16482/I'm Not -that- Kind of Cop.

I'm Not -that- Kind of Cop.
Date of Scene:	03 December 2023
Location:	Roof - Titan's Tower
Synopsis:	No description
Cast of Characters:	Kyle Rayner, Xiomara Rojas

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Kyle Rayner has posed:
Kyle Rayner is up at the roof staring at the stars. Focusing with his ring, there's a small orb construct. About the size of a baseball. It's a compass, but it's not pointing north. He's slowly turning it to a specific direction. There's a pause as he keeps searching through the orb for a bit as he tries to focus on a specific planet. "It's that far off, eh?" Kyle asks idly to no one in particular, thinking he's alone. "Wandering in space is weird," he adds a bit.

The night is calm and still. Everything is peacefully quiet for the moment. So, it's easy to spook him or listen in. Once the coordinates are in play, "Ring. Remember the destination," and the image will flash for a moment. A second later he just spins the orb like it's a globe. And he'll light out an annoyed sigh.

Xiomara Rojas has posed:
In spite of Crush's size, and her skin color, she was quite good at not being seen when she didn't want to be. In this case however, she just wasn't there at the moment Kyle first spoke. She did arrive on the roof in time to hear him talking to the ring though, which causes her to pause right as she stepped onto the roof and reconsider if she should just turn around.

The decision to stay came quickly, as being in her room while the other Titans slept meant she had to be quiet, and she hated quiet. Walking out across the roof, sort of toward Kyle but not directly at him, she stopped to look up at the sky.

"Got somewhere you'd rather be," she asks quietly, not trying to spook him.

Kyle Rayner has posed:
"No. Not really," he admits quietly. "I met someone out in space. I think she's like Brittany Spears out in that sector. I haven't really heard from her since. I'm not sure if I've been galactically ghosted or the tour just got that intense," Kyle admits and shakes his head. "I was wandering space. I wound up on Xandar. Strange being there since well, the rumors about Lantern and Nova tensions," he says honestly on that matter.

"What brings you out on the roof? Am I interrupting skydiving or something?" he asks thinking she might jump off the roof or something.

Xiomara Rojas has posed:
The blank stare that Crush offers him while he is talking about space, Xander, Lantern and Nova makes it clear that she is clueless as to the context of anything he said. The stare only lasts a moment as she chooses to focus on the girl part of it.

"She likely just got busy," she offers with a slight shrug. "Specially if she's tourin."

Keeping a certain distance, she looks the man over before deciding that once again the requirements of being social applied here. It was something she was supposed to be working on. "Too quiet inside," she then states. "I don't sleep, but they all do," she gestures toward the roof top beneath her feet as if the Titans are all right there. "I don't like quiet... an ya can't skydive off this roof, the other buildins are in the way."

Kyle Rayner has posed:
Kyle notes the lack of expression about Novas and Lanterns. "Xanadar is home to the Nova Corps. Lanterns and Novas are kind of like two companies after the same thing," he says just giving some contxt. Then he shrugs, "Probably. Crystal and her band probably are," he's clueless that Crystal isn't a performer, but is part of Inhuman Royalty.

"But the rooftop is equally quiet," he says and raises a brow. "Why the roof? Intergalactic call?" he asks curiously and sits back down. "You're welcome to join me. I'm not sure what kind of company I'll be, but space keeps my hours weird," he addmits that there will be tmes he sleeps when everyone else is moving about as result.

Xiomara Rojas has posed:
Shoving her hands into the pockets of her vest, Crush moves more toward where Kyle is standing then takes another look up toward the stars. He was social alright, asking questions, which was all part of the 'getting to know you' process. She had troubles with that process, with letting people in.

"You don't hear what I can hear from this spot," she finally says, stopping just out of arms reach. "My hearing ain't human, I can hear the city as if it's alive. The throng, the traffic, like it's got a heartbeat."

Looking back down at him, she sizes him up out of habit and when she finds herself doing it, stops. "I don't know shit bout out there," she points to the sky. "I know there's probably millions of worlds, an species an peoples, but I don't know any of it. Truth be told, I don't know shit about my own people, except my sperm donor killed them all."

