maskormenacelogs | ( open ) this is a grown man

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( open ) this is a grown man

WHO: Hal Jordan and you
WHERE: All over
WHEN: Shortly after arriving
WHAT: Guess who's back?
WARNINGS: n/a

a) Heropa #006
[The living room was painted fuchsia for some reason and Hal stood in the middle of the room staring at it. He's lost time before, but he had always been allowed to return to his address and now he was expected to move a few houses down where someone was crazy enough to have painted the walls fuchsia of all things.]

Ping.

[A green the exact shade of the Green Lantern Corps replaced pink.]

Ping.

[Then a dull beige.]

Ping.

[Hal cycled through various colours before returning it back to fuchsia. Huh, it was the sort of thing that grew on you.]

I think it gives the place character, don't you think?

b) Surprise asshole (people who know Green Lantern only)
[Maybe they're out doing normal things, maybe they're in costume patrolling, but either way between one moment and the next, Hal appears out of nowhere to stand next to them.]

Hey, what'd I miss?

[Perhaps that might be better directed at him considering he's never been stealthy and he seems to have updated his costume.]

c) A human disaster
[It could be in any of the porter cities, but there's a forlorn looking man in his 30's searching his pockets for coins outside a cafe. He probably could have created a drink himself, but there was something to standing in line like everyone else that he wanted.]

You got any spare change?

[He's still incapable of budgeting despite having only recently arrived.]

[And if you play a DC character, please take a look at my permissions post!]

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[When Hal appears, Saint Walker is busy sniffing fruit. It's not as odd as it may seem; he's standing at a market, trying to sort out which of the fruits he wants to purchase to make a delightful crumble with later in the day. A cooking show said that now's the season, and who is he to disagree?

Of course, thoughts of crumble leave him almost immediately once a figure suddenly appears beside him, familiar and not all at once. He rarely shows surprise, but even he is surprised by his materialization, and he practically - but does not quite - drop what he's holding.]

Oh! Green Lantern!

[Slowly, a smile spreads across his face.] Welcome back! How long ago did you arrive here?

[The smile on his face doesn't falter even as seeing Walker makes it register that their assumptions about each other were incorrect. They may not have been the same people, but if their mistake lasted this long then there couldn't have been many differences between them.]

Just got back. I thought I'd see who's still around first. It doesn't look like anything's changed much.

The more things change, the more they stay the same, [he notes, a little wryly. Has much changed? Surely, it has. People have died, and people have been saved, things happen, and continue to happen, but in the end, for people like himself and Hal? Nothing of real note has changed. They're the sort of stalwart people that weather the storm, and are left standing at the end, saying everything is as it once was.]

Plenty has happened, certainly, but I believe that you'll discover more of that in time. It is very good to see you indeed! I had begun to think that it would be a very long time before we saw one another once again. Have you been placed in the same housing as last time?

I don't know what happened, but they put me somewhere else this time. Weirdly enough it's only a few houses down.

[If he channeled his inner Ryan Reynolds playing Deadpool instead of himself, he'd wonder if RNG was truly involved.]

I can deal with that, but they gave me a new job too. No more flying for me apparently.

Well, that oughtn't make a huge difference, hm? You can fly easily enough on your own. I doubt anything could stop you from that, [he says, with an amused sort of smile. He flies often as well, after all, without getting paid for the pleasure. It's an awful lot of fun, the useful nature of his powers aside.]

What is your current occupation?

[Hal sort of just stares at him, trying to process what he's just heard.]

Did you just-- I can't believe-- No! It's completely different. Flying with the ring is nothing compared to feeling the engine rumble as you break the sound barrier. The ring is a crutch, there's no real risk.

[Unsurprisingly Hal feels very strongly about modes of flight.]

Aya's engine is very quiet.

[Which is to say, there's not much rumbling at all! Saint Walker ought to know, after all; he's certain been in and around the ship before, and Aya strikes him as the sort to pride herself on not expending excess energy or sound.]

I'm afraid I don't see why the method of flying would matter so to you.

[It's weird to hear about the Interceptor's AI when in his world only Guy had interacted with it before he ended up crashing the ship and they had to abandon it. He'd comment on that, but the original topic is something much closer to his heart.]

