Chapter Text
They’ve run this path every morning for the past 4 months. Start at the corner, turn left onto Elm, cut past the closed bars and just opened coffee shops, and head into the park for a quick 4 mile loop. Some days they do it once, some days they take a few laps, but always this path. And every morning Arsenal clears the path of all people that might be tempted to try and stop Oliver Queen for a quick chat. Until the day he doesn’t.
She’s been working out of this coffee shop for the past six weeks. Her roommate has been too obnoxious to deal with, so after giving the place’s wifi a boost for her own personal needs, she’d claimed a table as her own where she could work in peace. Some days she orders a drink (or several, until her veins are more caffeine than blood) and other days just one of the delicious scones they make from scratch, but she always sits at this one table, her table. Until the day it’s taken.
It happened on a Wednesday. Oliver was coming off a particularly bad one night stand that just would not leave. He’d tried all his usual excuses and finally had to pull out the big guns and let Arsenal out of the guest bedroom to come growl the woman out the door. This meant they were a bit behind on their morning run and he had a little extra frustration to work out, so he’d kicked things up a notch and was pressing for higher speed than usual. Not that the dog seemed to mind, considering he was still keeping the leash tight, coming as close to pulling Oliver as his training would allow.
They were in their first mile and getting back into their groove when Oliver felt his arm suddenly jerked all the way behind him, damn near causing him to fall on his ass. He turned around to curse at the damn dog for stopping so quickly when he saw something that shocked him to his core. Arsenal, the dog that doesn’t like anyone save Oliver, but especially women, the dog that only last month finally stopped growling at Thea when she came to visit, that dog had come to a screeching halt right next to a woman sitting on the patio of the coffee shop they’d been passing. And as Oliver was about to give the leash a tug and move them on their way, Arsenal leaned closer and placed his head in the woman’s lap, startling her into knocking over her coffee.
He was stepping closer, ready to chastise the mutt, when the woman laughed and brought a hand down to pat her surprising visitor on the head. Her voice came out a bit loud, probably due to the headphones in her ears, as she scratched Arsenal and gushed, “Well, hello there! Where did you come from, Cutie?”
He watched as her eyes followed the line of the leash, felt them hit his skin when they reached his arm and travelled up the length until they reached his face. And then he felt the air leave his lungs as soon as her face, and the most gorgeous smile he’d ever seen, was in full view.
What a crappy start to a day. Her alarm hadn’t woken her due to the earplugs she’d had to put in when her roommate decided to have the loudest sex ever last night- Who brings someone home on a tuesday? And she couldn’t find the sandals she wanted to wear- probably in said roommate's room, borrowed without permission, again! So she was running later than usual to get to the coffee shop and grab her table for the morning. Not only was it gone, but all the other tables inside had been snatched up. After checking the weather app on her phone and seeing she’d be okay for the next couple hours, she ordered her regular latte (with an extra shot or two) and grabbed a table outside, pulling out her laptop and popping in her headphones.
She quickly dove deep into the code for a new client’s website, easily working out a few glitches so the comment section would operate properly while already mentally mapping out her next project. She had several other minor issues to work out for people today before she could begin the web designs for the bar opening downtown and could feel the tension creep into her shoulders at the seemingly unending to-do list.
After stretching her neck and rolling her shoulders, she took a quick gulp of her cooling latte and opened up the next item on her list. But before she could get absorbed back into code she felt something heavy fall into her lap and her hands flew off the keyboard, the right catching her coffee and sending it tipping off the table.
She glanced down to find black fur, slobber, and dark brown eyes that were staring pitifully up at her. Her surprise quickly faded and she couldn't help her laugh as she reached down to pat her visitor before scratching behind his ears. Her head tilts and her voice automatically pitches up as she greets her new friend, “Well, hello there! Where did you come from, Cutie?” and when the dog lifts its head slightly, she recognizes him. It’s the dog that runs past here every morning, both he and his owner looking like men on a mission, but the dog drooling on her skirt looks nothing like the fierce animal she’s seen before. And speaking of fierce- her eyes travel up the leash, over the tanned arm attached to it and up to stare into the face of the Adonis she’s drooled over many a morning.
The Adonis who is staring down at her with his mouth gaping and one eyebrow quirked, and she runs a mental check over her ensemble before realizing her earbuds are still in. She yanks them out and smiles once more. “It looks like your dog isn’t feeling like running today.”
The man gives a shake of his head and smirks slightly, “Well I can’t really blame him. We had a late night and that lap looks cozy.”
She sees his eyes widen a bit, and let’s him off the hook for that terrible line by giving the chair across the table from her a light kick and throwing out one of her own. “Well the lap is spoken for, but this chair is open.”
Slightly surprised at herself, and not really expecting him to take her up on the offer, her eyes widen in surprise when he slips the leash from his wrist and hands it to her. “That sounds great actually. Why don’t you watch him and I’ll grab you a new drink first, since my mutt spilled yours?”
As he walks off, Felicity wraps the leash around her chair before reaching up with one hand to save her work and close the computer. She’s deep in a one-sided conversation and making herself chuckle when the man makes his way back with their drinks. “Well you do look tired! What kept you up so late? Partying hard with the neighborhood bitches?"
"He's not usually one for parties. Definitely not one for bitches, especially of the human variety." His voice is low and right next to her ear as he reaches around to place her coffee on the table, "So you must have passed inspection."
She looks up at him with a smirk, "I'm honored, truly."
"I'm Oliver Queen. And the honor is all ours."
Placing her hand in his surprisingly gentle hold, she murmurs, "Felicity Smoak." Then, removing her hand from his grasp, she gestures to the dog now snoring softly in her lap and then the still open chair, "The seat's still yours if you want it, Oliver. I don't think the big guy is moving for a while."
They talk only briefly before Oliver's watch beeps reminding him he should be finishing his run and getting ready for the rest of his busy day and though he's tempted to stay, he sighs and moves to stand.
Arsenal lets out a low whine when the leash tugs as it's transferred back to Oliver's hand. “I’ve never seen him take to anyone so quickly! Do I need to be concerned about him going home with you?”
Looking down at the dark puppy eyes and feeling herself frown a bit, she shakes her head quickly. “Oh, I wish. But I have roommates and a pet free lease, so I suppose I’ll just stick to admiring him from afar.”
“Well hopefully not too far. Have dinner with us tonight?” His smile is more earnest than smarmy this time and she's tempted, but still can't quite believe this is all happening to her.
“I don’t want to read too much into this, but are you asking me out on a date? Because your dog likes me?”
He pats Arsenal on the head, "Sure, let's go with that. I’m willing to trust him on this one. So 6:30? We can find a place that serves dogs too if you’d rather dine with him.”
It's the final wink he throws in that makes her giggle and agree as she writes her cell phone number down for him. "Sure, why not? Just text me where to meet you guys."
He tucks the slip of paper intone pocket of his shorts and gives a final nod before he and Arsenal start running back the way they came. And yep, she's drooling right on schedule.