InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "dia duit"

Stuart Twombly has reached optimum levels of (googleyness) wrote in multifariousic,
@ 2015-08-02 23:49:00

Entry tags:

!thread, felicity smoak (holysmoak), stuart levy (googleyness)

WHO: Felicity Smoak & Stuart Levy
WHERE: Huntington Beach
WHEN: Backdated to Thursday, Aug 30th.
WHAT: Making things official
WARNINGS: N/A
STATUS: Closed, Complete

She said, “I know your type: too afraid to let go, so you play it safe and you go it alone... If I told you that I feel the same way, though, would you stay a while?”

Stuart wished YoYo, Lyle, Nick and Billy, that big tree, could see him now. They’d been there picking up the pieces that Neha left in her wake for months. Lyle and Billy had tried to play both sides of the field, but Stuart had sort of retained YoYo and Nick in the “divorce,” so to speak, and the two of them had been his pillars and his rocks. Losing them when he’d shown up in this place had been a lot more crippling to Stuart than any part of him had wanted to admit. His walls, largely, were still up fairly high and it took a lot for Stuart to let somebody in. Kira and Barry had put in more effort than anybody probably should’ve bothered to and they’d chipped away so that he’d let them step into his world, although Stuart faltered with the former when he’d seen the video showing how much in love she was with the boyfriend he hadn’t known she had. Felicity had been different from Kira and Barry. She hadn’t had to try at all; she was brilliant, putting even himself to shame, and she was gorgeous.

Felicity was everything that Neha wasn’t. Felicity was awkward and talked too much; Neha was a well-spoken introvert. Felicity liked to bend the rules when it mattered and Neha prefered to go by the book. Even aesthetically, they couldn’t have been more different. Neha was exotic. Felicity was practically the definition of Aryan. Most importantly, though, Felicity reminded him nothing of Neha and he didn’t have to bend to uncomfortable whims to make her happy. The more time they spent together, the more comfortable he was with the person he actually was, as opposed to the bullshit persona he’d ended up having to mold himself into to keep his last girlfriend happy. Not that Felicity was his girlfriend. ...she wasn’t. But that didn’t mean he didn’t think about her all the time and, lately, he’d found himself thinking that maybe he might be ready to get back on the horse, as long as that horse was Felicity.

...not...literally…

“Huh? Oh, yeah,” Stuart snapped out of his own thoughts and looked back at Felicity, giving her his full attention when he processed a few seconds belatedly that she was pointing out that the sun was starting to go down. After work, they’d gone out for dinner, which had started out as an awkward invitation from Stuart to Felicity a couple of weeks ago and had turned into almost a nightly ritual. After dinner, forgoing drinks, Stuart had suggested that she come out to L.A. for a change; the apartments out there were right near Huntington Beach and they could go for a walk, because it was still only early evening there with the time change.

That had been hours ago and Stuart had no idea how far the two of them had walked, babbling about work and their other shared interests with the kind of ease that came with really close friends, but coupled, too, with the discomfort that came from long pauses that fell between really close friends of whom one was attracted maybe too much to the other. They’d fallen into one such natural pause a few minutes (or maybe seconds, but Stuart had lost himself) ago, which was when his mind had started to wander. He reminded himself that she’d pointed out to him that the sun was setting for a reason. Obviously, that mattered to her.

Pressing his lips together and clearing his throat as he switched his shoes from one hand to the other, he looked over at her as they continued to walk. “...did you want to turn around, or…?” he wondered aloud.

The beach was beautiful. That was one of the foremost thoughts on Felicity’s mind. The feel of the sand between her neatly polished, and bright, toes was much better than the feel of putting her cute, and not totally uncomfortable shoes. She couldn’t even remember the last time that she had taken a walk on the beach. Honestly, she couldn’t remember the last time that she really had gotten the chance to enjoy her own life. Being a part of Team Arrow was great, and it wasn’t something that Felicity would ever change. It didn’t leave for all that much of a social life, though. Her nights, since Oliver had pulled her in, had definitely taken a turn. She didn’t get the chance to have the most active social life. This break from the small team that she had become so accustomed to….much as she hated to admit it was nice.

Felicity felt like she had her own life again, and definitely had her own social life.

Between the Avengers having so many individuals to help them, and having recruited the heroes that she was familiar with, Felicity didn’t feel like there was as much pressure on her to be the back-up and support all the time. Being away from home, despite how jarring it had been initially, seemed to have been good for Felicity. Not only was she in a job that she felt fit her and was perfect, but she’d made friends, and she still had contact with the friends who were familiar from home.

It was the new friends that were better, though. No matter how many times Felicity broke into babble on the internet, and to whoever happened to be talking to her, it was nice. Stuart, in particular, was nice. That was the very reason that the two of them had fallen into a sort of pattern, a rhythm if you will. The two of them had a good deal in common, and he was cute. It’d been pretty easy to fall into step working with him, and that had extended further since the two of them had started to get dinner together, basically, every night. It hadn’t escaped her mind how different Stuart was from Oliver, though.

I mean, that’d be impossible for anyone not to see.

