside him sneakily and said in his ear, “BOO!” and laughed at his expression.
“What’s shaking, Olliewood?” she asked, and smiled brightly at the little girl. “Woah! You’re up high! Do you like flying, hon?” Men and little kids were undeniably adorable. Something shiny caught Steph’s eye and she swiped her thumb across Ollie’s chin to get the syrup off. “Been into the sweets again, huh? I hope you haven’t been eating waffles without me. The evidence is incriminating.”
“Hah! No, there has been no waffle eating on the sly, cross my heart.” Ollie brought Priya down into the crook of one elbow, where she sat clutching her own braids and blinking shyly at Steph. “Priya here is the mistress of all the land you survey — or at least, she will be when she’s old enough — and the sweets are all over there.” Ollie gestured with his chin over at the table, which was laden with trays and boxes. “It’s Diwali,” Priya meeped, then promptly hid her face in Ollie’s shoulder. He grinned at Steph.
“Her mom likes to put out a bunch of Indian sweets this time of year. Which is why I always make a point of showing up to try them all. Although the sugar gets overwhelming after a while, I must admit.” Ollie put the little girl down, and she managed a big smile at Steph before scampering away. “Right,” Ollie said briskly to Steph, “I brought some equipment for you, so grab one of the sweets to fortify yourself, and we’ll get started!”
Priya was too cute! Steph waved back at her as she ran away and grabbed herself a piece of some of the syrupy sweets. She gave an exaggerated sound of approval. “Dear God, I am done. My life has peaked. Whatever the heck it is that I’m eating, I’d like to be buried in it when I die.” Popping a couple more pieces into her mouth, she wiped her fingers off on her work out pants and saluted Ollie. “Blood sugar fortified, General Quiver!”
Eyeing the bow set at their feet that wasn’t green, but instead a familiar red and yellow. Steph picks them up and looks them over. “Does Mia know you’re letting me borrow these? Because I sure wouldn’t want to be the sorry sucker who stole one of her accessories,” she joked, slinging the quiver over her shoulder. She took out an arrow at random and tried and failed to draw it back in the bow. “Okay! … How do I shoot this thing?”
“These aren’t Mia’s favourites, believe me — she keeps those under her bed and snarls if anybody even *thinks* of touching them. If it wasn’t kinda flattering, I’d think she was nuts.” Ollie watched Steph fearlessly wear the quiver and try out the bow, his eyes crinkling in amusement. She didn’t seem in the slightest bit worried about looking silly or unskilled in front of him, or self-conscious about not knowing how to use a bow and arrow; her bold curiosity and gung-ho attitude were both appealing and admirable, in his opinion.
Holding up his own bow, Ollie nocked an arrow, tilting it so Stephanie could see where it hit the string, how the fletches sat, which side of the bow it rested against. “Like that, on the arrow rest over your hand. Now, the most important thing to do at this point is learn how to draw your bow, with your back, not your arms. Put your hand on my back, you can feel the difference—” Ollie did a weak, incorrect pull with his arms, then a proper one to full draw. “Don’t worry about drawing like I’m doing on your first try. Your bow’s got a 40 pound weight, if you do a full draw every time it’ll wear you out quick.”
Ollie considered that last statement and the way Stephanie was interestedly prodding at the muscles of his back in an investigative fashion as he held his own heavier bow drawn. “Not that you’re not strong enough to use a bow and use it well, mind you,” he amended. “It’s just a particular skill set to get used to.”
Steph lowered her bow and watched Ollie take his stance and draw back his own bow. In battle, it wasn’t anything that would catch your eye, but she realized just how precise one had to be to do it right. She leaned in closer and ran her palm none to shyly along the muscles locked into place in his back, marveling at how taut he needed to be to make one shot. Letting out a low whistle, she gave his side an experimental squeeze and told him, “Damn. Arrow Abbs, here I come. You’ve got some pecs on you, General Quiver.” Yep, she was keeping that nickname around.
Mimicking his stance as best she could, though she knew it was probably off somehow, Steph fumbled with keeping the arrow straight and against the string. “This is a lot harder than I thought it might be-Not that I thought it would be easy, I mean!” she amended. She tried again and partially drew back the arrow, feeling her back tighten up, her shoulder popping audibly. Steph laughed, lowering the bow. “Okay, prof, what am I messing up?”
