Chapter Text
Felicity rocked back and forth on her heels. She was glad to be wearing flats because if she had actually been rocking on her usual three to five inch heels she knew she would have snapped them. She matched her pink flats with a conservative pink dress and a white jacket. Her hair was pulled into a tight ponytail on top of her head. A messenger bag hung on her shoulder and nestled into her hip. She continued to rock as she waited. The line at the coffee shop was long and she was bored. She just wanted to get her coffee so she could sit down and grade papers. She was a professor at the University a few blocks away. Felicity puffed out her cheeks and blew the breath out slowly.
As she got closer she could see the baristas working quickly. A blonde somewhere around her height scurried behind the counter, making the orders. A tall man took the orders. She did a double take when her eyes landed on the male. He was attractive, but not in the way she usually found herself drawn to men. Scruffy and defined jaw. He seemed to have muscles under his uniform. But he also had snake bite piercings in his lower lip. Thick earrings in his ears. He lifted his hand to scribble an order onto a cup and she noted the black nail polish on his fingernails as well as the tattoos up his arms. She squinted at the tattoos trying to distinguish what they were. She stepped closer and closer. Hardly realizing the line was actually moving. She could see the tattoos better. She could only see about half the sleeve, but they were depictions of Greek mythology.
“Take a picture, it'll last longer.” The barista sighed.
Felicity startled and stood up straight. “I was just admiring your tattoos,” she read his name tag. “Oliver.” She looked up into his eyes and bit down on her lip. They were an absolutely stunning blue.
He looked at her like he didn’t believe her. “Okay.” He picked up a cup and held his sharpie ready for her name and order.
“What about Greek mythology do you like?”
He rolled his eyes. “It’s just interesting.” His tone stayed flat.
“Oh.” Felicity tried not to pout.
“Did you want a coffee or not?”
“Yeah, an Americano with an extra shot of espresso.”
“Name?”
“Felicity.”
He scribbled all that down on the cup and passed it along to the other barista. The blonde looked up at him with an unpleasant expression on her face. Felicity moved on to the end of the counter to wait for her drink. She thought Oliver was cute and his tattoos were cool, but it was obvious that neither of them were each other’s type. He probably had some punk girlfriend with pink hair anyway. She pouted and waited for her coffee.
The other barista came up to her with the coffee. “Here,” she leaned in close. “I’m Sara, but that’s not important. Come back when it calms down. Ask him about Hades.”
Felicity’s eyes went wide. “Okay.”
Sara went back to work and Felicity sat down at a table nearby. She eyed her messenger bag, but essays suddenly didn’t seem interesting. She sipped at her coffee and watched the line dwindle down. She waited a bit longer for the room to get quiet. Students and faculty were working. A few people just sat around drinking their coffee. Oliver and Sara stood behind the counter cleaning and basically waiting for something to do. Felicity bit down on her lip and went back toward the counter.
“So, Oliver.”
“Yes,” he sighed.
“What’s the deal with Hades? The only thing I know about him is that blue character from the Disney movie.” Not entirely true. She’d read some Greek mythology.
Oliver blanched. “A horrible representation of Hades. He gets so much crap for being evil, but he’s just doing his job. A job that he didn’t even want. He drew the short straw and was given the task of dealing with the Underworld and the souls of the dead. The people of Greece feared him when they really had no reason to. He was the most laid back God. His wife was scarier than he was. There is a reason they called her chaos bringer and destroyer of light.” He huffed. “I mean Hades was practically a nerd… he named his dog Spot.”
“Spot?” she giggled.
“Well the origin of the word Cerberus might come from a Proto-Indo-European word which means spotted, so there’s a possibility his dog’s name is Spot. Not totally confirmed.” He ran his fingers through his dirty blonde hair.
Felicity smiled wide. He was so passionate it brought another level of attractiveness to him. She thought anyone with a brain and passion for what they loved or did was sexy and it was obvious that Oliver had both. She leaned a little closer to the counter and he bit down on his lower lip. Maybe he was feeling the same vibe she was. Should she offer him her number?
