#this time i drew it in my planner. now i can whip her out instead of drawing a new one every time

[dreambreathing]

every so often i have to draw one of these diagrams to show someone how moon phases work

[hankwritten]

No Thru Traffic

Gen, 1k

Part of the DontNeedADiscord Pride Week, Day 6: Parade

“I’m really sorry Administrator,” I coughed into my tissue. “It really is- achoo-! It really is that bad. But at least it came after I got all that work done yesterday, right?”

The slightly pixelated Administrator on the other end of the Zoom call did not chime in in agreement. She narrowed her eyes, and I swallowed, hoping the sweat beading down the side of my face added to the charade.

After several tense seconds, the Administrator said, “very well. But I expect you early tomorrow morning to make up for the lost contracts.”

“Oh d-definitely,” I sniffed. “I’m sure it’ll be c-cleared up by tomorrow,”

“It better be. Administrator out.”

Her face hung frozen for a half second before the call dropped, replaced by a black void on my screen. I cautiously closed the webcam cover, just in case.

Then, I flew into a frenzy, wiping off the makeup I’d used put fake bags under the eyes. From my nose I removed two stubs of tissue, and took in a glorious breath now that I was freed from stuffy-nostrils. The sweat was real though. I’d never lied to the Administrator before, never to her face, and the sudden adrenaline as I realized what I’d just pulled off threatened to jitter me out of my skin.

“Yes!” I said, punching the air. “Ha! I did it!”

The exultation was short lived, as my head whipped to where my laptop was still sitting open. The call was over but…better be extra safe and power that off before I go.

I changed out of the grubby, sick-girl pajamas, and went to my closet. Habitually, my hand went to one of my numerous purple tops, but stopped just short of the hanger. Was this what I was going to wear, today of all days? Same boring work clothes I did for the other three hundred sixty-four days a year? I drew my hand back and frowned.

Screw it. Who knew when the next time I’d work up the nerve to do this again?

I began shoving hangers aside, heavy with their deep whooshing as I sorted through dozens and dozens of painfully similar button downs. Sometimes there was even a dress! How original! So I just kept searching and searching until-

There! Right at the back: an orange Hawaiian shirt I’d worn exactly once, back when I’d been forced to take my government mandated vacation. I pulled it on with gusto.

The tangles came free from my hair—I hadn’t brushed it yet that morning in order to give it that “sickly” look—and then I was in front of the bathroom mirror. Biting my lip, I looked down at the facepaints I’d bought on an impulse, thinking at the time I could paint little flags on my cheeks, but now that the time was upon me I wondered if it was too much. Already I was wearing a Hawaiian shirt, how much more wild was I willing to get?

But, well, since I’d already bought them…

Fifteen minutes later, I examined myself in the mirror again, and gave a relieved sigh. Hadn’t managed to smudge a thing!

Sensible shoes, my bus pass, and then I was off.

The parade was vibrant, so much better in person instead of looking at YouTube clips later and sighing wistfully. My first day off to coincide with it ever, and all I’d had to do was a little office subterfuge. Now, as long as I didn’t end up in any photos, no one would know I’d been here at all! Everything was going to be absolutely-

“-Oof, entschuldigung, I did not see you there.” The man who’d just bumped into me adjusted his glasses. “Miss Pauling?”

“Medic?” I gaped. “What are you doing here?”

“I am here for the parade of course,” he said, gesturing around. He was dressed for it, his usual vest replaced with one of horizontal rainbow stripes. “As are you, I assume.”

“Yes but,” I stumbled over my words. “What about work?”

“Ah, the Voice? I simply told her I was sick.”

I felt my spirits sink. “Did you now.” I rubbed my face, only remembering to avoid the facepaint at the last second. “It’s fine. Great to see you actually. As long as no one else recognizes us I’m sure we’re-”

“Doktor! Miss Pauling!”

“Aw jeez.”

Pushing through the crowd to greet them was the Heavy Weapons Guy—even worse, Engie appeared to be tagging along behind him, discussing a brochure with a unicorn-costume clad Pyro.

“Did not expect to see you here,” Heavy said as he made it to our side of the street. “Thought little Pauling must work.”

