Oo-De-Lally

“Rarely,” he corrected her. “It wasn’t very gentlemanly to scrape your knees so I didn’t have an opportunity to do it.” He didn’t want to think about how his grandmother would have liked him to be a perfect replica of little lord Fauntleroy. If he hadn’t squirmed his way out of it the best he knew how, he probably would be in knee pants. The idea made him feel sick to his stomach and if he thought about how he MIGHT have turned out he’d start gagging.

“I donno. Cordelia taught me everything she knew and she’s a six foot three bad ass.” He flexed, laughing at how ridiculous he was and how good it felt to be around people that let him be. “I think I could handle you… and a scary movie. I think I’m good.” He walked with her, then jogged to keep up. “Snacks are my treat.”

*

Robin gave a happy little squeeze of his flexed arm. “You can handle me now?” She scoffed. “Let’s not get too big for your britches now. It takes more than a six pack to take down Robin of Locksley.” But she glanced over as he caught up. “Course, you’re more than welcome to try whenever you like. If there’s one thing I can do, it’s take a set of muscles down to size.” Granted, then he offered snacks and that made her much less hostile, no matter how playful she had meant it. “Always the gentleman,” She announced dramatically, “Even when I’ve never been much of a lady.” She digs into her pocket, fingering what little bit of money she had collected through odd jobs, brain counting it up by feel. “And I offer out a couple cold drinks to wash it down.”

He watched that wild smile with a grin all his own. He had missed it and the trouble associated with it. With Robin, life was never dull. She never let it be so you could always guarantee that things would be better. He felt that slowly coming back to him now as he carefully wove his way through the branches, leaves and twigs snagging at his clothing in a vain, half hearted attempt to pull him off his perch. He braced himself and then laughed at her question. “No but to be fair I did have shit balance for a while. The scars on my knees are from falling off my bike.” A while. It has taken him three years to finally learn, but he had done it.

He followed behind her, stepping where she stepped until his feet found purchase on solid ground, his lips quirking into a pleased smile as his boots thumped in the grass. “Nice of you to notice,” he said, grinning as he lightly elbowed her. “What movie are we watching tonight anyway?”

*

“You had scraped knees before me? How’s that for learning your whole life was a lie, Robin?” She smiled up, watching him descend, safe with her thoughts with his concentration on the tree and no one else about. Robin had never had people she could trust growing up, except for Declan. She could never tell people how warm he made her feel, how being with him had made her feel brave and not just reckless. She had wanted to share the world with him. 

Robin had missed Declan every day, even as she finally found other people she could lean on again. 

She pretended to stumble to the side with his nudge. “I’m not blind. Look at you. No lie, pretty sure that you managed to double since I left... I could still take you though. Let’s make that clear.” She moved criss cross through the grass, spinning to face him as she would walk. “Hear they’re playing Elm Street, if you don’t think you’ll get too scared.”

He watched her with amusement as she gracefully jumped out the window and made her way into the trees. It was weirdly charming… or maybe it was cute because he was so infatuated with her…. Either way he watched her with a wistful grin on his face, remembering how she taught him how to climb. First by trying to pull him up by his arms and ending with pushing him up by his behind until he clambered awkwardly into the lowest limbs of the trees at the edges of the property.

They had spent many a day climbing in trees and looking at birds eggs and squirrel nests tucked into the branches and hides holes in the trees. If he was being honest that was probably the moment he started feeling things that weren’t platonic for her…. But she didn’t need to know that. At least not right now.

Her voice and the inane nickname he insisted on using, pulled him out of his thoughts as he reached for the sill. “Yeah yeah. I’m coming.” He climbed out and balanced on the sill, doing the same thing Robin had done before finding the tree limb that would hold him and swinging out on it. He rocked for a moment before catching himself with a laugh. “What do you know? Like riding a bike.”