And, honestly, it was a good thing. Felicity had been enamored with Oliver from the moment she’d met him. He was a rich, playboy who had been paying the nerdy girl a bit of attention. Plus, the more she’d gotten to know him….the deeper she saw that he was. The problem with Oliver was that he was hard on himself. And no matter how much she felt her feelings itching and growing for him, he had shut her down. Sure, he’d pretended to be in love with her, and that had made her heart skip a beat, but Oliver had made himself clear. And that meant that she needed to move on, to get over that. And even though getting kidnapped to a new dimension wasn’t the ideal way to get your space….it had definitely been doing the trick when combined with spending time with Stuart. She liked Stuart. And it was different from the way that she liked Oliver, or from the way that she had liked Barry. So, she was pretty sure that it was a good thing.

The beach was just….such a good idea. Between the feel of the sand and the view Felicity was glad that they had shaken their routine up for the view alone. It sort of made their routine feel much more like a date than it normally did….not that their dinners weren’t, technically speaking, dates….but still. And it was a nice date at that, no matter how many moments they fell silent and it was just on the verge of awkward. They still found their moments to talk—her babbling and him chatting back—and they went through those moments, which probably made him even more endearing. He didn’t seem to mind.

Much as she’d love to walk the beach longer, the sun was setting, and it wasn’t as familiar to her as it was him. Plus, they had to walk back at some point. Stuart seemed to catch onto her cue, though. With a smile Felicity nodded—her ponytail bouncing slightly with the movement, “Yeah, we probably should. It’ll start getting dark here in a bit, and we still have the walk back to the apartments. We don’t want to get too far out in the dark—not that I think you’ll get us lost or anything, but we still, probably a good idea.” Felicity just managed to cut herself off there before starting a full-fledged ramble.

Wetting her lips unconsciously, Felicity moved her shoes so that she held them in both hands in front of her as she turned her head, focusing on Stuart, “This was a great idea, though. The beach, that is. Shaking things up and coming out here. I’m glad you suggested it; I can’t even remember the last time that I’d been to the beach. This is great, though, it’s romantic and calming—and beautiful, obviously, but I said that.” Felicity babbled, just barely stopping so that she could take a breath after a moment, realizing how awkward the r-word could potentially be. They were technically dates, though, but neither of them had pushed it into the realm of more yet. She wasn’t in a hurry, but there were positives to getting back out there and actually dating…. And with Stuart it felt good, and came much more easily than it had in a while.

Stuart definitely made the idea of dating a tempting thought. And that was obviously a good sign, right?

Felicity wanted to get back and that was fair enough; with the time difference and Stuart's personal unwillingness to reside on the East coast where he knew, when the summer waned, it would get cold, they never stayed out terribly late. If Felicity, for example, had to wake up at seven to get to work by eight, commuting from Brooklyn, Stuart had to get up at four, because even with the Iron Man suit meeting him in the Brooklyn apartments at the portal, it was just three hours earlier on his coast when he woke up; there was no getting around it.

On the other side of the coin, though, if he was being honest with himself, Stuart wasn't feeling terribly inclined toward turning around, because turning around meant getting back to the apartments and sending her through the portal; it meant the end of the date. This one was different than their typical ones which often walked the fine line of dating and hanging out with ease. This one could in no way be mistaken for just hanging out. There was something about being on the beach that tipped the scales just enough to distinguish...and Stuart found that he kind of, actually, really liked that.

Running a hand over his hair and rubbing the back of his neck, Stuart shook his head a little only to turn it into a nod, but he didn't actually stop, or slow; he just turned so that he was walking in the same direction, only backwards, so that he could look at her. "No, yeah...you're right. I mean, I wouldn't, you know, get us lost or anything, but yeah. I...yeah." He did, however, stop walking when she did, having registered her word choice. Stuart adjusted his glasses with a middle finger to the bridge of them and gave her a sheepish ghost of a smile laced with relief and reproach in equal measure.

"...yeah?" he asked, shifting his weight from one foot to another. "I mean, yeah," he corrected himself, pulling the upward lilt in his tone away to turn his question into a statement. "Yeah, I guess I didn't really think about it until we were out here, but yeah. It's...yeah," he finished a little awkwardly because he agreed with her, but he couldn't quite make himself repeat it back, half because he wasn't ready to admit to himself that he was actually ready to tentatively navigate down that path again with anyone and half because he wasn't sure she'd actually meant to say it.

But if he was honest with himself, tonight had felt different right out of the gate. They hadn't stopped at Panera; they'd gone to an actual sit-down restaurant like they had the first night he'd asked her out. They didn't go to the nearby sports bar for a couple of drinks; they'd come out to the beach. Walking on the beach was such a fucking cliche and here they were. She hadn't rebuked the idea; that had to mean something, right? And he supposed, if he was ever going to grow a set, it should probably be while they were out here, because Stuart never came to the beach by himself, anyway. He wasn't really a beachy kind of guy. So if everything blew up in his face, at least it wouldn't happen in one of his favorite haunts. He'd be able to avoid the moment, leaving it to fall into the ether when he never came back here again.