Kyle Rayner has posed:
Kyle nods about the city and a heartbeat. "I've heard that rumor. Always seemed legit. Like the rhythm of a song despite many parts going. I figured it was like that, but amplified," and then Crush opens up ever so slightly.

She brings up space and everything else. "Would you like to?" he offers her for a moment. "I can always use my ring, put you in a breathable orb and we can go to a planet. You can see what the galaxy is like," he doesn't realize how chaotic this idea could dbe. Still, he puts it out there in the world.

Xiomara Rojas has posed:
There were a lot of things Crush prepared herself from in conversations, most wrapped around to punching someone, but never in a million years did she expect an offer to go to space. For one brief moment he can see the surprise on her face and then she blinks it away.

"I don't need to breathe," she replies first, as if that's the important part, and then there's a pause as she has to think about how to say what she wants to say.

"Uh... it's a great offer," she finally offers. "One I... well, I never expected to get, but uh... I don't know. Always wanted to go out there, just once, beyond the moon."

Turning her eyes up to look at the moon and stars she continues speaking, voice quiet, "Some people don't get it. To grow up on a world where you /know/ you aren't one of the people. To never really belong. Sups got the great parents and a farm, I got drug addicts and an RV... but space?" She shrugs there with a soft sigh then looks back at him.

Watching his eyes, as if all the truths and possibility to trust laid in them, "Where would be go?"

Kyle Rayner has posed:
Kyle notes the surprise, but says nothng about it. "Well, that means you'll manage to enjoy the ride more. Then he notes how it feels like her mind is wrapping around the offer while forming words.

The look goes to his eyes, "I'd find a place like Xandar. i didn't stand out too much because I was just one color in the box of crayons. Some place we both can blend and enjoy it as people. Not deal with stares or bad times. Maybe show you a good time. Like the kind you should have had here," he feels bad Xio got a bad deal just because of who she was.

Xiomara Rojas has posed:
Crush was turning the offer over in her head, over and over again, looking at it from numerous angles and they were coming up bad in the end. She hated it, hated that because of her father she had to even take the time to consider it.

"Okay," she says with a few nods of her head, breathing out, even taking her hands from her pockets to shake out. She was a bundle of energy and nerves, attempting to keep it all in check.

"Here's the problem," she continues. "My sperm donor exterminated my entire race, destroyed the planet they were on, an left the memory of the Czarnian race in the minds of everyone as the fuckin nutcase he is."

She sucks in another breath, then cracks her neck by rolling her head, almost looking at if she's getting ready to fight... but really, she's fighting herself, her legacy, and the fact of who her father is. "So what you think people out there old enough to know bout that extinction level event are gonna say, or do, if they see a Czarnian now?"

Kyle Rayner has posed:
"Do you know how many races are white skinned like you and you could say that's face markings? Like a tattoo," Kyle quckly counters as he poses back to her. "It's easier to blen in than you think," he just counters again.

Xiomara Rojas has posed:
Crush shakes her head, pacing a few steps away then back again. "That's... confusing," she admits bluntly, starting to look a little agitated, perhaps frustrated. "That's not what the sperm donor implied..."

Suddenly just stopping she takes in a long, deep breath, not that she needs it and lets it out slowly, before stating hard and blunt "Fuck him. Fuck everything bout him. I'm tired of... feelin alone."

Focusing her eyes back on Kyle she nods once, "You willin, then I'm willin."

Kyle Rayner has posed:
"I'm not saying it's a slam dunk of an idea, but ther are people of all shape, sizes and colors. For some people that think you're czarnian, we can find a race to say you actually are. Say the eyes are just some kind of cool mark," Kyle shrugs knowing that idea will work on some, but not all.

"He's an assshole. You're better than him. Second to last of his race, or not, you're better than him. You're still a person. F' em' all, let them stare. I'll just be your wingman. Talk about how beautiful badass you are and shut them up," and he offers that just trying to show her the bright side of the adventure.