“That’s really cool.”
“Yeah, right.” He turned slightly. “I doubt you wanted to know all that. I don’t even know why you came up here.”
She wanted to stomp her foot. Why was he being so difficult?
“Oh my god, Oliver. She thinks you’re cute!” Sara yelled.
A few people in the coffee shop turned to look at them. Felicity and Oliver’s cheeks turned a bright red. She swallowed and looked down at her hands which were suddenly the most interesting things in the world. Oliver cleared his throat.
“You can go now, Sara,” he said.
Felicity heard footsteps and slowly looked back up at Oliver.
“I’m not your type,” he said.
She deflated. “Or am I not yours?”
He frowned. “Cute nerd is definitely my type, but I’m guessing you’re like a student at that big fancy university?”
“...Professor.”
He rolled his eyes. “See. You don’t need to get mixed up with me.”
“I’ll be the judge of that.”
Oliver dragged his eyes over her.
She puffed herself up and lifted her chin, trying to look tough.
He finally cracked a tiny smile, but it was gone as soon as it had appeared. “Fine. I’ll take you on a date, but I’m not doing anything fancy. Just my usual stuff.”
“Fine.” Inside she was giddy as hell.
He thought he was big, tough, and badass, but the man who had just burst into a spiel about Hades the nerdiest god was definitely softer and passionate. There was more to him than his tattoos and piercings. She didn’t care if their first date was a trip to the theater and cheese pizza on the street. This was her first date in months.
“Sit tight and I get off in about thirty,” he said.
“Alright.” She went back to her table and sipped at her lukewarm coffee.
Thirty minutes later, Oliver was hovering over her. “Ready?”
“Yeah.”
He had changed at some point when she wasn’t looking. Instead of his green uniform, he wore torn black jeans with a chain attached to what she assumed was a wallet, a tight black t-shirt with a band logo, a leather jacket, and combat boots. She bit down on her lip as she looked up at him. He adjusted his jacket and raised a brow at her.
“Are you going to sit there and stare at me all night?”
“I could,” she blurted out. “I mean no.”
Felicity stood and followed him toward the door. They exited onto the street and followed him down the sidewalk.
“I don’t have a car so we’re walking.”
“I don’t have a car either. It’s a waste of space and money when I live close to campus.”
He nodded and shoved his hands into his jacket pockets.
Felicity gripped onto the strap of her messenger bag. “So where are we going?”
“My place.”
“Oh.”
“I told you we aren’t doing anything fancy.”
“That’s fine.”
He led her a few blocks down until they reached a shabby looking apartment. It was a little worse for wear. He glanced at her as if he were waiting for her to say something about it. She blinked at him and waited for him to keep walking. He flicked his gaze over her once more and then opened the front door for them. Oliver walked up the steps and she followed. They went up three flights of stairs, reaching a green door. The numbers were loose and hanging off slightly. Apartment 520.
He unlocked the door, but had to ram it to actually get it open. “Shoes off.” He said, kicking his own boots off.
Felicity slid off her flats and eyed the apartment. It was… cleaner than she expected. Everything was neat and tidy. The furniture was old and worn. Stained. His t.v was ancient. She hadn’t seen one like it since the nineties. A black cat lounged on top of it. It lifted it’s head and eyed Felicity for a moment before going back to sleep.
“Make yourself comfortable.” He walked toward the cat and scratched it’s ears. “This is Erebos.”
Felicity sat down on the tattered blue couch. It was also from the nineties. It had what looked like a coffee stain on it. Please be coffee. She could feel the springs in it, but ignored it. Oliver moved toward the kitchen. The kitchen was a beige color that was almost yellow. It was kind of nauseating to look at. He dug around in his freezer.
“What kind of pizza do you want?”
“Do you have cheese?”
“Just cheese?”
“I can’t have meat and dairy together.”
