( closed )

[imaginate]

Characters: Kyle Rayner and Raylan Givens.
Date: A few days after Raylan's network post.
Location: Raylan's quarters.
Situation: Two cops walk into a bar - wait a minute.
Warnings/Rating: None yet.



Kyle's beginning to think Rule Number One should be changed. He kicks a few stones on the way, wandering around Earth Sector, wondering what the hell he's even doing. He'd said he'd think about - so he thought about it. Maybe he could help a few people get past, into the sewers, to find out what was really going on. That was the whole idea, wasn't it?

He isn't a thinker by nature: he was best at fighting things that were right in front of him; nonetheless, he's beginning to accept that it was like being on another planet, on a long-term mission. Which was saddening, really. It had been over a year since the last -

This isn't Rann and Thanagar, he tells himself firmly, cutting off the thought before it finishes. There's no war (not yet); there's no death (there had been); there were no orders (he had to think for himself) - something fishy was going on.

He relaxes, glad he can still make a ridiculous pun or two. A little fearlessness is just what he needs.

Confidently, he knocks. 'Marshal?'

Comments

[neverleftharlan]

The answer comes in pieces, to Raylan too. He takes a swig from the glass and grimaces a little.

"At first? To see if she'd let me do it. See how much of a tether we've been given, I suppose. Gave me a chance to talk to her without getting hung up on, got me into the palace." He rubs his lips thoughtfully. "Truth be told, when she first took an interest, I thought we might use it to get our people through in places. Cause distractions, like, to get others down into the tunnels."

Another sip of his whiskey substitute before he sets the glass down carefully on the counter. "After I talked to her, though... Her, and Evandau. I just don't..." Back home he could say it was a gut feeling, an instinct, and people understood. "They don't talk like the people we want them to be. I went in the first time prepared to put a bullet in the Alderwood Commander if it meant getting answers about our folk, how we came and went, and why. But the man I met was a protector who couldn't do the one thing he's meant for. I understood that. I couldn't hate him for it, and I can't hate the Emperor for being as she is either. I can't say for certain that she loves Tu Vishan, but she doesn't care about much else. They're like two halves, I guess you'd say. One for the people and one for their home."

Raylan shakes his head. He's getting sidetracked. "What was I saying."

It's been a long day.

[imaginate]

'The first sensible thing I've heard since coming here.'

Kyle's listened to the explanation raptly, and he finally takes a sip of his own drink, his ring clinking against the glass gently. Instinct. It's what led him here, to this conversation, and he's sure the same thing led Raylan to those conclusions. That, and experience. It had a certain quality to it that Kyle could appreciate, and understand. It was easy to point fingers, easy to draw the line where there might not be one. It was easy to blame somebody who'd taken a difficult position, especially since it had looked like self-interest. He's intervened in enough conflict and rebuilt enough planets to know.

'I wouldn't hate the Emperor either - I don't, actually. Still, there'll be people going in to those tunnels. We both know not everyone was...' he trails off, not being able to describe it properly. 'I'd rather it was people I trusted - because we do deserve answers - but I don't want them to come at the expense of the turtle. We still have places to return to, presumably. From what I've heard, the locals don't. If we can do both, we should. If we can't, I'm prioritising the turtle's life.'

He sounds self-assured; he's much more confident and comfortable discussing this now that he more or less knows Raylan's real position.

[neverleftharlan]

"Did I? Must be sleeping too much, if I'm the one who's makin' sense." The rest of the reply gets him to smile, though. He has conviction, but it's always buoying to have someone else back up your own logic.

He catches sight of the ring and tilts his head curiously, raising his own ring finger to show off the horseshoe he wears there. "Fancy piece. Some kind of award?"

[imaginate]

Kyle chuckles. He understands where that came from too, and he relaxes even more, until the ring gets mentioned. He glances over at Raylan's, and then at his own, and the tension returns. He's not used to hiding it. He not used to hiding who he is. He curses inwardly, butut he couldn't imagine leaving the house without it, even if the insignia on his uniform and his ring were easily put together. He also knew Raylan had seen Jason's messages on the network.

Idiot.

'Not really.' Kyle wasn't exactly inconspicuous during the zombie attack and Raylan isn't the type to stay indoors. If he's put two and two together -- 'I did say I didn't think I was totally useless.'

There's a flippancy to his words. There is also a purpose, that only people who've seen him in action can spot.