“Could say the same to you guys!” I said, irritation creeping into my voice. “Don’t tell me you all just played hookey together?”

“Naw,” Engie replied. “Didn’t know any of these fellers were coming until we all ran into each other.”

“This is bad,” I began to titter. “If we’re here, then who’s at the office?”

“…Is this a bad time to tell you that Demo ‘n Soldier are coming at us from down the street?”

I whipped around. Sure enough, there they were: Soldier with rainbow-striped American flag tied around his shoulders, and Demo with his afro dyed a deep commitment to purple.

“Ahhhhh!” I couldn’t help but let out. “Why did you all have to skip work at the same time as me?”

“We all wanted to come to the parade, lass.” Then, noting my distress, Demo added with a wink, “don’t fret! The old woman won’t know a thing. Currently, I’m home in bed with the measles.”

“The measles,” I deadpanned. I turned to our now rather obstructing group. “And what did the rest of you say?”

“Gingivitis,” Soldier offered.

“Chicken pox.”

“Halitosis.”

“Cat Scratch Fever,” Scout said, taking a bite from a hot dog.

“Scout!” I demanded. “When did you get here?”

He shrugged. “Don’t blame me, I was just following Spy, seeing why he was sneaking around and crap.”

“And I told you,” Spy’s voice replied, “that I was merely following the bushman and seeing what he was up to.”

“Wankers.”

Maybe I should just stop turning around. Then my coworkers would have to stop randomly appearing behind me, right?

“That’s literally everyone,” I berated them all. This time, when I rubbed my palms under my glasses, I did end up smudging the paint, streaks of white and pink running up my cheeks. “Uhg, we’re so screwed. What is the Administrator going to think when she walks in to the office and sees-”

“Absolutely no one?”

Okay. It looked like I’d have to turn around in a horrified manner one more time.

The Administrator parted the crowd around her, not the least because her shoulder pads threatened to stab anyone who got too close. Everyone shrank before her, except for Heavy maybe because I don’t think he has it in him to shrink before anyone.

“Helen,” I started, then cleared my throat. “I guess you uh…took a guess where we all went huh?”

“That I did.” She blinked down at her employees. “I must say I am disappointed. Of course, I expect something like this from these idiots, but from you Miss Pauling? Couldn’t even engineer a decent structural emergency in order to justify shirking your work. At the very least you could have flooded the building, or released feral opossums into the ventilation.”

“HEY NOW,” Soldier barked from the back of the group. “Have you been reading my itinerary? Because it very clearly says SOLDIER’S DAY PLANNER, DO NOT READ UNLESS YOU ARE SOLDIER OTHERWISE I WILL KILL YOU!”

“…Are you saying you wanted me to fabricate an emergency?” I asked, perplexed.

“It would at least have been more convincing than nine separate emails from my employees, all claiming different maladies. One of which was,” she looked at her phone, “‘A Case of the Mondays’.”

“It is actually proven that worker productivity is up to thirty-three percent lower at the beginning of the week,” Medic justified.

The Administrator stared at him. “It’s Thursday.”

“Alright, alright,” Engineer butt in. “I think we can all agree that we may have messed up a little. Told a few harmless lies about medical issues we may or may not have. But that ain’t exclusive to Miss P here! We all’ve been lying ‘round here, and it ain’t fair to single her out.”

“The laborer is right,” Spy agreed. “The blame should fall on all of us.”

One by one, to my amazement, the others spoke up, or nodded in agreement. When I glanced up at the Administrator again, she had an eyebrow raised, as though I had somehow orchestrated this as well.

“I could instruct you all to return to work, you know,” she said. “It is only fair that your recrimination should begin there. However…”

“You showed up, saw how sick it was, and decided you’re going to hang out and eat hot dogs with us instead?” Scout asked.

She glared at him. “I still have work that must be done before the end of the day. But, it appears Miss Pauling has tripled her workload in the week leading up to today, she has effectively removed any urgency from the rest of your duties. Thanks to her foresight, you are technically not needed at the office today.”

