i can see the end as it begins

       Jason crouched over the shoebox, leaning forward onto his haunches as he rifled through the memories that laid within the box. Years of secrets, hidden, locked away in the dark under his bed. They were safe there, away from prying eyes and quizzical inquiries. Resting within his box were the reminiscence of times he rarely cared to recall. Keeping them locked away to haunt him only when he peered within. Most of what laid within the battered walls were tokens, trinkets of missions from his days as Robin, or as an Outlaw, but there was one item among the rest that he searched for. At first glance it was innocent. Nothing more than a young Jax in a cowboy hat - that of course, was until it was completely revealed as he removed it from the box. Replacing the lid, he pushed the shoebox back into its hiding spot, taking another glance at the photo. A smile revealed itself from under his sharp exterior. A blink and it was gone. Standing back up, he walked into the living room, approaching his reason for going down memory lane. “Because you asked so nicely.”  Despite the sarcasm that laced Jason’s voice, a smirk pulled at the corner of his lips as he handed the photograph to its original owner. “Don’t forget you promised to return that.” 

Closed Starter for @disastri​ | Silas & Nellie

     “How’s she holding up?” Silas asked, arms crossed over his chest from where he leaned his shoulder against a nearby post. He always grew restless whenever he was away from Bounty for two long; the companion an extension of his very self at this point. Nellie was the only person in Silver Creek that Silas trusted to look after her, however, and she happened to be the only reason that he hadn’t called in sooner. All of this business about Morgan Harrington eyeing up their town had most of it’s homesteaders keeping Silas busy with no end of work; if something were to go down, they all wanted to be ready and he couldn’t blame them. He too, would fight if it was necessary. “I brought you something” the corner of his lips turned up into a lopsided grin, a tanned hand raised as he presented a brown paper bag that Silas didn’t hesitate to hand over to his oldest friend. “For your trouble” Not that he thought Nellie minded having Bandit’s twin around to keep him company, of course, but more so because he knew that Bounty could be a handful at best. Still, he wouldn’t trade her for the world. “The best moonshine in town”

𝐍𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐞 - 𝐒𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐬

       “She’s holding up.” Nellie’s response was simple and to the point as she most often was, finding that speaking anything but the truth ended with most people in hot water if they were lucky, and a noose around their neck if they weren’t. Bounty had been in rough shape when Silas finally brought her to the ranch: a ripped off horseshoe, leaving a chipped hoof and a fair case of the common cold. Luckily with a little bit of help and time to relax his beloved horse was in better shape than before. She still had a week or so to go before she was in the clear, though. “I don’t know what you did to that horse,” she gestured to the brindle coated Missouri Fox Trotter that grazed on sweet grass in the pen behind her, “but she needs some more time before she’s right as rain again.” His smile was enough to reflect one onto her lips, eyes flickering to the bag in his hand. “You know you didn’t have to bring me anything. I would have done it for free. But since you did.” She pulled the bag open, reaching inside it for the clear bottle. “Do you have time to stay or was this just a drop by?”

Jade beamed at Florence’s response, glad as always to bring a little happiness to someone’s day. She grabbed her own cup and took a sip, sighing contentedly. Her eyes widened a little as Florence went on, the coffee cup still raised in front of her mouth. “Nothing,” she said, finally lowering the cup and blinking at Florence in confusion. “They smelled good when I walked in. I almost got more but then I thought…” She trailed off. “Something. I forget now.” She frowned in mild concern. “Do you think I forgot something else, and that’s why subconsciously I decided it was a muffin day?”

𝐅𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 - 𝐉𝐚𝐝𝐞

        An endearing smile pulled across Florence’s lips as she watched Jade’s thoughts careen from one to the other, almost visible to her outwardly. Setting the flimsy travel mug down on the front counter, she reached for the brown paper bag, pulling out the blueberry one calling her name. “I don’t know.” She shrugged, big eyes focused on peeling the paper from the bottom of her baked good. “Do you think you forgot something else, and that’s why you subconsciously decided it was a muffin day?” She reflected the question, not accusatory but inquiring. 

She could hear the girls talking about her. Wynn stiffened pretending like the words didn’t bother her. It wasn’t anything new really she knew what most people thought about her, the nice girl persona was a facade. Boyfriend stealer, promiscuous, nothing between her ears. They snickered and Wynn tugged her arms tighter around herself. They didn’t know her. Typical hunters of Artemis bullshit. Wynn bit the bottom of her lip turning to the person who had walked up beside her. “Chocolate?” she offered from the pink box she held in her hand, the silk ribbon dangling front her fingertips. 

