Title: Who needs a Porsche
Category: Arrow
Genre: Family/Humor/Romance
Ship: Felicity/Oliver, Thea/Roy
Rating: PG
For: wewillbefinetony - Olicity Holidays Fic Exchange
Prompt: "I really don't have a prompt, I'd just like to see some Olicity family fluff on Christmas morning. Maybe going over to Thea and Roy's to open presents?"
Word Count: 3,609
Summary: Felicity joins Oliver, Roy, and a very eager Thea for her first Christmas, and it's one to remember.
Who Needs a Porsche
-1/1-
The frantic knocking at the door was not something Felicity felt was justified. Groaning, she buried her face into her pillow… Or, what she thought was her pillow, until her nose met with solid muscle and naked skin. She cracked one eye open to see that oh, right, she slept over at Oliver's last night. And this was his chest. His very nice chest. A chest worth snuggling with. If that really annoying knocking would just stop already.
A deep chuckle left his chest, and she realized abruptly that she'd said aloud the last part. His lips turned up at the corners and he opened his eyes to sleepy slits. "She's not going to stop."
"Does she have any idea what time it is…?" she complained, squeezing her eyes closed and turning her face down to press against him, nuzzling against warm, naked skin. "Because I don't, but it definitely feels like early o'clock."
"It is, and I don't care," Thea's impatient voice called out. "It's Christmas morning. You two need to get out of bed and come downstairs. I have been waiting a really long time to open presents. I've already let you sleep in. This is your five-minute warning before I come in there and go pa-rum-pa-pum-pum on your asses!" With that, her echoing footsteps could be heard as she left.
Felicity snorted. "She's a morning person, I see."
"She's a Christmas person," Oliver murmured. "She's probably been up for a few hours, waiting for us."
"Then I seriously pity Roy right now…" she mumbled, sleep already beginning to creep back in now that she was snuggled comfortably and there wasn't any noise to keep her awake.
"Much as I'd like to spend the morning right here, we should probably go downstairs. She wasn't kidding about coming back in five minutes."
Sighing, Felicity rolled off of him and snatched up her pillow. "Can't the Jewish girl get a few more hours?"
She could hear the amusement in his voice when he slid up behind her head, his head nuzzled in her shoulder, and answered, "No. Because the Jewish girl has presents under the tree. And besides, didn't you promise Thea you'd join in the Christmas festivities if she read up on Hanukah?"
Frowning, she admitted, "I did. And she took me surprisingly seriously… Fine. I'll get out of bed."
He kissed her neck before letting her go. There were slippers left nearby that he slid his feet into and a warm, plaid housecoat he quickly donned. Felicity watched him as he moved around his bedroom, enjoying the lighthearted, domestic bliss of having an actual day off. Yes, she'd much rather curl up under the covers, but there was something sweet about seeing Oliver smiling as he thought about a Christmas morning with his family. And that's what they were, really.
Much as he and Roy often butted heads, Roy was Thea's boyfriend, and had been for a number of years now. He practically lived in Queen Manor, though Oliver carefully avoided discussing that, mostly because of the very obvious place that Roy was sleeping.
John and Lyla would be joining them for dinner later, too. And Felicity could already imagine the argument over who was going to cut the turkey, which in the end would probably be an impatient Thea wielding a knife and telling them to get out of the way. Her mouth watered a little at the thought of dinner; her mom had sent her a recipe for stuffing and her grandmother's favorite cranberry sauce. Putting together dinner was going to be a joint effort from everyone. Thea wasn't much of a cook, but she had been baking non-stop these last few weeks. There was something about the Christmas holiday that had sparked something in her that had been absent since the Queen's Gambit went down. But it was coming back, and Felicity suspected that was more of what encouraged Oliver's smile than what might lay under the tree.
Pushing out of bed, she shivered as the cool air bit at her all too bare skin, and quickly pulled on her pink plaid house coat; a match for Oliver's, if more feminine. She tied the sash at her waist and tucked her feet into her panda slippers before she dug out a brush and an elastic to tame her hair from the messy chaos it had become overnight.
Oliver waited for her in the doorway, his housecoat open, untied sash ends hanging at his sides. When she finally walked to him, she couldn't help herself, she slid her hands across his stomach and around to his back, hugging him, her head resting lightly on his chest. He was warm and comfortable and oh so nice to cuddle with.
"Morning…"
He kissed the top of her head, his arms wrapping around her, and murmured the same back.
They lingered there, his hand drawing circles on her back, her ear pressed to his steady heart, until she heard the impatient sound of footsteps coming down the hall.
