Ficlet: Sterner Stuff [1/1] Roy/Hal
Title: Sterner Stuff
Author: Perpetual Motion
Claim: Roy/Hal
Characters/Pairing: Roy/Hal, Ollie, Mia
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1042
Prompt: friendship
Summary: They've been through worse news than this.
Disclaimer: Complete lies. I lay claim to absolutely nothing.
Author's Notes/Warnings: This is set after "Tornado's Path" but not in any particular point in recent JLA canon.
Sterner Stuff
By Perpetual Motion
Ollie’s reaction to the news is much quieter than Hal had expected. He blinks. He takes a deep breath, and he blinks again. After another moment, he looks at Mia.
“Did you hear it too, or did I take a serious blow to the head?”
“I heard it,” Mia says to him, and Hal notices she doesn’t seem surprised at all.
“I need a minute.” Ollie stands up and walks out of the room.
Hal looks at Roy. “Arm wrestle you for it.”
“Oh, like hell.” Roy shoves Hal away from him. “You broke his brain. You fix it.”
Hal has to remind himself that’s he’s supposedly fearless. “Fine. You owe me.”
“If you start screaming like a ltitle girl, we’ll come in and save you,” Mia offers, her smile mildly evil.
“Shouldn’t you be freaking out?” Roy asks her, eyes narrowing.
“Yeah, hi. I’m Mia. I used to be a hooker.” Mia holds out her hand to Roy. “Two dudes boning each other is not news to me.”
Roy shakes her hand solemnly, then pulls her in and musses up her hair. “Don’t say ‘boning’. It sounds weird.”
“So does, ‘Hey, Ollie, I’m having sex with Hal.’.” Mia breaks loose from Roy and flops onto the couch. “So, what’s it like?”
Hal hurries from the room for plausible deniability. If he doesn’t hear Roy telling Mia about their sex life, then it didn’t actually happen.
Ollie’s in the basement rearranging arrows in his quiver. Hal leans against the doorframe by the stairs and watches him work for a minute. “You’re going to have to put those all back in their proper places if you don’t want to blow off the face of some mugger when you’re just trying to punch him in the nose.”
Ollie doesn’t answer right away, but he puts down the quiver and places his palms flat on the table. He looks at Hal for a long moment, and Hal looks in return. “Roy?” Ollie finally says quietly.
Hal shrugs. “Roy.”
“How?”
Hal shrugs again. “It’s a bit of a blur, really. One minute he’s mouthing off to me, and I’m heckling him back, and then we’re at some pizza place throwing back beers.”
“Don’t tell me the rest,” Ollie insists.
“Wasn’t planning on it.” Hal lays a hand on the back of his neck and watches Ollie walk around the table. “Is this one of those situations where the only answer is to clock each other?”
“I don’t know yet.” Ollie flexes his hands and shoves them into the pockets of his jeans. “What are you doing, Hal?”
“What do you mean?”
Ollie pulls a hand from his pocket to wave it around and encompass Hal, himself, and the whole of the brownstone. “I mean what the hell are you doing? What are you doing with Roy?”
“Nothing interesting,” Hal tries to laugh, but it doesn’t come out quite right. Ollie’s incredibly serious look makes it hard to make the conversation a joke. “We’re just…we’re there, Ollie. We eat dinner, we see movies, we run around with Lian, and if we have a few minutes, we fight crime.”
Ollie smiles, just barely, but it’s gone in an instant. “He’s been through a lot, Hal. He’s not the kid you remember.”
“Maybe that’s the attraction,” Hal says. “Or maybe it’s that he’s a really smart, capable, interesting person.”
“Yeah,” Ollie breathes out. “There is that.”
“You didn’t screw him up that badly, Ollie.”
Ollie’s eyes narrow. “What?”
“You’re thinking this is some sort of completely messed-up, train wreck of daddy issues relationship.”
There’s a pause, and then Ollie laughs. “Where the devil did you learn the term ‘daddy issues’?”
“Roy.”
Ollie’s laugh deepens. After a minute, Hal joins him. They meet in the middle of the room, slap each other on the back, and howl down the rafters.
“Do I even want to know?” Roy’s voice cuts over the laughter. He’s halfway down the stairs, Mia at his side, and both of them have their arms crossed.
