Who: Roy and Jen Where: Roy’s place When: May 25th (evening) and veeerrry early in the morning of the 26th What: Roy and Jen talk (about family, what’s in a last name, their respective crazy lives) and Jennie does not spend the night. Rating: PG-13 (for some implied adult content)
He had invited her over for dinner, and he was proud of the fact that the two of them had managed to make it through dinner. They had chatted about what was going on in their lives, he had told Lian stories (Roy had a lot of Lian stories - everything she did was amazing to Roy. He obviously couldn’t believe that he had somehow had a hand in creating her.) like how she was going around saying that Mia was now her aunt on paper. That had turned into Roy sharing about Mia’s adoption getting finalized - because Roy felt okay talking about his family with Jen. His work was skimmed over, with just ‘it was work.’ since he didn’t think Jen would find his stories about SHIELD all that interesting. And the really interesting things that happened at work were things he couldn’t talk about.
They might have made it through dinner but they hadn’t made it to desert - nor had they gotten the dishes cleaned up. Friendly chatter and joking around had turned into a repeat performance of the other night, and while Roy could only speak for himself he had no complaints.
Now in the aftermath, he reached over and pulled Jen close to him. “And to think, we didn’t make it to the cake course of the meal. I think we just earned some cake,” he joked as he made himself more comfortable in the bed. He was not going to move. Although he’d be willing to try and persuade Jennie to go out into the kitchen.
---
If there was one thing that Jen really liked about Roy it was his appreciation for family. She thought he might get it, and share some of Jen's attitudes regarding the subject but she couldn't say for certain. Because as kind and as affable Jen was, she was still very much guarded about a lot of things, the topic of family included. Especially the topic of family. It was a sensitive issue for her, what with being given up for adoption and nearly being lost to the ether, so to speak. She was however compartmentalized enough to take Roy at face value, to listen to him and truly be happy for him and his family. That was exciting news for Mia and, of course, Lian was pretty much the most adorable thing ever, so Jade looked forward to Roy's stories.
Dinner quickly morphed into something else - Jen was already impressed Roy had cooked that it didn't take much more convincing to get her into his bed.
"There's cake?" She asked, tilting her head to spare him a glance while she rested against his chest. "You are full of surprises, Roy Harper," she teased softly. If he wanted her to get cake, she could be convinced, but he'd have a hard time getting her out of bed. Unlike the rest of the Corps who couldn't use their powers for personal gain, Jennie didn't have that restriction - cake could be gained.
But there was something else on her mind, something that had come up during dinner that got Jen thinking, got her curious about something and her mind couldn’t just let it go. Her voice took on a bit of a serious quality after a few moments of silence passed between them. "Hey, this is probably personal, but can I ask you something?"
---
“There’s cake. Store bought - because while I’m sure you make most things incredibly sexy, food poisoning is sexy on no one. And my baking skills are non existent.” He had learned to cook out of necessity - there had been a time when it was cook for yourself or don’t eat, after Ollie had gone on his road trip. But baking? Not so much a skill Roy had picked up. Lian knew homemade cookies existed, but in the Harper household all cookies came out of a bag from the store.
The serious tone of her voice made Roy frown for a second, and then he sat up a bit straighter in the bed. “Sure. I think we are at a personal question place.” He lifted up the sheet that covered them, and gave a quick nod of his head. “Yup, naked or close to it, definitely have reached the personal question stage.”
He was kind of dreading what she might ask - in his experience questions that lead off with that didn’t go anywhere good.
“But fair warning - I might ask you something personal in return.”
---
"Maybe in a bit," she allowed. "I'm perfectly satisfied right now. And that goes for as much as the meal, but you as well," she poked at him.
Jen felt more at ease the way he teased her and couldn't help but roll her eyes at him, the tension properly broken. Although, Jen would definitely posit just because they were naked did not mean, necessarily, it was time for personal questions. Because as someone who got naked for the sake of art only you got to decide where and when you were vulnerable and clothes did not dictate those circumstances. Jen shook her head, laughed and swatted at him, pushing him back down onto the bed.
And while she might not have liked giving up a personal question in return, she nodded and agreed, "Okay, sure. So, my personal question is this: is Mia going to take Ollie's last name?" It was a question she personally toyed with herself and one that actually caused her a good deal amount of grief. And in that regard she wanted a good amount of opinions because Jen was honestly curious, but well knew that was good for the goose was not necessarily good for the gander, and that was probably only a decision Mia could make. Or Roy for that matter, as well.
