miss maggie (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
bossymarmalade) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
thejusticelounge2013-01-13 05:15 pm
bossymarmalade) wrote in thejusticelounge2013-01-13 05:15 pm
Entry tags:
new things in old places
It had been a long time since they’d been here. So long Ollie’d forgotten the name — not that it was an exciting name to remember, the New City Diner, so monickered back when Tesserville *had* been a new part of town — but the feel and the smell of it was the same. Walking in made him feel instantly years younger, restless, wanting. Plus it made him want a milkshake.
And it looked like Hal had managed to secure the back booth that they’d always sat in, too, where they could talk about “job” stuff without people overhearing them. How many times had they come here, back in the old days when Ollie was just starting to settle in with Dinah and Hal was working things out with Carol? Before the roadtrip, before Roy got addicted and left, and afterwards as well.
Awkward afterwards, though. Because there was too much unspoken between them, and what had always seemed welcome best friend intimacy in the back booth became more oppressive, heavy with longing. The memory of Hal’s haunted, angry eyes dissolved as Ollie slid into his seat, meeting the level, affectionate gaze that his partner lifted to him in the here-and-now. “Quick, kiss me before I run off with the waitress,” Ollie demanded, leaning over the table.
This place brought back memories. Smiling warmly, Hal made his way to the back of the diner. He swore one of the older ladies behind the counter did a double take at him and gaped, and he couldn’t help but wonder if maybe, just maybe…she remembered him.
Sliding into a seat, he smoothed a hand over the worn wood, tracing the grain in the table. Normally, he was pretty early to things. Today, though, he’d put it off. He was so anxious to see Ollie again that he didn’t want to make himself sit there any longer than need be.
So Ollie’s appearance was greeted with a warm smile. He half stood when Ollie leaned over, kissing him as deeply as he dared before settling into a seat.
“I missed you,” he said softly. “I’m sorry I had to run off so fast..”
“I missed you too,” Ollie said, taking one of Hal’s hands in his. The seclusion of the old booth was serving them in good stead again, to everything there is a season, and so forth. It felt unbelieveably good to have Hal in front of him, the familiar lines of his face, the weight and cold fingertips of his strong hand. Licking the taste of Hal from his lips, Ollie squeezed until Hal’s knuckles creaked against each other and said, “It’s okay. Comes with having an intergalactic military man as a lover, doesn’t it?”
He tipped his head and regarded Hal carefully, blinking. “Are you okay, honey?” he asked. “I know it was weird, me and Gardner switching bodies and everything — he said you suspected, which, yeah, that’s you all over — but it’s not like anything happened that was too intimate, y’know? He doesn’t know anything about you … about *us* … that he shouldn’t. I wish I could’ve told you, but that wasn’t how the damn curse worked.” Ollie slid his thumb down the back of Hal’s wrist, insistently. “I’m really sorry, Hal.”
Having Oliver there was comforting, and having him chattering a mile a minute at him was even more so. He was only slightly surprised to hear that there had been some kind of freaky friday thing going on, mostly because it explained a LOT.
“Is that what happened,” he muttered, giving Ollie’s hand a squeeze. “I’ve been out of he loop a few days. Still….that interview.” He shook his head. “I knew it wasn’t you, couldn’t be.” Rubbing his thumb over Ollie’s ring, he smiled and chuckled softly. “Gardner’s Queen act needs work. But….as long as it’s nothing now, nothing that’s going to cause problems I mean…” Gazing at Oliver, he felt the comfortable warmth of relaxation wrap around him, soothing him.
“I missed you.”
Ollie grinned, relaxing now. Hal didn’t seem het up at all about the whole body switch thing, and Ollie watched him trace his flat thumb over the contours of their ring, over and over. He sat forward more so he could alternate his knees with Hal’s under the table, wanting more contact than just their hands while they talked. “Remember the last time we came here?” he asked. “Something like, what — eight months after the roadtrip, and you were blazing your way through one-night stands and I was so intent on making it work with Dinah that she was getting sick of the sight of me.”
