Title: The Rules of Photography
Author: mystic_blue17
Summary: [ONESHOT] Chloe took a picture and it set a rule for their relationship. It had much more significance that either of them ever intended. (set after escape maybe even after checkmate)
Disclaimer: I don't own these characters or plots nor do I plan on receiving any profits from writing about them. Well other than the constant stimulus from them and the plot bunnies that they inspire.
A/N: Done the first week of school I actually tried to write more during the week but it just didn't end up happening but the weekend is here. And I did most of my readings so that calls for some writing. This has a very different feeling than my last ones. Get ready and go!
The clink of the camera goes off capturing the sleepy user unaware.
"Ack!"
A snort of laughter escaped Oliver as he witnessed Chloe's fumble with technology. She shot him a glare.
He places a hand on her bare shoulder "Sorry. I have seen you do some amazing stuff with technology." he pauses to look at her and smirk smugly. "And now that I think about it, your hands do some pretty mind blowing things. I just never thought that I would see the day that you were thwarted by a camera."
"No coffee. It's early. This was your idea. Don't start irritating me. If you don't want this to happen now, I would be more than happy to go back to sleep." In fact, she made a move back towards her pillow, her eyes slipping shut already.
"Oh no no no. You are not getting out of this that easily." he props her back up again and looks at her sincerely in the eye. "I'm sorry if I offended you."
She grumbles at him but slides willingly onto his chest. "Damn your charm, Queen."
He quickly snaps a few shots of them. In each picture, Chloe's eyes droop progressively further. He actually finds that it adds to the pictures. The photo shoot comes to a natural end when Chloe goes back to sleep on him. He sets the camera down on the nightstand and wrapped both arms against her ready to return to sleep. His movement wakes Chloe from her light sleep
"Ollie did we take pictures?" she murmurs unsure of what actually happened, eyes still heavy with sleep.
"Yea. Go back to sleep now. We don't have anything to do for a couple hours." Truthfully the only reason why they did it so early was because Ollie had a rare advantage over Chloe in the morning. That never lasted long though.
"Are you sleep?" she questioned him moments later.
"Uh hmm"
One of her eyes opened to verify that he was in fact sleeping. She put her plan into motion and twists his nipple HARD(And not in the good way). He shoots up fully awake but as soon as her action was complete, she was already gone. Her exit strategy was dashing into the next room. He could hear her laughter at her plan coming to fruition.
He leap out of bed scrambling to follow her and seek his own retribution.
Her words float to him telling him that she was in the kitchen. "So what were you saying about this mind blowing hands?" he lets out a loud laugh.
"Well played Watchtower."he says as he grabs her with the thought of a tickle session.
"Thanks Arrow."
He slides his hands down her body. He makes a split decides to skip the tickle fight for a mutual pleasing groping session. "So you know I'm going to frame that picture you took now."
"so you know I'm going to have to purple nurple you every time you bring that up now?"
He snorted. It wasn't often that Chloe's playful side came out. "Alright you got me. Let's think this through shall we? How can I get what I want while you get what you want?"
She takes a moment to think over the options. "You like the picture?" he nodded succinctly.
"Alright. I'll let you keep it unframed and for you only."
"Please like I would let other people see you like that."
She continues on as if she never heard his possessive statement. "And I will keep a copy. And every time you see it, take it as a sign. That picture means that you aren't going to be seeing the real thing any time soon." she gestures to her body with a silly grin.
"So you are taking a lovely picture of you and turning it my marching orders to the dog house?" he asks incredulously.
"Hmmm… I don't know if I would have put it like that. But yea that will work. Deal?"
"Deal." They sealed it with a handshake that turned into a kiss that didn't really end.
Sometime later, he said "Did I ever mention I love negotiating with you?" He got no response back. Post coital bliss had rendered her fully and completely asleep. He picked her up and carried her back to bed.
The next time he saw the photo was after a particularly bad choice in regards to his patrol. While Chloe had come over for the night, he had slipped out while she was sleeping; fully intending on returning before she woke up. But the night proved to be especially rambunctious meaning that patrol was much longer than planned. By the time he came back, she was gone. He flinched at the realization.
It wasn't till later that he realized the extent of his folly. His secretary brought in an envelope with her handwriting on the front. He tipped over the contents to have the photo slip out. His stomach clenched. Shortly after another piece of paper fell to his hands. It read 'You know the rules'. But Oliver had never been one for rules. In fact, he took extreme pleasure in breaking hers in particular. He took off to find her and hash this out.
"Just because there is a you and me does not mean that there is no Green Arrow and Watchtower." she snarled when he found her in watchtower.
"I know that."
"You do. Okay so why did you leave?"
"I… uhhh" he didn't know how to say that he noticed the tension on her face throughout the day. It was clear to everyone that the clock was ticking towards the future that Lois saw and it was putting everyone on edge. He had learned through trial by fire that Chloe would never take the time to care for herself. He took the control out of her hands and made the executive decision to let her sleep in.
"If you didn't want me there, Oliver you didn't have to put your life at risk to get the message across." He should have known. Another lesson he learned was that with Chloe, actions spoke louder than words. He thought that she would see his kind gesture but it didn't appear to be true.
"What? No I never meant it that way." If anything he wanted her there more than she was willing to be there.
"That's not even the point." she said pushing past this tangent.
He was having none of it. "It isn't? Because it sure sounds like my girlfriend is mad that I left her in bed."
Up until this point, the conversation or yelling match had been going a mile a minute. His words brought halt quickly. The truth was that things had been going so well. Better than any relationship than they had ever been in before. But things needed to be said so he put it out there. 'No strings' did not apply to them anymore. And in classic Sullivan style she dodged that verbal mine with a stubborn focus.
"It's about you going out there without back up" she said her voice notches down on the volume scale. "I don't want … you can't just go without telling me… I mean watchtower. It's not coordinated at all. It 's not how the team works." Clearly the conversation had taken its toll on each of them. Chloe's verbal skills had not taken such a back seat since he confronted her about Davis.
He closed the gap between the two of them. "I promise to never leave you in our bed again." she sputtered. He grins at her face. "Not the answer you were looking for? Alright I will do you one better. I promise to keep you informed of where I am at all times." he nudged his nose against her own and kissed her sweetly. "You know I hear make up sex is pretty incredible. Right up there with save your life sex".
It turned out that that gossip was true, not because of anything dirty. But instead it was about the fighting itself it acted as a relationship adjustment. They needed to have that fight to talk things through. The explosion of feelings and the end result brought them closer as a couple. She in turn got the promise of updates on his whereabouts and Oliver finally got to say that Chloe was his girlfriend.
As he ransacked the talon for clue of Chloe's whereabouts, his body tingled in response to her scent. He moved over to her shelves and spotted something. His heart stopped. The photo lay in wait for him. After the last discussion, he had hoped that it was the last time that he would see it.
He loved seeing her face but this photo he could have lived his whole life without every seeing again.
A/N: So there you go. One more drabble/borderline oneshot for your pleasure. I think I like this one. Silly and the cuteness at the beginning combined the angst at the end. The premise kinda helps flush out their relationship a bit more(at least I hope so). And how could I resist taking a stab at the origins of that picture? Read and Review! I have a little treat for you if you do! (No seriously I have little and much happier ficlets for the reviewers.)