Steph’s handsiness was entirely endearing; Ollie bit his lip to hold back a delighted snort as she sized him up like a side of beef. “‘General Quiver’ sounds like a porn name!” he observed. “Not that I’m protesting, mind you. It’s more inventive than the usual archery-themed smutty names, that’s for sure — nary a shaft or bullseye to be had.”
He lowered his bow to lean on as she attempted to copy him, still completely willing to try even if she didn’t get it right away. It was a rare personality trait — Ollie hadn’t realized how rare until he was actually looking at it. “You’re not doing too bad, there’s just a lot of little steps with archery. Your index fletch has to point towards you, not the bow, or the arrow won’t rest properly—” he turned the shaft and let her nock it again, “—and the trick with pulling with your back is to bring your shoulder blades together, like you’re doing a push-up. I know you Bats know how to do *that*, heh.”
Ollie watched her do it again, more smoothly this time, and put his hand on Steph’s back to feel if she was drawing correctly. “Atta girl,” he said when her muscles flexed. “Didn’t Bruce teach you kids any archery at all? It figures that he’d leave it out of an otherwise comprehensive fighting knowledge. He was good when I taught him — he’s good at everything — but he never enjoyed it.”
“Hey, what you do with your Saturdays is your business, Olliewood,” she teased. “How you made your fortune and thought up the concept for your costume is between you and your ‘clients’.” She used finger quotes at the last bit, grinning. Watching Ollie’s stance a bit more closely, now knowing what to look for, Steph attempted to mimic him again and this time it felt more fluid, comfortable.
Ollie’s patience was much appreciated. Steph knew it had to be annoying to keep showing a newbie something you were a master at over and over. “Ha! Yeah, Bruce made us all do one armed handstand push-ups as a part of our Robin training. We’ve all got the calloused hands to prove it, too. But no archery, actually. He showed us how to use swords, eskrima sticks, bow staffs, and batarangs, and stuff, but no bows and arrows.” She shrugged. “Meh, I’m glad you’re the one teaching me, anyway. I don’t have a the best track record with training with Bruce.”
She drew back into the stance he’d just shown her and only slightly jumped when Ollie put his hand on her back in surprise. Having nothing else on her stomach, Steph was a little keyed up from Priya’s syrupy sweets, could already feel the silly starting. “Wait, you taught Bruce?” she laughed. “Let me guess? Total macho snarkfest going on the whole time? Maybe even criticized your form once or twice?”
“Bingo,” Ollie laughed. “It was a big thing for me, though! I built my entire superhero career up to that point by copying the Batman as best I could, so for him to ask me for archery lessons? Man, I was over the moon.” Ollie moved his hand in long strokes against Steph’s back, feeling her muscles shift, grunting in approval when they moved the right way and she had drawn properly. “Anchor the end of the arrow at your chin or the corner of your mouth,” he instructed. “Put the crook of your thumb against your face to steady it.”
There wasn’t any real need for him to keep touching Steph, but Ollie left his hand there anyhow, steadying her. “God, we were young then, Bruce and I,” he murmured. “I was cocky as hell, and he was suspicious of everyone. And I mean *everyone*. That was when I knew he was starting to let his guard down, when he asked me for lessons.” Ollie watched as Steph loosed an arrow and it flew more true than the ones before.
“Jesus, girl,” he said admiringly. “You’re almost as quick a study as Bruce was. Is that why you had a rough time training with him? I know he tends to be even more demanding with people whose abilities he respects.”
“Wait? He actually humbled himself enough to ask for you help? Snrrk. That’s worthy of a full page diary entry with hearts and smiley faces,” she joked. Doing as instructed, her finger and arm placements finally correct, the arrow flew and hit an outer edge of the target. The aim was still very off and her shoulder blades were already sore from the new movement, but Steph was proud that she’d done it. She lowered her bow and was grinning triumphantly. “I’m glad that you got your chance to shine with Bruce. You’re a hell of a good teacher!” she told him, turning into his arm against her back and hugging Ollie around the waist.
She pulled back and was already picking through the quiver for another arrow. She snorted. “Yeah, right. I was Tim’s replacement, the perfect Robin. My training was a constant comparison to his perfection.” Steph straightened and shrugged, not bitter. “Bruce liked people with natural talent, and I wasn’t up to snuff. Enough about my teen angst, though. What’s happening in your world, Olliewood? You and Kate still in the honeymoon phase? Ooh! What’s this one do?” she asked, the tip of the arrow had an orange capsule on it.