He looked up as the waitress came over, her eyes flicking to their linked hands before she whipped out her pad with a funny little smile. “Long time no see, hons,” she said. “What’ll it be?”
Milkshake ordered, Ollie looked back at Hal, amused. “I think she remembered us,” he said. “Guess we were kinda obvious to everybody but ourselves, back then.” Honestly, Ollie wasn’t sure why he’d brought up the last time they’d been here. It certainly wasn’t a romantic memory, or a fond one; Hal had been restless and alternating between unfocused and laser-pinpoint, and Ollie had been madly avoidant and resorting to cruel jabs and nonsense chatter. Better that than admitting how much he wanted this man, how much he was in love with him.
Thank heavens for age and change, and death making them throw hesitation to the wind.
“Not exactly our finest hour, was it?” Hal said, chuckling softly. He smiled at the waitress, vaguely remembering a vibrant 20 something chewing gum and giggling at them. Seemed like a lifetime ago…Squeezing Ollie’s hand, he looked back to him.
“I’m glad you had some time. Like I said, I need to talk to you about some things.” He shifted in his seat and leaned forward a little. The light played over his dark hair, lightening around the sides of his head. His bangs barely brushed his forehead now, the overall cut shorter but still becoming.
“I ran off and joined the air force again,” he said, his voice almost teasing. He wanted to keep things light…just in case.
“You … wait. Hang on. You *what*?”
The Air Force? Ollie knew Hal had been rattling around lately, and he was all for the idea of something to occupy Hal’s time — he’d been in a long recharge period, and Ollie knew he needed them every now and again — but Hal also needed something to keep him enlivened, keep the sap flowing. Still, being an enlisted man?
“Look, Highball — I know you have all kinds of warm fuzzy feelings for being Air Force, but d’you really think that’s still the place for you? I mean, don’t you get your just-following-orders militaristic jollies enough from flying around the known universe doing the bidding of the little blue raisins?”
By the end of his harangue, Ollie’s voice had risen enough to make one of the waitresses look over. He hadn’t meant to get worked up over this, but — goddammit.
The good natured expression on Hal’s face slowly melted. He knew he’d get this kind of reaction from Ollie. Licking his lips, he tapped his fingers on the table, shifting in his seat before reaching to take Oliver’s hand again.
“I miss flying,” he said simply. “When I flew Kyle up to Canada….it just hit me. I miss being in the air, being in a plane or a jet…Besides that, I’m tired of not making a dime. Couple of days a week flying test planes, that’s all.” He sat up a little straighter. “And you know I’m not enlisted..”
Damn, he didn’t want to fight over this, but it looked like Ollie was getting ready for one. Squeezing his hand, he rubbed his fingers over Oliver’s, trying to sooth him a bit.
“Are you back with Ferris? Carol gave you your old job back?” There was something about the idea of that particular configuration that made the whole thing seem less agitating, although Ollie snorted at himself. Coming round full circle, that was for sure. He’d unconsciously chosen the right place for this meeting, if this was gonna be the lay of the land from now on.
“I know I can’t keep you tied down to the ground entirely, Hal,” Olllie said finally. “Hell, I don’t even want to. There’s nothing brings you as much pleasure as flying one of your jets … well, *almost* nothing.” He smiled, bringing Hal’s hand up to bite briefly at one of his knuckles. “And it’s not like this isn’t something you’ve done before, you’re right. It’s not as out-of-the-blue as I might’ve made it seem. I’m — I’m glad for you. I think it’s what you need.”
Taking a breath, Ollie grinned in relief. “Wow, that actually didn’t feel too bad to say. I must be changing, old man.”
“Change can be good,” Hal said. He stifled a noise at the little nip, making a note to drag Ollie’s ass out of here later and make him make good on that. That was, if what Hal had to say next didn’t manage to piss him off.
