(no subject)

[hispanus]

WHO: Oliver Queen and Maximus Decimus Meridius
WHERE: a park
WHEN: 7 June, evening
WARNINGS: none?
SUMMARY: Maximus is out for a stroll and has an impromptu rendezvous
FORMAT: any



Sixty-eight days.

Sixty-eight days since Maximus had felt the sand of the Flavian Amphitheatre hot beneath his feet.

Sixty-eight days of this future world.

Though he was adapting and his countenance bore no distress, deep within his heart, he longed to return home. His certain death was of no concern; that he fulfilled his duty was all that mattered. He had learned in his time here, however, that in this world's version of history, he had neither avenged Marcus Aurelius, nor had he ever existed.

Only one history out of perhaps countless, but a sobering one nonetheless.

In the comparatively quieter environment of the park after dusk, he walked, lost to his thoughts.

Comments

[longbowhunter]

It was a funny thing taking an arrow through the chest. He'd always had a certain respect for just how painful puncture wounds of that nature could be. It was actually one of the main reasons he avoided shooting at people willy-nilly, even in a non-fatal capacity. There was just no reason to subject another human to that kind of pain, nine times out of ten. Recovering from one, however, and dealing with the drugs and the stitches and the removal of said stitches, brought an entirely new perspective. Said new perspective was actually the majority of the reason why he'd sought out the near-deserted park for a little endurance practice. Even if his aim was still good, physically Green Arrow still just wasn't quite at his peak, and that was a problem that needed fixing.

The park was largely open, with a few trees large enough to support the weight of an adult man, and statues that looked fun enough to climb around. If some sort of law enforcement type showed up and told him to pack in his shenanigans and head elsewhere, he would, but that had yet to happen. Actually, for a city as big and populated as this one, it was incredibly, eerily, calm. Kind of nice.

As such, it was a huge surprise when around 2 seconds after he'd loosed an arrow toward a tree on the far side of the park, he spotted a man out of the corner of his eye. And, due to the very recent memory of the agony of puncture woulds, Ollie couldn't help the rather undignified, almost panicked tone in his voice when he yelled to the guy. "Hey, watch out!! Get down now!"

[hispanus]

The tone of Ollie's voice triggered in Maximus an immediate reaction. His body language changed from that of a man strolling casually to that of a man accustomed to defending himself. His English, though not great, was enough that he understood the warning. He dropped to the ground as the arrow whizzed past, a gladius suddenly at his side that seemed to have appeared out of thin air. Though prone, he remained alert, peering through the dim light in the direction of the shout, then at the arrow embedded in the tree.

[longbowhunter]

"Woah, nellie. Sorry about that, pal." Ollie rushed up to where Maximus was crouched, offering a hand to help him up, completely oblivious to the blade that had appeared out of nowhere. Distractedly, he peered over to the tree, impressed to see that despite the slightly off angle of the shot, he seemed to have made it just fine. And nobody got hurt in the process, which was definitely something worth appreciating, too.

"I thought for sure I was alone out here. 's the only reason I thought it might be alright to do a little target practice."

[hispanus]

"Thank you."

Maximus accepted the hand and rose to his feet. He wore no sheath, and so he merely held the sword at his side. The attire of the man before him was not usual civilian clothing for this world, or at least he had never before seen anything like it. He did not, however, remark on it; nor did he completely understand all of what Ollie had said, though he did grasp the subject. He nodded toward the arrow in the tree.

"Did you make your mark, archer?"

[longbowhunter]

It took Ollie a moment to really process what Maximus had said. There was no language barrier, just the shock of not being screamed at for almost killing someone in the middle of a crowded city.

"Um, yeah. No problems there." He replied a half-second later, leaving just enough of an awkward pause that the man across from him could probably detect his confusion. Not that Ollie was about to complain about not being lectured. It was just unusual, that's all. "Hey listen, you're not hurt, right? Do you need anything? I don't want you thinking I go around shooting arrows into people for fun, so if there's anything I can do to make this up to you, yell at me, okay?"