“Aih! Way to go lassie!” Demo said, squeezing me around the shoulders until only my toes were on the ground. Similar congratulations were offered, everyone getting in a pat on the back.

“You inspire great loyalty, Miss Pauling,” she said. “But do not let this happen again.” With that she turned, and disappeared into the revelry.

“Wow,” I said. “I think I’m going to have a heart attack now.”

“Have one when the parade is over!” Soldier demanded. “Look! Floats!”

There certainly were floats. As the chatter died down, and everyone celebrated their good luck, I was left standing among my friends with a new appreciation, these people who’d stuck by me when it’d counted. They were a bit of a colorful bunch but, hey, who better to celebrate pride with than them?

[flabbergabst]

Chosen: Chapter 1 (a cc fic)

Sara and Leonard settles in for the day and meets friends and families, all of which look disapprovingly at Leonard. Sara struggles to deal.

Also on AO3

Sara and Leonard had just entered their hotel room, luggage still in hand after refusing to let the bellboy carry it. “You just had to use Leo Wynters as your fake name, didn’t you?”

Before dropping a half of their team off in Central City, Sara made the team promise to keep a hold of their comms and keep her number on their phones.

“I’d like to have updates on your lives but please, no 2am phone calls telling us you miss us or something,” Sara reminded the team and nodding at Leonard. “I’m looking at you, Ray.”

They all chuckled, Ray included. “I won’t!”

“And,” Sara added before the noise gets out of hand, “enjoy your well-deserved break. God knows we all earned this.”

Gideon chimed in to interrupt the meeting . “Captain, we have arrived in Central City, 2019.”

 Nate, Firestorm, and Mick and Amaya stepped out of the ship with their temporary goodbyes. Mick, raising both eyebrows teasingly at Snart, making a whip sound effect as he walked away from the couple, much to Sara’s amusement.

Next were those stepping down in Star City. Ray and Zari and Sara and Leonard who nodded at each other (Sara reminding Zari to call) and went on their way, hearing the engines of the concealed Waverider being flown by Gideon.

“I’m gonna miss that sound,” Sara muttered, taking Leonard’s hand. “But we deserve this break!”

“Oh that we do,” Leonard replied. “And it’ll start by checking in on the hotel I booked for the weekend.”

Sara looked up at him and smirked. “So glad I’m with an extreme planner. I won’t have to worry about our stay.”

“Well, I wouldn’t say that, this early in our Star City escapade.”

---

Sara took off her boots and let her luggage fall on the floor. Leonard placed his own things down and started walking around the room they got.

“You know you don’t have to case the room, right?” he heard Sara say from a few steps away. “This isn’t a mission anymore,” Sara added, a small smile seen at the corner of her lips.

Leonard chuckled and walked close to her, enveloping her small frame in his arms. “Habit. Besides, I don’t know how long we’ll stay here. Or where we’ll stay, really.”

Tugging him closer so she could feel his heartbeats, Sara spoke. “Central or here in Star? Or elsewhere?”

“Nice for you to ask, but we both know it’s your choice,” Leonard answered with a smirk, earning a soft punch from when Sara pulled away. “But I don’t mind staying in Star should you choose to. Lisa’s not always in Central anyway.”

“Star City it is.”

Leonard smirked. “What a surprise.”

“Ass,” Sara replied and walked away to unpack their things. Leonard followed her and helped.

“Your family and friends are here. Made sense to stay in this city,” he said, taking the clothes out of their luggage and in the closet.

Unbeknownst to him, Sara was looking at him as he moves. His steady pace and the careful way he picks up his shirts. They could stay wherever, to be honest, and they’d be okay. Sara just wants this.

 Later that day, while flipping through the channels of the television, Sara blurted out, “I’m thinking of popping in the Arrow Cave later. Want to come with?”

“Finally introducing me to your friends?” he asked, nonchalantly.

“You’ve put this meeting off for a long time,” Sara replied. “Since we’re staying in the city, might as well meet them now, right?”

Leonard stood up, heading to the bathroom, probably to take a shower. “I guess.”

