Hello. The newest chapter of Beyond Description will be out shortly.
Now, however I would like to dedicate this story to my beta reader, Didi111. For making the whole of Beyond Description readable.
Enjoy.
"Surprise!"
Oliver pulled on his best fake grin as he look around patio; bottles of alcohol and stacks of red plastic cups lined the brick walls around the pool, some "friends" already looking a little tipsy. The area was lit up by sets of wires with multiple lights covered with lanterns, hanging across the patio, there were also a large pair of speakers up against the walls, neither had been on before he made his way out side but the hushed whispers and the sound of heels on stone had been enough for Oliver to guess what was happening.
"Wow." Oliver shook his head in what his friends and family likely thought was shock. What he wanted to say was "Really? I have been alone for five years on an Island, built up a bunch of issues and you all decided jumping at me in the dark was a bright idea?"
"Ollie!" Thea ran over to her brother and wrapped her arms around his middle.
Oliver looked down at her fondly and placed his hand of her dark hair, petting it.
"Not a cat." she pointed out.
A smile pulled at Oliver's lips.
A hand clamped down on Oliver's shoulder, luckily he was able to stop himself from flinching. Looking up he saw Tommy.
"Didn't think you were going to make it." he said.
"Getting that leather suit off can be a real pain after you've spent the night chasing bad guys with a bow and quiver." Oliver smirked.
Tommy returned the smirk, giving his friend a knowing nod.
It had been a few weeks since his arrest as The Hood and although things had not gone exactly how Oliver would have wanted, he still had made his point. It was not him and there should not be any belief that he was in the future.
Oliver had known even before he became the Vigilante that he would have to get himself arrested to prove that he was not, the timing of his return and the start of the Vigilante would just be too close.
"A what?" Thea asked, pulling back from her brother with a confused look on his face.
"The thing the arrows goes in." Oliver explained, waving his hand to his back "Detective Lance kept bringing it up but wouldn't tell me what it was called. Had to Google it in the end."
Oliver wanted to kick himself in the shin for messing up like that but at least the lie was good, very good. Slade had once told him an interrogation trick where you use the wrong word for something or you don't name it at all. It was a trick only the stupid, overzealous, angry or panicked fell for but if you got them good then they were cornered and trying to cover their mistake would only make things worse.
Tommy laughed.
Oliver smiled back, be it fake. He would not try to fake a laugh.
He would fake a laugh, really well thanks to Slade but also thanks to Slade he knew never to do it around family or friends, they would be the ones keeping an eye on him due to his past, they were unlikely to be fooled. Show only the edges of damage to let them know that it's there, it would have to be but never show them it all.
Oliver missed being exactly who he was, showing Diggle and now Felicity, was a slow process, he did not really know these people.
The rest of the night went well. Oliver mingled and rather skilfully pretended to drink large amounts to fit in, he stayed away from the pool and no body mentioned it.
"This is when you see the PTSD?" Oliver wanted to say "Well done, well done." he did mumble the last bit out load, voice dipping with sarcasm, not that anyone one could hear him over the loud music.
"What?" a large breasted blonde called over the music, wobbling to the left.
"Nothing." Oliver called back. Eyeing the drunk blonde that had approached him, Oliver decided he needed to be away from this for a while.
Oliver excused himself and moved to go inside, he glanced over to Thea who was chatting to Tommy on the stone wall. The man had promised to watch over Thea so that Oliver could have a little fun and the blonde was thankful for that.
Walking into the the dark kitchen, past the living room which was illuminated by the lights outside, the archer finally felt like he could breathe again. He sat down on a wooden stool and rested his head on cool granite of the breakfast bar.
"Tired?" a female voice said from the door way.
Oliver pulled on his best smile, not far from an honest one because he really like her, she was part of the family really "Raisa." he said, turning around of the stool.
Raisa knitted her brows "Your not enjoying your birthday? You are twenty-seven today Oliver."
"I know." he sighed "It's just not really my thing anymore more. I'm too old." he added with a smirk.
"Being away for so long matured you." she said, seeing right through the blonde "But you have to let yourself go and have fun once in a while Oliver."
"I know." Oliver said.
"And I know what might cheer you up." Raisa walked over to one of the kitchen cabinets and pulled out a package. It appeared to be a book and the wrapping was all black minus medium sized multi-coloured lines that looked like fireworks in the night sky. The only thing that was missing were the stars.
