Chapter Text
The look on Tommy’s face as he entered the living room sent chills up Oliver’s spine. He looked sheepish, but there was a grim tone to it which immediately put Oliver on alert, thinking that something bad must have happened. Lowering his book on Greek Literature to his lap, the archer narrowed his eyes as Hunter trailed in behind his best friend, ears pressed back into his skull and a low grumbling being emitted from his throat.
“We have a situation,” Tommy said. “A very serious situation.”
“What is it?”
Thea burst in at that point, shoving past Tommy and pointing at him whilst shouting accusingly, “Tommy threw Hunter’s favourite ball up onto the roof!”
An expression of sheer horror and embarrassment crossed over Tommy’s face. Thea looked triumphant and also relieved that she’d managed to shift all of the blame onto the Merlyn heir. Sighing, Oliver swung his legs off the couch and reached out to beckon Hunter over. At least now he understood why his service dog was acting so grumpy. Hunter nuzzled at his fingers and licked his hand with a huff, his eyes portraying how so utterly done he was with this situation. One of his favourite tennis balls, a bright blue one with paw prints over it, was lost.
“You were the one who told me to throw it so high into the air!” Tommy argued.
“Yeah, well, you’re the one who threw it!” Thea shot back. “And now Hunter is all upset because you lost his ball!”
“Guys,” Oliver interrupted them, massaging his temples with his fingers. “It’s a blue tennis ball.”
“Yeah?”
“We literally have an entire box of blue tennis balls,” he informed them slowly. “Because this happens so often.”
“… Oh.” Now Thea looked embarrassed. “I’ll just… go and grab a new one then.”
“You do that.”
Both Tommy and Thea slunk away, muttering angrily under their breaths at each other, which just made Oliver sigh again, scratching behind Hunter’s ear and chuckling when the service dog turned back around to level a tired look at him.
“Family,” he explained. “They’re weird sometimes, but we’ve got to love them.”