Sara knows things won’t go smooth. She just trusts her family and friends to respect the decisions she’s made and the person she’s decided to be with. And she trusts Leonard not to go back to being the cold anti-hero that he was.

The bathroom door opened and what came out was Leonard already dressed, his nave blue jacket was on and the smell of his cologne drew her in.

“Let’s go?”

---

“And she’s back, ladies and gentlemen,” Sara confidently said as the elevator doors opened. Leonard was trying his best to hide the chuckle after what Sara said.

“Sara!” Felicity peered from the computer screens. “You’re back!”

“I am!” Sara brisk-walked in, leaving her boyfriend to follow. “We’ll be staying here for a long time. Where’s everybody?”

Felicity swirled on her chair to face her friend who’s rushing to hug her. “Oliver’s at the office with Quentin. Laurel ‘s being her lawyer self. Dig is on vacation with his family, and—oh my god, that’s Captain Cold.”

Leonard was leaning on one of the panels of the Arrow Cave, looking like he’s been there since forever. “Miss Smoak, we meet again.”

Sara groaned internally and sighed deeply. “Felicity, this is—“

“Leonard Snart. Captain Cold. Believe me, Sara, I know,” the blonde genius managed to say. “He derailed a train full of people! They could’ve died!”

Felicity looked at Sara. She saw the former assassin’s face—firm and without any emotion.

“I know,” Sara said. “I know everything. He’s my boyfriend after all.”

 Before Felicity can react to Sara’s announcement, the elevator door pinged and out comes Oliver and in under ten seconds, he recognized the fact that Sara is back, and also brought a known villain into their secret lair.

“What the hell is Snart doing here?” Oliver said, quickly walking towards the weapons rack to get anything.

“Nice to see you too, Queen,” Snart drawled and pushed himself away from where he’s leaning. “Canary here dragged me in so blame her.”

Oliver eyed Sara, who gave a look that told him to let go of the bow he was holding.

“How about you disrupt another city, Snart?” Oliver retorted at Leonard’s smirk and his calm demeanor. “Would it really kill you to leave my city and stay the hell out of here?”

Leonard just shrugged and before he could say anything snarky, he felt Sara hold his hand and tug him towards the elevator.

“How about we start with staying the hell out of this goddamned lair?” Sara snapped, flipping off one of her oldest friends while holding Leonard’s hand tight enough to make him scared that she might break them.

 “Breathe,” Leonard said on their way to the rental car they drove to the Arrow Cave.

Sara still hasn’t said a word, instead pulled out her phone and contacted her sister. Laurel answered in three rings. “Sara! You’re back! Okay are you in the city or somewhere else in the world? Come on sis, I miss you!”

Leonard lets go of Sara’s hand and started driving. He tried his best not to listen to the sisters’ conversation, trying to focus on the road and willing away what he heard only a few minutes ago.

“Is Dad coming to this dinner?” Leonard heard Sara ask, her eyes closed. “Alright, alright. Yes I’m showing up. Yeah, I miss you too. Bye. Oh, hold on. I’m bringing a plus one—okayseeyoulaterbye.”

Sara almost threw her phone on the car floor, taking deep breaths while Leonard drummed his fingers on the steering wheel.

“So we’re having dinner with my dad and my sister,” Sara said with fake enthusiasm.

Leonard actually laughed. “Yeah, I got that from all your groaning while talking to Laurel. I could stay in the hotel while you catch up with them.”

“I was thinking of keeping the family-and-friends-spite-my-boyfriend happenings in one day,” she replied, looking at her left to the man who never fails to make her heart skip a beat. “Just to get this over with.”

The man just groaned. “Or, hear me out, just don’t tell them about us. Hide me. Postpone the dinner forever.”

He’s making some light out of this, she knows it. But she really wants this meeting to work out. She really, really does. So she blurted out without thinking: “When we talked about having a future together, what I had in mind were, I don’t know, rings and houses and little baby shoes—not hiding you in my closet for the rest of our lives.”

Rings. Houses. Little baby shoes.

Leonard felt a rush of heat to his chest. They’ve talked about these things before as they were playing cards, downing bottles of beer.

           “Come on, Sara, you know I’ll never give you a stolen ring.”