“There is more,” he said. “And hear me out before you get too excited…I rented a place in Coast City.” He gave that a second to sink in, then went on. “Working for Ferris got me thinking about living there again, back in my hometown. It’s not going to be an all the time thing of course. Just…take a little of the vagrancy out of my life. When I’m not there, I’ll be with you. And you’re more than welcome there, of course. I found a place big enough for all the lanterns…”
He looked across at Oliver, studying him, waiting, hoping that the other man would understand what he meant. He wasn’t leaving the Arrow house, after all. Home was where the heart was, and Oliver certainly had a large portion of that.
“My god, Mister Jordan, you’ve been busy.” Ollie said, but his voice sounded hollow to himself. A *place* in Coast City? Now that really WAS out of the blue.
It wasn’t really as if Ollie begrudged Hal these things. Hell, he’d done some gentle inquiries himself, from time to time, test the waters and see if Hal was missing Coast City and flying as much as Ollie would’ve missed Star City and his life there. But Hal had always seemed mild and shruggy about the whole thing, never pursuing the topic, and Ollie’d left well enough alone. If Hal was happy in Star City with him, why keep pressuring?
Besides, it wasn’t as if the subject of Coast City wasn’t one that was fraught with all kinds of emotional weight. Maybe it had just taken Hal some time on terra firma to work out what he wanted to do, where-all he wanted to be.
“What made you think of doing that, after all this time?” he asked, tilting his head. “Going back to Coast City?”
“I realized I was homesick,” Hal said simply, smiling a little. “And….my city needs me. Not for crime or anything, but for moral. It’s rebuilding still, and the numbers climb every day. I want them to know I haven’t abandoned them. I mean…You remember what happened to Star City after you vanished for a while. People got downright depressed.”
Stroking his fingers over Ollie’s, he clasped his hand in both of his, thumbs rubbing in tandem to sooth his archer. He wasn’t asking permission, after all, just stating facts. That was the tricky thing about Hal, once he made up his mind, there was no swaying him. It was what made him a good lantern…but sort of a pain in the ass otherwise.
“I want to be there…and to be honest, I want to place to go to get away from Guy when I want to be with Kyle. Or you, or both, whatever. It’s neutral ground, and I plan on buying the biggest bed I can find..” He chuckled and shook his head. “the idea of waking up before dawn, watching the sunrise over the ocean, then waking your cranky ass up…i cant describe it, Ollie. I just know it’s something I want. I need to be in Coast City again.”
“Neutral ground, huh.” Ollie took a few contemplative sips of his milkshake. “I suppose it is, as much as any of our cities can be. And I can see why you’d want somewhere Gardner-free to be with Kyle. I mean, whenever I head down to LA to be at Kate’s place, it’s so we can have some time away from the family, bless ‘em.”
If he was being perfectly honest with himself, Ollie’d had a moment of wondering if the Coast City place was for Hal and Kyle. And Hal and Kyle to the exclusion of all else. But the way Hal had described it, the serene look of yearning on his face when he spoke about their imagined mornings together there … that wasn’t exclusion. That was Hal finding something that might soothe his wistful, searching heart, and Ollie could find nothing even in his greediest, most petty impulses to try and bring that crashing down.
“Okay,” Ollie said. “One more change. That’s fine. I can deal with that. I mean, I get the feeling I don’t have much of a choice in the matter — either of ‘em — but you know I wouldn’t give you ultimatums, Hal. You’re your own man, always have been. It’s part of why I adore you so much.” He paused, then sighed. In for a penny, in for a pound, right?
“And just to show I got no worries or resentments or hard feelings,” Ollie said in a measured tone, “if you want, I mean, if you care to — you can take me up flying. In one of your jets. If you like.”
Hal’s face lit up at those words, a smile spreading across his lips. Dear Ollie, precious Ollie, sweet loveable pain in the ass Oliver. Hal brought his hand up and kissed his knuckles, still smiling at him all the while.
“I would love to,” he said. “You won’t regret it, I promise. I’ll clear it with the base first thing tomorrow.” He stroked Ollie’s hand, relaxed and almost giddy now.
“I hope you like the place I found,” he said. “I plan to have spare rooms for the other lanterns, or whoever else comes by and needs a place to stay. All in all though…Like I said, I just want my city to know I’m home, and know I’m here to take care of her.” His smile warmed, hands clasping Oliver’s more tightly. “Thank you for understanding. You’re the best.”
