3462/On the way back.

On the way back.
Date of Scene:	20 September 2020
Location:	Airplane returning from Lian Yu
Synopsis:	Oliver checks on Vanessa's wounds from Lian Yu while they talk about happened, their past and what the future will bring.
Cast of Characters:	Oliver Queen, Vanessa Carlysle

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Oliver Queen has posed:
Lian Yu had been a way of closure to some, of re-opening old wounds to others..., of revelations.. And whatever was to happen next with Team Arrow was still in the air, but one thing was certain, it wouldn't be the same again..

But instead of focusing on his brooding self or whatever other dark thoughts Oliver now had lingering on his mind there were other priorities, one of them making sure that Vanessa was tended to considering how she had got injured during the battle with the powered Hydra officers.

The private jet he had hired to bring them back was now flying over the ocean, peaceful, a respite from the fights of earlier, Oliver sitting one one seat while another had been pushed back so as to serve as a makeshift bed for Vanessa to rest on. Elbows rested on his knees while he watched her, lips pressed to a grim line. "How are you feeling?" he asks.

Vanessa Carlysle has posed:
Vanessa slowly removes the leather and cloth that composes her costume's upper half as she sits on the makeshift bed. A divider separates them from the rest of the plane's occupants, at least visually even if they need keep their voices down if they don't wish to be overheard.

The brunette looks over to Oliver and says, "Oh, right as rain. Ready to go a couple more rounds with Hydra," she says. Though the way she winces as she removes a quiver whose strap she had criss-crossing her body tells a different story than the words.

The equipment is shed and put aside, and finally she's removing the top itself. "Now I know why it fastens like this," she comments, the top able to be removed fairly easily once it is fully undone. Not requiring a lot of struggling of arms or shoulders. It comes off, revealing a sports bra beneath. And an ugly bruise starting to form over her rips. Bruised or broken most likely.

Oliver Queen has posed:
"This isn't the time to try and sound tough." Oliver replies, some worry visible on his tone. And while he didn't exactly have her powers for being able to see memories, or even feelings of the one she was mimicking he had learned to read her well enough as of late. "We need to make sure nothing is broken."

He is dressed in the dark leathers of the Arrow too, the hood hanging back and away from his face, the rest of the gear resting near Vanessa's. Those blue eyes of his roam over Vanessa's form once the top is undone, attentive for those signs of bruises and upon finding some bruising on the ribs he lets out a faint grunt. "As I suspected.. Lie back down, on your side, so I can check it." it was one of those things he had picked up during his life in Lian Yu and then further expanded on it during his time at Starling, tending to wounds or bruises, mostly on himself. For leaving them unchecked on those island conditions spelled death.

"Was this from when you were fighting that guy with the earthquake powers?" he asks.

Vanessa Carlysle has posed:
Vanessa gives Oliver a grin that is both warm and wry. Knowing that he'd probably be even more stoic about an injury than she is being. But loving him for his caring. She slowly lies back, letting herself down gently, not trying to hide the discomfort in doing so.

"They feel... about how yours did. That guy with the baseball bat in the fight with China White's men a few months before we met," she tells him, referring to a fight he was outnumbered and took a blow in the same spot. "Maybe just slightly worse. You're all muscly overtop of them," she says, glancing down at Oliver's body and managing to be playfully suggestive while laying on the makeshift treatment bed.

"Yes, think it was probably from when I hit the wall. I mean my whole body is pretty sore to be honest, but more pained than injured. I might have a few more bruises coming kind of..." she says, moving a hand to suggest, apparently over much of her torso. "A good example of why stopping them was so important," she says.

Oliver Queen has posed:
The grin makes Oliver narrow his eyes. Ok, fine! She got him! He would had probably just put on that famous Queen poker face and just not shared his bruisings with anyone. But this is different, at least in his mind! Do what I say, not what I do kind of thing. He watches her rest back, reaching over with those large hands to ease her descent so as for her to be more comfortable.

"I have been curious if you actually do get tougher as well without copying someone's form, but I am supposing not." He says, even as the mention of that fight made him grimace. Yes, he remembered that bruising. "But if it's a similar kind of pain maybe we are in luck. They weren't broken at the time." followed by an amused snort at those suggestive words. "Even without the muscled layer over, mmm?" he reaches to flick a finger on her nose, perhaps one of the first loose, relaxed gestures he has made for a few days now, a release of tension.

But then it's time to get to work. It means moving his fingers over the bruised area, carefully, finding the spots where it hurts but more importantly trying to discern whether those ribs are broken or not. "Are you feeling any difficulty in breathing?" he asks. "And yes, we did a good thing on that island. The kind of threat an army with those powers could pose..." he shakes his head at the thought.

