First of all thank you all for the favorites and follows that were received after "Go for the Gold." The idea behind Mementos is that there will be a series of focuses that each piece will about, those focuses will then lead to an AU moment that uses those mementos to tell the story. So in essence, we will return to Felicity's Gold dress at a later date.
I also want to avoid the usual drabble issue is that all the stories become focused on one thing, I want to give a lot of perspectives in this peace, so this piece is about Oliver, but it's done through Diggle, I hope you enjoy.
I do not own these characters, no one does, but I especially don't.
Silent Reading
The only reason John Diggle accepted the assignment of being Oliver Queen's body guard was for overly ridiculous pay. Moira Queen just got her son back after five years and almost a day later that was an attempt on his life, money had no meaning to her as long as her son remained safe. Like the good soldier he was he did his research, the amount of times he was arrested, at one time those arrests usually occur, what alcoholic beverage caused the most incidents (tequila by the way).
He prepared himself for the job of driving around and chauffeuring the prick, keeping him away from paparazzi, and making sure he got home (even if it was the next day after an overnight stay at someone's apartment), and then collecting his paycheck. What he didn't prepare for is that all that research was useless. Within hours, the most notable undead celebrity in Starling City vanished under his watch, and he had to run back with his tail between his legs. However, John Diggle is an observant man and he eventually knew where he would be even if he didn't let OIiver know it, he was either stomping around in his father's old iron factory, or he was stalking Laurel. Once he figured out those locations honing in on Oliver became easy even as multiple people want him dead. Then he saw him throw a butter knife across a ten foot space to knock a combat knife out of the Queen of the Triad's very capable hands. When Oliver finally revealed to him that he was indeed the hood, he had the same reaction everyone else has had when they find out, it explained a lot about him.
The truth was that even though Oliver was a secret vigilante, once one gets to know Oliver Queen you realize pretty quickly that he's on open book. When came back from Queen Consolidated after getting the information on Deadshot's whereabouts from the laptop, John could help but notice that Oliver was smiling. Then after he stared mentioning Felicity whenever he could tell that it wouldn't be long until Felicity Smoak would be joining them in the foundry. John found it pretty amusing when Felicity started claiming to him that she connected with Oliver and could sense his feelings, John just smiled and tried to look surprised, the truth was it didn't take a genius to know how Oliver was feeling.
You could tell by his workouts, if he was using the punching bag, he was mad. Pushups or sit ups, he was thinking, if he was using the salmon ladder or hanging by something he was feeling good. You could tell by his other daily actions, if he was sharpening his arrows he was meditating, if he was meditating he was having visions about his past. If he was sitting silently in the light he wanted to talk about something, if he was sitting in the dark then you needed to stay the fuck away from him.
You could tell by his eating habits, the more concerned he was the less he ate, after missions were completed he would always pig out. You could tell by how he laid on the med table, if he tried to sit up he was feeling pretty good, if he stayed flat something was bothering him. You could tell by his touches, on the shoulder meant he cared. In the chest meant he didn't, hugs although rare meant he was a little overwhelmed.
Reading Oliver wasn't simply on his actions, it was also in his eyes. When Oliver looks at him he looks at him like an older brother, you can tell by his eyes that he trusts what John says, even if he doesn't agree with it. He looks at Roy like a younger brother, he cares but doesn't want to show it, so he usually looks over the top of him. When he looks at Laurel there's guilt and pain, from all the times he feels that he failed her. His favorite expressions he likes to observe is when Oliver is talking to Felicity, because with her there's something you wouldn't expect from someone with the personality of Felicity Smoak, there's fear and nervousness, almost like he doesn't always know what to do with her. Diggle usually just smiles in the background because he the fact that the Hood is scared of someone like Felicity Smoak is highly enjoyable.
Unfortunately where he sees Oliver in his comfort level is when he has the hood on, he stands taller, he glares, and his face is taut and strong. The eyes he shows when staring down an enemy is truly frightening. John knows that one day Oliver will have to give up the hood, his body just won't be able to withstand the pain and anguish. He just hopes that one day Oliver's book will become audible as well.