For FF#11 "Who are you?" - This was inspired by the not one – but two - wonderfully goofy smiles Oliver had on his face in the Season Three preview.
Who Are You?
It wasn't like she hadn't notice a change in him. Slowly, as things had settled down he'd become different, less intense, more communicative, and well, if she hadn't know better - even flirty.
There was the time when he gently flipped her ponytail after she leaned across him to get a better look at her second monitor. And the time he took her out for coffee when they were the last ones in the foundry at 5:30 in the morning; insisting she get two donuts instead of one when she couldn't decide between the flavors.
And then there was his quiet but unmistakable defense of her workout clothes when Roy had given her crap about wearing a pink floral tank top. Oliver had glared at the younger man and said, "It looks fine from where I'm standing." Roy had let out a knowing chuckle and Felicity had blushed and shot Oliver a startled look. He had just shrugged. "You should be able to wear what you want."
But today it was like her normal, brooding hero had been replaced with an alternate universe version of himself - the playful happy version.
She pushed back from her monitors. "I promise I'll get back to this," she said looking over at him. He was mending a spot that had come undone on his hood. "I just need to look at something else for a minute."
He looked up at her for a moment and then grinned. It was a grin that could have melted her toe nail polish. Then he put down the suit, tugged off his shirt, and said. "Well…since you asked."
She let out a startled giggle as he approached the salmon ladder and without ceremony quickly hauled himself to the top. Once there he looked down at her and winked. "Better?"
Nodding, she tried to sound calm as she said, "Better than ones and zeroes? Sure."
He knocked out a set of pull ups and then paused, hanging from the bar. "You know, we've been in this basement for four hours now, maybe it's time to actually go outside and do something."
She couldn't have been more surprised if he'd suggested trading in his green leather for a clown costume. "Who are you?" she asked, feeling her cheeks heat as she laughed.
He hopped down and then shrugged. "Maybe I'm just a guy who wants to see his hard-working Girl Friday get an evening off now and then."
Raising an eyebrow as he came toward her she said. "And are you taking this evening off as well?"
"Maybe," he said walking around to lean against the table. He was so close that the rough fabric of his pants brushed against her forearm. She swallowed as he folded his arms across his chest. "I could be talked into it. What would you do with your evening?"
She shrugged, leaning back in her chair a little. "The beach, or a pool maybe, if I could find one that was still open."
His eyes moved over her slowly and she had the suspicion that he was picturing her in a swimsuit- and he clearly liked the idea. "I could live with that," he replied.
Was he seriously suggesting they go to the beach? She had to fight the urge to check his temperature or even do a quick blood workup just to make sure there wasn't some sort of foreign agent in his system.
Before she could respond, a notice started flashing on her other monitor and she grumbled. "Looks like no beach for us," she said, not bothering to hide the disappointment in her voice. She slid her chair over and began typing, bringing up the information that was streaming in from her connection to the SCPD.
"What is it?" he asked leaning over her to look, and dropping one large warm hand on her shoulder in the process.
"Jewelry store robbery," she told him. "Second one this week."
As he read the information she was distracted by the circles his thumb was rubbing against the bare skin of her upper arm. It felt ridiculously good. He sighed and stepped back. "I'll get changed. Call Digg and Roy, I might need a little backup."
"On it," she promised, starting to type in the commands that would dial both of their numbers.
He moved toward bow and then stopped turning toward her. "Just out of curiosity what color is your swimsuit?"
She let out a startled laugh. "The one I usually wear is bright blue with white polka dots – it has kind of a fifties pin-up girl vibe."
He looked up at the ceiling shaking his head, and when he looked back at her that mischievous grin was back. "I'd definitely like to see that."
"Uh…yeah…well, I guess, I mean there's a few weeks of summer left and I suppose I could…well we could," she realized she was babbling and forced herself to close her mouth. Taking a deep breath she squared her shoulders. "Aren't you supposed to be stopping a burglary?"
He laughed – a full on real laugh. It was something she wasn't sure she'd ever heard come out of him before. "Thanks for keeping me on track," he said, turning to go change.
She shook her head as he walked away. Whatever version of Oliver this was – she certainly liked it.