Most people don't. I guess it's because I grew up watching my dad fly and wanting to be just like him. It feels like it's cheating to use my mind instead of my skills.

[While he knows his jacket is still there, just hidden away to wherever his clothes go when he switches uniforms he wishes he was wearing it now.]

I would not call your abilities cheating in the least, my friend. It takes a different sort of concentration, perhaps, a different skillset, but concentration and skill nonetheless. There is a reason why not every man and woman is given the title of a Green Lantern.

[Which is to say, he doesn't understand you, buddy. But that's okay! He'll at least respect his odd view on things, just as he always does.]

You have never mentioned your father to me before. You were close?

A-and what would you give me in return?

[ She had a stutter, and was dressed in a way that made it obvious that giving away from change wouldn't affect her much. But sorry, the blonde women standing behind him, leaning very heavily on a cane, isn't the kind you want in a situation like this. She looked at him with such disdain you would think that was some bad blood, or maybe she was like that with everybody. She could have just easily created a drink herself, but her hand was shaking more than usual today, and getting her handwriting to be legible proved difficult. ]

[Hal's used to being judged by rich assholes so he doesn't react to her disdain.]

My everlasting gratitude? What's a lady like you need from someone like me?

[He guesses there is something she might try angling for, being too proud to ask directly from the people she knows.]

The line is long, I'm sure you can think of something better.

[ Instead she's settled on looking at nothing in particular to her side. Really living up the image of snobby rich person, now isn't she? ]

What can you offer?

[Hal has no patience for dancing around a topic. So he's going to open his mouth and shove his foot in.]

You're acting like I'm something gross you stepped on, but your words say you want someone to warm your bed. I guess I can if you're into slumming it, but I'd prefer that be a separate thing with no paying involved.

[The love of his life ran off with a boy toy, he's going through some things okay.]

Excuse me? As if I would let someone like you in my bed.

[ She doesn't care about his love life, but she's taking so much offense. But yes, he is definitely "something gross". Everyone is "something gross" until proven otherwise. ]

Enjoy your coffee.

[ Said completely passive aggressively. She's going to shift her focus away from him now, on anything else, which is very hard considering how angry she's feeling. ]

[Hal doesn't want the coffee more than antagonising rich assholes who think they're better than him. It's probably an instinctive reaction at this point due to all of his interactions with Batman. He puts his hands in his pockets and smirks at her.]

Hm, what's that saying again? Right, 'the lady doth protest too much'.

[ She let out a mocking scoff, all the while avoiding looking at him. She won't give him that. ]

Don't get your hopes up.

[The avoiding looking at him thing is telling him that he's winning. It was damned if you do, damned if you don't.]

Lady, I should be saying that to you. I said I wasn't opposed before, but I'm starting to change my mind.

[He's getting more and more smug as she tries to show him she doesn't care.]

[ She only looked at him to glare, and gave him an obviously fake smile. ]

You're up next.

[ She gestured at the last person in front of him, weight heavily shifting onto her cane, and the amused smirk found it's way back to her lips. ]

I suppose you're not ordering anything, so, make it fast. Some of us have better things to do than waste time hitting on someone far out of their league.

[...crap.

He needs to do something and fast. Luckily, he's very good at not planning ahead and making things up as he goes so he walks up to the counter while shooting back a grin. He leans forward to the person at the counter to talk in a low whisper.]

So my girlfriend's not in a great mood and she's holding onto my wallet. Yeah, I know asking her to pay is going to piss her off further, but I've got big things set up for tonight that should make it up to her.

[The poor schmuck glances at the angry woman and visibly starts to calculate the chances that she'll go off on them instead of Hal.]

[ She couldn't tell exactly what he said, but it becomes obvious when she's asked to pay extra. Good for him, she plays along. She doesn't want this to end up on the news. She'll find a way to get even, but right now it was wiser to use this to her advantage. Rachel's calm reaction would be an obvious warning for anyone that knew her, but the person at the counter was completely oblivious.

She mirrors his movements, and leans closer, voice barely above a whisper. ]

I know this might be an odd request, but can you add some salt to his coffee? He likes it that way and doesn't ask for it because he's worried of being judged.