So he started to move again, to guide them back toward the apartments, and he looked over at her. "I like today," he said and he paused, because maybe that was all that he needed to say, but then again, maybe it wasn't. "...I mean, this. Coming out here. It's different...it feels different, you know? I like how it feels out here with you better than what we normally do."

Baby steps, he supposed. He'd get there if given the time...hopefully before they got back to his apartment building.

They really were a pair, the two of them. Both babbled, in their own styles. Felicity in her verbose and length manner, interrupting one sentence for the next, and run-on sentences and interjections. And then Stuart in his own style, which seemed to add up to less words than her’s, but still his own, shorter, way of babbling. Maybe that was why he seemed to be okay with her own rambles when they started. Either way, it was nice, and just one of the handful of things that they had in common.

Giving her companion another smile, though, Felicity had to admit to herself that she was really having a good night. Wiggling her toes a bit in the sand where she stood she couldn’t help but notice the little nervous sort of ticks that Stuart had, and find them endearing—the way that he shifted his weight from foot-to-foot, and ran his hand through his hair, even pushing his glasses up. “We could do it again sometime, though?” Felicity suggested, pretty sure that that there was some disappointment to the end of their stroll. The way that he lingered moving forward, and even walked backward a moment, were a bit of a giveaway. And, honestly, she wouldn’t mind doing this again very soon, she realized.

Felicity gave another nod, “Yeah, it is.” Felicity got out, grinning at her companion. “I didn’t think much about it until we got out here….with the view and everything, either. I probably would have agreed to walking on the beach even if the thought had crossed my mind when you threw it out there. I know it’s one of those romantic clichés, but it’s nice, at the same time. And I’m pretty sure most girls can appreciate a little bit of cliché, you know?” She spoke lightly, not making a big deal of it, but Felicity didn’t mind telling him the truth, and that was it.

It just felt different, and good to be out here today. It was nice to deviate from the routine. She kind of hoped they’d deviate more often from here on.

Moving back toward the apartment building, despite not being ready to end the night, Felicity was definitely giving Stuart her full attention. As technologically inclined as they both were, it was nice to just be paying attention to the other person. Her smile grew, as she switched her shoes to just one hand. “I like today too….and definitely this. It kind of makes today….And it does feel different, but it’s the good different. It’s more personal than drinks or dinner. Plus, deviating from the pattern we’ve had is nice. We should deviate more often; interject a little bit of spontaneity into things every so often.”

Felicity felt her skirt blowing a bit with the light wind, unconsciously stepped a little closer to Stuart, and felt her hand brush the outside of his. Of course, she felt the knee-jerk reaction to put more space between them, but she fought it. She liked him, and there was nothing wrong with a little bit of physical contact. And if he wanted space, he’d step away, right? Right! It was sort of a gauge, not that she’d done it on purpose, but it was fortuitous. “I should definitely come to the West Coast more often.” She piped up, so as not to lapse into a silent pause and to keep things going.

Felicity's suggestion that they repeat the break in their natural pattern was a welcome one. He liked, too, hearing her say that it was a good different, because he felt the same way and it was validating to hear her share the sentiment. This time, when Stuart smiled, it was a little more earnest and a lot less uncertain. "Yeah, definitely. We should definitely do it again." Or something else. Literally anything else they hadn't already done; there were a million things to do between Manhattan and Los Angeles...they could surely find something new and interesting to do, couldn't they? Stuart could be spontaneous.

...Stuart could try to be spontaneous.

Whether or not Felicity had actually meant to touch him, Stuart didn't really know. He supposed, though, that it didn't actually matter. In the wake of a light conversation with deeper implications and in the spirit of said spontaneity, at the brush of her hand against his and the fact that she didn't immediately move to reestablish space between them, Stuart extended his fingers, his own fingertips prodding at hers as they walked. Is it okay if I hold your hand? the gesture asked without him having to lamely actually vocalize it.

This wasn't spontaneity. He could. He could be spontaneous, especially if that was what Felicity liked.

So, without giving her time to actually respond either audibly or physically to his unspoken question, Stuart laced his fingers between hers and he stopped walking. "...I don't wanna go back, yet," he admitted and, before he was able to talk himself out of it, he rambled on to get it all out. "I like this, I like you. I've been so fucked up from Neha for so long that I forgot that you're not all like her and just because one person broke my heart, like, that doesn't mean everyone is out to do the same. And you don't have to...you know, say anything, it's okay if you're not...I mean, if you don't..."

He paused, looking frustrated with himself as he searched for the words and the hand holding his shoes lifted as if to force words with a gesture instead, "...I just feel like there's something here, Felicity. I haven't felt like this in a while. I haven't felt this comfortable around somebody else; I haven't felt this good. You do that for me. And I'm sorry if I, you know, made it all weird," he went on, his grip on her hand going slack so that she could pull her hand back if she felt so inclined, "and if it's weird, we can forget that I said anything at all and just be friends and just never, ever bring up this conversation again, you know, like ever, but I just..."

He stopped again to take a deep breath and let it out in a soft sigh, shrugging. "...I just had to say it. I had to put it out there."

