"Oliver?" Oliver whipped around at Diggle's voice, x-ing out of the browser window as fast as he could. Diggle raised his eyebrows. "Trying to hide something?" He asked, amused.
"Nope." Oliver said, giving his friend his best wide-eyed, I'm-Oliver-Queen-aren't-I-adorable look. Diggle just rolled his eyes and started wrapping his hands for a go at the punching bags. Oliver breathed an inward sigh of relief. He'd been online looking at women's dresses, which he wouldn't have liked having to explain to Diggle. Felicity's birthday was coming up, and although getting presents for women was usually right up his alley, this was different. Felicity wasn't just any girl - she was his best friend, his partner, and also she'd see straight through the usual expensive-jewelry trick. So now he had to come up with something special, something memorable, and he was falling tragically short of the mark.
So instead of spending another hour googling 'women's gifts' and coming up with the same five results (jewelry, chocolate, perfume, flowers, and band tickets) he headed out to the nearest boutique, after telling Diggle an excuse about having a lunch meeting. As soon as he walked in, he knew it was all wrong.
"Excuse me sir, can I help you find anything?" A pretty brunette approached him before the glass doors closed behind him. Oliver pushed his negative thoughts to the back of his head. He was here, he might as well look around.
"I'm looking for a gift for - a friend." He didn't know why he stumbled up on that last word, but the saleslady was already giving him a knowing look.
"So, what do you have in mind for this friend?"
"I'm not sure." He admitted. "I want something - special."
"Well, in that case I have just the thing for you. If you'll just follow me..."
Two hours later, Oliver had been through every section of the store and was still empty-handed. He was sick of looking at bracelets and shoes, two things of which Felicity owned an inordinate amount of and certainly wouldn't need any more. He was getting desperate, so he decided to go to his last resort - his sister.
"Ollie?" Thea looked surprised when she opened her door, as Oliver could imagine she would be - it was the middle of the day when he was usually at work, or out with friends if he had a day off. "What's up?"
"I need your help." He said quickly. Thea's eyebrows rose.
"What could be so pressing that my own dearly beloved, stubbornly and completely independent brother would come to me for help?"
"I need you to help me get a birthday present for Felicity." He elaborated. Thea sighed.
"Of course you do." She rolled her eyes and dragged Oliver over to the couch in the next room. "This could take a while." Once they were sitting, she brought out her phone and starting typing away at what Oliver hoped was a list of ideas and not a text to Roy. "Alright, first things first. What have you looked at so far?"
"Shoes, jewelry, flowers..." Oliver shrugged, and Thea was already shaking her head.
"No, no, and no. This isn't your latest one night stand, Ollie, this is the closest you've come to having a best friend since Tommy."
"I know!" Oliver retorted. "I just - can't think of anything."
"Okay, okay. What does she like to do?"
"She likes computers." Oliver offered up the first thing that came to mind.
"Alright, so practical - but maybe not the greatest birthday gift. Next."
"She, ah...she likes travel - I could get her a plane ticket somewhere." But Thea was already shaking her head.
"From what I know about Felicity, getting her a several-thousand-dollar gift would look like you're just throwing money at her. It's basically the richer version of a gift card. Next."
Oliver racked his brain, but nothing was coming to mind. He groaned and put his head in his hands. "This is a nightmare. Her birthday is tomorrow and I have no idea what to get her."
"Ollie, relax." Thea put her phone down and crossed her arms. "Just think - was there any conversation you had recently where she mentioned needing something - a new computer bag, a phone case - it doesn't have to be expensive or over-the-top, it just needs to be thoughtful."
"I'm terrible at thoughtful."
Thea laughed. "Yeah, you kinda are." Oliver shot her a look, and she added "But you're trying, which is a start." She squeezed his shoulder. "Listen, go for a walk, clear your head, see if anything comes to you."
Oliver jerked up. "Thea, you are a genius." He said, standing up. "I've got an idea."
"Glad I could help." Thea said with an amused smirk. "But you'd better get moving, the stores are gonna close soon."
"Right. Thanks, speedy." Oliver said, already moving out the door. Hopefully, hopefully Felicity would like the gift, because this was the only thing in the world he could think of.
The next day the three of them were gathered down in the foundry, after going out for a celebratory dinner. Diggle had given Felicity a new watch, (in his words, so she 'could get rid of that ridiculous thing on your wrist', which was a pink panda watch that looked like it belonged to a fifth grader), but Oliver had needed to keep his back at the foundry. Also, he wanted to drag out the suspense just a little bit longer.
"Well I have plans tonight with Lyla, so I should get going." Diggle said with a sigh, glancing at the clock. "Happy birthday, Felicity."
"Thanks, Dig." She said with a smile, and then it was just the two of them. "So..." She looked at Oliver expectantly. "Are you going to give me my gift? Or is this where you try and cover up the fact that you completely forgot about my birthday?"
"I didn't forget!" Oliver said, indignant. Felicity shot him a look. "I didn't, I promise. But you have to close your eyes before I can give you your present."
Felicity looked wary, but she closed her eyes. Oliver went to the corner where he'd put the present, and cautiously brought it over to her.
"I remembered what you said, about how you sometimes couldn't sleep at night because you had nightmares." He said cautiously. "And I know how hard you work, and so I thought you might like something to help you relax. Also, I remembered you saying how much you loved going out to your Aunt's, on the farm -"
"Oliver, can you just give me the present already?"
"Fine, okay. Here it is." Taking a deep breath, Oliver set it in her lap - and Felicity opened her eyes to the sight of a fluffy black puppy licking her face. She let out a cry of surprise, then in an instant had her arms wrapped around the dog, her face buried in its fur.
"It's a Tibetan Mastiff." Oliver explained, a grin involuntarily tugging at the corners of his lips. "They're great guard dogs - I thought you might feel safer with one around."
"Oh my god, Oliver!" She was able to tear her eyes away from the bundle of fur in her arms long enough to glance at him. "This is - I mean, this is quite possibly the best present I've gotten since my mom got me tickets to comic-con when I was ten, and those actors weren't nearly as cute as this little guy - what's his name? Or her name?"
"His name is Leopold. But the old owner said that you're free to name him whatever you'd like."
Felicity shot him a look. "How could you even think of changing his name? Think about how confused he would be - right, Leopold?" She rubbed the dog's ears, and dissolved into cooing nonsense at him like you would a baby. Oliver was happy to sit and enjoy the view - and he'd be lying if he said he was completely immune to the dog's charms. He was a pretty cute bundle of fluff, after all. After a while, Leopold fell asleep in Felicity's lap and she leaned back in her chair, stroking his head.
"Thank you, Oliver. Seriously. I have no idea how you came up with such a brilliant idea, but I love him."
"I'm glad." Oliver coughed. "It may have taken a little - prompting - from Thea. But -" He added, just as Felicity was getting an 'I knew it' look on her face, "the idea was mine. She just helped the process."
"Well, thank Thea for me." Felicity said with a grin, then looked back down at Leopold. "I should probably get him back to the apartment to get adjusted. See you in the morning?"
"Bright and early." Oliver said, and after she walked out the door with the newest addition to the Smoak family, he sat there for a little while longer. He couldn't remember the last time that seeing someone else's smile had made him so completely, invigoratingly happy.
But then, this was Felicity.