𝐖𝐨𝐥𝐟 - 𝐖𝐲𝐧𝐧

        “Not unless its dark.” Wolf raised his hand against the offered box, his nose scrunched in disgust at the idea of milk chocolate. It was just too sweet for his acquired palate. “You know you don’t have to listen to them.” His eyes flickered to the Hunters hovering near one of the giant oaks that littered the camp, snickering and whispering amongst themselves. “It’s all the pent of tension from being virgins that makes them so mean.” It wasn’t true of all the Hunters, but a few of them had sticks so far up their asses he was pretty sure there was no way to pull them back out. 

An angry little huff left her lips. “Neither one of us are really talking about our feelings people, are we?” she pointed out. “We’re good at a lot of things, namely things that would give more people an aneurysm to think about, but not that.” As Valeria went on, Ginny’s lower lip trembled. “Not to me!” Ginny burst out, her arms flying up emphatically before winding tightly around herself, as if by mere pressure she could keep any further confessions inside. “He’s not so much more to me, you know why? Because I was still just a kid when he died. He left me and my sister before we were old enough to realize that our dad was a person, not just a hero. Most kids get that bubble popped sooner or later, and most of the time, it’s fine. It’s…it’s…” She let one hand fly up to gesture vaguely before settling back down again. “It’s a rite of passage or whatever, right? How am I supposed to learn that stuff about him when he’s dead? He left me here.” Her voice rose despite her best efforts, and she noticed the crowd that had gathered around them staring. “Hey, unless you all want me to use your solar plexus for target practice, you can move along,” she said. “Bunch of fucking ghouls.” She looked back at Valeria, her lip trembling again just for a moment. “You really think I’m a good person?” she said. “After what I did?”

𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚 - 𝐆𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐲 

       The truth of Ginny’s words shouldn’t have felt like the freight train that hit her. Valeria had always focused on logic to guide her in life and that was how she navigated the world, finding comfort in understanding the world that way. It was with the introduction to her ex that everything changed, the world flipped on its axis. “I don’t think things are so black and white.” Valeria had known from a young age that world was more complicated than good and bad. Her uncle had always been labelled as bad, but to her he was more than that. He had to be more than that otherwise she wouldn’t have been standing there, instead just a memory, a dead fetus lost to time and space. Things were never simple, but it was the duality of the world that allowed her to be and she clung to that idea like a child to their mother’s leg, desperate. “I don’t know what you are.” She admitted, letting a flash of pain cross her face, the remanence of grief that had its own life within her. 

     Alina did not miss the way that he tensed as she forced some distance between them. Gone were the days when she had been blind to the longing looks and the feelings that he had reciprocated all along. No, she saw all of Mal now; heart and soul. Her fingers itched to reach out. To take hold of him once more and never let him go but Alina didn’t get the luxury of wanting. Hadn’t ever had it, truthfully. But especially not now when the Apparat was so determined to try and control her. “You can’t know that” Alina whispered and yet, just like that, he had her believing him. Hanging off of every word. Mal had always spoken with such unwavering confidence and determination that it was hard to believe that he could ever be wrong and besides; he had never failed her. Not even when she had come far too close for comfort to giving up on the idea of ever seeing Malyen again. He would have searched every corner of the Earth for her - he still would - and Alina would never stop feeling grateful that in all of this, at the very least there was the comfort that they were together. “What were you thinking?”

𝐌𝐚𝐥 - 𝐀𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐚

         Maybe Alina’s words were true; that there was no way he could know they would find a way out from under the Apparat’s forceful palm, but every bone in his body, every fiber of his being hummed with faith. They had simply been through too much for it to end in the depths of the earth surrounded by false hope and inaction, cowering while they waited for the Darkling to bury them under miles of stone and soil. Under the mask of calm that covered Mal’s features, he strategically kept Alina at arms length, his thoughts twisted and ground together as gears trying to distinguish between the parts he could tell her and the ones he knew he couldn’t for her own sake. The uncertainty of lying to Alina was like a knotted rope around his neck, uncomfortable in all the ways that threatened to snatch the things he considered most precious away from him. “Do you think if you had actual light it might come back?” He words were a mere whisper, an attempt to keep them from echoing off the walls. The suggestion was enough for the rest of their group to ring his neck, rightfully so, as they had all agreed not to mention any part of the plan in progress to Alina. What was he supposed to do, though? When she looked at him with such hope?