Vanessa Carlysle has posed:
Vanessa tries to draw normal, even breaths as Oliver examines the area she took the worst hit. "Not really, nothing with the lungs, just a bit of soreness as the rest of me moves with it, but that's all over, not just there," she tells him.

Her large, soft eyes stay on Oliver as he's sliding his fingers over her revealed skin. "If I didn't know better I'd think you were flirting," she whispers to him, more of that playful side. Probably enjoying the fact his sister and others are on the other side of the curtain which makes teasing him even better just now.

She looks thoughtful. "I really haven't experimented that much," she says of changing shapes. "I can get stronger, so I suppose just bulking up would be more protective than slender me. Though... I don't know. It would feel weird to me if it wasn't actually emulating someone else. That's probably just in my head though."

She reaches a hand over to rest on Oliver's, squeeze it softly. "I told Thea. All of it. About getting examined by a doctor and then copying someone else and... figured she'd appreciate knowing. Which I think she did. It weirded her out too," Vanessa says, looking a little disappointed at that. "Not, she didn't react badly, inappropriately. Just, I could tell it wasn't exactly joyous news to her."

Oliver Queen has posed:
"I thought you'd be able to tell when I was flirting or not." Again the poker face on Oliver. Honestly he is very good at it! Even if Vanessa has a way of cheating ... But at least he is smiling a bit more now, no matter how at times it may appear a touch forced. Lian Yu has ..., too many memories. And what he saw there just recently, with Merlyn's revelation, and actually bringing his sister to that island for the first time .. Well, it's not a good feeling.

"Most limitations reside on our heads." He says with a brief nod. And it was true too! "You will learn how to master your powers." he says, the firmness on his tone undoubting. "If the pain is all over then good, I don't really believe they are broken. And you are in luck I brought something from the island that can help.."

But before he goes to get it Vanessa is taking his hand. He listens. A nod is returned, "She isn't in a good place right now, or even before coming here. Just give her some time." if anything he'd never stop hoping or caring for his sister.

Vanessa Carlysle has posed:
The nod of Vanessa's head shows her agreement with giving his sister time. "I wouldn't try to speak for you in most cases, nor share things that are yours to tell. But, I did tell her how beautiful it is, feeling your love for her. I didn't think you would mind that," she tells Oliver.

Vanessa gives his hand another squeeze and then lets it go so he can get at the treatment he thinks will help. "Why do I have a sneaking suspicion this is going to smell?" she asks, wrinkling her nose a bit preemptively. Whether it's a total guess, or an informed guess from his memories aren't clear.

She watches Oliver then, feeling her heart swell just from looking at him. She tries not to worry about him when they are on missions. But those damned up feelings have a way of getting out after the danger is past.

Oliver Queen has posed:
Vanessa is onto him apparently! Because yes, there are certain herbs at Lian Yu who do wonders for bruises. Herbs that he made sure to get a good bunch while out there being a proper ranger in the island during the aftermath of the base's explosion. Hunting for some stragglers but also.., some time with his sister. Though as for what they had done or spoken with one another, he was being quiet about it so far.

So when those herbs are brought out and the smell hits Vanessa's nostrils they are indeed familiar, ones that Oliver used for years during his stay here. And they -do- work! He returns closer to Vanessa. "I wouldn't. Not sure if she would. She is very private where it comes to family. Having someone sharing the family.., doesn't come easy for her."

He goes about the preparation of that paste, those gestures he had done for so long years back, gestures that he hasn't lost the practice on, as if it had been imprinted upon his mind. "I will live." he then says, noting that she is looking his way in that manner, making his way over to start applying the paste.

One of his hands reaches up to brush over the woman's face, bringing some hair out of the way, the gesture tender, caring. "I just .., am not sure how things will be when we are back. But best to worry about one thing at a time. And right now it's surviving this awful smell."

Vanessa Carlysle has posed:
Vanessa Carlysle sits up slowly while Oliver is working on preparing the paste. There's part that she can help with, plucking some leaves off the branches he brought back. Obviously she's remembering how to make it as well. She prepares the leaves and sets them there for Oliver to use when it comes to the right time to add them.

When he takes the break from that and touches her face tenderly, and cracks the joke, she gives a soft, warm laugh. Keeping her voice low to not carry to the others. "Come here," she whispers to him, swinging her legs over the side of the seat she's on to pull Oliver between them if he lets her.

Vanessa leans closer to softly press a tender kiss to his lips. Slow. Soft. Sweet. Her hand moving to cup the back of his neck lightly. It's an expression of her feelings, her love for him. But it's more. It's relief that they survived. That everyone survived. It's releasing those worries she buried so they wouldn't hinder her performance.