*

Robin loved a tree. There was something about the challenge of climbing up to the top - the strain of your muscles, the way the sun landed on you through the trees, the careful choosing of branches, and in the end, your reward. The highest trees can give you a vast glimpse of the world. As a child, she had quietly longed to see what was beyond that view - and needed desperately to share it with Declan. From the tops of the trees, they would daydream about their futures, once Robin was a world famous hunter and he the lord of all the land they looked over.

She hadn’t taken no for an answer then and she wasn’t starting now, grinning a wild grin at him through the window. 

As he climbed out, she backed up, giving him room on the branch. “You usually nearly falling off a bike?” She smirked as she kneeled, winding her way through the leaves and sticks to the ground. “Careful, that step was real steep.” Despite her calling, she watched him carefully, unsure what she would do if he fell. She try to catch him, he would just pull her down with him - so she gave him ample warning for anything even kind of difficult. “Don’t you fall now - you’re too pretty to die.”

“I’m afraid I haven’t had a chance to climb many trees without you,” he admitted with a rueful grin. “But I’m willing to get my hands a little bit dirty with you now that I’ve found you again.” He had a lot of things to work through, most of which would be helped will the aide of a therapist… and he was working on it. He wasn’t mad at Robin though. She did what she had to do so that she could live… and now she was living here; thriving, and helping everyone who needed it. He was so proud of her there was no room for much else. “Yes, by the way, everything is breakable. She made sure to warn me multiple times when I got here. Please be careful” he teased back.

*

“Now that’s a real waste of a life... not even one? The woman is a monster, I tell ya.” Lying, telling him that Robin had died, that had been the first sign that the woman was probably the devil... but this sealed the deal. Granted, most of her tree climbing now was done to conceal herself, to spy, a part of work more than play, but as long as he was willing, the idea of just getting out there like they had as kids was more than appealing. There was so much time to make up for, so much that they hadn’t been able to do or share, but she was not a woman that fell back on regrets. She fixed things, and she would fix them now. “I make no promises.” She smirked back as she passed a particularly expensive looking vase and threw up the window. 

As graceful as a ballerina, she climbed onto the sill, eyes taking in the tree, plotting a course before she slowly and carefully stood on the thin window frame, reaching out to grab a thick branch above her head and stepping out onto another. One hand never let go as she turned back to the window and stretched her arm out straight. “Now or never, Dicky.”

Declan looked up with a laugh as the red head barged in in her stockinged feet. It was so Robin he could almost cry. He laughed and stood up. “God, it’s like you never left!” He reached up and gently touched her cheek. “Yeah I guess I’m ready. I have to admit I’m a bit out of practice climbing but I suppose I can make it work.” He stood up and shrugged his jacket on, his dimples grin standing out a mile as he looked at her.

Originally posted by soutterlytaron

*

“Might be for the best.” Robin added with a dip of her head. “I feel like near everything in this room is breakable. I’m one trip of my feet away from one hell of a bill for damages.” With a high step, Robin strode into the middle of the bed, looking over the space with a worried click of her tongue. She wouldn’t have broken a thing, she knew that and she sure as hell hoped he did too. She might have been loud, her movements as big as her mouth, but she didn’t trip, she didn’t falter, graceful and lithe and quick with every movement. “Come on - bet you’re even better at it now. What’s the point of lifting all those weights if it can’t even get you a good view from the top of an elm?”

Where: the beach

Who: Robin and John

He had been in Prentiss for almost forty-eight hours and all he had done was watch the sunrise on the beach once and sleep. Perhaps, that was truly a waste of time, but in all honesty, he hadn’t gotten a good night’s sleep in quite a long time. He rested easier tucked into one corner of the hotel bed and no one was there to wake him up at the ass crack of dawn with his damned schedule. It was what his body needed and for once he was glad to give it what it needed. Sometimes self car was just sleeping and building your strength up after a difficult time.