Then quietly, she added, "How come you never took Ollie's last name?"
---
He laughed and accepted the swat, and also allowed himself to be pushed back down into the bed. He was glad that she had laughed, and that the serious mood had lifted there for a second. He was still nervous about what she might ask - they were friends, or had been friends before they moved into this girlfriend and boyfriend sphere, and while they had had grown up conversations with each other before, they had tended to joke around a lot and quasi flirt with each other. So he had been braced for all kinds of questions that would fall under the heading of personal.
"Weeelll." Roy drew out the word as he exhaled a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. He hadn't been expecting that question. "I don't know. It didn't come up. I don't - I want to say no. I mean I'm Harper, Connor's a Hawke, and Mia's last name is Dearden ... " It was not his place to get into Mia's past, and he wasn't going to, he could see why she might want to change her name, but he honestly didn't know if she was going to. He had assumed no, just because it seemed a trademark of their family that they were all family (and in the case of Connor and Ollie related biologically) but all had different last names.
Her second question caught him off guard even more so.
"'Cause Queen's not my last name." He reached over and gave her shoulder a poke, as he tried to lighten the mood. "I mean if you had a kick ass last name like Harper, would you want to trade it for Queen?" Roy wasn't always that observant, or thought before he spoke, so he wasn't sure why Jennie was asking these questions, or why she sounded so serious.
---
If it was a ...thing in their family, then it was a thing. Like Todd, she thought, who just blithely accepted a lot of what happened to them. And while his adopted family had done a number on him, she couldn't help but ponder how things might have shook out had their roles had been reversed and she had been in Todd's situation. Jen nodded while she listened, "I guess that makes sense."
"I'm sorry for asking, I was just curious. It maybe... isn't my place to ask?" She offered, slipping back, a little, into that orphan-kid mode where everything was sacred and nothing was up for grabs. Personal information definitely not shared, for sanity and for your survival.
Truthfully why she had been asking was it was an idea she had been toying with herself, more and more recently, as she got to know Alan better. It actually caused her quite a bit of distress and maybe felt that Team Arrow, despite its patch work was more of a family than the Scotts/Rices/Haydens who Jen struggled to keep together. Really, if not for her, Todd would never visit their father. And that didn’t even speak of their mother. Only Alan, himself, knew all of the details there.
And she knew how that old tome went, the grass was always greener... et cetera, et cetera. But it was certainly food for thought. It was a part of how people learned, from your own mistakes and those of others. Observation. Internalization. Jen fell quiet after Roy's little joke and considered his words.
And when Roy poked at her, she smiled, pulled from her thoughts. "It's a good name," she admitted and tipped her shoulder. And then after a pause, she added, “It rolls right off the tongue.”
---
There were things going on here that Roy didn't understand - he was feeling a little like he was wading into waters that were way over his head. But she had said that she wanted to ask a personal question, and he had given her the okay so he was going to try and forge ahead here.
"You can ask. I really don't know about Mia, it never occurred to me to ask what her plans were." Because he had really just assumed she’d keep the last name as is.
“And Ollie - man I don’t feel I need to have the same last name? I think …” He absently reached up and rubbed his right arm where he had his Navajo tattoo, “Well for me, Harper reminds me of where I came from.” He might not remember his biological father all that well, but he kept his father's last name.
“You know, I don’t think I ever even talked to the old man about swapping out last names.” He gave a shrug of his shoulders and then leaned in closer to her. “But you're right, Harper rolls right off the tongue …”
He was quiet for a second, thinking that maybe flipping the question around on Jennie, might result in him getting in way over his head. But treading lightly wasn’t something Roy did so well a lot of the time.
“So, what about you, you keep Hayden because it rolls right off the tongue?” He knew her dad was Alan Scott and her brother was Todd Rice, and that didn’t strike Roy as all that unusual to have a collection of names in the family, but he was wondering what was going on here, and what had lead to her asking about last names.
---
That was fair. He didn't think to ask, so he didn't. A non-answer was still an answer and one that Jen easily accepted off of Roy. Obviously he was having no problems discussing these things with her, which meant that it was only her who was having the difficulties right now. But he had put her at ease and Jen smiled in kind and gave him a bit of a squeeze. "Thank you," she said appreciatively when he gave her permission to continue this discussion and line of thinking.