It was nice, that she and Stuart tended to be so agreeable with one another. The word nice continued to be completely appropriate to describe him, and how she felt when she was around him, but it didn’t actually do justice on the description, because it did feel more than just nice. Great might have been more accurate, or one of the slew of other synonyms that could have been inserted. Especially, considering this wasn’t as difficult as her crush on Oliver had always felt on her along with fighting that instinct, that feeling. She didn’t have to fight this.

Stuart didn’t seem to be fighting this either. Or, at least, that was the message that she got, particularly from the fact that he not only brushed her fingers with his own, but then took the initiative to take her hand. Felicity had sort of forgotten how nice this could feel, holding hands with someone, and it was pleasant, so she definitely didn’t mind coming to a stop and looking at, wondering what exactly he was going to say.

She definitely didn’t have to wait long at all, and she was glad for that.

He seemed like he needed to get out what he needed to say, so Felicity remained quiet (a feat for her, considering her penchant for rambling). She felt a lot of different things as Stuart spoke. It wasn’t that she disliked him bringing up Neha, not at all, but she couldn’t help but dislike what she had done to him—what she had made him feel. He was a great guy, and a really good catch. And it was stupid that she hadn’t seen that. She wasn’t sure if Stuart would have shared everything with her, but the videos a while back had done it for him, really, opening that particular topic.

She was glad that she knew, even if he might not have wanted that.

She was also really glad that she’d met him. He was a lot of the things that Oliver wasn’t, and a lot of the things that seemed like better choices than her friend, a vigilante. And even though Stuart wasn’t asking for an answer, really, and was giving her an out….an option to just pretend this didn’t happen….she didn’t need it. So, with his grip slackening, she tightened her’s—a silent encouragement not to let go—as she cleared her throat, trying to actually filter what she was going to say, but….well, Felicity Smoak seemed to be incapable of that.

“It is weird—I mean…not weird weird, but things like this are always weird in the initial stages….not that I’m saying that’s where we definitely are....,” Felicity managed to stop herself, letting out a laugh before she continued, trying to make more sense and not scare him to death. “I mean, it’s the good weird. The kind of weird that I don’t want to forget that you said because I like this, and you obviously, too. And I think there’s something here too.” She smiled at him, digging her toes a bit into the sand, though not quite sheepishly. She was started, so she might as well keep going, right?

“I’m sorry…that Neha had that much of an effect on you, but we’re definitely not all like that. I don’t want you to feel like that around me, at all. And….honestly, I can’t believe this is the case, but we’re in the same boat in a broader sense. I haven’t felt like this about someone in a while. I…had a crush that wasn’t going to be reciprocated, and I had to work toward getting over that, but I feel like I have spending time with you.” Felicity paused before she made a face, feeling a little embarrassed. “I don’t think you’re supposed to talk about a former crush when you’re on a date with a guy that you like and have a new crush on, but my mouth….things come out of it before I can stop them.” Felicity babbled out, seemingly taking very few breaths before she ended on a slightly awkward laugh.

Perhaps more indicative of the fact that they should give this a try was that Felicity stumbled the way Stuart so often did — and just had — when her mouth was moving faster than her brain. Because they both had that tendency, Stuart kept up with her train of thought better than he did the words that were actually coming out of her mouth.

So, he didn't bristle at the fact that she said it was weird only to clarify; he just latched onto the clarification. Stuart didn't show frustration at the mention of her former crush because his focus fell on the afterthought of the fact that he'd been able to do for her what she'd been doing for him all along: they'd helped each other move on.

In spite of himself, Stuart laughed. Because, okay, really...it was a little funny. They'd been using each other as a crutch this whole time and neither of them had had the balls to come out and say it until just that moment. And he'd felt her grip tighten, so he hadn't let go of her hand, which afforded him the ability to gives hers a gentle squeeze. Amusement danced in his eyes and, without realizing it, he was drawing her nearer to him physically via their hands. "So we've been each other's rebound this whole time and neither of us was willing to admit it out loud, essentially, is what you're saying?"

The squeeze to her hand helped melt any sort of tense Felicity was holding in at what had just poured out of her mouth. She hadn’t quite realized what she’d been doing as it was happening….hadn’t managed to force herself to sit down and consider what was going on because it was better not to dwell on it at the time—not to let herself chicken out of this and continue to think about, and pine, after Oliver. It was what she had been doing, though. She had been rebounding.

She’d used Stuart as a crutch, which…despite sounding so wrong to the ear, was still a good thing. Because she felt as if she could be happy, and that was a nice feeling. Stuart didn’t seem like the type to stoically force himself not to allow happiness into his life. He didn’t put his life in danger, either. Both of which were definite positives.

It helped that he understood her, naturally. That had taken Oliver some time—and a number of short, “Felicity!” shouts to derail her babbles. Stuart, though, had a different way about him, and it was good. Shifting closer, her feet bringing some sand with them from where she’d been digging them down somewhat nervously, Felicity found herself very focused on Stuart’s face and the amusement she could see there, which….was contagious.

“Well, if you want to put it so succinctly, yes.” Felicity laughed, unable to help herself, her smile brightening her entire face. “And I’ll add that it’s kind of amazing that you managed to listen to everything I said and pluck the meaning right out.”

