capeandcowllogs | And you, of the tender years can't know the fears that your elders grew by

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And you, of the tender years can't know the fears that your elders grew by

WHO: Oliver Queen and Katniss Everdeen
WHERE: Grand Central Station to an archery range out in Queens
WHEN: 8/10, mornternoon-ish
WARNINGS: Nothing much, tbh.
SUMMARY: Ollie takes Katniss out to shoot arrows and make her feel better. That is what bros do, right?
FORMAT: Para to start and then whatever Mandy wants is fine by me.

It never failed to impress Ollie how New York (or this variation on it) could remain crowded and bustle-y even on an otherwise calm and quiet Saturday morning. It wasn't even noon yet, but somehow the tourists were flocking around Grand Central, speaking languages some of which he could place, and some he only had a vague idea of, so rapidly that even if he knew something of it, he'd be helplessly lost if someone asked him about it. It was a good distraction, though, as he waited for Katniss, his bow and quiver slung loosely across his back, and a plastic shopping bag with two cokes, cookies, and Mia's other preferred junk food hanging from one hand. He felt bad for the girl. She obviously had a hard time relating to people here, and despite whatever his guy instinct was on her drunkard friend, she'd just lost the one person she seemed to have any significant attachment to. It wasn't right to do that to somebody. It made him like this place even less, which was really saying something.

Five minutes became ten, and ten became fifteen. Eavesdropping on the tourists became a little less entertaining with each of the passing seconds and eventually, Ollie started to wonder if maybe she'd stood him up. It was possible, she seemed shy, and taking a train out to BF Queens with a guy she'd only talked to a handful of times was a big step.

Then, he spotted her, leaning up against (presumably trying to look casual) against a wall near the opposite entrance. Ollie grinned, she looked upset, but he'd seen that expression before. Whatever their worlds were like, he figured there was some universality to teenage girls. Mia looked just like that whenever she was considering punching somebody in the face. He started toward her, waving cheerfully.

"Katniss! Hey kiddo, sorry I didn't see you there! Have you been waiting long?"

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First Peeta, now Haymitch. The last month or so was not turning out to be a good one for Katniss. But she knew she needed to get out of the house, if only to make alliances. Allies were important, she'd learned that well enough throughout the Games -- and even moreso now, without Peeta and Haymitch. She would have to try, no matter if she liked it or not.

Katniss was generally always considering punching someone in the face, somewhere in the back of her mind -- so Ollie was half-right, at least. But she gave him a little nod, a trace of a smile. Act friendly. Or at least try.

"Not too long, no."

"Glad to hear it," He had to resist the urge to pull her into a hug. It was a parental-pang that he figured probably wouldn't go over all too well with the sullen teenager. Dang gum, if she didn't look like she could use a hug, though. "Nobody should have to wait out in this heat for too long, am I right?"

Opening the door to the station, he gestured for her to enter first. "We'll be taking the 7 train out to nearly the last stop. The ride'll be a little boring, but I figured we could catch up as wel go."

"I guess so." She's never been much of one for words, but even so. 'Trying' was the name of the game today, wasn't it? So she headed on into the train, choosing seats for herself and Ollie.

"I, uh. ...Thanks. For this," she said, after a moment of silence. "You didn't have to."

"No, but you seemed like you could use it." Ollie fell into the seat next to her, sliding his quiver into the space under the subway bench. At least the train out to Queens wasn't too crowded. Actually, it was pretty quiet, except for the hiss of car moving against the rail, and the distorted, snap crackle pop voice of the conductor announcing the next stop over the intercom.

He zoned out for a moment, glancing up at the ads for workers comp attorneys, and online colleges. It was different from Star City's transit in a lot of ways, but the intent was the same at least. "Oh, hey, kiddo," Ollie looked up suddenly, remembering the plastic bag. "I didn't know if you'd got in breakfast yet, but I picked up some snacks for us."

For her part, Katniss had her quiver and bow on her lap. It wasn't that she didn't trust Ollie, it was just that she was always paranoid, and preferred having a weapon close at hand just in case.

"Food?" That got her attention quickly enough. When you've spent a good amount of the last 6 years almost starving, it generally tends to. "That sounds good."

"Well, I don't know if you wanna call it food. That's kinda generous for what I brought." Ollie shrugged, swinging the bag over to her. In it were two cokes, a bag of oreos, some peanut m&ms, and trailmix with chocolate chips.

"It's what my--" he caught himself, tripping over the word daughter. That wasn't an entirely accurate description of his relationship with Mia, but it worked well enough. "It's what my friend likes when she's annoyed. She says junk food is like chicken soup for the soul or some such. Kid's just addicted to sugar, if you ask me."

"Still something to eat." She took the opportunity to dig into the oreos, happy enough to eat in silence for now.

"We didn't really have a lot of ...stuff like this, at home." She motioned to the bag next to her. "Cookies and cakes, yeah, but not sodas and things. They might've in the Capitol."

"Really?" Ollie's eyebrows shot up. He didn't know all that much about Katniss's word, but then again, a lack of processed, pre-packaged, sugary snacks did seem kind of par for the course. "We've got plenty of them back in California. Too many, if you ask me. Mia likes 'em well enough though, and I'm not gonna complain if it makes her happy."

"Is Mia here?" --Well, at least she was showing some curiosity. And there was a bit of a frown. "I don't know if we have a California. We might, the Districts used to be states, I think. A long time ago."

