15275/Just a walk in the park, Kazansky

Just a walk in the park, Kazansky
Date of Scene:	01 July 2023
Location:	City Park, NYC
Synopsis:	During a walk in a park near their NYC penthouse, Oliver and Felicity admit the depth of their feelings.
Cast of Characters:	Felicity Smoak, Oliver Queen

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Felicity Smoak has posed:
Between Oliver doting on Felicity and Felicity doting on Oliver, the entire evening spent in public has left absolutely no one that's laid eyes on them wandering whether 'Olicity' were in the starry-eyed honeymoon phase of new love.

That includes (but is not limited to) the older couple who eavesdropped on them the entire time they sat at the sidewalk sushi counter they'd opted to have dinner at (even though they were dressed for a five star restaurant and an evening at the Met); a young, well dressed, and clean cut young man that recognized Oliver from a paper he'd written for his NYU business class and wanted a selfie (which Felicity happily took and then mercilessly teased Oliver about for the next twenty minutes); a blogger that spotted them 'on a date' and wanted a picture of them together, asking Felicity a bunch of questions about dating her boss (which Oliver was gracious enough to save her from); and one older lady that was crafting and selling roses on the sidewalk under a streetlamp, offering one to Oliver 'for his lovely lady' on their way to the park.

Sushi had gone splendidly. It didn't consume the entire evening, it was light and delicious, and eventually that older couple that had been eavesdropping ended up striking up a conversation with them about the secrets to a long, happy marriage. Felicity watched them together with the same warmth that one watched a litter of puppies cuddling, hanging on their stories and leaning lightly back against Oliver. Eventually, though, the check came, and the couplies said their goodbyes. Felicity collected her clutch, slipped her arm back into Oliver's, and before they knew it, they found their way to the big, wrought iron gates of the park.

Night had settled completely over the city by this point, but the concrete pathways were well lit by towering lights, even if the trees and shrubs allowed plenty of opportunities for shady areas -- little islands of darkness that added to the quiet, romantic ambiance as much as they also provided opportunities for less than savory characters to lurk. It's not a seedy looking area by any stretch of the imagination, but it's also not necessarily an area that Felicity would venture without being on the arm of her very own vigilante superhero, either.

Oliver Queen has posed:
There is little doubt in his mind that the evening would have been wonderful no matter what they got up to. No doubt the restaurant with it's Michelin-star cuisine would have been fabulous. But this? This was somehow a little more fitting.

Besides, it's the company that makes the evening, not where they eat or their after dinner entertainment. In that respect Oliver certainly cannot ask for any better.

Still, the sushi most definitely hit the spot amd the little interludes, from the older couple only too willing to share their experiences and successes, to the lady selling roses gifting one to Felicity on his behalf -- which he did insist on paying for -- it has all been pretty much perfect. He wouldn't change a thing.

The park is a far cry from what it was a few decades ago, when one would be putting one's life on the line by entering it after dark. Not, perhaps, that they have would have all that much to worry about even in worse times. But it is clearly a different place, one very much suited to an evening stroll.

While the sun might have set at last, dropped not just behind the towering skyscrapers that dominate the heart of this city, but also the western horizon, the evening still retains that sultry heat of the daylight hours, diminished only a touch without that blazing orb in the sky. The rich, midnight blue tapestry overhead stretches out and the deeper one walks into this green oasis, the easier it is to forget about the looming towers of glass and steel that stretch up around them. Though even here the lights, those little oases of illumination that dot the paths at regular intervals, dim the magnificence of that starry sky. Just a little.

Not that Oliver needs to look heavenward to find beauty mind you, not with her arm looped through his own as they stroll away from that wrought-iron gate, out in amongst the grassy laws and scattered beds of flowers.

Enjoying the evening. Enjoying one another's company.

Felicity Smoak has posed:
With one arm in Oliver's and the other holding her clutch, Felicity had moved that flower up to tuck behind her ear, letting it old back a lock of that loose blonde mane, a beautiful red blossom contrasting against the gold of her hair, the pale creaminess of her skin, and the blue of her eyes.

Though the conversation had found a lull for a few minutes, there didn't seem to be any discomfort in it. The staccato sounds of Felicity's heels against the concrete cut the distant noises of the city, but otherwise she seemed to enjoy the quiet and the warmth of Oliver's presence against her side.

"I've been thinking of starting a foundation," she mentions idly, merely rattling off a stray thought that had apparently wandered across her mind. "As much as I might have been resistant to the idea at first, being your assistant has had its advantages."

Oliver Queen has posed:
Those silences can be a loaded thing.

There are those silences that are simply awkward, when one simply doesn't know what to say. There are silences out in the field that are ominous, like a held breath before a looming, unavoidable burst of extreme violence. And there are the silences that come from sheer loneliness, from being completely separated from everything and everyone that one cares about.