"Finally," Thea exclaimed.
"You know, I wasn't expecting early morning wake-up calls until I had children of my own…" Felicity grumbled.
"Well, consider this preparation for when you eventually pop out my niece or nephew."
Oliver's hand stilled on her back, and Felicity wondered if he was panicking or giving the idea genuine thought.
Deciding not to find out, that was a conversation best discussed privately, she disentangled herself from him and moved toward Thea. "So? What's on the Christmas morning itinerary?"
"First, stockings, then breakfast, which Roy is already making, so I hope you like pancakes, then presents, and after, we're watching 'A Christmas Story.'" She grinned. "Queen family tradition."
"Sounds good to me," Felicity agreed, following her down the stairs.
The warm scent of coffee soon made its appearance and Felicity's mouth watered as she followed it right into the kitchen.
"Sweet baby Jesus, tell me that's ready," she said hopefully, bee-lining it for the pot.
Roy snorted, looking up from where he'd just flipped a blueberry pancake. His mouth was tilted in a familiar, amused smirk. "Have at it, Smoak."
She clapped his shoulder appreciatively as she passed him. "If those pancakes taste half as good as they look, I might shove you under some mistletoe to show you my thanks, Roy."
He laughed under his breath. "Not sure the boss would like that."
Her eyebrow quirked as she poured herself a heavenly hot cup of coffee. "Leather-wearing, mask donning, vigilante boss, or cute but scary and tenaciously smart girlfriend boss?"
He blinked. "Both."
She shrugged, holding her mug up to breathe in her coffee. "Your loss."
"Who's losing?" Oliver wondered as he swept into the kitchen, his housecoat billowing in a way that briefly reminded her of Severus Snape. Felicity laughed to herself as she sipped her coffee.
"What am I missing?" Oliver wondered, looking from her to Roy.
Roy shrugged. "No idea," he dismissed. "You hungry? Bacon's ready and pancakes aren't far behind."
"Sure." He eyed the stack of blueberry pancakes and, grudgingly, admitted, "Not bad."
Felicity rolled her eyes before shifting out of the way of the coffee machine so Oliver could pour himself a mug. Obviously, Thea had prepared for this, as the cups set out were Christmas themed. Felicity admired the cartoonish tree painted on hers before reaching over to tap the Santa hat on Oliver's
He paused before taking a drink to lift the mug up and see, and then shook his head to himself, smiling as he sipped his coffee.
He was relaxed, and she found herself appreciating that more than anything.
Funny how it never really seemed that heroes and vigilantes could actually have real down time. Of course, their last two vacations were interrupted by threats to the city, so she couldn't really say she didn't have a valid reason for thinking that holidays were a no-go. But, at least so far, Christmas appeared to be a day they might actually see through to the end.
Thea swept into the kitchen with a grin and moved over to grab the platter of pancakes. "'City, you wanna grab the bacon?"
"Sure," Felicity answered, pushing off the counter to help.
She hugged the bowl of bacon to her hip and followed Thea into the dining room, where the long table they'd spent a number of family dinners together; many of which were often uncomfortable and tense, at least from where Felicity was sitting. Mrs. Queen wasn't there, however, and she was the main reason Felicity always felt a little uncomfortable at the table. Not because she didn't like Oliver's mom, but because she always felt like she was under a microscope and she was never going to measure up to Moira's high expectations of who deserved her son. It didn't help that Felicity was still his executive assistant, and if that didn't look like the most clichéd thing ever, she wasn't sure what did.
But, thankfully, at least in Felicity's opinion, Moira had decided to spend her Christmas with Walter, who she had been tentatively reconciling with for some time now. She was pretty sure it was a good sign that they were taking a holiday together and, despite the rocky path to get there, she still wished them luck.
The table was already dressed with a platter of fresh fruit, syrup, butter, plates, cutlery, glasses, and a jug of orange juice, so they needed only to put down the food and call the guys in before they could eat.
Thea was positively beaming and Felicity found herself smiling in response. It was nice to see that she wasn't being weighed down either. Between the two Queen siblings, things could be almost too heavy some days. Not that anybody could blame them, their lives hadn't been easy, at least not during these last nine years, starting with Oliver's island nightmare. But today Thea was happy, she was bouncy and excited and she seemed younger than her years, which she absolutely deserved.
Breakfast was rather loud considering the small amount of people gathered. Thea and Oliver were each trying to talk over each other to share their favorite Christmas memories while Roy and Felicity watched, amused, as Thea smacked Oliver's hand away whenever he pointed at her to prove his point each time he brought up something he found particularly great.
