Vierde
Dinah didn't knock before entering the apartment, she had a key for a reason. The place wasn't as much of a disaster as one would assume. Yes, there were empty pizza boxes around, but at least they were only in the kitchen. The lack of dishes was nice, even if it was only because Roy couldn't cook and so didn't dirty any, and she showed her appreciation for that fact by placing a small brown bag on the counter.
"Roy?" upon the lack of answer she headed to his bedroom, opening the door and entering without bothering to be quieter. "Get up, it's noon."
"Shit Dinah," Roy sat up fairly quickly, he'd always had a fast reaction time, "I just got home at 2 am you know."
"Not my problem kiddo," she said wryly, "I'm taking you out into the world of the living. We'll get some food into that isn't pizza or beer."
"Dinah," Roy was awake for real now, scratching at his head, "you'll never manage the no beer part."
Glaring slightly she picked up a pair of jeans and threw them at him. "And, because one of us has to be an adult we're doing you're laundry too."
Roy stood, tugging the jeans on and rolling his eyes. "And by we you mean me."
"Naturally," she was smiling now, something Roy appreciated, "you've got mail, by the way."
That got his attention. Dinah was amused to see him haul a plain red shirt on with much more gusto than necessary. "Any postcards?" he demanded, anxious.
"Yeah actually, does this have anything to do with why you asked me about Paris last time we talked on the phone?"
"Everything," he said, pulling on socks, "what city?"
"Amsterdam," she said, "why?"
"Because," he muttered, heading to the living room, "it doesn't make any sense."
"What doesn't?" Dinah demanded, following behind and Roy made an aggravated sound as he went through the motions of making coffee, grinning briefly at bag of coffee Dinah had brought with her.
"The city order," he explained, "Paris, St. Petersburg, Geneva and now Amsterdam. There's no relation other than being in Europe, or at least foreign if you want to be picky and say St. Petersburg is in Eurasia."
"Who are they from?" it was a valid question, yes, but Roy felt suddenly embarrassed by it, and that lead to him being a little pissed by it.
"Technically," he said darkly, "I don't know."
Dinah raised an eyebrow, leaning against the counter, "technically? Isn't it signed?"
"No," Roy admitted, "but," he paused, "Wally."
That caught Dinah by surprise and she stood up straight. "Wally? Roy I know y-"
"I know Wally," Roy whirled around as he spoke, agitation obvious from the way he held the coffee filter as if he were trying to murder it, "I know his writing and I know him."
"You do," Dinah admitted after a moment, "I know you do."
"Should we intervene?" Oliver and Dinah had never, not once, claimed they were parent material. Dinah was mature enough, sure, but she couldn't cook, which would have been okay but neither could Oliver, and her temper wasn't exactly negligible. Likewise Oliver was impulsive, immature and strong headed.
Now they were hovering outside of Roy's door, ears all but pressed against the wood trying to find out who he'd snuck in.
"It could be a girl," Dinah wasn't opposed to Roy bringing home girls, he was seventeen and a healthy young boy, but she knew, on a basic level, intervention was expected. At the very least she had to tell him about the troubles with teen pregnancies and offer to buy him condoms if he was too embarrassed. Oliver could explain lubricant.
"So yes," Ollie sounded resigned, and after a moment they stood straight up. Giving each other a long hard look they nodded in agreement and Oliver knocked. "Roy," he said as firmly as possible, "we're coming in."
It was alarmingly anticlimactic.
Roy was, as expected, sitting on his bed looking annoyed at the whole thing. What was unexpected was the fact that he was fully dressed, though he'd obviously changed because his hair was wet, and there was not a girl in sight. Instead, sitting on a chair in the corner not far from the bed was another boy, also fully dressed and with wet hair.
The wasn't anyone they knew though. He was younger than Roy with wide green eyes and hair just as red as the older boy. He was also dressed in Roy's clothing, the pants too big covering all the way down to his bare toes and the arms of his shirt hanging over his hands, the shoulder slipping slightly.
"I wasn't prepared for boys," Ollie hissed to Dinah, "not that I care but still, didn't see it coming."