"Would I have offered if I wasn't willing?" he pooses wth his own raised brow, which is hiddden by his mask. Kyle is out here in uniform.

Xiomara Rojas has posed:
There was a lot that Kyle just said that lingers in Crush's mind. Wingman, he didn't even know her that well and he was willing to back her up. He knew about her father, most did of course, but he called her better than him... the one thing she had ALWAYS strived to be. It was the very reason she had joined the Titans, wanted to be part of the Justice League, to prove that just because she has the universes WORST father, she could be better.

Those things swam through her mind and then it hit her like a ton of bricks... he called her a beautiful badass... beautiful... her? Was he smoking something that effected the human physiology?

What Kyle saw was her nodding and listening to him, a serious expression on her face and then suddenly she was laughing to hard she nearly fell over. Holding out her hand, with one finger up in the 'just a minute' way, she had to get through the laughter.

Wiping tears from her eyes she managed to get herself upright again and slugged him playfully, lightly in the arm... a motion of familiarity and friendship, at least that's what she was thinking.

"I like you," she finally states bluntly and with affirmation. "Got no clue what your name is, or what a Green Lantern actually is, but I like you."

Kyle Rayner has posed:
"Like me how?" Kyle poses, hamming it up and looking overtly cute. It's his way of cutting through the moment of her wth laughter and tears. He waits for a moment. A second later, the mask fades and she can see his face. "My name is Kyle, but you can call me Green Lantern. Lanterns are like space cops, if there's more than one of us, call me 'Ion.'" It's how they end up tlling each other apart aside from numbers.

Xiomara Rojas has posed:
Crush has to wipe her eyes again, and finally her breathing returns to normal just in time to watch the mask just fade away. "That has to be the coolest fuckin thing I've ever seen!" she comments with mirth, not yelling. "An whatcha mean like ya how? Like ya enough not to punch ya off the roof. Like ya enough ta call ya a friend?"

Remembering manners, she extends her hand to him as she says, "Nice to meet you Kyle, G.L. when you got the mask, Ion when there's more than one of you. I'm Crush," there is a slight pause there before she adds, "No, that ain't my given name... I don't... my name's personal. Not even my real name, but it's the name my adopted parents gave me."

Kyle Rayner has posed:
"I'll take it," Kyle says to the comments about not being punched off the roof. His gaze stays on her for a moment while the mask slowly forms back over his face.

"Why not make one?" Kyle poses for a moment. "There's eastern beliefs that people earn their soul. I think you've earned your name. So, what is your -real- name?" Kyle poses letting Crush sees she has the power to control her personal path a bit. That she doesn't need to be the product of others, but her own desires, too.

Xiomara Rojas has posed:
Crush half smiles, half smirks, an expression she often has on her face. "The name I got is good enough, an being called Crush has always made me feel empowered." She shifts her weight slightly, red eyes never leaving Kyle as if she's expecting him to suddenly attack her. It's obviously something she does that is engrained in her.

If Kyle is in fact watching her close enough, he will see when the thick black chain she wears around her waist start to shift. Wrapped once, it seems to extend up, then crosses over her chest like the strap of a satchel. Crush doesn't seem to care, nor does she say anything about it.

"When I was thrown at this planet, an found by my adopted parents, they named me Xiomara Rojas," she says slowly, as if fighting herself in even saying the words. "They were killed when I was fourteen, so... I don't share my name, so please don't share it with others."

Kyle Rayner has posed:
"Share what, Crush?" Kyle offers to her for a moment making sure she understands what he means. His gaze focus on her. Oh, he is paying attention to her for a moment. His gaze stays upn her a she is looking at the teammate. "Where do you want to go once we're planet side?" he asks letting her take the wheel on that one. He knows ths could be anything. Oh, he knows this may be like opening Pandora's box.