Cocking his eyebrows once as he huffed out another laugh, Stuart nodded. "I do, actually. I like the brevity and simplicity," he replied with a feigned seriousness of tone that didn't match the grin on his face at all. Everything about the revelation felt easier than it had any right to, really, and there was a strange sort of comfort in that.

Stuart's shoes fell from his hand so that he had a free one to gesture with his words in response to her point. "That's because we both do this thing where what's happening up here," he said, gesturing toward his head, "is not always the same as what's going on here," he went on, patting his chest, "and what comes out of here," he continued, giving a lame gesture toward his mouth as his eyes flickered of their own accord to Felicity's before moving back to meet her eyes, "is always somewhere in the middle."

He guided her a little closer, the grin fading into something softer. "It's because we get each other."

Felicity couldn’t hold in the snort that escaped at Stuart’s words. The smile he had on his face made it all too obvious that he wasn’t serious. And if he had been, he would have realized far long before now that he was barking up the wrong tree. Not that he was a dog, or that he barked much, but he would have realized that Felicity wasn’t what he’d enjoy before now. And that wasn’t the case, not at all, it seemed.

“Obviously you do. That’s exactly why you like me.” She let out a laugh, unable to actually be serious while saying that. She obviously wasn’t brief, succinct, or to the point….basically ever.

It was nice, though, to know that he liked her too…. To not be guessing, or to know that this was something she couldn’t have. Hearing his shoes hit the sand, Felicity decided to mimic the move, letting her heels drop so that her hand was free. They weren’t going anywhere for the moment, so it was fine. Plus, hearing him put to words what she couldn’t always manage to articulate about her mind, heart, and mouth….well, that was nice.

The moment was obviously shifting, and that was more than okay with Felicity. She moved in closer, with his guidance, and it felt natural…no question, maybe she was just in a trance for the moment, but it was easy not to over-think it at this exact moment. “I think that you’re right—about all of the above, actually, including the fact that we get one another.” Felicity’s voice was soft, but there was a warm quality because….honestly, she felt happy and that warm feeling of liking another person and knowing that they didn’t feel differently than you. “And I’m pretty sure that I really like that we get one another too.” Felicity added on, her loose hand, the one not linked to his own, coming to rest on his bicep.

She could feel the butterflies, and the anticipation, but it wasn’t that sickening feeling you get before doing something you dread. It was the opposite….that excited and anxious feeling. She couldn’t help but drag her eyes down his face, landing on his lips. They were on a date, afterall, and had been on a few. They liked one another. And, well, she couldn’t help but wonder if he’d be a good kisser, right? That was probably the thought that propelled her forward, even if it wasn’t an active decision, until her lips met his.

Stuart laughed again, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. "You're always so brief and to the point, Felicity, it drives me wild," he joked. He typically actually was brief and to the point, with the exception of times when he was nervous or intentionally being long-winded in the hopes of annoying the opposite party enough to abandon ship mid-conversation, implying that he was right about whatever discussion happened to be taking place. But on average, Stuart was succinct. He did like brevity. ...for himself. The fact that Felicity was anything but was something he thought brought a nice balance into his life; one he hadn't had with Neha because she wasn't a whole lot different than he was as far as their motivations to talk more went. They worked quietly and spoke when necessary, saying as little as possible, to afford themselves more time to work. Felicity was a master of multitasking in that sense, from what Stuart could tell. It was an interesting change.

Hearing Felicity drop her own shoes to the sand had turned Stuart's stomach in a way that could only be described as pleasant. It knotted anxiously and he felt her hand on his arm, as if trying to extend her physical contact with him even further...and it wasn't lost on him when her eyes shifted down from his own.

Stuart probably started to move at the same time that Felicity did, his free hand moving to her waist to guide her closer in spite of the fact that she was already doing so on her own. But when their lips actually made contact, he let go of her hand in favor of holding the side of her face. If he wanted to exaggerate, Stuart would have said he couldn't remember the last time he'd kissed someone, but if he was more honest, he was painfully aware of exactly how long it had been and to finally breach that with Felicity when he'd been aching to for weeks felt incredibly liberating. ...and relaxing.

He was careful about not deepening the kiss enough for her to sense the hunger roiling within himself, but it wasn't chaste, either. Not by a long shot. Stuart liked slow kisses, teetering on the brink of something hotter and heavier, but never quite tipping over that edge. Unless, of course, the situation called for it, which this very much did not. When he parted from her, it was only enough to rest his forehead against hers, his hand still holding her jaw lightly while the other still rested at her waist, slinking slowly to the small of her back to draw her up against himself. "...I've been wanting to do that for weeks," he confessed in a hushed tone just above a whisper.

Felicity couldn’t help but feel like it was nice to not have as many serious moments. It was really nice to just be here with Stuart, laughing about how much of a babbler she could be, and how they both felt the same but had been holding back from saying it. Much as they had in common they weren’t exactly alike…and it was those differences that made things interesting.

Felicity definitely liked interesting….as did Stuart, obviously.