Oliver Queen has posed:
The help in preparing the paste is certainly welcome, a grin coming to his features as Vanessa prepares it in that familiar way of his. The one he had learned at the island. It's a moment they share of silence, not an uncomfortable one but one where they are fully comfortable with one another, working as if they were the same, just given in to the moment and to the task..

Though when Vanessa asks for him to get over there he lets out a laugh of his own. "Definitely not broken." no more medical testing needed. And it's not as if he denies her, instead moving closer to her. Intimate, one arm going around her bare back and bringing her in, lips meeting lips in a slow, relaxing kiss. One very much needed between them after all that had come to pass. They had survived, and now they were going home.., safe.

Vanessa Carlysle has posed:
How long the kiss goes on, Vanessa doesn't know. They haven't landed during it, but she was loathe to let it end. After though she just stays there against him, pressing against Oliver's comforting bulk and gently nuzzling her cheek in against his.

Vanessa leans back enough she can look into his eyes. He can't read her thoughts, not with a power, but does he know her well enough to know she's thinking how she's never loved anyone in her life as much as she loves him? Never even known it could feel like this.

What she does though is to give a happy sigh. "You are so different than Eddy," she says with a little shake of her head and a grin. "I don't even want to think where my life might have gone had other things happened that would have prevented me meeting you, when we did. How we did."

Oliver Queen has posed:
Time was of no meaning to him right now, just staying there with Vanessa, kissing, sharing this moment of relaxation, of releasing those tensions. His fingers remembered to apply that paste too so there was an interesting smell lingering in the air too. The joys of nature medicine! As they broke the kiss he rests his forehead against Vanessa's, relaxing, "Eddy?" that makes him quirk a brow, perhaps amused.

"I am glad you have such an high bar for me.." Yes, he is teasing her now. He knows the guy's story afterall.. Scumbag! "I am glad I could help you become who you are today but .., you shouldn't think so lowly of yourself. You would had made a life for yourself no matter what."

"A few months back we were meeting in New York, then at Yu Phun's.. And now we assaulted an Hydra base, where you were an important of it all. So don't think of yourself as anything less."

Vanessa Carlysle has posed:
The smell makes its presence known and Vanessa does her best not to wrinkle her nose over it. "Oh that's as bad as I... you... remember it. Isn't it?" she says, and trying not to laugh because it'll probably hurt her ribs if she does.

She reaches up and brushes her fingers through Oliver's short hair as he applies the ointment. "Honestly, if things had gone differently? I have no idea where I'd be, Oliver. I was a dumb kid. Dumb doesn't really do me justice back then. I just blindly followed his lead. In his search for 'the big time'," she says.

She slowly shakes her head, keeping her voice very low. "I don't want to imagine what schemes he'd have come up with if I had been able to do this back then, and he found out. Blackmailing people? Getting... combinations or ATM codes or... find out where people keep their valuables in their house. Would I have gone along? And for how long?" she says. "I grew a lot after seeing him laying in that morgue in Gotham. Identifying him. The girl before that though? I really don't want to think where it would have ended up."

Oliver Queen has posed:
A brief, grim expression comes to the fore, Oliver taking in a breath. Yes, he could imagine her lying next to that man on the morgue if her powers had come out back then, or even working for some kind of villain that would undoubtedly use her powers to more than simply credit card fraud. Honestly, the possibilities with her powers were ..., immense.

"Worrying about the past will lead us nowhere. Not that I don't do the same.., what would had happened if I hadn't gone to that island..." his shoulders rising. He'd had probably turned out to be a rather dumb, idle-rich kid. Or worse, some corporate shark... He dreaded to think on it sometimes.

"What's important is that we are here together now, and that won't change." The unmistakable firmness on his voice is telling. He finishes getting that paste applied, looking down at the place. "Alright. We will leave it like this for a bit and bandage when we are near landing. We should still have a few hours."

Vanessa Carlysle has posed:
"That is what's important," Vanessa agrees, gazing up into Oliver's eyes even as he's looking down at her ribs left bare by the sports bra she's wearing. She leans back into him as he looks back up, and softly kisses him again. "This is what's important," she whispers against his lips. Kissing him again. Letting that gentle, intimate kiss linger before slowly pulling back.

At which point she delicate dabs some of that smelly ointment on Oliver's cheek, her own cheeks growing bigger with the size of her smile. She gives a tiny laugh, though it brings a small wince with it too. "I couldn't resist. I know how you love the smell so," she tells him with a grin.