Ficlet: Guilt-Tripping [1/1] Roy/Hal [Arsenal/Green Lantern]
Title: Guilt-Tripping
Author: Perpetual Motion
Claim: Roy/Hal
Characters/Pairing: Roy/Hal, Lian [aged six]
Rating: PG
Word Count: 859
Prompt: Naked
Summary: A doctor's visit, Roy's conscience, and some wise-assery from Hal.
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.
“You can get dressed now, Mr. Harper,” the doctor says as he leaves the room.
Roy waits for the door to latch before he reaches for his underwear and slips them on under his gown. He’s buttoning his jeans-but not yet put on his shirt-when there’s a knock on the door. “Yeah,” Roy calls out as he pulls his T-shirt over his head.
It’s a nurse, middle-aged and smiling with a bit more feeling than Roy usually sees. “Mr. Harper, the doctor asked me to check in and see if you had any questions.”
“Nope. Been here, done this.” Roy slips on his button down and sits down to put on his shoes. “Tests will be done in twenty-four hours, and until them, I’m just going to have to sit tight.”
“You have done this before.” Her smile softens, and Roy knows it’s coming. “You know, Mr. Harper, as long as you haven’t-”
“I have a daughter,” Roy cuts in. “And a partner, and I’d rather take the precaution.”
“The doctor will call sometime tomorrow,” the nurse says precisely. “If you have any questions before then, please feel free to call.”
“Thanks.” Roy doesn’t look up until the door closes again. He sighs under his breath and ties his boots.
There’s a playground three blocks from the doctor’s office, and Roy gets there just in time to catch Hal throwing Lian in the air and catching her on a green trampoline construct. “Is that an appropriate use of the ring power?” Roy calls out in greeting.
Hal turns the trampoline into a hand and catches Lian ten feet from the ground. “I say yes.” He puts Lian on her feet and watches her run to Roy. “That was quicker than I expected.”
“At this point, it’s fairly routine,” Roy says as he scoops up Lian. “Having fun, brat?”
“Old Man says he’s gonna teach me to fly!”
“Oh, yeah?”
“Yeah!” Lian beams and hugs Roy tight around the neck. “But I gotta get really, really, really good on the swing first.” She wiggles free from Roy’s hug and runs towards the swings. “I can go high!”
“Show me!” Roy yells towards her and watches her get on the swing and start pumping her legs. “The swing?” He asks Hal with raised eyebrows.
“She can’t learn to fly if she’s afraid of heights or wind.”
“You’re just trying to knock the fear out of her so she can take on someone’s ring.” Roy shakes his head when Hal just grins. “You could at least pretend that’s not the plan.”
“She’s a six-year-old green belt. You don’t have room to talk.” Hal leans towards Roy until their shoulders bump. “Everything went okay?”
“Same old, same old. Go in, get poked everywhere, nurse comes in with a scary fucking needle, and then I have to wait a day.” Roy shrugs. “I don’t think anything’s wrong-”
“Better safe,” Hal says quietly, and he presses his fingers against Roy’s.
“If I’ve done something to myself that could affect Lian…” Roy watches Lian smile up at the sunlight. “I was clean when she was conceived, but there’s so much-”
“You’re healthy,” Hal cuts him off. “And that’s where you need to keep yourself in your head.”
“Every time I go in and they pull out that needle, I just want to take it away from the nurse and tell her I know what I’m doing.”
Hal shakes his head. “How much of this is you being worried, and how much of this is penance?”
“It’s about even,” Roy admits after a moment.
“She’s healthy,” Hal says with a wave to Lian. “And I’m not going anywhere. You can basically have a conversation with Ollie, and no one you work with thinks you’re going to sneak away and shoot up between your toes. You’re only beating up yourself.”
“Someone’s gotta do it.” Roy shakes his head before Hal can say anything. “Ignore that.”
“I will not,” Hal disagrees. “Someone’s got to tell you-repeatedly-that you’ve paid your dues.”
Roy rubs a hand over his face. “If anything happens to her-if something happens to you because I was an idiot-”
“Stop it,” Hal says firmly. “It’s been negative tests all this time. You’re not going to suddenly get something from worrying about it.” Lian waves from the swings, and Hal pulls Roy forward with a hand around his wrist. “Come on. You can stand here and beat yourself up, or you can let Lian tackle you to the ground and declare herself the champion.”
“I’m going to keep getting tested.”
“I wasn’t going to fight you on that,” Hal replies. “I’m just going to fight you on giving yourself more blame than is actually due.”
“Pot and kettle,” Roy says under his breath, and chuckles when Hal swipes at him. “Just saying.”
“Point taken and ignored,” Hal says. He leaves Roy standing a few feet from the swing set and goes to scoop up Lian. “Come on, princess, let’s go play on the slide.”