Today was definitely a different day, but it was coming to a pretty nice ending, especially considering they had started this day, and even their date, on the same path that they had been walking. Things were taking a positive turn, and they both seemed willing to take this chance for the both of them. His lips, along with his hands, were warm. Felicity found her own hands settling with the left against his chest and the right moving up to his shoulder as she settled into the kiss.

Felicity couldn’t help but think that as far as first kisses go this one was a really good one. Stuart smelled good, being this close. Plus, they seemed to be on the same track. The kiss was just pleasant, not overshooting, and not chaste. It was like a bit of a hint at what could be to come without pushing things too far too fast. And upon his lips leaving hers, breaking the connection, Felicity felt Stuart’s forehead against her own—her lips pulling up into a genuine, happy smile.

“We shouldn’t wait so long before we try that again.” It spilled out of her mouth before she thought it through, but Felicity followed the blurted comment up with a little bit of a laugh. “Because I’d be lying if I said it hadn’t crossed my mind before now. And I try not to lie; I’m actually really bad at it.” Okay, it was a bit of a ramble, but….not out of nerves this time. It was new between them, obviously, but not uncomfortable. She was happy remaining close like they were, not intending on moving anywhere at the moment. “And I hope it lived up to expectations.”

Smiling, Stuart huffed again softly with amusement and he tilted his head just slightly to nuzzle her nose with his own. “Yeah, no, definitely don’t want to wait that long before a second round of that,” he agreed. Holding her close like this felt maybe more natural than it had any right to, but he wasn’t going to complain, that was for sure.

“Oh, I would have to say it did,” he reassured her, another smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “But, you know, just in case...I feel like we should do a follow up,” he teased playfully, before tilting his head down again to catch her bottom lip between his own. This one, too, was slow and deep but not risque. Every part of Stuart wanted to start walking again, to take her back to his place, and to throw caution to the wind, but the same part of him aching to go down that road knew that it had more potential to ruin everything than it did to enhance anything.

Parting from her again, Stuart craned his neck back, this time, so that he could look at her. “Yeah, that’s definitely good,” he said with a small smirk, playing along with his own game. “...so is this a thing we can do now…? Because I’d like it a lot if this was a thing we can do now.”

Affection. It felt really nice to be on the receiving end of affection at the moment. So, Felicity’s smile only grew, her entire demeanor bolstered by the fact that they had jumped forward into this new realm together. “We’re very agreeable tonight.” Felicity joked, but they were in the same place, and that did make it very easy. It wasn’t as difficult as Felicity had probably made it out to be in her head. Stuart wasn’t Oliver. And that seemed to be one of the easiest parts about this. He wasn’t denying himself what he wanted, even though it had taken time for the two of them to get to this point.

“Oh, good, that’s a relief.” Felicity replied both amused and glad, beginning to nod along rather early as he made his next comment. It wasn’t exactly hard to see where his mind was, and the idea of kissing him again was definitely welcome, as far as Felicity was concerned. “Of course, just to make sure the first one wasn’t a fluke.” It was a joke. Obviously. Felicity couldn’t think of any way that kiss could have been a fluke.

And it wasn’t.

Felicity met his lips in their second official kiss. It might not have been the same sort of kiss, but it didn’t make it any less exciting. It had taken time to build up to this, and there was still more room to build, which left the excitement there….as well as the temptation. A big part of her, even more than earlier now, didn’t want to head back to New York any time soon. She still had time, though, and she wasn’t in any sort of hurry anymore, that was for sure.

Looking up at the handsome, dark-haired guy that had caught her attention, Felicity felt at-ease. “Definitely not a fluke….definitely not.” And the smile on her face was easy, as was her response, “I think we can safely say that this is a thing that we can do now, considering we both would like that.” It was so simple. So easy. And that was both new and really good for Felicity.

“It’s good to be on the same page,” he replied, “uh, and actually know we’re on the same page.” He laughed again a little and gave her a gentle squeeze. Stuart was damaged goods, to be sure, but if Felicity was willing to be there while he repaired himself — and it seemed like she was — then maybe letting himself get back out there and crawl out of his shell again wasn’t such a scary thing after all.

He had a lot of work to do. Stuart already knew that trust was his downfall. If he trusted too much, he opened himself to another gaping wound while he was still healing from the first. The problem, though, was that if he trusted too little, then beyond the fact that he would be being unfair to her, he ran the risk of pushing her away when he’d finally managed to secure her. Or at least, it seemed like he had. Actually, he should probably clarify that…

“So, then are we...going to try being an us…?” he asked, his tone even but tilted slightly into uncertainty, because he didn’t want to make an assumption that they were, but he also didn’t want to take it off the table by assuming that it already was. “I mean, we don’t have to be all Barry and Lydia about it, or anything, you know...we can just have it be for us to know and navigate the waters on our own before we go like shouting from the rooftops, if you want. Or, you know, we don’t...you know, have to put a label on it if you don’t want to do that yet, either, I just...you know, figure we’ve been on the same page so far, we should probably nail down that bit, too, so we don’t deviate from a perfectly good pattern this evening so far,” he said, offering a sheepish grin to go with it in the hopes that she wouldn’t feel like he was pushing in one direction or the other. Mostly, he wasn’t, but if he had to choose, he obviously would’ve preferred exclusivity over...the alternative.

