💘 — ARSENAL.

without meaning to, oliver winced, his features momentarily wavering between doubt and hesitation. he wasn’t sure why he had expected a warmer reception from his former partner, he was owed nothing, and yet he still felt that momentary ache cutting deep into his chest. his mistakes haunted him, in more ways than just figuratively, and this distance he felt when he spoke to roy was proof of perhaps one of his gravest ones. 

like a veil lifting, the hurt in his features gave way to a smile, one that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “you sure are,” he chuckled, relieved that he’d made the effort at least. in his experience, healing never come in strides, it always came at a tentative pace, — was even stagnant in some cases — which was harder for the archer considering patience had never been one of his virtues. roy’s inquiry about the food reverted his attention back to the electric stove, a hand reaching out to lift the lid from the pot. “it should be ready,” he mumbled, head inching back as a wave of steam rose almost instantly into the air, filling the kitchen with the scent of strong spices that clung to the back of his throat and triggered a brief fit of coughs. “might have gone overboard last night. i was testing out some new ingredients and clearly i was feeling a bit too bold with the chile,” he grinned after recovering, stirring the chili as the cloud of steam slowly dissipated from the air. “now how about you get your feet off my counter and get some bowls from that cupboard over there,” he nodded towards the cupboard as he continued to stir, eyes flickering towards the coffee machine that began beeping. “so where have you been staying roy? you doing okay?” he asked casually, making a point to avoid turning around.

tilting his head back, roy tried to clear his thoughts as he stared up at the ceiling, still masking his emotions from oliver. the steam from the chilli became visible and roy levelled his head, glancing over to the older man before diverting his vision to the wall in front. the hint of a snicker erupted from his lips as he could hear the man begin to choke on the aroma. "yeah, i can sorta tell." he remarked with a raised brow, looking over his shoulder momentarily until he removed his feet per request. he jumped off from the stool and headed towards the cupboards, resisting the urge to mutter 'yes, dad.' under his breath from the all too familiar domestic order. 

fortunately some things hadn't changed, like the placement of the dinnerware and roy grabbed the bowls, emitting a sigh as oliver continued. "uh, yeah." he replied timidly, a bowl almost slipping from his grip. he shouldn't lie to ollie, but roy wasn't exactly sure how tell him the truth either. what was he even doing here? he should've just stayed put, this wasn't necessary. "with friends, in blüdhaven." he placed the bowls onto the counter, though his hand fell heavily onto the hard surface and he bowed his head. so much for clearing his head earlier. it could be so easy for the younger archer to open up to him, to tell him what was really going on. how he hadn't seen nor spoken to his daughter due to her mother's disappearance and how much that tore him apart on a daily basis. how if it wasn't for donna --- he'd be living out of his pickup... and just how useless he felt with this war against the sentinels. there was too much to mention, not that he wished to unload any of it onto the older man, however. roy took his seat back on the stool, swiping his hand over his face before speaking up again. "why'd you think i'm here?"

give me any two names and I’ll tell you which I’d rather date.

“i’d say donna, but it didn’t work out all those other times so, guess i’m choosing vic.”

give me any two names and I’ll tell you which I’d rather date.

“wow, that’s tough. do i pick the woman i loved or some dude i dunno if i’ve talked to? lets go with billy, ‘cause why not?”

give me any two names and I’ll tell you which I’d rather date.

“this ain’t easy, i’ll just date both and hope they don’t find out.”

give me any two names and I’ll tell you which I’d rather date.

“y’know i’ve got enough speedsters in my life, thanks. wiccan wins this one.”

* phone call prompts / @vicstcne

he emitted a heavy sigh, maybe he shouldn’t have called, but in a way he was desperate. calling the tower’s main line seemed like his best bet, after his last outburst he wasn’t sure any individual member would pick up to talk to him. his head hit the back of the wall, eyes clenching to stop the tears from falling as his heartbeat raced. it was a mistake, a stupid mistake, one he’d repeated too many times before. roy slipped down the wall once his legs went limp, wiping away the crimson drip from his nose on the back of his arm as he tried to speak. he inhaled deeply before finally contriving words. “it doesn’t matter. don’t worry ‘bout it. it’s cool, it’s cool…” he repeated, mainly to reassure himself, though he could tell his own tone was shaky. “just, uh — keep this between us, yeah?”

