A/N: I finally updated! Thanks for your patience. Took me a while to recover from all the Olicity spoilers from Comic Con.

The rest of their dinner passed easily, each of them trading stories from their college days. He was amused to discover that she had a secret kinky side, and had experimented with her very dominant roommate during her sophomore year. Said roommate was the person responsible for her industrial piercing and a tattoo that she wouldn't show him, at least not yet. He, in turn, had regaled her of his many trouble-making exploits during his four attempts at higher education.

"The only class I remotely paid attention to was a lit class, and that was only because I had a thing going with the professor," he admitted sheepishly.

Felicity laughed. "Of course. How else does one get your attention? She must have been beautiful."

Oliver smiled easily, reminiscing about his freshman lit professor. "She was okay," he shrugged. "Mid to late forties, total cougar, and I saw an easy A." He shook his head. "I was such a bastard."

Felicity grinned. "She probably had no chance against your charm."

"None," Oliver agreed with a smile. "Funny story, though," he continued. "It was a good thing that I paid attention in that class, because it probably saved my life on the island." His gaze turned distant and wistful, remembering some of the better times with Slade.

"Oh?" Felicity pressed him to continue.

"There was a time, when I first met Slade…" He paused. It was probably against the rules of intensity to talk about this, but he thought he could manage to keep it light. "He had this plan when I first met him to hijack a plane from the enemy camp. I was supposed to secure the tower while he took care of everyone else, but in the end he took care of everyone." He grunted in amusement at the person he was back then, at how far he seemed from the person he was now.

"Anyway," he continued, "the plan was to contact the next plane coming in for a landing, and then secure the plane. But then the pilot challenged us."

"Challenged you?" Felicity asked, confused.

"To make sure we were friendlies, he started a phrase that we had to finish correctly."

Felicity nodded. "Kind of like a password."

"Right. So they gave us the first half of a quote." He tilted his head up, trying to recall the quote. "Of all the creatures that breathe and walk on the earth—"

"Nothing is bred that is weaker than man," Felicity finished for him.

Oliver looked at her, stunned. Then he smiled and shook his head. "Of course you would know the Odyssey."

Felicity smiled. "And I think it's actually 'move upon the earth,' but you know. Same difference."

Oliver chuckled. "Well, I got the second part wrong at first, I thought it was 'born', but then remembered at the last second it was 'bred.' I almost gave Slade a heart attack when I stopped him from transmitting the wrong answer."

"I'm guessing something went wrong, because you were rescued by a boat, not a plane."

Oliver smiled ruefully. "Yeah, you could say that. But that's a bit intense."

Felicity nodded, understanding immediately.

They fell into a comfortable silence, Oliver lost in his thoughts about the early days with Slade, Felicity lost in her thoughts about what might have gone wrong in Oliver's story. She knew there might be a day when he opened up about everything that happened to him there, but she decided today was not going to be that day, for both of their sakes. She decided to change the subject.

"So, Mr. Queen," she started. Oliver gave his full attention instantly. "I believe the dinner portion of our evening has concluded. Should we move on to the fun part?"

"Oh," Oliver responded, grinning wickedly. "I thought we were gonna get ice cream. But we can do that instead." He laughed as Felicity blushed, practically on cue.

"That is not what I meant," she muttered, ducking her gaze. "My stupid mouth…"

Oliver reached for her hands. "I'm only teasing," he said lightly. He lowered his head to meet her gaze, and was pleased to see a shy smile on her face. "Let's go," he said, squeezing her hands before letting go. He pulled out his money clip and left some bills on the table, took Felicity's hand in his to help her out of her chair, and headed toward the exit. They were greeted once more by Russo, who wished them a pleasant evening, and they stepped outside together. Their hands remained linked.

They walked to the ice cream shop at a leisurely pace. The stillness of the night surrounded them, cocooning them in a peaceful bubble. Felicity relished the feel of her hand in Oliver's, their fingers intertwined.

"Our hands fit really nicely together," she remarked, looking down where they were joined.

Oliver lifted their hands up, turning them this way and that. "Would you look at that," he replied with mock wonder. He gave her a flirtatious smile. "Almost like they were made for each other."

Felicity giggled and nudged his side with hers. "Charmer."

"You protest, but I think you like it."

"Psh, what?" she tried to deny, but her grin made it a futile effort.

"Mm-hmm," Oliver murmured smugly. "I see through you, Ms. Smoak. You can't resist my charms."