It really was good to be on the same page, and to be open, honest, and share that with one another. It was nice not to guess, and not to have to feel like she needed to do her best to change her feelings in a forced way. “I think it’s the knowing we’re on the same page that is probably the best part, actually.” Felicity piped up, a grin on her face as she finally decided to move her arms, putting them around him.

Any sort of…anything took work. So, Felicity was willing to work at it to give this a shot. Stuart had been hurt. She could give him some leeway for that, and try to give him a reason not to distrust her—not that she thought he didn’t trust her at all. In fact, if she were honest Felicity was pretty sure the two of them were on solid ground when it came to trust and working together…the whole shebang. She had been in this strange limbo place where she’d harbored a serious crush, one that she was mostly over. One that she thought was best to just move away from.

Felicity wasn’t completely unaware of her ‘show’. She knew enough, and didn’t want the minute details. There was no point in hoping for something that wasn’t happening here. Especially not when she felt like she had found something that could be really good for her. Hard as it had been….Felicity wasn’t the same person who was in the show….she hadn’t been through what that version of her had; she had been through something completely different getting sucked into this dimension.

“Yes,” Felicity spoke, probably a little bit too quickly, she realized. Letting out a laugh she found herself looking down a moment before back up at him. “I’d like that….being an us. I mean, I don’t need to be like Barry and Lydia, by any means, obviously. Not that I don’t like them because I do, but I don’t need that. I’m fine with testing the waters first, but it doesn’t have to be a secret either. I’m not ashamed, at all, or particularly freaked out by the title, even though it’d be a brand new one.” Honesty was the best policy, afterall.

With the move that Felicity made, Stuart reciprocated. The hand on her face finally fell to lace fingers at the small of her back with the hand that was already there. Stuart had a good feeling that Felicity was the type who would be able to be patient with him while he finished healing so that he could give her his whole self instead of just the unbroken part that she hadn’t even realized she’d been putting back together over the past few weeks.

Her response enabled him to let out the breath he hadn’t actually realized he’d been holding and he smiled. “Me too. I...yeah, no, I love Barry and Lydia but that’s not really my style,” he admitted, wrinkling his nose a little and the having to let go of her to push his glasses back up on his nose when they faltered for it. Once again, he moved his hand back to hold her closer.

“I don’t need it to be a secret or anything, either, though. I’m not, you know, I didn’t mean like I’d be ashamed, because I’m not. Like, at all. I just don’t need to ‘baby’ and ‘babe’ you all over the place, either. That’s just not really my thing. It’d be okay with me if it was yours, but I just...you know, don’t want you to think it means any less to me that that’s not how I really do things. ...I’ve always just kind of felt like...affection feels like it carries more weight when it’s more private and everything. That’s just me,” he replied.

Stuart’s eyes flickered back down to her mouth for a moment before meeting her eyes again. “I should get you back home, huh…?” he asked, but he didn’t sound terribly inclined toward actually doing so.

Felicity wasn’t the poster girl for patience, but she had a fair amount of patience. In the technology world…you had to have at least some, and she’d combined that with the patience she had to work at growing up with her…special brand of a mom. So, Felicity had more than enough patience, even if she had her boiling point.

She wasn’t in a hurry. And she was all too happy to just be herself. So, she couldn’t help the laugh that escaped, no matter how light it was. “I’m glad that it’s not, actually. I’m not a huge PDA or nickname, person. It’s fine for other people, as long as it works for them, but it’s not for me.” Felicity was self-aware enough to know that she didn’t need to kiss, cuddle, hug, or make a spectacle in public.

She was just a calm person, for the most part when it came to affection. A light, and unassuming touch, could send much the same—and sometimes an even larger—message than going to the extreme, for Felicity. “And for the record, I didn’t think you were particularly ashamed.” Felicity grinned as she finally pulled her arms away, speaking nonchalantly, “If you were I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t want to date me. Or kiss me again already.” Yeah, she had noticed his glance to her lips. And that was the very reason that she leaned in to give him another kiss.

She, too, was in no hurry to actually get home, really.

After several moments, probably lingering longer in the kiss than she needed to, Felicity tapped Stuart’s chest, smiling. “You probably should, but I can’t say I’m in the biggest hurry to get home anymore. I’m having too good a time, apparently.”

“We’re a lot more alike than we realized initially, maybe,” Stuart replied when Felicity seemed on board with keeping their affections to themselves. He didn’t like the attention that came with being as open and exhibitive with it and he was, admittedly, relieved to learn that Felicity was of a similar mindset.

Stuart smiled into the kiss. “Oh wow, three in one date,” he teased. “I must’ve done something right.” The smile stayed firm when she tapped on his chest and agreed not only that he ought to get her home but to the fact that she didn’t feel all that inclined to actually go, either. “...do you want to stay here or go back to my place for a little while…?” he offered curiously. He wasn’t going to say no to having her stay over, but he also wasn’t going to throw the option out on the table because it felt like jumping the gun. If it just sort of happened organically, though, then maybe that was okay.