Dinah couldn't fault him for that. "Hello," she said to the boy, "you must be Roy's uh," she didn't quite know what to call him.
"He's fourteen," was Roy's dark reply, "so friend."
"Good choice," Oliver replied helpfully and the fourteen year old flushed bright red.
"I should go Roy, I don't know where aunt Iris is but I'm sure she'll be along and her apartment has an awning so I'll be fine and thanks for the clothing I was soaking I'll get them back to you later," he spoke in a rush, not pausing to take a breath and Roy, expression turned not quite so mutinous as he looked at the boy and rolled his eyes.
"Sit down Wally," he ordered, "you're not going anywhere."
"He's not?" Oliver was more confused then objecting.
"I'm not?" Wally was mildly alarmed but obviously pleased.
"No and no," that wasn't Roy at all actually, but rather Dinah, who may not claim to be maternal, but was more than a decent enough person that sending fourteen year olds out into the middle of a tropical storm at almost one am on a Friday night offended her deeply. That was just asking for trouble, or a cold. Or both. "Wally we'll make you up a bed here in Roy's room or in the living room if you prefer and I'll call your aunt to explain the situation."
"Oh uh," Wally looked a little guiltily at Dinah and Olive and then Roy, digging his bare toes into the rug. "You don't have to bother aunt Iris, she wasn't exactly expecting me."
Oliver, catching on quickly to the Obligatory Parental Moment, gave the nervous boy a smile. "Then we'll have to call your folks and make sure they know you haven't been kidnapped."
"Don't bother," Roy was back to glaring sullenly at Oliver, Dinah and every air particle in the room, "I had to sneak out so I could go get Wally from track practise."
"At ten pm?"
"He'd been waiting since four," was the sour reply and Wally gave him a mildly angry glare.
"Don't be like that Roy, they're just busy and-"
"Don't Wally," Roy said seriously.
"No, you don't, Roy," Wally wasn't as foreboding as Roy, but the hurt tone certainly shut the older teen up.
"Fine," Dinah was half sure she should tell Roy not to grind his teeth but it seemed unnecessary at the moment, and she was a little too charmed at how Wally had the Navajo teen wrapped around one skinny pinky, and a little too angry at the boy's parents to chide anyone properly.
"Alright," Oliver was at least trying to diffuse the situation, thankfully lacking Dinah's sense of outrage pertaining to that particular topic. "Well go I'll set up the couch, how about it?"
"I'll take the floor, Wally can have my bed," Roy's offer seemed to surprise even him, and Wally's ire evaporated quicker than morning dew.
"You don't have to do that Roy," he said, trying to beat back a smile, "I can deal with the couch." That argument lasted about five minutes with Roy the victor in the end. Shaking their heads Oliver and Dinah exited quietly.
"That Wally kid is cute," Oliver mused, and Dinah was more than forced to agree when she went to wake the boys up the next morning only to find the smaller redhead curled up on the floor with Roy, his head tucked under Roy's chin, sleeping soundly.
"Since you know him so well, are the cities really random?"
Sighing Roy shook his head, going to run a hand through his hair only to realize he was still holding the filter. "No, Wally is a little spastic but he's methodical when he wants to be, science nerd thing I think."
"Paris, St. Petersburg, Geneva, Amsterdam, in that order?" she asked, and when she nodded she hummed in thought.
"Maybe it's in the message? He leaves notes right?"
Nodding Roy picked the postcard up from the top of the mail pile, reading it once to himself before passing it to her.
Roy,
God, I miss you. This city reminds me of all the ways we've fucked ourselves over, it's like salt in a wound. I messed up, I know.
I always told you my only talents were science and running.
"Anything?" she asked and Roy shook his head, lips pressed tight as he turned back so he could finish the coffee. She watched him finish up, noting the tenseness of his back and sighed to herself, coming up to wrap him in a hug. "We'll figure it out Roy," she said.
Roy didn't try and shoot down her wishful thinking nor did he try and agree, but she thought he relaxed slightly into her hug, and for now that was enough.