He snakes his head, sadly, popping open the second coke. "She was before I got here. That's what Zatanna tells me, anyhow. Sure wish she was around, I miss that punk something awful."

With that, Ollie went quiet for a moment, presumably reflecting on the Mia and the sound of the train moving against the rail. The conductor's voice reappeared and then crackled away again. "I spent most of my life in California. Star City, to be exact, but that doesn't exist here and probably never will."

"Oh. I'm sorry." She knows what it's like to lose people you care about, after all. She's lost two since being here.

Katniss fidgeted a bit and settled for going for some more Oreos, nibbling at them carefully. "I spent most of my life in District 12. But it's gone now, I guess."

He shrugs, stealing an oreo from her. "She's probably better off."

Of course, nothing about Star City had seemed better off when he'd left, but it had to have turned out okay right? Right. Of course it did. Connor and Mia and Roy and Jeff were all fine, and whenever that machine decided to ship him back, he'd see them again. "You miss home? That's a stupid question, everybody misses home sometimes. Sorry."

"Yeah." She curls in on herself a little. "But it's okay, it ...doesn't really exist anymore."

True, there was still the forest, and there was Victor's Village -- but that had never felt like home, not really. Home was the Seam and the house she had grown up in with Prim and her mother and father, and those went up went the firebombs fell.

Oh, no. Katniss was introverted, but Ollie knew a sad look on a teenager girl when he saw one. Clearly he'd hit on the wrong question. "Hey now, chin up, kiddo. We've got a big day ahead of us."

He was tempted to pat her shoulder, or initiate some other kind of comforting physical contact. To be honest, the kid looked like she could use about eight million hugs, but somehow, he didn't think that'd go over too well. "How about that cat? She settling in well?"

It probably wouldn't. Not until she trusts you more, Ollie. "Jasper? Yeah, he's ...good company." Oh, and that's the barest hint of a smile on her face. "Good to have around."

"Glad to hear it, kiddo! You didn't seem too up on the little guy last time we talked." The conductor's voice crackled onto the intercom again, making Ollie jump a little in his seat. "Oh, hey, we're the next stop."

"Well, I've gotten used to him." She fidgets a bit. "...Um, good." The sooner she gets back to stringing a bow, the better.

Well, that did a little bit to lighten the mood. Or at least get help things moving along. As the train pulled up to the platform, Ollie gathered up the snacks and sodas, setting them to one side as he pulled his own bow from under his seat. "This is it. Watch the gap, will you?"

Queens was more open than the rest of the city. From what he knew of New York, it was mostly residential, with a few more family-driven businesses located out this far. Back toward Manhattan were warehouses, and then even further out was Long Island, aka suburbia at its finest. Ollie was never really a fan of that kind of purposefully sheltered lifestyle, but after recent events in Star City, he could see how the illusion of peaceful domesticity would have its appeal. Even if it would always just be an illusion to people like his family.

The train station itself was clean, cleaner than the ones he'd seen in Manhattan or Brooklyn, and upon exiting the car and verifying that Katniss was, in fact, in tow, he made his way to a very well kept information area with a large map of the surrounding blocks. Looking up with his brow thoughtfully furrowed, Ollie scrounged a crumpled paper with some scribbled directions and an address from the pocket of his jeans. "I've been out to this place three times since arriving in the City and I can never remember where the hell they put it."

It would always be an illusion to Katniss, too. Especially back at home, where her proper home no longer really existed. "Well, maybe we should ask someone," she suggested, slinging her bow back over her shoulders with practiced ease.

"It'll be nice to ...not do this in the park, though. It's been a long time since I've gotten a chance to actually practice."

"Nah, I think I got it." Mia would have made a face. Dinah probably would have made a face and shoved him. Roy or Connor would have said something smart and gotten shoved. But none of them were there and the nice thing about Katniss being so stoic was that Ollie figured he'd be spared any lip over his need to go it alone. Or alone with a sidekick, as it were.

"Anyhow," he started moving again, guiding them to the staircase that led up and out of the station. "I know what you mean, kiddo. I nearly shot some poor guy when I first arrived because I thought it'd be a brilliant idea to practice in park near the MAC."

He would be, mostly because Katniss would do the exact same thing in his situation. She didn't even bother to ask for a map when she first arrived here, just looked for the woods where she'd figured Haymitch would be.

"Yeah, people don't like that," she agreed. "Or maybe they don't like me making targets out of pigeons, I dunno."

Maps were overrated, by Ollie's estimation. That estimation changed with trapped in the cab of an over sized pickup truck with Hal Jordan for several days at a time, but his estimation of a lot of things changed when put into extremely stressful situations. This was, conversely, a nice outing. Not stressful in the least, and ergo, not map-worthy.

"The stupid thing is that people complain about those ugly bastards every day, and they're overpopulated to boot." He led them down to the end of the block, glancing in either direction to try and figure the flow of traffic. Would it be too much to ask for the City set up signs that pointed East? Probably. "I'm not advocating killing 'em off completely, just that one or two dead pigeons never hurt anybody, y'know, kiddo?"

"They make good food, too," she added, following along with Ollie. He could lead the way, he knew where this place was better than she did, anyway.

"Or at least the ones at home did, here they're ...apparently going to make you sick." There was a bit of an annoyed shrug. Food was food, and pigeons were alright food. Sometimes.

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And you, of the tender years can't know the fears that your elders grew by

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