           “No! Four bedrooms just in case Mick lives with us!”

                       “Wait until you’ve heard him snore, then tell me you’ll save a room for him.”

           “Bartholomew is a nice boy’s name, right?”

                       “Why do you hate me so much?”

This was the first time it was opened in a conversation, although jokingly. Maybe it was a joke. Was it? The words buzzed in his head.

“Earth to Leonard?” Sara said, placing a hand on his thigh, making the man snap out of his thoughts. “We’re almost here.”

Six hours till dinner. Six hours till judgment time.  He doesn’t even want to think what will happen the moment Sara’s family sees him. All he knows is he’s doing this for her.

---

Sara was fixing the lapels of the coat Len was wearing, mind out of her body, when Len decided to put his arms around her waist and pull her close.

“Hey,” the crook said in a low tone, “don’t worry, they’re gonna love me.”

Sara started laughing softly, leaning her forehead on his chest. “I’m sure they will.”

“And just in case something happens to me, I wrote you on my will. The Cold Gun goes to you,” Leonard added.

“I better get your damn gun.”

 It took them an hour more to get to the door of Laurel’s apartment. When the door opened, Laurel’s eyes went from her baby sister to the man whose hand is obviously on the blonde’s back.

“Is he your plus one?” was the first thing Laurel said, not taking her eyes off of the man, whose eyes aren’t backing out from the stare-off.

Sara, feeling the tension, stepped forward and hugged her big sister. “I missed you, Laurel. You have no idea how long we’ve been away.”

The younger Lance entered her sister’s home. Seeing as how Laurel left the door open for him to enter, Len took it as an invitation to come in.

“Obviously,” Laurel replied to her sister’s last statement. “Long enough for you to find a plus one.”

Sara dropped to the couch and tapped the space beside her for Leonard to sit. “Sis, this is Leonard. From how you were checking him for weapons, I’m guessing you know him as Captain Cold. And no, he’s not carrying any. Only I am.”

She turned to the man who was looking at her intently. “Len, I’ve told you all about my sister Laurel.”

He stood up and held his hand out. “Nice to finally meet you.”

Laurel just looked at the man’s outstretched hand and before she could react, a deep voice called from the kitchen.

“Laurel, is that Sara? Has she arrived?”

 Before anyone could even answer, Quentin was stepping out of the kitchen wearing an apron.

“Dad!” Sara immediately stood up and greeted her father with a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “I missed you a lot!”

“Oh I miss you too, baby,” the father replied, hugging back.

When the two pulled away, Sara immediately brought her father’s attention to the man she brought with her before her father could make his comments.

“Dad, this is Leonard. He’s my…” she said, looking at Len, “…we’re together. Been together for two years.”

Quentin looked at Leonard with so much contempt and disapproval that it makes Sara want to sit her father and sister down to tell them how Leonard isn’t the same man he was from their early perceptions of him from his criminal records.

Her problem is that she can’t fight them on this. They weren’t saying anything. They weren’t as vocal with their displeasure as Felicity and Oliver were. But it’s how Laurel look at Len and how their father is most likely cocking a gun under the table that kills her. Sara can feel her eyes sting. Her family’s talking to her, asking her about her travels, completely disregarding Leonard. Not even offering him food. Not offering him a drink.

They were through with dinner when Quentin finally looked straight at the other man across him. “So, Snart. You need my daughter to help you with a heist, is that why you’re stringing along?”

“Dad, please,” Sara said through gritted teeth.

“I’m not with Sara because I need something from her,” Leonard firmly replied. “I may be everything you’ve read about me and maybe more, but not to her, no.”

Quentin scoffed, facing Laurel. “Can you believe this man?”

“Dad, please stop,” Sara said once again.

“What would it take for you to leave my daughter alone?” Quentin asked, the gun they all know he’s holding now placed on the table. “Need to clear your rap sheet? Clear your records?”

Sara saw Leonard’s fist clench from below the table. She can already feel the tears close from falling. She knows Leonard’s going to say something, and she knows it’ll just make things worse.

