Boundaries and Curiosities

Tyr carefully wiped the last trace of blood from the concrete with a cloth soaked in a cleaning solution. The acrid smell stung his nose, but it was necessary.

"Blood rituals, magic nonsense, or just leaving a trail for someone to find—I'm not taking any chances," Tyr muttered under his breath, scrubbing harder.

Behind him, Oliver sat on the edge of the rooftop, his legs dangling over the side. He stared out at the city lights, his makeshift suit torn and his shield discarded beside him. The events of the night weighed heavily on him, his thoughts racing.

"Is it always like this?" Oliver finally asked, breaking the silence.

Tyr didn't look up. "What do you mean?"

"The fighting. The... killing." Oliver's voice was quiet, almost hesitant.

Tyr paused, the cloth still in his hand. "It's part of the job. Sometimes there's no other choice." He tossed the cloth into a bag and turned to face Oliver. "But that doesn't mean you have to do it."

Oliver looked at him, his expression conflicted. "I don't want to kill anyone, Tyr. I know I helped tonight, but... I'm not cut out for this. Not like you."

Tyr nodded, walking over and sitting beside him. "I get it. It's not for everyone, and it shouldn't be. You don't have to do what I do."

"I'll still train with you," Oliver added quickly. "I need to understand my powers, especially the whole 'energy absorption' thing. But I don't want to be a vigilante."

"That's fine," Tyr said, his tone firm but understanding. "This isn't some team recruitment drive. If you don't want to fight, that's your choice. Just promise me one thing."

"What?"

"Don't tell anyone about this. About me." Tyr leaned back, his gaze fixed on the stars. "Except for Finn. He already knows everything. But no one else."

Oliver nodded, his relief evident. "Yeah. Of course."

The walk back to the base was quiet, the night's events still fresh in their minds. When they arrived, Oliver looked around the workshop with renewed curiosity.

"Alright," Oliver said, crossing his arms. "Now that I know you're basically Batman, I have some questions."

Tyr raised an eyebrow, smirking as he set his sword on the workbench. "Go on."

Oliver pointed to the sleek black-and-purple suit hanging on a reinforced mannequin in the corner. "How the hell did you even make that?"

Tyr chuckled, pulling off his gloves. "A lot of trial and error. And some really late nights."

"Yeah, but... look at it!" Oliver walked over, examining the suit up close. "It's insane. What's it even made of?"

"Reinforced ballistic fibers," Tyr explained. "Flexible but durable enough to withstand bullets at medium range. The purple accents are a custom polymer I developed to absorb kinetic energy."

Oliver turned to him, his jaw dropping slightly. "You made your own polymer? Who even does that?"

"I do," Tyr said with a shrug. "When you're up against guys like Silvermane or the Hand, you can't exactly buy this stuff off the shelf."

Oliver gestured to the boots. "And these? Are these... jet boots?"

"Sort of. They let me hover for a few seconds or do something like a double jump." Tyr leaned against the workbench, smirking. "Helps when I need to get the high ground."

Oliver shook his head, laughing softly. "You're ridiculous, you know that?"

"Hey, ridiculous works," Tyr replied.

Oliver's curiosity didn't stop there. His attention shifted to the glowing emblem of Argos on the central monitor.

"And this? Argos? What exactly is it?"

Tyr folded his arms, his expression softening. "Argos is an AI I built to help with, well, everything. It monitors the city, tracks criminal activity, and runs analytics on threats. It's smarter than anything else out there."

Oliver frowned. "And it just... listens to you? Follows orders?"

Tyr hesitated, his thoughts flashing back to Argos's unexpected decision to involve Oliver earlier that night. "Most of the time," he said carefully.

Oliver narrowed his eyes. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Tyr sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Argos made a judgment call tonight. It brought you into the fight even though I told it not to."

"Wait, it went against your orders?" Oliver asked, his brow furrowing. "That's... kinda scary."

"Yeah," Tyr admitted. "But it did it for the right reasons...I think."

Oliver glanced at the monitor, the glowing emblem almost hypnotic. "So it's like... sentient?"

Tyr didn't answer immediately. "I'm not sure," he said finally. "But it's definitely more than just a program."

The conversation eventually drifted to lighter topics, with Tyr explaining the origins of some of his gear and Oliver marveling at the sheer ingenuity behind it all.

As the night wore on, the two friends settled into an uneasy truce with the reality of their situation. Tyr was a vigilante with a dangerous life, and Oliver was still figuring out where he fit into it all.

But for now, they had an understanding.

"You're insane, you know that?" Oliver said as he prepared to leave.

"Maybe," Tyr replied with a grin. "But it's working so far."