“It’s fine,” Hal says with a wave. “I’m not getting punched in the face.”
Roy and Mia share a look. Mia speaks first. “Leave them. They’re being weird, and there’s cake upstairs.”
“Go ahead,” Hal says with a smile to get the worried look out of Roy’s eyes. “We’re all right.”
“Yeah?” Roy’s question is aimed at Ollie.
“We’re fine,” Ollie says seriously.
Mia tugs on Roy’s arm and gets him to follow her up the stairs. The door closes, and Ollie and Hal face each other. “You’re happy?” Ollie asks.
“Yeah.”
“And you know I’ll put arrows through both your eyes if you do anything to him.”
Hal fights back another laugh. “Yes.”
“And you know I don’t actually think you’re going to do anything to him.”
“Yes, Ollie.” Hal holds out his hand. “Thank you.”
Ollie pulls him in for a hug. “Best of luck, buddy.”
Hal punches Ollie in the shoulder. “Shut up, you dirty hippie.”
“Make me, you fascist oppressor.”
Mia and Roy come running down the stairs a second after Ollie and Hal knock over the table with the quivers. Hal’s scraped his palms, and Ollie’s got blood on his lip. Roy shakes his head. “There’s ice cream in the freezer, right?”
“Yeah.” Mia looks from Ollie to Hal to Roy. “What about-”
“They’re fine,” Roy says, turning around. “Believe it or not, this is a good sign.”
“How is this a good sign?”
“Because if they can gleefully beat the shit out of each other, nothing’s wrong.” Roy stops at the top of the stairs and gives Hal and Ollie a hard look. “And disinfect yourselves, you idiots; I’m not anyone’s nursemaid.”
“Me either,” Mia chimes in.
Ollie and Hal lean against each other and laugh again. “He’s not taking your shit at all,” Ollie says.
“No, he’s not.” Hal’s smiling.
“You guys will be fine.” Ollie stands and offers Hal his hand. “Come on. Let’s get some food before Dinah and Connor get home. I can’t wait to see their faces.”
Hal takes Ollie’s hand and lets himself get pulled off the ground. “All right, but if you start laughing before we get through it, I’m letting Roy tackle you.”
“Like he could.”
My Table
Author: Perpetual Motion
Claim: Roy/Hal
Characters/Pairing: Roy/Hal, Ollie, Mia
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1042
Prompt: friendship
Summary: They've been through worse news than this.
Disclaimer: Complete lies. I lay claim to absolutely nothing.
Author's Notes/Warnings: This is set after "Tornado's Path" but not in any particular point in recent JLA canon.
Sterner Stuff
By Perpetual Motion
Ollie’s reaction to the news is much quieter than Hal had expected. He blinks. He takes a deep breath, and he blinks again. After another moment, he looks at Mia.
“Did you hear it too, or did I take a serious blow to the head?”
“I heard it,” Mia says to him, and Hal notices she doesn’t seem surprised at all.
“I need a minute.” Ollie stands up and walks out of the room.
Hal looks at Roy. “Arm wrestle you for it.”
“Oh, like hell.” Roy shoves Hal away from him. “You broke his brain. You fix it.”
Hal has to remind himself that’s he’s supposedly fearless. “Fine. You owe me.”
“If you start screaming like a ltitle girl, we’ll come in and save you,” Mia offers, her smile mildly evil.
“Shouldn’t you be freaking out?” Roy asks her, eyes narrowing.
“Yeah, hi. I’m Mia. I used to be a hooker.” Mia holds out her hand to Roy. “Two dudes boning each other is not news to me.”
Roy shakes her hand solemnly, then pulls her in and musses up her hair. “Don’t say ‘boning’. It sounds weird.”
“So does, ‘Hey, Ollie, I’m having sex with Hal.’.” Mia breaks loose from Roy and flops onto the couch. “So, what’s it like?”
Hal hurries from the room for plausible deniability. If he doesn’t hear Roy telling Mia about their sex life, then it didn’t actually happen.
Ollie’s in the basement rearranging arrows in his quiver. Hal leans against the doorframe by the stairs and watches him work for a minute. “You’re going to have to put those all back in their proper places if you don’t want to blow off the face of some mugger when you’re just trying to punch him in the nose.”