“Shut up, yoooou are,” Ollie drawled back at Hal, but the flippancy of the response was belied entirely by the warmth and fondness in his eyes. It wasn’t as if Ollie’d abandoned his long-held opinion of fighter jets — the machinery of war, terrible for the environment, waste of money that could be better spent on social welfare — but maybe at this age, he was getting more adept at accepting them as being important to Hal, practically part of his psyche and sense of self. It was easier now than it’d been ten years ago to love Hal while still disagreeing with his politics.
Hell, liberals and conservatives fell in love with each other across this country every day and managed to make it work. Besides, it wasn’t as if the CEO of Queen Industries and favourite son of Star City was lacking the means and methods to support his own socio-political convictions. And it was kinda fun to think that he and Hal would be working at cross-purposes, in a way. Got Ollie’s blood up and charged.
“As soon as tomorrow, huh?” Ollie said, kicking the side of one of Hal’s feet lightly. “You sure don’t waste any time when it comes to taking a girl up to see your etchings, Captain Jordan.”
Hal chuckled and smiled a bit, shrugging at the other man. He couldn’t help that he was excited. After so many years of life running him ragged, things were getting better. Hell they were amazing right now. Ollie and Kyle both, having a place in Coast city…and now flying again. Really couldn’t get much better.
“Sorry,” he said, still smiling. “I’ve just been waiting so many years to take you up with me. I want to show you my world, what you’ve been missing all these years.” He smiled, then after a quick glance around the diner, leaned forward and kiss the blond man softly.
“You know I want to do everything with you,” he said. “I want you to be involved in every aspect of my life. Always.”
The earnest tone of Hal’s voice made Ollie’s heart thump, hard. He wasn’t exactly lacking in self-confidence, but who didn’t love hearing that kind of reassurance from the man they adored?
“Harold,” Ollie said firmly, “I will be. There’s no part of you I’m gonna leave unturned, not at this point and after all we’ve been through. My soulmate.” Hal was still leaning forward, elbows on the table, and Ollie reached out to stroke the white streaks over his ears. “Decided on keeping these, huh?” he asked, faintly amused. “You won’t hear any complaints from me. I think they’re hotter’n hell, baby.”
Laying his arms on the table alongside Hal’s so he could wrap his hands around and cup Hal’s elbows, Ollie pressed his fingers into the leather jacket, enjoying the familiar slip of it. “Besides. I *know* what I’ve been missing all these years, pretty fucking desperately. And I intend to never miss any part of you again, Hal Jordan.”
“You’re so impossibly sweet sometimes,” he said with a chuckle. “Doubt many people would ever even realize you had it in you.” He brushed his fingers over Ollie’s arms, chuckling a bit and tilting his head. The silver white hair caught the light just so, proving they still had the same rich luster his hair always had.
“I decided it was easier to keep them,” he said. “As long as I don’t end up with those awful huge patches again.” He shook his head. “I couldn’t live with that. Unbecoming and it brings back bad memories. But just a little looks…Dignified.”
He reached over and gave Ollie’s beard a light tug.
“You’re lucky. Yours blend in easier. I still like em, though.”
“Double lucky, then.” Ollie had half a mind to squish in on the other side of the booth next to Hal, like college sweethearts canoodling at a table, but he resisted the urge and instead savoured the lingering sensation of Hal’s fingers on his beard. He liked it as a rule when people played with his hair or his beard, but that general pleasure jumped to a whole new level when it was Hal or Kate who did it.
“Tell you what,” he said as their food arrived, “you keep this supposed sweetness of mine under wraps, and I’ll promise to love you even if your silvers do the full badger.” As if it would be a trial. “And yes, Hal, sweetie, you look very dignified. You look like somebody who could chair a PTA meeting or qualify for a boat loan.”