"That's true," she went on to say. Jen was reminded now that their situations weren't exactly the same - similar but somehow almost reversed and yet parallel. It was awfully confusing to try and wrap her brain around. "I guess I forget that about you. That Ollie isn't your real dad..."
When he came close and whispered in her ear, Jen shivered and then chuckled. If Roy was as good with his tongue as he was with his hands... She didn't say anything only flagged it as interesting in her mind and stored it in her databanks for a later date, for when it could be best used to her advantage. Maybe in like twenty minutes...
To his next inquiry, Jen just shrugged, all of the mirth sucked out of her tone. "I don't know. No." Just like Roy's answer had been deceptively simple, Jen's answer was probably unnecessarily complicated. "I haven't asked. But I don't think I would, I feel like that window has closed, I guess. I was already eighteen when I met my dad for the first time, so it wasn't ever as if the chance to talk about it came up. And then I wasn't even sure I wanted to, but I've been thinking about it more and more. And when you mentioned Mia earlier, I just thought I'd ask because I was curious."
While Roy kept his name as a reminder of where he had come from, Jade wanted to completely erase her past. Then in a moment of honesty, because she was feeling particularly open, or maybe it was just because she felt safe, Jen shared, "The Haydens almost adopted me, but it didn't work out, I guess. And now I’m stuck with their last name.” And that was that, the fact that her own mother didn’t even see fit to give her a last name was left unsaid.
---
“Well he’s my dad.” That was something Roy didn’t say a lot - he only called Ollie dad to the other man's face on rare occasions, and he tended to call him ‘Ollie’ the majority of time in conversation. But he was his dad - although he thought he guessed she meant Ollie wasn’t his biological father.
Yup, he had just jumped into the deep end here. So he was going to try and swim and not sink.
“They didn’t? I figured that they had.” And maybe that was putting his foot into it, but oh well. “What happened? And you can answer that with ‘shut up Roy.’” Because there were things Roy did not talk about, and he could respect that other people had things that were filed under that as well.
---
The fact that Jen thought that maybe Roy should say it more was left unsaid. Since she didn't like having people tell her what to do, she had a very strict rule about giving her opinions, lest they be unwanted ones.
She was on the cusp of telling Roy just that when she shrugged. "Me and Todd got split up, because that's what happens with siblings. And then he got adopted and I almost did. And for the record, I only know this in retrospect because I was only a baby when this all went down. I guess something happened and the adoption got screwed up for them, they couldn't afford it or whatever. I'm sure they were nice people, but a fat lotta good it did me. I grew up in an orphanage." The latter she thought he knew, but maybe not. Jen was selective about who she told what.
She shrugged again. It was like self defense to appear apathetic about all of this. But with so many directions her life could have gone in and this is what happened, it felt a little sad. "I didn't mean for this conversation to get all weird and...yeah. Todd found me after that. When we were sixteen...seventeen? Seventeen, I think. And as soon as I turned eighteen I hauled ass out of there and moved to New York, to go to school and get to know my dad. We're still working on that last bit. It's probably why I almost hit you with a baseball bat. Well, part of the reason why." Jen spared a glance at Roy and when she did, he could see that she was grinning.
"So, tell me about that tongue of yours again," she teased, done with this subject now.
---
“Oh.” What did you say to that? This was venturing into talking about feelings territory, a place that Roy tried to avoid.
It seemed Jen was thinking similar things because the subject took a turn to slightly lighter subjects. “Okay, yes I could have handled myself … better.” Roy allowed with a grin of his own. “And you know I can show you about my tongue … “ He gave her a semi mournful glance. “I could have shown you back then actually, but you did almost hit me with a baseball bat …”
This was more familiar and comfortable territory for Roy. Not talking about feelings, but just joking around. And doing other things. He didn’t make a joke about how it was probably best that they had waited, he had more experience now, because it was pretty obvious to everyone that knew him that he had applied himself to sleeping around the way he had applied himself to few other things.
What he did do however was kiss Jenn, and then demonstrate what he could do with his tongue. This was a better use he figured then talking about feelings, or the things that had happened in the past that brought them to this point.
---
They didn't need to talk about things, that was perfectly alright with Jen. Roy was still here and very much not running in the opposite direction and that was good enough. And really, she didn't want sympathy, which is what most people tended to give after hearing a story like that. She almost regretted her decision in telling him things that she was guarded about, but being with Roy was easy and fun and light and that was what she wanted. She couldn't even remember how this discussion got started. Oh that's right, Mia, last names, dinner. Mutual understanding was what she was looking for and she felt that was mostly achieved so the subject was easily dropped in lieu of other things.
