some guys think they can't be winners

[beanchaointe]

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[razes]

[Mia's sitting next to him, so she doesn't catch the look right away, but Laurel being directly across from him can't help but raise an eyebrow.]

Something wrong?

[slavophile]

Uh. Probably not.

( Not wrong, no. )

It's just - TMZ. You know the tabloids and our family.

[blackstarred]

[She can't help but raise an eyebrow, because who's in the tabloids this time?]

Did someone dredge up something from Dad and Uncle Tommy's party days again?

[Completely oblivious to the fact that they might be talking about her.]

[kapiushon]

( Well, he probably wouldn't have said something, but because Mia is trying to pin it on their father, or uncle? )

I was the Hood, the Arrow, and then the Green Arrow, you'd think they'd get tired of the billionaire playboy.

( William does wince at that.

"Let's not mention your hard partying manwhore days," he says, casually. )

Do you want me to mention your most eligible bachelor profile, or the exposé on your exes and your trust issues? ( Hey! ) I read.

( "It's not you, Dad. Or, me. It's Mia. And it does involve one of Uncle Tommy's clubs." You all pried, fine. He unlocks his phone and sets it down on the table. )

[blackstarred]

[Her eyes narrow before she reaches for his phone to read the article. Then she groans, tipping her head back as she reaches for her own phone.]

I should warn Hope.

[Sends off a quick text: We might be on TMZ, sorry.]

[kapiushon]

Who's Hope?

( He takes William's phone next, scanning. He's used to having one gay son. )

Are you --

[blackstarred]

[We're in the twenty forties probably, Oliver. Everyone is bi.

But that's not the point. She narrows her gaze at him briefly, before responding.]

Hope is my not single friend, who I went to check out Verdant Prague with. TMZ is blowing things out of proportion, as per usual.

[kapiushon]

( He still wants to be supportive. Labels or no labels. And he's not so sure he's bi, but he's never had or tried the chance. He did grow up in a very different time and family. Not the point, this is about his daughter. )

Okay. Then they don't know what they're talking about and it will die out on its' own. Kim Kardashian and Pete Davidson will probably get remarried.

( What. He's a public figure who knows public figures.

We might be or we are?
We are
Really unflattering angle of me )

I just want to know you guys are safe. And, if not, safe - living your lives on your terms. I know you didn't choose to be a slayer.

[blackstarred]

[Sorry. I thought I was off their radar.

Her defensiveness softens again, before she shrugs.]

Honestly, joining up with the Slayers was probably one of the better choices I've made lately.

[kapiushon]

I'm going to ignore that joining up with the slayers also cut off contact with your family. But, I understand doing what you have to, and pulling away to do it.

( Too many times, he pulled away from his team or outright defied them to do his own thing. )

If anyone ever doubted you were my kids.

[blackstarred]

[Well, okay. She probably shouldn't have done that part.]

I'm sure the hole in the floor of a Czech clock tower would agree that I'm very much your daughter.

[kapiushon]

That sounds historically... significant.

( Did Mia vandalize a Czech landmark? )

[blackstarred]

More magical than historical?

[She wouldn't know. She skipped the tour.]

But someone cast a spell on it to try and trap us in the same room over and over again and the only way to get out was to get off the floor. So I blew a hole in it.

[Laurel can't help but laugh. "Good girl."]

[kapiushon]

Did that -- stop the spell?

( He is not well versed in anything magic. Their uncle Constantine would be the one to go to for this. )

[blackstarred]

No. But it only applied to that floor, so by going down, we were no longer stuck in an endless loop of insanity.

[It was for the best.]

[kapiushon]

The problem was solved.

( "One problem. It got a lot messier, but because of a competing - or contributing spell. But, hey, we're here in one piece." So, don't worry too much, dad or Laurel. )

[blackstarred]

It was a crazy, witchy time. And not nearly as bad as Knightsbridge, so I guess we should be thankful for that too.

[The body count of Prague was eight. The body count in London was a lot higher.]

[kapiushon]

What is Knightsbridge?

( He's trying to keep up, it's just very hard! )

[blackstarred]

[Mia reaches for her own phone this time, because this one actually got reported on the news, given the death count. She pulls up an article on the "gas leak" that did so much damage, but Oliver knows a cover story when he sees one.

She passes the phone to him.]

That's Knightsbridge.

[kapiushon]

( He takes the second to scroll and read as William pulls his own phone back off the table and takes a sip from his water.

"I uh was there, too. But, I didn't know Mia was. Not until --" his near death experience. Some topics are thorny. )

[blackstarred]

That was how he found me.

[Because in many ways, William did find her. It wasn't a planned meetup spot for them.]

[kapiushon]

( "We found each other," he says. )

What really happened?

[blackstarred]

Hunters.

[She keeps her voice low, just in case.]

They attacked the witch coven that was living there. Then one of the witches put up a barrier to trap them all inside. It was a massacre.

[kapiushon]

You two survived.

( He doesn't like what his children have been through, the world they're now voluntarily putting themselves in. But, he can not talk. )

Are you two staying here? Staying with Allison and Isaac?

[blackstarred]

Allison and Isaac have their own house for the rest of the pack, but for now, yeah.

[They'll go wherever they're needed, but for now, they have some time to themselves.]

We're in a lull, I guess. We're trying to figure out where they're going to go next.