“You’d be surprised.” she told him. She needed him. He was a great Hero and some day he’d be head of the justice league or something and she’d be so proud of him but not by his side.  It was weird to think about the future now that they weren’t together and it hurt even more to think of him with someone else. She would be married, to someone else. Finn was a good man, he was there for her and she loved him but not like she loved Jon. No one could ever come close to being Jon or replacing the love she had for him - he’d always have a piece of her heart whether he knew it or not. “In Gotham?” the words left her lips before she had a chance to even digest the words. He was staying here. “that’s great - they need all the help they can get there. How long are you staying for? I’m in town for a diplomatic meeting. My father’s meeting with Bruce Wayne now actually.”

𝐉𝐨𝐧 - 𝐃𝐨𝐫𝐲

        His head moved in a timid nod to confirm the answer to her question. “Indefinitely.” With Kara watching over and protecting Metropolis, his constant presence was no longer needed. Settling down in the neighboring state seemed as good a plan as any with the possibility to provide back up if anything were to occur at home. At the mention of Bruce Wayne, Jon’s thought flicked momentarily to Damian. If he was unable to connect with Dory, at least there was the possibility of reconnecting with his childhood best friend. Despite the lingering darkness, there was light at the end of the tunnel shinning through, another reminder that hope was not so easy quashed. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize I was keeping you from anything.” Guilt crept in overshadowing the grief that had gripped him. It was selfish to keep her there with him, no matter how much he wished she wanted to stay. 

Because they didn’t need me. Her heart shattered and she bit the bottom of her lip to keep it from trembling. She needed him and it was selfish. Black Manta had come back full force and he had been off world - so far away, she couldn’t even contact him. She felt selfish for needing him, for wanting him around especially when her world was dark. But it wasn’t fair for her to keep him to herself to keep him from his calling in life so she had accepted it when they parted ways. “Everyone needs you - you’re Jon Kent.” she said her voice soft. Even now she wanted to cling to him, the ring on her finger burning the soft flesh that lay delicately under it. She swallowed that feeling down. Dory nodded along with his words. She wanted it to be her he needed. “And what will you do now?” Was he staying? was he taking off again? She wasn’t sure her heart could handle either answer. 

𝐉𝐨𝐧 - 𝐃𝐨𝐫𝐲

        “People need Superman, not Jon Kent.” He replied matter-of-factly. There were far less people in the world that needed him as who he was rather than the symbol he represented. It had taken time and experience to finally learn the lesson his father had tried teaching him growing up as Superboy and it wasn’t until Dory had begun slipping through his fingers that he realized the difference; the importance of the people who actually knew Jon as he truly was. His eyes drifted back to the ring that encircled her finger. Marriage had always felt like a distant obstacle, a foreseeable problem that he had never allowed himself to linger on because he had hope that they could figure out a plan to work around it. Jon had always been filled to the brim with hope. Always, until now. He was shrouded in hopelessness, weighed down by the blanket that covered him in darkness. Wasn’t it supposed to be them? “I just signed the lease to an apartment here in Gotham. I’m planning on staying for a while.” 

     Alina positively melted into his touch, the action as vital to her survival as breathing in that moment. Mal had always radiated such warmth, even in some of the most bitter winters that they had experienced over the years, and with no way to ascertain when the next opportunity for a stolen moment such as this one would come around, Alina found herself anxious to remember the way that it felt to believe that no matter how dark things became, there was still something worth fighting for - somebody - worth fighting for. “Mal…” She knew that she should warn him to leave before they were caught, the thought of what the Apparat might do to Mal spilling a nauseated feeling into the pit of her stomach. But Alina also knew that her best friend was stubborn at best, especially when it came to protecting her. “We have to find a way out of here” she loosened a sigh, lifting her hand before she pressed it on top of his, resting there for a moment before she withdrew, needing space between them in order for her to focus. 

𝐌𝐚𝐥 - 𝐀𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐚

        Mal’s heart leapt in his chest, performing a clumsy version of acrobatics that should have been refined after so many years of beating the same way around her, yet somehow it thrummed just as a rabbit did desperate to escape a snare. There was nothing more that he wanted than to live in that moment with her, forever frozen in time where they could just be two orphans who had each other and that was enough. The time for that had come and gone, though. Instead they were bound, hands tied behind their backs by duty: Alina’s to the people of Ravka and Mal’s to Alina. Instead of her lover, he was meant to be her sword and that was good enough for him because she was destined for more than he could provide her. To be her sword was an honor and he would let her wield him in any way she needed. Alina spoke his name and Mal’s body shuttered as her voice carried it, drawing him from his thoughts and back into the dark, shadowy reality they lived in. His lips formed a grim line as she pulled away from him, trying to shutter the pang of jealousy that ran through him. His hand felt cold without her touch to warm it as it laid to rest at his side. “We will.” Truth be told, they had been working on it without Alina’s knowledge. “We’ll think of something, we just have to be careful about it.” 