He turned around to look at her. “Why?”
“I’m Jewish.”
“Oh. Okay. Cheese it is. I think I bought four cheese with a stuffed crust.” He dug around in the freezer. “Oh I have a veggie one in here.”
“That sounds good.” She wasn’t always a big fan of veggies on her pizza, but he was actually trying. As much as he was pretending not to give a damn, he was trying, and actually making an effort for her. He could have told her to fuck off and made a pepperoni pizza.
“I have frozen cheesecake in here too. One of them was supposed to go to Sara, but she’ll understand. They’ll be thawed by the time we’re done.” He put the slices of cheesecake on the counter and went to preheat the oven.
He came to sit down with her. “So… not what you thought it would be is it?”
“I don’t know why you’re being so hard on yourself. This is nice.”
He seemed taken aback. He looked away from her and picked up the remote. “I know the T.V is old, but we can still watch DVDs.” He pointed toward a shelving unit. “Pick one.”
She got up and wandered toward the DVDs. She eyed them carefully. “For someone who was so mad at the Disney Hades I’m surprised you have Hercules.”
“It’s… it’s my sister’s. She comes over here sometimes.”
She chuckled. “Okay.” Felicity pulled the 1980s version of Clash of the Titans off the shelf and handed it to him.
“Good choice.” He grinned.
Just as he got the DVD into the player and the movie started up, the oven beeped, signaling that it was finally hot enough to cook the pizza. Oliver got the pizza in and sat back down next to her. Felicity scooted a little closer to him and watched the movie. She’d never seen it before, but she figured it had to be one of Oliver’s favorites. She glanced up at the side of his face. He seemed enamored with the movie already. Felicity leaned in a little closer and rested her head against his arm. The smell of leather wrapped around her. He lifted his hand and placed it on her knee. Progress. His thumb rubbed her skin gently. They were just getting really comfortable and really getting into the movie when the timer for the pizza went off.
She sighed loudly.
He chuckled and got up. “Maybe you are enjoying this.”
“I’m not lying to you.”
It took a few minutes, but he brought out the pizza and plates. They ate quietly while they watched the movie. She couldn’t complain about the frozen pizza because it was what she usually fed herself. The frozen cheesecake was pretty good and she would have to remember to buy one of those to stick in her freezer later. She told him so too.
“You’re funny,” Oliver muttered, setting his empty cardboard down.
“I’m serious.” She put her own trash down next to his on the coffee table.
He rolled his eyes.
They settled back into the couch and kept watching the movie. They found their earlier positions, but his hand moved a little higher. She looked up at him and he met her gaze. Oliver leaned in and kissed her gently. It felt weird to kiss someone with piercings at first. It felt foreign, but she wanted to keep kissing him. She parted her lips for him and slid his tongue inside. His tongue was pierced too.
“Oh.” She pulled back.
He smirked. “It vibrates.”
She blushed.
His expression fell slightly. “Look, Felicity. I usually only bring girls back here for one reason and that’s sex.”
Her own expression drooped.
“But… I don’t want to do that with you.”
“You don’t want to have sex with me?” She was a different kind of wounded.
“No, I mean I do. You’re hot.” He sighed. “I just… you’ve been nicer to me than anyone. Most girls only want to hang out with me because they want to fu- fornicate.” He blushed. “But you didn’t come here for that. You honestly wanted a date.”
“And I’ve had fun on this date. I don’t care that it hasn’t been fancy. You’ve been yourself and you’ve been honest. Do you know how rare that is?”
She realized how close they still were. Still wrapped around each other, but neither of them seemed to care.
“I don’t know how to be anyone but me.”
She leaned in and kissed him again. “And I like that person.”
“You barely know me.”
“I’d like to get to know you more. I know I’ll still like you.”
“How can you be such an optimist?”
“I’m not always… but about you I’m optimistic.”
He leaned his head back and sighed. “You just had to walk into my coffee shop.”
“Yep.” she laughed. “You were a lucky find.”