He tucked in with gusto. It couldn’t be clearer how happy Hal was feeling — they were alike in that way, never much bothered hiding their emotions even if they acted on them very differently — and it was catching. Seeing his loved ones happy was a bulletproof source of delight for Ollie; he loved Hal like this, and even the notion of being strapped into a jet plane on the morrow was starting to seem like something to look forward to.
This, and that, and all their tomorrows.
And it looked like Hal had managed to secure the back booth that they’d always sat in, too, where they could talk about “job” stuff without people overhearing them. How many times had they come here, back in the old days when Ollie was just starting to settle in with Dinah and Hal was working things out with Carol? Before the roadtrip, before Roy got addicted and left, and afterwards as well.
Awkward afterwards, though. Because there was too much unspoken between them, and what had always seemed welcome best friend intimacy in the back booth became more oppressive, heavy with longing. The memory of Hal’s haunted, angry eyes dissolved as Ollie slid into his seat, meeting the level, affectionate gaze that his partner lifted to him in the here-and-now. “Quick, kiss me before I run off with the waitress,” Ollie demanded, leaning over the table.
This place brought back memories. Smiling warmly, Hal made his way to the back of the diner. He swore one of the older ladies behind the counter did a double take at him and gaped, and he couldn’t help but wonder if maybe, just maybe…she remembered him.
Sliding into a seat, he smoothed a hand over the worn wood, tracing the grain in the table. Normally, he was pretty early to things. Today, though, he’d put it off. He was so anxious to see Ollie again that he didn’t want to make himself sit there any longer than need be.
So Ollie’s appearance was greeted with a warm smile. He half stood when Ollie leaned over, kissing him as deeply as he dared before settling into a seat.
“I missed you,” he said softly. “I’m sorry I had to run off so fast..”
“I missed you too,” Ollie said, taking one of Hal’s hands in his. The seclusion of the old booth was serving them in good stead again, to everything there is a season, and so forth. It felt unbelieveably good to have Hal in front of him, the familiar lines of his face, the weight and cold fingertips of his strong hand. Licking the taste of Hal from his lips, Ollie squeezed until Hal’s knuckles creaked against each other and said, “It’s okay. Comes with having an intergalactic military man as a lover, doesn’t it?”
He tipped his head and regarded Hal carefully, blinking. “Are you okay, honey?” he asked. “I know it was weird, me and Gardner switching bodies and everything — he said you suspected, which, yeah, that’s you all over — but it’s not like anything happened that was too intimate, y’know? He doesn’t know anything about you … about *us* … that he shouldn’t. I wish I could’ve told you, but that wasn’t how the damn curse worked.” Ollie slid his thumb down the back of Hal’s wrist, insistently. “I’m really sorry, Hal.”
Having Oliver there was comforting, and having him chattering a mile a minute at him was even more so. He was only slightly surprised to hear that there had been some kind of freaky friday thing going on, mostly because it explained a LOT.
“Is that what happened,” he muttered, giving Ollie’s hand a squeeze. “I’ve been out of he loop a few days. Still….that interview.” He shook his head. “I knew it wasn’t you, couldn’t be.” Rubbing his thumb over Ollie’s ring, he smiled and chuckled softly. “Gardner’s Queen act needs work. But….as long as it’s nothing now, nothing that’s going to cause problems I mean…” Gazing at Oliver, he felt the comfortable warmth of relaxation wrap around him, soothing him.
“I missed you.”
Ollie grinned, relaxing now. Hal didn’t seem het up at all about the whole body switch thing, and Ollie watched him trace his flat thumb over the contours of their ring, over and over. He sat forward more so he could alternate his knees with Hal’s under the table, wanting more contact than just their hands while they talked. “Remember the last time we came here?” he asked. “Something like, what — eight months after the roadtrip, and you were blazing your way through one-night stands and I was so intent on making it work with Dinah that she was getting sick of the sight of me.”
He looked up as the waitress came over, her eyes flicking to their linked hands before she whipped out her pad with a funny little smile. “Long time no see, hons,” she said. “What’ll it be?”
