Ardor
By Cortexikid
Chapter 3: Of Tattoos, Cartoons, and Ridiculously Difficult Songs
A/N: Wow, the prompts are flying in :O Keep them coming! If there's anything you'd like to see, put in your requests either via Tumblr (my username is octoberobserver) or down below :) Enjoy!
Prompt from msnoahshaw – "You have a tattoo?"
"You have got to be kidding."
Oliver Queen turned to her, eyebrows raised in surprise, an almost scandalized expression on his face.
"Is that judgement I'm hearing?"
"Yes."
His mouth dropped open, rushing to defend himself, when she held up her hand.
"I mean, don't get me wrong…tattoos can be…sexy. Your ones are very—" she broke off, with a shake of her head, before continuing, "tattoos can be incredibly artistic, and a celebration of the human body. I'm all for that. But really, Oliver, Johnny Bravo?" Felicity winced, her eyes squinting behind her brown-rimmed glasses.
"On his ass," Diggle piped up helpfully, a shit-eating grin on his face at his friend's embarrassing youth decisions.
"I didn't actually get it," Oliver rolled his eyes, turning away to hide the fact that a blush was steadily rising to his cheeks.
The cheeks on his face! Not the…other kind.
"But you considered it," Felicity deadpanned as Roy snorted.
"It was Tommy's idea…he was obsessed with the cartoon when we were kids. Which probably explains why he got slapped by a lot of girls in Middle School…And we were drunk," Oliver shrugged, picking up another arrow to sharpen.
"Been there," the younger man murmured almost to himself.
"Why, does young Mister Harper have an embarrassing tattoo?" Felicity asked in a faux-English accent, swirling around in her chair to tilt her head at him, her interest peaked.
Roy blanched for a second, the thought of needles making him shiver, before he forced a smirk, "and mar this," he responded, pointing up and down his body, "forever? Hell no. I have done some stupid things drunk though…"
"And sober," Oliver quipped, ignoring the glare he got in reply.
"What about you, Felicity?" Diggle leaned on the back of her chair, smirking down at her with a knowing glint in his eye, his voice teasing, "you got any tattoos?"
The I.T. Genius narrowed her eyes at him, remaining silent.
Oliver and Roy exchanged a glance.
"No way, blondie…" the younger man whistled lowly, as Oliver crossed the room to stand in front of her, before he could stop himself, blurting:
"You've got a tattoo? Where?!"
Felicity heaved a sigh, punching Digg's shoulder, who chuckled loudly, looking all-too pleased with himself.
"I've got two, actually," she murmured as she stood up, kicking off her heels, shrinking significantly in height.
Oliver seemed frozen in place, starring down at her as she grabbed hold of her ankle and pointed her left foot in his direction.
To his surprise, he saw the words "Dream Big" etched in fancy cursive across her instep.
"How have I never noticed that before?" he gaped.
"I don't know Oliver, do you usually spend a lot of time studying women's feet?" she asked as she lowered her foot, making no movement to put back on her shoes, instead heaving a deep sigh.
"Oh I'm so implementing No Shoes Saturday," she breathed, her eyes falling closed as she basked in the relief of ridding herself of her heels earlier than normal.
Oliver's eyes travelled across her face, drinking in her momentary blissful expression, a warmth rising in his chest at such a sight. After a moment, something occurred to him:
"I thought you didn't like needles?"
"I don't," she answered, her eyes still closed, "I really don't. But, I've conquered the fear with a stiff drink. Or five. They both mean something to me…so getting them just felt…right," she sighed before shrugging.
"What's the other tattoo?" Oliver asked, the words erupting from his mouth.
Maybe she really was starting to rub off on him.
He winced at he thought those words, a very Not Safe For Work image accompanying them in his mind. Yep. She was most definitely rubbing off on him…
Felicity's eyes darted open, a little wild, before she broke eye contact altogether, turning a little away from him, muttering something under her breath.
"What was that?" he asked, stepping a little closer, unadulterated curiosity ensnaring him.
"Uh…first line of html code I ever wrote," she mumbled, still avoiding his gaze.
Oliver let her words sink in, having a feeling that she wasn't being completely honest with him.
He could feel Digg's eyes on them. Oliver turned towards him, aware that he clearly knew something that Oliver didn't, half-covering an enigmatic smile with his hand, but opting to remain silent, his eyes still sparkling with mirth at their friend's obvious embarrassment.
That just fuelled the vigilante's curiosity more.
"Where is it?" he felt compelled to ask, not able to catch her eye, but was rewarded with an even deeper flush of red spreading up her neck and colouring her face, she biting her lip and nodding, as if mentally deciding something, before meeting his gaze.
"I…can't show you," she replied, breaking eye contact again, opting to glance towards Roy.
"Why?" Roy asked, looking nearly as curious as Oliver felt.
"It's…" she turned her head to Diggle, a look of helplessness mixed in with her evident annoyance that he seemed to be enjoying this so much.
"Let's just say, it's in a…sensitive place," he came to her aid finally, although looking no less sympathetic at her plight.
Oliver's heart skipped a beat at the implication. Trying not to let the spike of something that felt a lot like jealousy show on his face, he cleared his throat, and mentally willed his voice not to crack:
"Have you seen it?"