Now what his body needed was good and something to drink. He felt giddy knowing he could eat whatever he wanted without his grandmother making snide comments about what he was eating. The thought sent chills of elation rolling down his spine as he got in the shower to wash the grime from his trip to Prentiss off and down the drain.

While he cleaned up he tried his hardest not to think of Robin and how proud she would be of him if she was still alive. They had often talked about him running away from his family; seeing the sights he wanted to see and doing thing things he wanted to do without a day planner to keep track of it all—… He swallowed around a lump in his throat, doing his best to try not to think about her. He wondered if it would ever stopped hurting and what he would do if that answer turned out to be a no. He didn’t want to think about it. Especially if not hurting meant forgetting. He didn’t want to forget Robin Locksley.

He pulled a wrinkled pair of jeans and a soft, comfortable, tee shirt out of his back pack and slid them on. He looked like he had slept in them but that would be okay. Eventually he wouldn’t need to live out of his backpack but that was something he’d worry about later. He slid his phone, still turned off to avoid the bevy of calls from everyone he knew, and his keys into his pocket; sliding into his shoes before leaving the room.

He found a place that served a wonderful looking turkey and cheese croissant sandwich and a heathy order of fries. He paired that with a cookie and a peach tea and made his way back to the beach. It wasn’t as empty as it was before but he found a spot and settled in to soak up some sun and listen to the surf against the shore while he ate, smiling up at the clear blue sky with a melancholy look. “Looks like I made it, Rob…. Where the hell are you….?” He leaned back on his elbows and tilted his head towards the sky. It would be nice if she were here but she wasn’t. He’d just have to make the best of it.

*

“Come on, Johnny! Keep up!”

Robin laughed back as she trudged along the shoreline. She had decided pretty quick after landing in Prentiss that running in the sand was the way to go. Just as good as those fancy gyms. Running in sand, jumping fences, pulling yourself into trees - that was the sort of exercise that she swore by. Everything was made better when there was a bit of adventure mixed in, that was Robin’s credo, second only to a firm belief that more money really did equal more problems. She had had both - she knew what she preferred.

Her bravado didn’t ever equal to ease, slowing to a stop as they neared the boardwalk. With her last bit of energy, she swung herself up on the railing of a surf shop and finally paused to catch her breath. ,

It was a day - a fairly regular day for Robin. 

But as she looked up, everything shifted, worlds shifting together, and the only word Robin could pull together was, “Shit.”

She slipped down, eyes stuck on Declan as he stared back. “John... John... this is...” Bad? No. It couldn’t be bad. It did not matter how many years had passed, she could not believe anything the man could be bad... but did that make it good? Could her worlds combine and things stay the same? “How sweaty do I look? How’s my breath?” She tore her eyes away from the man and to John beside her. “Johnny, as my dearest friend and partner, please tell me I did not look like I was struggling when I was running and he saw...”

Douglas’s jaw tightened, starring at her while he held his breath. He knew. He tried his damndest not to think about it, but he knew. Charles had him wear ear plugs or noise-cancelling headphones after his job was done, but it didn’t keep out all of the noise. He had to turn his cheek and look the other way. “That’s not…We don’t –” She had him in a bind, repressed memories constricting him. He still wouldn’t admit it. What choice did he have? This was his masters’ orders. Disobeying was not an option. Every bone in his body rejected it. “–And what do you think happens to me if I don’t find him?” He returned quietly, knowing Charles’ reward system worked. He was treated well - spoiled even - when he returned with leads. Coming back empty handed would tighten his leash again to the point where it was hard to breathe. His pack was high performing for a reason. “I’m not – I’m not the bad guy… This is what I’m supposed to do. I was meant to do this. That can’t suddenly be wrong.”