Milkshake ordered, Ollie looked back at Hal, amused. “I think she remembered us,” he said. “Guess we were kinda obvious to everybody but ourselves, back then.” Honestly, Ollie wasn’t sure why he’d brought up the last time they’d been here. It certainly wasn’t a romantic memory, or a fond one; Hal had been restless and alternating between unfocused and laser-pinpoint, and Ollie had been madly avoidant and resorting to cruel jabs and nonsense chatter. Better that than admitting how much he wanted this man, how much he was in love with him.
Thank heavens for age and change, and death making them throw hesitation to the wind.
“Not exactly our finest hour, was it?” Hal said, chuckling softly. He smiled at the waitress, vaguely remembering a vibrant 20 something chewing gum and giggling at them. Seemed like a lifetime ago…Squeezing Ollie’s hand, he looked back to him.
“I’m glad you had some time. Like I said, I need to talk to you about some things.” He shifted in his seat and leaned forward a little. The light played over his dark hair, lightening around the sides of his head. His bangs barely brushed his forehead now, the overall cut shorter but still becoming.
“I ran off and joined the air force again,” he said, his voice almost teasing. He wanted to keep things light…just in case.
“You … wait. Hang on. You *what*?”
The Air Force? Ollie knew Hal had been rattling around lately, and he was all for the idea of something to occupy Hal’s time — he’d been in a long recharge period, and Ollie knew he needed them every now and again — but Hal also needed something to keep him enlivened, keep the sap flowing. Still, being an enlisted man?
“Look, Highball — I know you have all kinds of warm fuzzy feelings for being Air Force, but d’you really think that’s still the place for you? I mean, don’t you get your just-following-orders militaristic jollies enough from flying around the known universe doing the bidding of the little blue raisins?”
By the end of his harangue, Ollie’s voice had risen enough to make one of the waitresses look over. He hadn’t meant to get worked up over this, but — goddammit.
The good natured expression on Hal’s face slowly melted. He knew he’d get this kind of reaction from Ollie. Licking his lips, he tapped his fingers on the table, shifting in his seat before reaching to take Oliver’s hand again.
“I miss flying,” he said simply. “When I flew Kyle up to Canada….it just hit me. I miss being in the air, being in a plane or a jet…Besides that, I’m tired of not making a dime. Couple of days a week flying test planes, that’s all.” He sat up a little straighter. “And you know I’m not enlisted..”
Damn, he didn’t want to fight over this, but it looked like Ollie was getting ready for one. Squeezing his hand, he rubbed his fingers over Oliver’s, trying to sooth him a bit.
“Are you back with Ferris? Carol gave you your old job back?” There was something about the idea of that particular configuration that made the whole thing seem less agitating, although Ollie snorted at himself. Coming round full circle, that was for sure. He’d unconsciously chosen the right place for this meeting, if this was gonna be the lay of the land from now on.
“I know I can’t keep you tied down to the ground entirely, Hal,” Olllie said finally. “Hell, I don’t even want to. There’s nothing brings you as much pleasure as flying one of your jets … well, *almost* nothing.” He smiled, bringing Hal’s hand up to bite briefly at one of his knuckles. “And it’s not like this isn’t something you’ve done before, you’re right. It’s not as out-of-the-blue as I might’ve made it seem. I’m — I’m glad for you. I think it’s what you need.”
Taking a breath, Ollie grinned in relief. “Wow, that actually didn’t feel too bad to say. I must be changing, old man.”
“Change can be good,” Hal said. He stifled a noise at the little nip, making a note to drag Ollie’s ass out of here later and make him make good on that. That was, if what Hal had to say next didn’t manage to piss him off.
“There is more,” he said. “And hear me out before you get too excited…I rented a place in Coast City.” He gave that a second to sink in, then went on. “Working for Ferris got me thinking about living there again, back in my hometown. It’s not going to be an all the time thing of course. Just…take a little of the vagrancy out of my life. When I’m not there, I’ll be with you. And you’re more than welcome there, of course. I found a place big enough for all the lanterns…”
He looked across at Oliver, studying him, waiting, hoping that the other man would understand what he meant. He wasn’t leaving the Arrow house, after all. Home was where the heart was, and Oliver certainly had a large portion of that.