"Imagine my reaction," she replied. "I think I had only been in New York a month and then here comes this guy who I didn’t know try to stick his tongue down my throat--" Roy cut her off by demonstrating that just now by kissing her, tenderly though, which quieted Jen. "I'm glad I got over my issues. "
---
Roy didn’t say that maybe she had gotten over some of her issues, because he who lived in a house made entirely of glass didn’t get to throw any stones. Besides she was talking about issues with him there, and obviously they had moved beyond those.
“Well I’m glad you got over my terrible first impression.” Hey, Roy was fully aware that he hadn’t been at his best when he and Jen had meet in Alan’s kitchen. That moment was far from him being at his worst, but he hadn’t been at his best that day either.
“Got a lot of making up to do, don’t I?”
---
"I would say. " It was Jen that initiated the kiss this time. "But this is a good start."
---
Some time Later
Roy understood that dating was different then just having sex with someone, and then both of you going your separate ways. That maybe sure, sometimes when you were dating you meet up for a quick roll in the sheets, and then had to go take off to pick up your kid, or go to work, or go to do one of the things that Jen went and did that filled her days. But this was different then that - they had talked there over dinner, and then during that break in between, so this wasn’t just messing around he decided. This was dating.
Even if as he was thinking that, he was sitting up in bed, and thinking about where his clothes had landed, and what was clean. He didn’t know if jen wanted to say the night, get to see Lian in the morning, or stay the night and leave before Lian showed up or - well he figured he was going to have to ask.
But first he had something else on his mind; “Saw you on the news.” That probably sounded random, but it was true Roy had seen a news report about a green skinned girl the other day. He looked over at Jen. “What happened?” Sure, sure he had read the news report, but he figured she had an inside scoop that the news didn’t.
---
Jen was lounging, off to her side with her back to Roy, wrapped up in a sheet. She hadn't figured out yet what she was planning on doing - going or staying, and had reasoned early on she wasn't going to decide until that very moment. She'd probably end up going, still very much wanting to keep a respectful distance between herself and Roy's family life. It was still early on in their relationship and she wanted to keep it nice and light and Lian didn't need to be brought into all of this. She'd probably leave before the night was out, but not anytime soon by the looks of it.
Lazily, she looked up and over at Roy who was starting to stir. "Hm?" Jen gave Roy a small smile. "Oh, yeah, that." She shrugged. "Nothing, really. Basically what you saw on the news." She shifted now, so that she was on her other side. Jen propped her head in her hand, so she could watch him. She had been sore from the scuffle, but was trying to downplay that fact. Really it wasn’t anything major and she didn’t want him to worry. But maybe she wasn't so good at acting as she had thought.
The fact that Roy was only bringing this up now was curious though. "What do you want to know? Is something on your mind?" She asked. Jen reached out across the sheets and put her hand on top of his. "You okay?"
---
“Oh I’m fine, just wondering if you were.” It was no big, Roy regularly did crazy shit at work (well not as much as he use to .. there was Lian now to think about) and before he had gone to work for SHIELD he had slapped on a mask, a funny hat and taken out some souped up arrows and trailed after Ollie in the name of keeping Star City safe from costumed goons.
He had meant to bring it up over dinner, but he had got distracted by talking about what was going on with his family, and then distracted by the very presence of Jen, and well after that they had gone back to talking about family, and the subject had slipped his mind until now.
Roy grinned at her; “I heard you were quick and efficient, there. I’ll say that I’ve known you to be very efficient, but I’m always glad that you're not quick ...” Roy’s mind pretty much lived in the gutter. That was just the way it was.
---
"Yeah, I'm fine." Jen shrugged again. "Maybe a little tender, but nothing that won't go away after a couple of days. I'm mostly annoyed. I had work lined up that day and I was late. I hate being late. And I can't exactly afford to not work. But, you know how it goes, I was in the area. I didn't exactly have a choice. It was just a long day," Jen let out with a sigh.
Jen snagged Roy's hand away from him. She was glad he wasn't worried, she didn't need to explain, then, why he shouldn't be. So, that was a huge relief. Jen was going to do what she was going to do and really, no one could tell her otherwise. Roy might come close; she’d at least listen to him before blowing off his advice. She brushed her lips over his knuckles. Her green eyes flicked upward at him and she grinned. "Quick and efficient, but really efficient and thorough,” she surmised, before tracing the his finger over her lips and being so bold as to flick at a digit with her tongue.
