"Hey Oliver, I'm heading out. Is there anything else for tonight or do you need me to stay until Roy gets here?" Diggle asks.
" No, it's fine," says Oliver as he walks back into the middle of the room, "head home to Lyla and Sara. Roy is going to be here any minute anyways."
"Alright." replies Diggle as he starts to put on his coat before he heads out. In so doing he bumps into something on the table.
"Oh, careful with Laverne!" says Oliver walking towards Diggle.
"Um, Laverne? Who's Laverne?" asks Diggle with a confused expression upon his face.
"Laverne the Fern." comes Oliver's reply.
"You…um…you named the fern, Laverne?" asks Diggle in a tone which suggests he is not quite sure as to what Oliver is in fact saying.
"Yes, I thought it was funny. I mean 'Laverne the Fern'? Don't you just think that's a little funny?" says Oliver in a slightly amused tone of voice. As if naming the fern was the most obvious thing to do.
"I suppose it is funny. I just didn't think…I mean it never crossed my mind that you would, well name a plant. I just…" Diggle seems at a lost of words still not quite comprehending that Oliver Queen. THE OLIVER QUEEN. VIGILANTE. A man feared by criminals, had in fact named the fern gifted to him. Least of all "Laverne the Fern" because he found it amusing. It just didn't make sense to him.
"You know what? Never mind. Goodnight Oliver."
"Goodnight. Say hello to Lyla and Sara for me. See you tomorrow."
As he walks up the stairs leaving the foundry, Diggle keeps muttering to himself.
"Seriously, Laverne the Fern? What in the world?" Due to his quiet musings he doesn't notice that Roy coming down the stairs.
"What about Laverne?" asks Roy.
Diggle looks up once he hears Roy's question. "You know about Laverne? You knew he named the fern?" confusion once again colors Diggle's voice.
"Of course I knew. I mean he almost knocked my head off a few weeks ago when I came close to knocking her down from the table. Needless to say I avoid it the best I can. Don't want to accidentally do anything to it. I, for one would not like to be at the receiving end if anything does happen to it." Roy replies.
"You know what, I am going to go home and forget all about this "Laverne the Fern" business. At least for tonight. Goodnight. See you tomorrow."
"Night."
It wasn't much later in the night as he laid in bed that Diggle in fact could not forget about the whole "Laverne the Fern" business as he hoped he would. In fact he couldn't help but chuckle at the fact that Oliver had been so sentimental over the plant that he had named it. He knew it wasn't so much about the plant itself that made Oliver name it but because who had been the giver of said plant. As he turned over to fall back to sleep he couldn't help the smile that graced his face thinking about his two friends that denied themselves so much and yet found the smallest and somewhat odd way to stay connected to one another.