sixthiterationlogs | First you see me...

WHO: Felicity Smoak
WHERE: Outside their house in 7I
WHEN: Third week of October
OPEN TO: Oliver
WARNINGS: Plot!

Over the last few weeks, Felicity had (slowly) been making friends and, after discussion with Oliver, had also been sticking closer to home. With his skills, he'd been able to teach her what he'd known and she'd also been able to barter for some supplies in the village, picking up some staples at the inn. They were at a point where they could go several days without interacting with anyone else and, to be frank, she didn't mind that. At least she knew where people where if she wanted the extra company.

As she left the house one morning to do some walking to the village, however, she got the sudden sensation of something being wrong. It wasn't an overwhelming belief that the world was going to collapse, or that doom was imminent, it was just a strange feeling that something was... off.

It first hit her at the bottom of the stairs and she took a couple steps forward, unable to identify it. When she realized what it was, she looked up into the sky, down at the ground, then spun in a slow circle to see if she could find out where it'd gone.

"Oliver?" She called his name in the most unthreatening manner she could manage. She wasn't scared, exactly, but she wanted him to come out and stand in the light, too, so she could see if it was just her or another trick the place was playing on them all. In the mean time while waiting for him, she continue to spin in a very slow circle, which would be how he'd find her, still calling his name.

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So, okay. Maybe she's not as good at hiding her almost!panic as he is, but she's honestly not there yet. Instead, she looks up at him as he arrives at the top of the steps and waits for his shadow to appear. It doesn't and she feels a sweet sense of relief... until she notices that he's not quite in the sun.

"Do you think you could come check this out? It's kinda--" She doesn't want to say 'weird', but really, that's what it is and she wants to see not only if a shadow appears, but from which direction. She knows where hers should be, but. It's just not there.

"I can come and check, yeah," Oliver says. His body tenses, the muscles in his neck snapping tight at the idea of something threatening Felicity. He'd damned near lost her (had lost her) and now he's got to do everything he can to keep her safe and keep her his. He steps forward into the sunlight and looks into her eyes, searching her face for any sign of injury or distress.

"What's going on?"

As soon as he takes the steps toward her that she's looking for, she notices that his shadow starts to follow him across the yard and Felicity immediately looks up at the sun, down at herself, and turns in another circle.

When he gets to where she is, she holds up her hand and motions to the ground.

"Look. Let me know when you see it."

Oliver looks down to try and find Felicity's shadow. She isn't casting one, at the moment, which is damned unusual considering he's casting one of his own. Why would her shadow not be evident? Some trick of the sun? Why isn't it affecting him then?

"I don't see it yet. Keep walking a little and let me see if it shows up."

Felicity tosses another look upward, points with both fingers to where the sun should direct her shadow, shifts, and turns so she should be able to see it. Then, she looks over and Oliver and, without saying a word, motions to the ground in front of her.

Is this what she gets for trusting him? Or is this what she gets for trusting people in the other village?

"It's not there, Oliver. My entire shadow is gone."

It's not there. It seems like an obvious thing to say so Oliver keeps the words to himself and tries to formulate a response as to the why and not the how. This would be a good time for Barry Allen to show up, he thinks, but since there's no streak of gold and red against the sky and no perpetually-late CSI, he guesses he's got to figure this one out on his own.

"How could your shadow just...disappear? I'm not much of a scientist but I did pass high school and that isn't possible."

"The sun behind us should show your shadow there," and she points to it because, well, there it is, "and my shadow here," and she steps into where it ought to be, "but it's gone. It's like I don't exist in this kind of space-time enough to create a shadow."

And though that might be a bit scientific, she tilts her head to look at him. "I do exist, right?"

Oliver reaches out for her, touches her cheek and pushes his hand into her hair. She's still real beneath his fingertips, fine-boned and carefully wrought, and if she's slipping out of the physical world he can't tell it from this simple touch. She feels corporeal to him now and she seems to be that way too; aside from her shadow, she doesn't look any different.

"You feel the same. You look the same. Other than the shadow, which I can't explain, I don't think you're not here."

It steadies her, gives her a sense of peace that he still can touch her; that she's real under his fingers. She'd certainly been real the night before, and every time before that, and she doesn't want to admit that losing any kind of grip on reality isn't something her mind can take at the moment. She needs him, she needs to be somewhere (anywhere) with him, even if it's in this strange place where they're not sure they can trust anyone and they're forced to be a team of two.

"Then what's happening to me?" It comes out so quiet it's almost a whisper.

“I don’t know.” Those three simple words are an admission of defeat that Oliver rarely makes but now, when Felicity is clearly scared, he can’t be anything but honest with her. This is outside of his ken and he owes it to her to admit that he doesn’t know the hows or whys of the place they’ve been trapped in. All he knows is that they’re together, the two of them, and that he’ll do anything to keep her safe.

“It doesn’t make any sense. Maybe we can ask some of the scientists here if they’ve looked into it. I’ve given up on us being an island unto ourselves. We’re going to have to at least talk to the others if we’re going to have a chance at survival.”

Hearing Oliver give up, even in just words, is more of a reason for Felicity to give in to the panic that's been pressing on her chest than anything else. The two of them (and Diggle) have been able to fight so many different things, but this seems so far out of her wheelhouse that she sighs as she nods up at him.

"Walk with me into the other village? Maybe there's someone in that town who might know what's going on." The scientists that he'd mentioned.

"It's worth a shot," Oliver agrees. He doesn't want Felicity to panic so he tries to tamp down on his own. He's always managed to get himself out of any situation he's ever been in but the caveat had been that it wasn't without casualty.

There are no acceptable casualties in this situation.

"Maybe one of the scientists has been studying it. I know we have a handful and if they know something, it'd be worth trying to seek it out. Let's go."

In nearly every situation, Felicity would argue that, for the good of others, she's an acceptable casualty... just not the first one she'd choose. If necessary, then okay, but not by choice. Losing a shadow doesn't seem to be too terribly intense and maybe she can live with that, but still.

"If we find it, maybe I can sew it back on," she jokes a little lamely, then looks over and gives him half a smile, the sick feeling in the pit of her stomach still sitting like a rock inside her. The Peter Pan reference might go over his head, but honestly, she can't just walk quietly.

"Okay, Wendy," Oliver shoots back. He wants to keep it light if only because the alternative is going to plunge him into survival mode but there's a fine line to walk. He doesn't want to be too flippant.

"Look, we're going to figure it out. We're a team, Felicity. You're always on my team and I'm always on yours. We have each others' backs."

First you see me...

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