Chloe

Chloe shuffled out of the room and down the corridor, the floor was cool to the touch which she wasn't enjoying in her just awake status. The smell of the coffee was calling to her though and it was so much more powerful than the feeling of a few cold tiles on her feet.

Seeing Oliver stood holding out a chair for her to sit on made her give him a puzzled look but she wasn't going to complain or disagree with his actions, two gentlemen in one 24 hour period was weird but nice. Once she was sat her hands went towards the full cup containing the longed for liquid but before she could lay her hands on it a pair of socks was placed in front of her. "It'll hide the smell of your feet."

When she looked up at him she couldn't help but smile at the cheeky look on his face, he was teasing her, oh he was asking for trouble but still how could she resist those brown eyes. Shaking her head to pull herself out of the danger of falling into them she grabbed the socks and pulled them on. They at least would stop the cold from the floor from getting to her feet. "Oliver you didn't have to," she said as she finally got hold of the cup and began sipping the wonderful nectar. "I know," her eyes were closed as she heard him respond but she heard the chair opposite pull back and knew he was sitting down on the other side from her. When she opened her eyes she knew he was going to be there looking at her, Bruce's words rang in her ears but she pushed them aside, he dressed up as a giant bat he wasn't exactly all there either was he.

When she did open them she saw he was smiling, she thought he looked like he was far away, "where are you?" Her head tilted to one side as she put down the cup and looked at him intently. When he didn't answer immediately she just watched him taking the chance to look at the way he styled his hair, the way his eyes looked right at that moment, the shape of his lips and the laughter lines around his face. In order to hide her own thoughts from him she grabbed a pastry and began to eat it while still waiting for him to answer.

When he still didn't and he seemed to be looking at her she waved her hand across his face and looked at him, "hello, earth to Oliver. Anyone home?" A laugh escaped her, she couldn't help it, he looked so serious but so spaced out at the same time. "Hmmm? What?" Chloe watched as he seemed to come back into the room with her. "Was it nice?" she asked teasingly. "Was what nice?" His voice was utterly clueless, it was kinda adorable, amongst his other adorable features. "Where ever it was you went."

Again she just watched him loving the way his facial expression changed, "yes it was Sidekick. Next time maybe you'll join me." She instead concentrated on the pastry she was just finishing, "that was so good." Carefully she wiped the crumbs away before pouring another cup of coffee, "I really should get ready and go." Not that she had any place to be today, although since she was in Metropolis she could call into the paper and do some extra work. That never went across wrong with the editor. Her outfit on the other hand probably not the most appropriate thing she could be wearing. "Actually," his voice broke into her thoughts, "I wondered if you'd like to have that date you won today. Me, you, the view?" He swept his hand out to encompass the expanse she could see outside the double windows, "oh I got you some clothes, just in case you didn't want to wear that dress."

She saw the thoughtful expression cross his face again and she was intrigued. "Well technically I don't have to go to work today so I guess I can hang out with you." There was no way she was calling it a date. It would send too many wrong ideas her heart and body's way. Standing in his overlong shirt with nothing else on except her panties and the socks he bought her she made her way over to the doors and opened them out so she could walk out onto the balcony. The air would be refreshing, cooling, calming, even though she felt him move behind her and slip something round her shoulders. "Are you trying to catch cold?" he asked her and she could see the amused look on his face, "or do you just want someone to warm you up?" Was he flirting with her now? She shook her head at him and smiled, "That's for me to know and you to find out," she answered.

Now his look was more serious, "I have something I wanted to ask you, a proposition, before you answer me I just want you to think about it." Her eyes narrowed slightly as she looked at him, "business or personal?"

Oliver

He hadn't actually meant to say that, in fact he wasn't really sure what he meant by it. "Come with me to Star City." And there it was, well at least some of it. He still needed to get around to explaining exactly what he was feeling. "I...we," he caught himself quickly, "need you. We need a guiding voice in the background, someone to keep us in check, to tell us what we need to hear."

Pulling the coat tighter around her shoulders he stepped back inside to get her more coffee and gather his thoughts. "What about my job? How? What? Why?" Maybe she was just as confused as he was about this thing, this chemistry that existed between them. "You'd be working for me, well paid, well looked after. All the gadgets you could dream of and a few you can't." He brought her back the fresh coffee and stayed by her side. "Oliver..."

Watching her profile he took in the way her head was held, the way her hair was slightly tangled but still looked right somehow. "Like I said, think on it. It's a standing offer, when, if you ever want it." Pushing her for her answer right now just seemed wrong, even if he wanted her to say yes and then somehow he could take that as her saying yes to him and he could sweep her off her feet. Literally.

He left her alone for a little while using the time to arrange for lunch and dinner to be delivered, he also made sure to only have important calls diverted to his cell. The more he thought about what he had said the more he understood that he meant it. The team needed Chloe in ways they most likely didn't understand yet. There were things she could do and places she could go that the boys couldn't. She gave them an extra dimension without demanding to be right in the middle of the danger, Chloe could watch over them all and none of them would resent her doing it.

What he wanted to say to her on his own behalf was something corny and stupid, for some reason all he could think of was Mal Reynolds in the movie Serenity when he was talking to Inara, something about the wind. It wasn't really him but he just kept coming back to the meaning behind what had been said.

When she came back into the room she'd pulled on his sweater but he could see the colour on her legs and he figured she was a little cold after standing on the balcony for as long as she had. Picking her up he placed her on the couch and pulled a blanket around her, he could see the surprise on her face but at that point he didn't care. He made her coffee and put on the tv letting it play quietly in the background. "See the thing is," he said finally sitting next to her, "normally I wouldn't ask the cousin of an ex girlfriend these kind of things but with you Chloe..." Oliver knew he was pulling the same kind of face he had the first time she'd appeared in the Clocktower and told him she knew all about his green leather fetish. "I want you to come with me to Star City. I want to be with you." Well there it was out in the open. "You are," he paused trying to think of all the words he could use to describe her. "Amazing." For once Oliver really was lost for words when it came to her.