Douglas narrowed his eyes, confused when the woman offered him her other wrist after he’d grabbed hers. He made a face at her when the feather appeared briefly, but before he could snatch it it disappeared down her bra. “I don’t know what they did. I don’t get that much information. I’m just told what I need to do and I do it,” he needed to stop talking, but he was panicking in his frustration now. “You think people are going to think so well about a woman stealing from a kid either?” The boy said, growling in rebuttal, ready to play this game back at her. He tightened his grip around arm.  “A lot of people like me here, miss Robin.”

*

“I would help you.” Robin said simply. “If it’s a matter of you having to do this because of what he might do to you in return, I would protect you for choosing to do the right thing.” All it took was the word. She protected those who could not protect themselves. “And not just me. I have people that will fight with me for you if that’s what you need... but I can’t do that if you keep down this road.” There was no playfulness now, just her promise and desperation to maybe make this one change their mind - she tried, she tried until she was forced to quit trying. “I get it... you think Robin got this good by sitting on her ass? I trained, I worked hard, I was fucking good at it... but these are living, breathing, loving, working, hoping beings, just like you, just like me. They are not trophies.”

-

“No… No, they couldn’t have,” Douglas blinked at her, lost by what she was saying. Everything she said was on the nose, yet – it sounded differently coming from her. “Yeah – I mean, I’m happy to be useful,” he said, truthful, but from his tone, he sounded confused by the statement. A frowned weighed down his lips as he thought about it. This was not the right person for him to be so talkative with. “…He takes care of us,” the young werewolf commented quietly, feeling defensive about his master over Robin’s tone.

Douglas went quiet, every muscle in his body tensed. “…I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said, eyebrows knitting together tightly. He’d push the reality of the situation so far away from himself that hearing her say it was like taking a flash grenade to to the face. He took a step forward. “I need that feather,” he said, his tone sharper and less friendly. She didn’t understand what was on the line for him if he didn’t do his job - or at least find a solid lead. He reached for her to grab her wrist. “…I’ll take it from you if I have to,” he growled at her, wishing he had been just seconds faster to get a hold of it before she had. He had been so close. So close. So unbelievably close. He couldn’t let her just walk away. Alphonse would kill him for it if he found out he did. Charles would be angry at the delay. Douglas couldn’t fail. An alarm was going off in his head, the hair on the back of his neck on end. “You don’t want that and neither do I.”

*

“Come on... I believe in you, you’re not daft, are you, Dougie...” It wasn’t a question. She didn’t believe he was stupid. She didn’t believe he didn’t know. He spoke and she heard him trying to veer her off course, feigning innocence of the whole ordeal - but they knew, and she wanted him to admit it. “What happens to the bird when you find him? Or maybe I can break it down for you. You want me to give you the play-by-play of how they’ll kill them? I bet they corner it first, probably real scared, too, just shaking, crying... good times, right, bud?”

She inhaled as he grabbed her wrist and there was no doubt she was sizing up his ability to fight her as she looked over him. She didn’t like to fight. She liked to get in, get out, be quick, but it wasn’t always an option. Guess they were about to see just how desperate for the feather he was. 

“You’re right, I don’t. I try not to make a habit to fight kids. Personal preference.” Robin gave a playful smirk. She pulled her coat from her free arm as she spoke, holding out the wrist for him to grab. “Switch me.” She wanted to free herself from her coat, yes, but the cockiness of letting him keep her trapped was intentional, letting him see her lack of fear of him. “I don’t want to fight you - but I will if I have to, if it means protecting someone innocent. What’d this being do to deserve it, by the way?” Her voice kept casual, the feather making a brief appearance only so she could stuff it down into her bra where she was certain he wasn’t going to just grab for it. 

-

“Don’t you worry, my solo drag bar adventures were in the ‘before robin and little john’ times,” John laughed, returning her sly smirk with one of his own. He sipped at his coffee, grinning over their friendship for a moment. He’d been damned lucky to find her. She was his best mate. Genuinely no one could ever fill her shoes, and it’d felt like his life had been just been incomplete until she came tromping along. The chivalrous, ambitious woman filled a void he’d been left with after his past alpha died, and he’d be damned before he let anything separate the two of them.