Send “😍” if your muse has a crush on mine. / @divinecrowned

“really? not just saying that to be nice? guess you’re gonna have to prove it to me, troy.”

donna bit down on her lip as she thought, gaze traveling from ship to ship before circling back to roy. she was certain this was one of the points dick had highlighted on the map, there wasn’t any way they could have made a mistake. but roy could be right, this could simply be a front meant to throw them off, and so far it seemed to have been working. “i bet you’ve been waiting all afternoon to make that pun,” she said with a grin as she followed where he indicated. he was right, this boat wasn’t docking, it was departing. that had to be what they were looking for, there was no plausible explanation donna could think of in the moment to explain why a fishing boat would be departing at these hours. the only question now was to decide whether it was an oddity worth exploring. “we should get down there before it leaves,” she said, adjusting her cuffs before heaving herself onto the ledge. moments after propelling herself into the air, she seemed to remember that her teammate couldn’t exactly keep up with her, a thought which made her giggle as she circled back. “sorry, sorry, i forgot for a hot second that you can’t fly,” she chuckled, as she came up behind roy and secured her arms around him. “hold on tight, wouldn’t want to see your pretty face splattered on the street.” and with that, she swept him up fluidly, as she’d done hundreds of times in the past, before setting off towards the boat, the wind roaring in her ears as they tore through the air. they touched down behind a stack of fishing crates lining the edge of the dock, close enough so that they get an upfront view of what was happening. “those don’t look like fishing crates,” donna whispered to roy, eyes narrowing as a man dragged various wooden crates aboard the boat. all she could make out was the bold ‘fragile’ marked on the surface of every crate. 

his smile remained as he noticed donna's grin, "that obvious, huh?" though once he took a closer look, he realized his pun may not be too far from the truth. as the amazon spoke, he nodded towards her, grabbing his quiver off the ground. however, once he lifted his head again, his glance hit donna, hovering above. roy placed his hands on his hips with a heavy sigh, his eyes narrowing once he caught sight of her giggle as she turned back around. "yeah, not all of us are part goddess, d." he retorted, a small smile playing on the corner of his lips, but it soon faded as donna fixed her arms around him. a solemn reminder he was powerless, something he knew he couldn't do anything about, but one that faintly caused him to feel not quite good enough compared to the other titans.

her words were welcomed, snapping him out of his thoughts and his hands tightened around arms. "you think i'm pretty?" he teased with a grin, gazing up towards donna before she lifted them up into the air. the feeling was reminiscent of their past adventures, though perhaps he should've grabbed his pair of shades before being carried by his teammate. the archer shut his eyes tightly as the gusts of wind rocked against them, until he could feel the wooden panels against the sole of his boots. roy scanned over the boat, noticing the labelling on the crates. "don't smell like 'em either." he glanced back to donna, unable to resist the smirk wiped across his face, but it soon dropped as he reached for his bow and arrow, clicking a small switch as a low beeper could be heard from the instrument. "guess there's only one way to find out what's in them." he whispered back to her and he took a shot from an angle, far enough to cause a distraction for the man. a small explosion could be heard from the opposite end of the docks and the archer stood. "that's only gonna hold him off for a minute or two," he admitted, reaching for donna’s hand. "we better go check the scene before he gets back."

Send “😍” if your muse has a crush on mine. / @tcmpvsts

“tell me something i don’t know, guppy.”

Send “😍” if your muse has a crush on mine. / @vicstcne

“and you waited ‘til now to tell me? you coulda told me sooner, vic. who knows what would’ve happened.”

“ha, that ship sailed loooong ago.”

“fuck wonder woman, marry supes, then kill batman ‘cause fuck that guy.”

“… yeah, i’m not gonna answer that.”