[openish]

[bowarmed]

Characters: Connor Hawke + Various + OPEN
Date: 21/04
Location: Around town. Turtle. This thing.
Situation: Connor's coming back to Keeliai after a while of being on the outskirts. Thread-starters within!
Warnings/Rating: None I can think of; will change if necessary

Comments

[bowarmed]

On the bright side, it's a lot less complicated than Oliver.

[He shrugs and offers a sheepish smiles at the last second.]

Can't catch a break, can we?

[imaginate]

Still complicated.

[You are not getting out of this one, bro.]

[bowarmed]

It is.

[A beat]

But if another version of me was here instead, how different would you treat me? Should you see me differently? Or would it matter at all? I thought about it, and I don't think it should. For now, they're just people I want to know more about.

[imaginate]

I'd be hurt. But patient. See how different you were; try not to overwhelm you with stuff.

[Given that Connor brings out his force of nature side, this is a pretty big thing.]

I think I'm managing better with Roy. We always had more stuff in common.

[bowarmed]

[He gives Kyle a look, then chuckles. Because him and Ollie never had anything in common, sure.]]

This Roy seems easy going. He makes a lot of jokes.

[You know, the kind of jokes that are dismissive of a huge issue. Yeah, Kyle knows.]

[imaginate]

[Glare. Don't you dare suggest what he knows you're thinking, okay. He and Ollie are nothing alike >:|]

So's ours. You just don't get his jokes. At all.

[A pause.]

Connor... I don't think Hal and Dinah helped him get cleaned up. Either he did it himself, or somebody else did, and I've got a nasty feeling it wasn't one of us. [Superheroes, he means. Or Titans. Or friends.]

[bowarmed]

[Hey. He gets... things!!] Just because I don't laugh doesn't mean I don't get the jokes, Kyle. And I definitely get them when they're about me.

[His smile fades]

Did he tell you that himself?

[imaginate]

Laughing helps, okay?

[And then he too becomes more sombre.]

No, but it's written all over him.

[bowarmed]

[He gives Kyle another look. This one's harder. This one says there's only so much they can do.]

The important thing is he knows that there's people he can rely on here. Whether he wants to believe that and go ahead to trust us? That's up to him.

[imaginate]

[In return he gets one that is defiant. The one that says we can do anything we put our minds to.]

It is, and we'll be there for him, when he needs us. And he will.

[bowarmed]

Don't worry about it too much, Kyle. We'll do what we can. But there's no point shadowing his every move when he doesn't even know who we are.

[Waitaminute]

Does he know who you are?

[imaginate]

I told him upfront I was friends with our Roy, and that he should ask if he needed help. [waves his hand] No other details.

[bowarmed]

I told him something similar. No details. [a sigh] It's hard to imagine a Roy without Lian. I almost told him but that would've been selfish, wouldn't it.

[imaginate]

That also would have been kind of a disaster. I haven't told Wally about Linda, or the twins. Can you imagine how he'd react?

[bowarmed]

I can imagine how our Roy would. I'm not sure about this one. He told me he was with Jason Todd and Princess Koriand'r. Red Hood and Starfire are his team.

[imaginate]

[If this had been a few months ago Kyle would have launched into a rant. Now? He just frowns thoughtfully.]

Brave new world, right?

[bowarmed]

[A small laugh] I suppose, yeah.

He probably thinks we're weirdos.

[imaginate]

Connor, half our world thinks we're weirdos. Including our Roy. He probably has like, a photo album of us being weird.

1/2

[bowarmed]

[stare]

2/2

[bowarmed]

You got a point

And actually, I have photo albums him being weird. Not here, back home.

[imaginate]

[Laughs.]

Remember that time we tried the experimental vegetarian chilli recipe?

[bowarmed]

I think Jade hated us for a while after that.

[imaginate]

[Fondly:] I slept on the couch for a month.

[bowarmed]

[Laughing lightly] I promised her, never again. And I haven't tried to make vegetarian chili ever since.

Not that I had a chance in the Queen household. Chili has meat, or it's not chili.

[imaginate]

Shame. It's actually really good, you know, when it's not making you gag.