“I’m not sure if people my age have honeymoon phases to their relationships, kiddo,” Ollie said, amused at Steph’s interest in him and Kate. He rummaged around for an arrow for himself, idly lifting his own bow to send a shaft into the target next to hers. “We, ah … well, it’s been an interesting progression for us, y’know? I mean, I found her attractive enough when we started working together, and all that, and it took a while of us doing press junkets and drawing up operating procedures and learning each others’ professional talents before we even slept together, but neither of us expected this. To fall in love and get so woven into each others’ lives, to the point where I can’t even contemplate not having her as my partner. I’ve been in love before, and in a very long-term relationship, but I’ve never felt as *intense* as this.”
Propping against his bow, Ollie frowned. “Huh. Y’know, I can’t remember talking about Kate like this with … anybody, really. How in the world did you manage to ootch it out of me, girlchik?” He tugged a lock of Stephanie’s bright blonde hair and peered at the webbing arrow she’d selected. “Try it and find out. You’ll be adjusting for the weight and shape of the arrowhead, so aim higher than you feel you should.” Ollie stood behind her to watch, and added, “And take it from me, Steph — perfection isn’t everything. Some of us imperfect beings kind of like it that way. God knows *I* prefer people who have flaws and peccadilloes — makes things more interesting!”
Listening to Ollie talk about Kate, how he took on a softer demeanor, speaking with a warmth Steph hadn’t heard from him before, she smiled at him, batting his hand away from her hair. “I dunno. Maybe it’s the baby face?” she joked, batting her eyes. “One love sick puppy to another? I’m really happy for you, Ollie. It is dauntingly difficult to find someone who makes you feel like that, even after as much time that’s gone by as is. If Kate makes you feel this dopey in love, why not seal the deal?” It was impulsive advice, but not something she regretted.
Pulling back the arrow in the more comfortable position, Steph did feel a definite difference in the weight and adjusted her angling to suit. In hindsight, she should have taken it as a warning that Ollie had stepped back behind her. The arrow his the target in the same off center fashion as before, but this time exploded into a bright orange, gooey web. Some splattered onto her cheek and she laughed in surprise. “It’s like a gooperang!”
“Very useful for slowing down low-grade punks and without doing too much damage. Except to their dignity, I suppose.” Ollie grinned, flicking the bit of neon orange webbing off Steph’s cheek before the dye set in. “Think you’re ready for one of the big guns?”
He gave her an arrow with a slightly larger green capsule on the end — the boxing glove had to be green when it popped out on impact, otherwise it just didn’t look right — and helped Steph aim the bow before stepping away. “Seal the deal like get married?” Ollie asked. “Well, that’s complicated when you have two partners, but I’ll tell you a secret: I *did* ask her to marry me. Unfortunately it was right before all this stuff with the Eden Corps and her going undercover came out, and that put us on shaky ground for a while.”
Ollie turned his foot on the side, scraping the side of his shoe against the ground thoughtfully. “We will, though,” he said slowly. “Kate and me. Get married. I honestly don’t think I could contemplate anything different at this point. I need to be her husband and she needs to be my wife.” He looked up at Steph, her clear forthright gaze. “I’ve never even thought about getting married before. It’s a helluva jump from that to feeling like I can’t go on without it.”
Shaking his head like a big dog, Ollie threw his hands out and refocused on the targets. “Anyhow! Try that arrow and tell me, how’s your own love life going? Jason Todd, the scuttlebutt says? You really like the sullen Batboy type, dontcha, sunshine?”
Steph bumped hips with Ollie playfully and tilted her head back to look him in the eye, smiling widely. “That’s why I say you should propose, though. You two just went through arguably the biggest fight of your relationship: trust issues. And you know what? You two worked at it and came out okay. You both completely lost your minds at the thought of losing each other. You two went through worst case scenario and said and did things you might regret in hindsight, but you know what That just cemented the bond, I think. You’ve been with each other through your best and worst and are still together,” she explained matter of factly. “I think the best way to show her that you forgive her and want to move on is to show her how you already feel and just propose already. We’re all waiting, hon. And quite frankly, it’s getting a little sad it’s taken this long,” she teased.
