some guys think they can't be winners

[beanchaointe]

Comments

[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.

[kapiushon]

Star City is in the rearview mirror?

( He and Felicity tried that, though they led more of a domestic life and that petered out. But, they tried. This isn't that. )

[blackstarred]

[She pauses before shaking her head.]

Not forever. Not for me, anyway.

[She's still figuring some things out, but Star City was always a place she intended to return to. As soon as she figured out how she was going to deal with JJ.]

[kapiushon]

( "It's not like I got a subletter. I think this is good I should do. And it comes with perks. Along with - all of my own. We're not going to be gone forever," he adds for his sister. )

Star City will always be your home. Laurel and I haven't even made over your rooms.

[blackstarred]

I appreciate it.

[Because she definitely might need one one day. And then, because she is curious, even if she's not sure he should be:]

Have you heard from JJ?

[kapiushon]

Only at first. Since then, John. Connor once or twice for his father. Lyla last week.

( But, since that first, worried check-in, JJ hasn't checked in. Oliver was kind to him, but there was something there that wasn't good enough for his daughter. Maybe that's anyone he or William dates. Not that he's met William's dates before. )

[blackstarred]

[Wow, Oliver, if not the son of your best friend, who is?

Don't answer that question.

She takes a breath and nods.]

I should probably text him, but I wouldn't even know where to start.

[kapiushon]

I've learned that an apology goes a long way.

( It... took him a very long time to learn that. )

[blackstarred]

I think I can manage that.

[It's literally the least she could do. But with that, their food arrives and the family is able to move on to lighter, more catching up topics for the rest of their dinner.]