Felicity laughed out loud. "So unfair," she lamented. "You got a triple dose when they were handing out charm, and I got hit with the awkward stick."

Oliver huffed, amused. "Oh, Felicity, you have no idea how charming you are."

"Oh, please," she objected. "That's not charm, that's me making awkward innuendos and sticking my foot in my mouth and people laughing at me or calling it 'endearing.' It's okay, I've long accepted how I am. I'm used to it."

Oliver's brow furrowed at her self-deprecation. He shook his head. "You are," he insisted. "It's one of the things I love most about you."

Felicity's footsteps stuttered at his use of the 'L' word. Oliver held his breath, realizing his slip, but didn't take back what he said, leaving it out there for Felicity to do whatever she wanted with it.

They continued walking in silence that was no longer completely comfortable. Oliver wasn't sure how to diffuse the tension, but as always, Felicity rescued him. "I've been called endearing before. I think that word fits better. Charm implies purpose, and I definitely don't do it on purpose."

Oliver sighed with relief. He could always trust Felicity to keep things light. He could continue their conversation now. "What about disarming? I thought that about you tonight."

Felicity seemed to think about it. "I like it. Disarming, like disarming a bomb. Like disarmament. I like it better than 'endearing', because sometimes that sounds patronizing."

Oliver smiled. "I have a lot more, if you want to hear them."

Felicity hugged his arm. "Careful, you're gonna blow up my ego."

He stopped walking to face her. He held her by both arms. "Captivating. Intriguing. Bewitching. Enchanting." He moved closer to her. "Intoxicating." He stared intensely into her eyes, noticing with a smirk that her pupils dilated just a bit. He leaned in closer, hovering mere inches from her face. "Addicting." He closed the final distance and kissed her.

His hands tightened on her arms, overcome once again by the intensity of the kiss, even though it was, by most standards, on the tame side. His heart beat faster and he felt tingling all over his body. He moved his lips over hers sensually, tugging on her bottom lip with both of his, touching it lightly with his tongue. He moved his hands up to cup her face, to tangle his fingers in her hair, and he felt the tip of her tongue breach his lips. With a guttural moan, he moved the kiss into decidedly untame territory as he nipped her tongue lightly with his teeth, pulling it further into his mouth, sucking lightly. He lost all sense of the world around him, consumed by the feeling of her lips against his, her tongue exploring his mouth, exploring hers with his, feeling the scrape of her teeth against his tongue. He could feel her moans of pleasure down to his spine, activating all his nerve endings. He felt her body conform to his, every inch of her torso attached to his like a magnet. He felt her fingers scraping his scalp, sending shudders through his body. He whirled her around and slammed her against the wall of whatever building they were next to. He felt out of control of his body as he ground against her, feeling pulled by some force from inside her body, beckoning him to submerge himself in her, to somehow climb inside her body and become one person with her.

He wasn't sure how far this would go until Felicity put both hands on his chest and pushed a little. It had the effect of startling him to awareness. He broke the kiss abruptly and took one alarmed step back. "Sorry," he apologized, shaking his head to clear it. "I didn't mean to get so carried away."

"It's okay," she reassured, breathlessly. "That was…a lot of fun…but we were heading toward indecent exposure if we didn't stop."

He took a couple of deep breaths. He took another step back, trying to break the inexorable pull he felt towards Felicity's body. He looked down at himself and grimaced at the state of his pants. He looked up when he heard Felicity giggle.

She was looking at the state of his pants as well. "I'd say I'd help you with that, but you're gonna have to wait until, at least, date three."

He narrowed his eyes and growled playfully. "That's practically torture."

"Sorry, sweetie," she teased. "I don't make the rules, I just play by them."

He took a step toward her again, nudging her lower body with his. "I have ways, Ms. Smoak, of getting what I want." He felt a thrill course through him when Felicity looked aroused beyond sense, but she kept surprising him.

She caressed him boldly over his pants, and his mind blanked out completely at her touch. "Trust me, Mr. Queen," she said in a sultry tone. "Just a little bit of patience, and I'll make it worth your while." And with that, she slid away from him and walked away. Just to be cheeky, she tossed her head back to look at him, gave him a wink, and walked forward.

Oliver was thoroughly dumbstruck.

Felicity turned around again. "Come on, slow poke! Ice cream awaits!"

Oliver came back to himself with a laugh. Unbelievable.

He had one thought as he ran to catch up with her.

I'm going to marry this woman.