"You have nice hands... Fingers..." Roy wasn't the only one whose mind was in the gutter as Jen was quick to point out. "But... I should go."
---
"Well when duty calls, you gotta answer right? And you kicked his ass right?" So women who were powerful, and in charge, and could kick butt were a serious turn on for Roy. Mind you women were a serious turn on for Roy in general, but here was something about the ladies who went out and took care of business ...
He was more then willing to surrender his hand to her, watching her closely for a moment and then giving a resigned laugh, when she said he had nice hands and fingers, but that she also should go.
“Important to have agile fingers if you're going to be an archer. But you don’t have to go - if you don’t want....but you also don’t have to say.” Up to you Jen, it was still nighttime, and there were a few hours before the morning and the morning routine had to start. “Lian is getting dropped off this morning ….”
Roy moved the hand that she wasn’t holding, to her waist, tracing light designs there with his fingers. He wasn’t trying to bribe her into staying, because he wasn’t sure if he was ready to introduce her to Lian as his girlfriend and not just as Jennie the green girl that hung around sometimes. And he wasn’t sure if Jennie was ready for that either.
---
"Of course," she remarked. "When you've got all of this God given talent..." She teased. Jen was proud of herself. She didn't need to go to some planet to train and learn about her powers. She just did it. Naturally. Without having anyone to tell her how they worked or what they did. That was a large part why she was always getting into rows with Hal, he just didn't get that. But at the moment, Hal Jordan was completely removed from her mind, and instead Jen was focused completely on Roy.
She nibbled on his finger a while longer, lathing it with kisses. "Hm!" Came the reply as she listened to him speak about his hands. "That's fascinating. I approve."
She was perfectly content to put on a bit of a show, and gave his finger a light nibble. Truthfully she wanted to be asked to stay the night, even if she knew better than to actually stay. While Roy wasn’t bribing Jen, that’s exactly what she was doing to him, to get him to ask. She maybe had elicited that response by acting naughty, but it had achieved the desired results, so she wasn't going to beat herself up for acting for cajoling him into asking her to stay. It was just nice to feel wanted, even if she knew she wasn't the number one gal in his life. Not that Jen wanted to steal that spot for herself, but she'd like to think that Roy wanted her around.
Jen shrugged finally. "Its fine, I don't have to stay. I know better than to make demands on you or your time.”
---
She had this way about her, of making it hard for him to think, and process what she said sometimes. This was a power that he had noticed a lot of women seemed to have - damn their gender, and their wiles.
Still he did hear what she said, and he pulled his hand back from her.
“Like you staying is a demand on me or my time. And I think it’s pretty clear I don’t mind any demands you want to make on me.” He was actually being kind of serious when he said that - that was part of dating right, being available for the other person? And sure it had taken him a a little over a week to spend time with her again, but he had work … and Lian.
Still he did smile a bit at the end there, because Roy wasn’t able to stay serious for very long about most things. “But if you don’t want to say that’s cool.” He wasn’t going to force her into any kind of Lian interaction - and it was probably best at this still early stage that they tread lightly around her. Lian had enough upset and turmoil in her four years so far, Roy didn’t want to add anymore.
---
She looked up at him when his hand was removed and she thought about what he said and then just shrugged. "I'm not a mind-reader, Roy," she pointed out. "I don't know what you don't tell me." Which wasn't exactly a criticism, but the truth. She didn't mind being kept out of the loop but when he went ahead and assumed that she knew more than what was going on it was slightly irksome. Because, well, she didn't.
"Roy, I want to stay, but I don't want to make things difficult for you. That's all," she said her tone lighter than just before. "Do you understand?" She asked. "You have your daughter to worry about. And you don't need to be worrying about me too. Because I'm fine. Really. And I'll do whatever you want, you just have to let me know, okay? Either way?”
Jen reached out again and took Roy by the hand, giving him a squeeze. "I like you," she said, grinning despite herself, wrinkling her nose while she did, because it sounded so juvenile, but that was the truth. She was either the most understanding person in the world, or this was one big self-defense mechanism. Either way, she was keeping things nice and easy for them.
After interjecting the moment with levity, she leveled her gaze on him. "Do you want me to stay?" She asked nice and slow.
