InsaneJournal

Oliver had become rather fascinated by the holodeck. He liked that you could go anywhere, do anything, there were very few limitations and it also helped with his claustrophobia and not being able to leave the ship. If he hadn’t had the outlet, he had no idea how he would have made it. He knew that Rose felt the same way he did so he tried to work with the crew who programmed the holodeck and set up something for them when he could. Since the 4th of July was coming up, he decided that he would figure out something so that they could celebrate the day.

On the morning of the fourth, Oliver got up, showered and arrived at Rose’s door in time to go to breakfast with her. He loved surprising people and he wasn’t doing a very good job of being patient while they ate. “You know today is July 4th, right?” he asked her as they ate. “What do usually do on the fourth?”

“Nothing much, really,” Rose answered truthfully, but she didn’t elaborate. She still hadn’t told him she wasn’t human, even though she knew she needed to. She should have done it after the first time they’d slept together, but she kept putting it off. Maybe now would have been a good time, to explain that Moroi didn’t celebrate American holidays since the Court’s jurisdiction covered the world, but she gave her vague answer instead and grinned at him over her stack of pancakes.

“I know that look, Ollie,” she teased him. “You’re up to something. What is it?”

“You have no trouble at all reading me, do you?” He laughed. It still surprised him just how well she knew him even though they hadn’t known each other that long. “Yes, I actually do have something up my sleeve. Since neither of us is on duty today I thought we could spend the day doing something fun.”

“Maybe I’m just good at reading people.” Maybe she was good at reading him. Rose had gotten more attached to Oliver in the two and a half months than she wanted to admit. She spent a lot of her free time with him, almost as much as she did with Lissa. She’d told Lissa that it wasn’t anything serious, but if she was being honest with herself, she was beginning to really care about him.

“I always approve of fun things,” she added, grinning brightly at him and keeping her more serious thoughts to herself. “What did you have in mind?”

“Well I missed out on a lot of traditions while I was gone. On the 4th of July, there was always a city wide picnic and a carnival. Then at night there were fireworks. Now I couldn’t get everything since Starling City is sort of a mess right now but I managed to get them to make a park and a small carnival and I don’t know if the fireworks will actually work but still, it’ll be fun.” He grinned. “And there will be watermelon because I love it and I made sure they remembered that part.”

Rose shook her head, but there was kind of an adoring smile on her face as she looked at him. “You are such a dork,” she said. “You know that, right?” But her eyes sparkled with happiness and she actually thought what he had planned sounded kind of awesome. It would be nice to see where he’d grown up, even if it was only on the holodeck.

“Yeah you remind me about that all the time just in case I forget,” he said. “Come on, let’s go. Not that it’s going to be crowded or anything but still.” Oliver had always loved holidays, he’d never outgrown that and after missing so many while he was away, he loved making up for them particularly Christmas but that was a few months away.

Rose shoved the last of her breakfast into her mouth and nodded as she got up. It didn’t take long before they were leaving the mess hall to head to the holodeck and despite her teasing she was actually looking forward to it. Getting to see where he came from and watching some fireworks with him actually sounded pretty cool. Even if the fireworks didn’t work, she was sure they’d have fun.

There were a fair number of people wandering around on the holodeck when they arrived, probably finding a way to celebrate the holiday themselves, Oliver thought. He consulted the small PADD he carried to see what suite the program was installed in and when he found it, he put in the code and the doors opened to a park which overlooked a sparkling bay. “This is the main park in Starling City,” he said as the door shut “and that’s the bay obviously. It doesn’t look like this now. It’s trashy and crime ridden and it breaks my heart but this is the way I remember it when I was a kid.” He looked around with a sad smile. There were families having picnics, a little carnival set up in the blocked off street and there were a couple of people who were giving boat rides in the bay. “I got so sick on the Ferris Wheel one year,” he laughed. “My friend Tommy and I had had a bet as to who could eat the most hot dogs and we were stupid enough to get on the Ferris Wheel right after. Oh my god, I puked everywhere, it was gross. Tommy swore he’d never forgive me for that.”

“Does that mean you don’t want to go on the Ferris Wheel?” she teased him, laughing at the story. She reached over and grabbed his hand when he pointed at the bay and talked about how different it looked for him now. Rose didn’t always know the right thing to say to comfort him after everything he’d been through, but she wanted him to know she was here.