Oliver has his fair share of experience with all of those, at one time or another.

But this one is nothing like that. It is somehow warm, comfortable even and he is perfectly content to drink it in, much as he is the serene beauty of the park. Like so much else on this little impromptu vacation, it's relaxing.

Not that he's sorry to see it break, glancing over towards her with a smile as she drops that little nugget of information. "I have to say that I'm glad that time -- and hopefully me -- were able to bring you around on that front. I know it is not exactly what you had in mind when you joined the company, but I think it has worked out pretty well," he asserts.

"So... a foundation. That's a great idea. Was there something in particular that you had in mind to focus on, or is it a more general sort of idea?" he asks curiously as they make that temporary transition from one of those expansive pools of light to the little veil of shadow that lays between each of those beacons of illumination.

Felicity Smoak has posed:
"Just so long as you /still/ understand that I don't bring you coffee because it's my job," Felicity remarks, narrowing her eyes a little up at him even though that pleased smile still curls her lips. "I didn't bust my butt so I could fetch coffee for some over-privileged rich boy. I bring you coffee because I /like/ you."

And for a moment, she worries at her lower lip, just reveling in how easy it is to exist with him like this.

"STEM," she says. "Specifically, getting girls and young women even more involved than we have in the last decade. Women make up forty-five percent of postsecondary students majoring in STEM fields now versus only forty percent. So, we've come a long way, but there's so much more we can do. And, I know I don't exactly have a ton of free time, but /you/ still find time to hit the salmon ladder -- which John is bringing, by the way, since there's no chance I was just going to let that sit unused and I've already got the perfect spot picked out for it." No doubt where she could see it from her desk. "Completely for your benefit, of course. I need you in peak physical performance... I mean, not /I/ need... more like /we/ need... and by /we/ I mean /all/ of us... Is there any chance you can just kiss me so I can stop?"

Oliver Queen has posed:
It would be terribly unfair to promote her up the corporate ladder just to fetch him coffee, wouldn't it?

It would also be a terrible waste of talent and it would probably make Oliver as poor an executive as he sometimes allows himself to feel he's being. Fortunately, while he might have an odd flaw or two as a CEO, his eye for talent is not one of them.

"I think the important thing that we can take out of all of that is that I'm still getting coffee out of the deal," he says mildly, the corners of his lips quirking slightly. "And really, all things considered I'm pretty happy with the fact that it's because you like me, instead of me just being a bossy rich boy with pretensions of grandeur," he says with a quiet laugh.

Taking her hand in his own once more, Ollie smiles as she lays out her plans. "That is pretty perfect," he agrees. And it is. Very much a suitable undertaking from anyone really, it's made even more so given her own background, given what she has accomplished and how she has gone about do so. "If you need anything to help you just let me know. If nothing else I can always put you in touch with the lawyers who helped establish some of my family's charitable activities. They'll be able to help with the formal, legal side of it at least," he enthuses.

Mention of some of the additional gear that should arrive in the next couple of days draws a grin from him -- more so at the inevitable adorkableness the ensues. "Mmmmm, I definitely wouldn't want to leave you unsatisfied with my performance. We can't have that," he manages with a straight face. "But why would I ever want you to stop?" he asks archly.

Then he chuckles, low and throaty, that stroll coming to at least a temporary halt beneath one of those light stands that fills the park with its warm glow, turning her way. "Though on the other hand it would be downright foolish to pass up any opportunity to kiss you..." he murmurs, that scant gap between them closed once more as his lips seek out her own under the moonlight.

Felicity Smoak has posed:
/I think the important thing that we can take out of all of that is that I'm still getting coffee out of the deal./

Felicity actually laughs, and it's a warm, genuine sound that fills her face with amusement. And of course, the mention of him being a bossy rich boy actually has her tugging herself closer so she can press her cheek against his arm. Yeah. She liked him. A little.

Maybe a lot.

Her fingers interlace with his when he takes her hand, and she draws in a breath, just savoring the night air -- even if it did carry undertones of exhaust no matter where you were in New York City.

"I somehow doubt I'll be unsatisfied with your performance..."

But then they're slowing, turning, and Felicity is looking up at him with all of that adoration in her eyes, her smile. Her hands slipped up the sides of his arms, fingers clinging to his shoulders as he leaned his lips /almost/ down to hers.

"Quite a conund--" She started to quip, but there was no time. That gap was closed, and a soft sigh of pleasure left her nose as her eyes sank closed, her whole body leaning in closer, clinging to him.

Oliver Queen has posed:
There are times that Oliver doesn't necessarily put his best foot forward.

