This little known fact about koalas legitimately upsets me on a regular basis. So. Yeah, this happened.
Oliver had some choice words he'd be sharing with the principal at his daughter's school.
Some very stern, choice words.
Honestly, at this point, he was seriously considering pulling on the hood and just stalking over there. And all because of a koala.
It had been over an hour since Gaby had gotten home, looking downcast and upset. When Oliver had asked her what was wrong, she'd looked up at him, lip wobbling, and then promptly burst into tears. She'd been inconsolable ever since.
From what he'd been able to gather, her second-grade trip to the zoo had gone fine until they'd reached the koalas.
Apparently, and he'd never actually known this, koalas' teeth stopped growing once they reached a certain age, little by little wearing down until all koalas simply died of starvation, no longer able to chew their food. A fact that had left his seven year old daughter extremely upset.
He had to give it to Gaby. She'd held it together long enough to get home, but now he was holding his sobbing little girl, and there was absolutely nothing he could say to make it better. The only thing he could do was sit with her, listening to her cry, and draft the angry letter to the school management in his head. He tried his best to calm her down, whispering soothing words, and rubbing his hand down her back, but ultimately, he just had to wait until the crying died down, and she finally fell silent, a shuddering breath escaping her every few minutes.
When he thought enough time had gone by and she was calm enough, he spoke. "Hey, Gaby, sweetheart, look at me," he said, pulling away and looking down at her. They were sitting on her bed, Gaby curled up in his lap, and she sniffled, looking up with her tear-streaked face, blue eyes shining. Oliver rubbed his thumb gently under her eyes, wiping away the tears. The front of his shirt was damp, but he ignored it.
"I'm sorry about the koalas." Gaby's lip trembled again. "Sometimes, things just happen, and we can't control them, there's nothing we can do." Unfortunately, the way Oliver lived his life, he knew this more than most.
"But it's not just that… It's not fair, Daddy. They didn't even do anything. They didn't get sick, or get eaten, they just die!" She sucked in another breath, face crumpling once again, and Oliver pulled her close again, looking to the ceiling and rocking her gently.
"I know, sweetheart, I know…"
Honestly, as upset as he was for her, Oliver had to hold back a smile at the fact that Gaby wouldn't have minded if the koalas got eaten or died some other way. It wasn't about death, or nature. It was about the pointlessness of it. The injustice. And part of Oliver was proud that his daughter was so affected by it.
But there was still nothing he could do for her, other than let her cry it out, which left him feeling completely helpless.
Another twenty minutes and Gaby had cried herself to sleep. It was early for her to be going to bed, and she hadn't had supper, but he tucked her in nonetheless. If she got up later, he'd scrounge something up, but right then, she needed the comfort of sleep more than anything else. He smoothed her comforter down, looking around the room with a sigh. He grabbed a few of the stuffed animals strewn across the floor, putting them back in the basket where they belonged. He spotted a stuffed koala and grabbed it, shoving it into the back of Gaby's closet before he headed out, turning off the light and closing the door halfway.
Oliver headed to the kitchen, setting a pot of coffee to boil and pulled out a mug. He checked the clock on the kitchen wall and pulled out a second one. Sure enough, just as the coffee was ready and he poured his own cup, he heard the front door open.
"Oliver?" he heard Felicity's voice call out.
"In the kitchen!" he called back, and Felicity appeared in the doorway a moment later.
"Oooh, coffee. You know just how to treat a girl."
Oliver huffed out a short laugh as he raised his mug, taking a sip and moved to sit down at the kitchen table.
"What's wrong?" Felicity asked, sitting across from him with her own cup.
It still amazed him, eight years into their marriage, that she could tell immediately when something was bothering him, even when he thought he wasn't letting on at all.
Oliver sighed. "Let's just say I'm glad the nanny called in sick today and I was home."
Felicity frowned. "What happened? Is Gaby okay? Did something happen on the trip?"
"Well, apparently, all koalas die of starvation because their teeth stop growing past a certain age." Oliver recounted. Felicity's eyes widened.
"What? That's horrible, how did I not know that?! I love koalas!" She seemed just as distraught over it as their daughter.
Oliver groaned. "Please, not you too. It was bad enough with Gaby."
Realization seemed to hit her. "Oh, no…" Felicity knew their daughter well enough to know how that went over.
"She cried for over an hour. She's sleeping now."
Felicity nodded, taking a sip of her coffee. "You look tired."
Oliver sat back in his chair, trying to figure out how to phrase what he was feeling. Words were a big thing with him and Felicity. Over time, she had taught him that he couldn't keep things bottled up – that he needed to let someone in, and they'd worked together on helping him talk through his problems, on letting her in. He had become so used to it, that he automatically felt a need to tell her about the things he worried about, even if they weren't that important.
"I just- I promised myself, when Gaby was born, that I would do everything I could to protect her. And I know I can't keep her locked away from the world, because as much as I don't want her to get hurt, I also want her to live… But then something like this happens… and it's completely ridiculous, I mean, koalas?" he shook his head in disbelief, and Felicity laughed.
"How on earth can I protect her from koalas dying of starvation? And obviously, the answer is that I can't, not as Green Arrow, and not as her dad, but I couldn't even comfort her at all, because it is stupid and unfair. It is literally one of the dumbest things I've ever heard and it just doesn't make any sense!" He gripped his mug tightly, looking down into the dark brown liquid.
Felicity spoke up softly. "And we thought we had fighting injustice down to a science, huh?"
Oliver snorted, looking up. Felicity was reaching across the table, hand held open, and he leaned forward, taking it in his own, rubbing his thumb across her knuckles.
"You know, though, it's really kind of adorable that she got so upset about it."
Oliver smiled, nodding. "I almost laughed when she explained it to me."
"She's a lot like you, you know."
Oliver raised an eyebrow. "You think it's adorable that I get upset about criminals in my city?"
Felicity laughed. "Not adorable, exactly… But that sense of justice she has, she gets that from you."
"Well, the empathy she definitely gets from you. You were practically ready to start crying about the koalas yourself."
"You know, I'm not entirely sure I won't?" Felicity said, wrinkling her nose. "I love koalas, and that's just some really upsetting information. Can't zoologists, like, give them dentures or something?"
Oliver laughed. "Come here," he said, pulling lightly on her hand. Felicity stood and walked around the table, sitting down in his lap. Oliver put his arm around her waist, and leaned up, kissing her lightly.
"Mommy?"
A small voice came from the kitchen doorway and Oliver looked over to see Gaby, looking tired, but not crying anymore. He quickly turned his head towards Felicity, whispering in her ear, "Don't mention the koalas, don't mention the koalas…"
Felicity made small noise and he caught her biting her lip to keep from laughing as she stood.
"Hey Gabs, what's up, you hungry?"
"Misdirection, excellent tactic…" he muttered under his breath. This time Felicity did laugh, grabbing a frying pan from one of the cupboards.
Gaby nodded.
"Okay, how about I make all of us some scrambled eggs, and then we can watch a movie?"
Gaby perked up, practically skipping to the table. "Okay!" she exclaimed, koalas forgotten. For now.
Felicity rolled her eyes towards Oliver. He just smiled. He got up to grab some eggs from the fridge, moving to stand behind his wife, wrapping his arms around her waist, and resting his chin on her shoulder as she cracked them into a bowl.
"New rule," he said softly so Gaby wouldn't hear. "We don't talk about the koalas. Deal?"
Felicity smiled, turning her head to kiss his nose. "Deal."