“My god, Mister Jordan, you’ve been busy.” Ollie said, but his voice sounded hollow to himself. A *place* in Coast City? Now that really WAS out of the blue.
It wasn’t really as if Ollie begrudged Hal these things. Hell, he’d done some gentle inquiries himself, from time to time, test the waters and see if Hal was missing Coast City and flying as much as Ollie would’ve missed Star City and his life there. But Hal had always seemed mild and shruggy about the whole thing, never pursuing the topic, and Ollie’d left well enough alone. If Hal was happy in Star City with him, why keep pressuring?
Besides, it wasn’t as if the subject of Coast City wasn’t one that was fraught with all kinds of emotional weight. Maybe it had just taken Hal some time on terra firma to work out what he wanted to do, where-all he wanted to be.
“What made you think of doing that, after all this time?” he asked, tilting his head. “Going back to Coast City?”
“I realized I was homesick,” Hal said simply, smiling a little. “And….my city needs me. Not for crime or anything, but for moral. It’s rebuilding still, and the numbers climb every day. I want them to know I haven’t abandoned them. I mean…You remember what happened to Star City after you vanished for a while. People got downright depressed.”
Stroking his fingers over Ollie’s, he clasped his hand in both of his, thumbs rubbing in tandem to sooth his archer. He wasn’t asking permission, after all, just stating facts. That was the tricky thing about Hal, once he made up his mind, there was no swaying him. It was what made him a good lantern…but sort of a pain in the ass otherwise.
“I want to be there…and to be honest, I want to place to go to get away from Guy when I want to be with Kyle. Or you, or both, whatever. It’s neutral ground, and I plan on buying the biggest bed I can find..” He chuckled and shook his head. “the idea of waking up before dawn, watching the sunrise over the ocean, then waking your cranky ass up…i cant describe it, Ollie. I just know it’s something I want. I need to be in Coast City again.”
“Neutral ground, huh.” Ollie took a few contemplative sips of his milkshake. “I suppose it is, as much as any of our cities can be. And I can see why you’d want somewhere Gardner-free to be with Kyle. I mean, whenever I head down to LA to be at Kate’s place, it’s so we can have some time away from the family, bless ‘em.”
If he was being perfectly honest with himself, Ollie’d had a moment of wondering if the Coast City place was for Hal and Kyle. And Hal and Kyle to the exclusion of all else. But the way Hal had described it, the serene look of yearning on his face when he spoke about their imagined mornings together there … that wasn’t exclusion. That was Hal finding something that might soothe his wistful, searching heart, and Ollie could find nothing even in his greediest, most petty impulses to try and bring that crashing down.
“Okay,” Ollie said. “One more change. That’s fine. I can deal with that. I mean, I get the feeling I don’t have much of a choice in the matter — either of ‘em — but you know I wouldn’t give you ultimatums, Hal. You’re your own man, always have been. It’s part of why I adore you so much.” He paused, then sighed. In for a penny, in for a pound, right?
“And just to show I got no worries or resentments or hard feelings,” Ollie said in a measured tone, “if you want, I mean, if you care to — you can take me up flying. In one of your jets. If you like.”
Hal’s face lit up at those words, a smile spreading across his lips. Dear Ollie, precious Ollie, sweet loveable pain in the ass Oliver. Hal brought his hand up and kissed his knuckles, still smiling at him all the while.
“I would love to,” he said. “You won’t regret it, I promise. I’ll clear it with the base first thing tomorrow.” He stroked Ollie’s hand, relaxed and almost giddy now.
“I hope you like the place I found,” he said. “I plan to have spare rooms for the other lanterns, or whoever else comes by and needs a place to stay. All in all though…Like I said, I just want my city to know I’m home, and know I’m here to take care of her.” His smile warmed, hands clasping Oliver’s more tightly. “Thank you for understanding. You’re the best.”