"No, that was the year dad brought home that pony you wanted."
"Okay, no, seriously," Thea sighed, "your memory is the worst. I didn't get Speckles until I was eight."
"Yes! And that was the same Christmas!"
"No, it wasn't, because mom bought you that car when I was six! I know because I made you drive me to school every day of first grade."
He opened his mouth to argue and then paused, his eyes turned up in thought.
"The best gift I got was a second-hand N-64," Roy said, leaning over so only Felicity heard him.
She laughed. "I hear you. My mom was a thrift store junkie. I think the most expensive thing I ever got was a computer, and it wasn't even brand new."
He nodded, his lips twitching, and then said, "Speckles..."
Felicity snorted. "Well, if you were going to name a pony anything…"
His eyebrow arched. "Not really a pony person, but if I had one, I think I'd go for something with a little more kick."
"Yeah? Well, now I have to hear what you'd come up with." She waved her fork at him. "And don't pass of something half-assed like 'Midnight.'"
Oliver snapped his fingers, looking triumphant. "I got the Porsche when you got the pony. When you were six, I got the Lexus…"
"Your wealthy side is showing and it's shaming the poor people," Felicity informed him.
He turned to her, grinning. "You want me to buy you a Porsche to make up for it?"
She rolled her eyes. "Ninety percent of my driving is done in either the company car or whatever Digg's driving, it'd be a waste. Well, kind of, I'm sure Digg wouldn't turn down a Porsche…"
"I'll take a Porsche," Roy offered.
Thea elbowed him.
He rolled his eyes. "Like your brother would actually get me a Porsche," he defended.
"You're right, it's not exactly subtle, is it?" Felicity mused. "Then again, you probably won't be driving it through the Glades when you're on patrol… But driving it to and from Verdant would still be a little risky. So it'd mostly just stick around here for the most part. Kind of pointless."
"If I had a Porsche, I'd drive it to the mail box and it'd be worth it," Roy told her, his brows hiked.
She grinned. "If I had a Porsche, I'd drive it around the driveway and it'd be worth it."
Accepting her challenge, he offered, "If I had a Porsche, I'd just turn it on and sit in the driveway for a few hours, and it'd be worth it."
"If I had a Porsche—"
"This is going to go on for a while," Thea sighed, popping another bite of pancake into her mouth. "Okay, just so you both know, no Porsche's for anybody. But, plenty of awesome under the tree. So…." She stood from her seat at the table and gathered up hers and Roy's plate.
"Hey, I wasn't done with that," he complained.
"Yeah, well, you knew the itinerary, it's present time," she answered, walking out of the dining room with him trailing after her.
Felicity smiled. Standing from her seat, she started gathering up the last of the dishes while Oliver carried the butter, syrup and mostly empty juice jug as they made their way into the kitchen. They took their time putting everything away and doing the dishes. Usually, Oliver spent most of his nights at her apartment, and on the rare occasions they had meals at home, they'd do the dishes side by side. She liked that. How normal that was compared to how crazy the rest of their lives could be.
It didn't take long for Thea to hurry them up so they could join her and Roy in the living room, where the tree and presents were waiting.
"Oh! We forgot the stockings!" she exclaimed, before handing them out. "See? This is what happens when you don't follow the schedule."
They took their time going through each item in their stockings, finding a collection of random things tucked inside. There were chocolates and candy canes and a pair of fuzzy socks she was already eager to put on.
And when they were finished, Thea eagerly moved to the tree, ready to hand out each present. It was a flurry of wrapping paper and ribbons as the overflow of presents began to dwindle. One after the other, gifts were handed out, more than Felicity had ever seen before. Admittedly, Hanukah didn't have quite the same properties as Christmas, so the gifts weren't as expensive or as extravagant as what was being done that morning, but she still imagined most Christmases weren't quite as generous.
Roy, despite spending four Christmases with Thea already, still looked shocked by the amount of gifts he'd been given and the pile of stuff he could now call his own. Felicity, on the other hand, despite finding the sheer volume of gifts overwhelming, was not as surprised. Oliver liked to buy things for the people he cared about. He never balked at a price tag and rarely scrimped if it meant he could get something for someone that they wanted or needed. So she wasn't surprised by the jewelry or tech or the silk scarf he bought her, that she was pretty sure was imported from a country she couldn't pronounce.
"You know, you spent eight days showering me with gifts, I'm not sure this was really necessary," Felicity said, leaning against Oliver's side.
"I like giving you things," he answered, squeezing her knee affectionately.
