p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"They walked in somewhat tense silence for a few long moments. The evening had taken it's toll on them both in different ways, so much seemed to have happened in such a short space of time. Roy had felt like he was being torn in two, with his loyalties tested and his heart filled with guilt for putting Jason through such a debacle. Jason felt a little like he'd been intruding. Though he would never regret showing his support to his friend, he still picked up on the fact that Roy and the guys from the band clearly had a dynamic between them that his presence had disrupted./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Suddenly Roy sighed deeply and flopped backwards to lie upon the banking of the field. The grass was dew covered in the late night, that was actually early morning. He gazed upwards and a wistful smile flitted across his face. "Like a hole straight up to the sky," he murmured./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason frowned a little in confusion as he sat beside Roy. He tilted his head back to view the starry sky, twinkling constellations blinked down upon them, the tops of trees and the silhouettes of towering buildings formed a misshapen frame in his peripheral, like they were laying in a crater. It was indeed like a hole straight up to the sky. Jason laid back beside Roy to appreciate it better./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Did I ever tell you how I ended up with Oliver?" Roy asked randomly, his arms were folded behind his head and his voice was almost melancholic./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason had wondered about Roy's upbringing, of course he had. He'd always been a curious child, it had often gotten him into trouble. But with a childhood like Jason's, trouble was par for the course. He'd never asked about Roy's upbringing, he didn't want to offer Roy the opportunity to ask questions of his own. After all, turn about's only fair. He presumed that Roy's childhood involved Native American culture, Roy had mentioned a reservation in multiple off-hand comments throughout their friendship. Jason debated on how to respond when Roy spoke again./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""There was a fire, I don't remember, I was too little. But, my dad was a ranger. He died saving people's lives. Brave Bow was the last my father saved, and he took me in. I grew up as a member of the Tachii'ni clan. The Navajo don't use names the way that other people do, they see them as sacred and private. They called me Lost Arrow." Roy's smile was a little sad as he explained, and Jason listened patiently, he kept his gaze on the stars, as if afraid that Roy would feel pressured if he was looking at him./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason thought over what Roy had told him, he couldn't imagine what it must have been like to be adopted into a whole new culture, to know that it's a part of who you are, even though you don't look anything like the kids you grew up with. Jason was glad that Roy had been given the childhood he very easily could've been robbed of./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Oliver Queen had a cabin in that wood, a romantic getaway location. My dad's warning saved his life. And when Mr Queen came around to rebuild his property, he donated a lot of money to help rebuild the things the Navajo had lost too. That's how we met. But I stayed with Brave Bow, of course. Brave Bow loved me," Roy trailed off again, a sigh escaped his lips. Jason wondered what it must have been like to have met your legal guardian long before they ever took you in. He could admit now that Bruce Wayne was nothing like the tabloids made him out to be./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Navajo believe in spiritual balances, there are a lot of bad omens, taboos. Exposure to them means bad luck, misfortune, illness. You have to restore the balance. Think of it as karma, I suppose," Roy explained, as he started to pick at the surrounding grass absently. "When Brave Bow got sick, they- it's a taboo, y'know? Only family and loved ones can help heal someone. An outsider would disrupt the whole process, and I- they loved me, okay? But his life- He- He was too important, they couldn't risk it.-" Roy's voice cracked and he turned on his side, his back was to Jason now, but the younger boy could still see how his shoulders shuddered despite the dark. "I didn't get to say goodbye."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason sat dumbstruck. He knew what it was like to lose a parent. He knew better than most people, because he'd seen death first-hand. But, he hadn't known at the time what was happening, not exactly. But, Roy must have known his father's days were numbered, and he'd been kept from him until it was too late. Jason couldn't imagine how Roy had felt in those days, walking around with the constant weight of knowing he'd likely never see Brave Bow again. He'd been just a child, and the person who he'd turned to for comfort his whole life was the one person he was being separated from./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Oh, Roy," Jason breathed, he placed a tentative hand on the older boy's quaking shoulder./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He didn't understand why Roy was telling him all of this now, perhaps it was still the alcohol in his system giving him a little liquid courage, maybe he was just so tired of keeping it all in that it spewed out. Regardless of the reasoning, Jason was proud that Roy trusted him enough to tell him. Jason wished he had the bravery to tell Roy about himself, but he didn't have much faith in people these days, and regardless of how much he valued the older boy, he'd learnt the hard way that hits come from where you least expect them, and humanity as a whole can be inherently cruel./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy chuckled a little self-deprecatingly, the sound was a hollow, wet rattle that made Jason's heart ache for his friend. The younger boy scooted closer, he wanted more than anything to offer comfort, but was at a loss for how to do that. Roy didn't react to Jason's close proximity, so Jason carefully placed a hand on Roy's side, he wound his fingers into the fabric of Roy's shirt, and his nose skimmed the curve of Roy's back./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I don't remember my real dad," Roy startled them both by speaking again, "But sometimes I think I remember the fire. Maybe it's a memory, maybe it's been fabricated by all of the things that people have told me. But, I think I remember the way the wood cracked, popped. The smoke was black, thick, everywhere. The heat came off the earth for days afterwards. Sometimes I have nightmares where everything is black and crackling and I wake up and I can't breathe. And I'd go out into the valley, and I'd lie spread-out on a boulder and watch the stars, feel the heat of the day slowly leave the rock, seep into my skin. It was different to the fire, calmer, more warmth that anything else, felt safe," Roy sounded close to sleep, like his re-telling had taken a lot out of him, and Jason figured that perhaps it had, "Kinda like right now."