A/N: Set after Chapter 32: Taking it Slow.

"Are you ok?" John asked as he approached the Thanagarian on monitor duty.

"I suppose," Shayera looked up at him. "Any particular reason why you're concerned?"

John shrugged and leaned against the console. "You just look a bit stiff that's all."

John was observant enough to see that Shayera wasn't exactly in prime condition. She did a pretty good job of acting like she was fine but she didn't hide the winces of pain she made if she moved in the wrong way well enough.

After a moment, she admitted, "My back hurts but it's nothing serious."

"You should take better care of yourself more. You don't know how to relax very well."

"And what makes you think you think I'm not doing that?" Shayera retorted

"Injured people don't go to sleep sitting up do they?" John gave her a sly smirk and she rolled her eyes.

"There's a lot of work to be done and it has me working late hours. I've developed the particularly unfortunate habit of falling asleep at this station."

"Monitor duty shifts are important and all but they're not worth screwing your back up for," John replied.

"I think you're taking the state of my condition way out of proportion. You're making me sound like I'm grievously in danger of dying if I move around too much."

"You do have a bed up here in the Watchtower you know. You don't have to sleep at the monitor station."

"Someone has to keep an eye out for trouble."

The way Shayera was brushing off his concerns in such a nonchalant way was starting to irritate John. "You do realize that we have six other people that can do monitor duty. right? You tend to pull monitor duty shifts the most. You don't always need to watch over the Earth. You can relax Sha...Hawkgirl."

"The others up here are asleep John. You don't have to worry," she smirked at him.

John kissed her cheek, "Go relax Shay."

"Has it cleared up yet Shayera?" John asked as the door to her room opened.

Shayera jumped slightly, "Jeez John, please don't tell me you've been waiting outside my room just so you could annoy me."

Clearly Shayera had just had a shower judging by her damp hair.

Contrary to what Shayera thought though, John actually had a better excuse for waiting outside. "Actually I was meaning to ask you..." He trailed off and swallowed, hoping what he was going to say wasn't too outrageous. "Would you be ok with me giving you a back massage?"

Shayera blinked at him a few times before she seemed to register what John had just proposed and honestly the look of bewilderment on her face was priceless. "Excuse me?"

"A back massage. Cause you know…" John waved his hands around vaguely, suddenly trying not to make eye contact. "It wouldn't hurt."

John heard someone coming down the corridor then so he just grabbed Shayera by the hand and dragged her away so that they wouldn't just be found staring at each other dumbly. They got to his room, where John had everything set up, the door slid closed behind them after they entered.

Shayera glanced around the room with suspicion, paying particular attention to the bottle beside the bed.

"It's just oil that's all."

"Your proposal is still rather intimate considering."

Shayera was still looking remarkably awkward about all of this and John could clearly see that if he didn't do something to settle her doubts, his proposal was going to get nowhere.

"Look," John forced her to make eye contact with him. "I'm sorry I just kind of blurted this out of the blue without giving you much warning. I promise you I have no ulterior motives for this but if you're uncomfortable, feel free to leave," he paused. He took her not immediately heading to the door as a positive sign. "I'll ask again. Can I give you a back massage?"

Shayera looked at him pensively for a few moments, some sort of emotion churning in her eyes before she sighed and took her helmet off. She placed it on the nightstand and laid face-down on the bed, shifting until she was comfortable. She looked over her shoulder, "Are you going to massage my back or what?"

John poured a small amount of oil into his palms and began to rub them together for a minute. "Let me know if things start getting uncomfortable or painful," John said. "I've never done this before."

Before Shayera knew it, John was straddling her body just under her lower back, the Green Lantern's knees squeezing her sides.

"Just what do you think you're doing Lantern?" Shayera scowled as she turned her head and tried to sit up slightly.

"I know this is extremely thrilling for you," John sarcastically said as he gently pressed Shayera back down to the bed. "But try to contain your excitement and relax. I have work to do."

Silence was his only reply. Shayera looked remarkably bored now but when John started rubbing the oil in, he was almost taken back by how tense she actually was.

"Damn Shay, you're stiff. What the hell have you been doing?"

"Fighting bad guys seven days a week with no day off doesn't exactly do me wonders," she muttered.

That made sense but John had a feeling it was also partially because she was unused to having someone being so close to her like this. Shayera certainly didn't seem like the type to let just anyone even touch her never mind letting herself be given something as intimate as a massage. It made John feel quite proud that Shayera had let him be an exception.

"Is the pressure ok still?"

Shayera's initial response was cut off by a deep grunt echoing from her throat as John's palms pressed between her shoulder blades. "It's...ugh...fine."

John laid his palms at the base of Shayera's back and skimmed them up in gliding strokes right up to her neck before lightly bringing them back down the sides to start again, each time with slightly more pressure.

After a few minutes, John switched to a different style. This time, using his fingertips and palms, he began to apply smaller, circular strokes and he smirked as Shayera let out a few appreciative murmurs. She was still staring in the direction of the wall but John was glad to see she looked more tired than bored.

He was careful to avoid putting too much pressure at the base of her wings. John could only imagine how much pain he could accidentally inflict.

"I must say, you're doing a pretty good job John for never doing this before."

"Good to hear."

Shayera glanced at him and gave him a small smile before looking away again.

John felt great satisfaction rush through him as he felt the tension slowly seep out of Shayera's back and by the time he moved onto the last thing he planned to do, he could feel how slack the muscles were.

Balling his hands into loose fists, he gently patted them across her back in repetitive motions like he was beating the fatigue out of her and as he got near the shoulder area, he realized that Shayera had slipped off into sleep at some point when he'd been focused on other things.

There was an expression of absolute bliss on her face that was usually absent and John felt pleased that he'd been able to relax her that much.

He patted her back a few more times before he stopped and draped a blanket over her. His arms were tired now but he felt it had been worth the effort. When he made his way to the door however, he heard a muffled "hey," which made John turn back towards the bed.

Shayera was looking at him rather sleepily, her emerald eyes half open as she mumbled, "Sorry I fell asleep."

He smiled at her, "No problem." He walked back towards her and hesitated before stroking a hand through Shayera's hair.

"Thanks," Shayera quietly said, blinking at him slowly.

"You're welcome. Go back to sleep."

Shayera snuggled into the pillow, "Not without you."

John paused. Shayera hadn't wanted to share a bed with him yet. Perhaps this meant she was getting more comfortable with them being a thing.

"Get over here or else I'll kick your ass," Shayera mumbled into the pillow

John simply chuckled as he laid next to her and wrapped an arm around her waist, "I'm sure you would." He relaxed and closed his eyes.

Before he knew it, John felt a weight shift on top of him and a pair of soft lips press firmly into his. He opened his eyes to see Shayera's emerald eyes staring at his with immense warmth and light.

"Your body is tense. Like you said yourself, you should take care of yourself," she whispered. "You don't know how to relax very well. Do you?"

"I suppose that's one thing we have in common," John whispered back as he pulled Shayera in for another kiss.