"And I appreciate it, but I don't need all this. Don't get me, it's nice, really nice… I'm pretty sure some of this tech isn't even on the market yet. But I would've been just as happy if we'd spent the morning lying in bed, you know?"
He turned to look at her, a gentle look in his eyes. He quirked his head to the side, studying her, and then wrapped an arm around her and pulled her in close. "I know." He kissed her temple and they settled back against the couch.
Turning into him, she rested a hand on his chest, her head cradled on his shoulder, and watched as Roy passed Thea his gifts for her, which weren't nearly as expensive, but filled her with just as much joy as she peeled back the lopsided wrapping job to find what he'd picked out especially for her. His gifts were heartfelt, they were picked out specifically for Thea, and it was obvious.
Felicity smiled lightly. She liked Roy. She liked him as a person and as a teammate and she was happy that he was happy and loved and had found a place here, in this family and in their tight-knit team. She didn't think there was anyone more deserving than him.
Eventually, all the gifts were opened and piles of wrapping paper were pushed off to the side. Roy and Thea were cuddled up in the middle of the mess, talking in whispers and soft smiles and eyes that never quiet left each other.
Felicity was content to spend the rest of their morning just like that. It was peaceful and quiet and there was a warm family feeling that filled the room. Oliver's fingers stroked through her hair soothingly, lightly tracing the shell of her ear. It'd be a while yet before John and Lyla joined them and she imagined she'd probably fall asleep when Thea put on A Christmas Story. She already heard her mentioning a follow-up of Miracle on 34th Street and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. It was going to be a day of relaxing, of no computer searches or chasing bad guys or hooded heroes calling for justice. The double identities were put away and they were just regular people for a day.
"All right, it's movie time," Thea declared, climbing up from the floor. "Or, maybe clean up time first…" she mused, staring at the various piles of discarded wrapping paper.
"There's one left," Oliver said.
Thea frowned. "No way, I checked, we're empty. Unless Santa's hiding the loot somewhere else this year…"
He shook his head and leaned forward, bringing Felicity with him. "It's for Felicity. It's hanging on one of the branches."
Brow furrowed, Felicity looked up at him, and, only when he gave her a nudge, stood from the couch to make her way over.
Half way there she saw Thea light up, bouncing on her tip toes. Her head whipped toward her brother expectantly, but he refused to meet her hopeful expression, instead watching Felicity's progress with an intensity that made her heart thud in the best possible way.
She didn't see it at first, given how glittery the tree already was. It was the tallest Christmas tree she'd ever seen out of the ones they put up in public parks and lit up for the city to awe at. She was pretty sure Thea had a professional tree dresser come in too, because every bauble and light was in the exact perfect place.
Except one.
There, on a green ribbon, hanging from a branch that was just at eye-level, was something that didn't fit with the silver and purple ornaments that filled every other inch of the tree. Her hand shook as she reached for it, the pine needles tickling her skin. It slid easily into her fingers and free of its hanger.
She stared down at it, somehow that silver band was both the lightest and heaviest thing she'd ever held in her life. She turned to see him, both surprised and somehow not that he had silently moved to stand beside her. He plucked it up from her palm and bent in front of her on one knee, taking her hand in his.
Her breath whooshed out of her.
He stared up at her, that soft, relaxed smile of his that she saw all too rarely. "Felicity…"
It was funny how her name always sounded like so much more when he said it. He didn't say the words, didn't ask the question, at least not in the traditional way. He held the ring poised at her finger and he raised an eyebrow, and she breathed out a shaky, "Are you kidding?" Rolling her eyes at herself, she hurriedly added, "Wait, that's not what I meant. Oh, this is going to suck when I try to retell it…"
"Oh my god, just say 'yes' already," Thea exclaimed excitedly.
"What she said," Felicity mumbled, nodding her head.
Oliver laughed, a warm chuckle from his chest, and slid the ring up her finger before he stood, his forehead bending to meet hers. Her cupped her face, his thumbs stroking her cheeks. "You're sure?"
"Are you?" she wondered, staring up at him searchingly.
He smiled, his gaze steady. "Completely."
She breathed out a sigh of relief, her shoulders falling. "For my first Christmas, it wasn't bad," she joked.
He was laughing when he kissed her; it was the most joyful sound she'd ever heard from him, and she hoped it never stopped.
Despite not wanting to get out of bed that morning, she had to admit, it was completely worth it. A Porsche had nothing on a marriage proposal.
[End.]
Author's Note:Merry Christmas to my Secret Santa gift receiver: wewillbefinetony!
And to all of my amazing fellow Oliciters, happy holidays! Love, Lee.