Dory watched his expression change and embarrassment covered her cheeks in a soft red hue. She stopped fiddling with her left hand placing her hands behind her back, ashamed. When they had broken things off her engagement had gone through full force and there was nothing she could do about it - she’d surrendered to her fate, without Jon she had just accepted what was inevitable. “Why?” she prodded on. Ultimately his off world heroics had led to their downfall as well as the pressures Dory faced at home, she hated the feeling in her chest that bubbled up whenever he left, hated that selfish feeling of wanting him home when he was off being a hero. “I thought you were staying with them joining their team officially - what changed?” 

𝐉𝐨𝐧 - 𝐃𝐨𝐫𝐲

        The tendrils of hope that had grasped his heart quickly retreated against the reality that rose in opposition. The seams of a reality he once knew unraveled leaving only frayed edges of a damage tapestry. Grief waited to crowd in on him, hiding in the shadowy pools of his eyes impatiently shifting until it could corner him and take hold. “Because they didn’t need me.” Not like you did. It was left unspoken, lost to the void of his dispirited heart. “I wanted something else more.” The words tasted like iron on his tongue. Maybe it was pointless to explain, to tell her that he had done it so that he could be with her, that he had finally seen the error of his ways. A classic I didn’t know what I had until it was gone. “I introduced them to the Lanterns.” It was too little, too late. 

“I did!” A bright smile crossed Jade’s face as she held up the travel container holding two coffees. She frowned, trying to remember. Thoughts occurred to her like dragonflies darting over the water, bright and attention-grabbing, but rarely lingering for long. “I don’t know,” she admitted, after a moment trying to recall. “Maybe I thought it would upset the flowers.” She set the coffee down on the counter, pulling a cup free and handing it to Florence. “Here!” she said, brightening again. “And I got muffins.” She held up the bag, clearly proud of herself.

𝐅𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 - 𝐉𝐚𝐝𝐞

        Florence’s eyes lit up as they landed on the travel container gripping two cups snuggly. “You’re a life saver.” The blonde reached out to retrieve her coffee from Jade, taking a deep sip of the warm liquid. It had been exactly what she needed, letting the rim of the cup go with a satisfied sigh. “Muffins too?” Florence’s eyes narrowed suspiciously as she eyes the bag. “What makes today a muffin day?”

His smile was contagious, it always had been. Dory smiled back but looked at her feet her fingers twisting the new ring on her left hand ring finger back and forth. There was a time when she thought Jon would be her forever - that nothing could stand in their way, that they’d defy all odds. It hurt to think about that now. “Tell her I say hello as well, I have missed her. I hope Metropolis is also doing well, must have been nice to go back home even if it wasn’t smallville home.” she told him. “Have you been back with the Legion?” she asked curiously. 

𝐉𝐨𝐧 - 𝐃𝐨𝐫𝐲

        Jon’s eyes gravitated towards the movement in his peripheral vision, gaze landing upon the ring as Dory rotated it around her ring finger. The ring itself didn’t catch his attention as much as the placement of it. The sight of it twisted his stomach into unbearable knots, setting his nerves into overdrive. The world around him grew louder and the ground seemed to crumble beneath his weight. The words he had planned next died on his tongue. Metropolis, Smallville, the Legion all felt so far away as fear buried its talons into his heart. Blinking, his eyes moved back to meet the glittering sapphire of Dory’s. “No.” He choked on the word, struggling to release it. “I told them I couldn’t be part of their group anymore.” Jon admitted, a surge of guilt running his blood cold. 