“Dad!” Sara yelled, silencing the table. “Can’t a person just be with me because they want to actually be with me? Is the idea of someone sticking with an assassin so absurd to you that you think Leonard needs a reason to be with me?”

“That’s not…”

“Of all the people who I hope will be happy that I’m happy, I really thought it would be my family,” Sara said.

She looked at Leonard whose beautiful blue eyes speak volumes, eyes telling her that he’s okay. Eyes telling her that the hotel room they’ve only been in for only a couple of hours could serve comfort for her tonight.

“I’m sorry,” Sara whispered to Leonard, who shook his head, refusing to accept the apology she shouldn’t be giving. “Let’s go?”

Leonard nodded and stood up from where he was sitting. “Thanks for the dinner. The meal was lovely.”

He laid a hand on Sara’s shoulder, prompting her to stand up, too. Without saying another word. They exited the dining room, Len kissing Sara’s temple. Quentin and Laurel saw the sweet kiss, noting the small vulnerability the man showed and immediately tucking it away.

---

Leonard handed the tub of ice cream he just opened and a spoon to the woman sitting on the hotel bed, back against the headboard.

“Here you go,” he said as he climbed beside her, “since we missed dessert in your sister’s place.”

“Thank you,” she quietly replied, hand outstretched but eyes not leaving the television screen that’s showing an old action film.

Leonard raised the blanket to their chests as he slipped down to be the same level as Sara. Sara moved forward as to not have ice cream on her shirt or her blanket. Len took this as an opportunity to rub his left hand on her back, staring at her rather than the movie they were watching.

“Want the last bite?” Sara looked back at him, raising a spoon to his mouth. He took the spoonful of ice cream and waited for Sara to place the empty tub on the bedside table before tugging her down and close to his body.

“I’m guessing this is more comfortable,” Len said once Sara settled, curled beside him with her head on his shoulder.

She nodded, grabbing his arm that’s on his waist and pulled him closer. “Warmer, too.”

The credits of the movie was rolling and Sara apparently decided that Len’s jaw is more interesting. “Hey,” she said, fingertips dancing on his jaw. “I’m sorry about earlier. From the Arrow Cave to the dinner.”

“It’s not like it’s a surprise to me,” Leonard answered, stroking the woman’s wavy blonde hair. “Your Arrow friends fight criminals on a daily basis and so do your dad and sister. They see a criminal and their instincts just kicked in.”

Sara burrowed her head deeper on the crook of his neck. Len placed a kiss on top of her head as a response. “I’m alright so don’t worry about it, okay?”

When Sara didn’t respond, Leonard continued. “You can tell your Queen friend that I’ve cased his little lair and found nothing I could steal so I wouldn’t be dropping by so soon.”

Still, nothing from her.

“And you did help me once in liberating a diamond-studded necklace so I guess your father was right,” he added, listening for any reaction.

Sara wanted to just pretend that she’s asleep. She wanted to will the memory of the day away and pretend that like any other thing in the world, that it doesn’t bother her. But it does. It took so much time for both of them to realize that they deserve to be happy and that they both deserve the love from each other. And it hurts that people she love are invalidating that.

“Sara?”

“Hm?” she finally responded.

“I’m okay.”

Sara closed her eyes. She knows if she looks at him, she’ll cry and he’ll start to worry and things will plummet from there.

“Okay,” Sara resigned.

 “So, apartments?” Sara broke whatever emotional build-up there was. They haven’t even been in the city for 24 hours.

Leonard already had his eyes closed, breathing started to even out. “I have a safehouse here in Star.”

Sara raised her head and the loss of weight on Leonard’s shoulders made the crook open his eyes. “You’re not making me live in a secret and probably dirty safehouse, are you?”

Len knows she’s kidding. She’d never complain wherever they’ll stay. Still, they’re starting anew.

“Have you met me?” he asked, an eyebrow up. “I started looking earlier. I’ll run them by you tomorrow, Captain.”

Sara chuckled at his last remark. She felt his hand sneak under her shirt from the back, rubbing her back just like what he always does, soothing her to sleep.

Maybe she’ll get a few hours of just the two of them. Sounds nice.

Irregular updates.