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason smiled softly, wanted to stay there forever. But he knew they had to get back, the chill of the night was biting at them, and the sky was beginning to lighten on the horizon./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Jay?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Yeah?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Thank you."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Suddenly Roy sighed deeply and flopped backwards to lie upon the banking of the field. The grass was dew covered in the late night, that was actually early morning. He gazed upwards and a wistful smile flitted across his face. "Like a hole straight up to the sky," he murmured./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason frowned a little in confusion as he sat beside Roy. He tilted his head back to view the starry sky, twinkling constellations blinked down upon them, the tops of trees and the silhouettes of towering buildings formed a misshapen frame in his peripheral, like they were laying in a crater. It was indeed like a hole straight up to the sky. Jason laid back beside Roy to appreciate it better./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Did I ever tell you how I ended up with Oliver?" Roy asked randomly, his arms were folded behind his head and his voice was almost melancholic./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason had wondered about Roy's upbringing, of course he had. He'd always been a curious child, it had often gotten him into trouble. But with a childhood like Jason's, trouble was par for the course. He'd never asked about Roy's upbringing, he didn't want to offer Roy the opportunity to ask questions of his own. After all, turn about's only fair. He presumed that Roy's childhood involved Native American culture, Roy had mentioned a reservation in multiple off-hand comments throughout their friendship. Jason debated on how to respond when Roy spoke again./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""There was a fire, I don't remember, I was too little. But, my dad was a ranger. He died saving people's lives. Brave Bow was the last my father saved, and he took me in. I grew up as a member of the Tachii'ni clan. The Navajo don't use names the way that other people do, they see them as sacred and private. They called me Lost Arrow." Roy's smile was a little sad as he explained, and Jason listened patiently, he kept his gaze on the stars, as if afraid that Roy would feel pressured if he was looking at him./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason thought over what Roy had told him, he couldn't imagine what it must have been like to be adopted into a whole new culture, to know that it's a part of who you are, even though you don't look anything like the kids you grew up with. Jason was glad that Roy had been given the childhood he very easily could've been robbed of./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Oliver Queen had a cabin in that wood, a romantic getaway location. My dad's warning saved his life. And when Mr Queen came around to rebuild his property, he donated a lot of money to help rebuild the things the Navajo had lost too. That's how we met. But I stayed with Brave Bow, of course. Brave Bow loved me," Roy trailed off again, a sigh escaped his lips. Jason wondered what it must have been like to have met your legal guardian long before they ever took you in. He could admit now that Bruce Wayne was nothing like the tabloids made him out to be./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Navajo believe in spiritual balances, there are a lot of bad omens, taboos. Exposure to them means bad luck, misfortune, illness. You have to restore the balance. Think of it as karma, I suppose," Roy explained, as he started to pick at the surrounding grass absently. "When Brave Bow got sick, they- it's a taboo, y'know? Only family and loved ones can help heal someone. An outsider would disrupt the whole process, and I- they loved me, okay? But his life- He- He was too important, they couldn't risk it.-" Roy's voice cracked and he turned on his side, his back was to Jason now, but the younger boy could still see how his shoulders shuddered despite the dark. "I didn't get to say goodbye."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason sat dumbstruck. He knew what it was like to lose a parent. He knew better than most people, because he'd seen death first-hand. But, he hadn't known at the time what was happening, not exactly. But, Roy must have known his father's days were numbered, and he'd been kept from him until it was too late. Jason couldn't imagine how Roy had felt in those days, walking around with the constant weight of knowing he'd likely never see Brave Bow again. He'd been just a child, and the person who he'd turned to for comfort his whole life was the one person he was being separated from./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Oh, Roy," Jason breathed, he placed a tentative hand on the older boy's quaking shoulder./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He didn't understand why Roy was telling him all of this now, perhaps it was still the alcohol in his system giving him a little liquid courage, maybe he was just so tired of keeping it all in that it spewed out. Regardless of the reasoning, Jason was proud that Roy trusted him enough to tell him. Jason wished he had the bravery to tell Roy about himself, but he didn't have much faith in people these days, and regardless of how much he valued the older boy, he'd learnt the hard way that hits come from where you least expect them, and humanity as a whole can be inherently cruel./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy chuckled a little self-deprecatingly, the sound was a hollow, wet rattle that made Jason's heart ache for his friend. The younger boy scooted closer, he wanted more than anything to offer comfort, but was at a loss for how to do that. Roy didn't react to Jason's close proximity, so Jason carefully placed a hand on Roy's side, he wound his fingers into the fabric of Roy's shirt, and his nose skimmed the curve of Roy's back./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I don't remember my real dad," Roy startled them both by speaking again, "But sometimes I think I remember the fire. Maybe it's a memory, maybe it's been fabricated by all of the things that people have told me. But, I think I remember the way the wood cracked, popped. The smoke was black, thick, everywhere. The heat came off the earth for days afterwards. Sometimes I have nightmares where everything is black and crackling and I wake up and I can't breathe. And I'd go out into the valley, and I'd lie spread-out on a boulder and watch the stars, feel the heat of the day slowly leave the rock, seep into my skin. It was different to the fire, calmer, more warmth that anything else, felt safe," Roy sounded close to sleep, like his re-telling had taken a lot out of him, and Jason figured that perhaps it had, "Kinda like right now."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason smiled softly, wanted to stay there forever. But he knew they had to get back, the chill of the night was biting at them, and the sky was beginning to lighten on the horizon./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Jay?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Yeah?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Thank you."/p