     Alina only laughed softly at his half-hearted reply, unphased given that she had suspected the threat of a brawl between Oncat and Tolya hadn’t been the entire reason behind Mal’s approach. She could have sworn that she felt it before she watched it happen right before her eyes; the way that his face dropped, leaving that boyish smirk behind for a far more stoic expression. “I know” she uttered with a gentle nod, frowning deeply. Alina couldn’t look at him as she began to shake her head, the weight of all of that faith, all of those impatient and anxious expectations a crushing weight on her chest. And she had tried. Over and over until she’d given herself headaches, she had tried to summon even the smallest ball of light, a glimmer of hope in the grim overcast that taunted her and kept her awake at night. “I know they need something from me” Anything. But Alina wasn’t sure that she had anything more to give beyond words that felt like empty promises. She didn’t know if she would be able to summon her powers again, and pretending as though that thought didn’t terrify her was exhausting. If the others had noticed how weary she was growing, they had been careful enough not to comment on it. “I’m trying” It wasn’t enough. Saints knew that she didn’t have the luxury of time to figure this out, but no matter how hard she focused her energy into it, nothing seemed to help. 

𝐌𝐚𝐥 - 𝐀𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐚

        The restlessness was a side effect of the tight grip the Apparat possessed, controlling the pilgrims, and now what was left of the second army and the Sun Summoner’s personal guard, with fear and strict rules. It was the crypt of a man that had kept Mal from Alina at every chance he could for the time they had been below ground. Even now, if he was found in her presence it could result in catastrophic restrictions, fasting, a lockdown even. To Mal, the risk was worth the reward. It see her was enough, but this, to be in her company was worthwhile. His only hope was that if they were found it didn’t fall on anyone else, but that was a bridge to cross another time. Only when Alina’s frown reached her eyes did his hand reach up to catch her cheek in his palm, a calloused thumb running gently over her soft skin. “They don’t need anything from you. If they wanted to leave they would.” The truth of it was that they wanted something from her, hoped for something from her. These people held more hope in their hearts than Mal had ever seen. They radiated it just as Alina had once done with light, still did if you know how or where to look He drew closer to her, whispering, “I know.” As much as he wished he could do something to fix this for her, the only thing that Mal could do was be there to support her the way he always did and hope that his faith in her was enough for her to gain it back in herself. 

     Alina untucked her knees from her chest, rising to face him as he stopped in front of her, the same over-confident smirk that she’d seen on his face a thousand times over bringing a nostalgic smile to her own. Memories of a simpler life that felt lifetimes behind her now. Her entire life had changed in the blink of an eye with the exception of Mal, who may not have been a Grisha but could set her heart ablaze regardless, hammering relentlessly in her chest with a simple look. Sometimes she suspected that he knew it, too. “Oh, well now we can’t have that” she teased, soft smirk mirroring his own as she gazed up at him through her lashes. If Alina was the sun, then Mal had always been the moon and all of it’s stars, guiding her back home. Her true North. “Had Tolya had his portion before this civil uprising started to make head?” she asked, brows twitching together momentarily in her curiosity. Alina didn’t envy anybody that went up against the mercenary as it was, but certainly not when the heartrender found himself hangry. 

𝐌𝐚𝐥 - 𝐀𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐚

         Alina’s smile melted through the chill of the damp cave, warming his chest with pleasure. She was warm even without her power able to create heat between them. Mal cocked his head to the side, racking his memory for the answer to Alina’s question. Maybe if someone else had asked he could have recalled the information, but in her presence he was unable to focus on much else but her. His shoulders rose and fell in a simple shrug, “Come to think of it I don’t know.” If he was being honest the conversation between Harshaw and Toyla hadn’t exactly been the most important thing on his mind at the time it was occurring. His senses had been focused elsewhere, only hearing the disagreement as it crashed past the foggy haze of his thoughts, carried through the echoing cavern and crashing into him. It had broken him out of his trance of shifting his food from one side of his plate to the other. “I don’t think it would have changed much if he had.” His features shuttered, shifting from the happiness he felt at her side to something more serious. “They’re growing restless.” The sigh that escaped from his lips was audible enough to be carried through the walls, surrounding them in his worry. Despite the group’s theories, no one was sure what was holding Alina from being able to use her power or if she was even able to use it anymore. That wasn’t the part that concerned him though, it was the way it seemingly affected her that did. Without it she appeared lost, more so than he had seen her before. 

Closed Starter for @disastri​ | Alina & Mal

.