---
He didn't answer her verbally at first, just pulled her close and kissed her for a good long kiss. Yes, he wanted her to stay but he thought that wasn't the smartest move right here and right now. This was their second date - actually maybe it was more like their first date since they had gone out for drinks that night as friends. And sure this was their second grown up sleepover, but he still liked the idea right now of Lian thinking that the only grown ups who had sleepovers were Ollie and Dinah.
When the kiss broke, he looked at her and gave a sigh. "Okay you better go. We'll have to - i don't know." He reached up and ran a hand through his hair. "I'll have to talk to Lian,and then - I like you Jennie. A lot." And he did, but he just didn't know how he was going to explain any of this to Lian. And he thought that maybe it should wait ... until after a few more dates, once they figured out where this was going. Because there lurking in the back of Roy's mind was the fact that once he told Lian that might mean she was going to come to expect for Jennie to be around. And what happened if Jennie ... stopped being around? Yeah. As much as it pained him, Roy figured that Jennie best go.
"I like you a lot." He told her again, "And I'll call you - we should do lunch." That was a date thing right? Lunch, yeah.
---
When Roy kissed her, she let their lips linger a bit longer than was necessary. This was good. This was fine. Jen was perfectly okay with this. She wouldn't have offered if she wasn't. She was completely in control of the situation. After he said he'd tell LIan, Jennie put a finger over his mouth to silence him. "You'll know when the time is right," she said, looking him in the eye. If ever. That last bit, left unsaid.
"We can get lunch," she said amicably, as she started to unfurl from his bed, tossing aside the sheet and stretching for a moment. Eventually she swung her legs out and went to go look fo her clothes. "And then one day, I'm going to invite you over to my place." Jen winked at him, because they both knew that would not be happening anytime soon. What with Todd. And Kyle, the fact of which he asked Jen out still a secret. Roy didn’t really need to know that detail.
---
Roy watched her in silence as she stretched, taking in the view that her stretch afforded him, and then let out a little sigh as he rolled out of the bed himself, and went in search of his clothes. He’d walk her to the door of the apartment … least he could do. And part of him was saying he was crazy for letting the smoking hot green girl out of his bed, but he really did need to tell Lian - whenever that right time came along - before he had Jennie spend the night again.
He laughed when she said he could come over to her place, although he was thinking of Todd, as Kyle was just her roommate. That other Green Lantern guy.
Pulling on his pants, Roy figured that was as dressed as he needed to be at the moment, and walked over to where Jen was, coming to stand behind her. “Don’t forget your necklace,” he teased as he kissed the side of her neck. Funny how it had been right there on his nightstand … out in plain sight. But Jennie had left in a rush that morning, so maybe she honestly had forgotten it.
---
Jen had located her underthings and began to put them on when Roy came up and wrapped her arms around her, kissing her neck. "You know... You're making this very difficult," she said while leaning back into him and tipping her head to give him better access to her neck. For the moment Jen let herself slip and close her eyes and enjoy Roy's company for a moment longer, before employing some of that willpower of hers to battle through something she most definitely did not want to do, which was leave.
But not long after that Jen took a breath and released it slowly. "I have to go." Before they fell back into bed. "Where's my dress?" The last was asked rhetorically because it was right there where Roy had left it after he stripped her of it. She put it on and righted herself and at least made herself presentable for the walk/train ride home. And at last she grabbed her necklace and fastened it around her neck, rubbing her thumb over the polished stoned before letting it fall into place. Jen had maybe, or maybe not, left it at Roy's on purpose, but either way, she'd never tell.
Taking him by the hand, she pulled him into a hug. "Lets get together sooner than this last time," she said almost mournfully. She really hated leaving him because it was always up in the air when they'd see each other next. And as much as Jen hated to admit it, that pained her.
---
He hugged her back, and then reluctantly let her go, because she was right, she had to go. Or else he was going to undo all that work she had done in getting dressed, and strip her right back out of that dress. And well that was going to put them right back to square one.
“Way sooner.” He promised her. “You are worth taking a fake sick day for if I have to.” He joked with her, as he went to the door of his room and opened it for her. He hated to see her leave, but yeah she had to go. But he was going to make sure that he saw her again in a timely manner.
---
"I might hold you to that. But I'll see you soon, okay?" She said somewhat sadly, bringing her hand to his cheek and giving him a tender kiss goodbye. "Don't be such a stranger, Roy." And with that she turned to go.