The same is pretty much true for everyone of course. For him, that once might have been because he was that spoiled, rich kid. He might have had charm and potential, but he was more then happy to squander all that, to play into the worst of his instincts. And while the island, Lian Yu, might have changed all of that for good it is not as if it left him without flaws of a different sort. He stripped away parts of his humanity, things he felt that he could not hold onto if he wanted to survive. It left him cynical and emotionally closed off.

She might not be the only reason why that has slowly begun to change, but there is no denying that Felicity has played a pretty big part in that. There are times it seems that he can do no wrong in her eyes. But then the same is true for her part in his own.

For which Oliver is profoundly grateful.

So he lingers there with her, beneath that stand of illumination, one hand gently cradling her face, that thumb idly stroking across her cheek as he kisses her intently, drinking her in. The softness of her lips, the warmth of her body pressed to his own. And her presence, so comfortable, and comforting.

Even when his lips do finally break from hers they don't stray for long, two more quick, nuzzling kisses pressed to her lower lip before he finally straightens. "C'mon. I think the pond is just up ahead," he says, both hands falling into hers, slowly walking backwards at first so he can keep his gaze locked on her own as he draws her further down the path. "Then, if you play your cards right we might just have to find ice cream for the walk back..."

Felicity Smoak has posed:
It didn't matter where they were or who was around. When Oliver claimed her mouth in that way -- not the chaste, affectionate pecks that they sometimes shared, but the deep, knee-weakening embrace that made her /feel/ him all the way to her core -- nothing else in the world mattered. Everything faded away, and all that was left was the two of them standing in the vastness of a universe where nothing else existed.

Her own lips parted, both inviting and searching, always reaching for more as her fingers clung to him, pulling herself ever closer, and even when that connection does finally subside, she's not withdrawing completely. Those remaining kisses are met with a smile and counter nips of her own.

The pond sounded nice. Almost reluctantly, she allowed him to slip away, only to claim his hands and walk along with him, drawn towards him as she always is. The singularity at the center of her galaxy that is Oliver Queen.

And that would have been enough -- more than enough, even. But then there's the offer of ice cream, and her face lights up like the Fourth of July.

"Mint chocolate chip?"

/Now/ she gets that hungry, insatiable look in her eyes.

Oliver Queen has posed:
"Mmmhmmm. Would you settle for anything else?" Oliver asks archly, a little smile tuggign at the corners of his mouth. "I don't want to give away my whole negotiating strategy here or anything, but there might even be two scoops on the table," he says, holding up a pair of fingers, waving them about in front of him with a faint smirk.

Seems like the Candy Man is out, ready and willing to lead his prey right into the jaws of temptation. He doesn't play by any rules, that's for sure.

Fingers wrap around her own, giving them a squeeze as the path winds away from the open, grassy lawns into the fringes of the more heavily wooded area, trees looming up around them on all sides, those leafy boughs casting flickering shadows across the paved walkways as the breeze stirs them to life. The sounds of the city are muted and distant, almost lost here.

The path crests a little rise and as they reach the pinnicle the pond spreads out below them, glinting like a dark mirror that reflects the sky above, pierced by little pinpricks of light in that wind-stirred surface.

Felicity Smoak has posed:
Spoiled. That's what she was -- spoiled.

At first, it hadn't been easy for Felicity to accept this treatment at face value. She kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, the trap door to fall away, the next bad that would take Oliver away from her. But that euphoric look in her eye? There's no hint of reservation in it. She was finally reveling in the moment.

And she wasn't just walking into the jaws of temptation. She was leaping with both feet.

"Oliver!" Felicity gasps, smile bright and playful. She squeezes his hands back and rushes up (and past him!), turning so that she's the one walking backwards. In heels. Which, really, is only impressive to those that don't wear them to work every. single. day. "What exactly /are/ you negotiating for? You /know/ I'll do some pretty shady stuff for two scoops of mint chocolate chip..."

She looks so young, in that moment.. so free. The wind plays with her hair, teasing at the red fabric of the flower tucked behind her ear.

Oliver Queen has posed:
Not every evening will be quite as perfect as this.

She is a vision, there, with the breeze playing through her hair, teasing at that flower that adds a red counterpoint to those golden hues. Even more so with those dark waters serving as a backdrop, highlighting her in the most flattering of ways. And Oliver can't look away.

No, not every night will be like this. There will be long ones, as they furiously work on some case or another, racing against the clock to save lives or bring the guilty to justice. There will be challenging ones, where maybe everything won't be quite so smooth sailing as it is right now. And there will be quiet ones, peaceful and even ordinary perhaps, if they can find some semblance of that in their rather unique lives.

But they will all be better because she's there.