Angling the new, green colored arrow, the heaviest so far, she had to stiffen up considerably to keep her arm from shaking and shot for the target. A cartoony boxing glove popped out and Steph cracked up laughing until she started snorting when it almost punched the bulls-eye. “Oh my God! This actually exists?! Aaaaah, I thought it was just a running joke, but the Boxing Glove Arrow is real!” She turned towards him and slapped him a high-five. “You, my good sir, have just become my trolling hero.”
She did, however, end up bopping him lightly on the back of the head at his crack about her taste in men. “Hey, now! Don’t go making comparisons about my current and ex Bat boyfriends. That’s just 50 shades of creepy.” She shuddered, but some color did flood her cheeks, looking away a little shyly. “Jason and I are really good right now. He’s just … Fantastic. I mean, we’re both totally screwed up in different ways, but it doesn’t matter when we’re together, you know? We don’t have to hide our hero sides or our dorkier sides. We just get each other. Even if we don’t always agree, at the end of the day, I’d still choose Jason in a heartbeat. He gives me this feeling, like I want to tell him everything about myself and hear everything about him and have sexy and not sexy naps with him and for better or for worse, he just makes me really happy. I haven’t felt this giddy over a guy since Tim, to be honest. Is that totally corny? Fuck, I don’t care. Call me cornball!” she rambled, laughing.
Ollie mulled over Steph’s impassioned summation of his and Kate’s relationship as he took a long drink of water from his bottle. “It’s true,” he admitted. “I didn’t consider the other things we’ve weathered — all the work stuff, dealing with press and governments, both of us nearly being killed, other people being in the mix — all of that, somehow it didn’t seem like anything that would break us up. This last thing, the trust issues, that would’ve done it. But we managed to come through that, didn’t we? Although,” Ollie scoffed, “I seriously doubt other people in the League are that interested in the state of Kate’s and my relationship and whether or not we’re hitched yet. Not when there’s other pairings in this ‘burg with waaaaaay more Shakespearian drama than ours.”
Steph’s delight at the boxing glove arrow made Ollie chortle, gleefully returning her high-five. “My own invention!” he announced proudly. “Well, most of these trick arrows are my own invention, but not all of them have the longevity and, shall we say, notoriety of this heah boxin’ glove. I could never switch these babies out’ve my rotation, I love ‘em so much.”
He listened intently as she started talking about Jason, her stance changing from open and active to more soft, contemplative, blushy. ”It’s always easiest to date people who’re in the game, that’s for sure,” he nodded. “And finding somebody who can accept everything you’ve been through, all of the not-so-pretty things you’ve done and been — that’s rare and valuable indeed. Everything you’re talking about, the wanting to share everything with him, good and bad, sexy and not, not to mention the giddiness? That’s exactly how I feel about Kate. So we can be cornballs together, chickadee!”
“Hey, cute couples are cute couples are cute couples, hon. Trust me, we care. It’s a wonder you two aren’t already engaged on principal by now, really. Isn’t there a civil union thing, where if you live together at least seven years in some states that you’re legally married without ceremony?” Steph picked out a regular arrow and shot it at the target, still off on her aiming. As they talked, she kept picking them out and retrying, intent on getting this right.
“Hey, you keep these around no matter what and don’t let anyone tell you differently. These are the good kind of cheesy,” she reassured him. Steph laughed “We chose the right season to be corny, then,” she quipped, breaking out the Thanksgiving jokes unashamedly. “But seriously, though, General Quiver. You feel this way about the lady and I’ve never seen you light up like this before. You look like Dick whenever he’s around a redhead, Superman, or bowl of cereal. Tell her how you feel and put a ring on it already!” Steph released the arrow and it hit the bulls-eye dead on. She shrieked in triumph, “Aw, yeah! Stephzilla is bringing the swag!”
“Stephanie!! Kate and I have barely been together a year, we’re hardly in the time range to count as common law spouses.” Ollie watched as Steph managed to land a centre shot and whooped along with her, hoisting her up for a quick triumphant swing around before setting her back down again. “Shit yeah, that’s the stuff! This is what happens when a brilliant teacher meets a talented student, and no mistake. Shoot me a few more and we’ll call it a day — don’t wanna wear you out, it’s easy to get fatigued before you realize it’s happening. Here, try this one.” He selected an arrow with a fuzzy pink tip from his quiver, laughing at the look Steph gave it. “The first Arrowette had some very entertaining gimmick arrows,” he explained. “Along a more girly bent than mine.”