[ So here's the thing, Barry on a good day is willing to loan money to people if they really really need it. On a bad day, Barry is wiling to do that for friends or people who remind him of friends. As it turns out Barry's having a neutral day and just really wants some coffee and happens to be behind Hal in line. He hears the question and for a moment actually reaches into his pockets to check before he realizes that yes he has spare change which is really just another five dollar bill before he looks up and nods. ]

Depends on if you call a five spare change?

[Hal turns around, a bright smile on his face.]

Yep, thanks Bear. I'll pay you back one day.

[He doesn't seem at all surprised to be standing in front of his alternate universe best friend. But Barry should know by now the chances of ever getting his money back are slim to none.]

[ There's a pause while Barry just looks at Hal for a good minute thinking that he hallucinated the Bear but no, it's Hal Jordan's dumb butt standing right in front of him. ]

I'd believe that if you still didn't owe me for the last time I did something like this, Hal. [ He says it with this sort of choked off laugh before handing Hal the five. ] When'd you get here? Have I been that out of it that you've been here for a month and I didn't notice or something?

Or were you hiding out waiting to surprise me like this?

[Barry Allen: his favourite bank since he never gets declined on a loan.]

Just got back. but basically. Actually I was planning on how to say hi, but you beat me to it by running into me here.

[With Barry's money he makes his order for some sugary abomination. He's trying something new today.]

So how have things been here?

[ One day Barry is going to decline him and then Hal will be screwed. Also the world might come to an end too. ]

I guess I just have an ingrained you detector? Must have realized you were here and decided I should come here. And not literally run into you.

[ Barry snorts because making running jokes never gets old before he makes a face at what Hal's ordering. ]

You're making me regret giving you the five. But, it's been. The usual. You know, people leaving, the Russians being obnoxious and a few incidents maybe caused by some people here.

[If Barry likes running jokes, Hal enjoys his superhero jokes a little too much.]

So that's the secret super friends power.

[He also moves to shield his order and (Barry's) money in case Barry does decide to take it back. Not that he had the reflexes to stop him.]

I guess that means I'm back on vacation.

[And back to doing the bare minimum when things go wrong and twiddle his thumbs the rest of the time.]

[ Lucky for this stranger, Maria is in the mood for a warm "pick-me-up" and finds the same cafe. Outside she assumes the man dropped something of his—a wallet, perhaps a watch? But change is something Maria can easily remedy. ]

Of course. [ Her brown eyes flick over to the doors of the coffee shop briefly. ] For coffee, yes?

[ It better not be for booze or drugs, mister! ]

[He would never use it on booze or drugs. He is a clean god!]

Yeah, I just realised I'm a little short.

[He shoots her a sheepish grin as if he's actually embarrassed by this. Spoilers: he isn't.]

Happens to the best of us. [ Except Maria, of course, but she's trying to make him feel better here for his own shortcomings. ] How much do you need?

[ As she asks, Maria is already heading into the coffee shop. She isn't letting go of the money until he sees him actually buying coffee. Because she doesn't know you! You could be an addicted god to the hoppers and the goofballs, sonny! ]

[Hal happily follows her in and heads up to the counter to peruse the menu.]

Couple of dollars. [He pulls out what he has and places it on the counter.] One Americano, please.

[His sad pile of coins is maybe half of what he actually needs and he steps to the side so she can pay the rest as offered.]

[ They are very sad, but Maria balances them out with her sweet ass currency. She orders a caffe latte with soy milk and pays for them both. ]

I'll find us a seat if you pick up the drinks.

[ Because you will be keeping her company as she drinks her latte. ]

[If the cost of his coffee is going to be keeping someone company he's definitely got the better end of the deal.]

Alright, lady. Get us some good seats!

[When their drinks arrive Hal has the barista scrawl 'I'm Hal and you are?' on Maria's drink before he brings them over.]

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( open ) this is a grown man

B!!!

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c... so sorry

never be

good luck then

i guess it's my turn to be sorry

w o w never be

BUT I'M CRINGING

A+ CR right here

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...c. christ hal

wrong religion :B

:| must you do that

yes

so rude why do i like you.

because i grow on you like a fungus

C-C-COMBO MAKER getitcuztheyreallcsgetit?

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