It is a pretty impressive display, just how good she is on those heels, walking backwards in front of him, hands still joined, swinging ever so slightly. Not to mention what it does for her legs. And judging from Oliver's gaze he's *very* appreciative of that.

"I might have an idea or two," he counters with a wicked grin, thumbs stroking over the backs of her fingers, holding them lightly in his hands. "Maybe only a /little/ shady. And nothing you won't enjoy," he says confidently. "Maybe almost as much as the ice cream even."

Felicity Smoak has posed:
Perfect. That's what this evening was. There was nothing -- not one single thing that Felicity would change. And not just because...

There's a discrete, measurable, visible moment in time when that thought crosses Felicity's mind. Not quite a lightbulb that flashes over her head, but something closer to a quiet acceptance about the nature of existence. A softening of her eyes. A warming of her smile.

The rest of that thought didn't matter. In that moment, there was only one thing that mattered.

Around the peaceful pond that reflected the stars, the trees pressed in to separate them from the city. There, in the isolation of just being /them/, away from the Arrowcave or any other part of their regular routine, Felicity slowed, drawing his hands down to her hips. With that movement, she herself was drawn up against him, and at first, she turned to rest her cheek against his chest.

There, in the quiet of the evening, in the privacy of that space, she enjoyed a few moment of just pressing against him. Savoring the night. The wind. The small sounds of the nighttime creatures that they shared the pond with.

And then, wordlessly, she stretched up and claimed his lips with her own, one hand slipping up around his neck to cling there. She poured everything into that kiss. Every long-harbored feeling for him. Every secret desire. Every hopeful thought.

And when it was over, she tilted her chin just enough to brush the tip of her nose along the side of his, nuzzling into him affectionately.

"I love you, Oliver."

And though the words are simple enough to say, the weight in her voice leaves no doubt about her conviction.

Oliver Queen has posed:
They have walked quite the path together.

No, not the one in this park, though it is certainly filled with plenty of sites and sounds and scents worthy of capturing the attention. But the journey they've been on from the moment Oliver made his way back to Starling City at last, from that instant where his new found mission brought him across her threshold.

The moment that brought her into his life.

It certainly didn't feel earth-shattering in that instant. Perhaps it should have. Certainly if he had had any idea of just how significant a part of his life she would become he probably would have been struck dumb on the spot. In fairness, at that point in his life it was more then a little difficult to imagine anyone becoming so significant in that way to him again.

There was the mission, and room for so little else.

Be it fate or chance that brought them into one another's lives though, Oliver is profoundly grateful, probably more then he could coherently express in words. Fortunately words are not always necessary, especially in moments like this.

The breeze actualy seems to pick up as she steps into him, the leaves in the nearby trees stirring, urged into that tune of nature that fills the air. The dark waters in the pond behind them ripple, those little twinkling dots of light above appearing to move in that watery mirror. And Oliver kisses her, overcome with that same emotion.

Hands immediately reach for her once more, settling on her waist and frame her hips between them as she clings to his neck. Lips play over her own with warm, soft intent, his senses once more filled with her, with the scent of her hair and skin, with the feel of her body against his own.

When the kiss breaks he smiles, lingering only a hair's breadth away from her. The declaration might be simple, but there is no denying the sincerity. Nor the answering swell that it provokes from him.

"I love you to Felicity."

Felicity Smoak has posed:
When that feeling is reciprocated, there's a moment when Felicity released a breath as if it had been stolen from her lungs, and then her lips were on his again, her smile so broad and infectious it was hard for her to kiss him. And there, in that moment that she seemed to want to never end, she lingered against his mouth, lips to lips, eyes occasionally sneaking peeks up at him as if it was for the first time.

"Take me home?"

The words come out against his mouth, unable to pull herself away. And though it's as much a request as it is a suggestion, if that lingering smile was any indication, it had nothing to do with being tired.

"We can get ice cream tomorrow."

Oliver Queen has posed:
Ice cream is a pretty delicious temptation. As they have already established.

But every now and then there are even greater lures in the offering and tonight, it would seem, happens to be one of those times. Like her, Oliver seems to have no desire, nor even the will to pull away, to draw back, lingering close, exchanging those soft kisses, the merest brush of lip on lip, one of his hands slipping up over her back in a lingering caress, tracing lightly along her spine until her can find the nape of her neck, letting fingers curl in her hair there.

"That does seem like an excellent idea," he murmurs, though even then he can't quite bring himself to draw back from her embrace, or to let his own hands forsake that hold he has on her. But he finally does let a quiet, contented sigh slip, that slow smile sliding back over his features. "You are very difficult to pull myself away from," he says wryly before finally forcing himself to take a step back and slip his hand back into hers.

"It will be good to have something to look forward to tomorrow," he quips lightly. No doubt there will be all sorts of sweet treats to look forward to for the next few days.