     Alina watched as the sun began to disappear over the horizon, an uncomfortable chill running throughout her veins. An empty, invisible threat of what she now had to fear might be lurking in the darkness. Who might be lurking in the darkness. She had already lit a lantern that sat atop the desk beside her, the small, flickering flame about as tempestuous as Alina had felt since waking up in the tunnels beside Mal. Mal. The only thing that that had prevented that light inside of her from being smothered into smoke and ashes. Into nothing. And it had been so difficult not to feel helpless without her powers, to not feel as though she had lost more than she had gained but his faith in her - the only faith that had ever truly mattered to Alina - had never faltered, not even for a moment. And so she had kept going, for Mal above all else. For the life that they had dared to dream about aboard the Volkvolny. The sound of distant, familiar footsteps threw her heart into a joyous gallop, pounding against her chest in a reminder that she was here. That she was alive. “You don’t have to check on me every time the sun sets, you know” she reminded him gently, turning to look over her shoulder at him with a bright smile despite the storm cloud that was brewing in her gut. “I’m fine”

𝐌𝐚𝐥 - 𝐀𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐚

         “I know.” Mal replied, allowing a look to pass between them as the edge of his lips curved upward into his ever present smirk. It was hard not to be happy around Alina, even in the most desperate of times when surrounded by despair and hopelessness. She housed within her the hope of an entire country, united under their belief in her. It may have been new to Ravka, but not to Mal. He had always believed in her. That hadn’t changed with the forming of saintism. In fact, it had only strengthened his resolve in the matter, providing him with enough courage to join the Soldat Sol and mark himself permanently. The brand, the sun tattoo that ran the length of his back, bearing words that he would uphold for Alina was only a physical representation of what he had always done for her. Facing death did not scare him when it meant he could fight for something—no, someone who mattered. “I just didn’t know if you were getting hungry. Harshaw is about to feed Oncat your portion and Toyla threatened to eat Oncat if he did that so now I’m here trying to stop a civil war on top of a rebellion.” He explained, playfulness dancing around his words.  

Closed Starter for @disastri​ | Aeryn & Amos

.

     The shallow, steady breaths were instinctual, a secondary concern, as Aeryn’s attention honed in on the distant sound of rubber hitting concrete. It was a male, one that was used to keeping light on his feet if the height of the window or the use of the window to enter altogether were any indication. And Aeryn couldn’t help it; in any silence she found herself listening. Waiting. For what, she could never quite ascertain but she could be ready. She had to be. “Are you going to loiter in the shadows all night long? Because I do actually have places to be” Aeryn spoke quietly, although, she knew that they could hear. The bag of stolen bread and dried meats on her back was lighter than she’d hoped, but it would feed those counting on her until she could figure something out and she was not about to hand it over easily. 

𝐀𝐦𝐨𝐬 - 𝐀𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐧

        Foggy wisps of breath escaped from between Amos’ lips, the only indication of where he appeared against the dark backdrop that the night provided. He moved with the experience of a fox, aware of every twig that laid between him and his prey as he approached the blonde. “I thought you might want this.” His voice held steady, shoulders rising and falling in a disinterested shrug. Amos pushed the bag he held between them. “If you’re going to steal you might as well take it all.” There was no love between the pair, no shared friendship or bond to rationalize the action. He felt the theft was excusable when starvation was so palpable in his mind. “I can get more” Victors received an income from the Capitol that left then no room to want, which left him with the question, “But I do have to ask, who are you stealing that for?” There was a pointed hint to his tone, an indication only few would pick up on. 

Dory smiled softly. Her heart ached for him, she hated that they were apart but under the circumstances she knew that there was a reason they had called things off - though standing in front of him now she couldn’t for the life of her remember why. “It was lovely to be back, I have missed my family and my people, my home.” she explained. She left out the part about Fin and their engagement and the celebration in Atlantis. She couldn’t bring herself to mention those things to him, it felt wrong. Dory never wanted to hurt him. “Were you off world? or did you stay in Gotham?” she asked curiously. Jon was set to take over the superman title, she knew the pressure that role came with. 

𝐉𝐨𝐧 - 𝐃𝐨𝐫𝐲

        Dory remained just as sweet as she was in the memories he shared with her, her kindness never-ending for those she cared about. It was a beautiful thing to watch her speak of them, his lips curving into a graceful smile as she spoke of Atlantis. It was easy to see it from her perspective, a wonderous place filled with magic. One day he would be lucky to visit. Dog earring that thought, his focus was brought back to the current moment as questions were reflect towards him. “I visited Metropolis. I wanted to check on Kara. She told me to tell you she says hi.” Jon had found himself less willing and eager to support off world endeavors after his breakup with Dory. The Lanterns and Legions of Super-Heroes had space covered for the most part. There wasn’t much for him there anyway, not the way that there were things for him on Earth, his heart tethered to the planet in the same way his father’s had been.