Roy watches Lian laugh and Hal smile and thinks, maybe, that Hal has a point.
My Table
Author: Perpetual Motion
Claim: Roy/Hal
Characters/Pairing: Roy/Hal, Lian [aged six]
Rating: PG
Word Count: 859
Prompt: Naked
Summary: A doctor's visit, Roy's conscience, and some wise-assery from Hal.
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.
“You can get dressed now, Mr. Harper,” the doctor says as he leaves the room.
Roy waits for the door to latch before he reaches for his underwear and slips them on under his gown. He’s buttoning his jeans-but not yet put on his shirt-when there’s a knock on the door. “Yeah,” Roy calls out as he pulls his T-shirt over his head.
It’s a nurse, middle-aged and smiling with a bit more feeling than Roy usually sees. “Mr. Harper, the doctor asked me to check in and see if you had any questions.”
“Nope. Been here, done this.” Roy slips on his button down and sits down to put on his shoes. “Tests will be done in twenty-four hours, and until them, I’m just going to have to sit tight.”
“You have done this before.” Her smile softens, and Roy knows it’s coming. “You know, Mr. Harper, as long as you haven’t-”
“I have a daughter,” Roy cuts in. “And a partner, and I’d rather take the precaution.”
“The doctor will call sometime tomorrow,” the nurse says precisely. “If you have any questions before then, please feel free to call.”
“Thanks.” Roy doesn’t look up until the door closes again. He sighs under his breath and ties his boots.
There’s a playground three blocks from the doctor’s office, and Roy gets there just in time to catch Hal throwing Lian in the air and catching her on a green trampoline construct. “Is that an appropriate use of the ring power?” Roy calls out in greeting.
Hal turns the trampoline into a hand and catches Lian ten feet from the ground. “I say yes.” He puts Lian on her feet and watches her run to Roy. “That was quicker than I expected.”
“At this point, it’s fairly routine,” Roy says as he scoops up Lian. “Having fun, brat?”
“Old Man says he’s gonna teach me to fly!”
“Oh, yeah?”
“Yeah!” Lian beams and hugs Roy tight around the neck. “But I gotta get really, really, really good on the swing first.” She wiggles free from Roy’s hug and runs towards the swings. “I can go high!”
“Show me!” Roy yells towards her and watches her get on the swing and start pumping her legs. “The swing?” He asks Hal with raised eyebrows.
“She can’t learn to fly if she’s afraid of heights or wind.”
“You’re just trying to knock the fear out of her so she can take on someone’s ring.” Roy shakes his head when Hal just grins. “You could at least pretend that’s not the plan.”
“She’s a six-year-old green belt. You don’t have room to talk.” Hal leans towards Roy until their shoulders bump. “Everything went okay?”
“Same old, same old. Go in, get poked everywhere, nurse comes in with a scary fucking needle, and then I have to wait a day.” Roy shrugs. “I don’t think anything’s wrong-”
“Better safe,” Hal says quietly, and he presses his fingers against Roy’s.
“If I’ve done something to myself that could affect Lian…” Roy watches Lian smile up at the sunlight. “I was clean when she was conceived, but there’s so much-”
“You’re healthy,” Hal cuts him off. “And that’s where you need to keep yourself in your head.”
“Every time I go in and they pull out that needle, I just want to take it away from the nurse and tell her I know what I’m doing.”
Hal shakes his head. “How much of this is you being worried, and how much of this is penance?”
“It’s about even,” Roy admits after a moment.
“She’s healthy,” Hal says with a wave to Lian. “And I’m not going anywhere. You can basically have a conversation with Ollie, and no one you work with thinks you’re going to sneak away and shoot up between your toes. You’re only beating up yourself.”
“Someone’s gotta do it.” Roy shakes his head before Hal can say anything. “Ignore that.”
“I will not,” Hal disagrees. “Someone’s got to tell you-repeatedly-that you’ve paid your dues.”
Roy rubs a hand over his face. “If anything happens to her-if something happens to you because I was an idiot-”
“Stop it,” Hal says firmly. “It’s been negative tests all this time. You’re not going to suddenly get something from worrying about it.” Lian waves from the swings, and Hal pulls Roy forward with a hand around his wrist. “Come on. You can stand here and beat yourself up, or you can let Lian tackle you to the ground and declare herself the champion.”
“I’m going to keep getting tested.”
“I wasn’t going to fight you on that,” Hal replies. “I’m just going to fight you on giving yourself more blame than is actually due.”
“Pot and kettle,” Roy says under his breath, and chuckles when Hal swipes at him. “Just saying.”
“Point taken and ignored,” Hal says. He leaves Roy standing a few feet from the swing set and goes to scoop up Lian. “Come on, princess, let’s go play on the slide.”
Roy watches Lian laugh and Hal smile and thinks, maybe, that Hal has a point.
My Table