“I mean, I doubt you’re dumb enough to bet you can eat more hot dogs than me, but we definitely have to get some while we’re here. Food on the holodeck tastes real, right? I think we totally need to sample some.”

“No it doesn’t mean I won’t go on the Ferris Wheel because making out on the top of a Ferris Wheel is something that everyone should do and Tommy and I never did that.” he laughed. “We were too interested in girls. Sometimes the same girls which could be a challenge but we were both so charming that it didn’t matter.” Oliver grinned. “Anyway, yes, the food tastes real from what they tell me so we’ll have to try a hot dog but I’m not about to challenge you because you’d kick my ass.”

Grinning, Rose let him lead her to the food where she ordered and promptly downed 3 hot dogs with everything on them. “Oh, my god,” she moaned around a mouthful. “These are so good. I didn’t even know I needed a hot dog until this moment.” She took a gulp of the drink he’d gotten her before grinning at him. “You ready to ride, Prince Charming?” she teased him.

“Only if you don’t puke on me,” Oliver replied. “But I’ve seen seen you eat that much before and you’ve been fine so I’m not worried. You easily kill a plate of pancakes every morning.” It amazed him how much she could eat and still not appear to gain any weight. Not that it would matter if she did, Oliver was perfectly content with her just the way she was which was in his opinion, perfect.

“After 3 hot dogs? That was nothing!” Dhampir biology had the perk of a great metabolism, partly because he body needed a lot of extra energy. She knew he was probably impressed by how much she could pack away but it only seemed to make him like her more.

“Let’s go,” she said, grabbing his hand and pulling her toward where she could see the ferris wheel set up. There was a short line of fake people before it was their turn to climb into one of the cars and she grinned over at him. “I feel like I’m in one of those really cheesy 90s teen movies,” she joked as they got settled.

Oliver laughed. “It is a little bit like that isn’t it but keep in mind that I was born in 1985 so I would have been a cheesy pre-teen and teenager in the late 90s. I was also not as wholesome as some of the kids in those movies.” He put his arm around her as the wheel started to go up. “I spent a lot of time getting into trouble when I was a teenager. The cops hated me because my parents always bailed me out. Maybe I’d have actually turned out better if they hadn’t.”

Grinning over at him, Rose leaned into him a little. “You were a bad boy?” she teased. “I never would have guessed.” It was actually something she liked about him. He was a good guy, but he wasn't afraid to break a few rules. She could just imagine the kind of trouble they would have gotten into together if they'd actually grown up in the same place. Biting back a comment about how it sounded like his parents cared more than hers, she smirked at him. “I don't know,” she said, “I think you turned out pretty great.”

“Yeah but I had to spend five years in hell to get myself together,” he said. “But maybe that’s what I needed. It made me a stronger person, maybe not a completely sane one but we’re all crazy in our own way. The first year I was back was the hardest, I had no idea where I fit in. I’m still not entirely sure but things are better.” He paused for a minute, just looking at her. “I wasn’t thrilled about ending up here at first but it turned out okay. Being trapped in an alternate universe with you beats the hell out of that island.

“I’m not sure if the was supposed to be a compliment or not,” Rose couldn’t help joking. She’d meant her comment playfully, but somehow the conversation seemed to have turned a little more serious. Even without knowing everything that had happened to him on the island, she knew it had been pretty bad. She’d seen the scars, literally.

“We’ve both been through hell, but that doesn’t mean you weren’t already-” she hesitated, not sure how she wanted to say what she was thinking. “Some people go through something like that and they let it turn them into something bad. They shut people out or just turn off the good parts of themselves. That’s not what you did. You turned your experiences into something good. You help people, you protect them. And I wouldn’t want you to be any other way than you are.”

Her words touched him and without saying anything, he leaned in and kissed her. There were things he wasn’t ready to say out loud to her but he did his best to show her with his kiss how he felt about her. When they broke apart, he reached up and touched her face. “Thank you,” he said softly.

“For what, stroking your ego?” she teased him. “Anytime.” Grinning at him for a moment, she leaned in and kissed him again. She was probably missing an awesome view as they neared the top of the ferris wheel, but she didn’t actually care. Right now, she couldn’t think of a better way to spend her day.