He listened to her, setting the coffee back down on the ground while his stout fingers grazed the edge of the cup. “Oh shit, that is definitely a problem,” he commented, quiet as he continued to listen, turning over the problem in his head like a rock in his hands to examine the angles. “You got that look in your eye. I guess we’re stayin’ here a little longer than expected. That’s good. Didn’t know how to break the news to Herc that I’d have to bail out of our roommate agreement early, anyhow,” John chuckled, trying to lighten up the mood. “I’ll keep a lookout for any newcomers of the werewolf variety with the M.O of vicious. What do you want to do about the kid? Can’t exactly justify beatin’ him up to teach him a lesson if he’s here seein’ the sights and not startin’ fights.”

*

“Before Robin and Little John times?” Robin laughed. “Never heard of ‘em.” There was darkness in the years before she found him. A lot of death. She wasn’t proud of that. She hadn’t been proud of it at the time. But it had seemed like the only choice, the only way out of the world she had been born into. 

There could be more to her life than death, though. She never thought she could help people until she helped him and his pack. He was her closest person and she was damn lucky to have him. 

“I think we got to.” She clicked her tongue, feet hitting the ground hard before she stood to pace and think, already restless at the simple idea of settling for longer than a few weeks. “I wager they’ll be here and they’ll be here quick. We can’t leave ‘em defenseless.” She wondered if Christopher Robin would let her keep her room a little bit longer. Free meals would be more difficult to get her hands on as well when they became a full time gig. John could sniff out the other wolves - Doug didn’t know she had friends yet - but she could think of nothing else they could do but... wait. “We keep an eye on him. He knows he’s being watched - doesn’t know by quite how many eyes, but at least mine. We stay ready for when the big dogs arrive... pun intended... and I’ll work on me some of those employable skills to help me settle.”

“No, she’s not old, she’s my age. But she was a cranky… what you said.” She didn’t feel comfortable outwardly calling her a bitch, even if she wasn’t around. If Nani somehow happened to overhear, she imagined a lecture would come, and Lilo had dealt with enough of those to not want to bring on anymore.

“She sounds bitter. Did she say bad things about you, too?” Maybe they’d just met, but Lilo couldn’t imagine what bad things someone could say about Robin. She seemed cool. And she was just giving money away! “Elvis. It’s this really cool one, I have some but I think this one is limited edition. I’m going to put it on the wall next to my door.”

*

“Well now... I guess she can’t be blamed too much with an old lady name like that. Only the cruelest of parents would do that to a child.” Robin gave with a tsk and a shake of her head. “Gotta think about things.” She tapped her brow as she leaned her hip against a fencepost. “Life ain’t always black and white like that. Those pesky lil shades of gray sneak in and getcha. Robin’s had to learn that the hard way.”

“Oh yeah... all the time. Never was good enough for her precious little guy. Don’t know if I fooled you with my spot on manners and high brow personality,” She laughed, “But I’m not exactly the real proper type like she liked to have around.” It would be easy to say Robin had taken on this persona as an adult, once left to her own devices, but the truth was, this was always who she was. She never minded the mud and blood, she had no need for fancy living. She was swagger and a smile, best off living her life free and easy. “Money well spent then, and I’m sure wherever the King is, well he’s surely agree with us, wouldn’t he?”

♡

“You are absolutely right,” he nodded along, she was right. At least, he would say so based on the movies he watched and the comics he read. “That’s okay! Listening is great! It’s always good to have someone listen to you. I think I drive my friends crazy sometimes, they probably appreciate someone else taking the blunt of the conversation.” It wouldn’t be so bad, probably, if he didn’t ramble on and on… and on…

“I don’t mind sharing.” Anything he had, his friends were welcome to. Or other people, even. Strangers. A good chunk of the money he received from his parents on a monthly basement went to charity, the majority of it. It was always better to make other people happy than hoarding it when it would never be spent. Even with his regular donations he had more than enough to buy all the comics, video games and fast food he could want. “But you have a good point right, and no one could say you’re eating too much ice cream, because they couldn’t even see the ice cream.”