Ollie doesn’t answer right away, but he puts down the quiver and places his palms flat on the table. He looks at Hal for a long moment, and Hal looks in return. “Roy?” Ollie finally says quietly.
Hal shrugs. “Roy.”
“How?”
Hal shrugs again. “It’s a bit of a blur, really. One minute he’s mouthing off to me, and I’m heckling him back, and then we’re at some pizza place throwing back beers.”
“Don’t tell me the rest,” Ollie insists.
“Wasn’t planning on it.” Hal lays a hand on the back of his neck and watches Ollie walk around the table. “Is this one of those situations where the only answer is to clock each other?”
“I don’t know yet.” Ollie flexes his hands and shoves them into the pockets of his jeans. “What are you doing, Hal?”
“What do you mean?”
Ollie pulls a hand from his pocket to wave it around and encompass Hal, himself, and the whole of the brownstone. “I mean what the hell are you doing? What are you doing with Roy?”
“Nothing interesting,” Hal tries to laugh, but it doesn’t come out quite right. Ollie’s incredibly serious look makes it hard to make the conversation a joke. “We’re just…we’re there, Ollie. We eat dinner, we see movies, we run around with Lian, and if we have a few minutes, we fight crime.”
Ollie smiles, just barely, but it’s gone in an instant. “He’s been through a lot, Hal. He’s not the kid you remember.”
“Maybe that’s the attraction,” Hal says. “Or maybe it’s that he’s a really smart, capable, interesting person.”
“Yeah,” Ollie breathes out. “There is that.”
“You didn’t screw him up that badly, Ollie.”
Ollie’s eyes narrow. “What?”
“You’re thinking this is some sort of completely messed-up, train wreck of daddy issues relationship.”
There’s a pause, and then Ollie laughs. “Where the devil did you learn the term ‘daddy issues’?”
“Roy.”
Ollie’s laugh deepens. After a minute, Hal joins him. They meet in the middle of the room, slap each other on the back, and howl down the rafters.
“Do I even want to know?” Roy’s voice cuts over the laughter. He’s halfway down the stairs, Mia at his side, and both of them have their arms crossed.
“It’s fine,” Hal says with a wave. “I’m not getting punched in the face.”
Roy and Mia share a look. Mia speaks first. “Leave them. They’re being weird, and there’s cake upstairs.”
“Go ahead,” Hal says with a smile to get the worried look out of Roy’s eyes. “We’re all right.”
“Yeah?” Roy’s question is aimed at Ollie.
“We’re fine,” Ollie says seriously.
Mia tugs on Roy’s arm and gets him to follow her up the stairs. The door closes, and Ollie and Hal face each other. “You’re happy?” Ollie asks.
“Yeah.”
“And you know I’ll put arrows through both your eyes if you do anything to him.”
Hal fights back another laugh. “Yes.”
“And you know I don’t actually think you’re going to do anything to him.”
“Yes, Ollie.” Hal holds out his hand. “Thank you.”
Ollie pulls him in for a hug. “Best of luck, buddy.”
Hal punches Ollie in the shoulder. “Shut up, you dirty hippie.”
“Make me, you fascist oppressor.”
Mia and Roy come running down the stairs a second after Ollie and Hal knock over the table with the quivers. Hal’s scraped his palms, and Ollie’s got blood on his lip. Roy shakes his head. “There’s ice cream in the freezer, right?”
“Yeah.” Mia looks from Ollie to Hal to Roy. “What about-”
“They’re fine,” Roy says, turning around. “Believe it or not, this is a good sign.”
“How is this a good sign?”
“Because if they can gleefully beat the shit out of each other, nothing’s wrong.” Roy stops at the top of the stairs and gives Hal and Ollie a hard look. “And disinfect yourselves, you idiots; I’m not anyone’s nursemaid.”
“Me either,” Mia chimes in.
Ollie and Hal lean against each other and laugh again. “He’s not taking your shit at all,” Ollie says.
“No, he’s not.” Hal’s smiling.
“You guys will be fine.” Ollie stands and offers Hal his hand. “Come on. Let’s get some food before Dinah and Connor get home. I can’t wait to see their faces.”
Hal takes Ollie’s hand and lets himself get pulled off the ground. “All right, but if you start laughing before we get through it, I’m letting Roy tackle you.”
“Like he could.”
My Table