"I signed it for this morning." she said, handing it to Oliver "It came all the way from China."
Oliver held a breath "China." he said, taking the present. He stared at it more a second; it was wrapped neatly and there was no card but the word China still rang in Oliver's ears.
Unwrapping the present he found that it was indeed a book. The book looked old but undamaged, the cover was an oak brown with speckles of cream but it had no title. The spine had strips of gold and black with large golden flowers in-between and near the bottom there was a black sideward oval-shaped patch with a gold read pattern around black, in the middle was a gold volume number.
Opening the book to see the title Oliver found a folded note blocking it, he would have read it but right now, what he really wanted to know was what was so important about this book and why would some one send it to him.
Moving the note Oliver froze. He just stared at those two words.
"The Odyssey." he read, voice borderline broken.
He turned to the note, opening it. His heart started to warm, his body relaxed as he read it. From the first sentence he could tell who it was from even if he had not seen the book.
Hey kid,
Happy Birthday.
Have fun and drink till you pass out, you deserve it.
x
Oliver rubbed the letter 'x' with his thumb, his lips forming a smile.
"Just what you needed?" Raisa asked, a smile on her face, tears pooling in her eyes from the look on the young man's face.
"Just what I needed." Oliver agreed, folding the note and placing it back into the book before holding the book to his chest. Remembering what last line of the note had said he smiled brightly.
Oliver said goodnight to Raisa, grabbing a whiskey glass from the cabinet before going back outside, book still to his chest, he grabbed a half full bottle of Jack Daniels, the glass clinking together and went to his room.
He wrapped himself like cocoon with the duvet, his back against a small mountain of pillows. Throwing back a shot he paused, a grimace on his face before coughing and tapping his fist of his cheat. It had been a long time since he'd had a strong drink, it had not been the first drink he'd had in five years, that right belonged to the single shot of tequila he'd consumed at his 'I'm not dead' party. Pretending to drink was a relatively difficult thing to do, so mostly Oliver avoided it and when he had to, he would make a big show of it, like everything else he had to do.
Oliver flicked to the one part he knew by heart and quickly reading through, he found it, "Of all creatures that breathe and move upon the earth, nothing is bred that is weaker than man." he eyed the words and chuckled when his vision fell on the word 'bred'. He remembered the panicked look Slade had shown when Oliver had stopped him, telling him it was 'bred' not 'born'. His dark eyes were wide and unblinking, his body still as he said the sentence that would hopefully get them of the Island.
Oliver flipped back and forth to seemingly random pages, reading lines; some long, others small. After he reading he took a sip. Maybe it was due to all the alcohol he had consumed that he laughed as loud as he did when he spotted one line. "Out of sight, out of mind?" he laughed, "That was from this book?"
Glass after shot, after glass, the depressant filled his system, his movements became slower, less controlled. He near fall of the bed when he reached for the bottle but he caught himself, reach out for the bed post with his hand. He laughed. He grabbed the last two mouthfuls and downed then, all at once.
He sat there for a second, brain frazzled. It was not the most drink in the world but it was pretty strong, the amount, quick timing and his sheer avoidance of alcohol however hit Oliver hard.
With the last of his energy he shimmied his body down so he was on his back, one foot poking out of the duvet but he was too numb and sleepy to really notice. He rested his cheek on the soft pillow, warm from where his back had rested against it. Although the pillow felt nothing like it, he rolled on to his side and pulled the pillow to his chest, his cheek nuzzling into the pillow. For no more than a second Oliver imagined it was Slade, Slade's warmth and strong body but alas, it was not. The pillow was soft, the warmth dull.
Picking up the book from where it had been gently placed on the mattress, Oliver flicked through the pages one more. "A man who has been through bitter experiences and travelled far, enjoys even his sufferings after a time" he read and hummed.
He closed the booked and placed it back, away from his body if he was to move during the night but he kept his hand upon the book.
Oliver missed Slade, he miss Shado and Yao Fei. He missed his life in Lain Yu, where although life was hard and horrible, really, there were the five years that had made him. He missed them.
He remembered the little 'x' on the note, he smiled and closed his eyes. Something about the book, the note and that little 'x', that kiss, gave Oliver the sense that Slade was on his way. Maybe no day soon but one day, he would be back.
"I miss you, Slade." Oliver said, to himself, the world or to the book, he did not know but he did know that it was true.