Diggle snorted, "hell no! But, you know how loose Felicity's lips can get when Lyla supplies her with that red wine from Mario's. I just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time while they were bonding by sharing private stories…"
"Eavesdropping, more like," Felicity grumbled.
"Hey, it's not my fault you guys left the baby-monitor on, and I happened to hear everything when feeding my hungry son in the next room," Diggle smirked, holding his hands up in surrender.
Felicity huffed, and with a roll of her eyes, collapsed back down on her chair, stretching her legs out in front of her, apparently ending that line of questioning.
Oliver found that he couldn't take his eyes off her feet, he trailing over the words on her skin.
Dream Big.
Well, she certainly did that.
And lived big too…
Roy, apparently having lost interest when it came clear she wasn't divulging anymore, went back to the dummy, as Diggle, with a wink to Oliver, turned on his heel and walked across their new lair, to where his guns were displayed.
After a moment of silence, Felicity tapping her nails on her desk, and swinging her legs back and forth, (the movement incredibly distracting to Oliver who was still transfixed by the blotting of ink on her skin) she suddenly spoke up:
"You can stand there all day, Oliver. I'm not going to show you my other tattoo…so, you might as well go look up binary online and use your imagination," she finished, turning her chair away from him completely, facing her computers again.
"I thought you said it was the first line of html code you ever wrote?" he asked, his voice tinged with faux-innocence as he caught her in a lie.
He saw her shoulders tense at his words, a no doubt smart comment about him knowing the difference between html and binary, on the tip of her tongue.
But before she could retort, he decided to let the topic drop, for now. Not willing to admit to himself, that the thought of what it might actually be, and exactly where on her body, would likely haunt his dreams for many years to come…
"So, tattoos. What else you hiding, Ms. Smoak?" his tone light, as he stepped around her chair, leaning against the desk, his head tilted down at her, "anything you'd like to share?"
Felicity chanced a glance up at him, entertaining the idea of reminding him that he was the king of hiding secrets, but upon seeing the almost mirthful expression on his face, decided to play along, ever grateful for the lighter moments they had been sharing more of lately, and the subject of tattoos finally cast aside.
She had had a feeling it would eventually come back to bite her on the ass (or someplace else altogether) even before she was in the chair, but once her eyes landed on the picture of a small, slender arrow…her decision was made.
I mean, it wasn't like he'd ever see it, right?
Another blush rose on her cheeks at that thought.
He shifted a little against her desk as he waited on her reply, catching her attention and pushing her thoughts away from the well-worn fantasies stored in the back of her mind. Her eyes locked with his as she fought to summon something, anything to reply with, before a rare memory of her childhood made her smile gently.
"Well…Tommy wasn't the only one that had an obsession with cartoons as a kid."
Oliver's eyebrows raised, interest peaked.
"Oh really? What was your favourite?"
"Animaniacs…" she trailed off nonchalantly, before shaking her head at the ridiculousness she was about to admit: "I can sing all of the Nations of the World song..."
She had completely expected for that reference to fly over his head, like many before had, but was shocked at his response.
"You're lying."
She snorted, swivelling around to fully face him.
"Why the hell would I lie about that?!"
Oliver shrugged, his arms folding across his chest, his eyes challenging.
"Prove it then."
She gaped at him, wondering how two twenty-something-year-olds who fought serious crime on the daily, could possibly get into such a discussion.
At her silence, the vigilante quirked an eyebrow.
"Seriously?" she asked, "what are you, twelve?"
"Hey, you're the one that apparently knows all the words to a kid's song…" he grinned, a rare laugh escaping his throat.
Felicity's heart lurched at the sound. It was always a treat to hear him laugh. Even if it was at her expense…
"Kid's song my ass! Do you know how difficult a song with no chorus, no bridge and no repeats of any kind, is to learn when you're any age? Let alone six?" she asked hotly, somehow morphing from feeling embarrassed at her ridiculous 'accomplishment' to feeling a little defensive of it.
"Hey, I know Bohemian Rhapsody," Oliver fired back.
"You want a medal? Practically everybody knows that song," she dismissed him with a roll of her eyes.
"Hey blondie, why don't you shut him up with a little singing, huh?" Roy called from his spot at the dummy, eyeing the two with a bemused expression on his face, Digg moving to stand beside him in solidarity, they both well-versed in their friends' bickering by now.
Felicity ignored the two of them however, her eyes trained on Oliver who was still looking at her with a silent 'well go on' expression.
"Ugh, fine! If it'll wipe that smirk off your face…" she shook her head, leaning back in her chair, not breaking eye contact as she opened her mouth, and began to sing:
"United States, Canada, Mexico, Panama, Haiti, Jamaica, Peru…"
A/N: So…that happened. Full disclosure, part of that conversation is kinda based on a true story. I may have been at a party last year, where Animaniacs came up in conversation. I may have then found myself drunkenly singing Nations of the World. Yeah, I learned it when I was kid. Took ages because I had to keep rewinding the tape. The 90s struggle was real, folks haha! Now I cringe every time I see the post on Tumblr xD
The 'Dream Big' tattoo is based on EBR's real (or what I think is real anyway) tattoo from what I've seen in pics.
Oh and let's just say, Felicity's arrow tattoo is on her very low lower waist… ;)