*

“Not a problem for me. I got three talents and one of them is interrupting and talking over people when I have an idea.”

oo-de-lally​:

A tenseness - one that John was completely oblivious to, apparently - seemed to leave the tall man’s shoulders, the stuffiness that had straightened his back wearing away with a soft sigh. His lips fluttered with the sigh, a soft smile shooting towards Robin as he turned back to his bags. 

“This is -” John began the statement with a flutter, lugging two duffle bags up onto his shoulders before carefully dropping down to get a briefcase. “This is a most welcome circumstance,” John finally continued, turning back to Robin with a wide grin. “I was just left here on the sidewalk with barely an idea of where to go. The taxi driver was no help, and my cell phone died back in the airport.” Which was rather unlike the man, but he *certainly* wasn’t going to let his new companion know that he had gotten sucked into rather challenging level of CandyCrush. 

“If you could just -” John nodded to the final piece of luggage, a bag full of suits flopped hastily over the fence behind the pair. “If you could just grab that, I would be eternally grateful. More so then I am already,” he quickly added, lips pressing tightly together. 

Originally posted by spaceslayer

*

“Well damn, sounds like I really did get here in the nick of time.”

She pulled the suits from the fence to her arm. “Guess this answers my question about if you always dress this dapper. Normally I have a rule about trusting men that own this many suits - but I get a good vibe from you, JD, and between you and me and this fencepost, my vibes are never wrong.” Robin gave a wink before give a graceful skip ahead. “To your right, we have the City Hall, home to Prentiss’ illustrious mayor’s office and... other offices... all the boring red tape and bureaucratic bell ringing... no offense if you’re into that sort of thing. We all have our kinks.”

-

Doug was uncharacteristically quiet; he knew that Charles was famous - at least, he’d been well-known in the past, but he’d never spoken to another hunter about him, let alone be alone with one without him there monitoring the conversation. He blinked at her, recalling the event she spoke about. He held his breath when she moved closer, muscles in his arms and face tensing, but he did not move. “Are you talking about the one in Arbor, Michigan? They were really hard to find,” Doug answered, taking the bait, “but I’m a great tracker. Charles was happy with me when I found them. But I’m usually left out of the second phase of the hunt. I’m just a part of the first. My job’s done after that.”

Doug took a step back now, his safety feeling threatened by her talk. “That’s not – that’s how it works,” he muttered, flustered now. “Please just give me the feather. I really, really don’t want to get in trouble over this. I can’t mess this up.”

*

“Hell yeah, I bet they are.” Robin crowed. “Those fairies are hard enough to find as is - tracking ‘em down while they’re in hiding?” She gave a long whistle. It took skill. The kid obviously had that - she could nearly respect his ability even as all chance of him getting the feather vanished. He might not know it yet, the way the woman grinned his way, but his ability to convince her had turned to smoke with his confirmation. “I bet you must’ve been real proud - they couldn’t have taken out those fairies without ya, huh?” She couldn’t keep pushing. She had her answer - but unlike the hunters, Robin was not heartless. She kept hoping to hear something, see something in his eyes, some sign that he could be saved. 

Anything.

She laughed, holding her hands up. “I’m kidding - come on, first thing they say about Muntz and his gang, loyal to the end.” To the bitter, violent end.

But the game was ending - she had enough information to at least start from, and it was with a heavy sigh, Robin hung her head. “You seem like a sweet kid - and Robin can tell a fake from a mile away wearing a disguise, so I’m sure somewhere in there you are... but I can’t give ya this feather. Not knowing the trouble the being it belongs to will get in if I give it to you. They’re not gonna be massacred like those fairies - not on my watch.”