“I’m definitely noticing that, we share a lot of the same ideas….and maybe a few habits that are alike.” Felicity joked, though, it was serious. They had enough in common, but enough different that Felicity didn’t see it as attempting to date herself. And that was a pretty important distinction. It wasn’t hard to pinpoint some of the differences between them, even now.

Laughing, Felicity nodded, “Maybe you did one or two things right.” She was teasing, of course. A big part of it was that there was a relief to have moved forward to this level. And it just felt nice to enjoy this new and pleasant thing between the two of them.

Felicity wasn’t in any hurry on how they progressed forward. She was just…going to go with what felt right, and right now, getting off the beach sounded good to her. “Lets head back to your place for a while? Not that I’m demanding that, by the way. It’d be nice to go inside, though before it starts to cool down, and to get out of the sand.” She clarified, bumbling along in her babbling fashion, just like usual.

“We could have a drink, maybe? You have beer, right?” Felicity was okay with beer, even if wine was her preference. She didn’t figure that he had a nice red at his place, though. And it wasn’t like she was picky!

“I feel like our annoying habits are shared, so we can’t even really be annoyed by them. I think that works in our favor, yeah, Queen of Brevity?” he teased playfully, giving her another gentle squeeze. Their tendency to think and feel two almost completely separate things to what was coming out of their mouths when they spoke, for one, could probably easily annoy some other people, but it wasn’t, at least, something that was going to annoy Stuart about her. Beyond that, their own personal ways of babbling under the right circumstances (in Stuart’s case, he supposed, and at any given time, in Felicity’s) was something that might’ve been a pet peeve to someone else, but Stuart had a feeling they’d barely even notice.

Unlacing his hands, Stuart rubbed gently up and down her lower back with one hand, nodding, when she suggested they go back to his apartment. “No, I know,” he said with an amused huff, “it’s okay. Yeah, we can go back to my place.” The sun was sinking faster than he would’ve liked because it was so nice out, but when it finally did fall behind the horizon, Stuart knew the temperature was going to drop enough to at least make Felicity uncomfortably chilly, given her skirt.

“I have beer, yeah. I’m kind of a craft beer guy, though, so...don’t judge me, but I only have a Create Your Own six pack and I might have a blueberry stout. ...and a banana lager. It was for science, obviously,” he said, grinning a little. “We can stop at the liquor store if you want something specific?” He paused before adding, “I mean, if you wanted to stay for a while.”

Felicity gave a bit of a nod, and a laugh along with it. “Well, considering we don’t’ seem to get too annoyed with ourselves on a regular basis, I think that we might be okay. And it definitely works in our favor, lucky us.” It did sort of set them on the right track for this new relationship between the two of them. All-in-all they seemed to be a pretty good place for this. They were both pretty equipped to handle the other, considering they shared so many things.

Naturally, Felicity smoothed Stuarts shirt just slightly as she gave a nod, glad that he didn’t seem to think it was too weird that she had jumped at going back to his place. Far as she was concerned that was good because some people…probably would have found it much more weird even though she hadn’t meant anything suggestive by it. Neither of them were quite ready to end the night yet, and there was the chill that would set in soon.

They had their plan now, sort of, even if it was still sort of coming together.

“I’m okay with craft beer, occasionally. Much better than what I drank back in college, so no complaints on my part, honestly, even if you’ve got a banana lager for science.” Felicity couldn’t help the tease, not actually believing that he actually selected it for science. Even though she didn’t particularly want to leave any time soon, she also didn’t want to be any trouble either. “I’m a red wine drinker, generally, but I’m not that picky, I promise, so no need for a liquor store run tonight. I’ll be okay, I swear.” Felicity gave Stuart a smile, to show that she meant it before adding, “I still might stay a while, though, we’ll see how long before I wear out my welcome—not that I’m a bad guest, for the record.”

Admittedly, maybe Stuart actually liked the way that Felicity rambled. He found it incredibly endearing, if he was being honest. There was something about it that took her from the brilliant mind, the pretty face, and the nice body and humanized her. Not that he’d ever actually come out and say that, because he was pretty sure there was literally no way in hell to put a positive spin on that line of thought, but it was there in the back of his mind all the same.

Leaning his head down a little to kiss her again, this time far more chaste, Stuart pulled back just barely and grinned against her lips. “I’ll be honest...I really can’t picture you wearing out your welcome tonight, Felicity,” he said quietly before pulling back a little further to look at her. “All right, let’s head back, before we lose track of time and we’re out here long enough to freeze that cute little butt off,” he said, changing the subject productively and finally letting go of her to bend and retrieve both of their pairs of shoes, handing hers over to her. Then, Stuart shifted his shoes into his far hand and moved toward the apartment building that was probably a mile or so from where they were, taking her free hand in his own.

This wasn’t at all what he had planned on when they’d gone out after work today, but he sure as hell wasn’t complaining. All in all, even though the night wasn’t over, Stuart considered it a pretty productive date, if he did say so himself. Now, they just had to navigate their way slowly through this new relationship. Stuart was pretty confident that they’d be able to pull that off from the way things had been going so far.

So, he led Felicity back toward his apartment by the hand and hoped like hell he was as ready as he thought he was to take this jump, because well… Geronimo.