“Shut up, yoooou are,” Ollie drawled back at Hal, but the flippancy of the response was belied entirely by the warmth and fondness in his eyes. It wasn’t as if Ollie’d abandoned his long-held opinion of fighter jets — the machinery of war, terrible for the environment, waste of money that could be better spent on social welfare — but maybe at this age, he was getting more adept at accepting them as being important to Hal, practically part of his psyche and sense of self. It was easier now than it’d been ten years ago to love Hal while still disagreeing with his politics.
Hell, liberals and conservatives fell in love with each other across this country every day and managed to make it work. Besides, it wasn’t as if the CEO of Queen Industries and favourite son of Star City was lacking the means and methods to support his own socio-political convictions. And it was kinda fun to think that he and Hal would be working at cross-purposes, in a way. Got Ollie’s blood up and charged.
“As soon as tomorrow, huh?” Ollie said, kicking the side of one of Hal’s feet lightly. “You sure don’t waste any time when it comes to taking a girl up to see your etchings, Captain Jordan.”
Hal chuckled and smiled a bit, shrugging at the other man. He couldn’t help that he was excited. After so many years of life running him ragged, things were getting better. Hell they were amazing right now. Ollie and Kyle both, having a place in Coast city…and now flying again. Really couldn’t get much better.
“Sorry,” he said, still smiling. “I’ve just been waiting so many years to take you up with me. I want to show you my world, what you’ve been missing all these years.” He smiled, then after a quick glance around the diner, leaned forward and kiss the blond man softly.
“You know I want to do everything with you,” he said. “I want you to be involved in every aspect of my life. Always.”
The earnest tone of Hal’s voice made Ollie’s heart thump, hard. He wasn’t exactly lacking in self-confidence, but who didn’t love hearing that kind of reassurance from the man they adored?
“Harold,” Ollie said firmly, “I will be. There’s no part of you I’m gonna leave unturned, not at this point and after all we’ve been through. My soulmate.” Hal was still leaning forward, elbows on the table, and Ollie reached out to stroke the white streaks over his ears. “Decided on keeping these, huh?” he asked, faintly amused. “You won’t hear any complaints from me. I think they’re hotter’n hell, baby.”
Laying his arms on the table alongside Hal’s so he could wrap his hands around and cup Hal’s elbows, Ollie pressed his fingers into the leather jacket, enjoying the familiar slip of it. “Besides. I *know* what I’ve been missing all these years, pretty fucking desperately. And I intend to never miss any part of you again, Hal Jordan.”
“You’re so impossibly sweet sometimes,” he said with a chuckle. “Doubt many people would ever even realize you had it in you.” He brushed his fingers over Ollie’s arms, chuckling a bit and tilting his head. The silver white hair caught the light just so, proving they still had the same rich luster his hair always had.
“I decided it was easier to keep them,” he said. “As long as I don’t end up with those awful huge patches again.” He shook his head. “I couldn’t live with that. Unbecoming and it brings back bad memories. But just a little looks…Dignified.”
He reached over and gave Ollie’s beard a light tug.
“You’re lucky. Yours blend in easier. I still like em, though.”
“Double lucky, then.” Ollie had half a mind to squish in on the other side of the booth next to Hal, like college sweethearts canoodling at a table, but he resisted the urge and instead savoured the lingering sensation of Hal’s fingers on his beard. He liked it as a rule when people played with his hair or his beard, but that general pleasure jumped to a whole new level when it was Hal or Kate who did it.
“Tell you what,” he said as their food arrived, “you keep this supposed sweetness of mine under wraps, and I’ll promise to love you even if your silvers do the full badger.” As if it would be a trial. “And yes, Hal, sweetie, you look very dignified. You look like somebody who could chair a PTA meeting or qualify for a boat loan.”
He tucked in with gusto. It couldn’t be clearer how happy Hal was feeling — they were alike in that way, never much bothered hiding their emotions even if they acted on them very differently — and it was catching. Seeing his loved ones happy was a bulletproof source of delight for Ollie; he loved Hal like this, and even the notion of being strapped into a jet plane on the morrow was starting to seem like something to look forward to.
This, and that, and all their tomorrows.