The powder puff arrow was a funny one, and Ollie figured Steph would get a kick from seeing it pop out of the capsule. “So what’re you doing right now for the 9-to-5 again? Waitressing? Man, I would never be able to do that. Too many assholes to deal with. I wouldn’t last a week before I lost it on somebody. You’ve got the right temperament, though! Snappy and friendly and take-no-shit. All you need is to chew gum while you’re taking orders, heh.”
Steph took the funny pink puff of an arrow and inspected it curiously. “Details, details,” she told Ollie with a dismissive wave. “I’m just saying that if you don’t nut up in five or so years, the law will do it for you. Dibs on bridesmaid, fyi.” She winked, letting the arrow fly. It hit a bit off center, but exploded into a poof of pink powder. “Something tells me Arrowette and I would have gotten along,” she snickered. Some of the cast off reached them and she feel into a sneezing fit.
“Oh, yeah! I am! I like it a lot.” Sneeze. “It’s hard on my feet, but I like working with people.” Sneeze. Sneeze. “I’ve gotten super passive-aggressive with this job though. Bats don’t take shit lightly! Like, I can’t not be nice to the customers, but I’ll totally screw with the rude ones sometimes. I shouldn’t be proud of that, but I am!” she laughed. “What was your first job? Working for your dad in his company?” Sneeze.
“Easy, easy,” Ollie laughed, rustling around in his jeans for a moment before coming up with a handkerchief and pressing it into Steph’s hand. “The powder in that thing’s probably a little, uh, aged now that I’m thinking about it. I would’ve warned you, but that woulda spoiled the surprise!” Ollie gave one huge a-choo! himself and shook his head. “Maybe I should’ve given you the lipstick arrow, or the nail file one, hey? Keep the hankie, I’ve got plenty.
“As for first jobs —” Ollie rubbed the back of his neck, screwing up half of his face in thought. “My old man was well dead and gone by the time I was working age, but yeah, I automatically got a position at Queen Industries. I didn’t know shit from shinola when it came to business, so they mostly let me run loose sweet-talking the people whose companies we were acquiring in takeovers. Of course, that was back when we made money from arms and munitions — the bad old days. Especially since I had all the business acumen of a fiddler crab.”
Ollie handed Steph another arrow and stood next to her, drawing his own bow. “Shoot that one with me,” he said. “Aim along the same trajectory as my shot.” Steph followed his instructions swiftly and well, and they watched as a bright blue streak of crackling electricity linked the two arrows in flight. “Very good for taking down uber-powered Solomon Grundies and the like, if you’ve got a fellow archer with you.”
Steph took the hankie and blew her nose. “Thanks. I’m always sneezy this time of year anyway. Ha! But please tell me you’ll invent those make-up arrows someday if they don’t already exist. Mia might take a stiletto arrow,” she joked, drawing back her arrow as instructed and watching the brilliant blue sparks fly. Steph watched the twin shots hit the target and smiled like a kid at 4th of July as they burned out, leaving a huge scorch mark. “I pity the maniacal monkey on the receiving end of these bad boys, fiddler.”
Yes. That was another new nickname for him now. No. Ollie did not get a choice in it. Her shoulder blades burning, she took off the quiver and bow and handed them back to Ollie. “Whelp, I’ve wasted enough of your time today, I think. I had a lot of fun, too!” Steph told him earnestly, smiling up at him. She wrapped her arms around his waist and gave him a big hug. “Thanks for teaching me, and sorry if it got frustrating. You rock the casbah, though. I owe you food or something sometime.”
The nicknames were coming fast and furious, but Ollie didn’t mind — hell, with his own predilection for showering people with pet names during the course of a conversation, it was fun to have it done back to him once in a while. And Steph’s were all affectionate, which was definitely a step up from “Green Jeans”.
“Not a waste of time at all, Stephanie,” Ollie said warmly, returning her enthusiastic embrace. “I wouldn’t say you’re a natural shot, but you’ve got general athletic skills enough to get really good if you want to keep it up. This wasn’t frustrating at all, I promise!” They headed out of the range, all their equipment packed up and Priya bounding over to wave goodbye, and before they parted ways Ollie added, “And you don’t owe me anything, but I am not one to turn down a meal with Stephanie Brown. That would be a wasted opportunity.”
Ollie waved goodbye to her, and wondered what Mia *would* think if he tricked her out in makeup arrows. Maybe she’d actually get a kick out of a stiletto arrow. Then again….