Xiomara Rojas has posed:
Once the chain has settled into place, Crush reaches up and runs her hand lightly over it at the shoulder. She couldn't quite figure this guy out, but there was something about him that made her want to grin and slug him in the arm a few more times. As a child she never had friends because her parents were always on the move, and she was home schooled as a result.

Once on the streets she managed to 'know a few people' but it wasn't safe to trust anyone or call them a friend. Even when she managed to get enrolled at Happy Harbor, she'd only managed to get close to a couple of people, and both had left in time. She realizes now that in many ways she was still a teenager trying to find her way.

"Thanks," she finally says, getting his meaning and offering a grin. "I don't know what's out there G.L.," she just can't bring herself to say Green Lantern, maybe later she'll think of another nickname based off that, but for now...

"I wanna learn bout my people if I can," she continues. "An bout the other species out there... I want to learn a new culture, find out how others out there party, just... live without being judged for lookin different."

Kyle Rayner has posed:
Kyle thinks she's sizing him up than figure him out. A moment later she's grinning at the news. And then the nickname "GL" comes out. It's the first time anyone has used it for him. In a weird way, it makes him feel like a Lantern.

"We'll go to Xandar. They'll have a big library like thing you can poke around in if you're careful. Then we can find a party spot as long as you don't take anything we can't identify. If that causes things to go sideways, I may not be able to save you," he says not sure how galactic substance and crush would mix.

Xiomara Rojas has posed:
"Xander," Crush repeats, already starting to wonder just what kind of planet it was and what the people were like. "I ain't eatin anythin, don't need to. A person can party without all that crap, though I'll admit some of the earth drugs are kinda cool."

"How long does it take to get to Xander," she then asks, realizing that this might mean missing some classes, and work.

Kyle Rayner has posed:
"They had all manner of people there. Do you play video games? Because I can do some comparisons there," he says honestly as he tries to connect the dots.

"It takes a little bit, but we can talk and what not on the way. I can make a couch for you to lay on," he says honestly on that one. Just something for her to lay upon.

Xiomara Rojas has posed:
Walking over to one of the chairs, Crush slides it out and sits down. She's close enough to be heard still, but she really needed to sit. A part of her brain kept telling her this was some sort of dream, that she'd wake up and find out she was still stuck on earth, and always would be.

"How long is a bit? Gotta tell my professors now long I'll be gone, an I'll have ta get the assignment list to make up the classes. An I don't need a couch," she comments almost idly, then looks back over at him. "Make a couch? How the... oh right, with that light, right?"

Kyle Rayner has posed:
"We can make three-dday weekend out of it. So, a day," Kyle says softly looking at her for a moment. Thinking that would be the way they coul do this. "We can leave when it gets close to the weekend. Maybe a four day weekend? Minimize your absences?" he asks softly just looking to her intently for a few as he watches her for a moment or two. He's not that remove from university.

Xiomara Rojas has posed:
Once again the chain begins to move and slide around Crush as she shifts herself in the chair. "Oh, oh hey that's perfect," she states as she once again reaches up and runs her hand over the chain at her shoulder.

"I can do a week," she then adds. "Though in a about a week, I'll be off for like two weeks because of this holiday crap."

Kyle Rayner has posed:
"As long as I can do Christmas back east, we can totally go," Kyle says lifting that idea up. Then he gives her a nod. "So, we can leave thing. I'll talk up your beauty and badassery when we get around someone you think is cute," Kyle gives her a genuine smile.

Xiomara Rojas has posed:
Just about to say something, his repeated comment makes Crush start coughing while chortling, then finally laughing. "I am a bad ass," she laughs out. "Very few can take me down, an those that've tried regretted it."

Sitting back in the chair, she uses her foot to slide another of the chairs toward him... a gentl invite to sit down. "I got no family left, don't do this 'Christ was born' crap. It's all a gimmick an a money grab anyway." She snorts softly, clearly reliving bad memories of the holiday season.

"How much further east you gotta go? Got family there?" She then asks, trying to be engaging and blowing right past the beautiful comment as if it didn't happen

Kyle Rayner has posed:
"Well, you admitted the first part," Kyle says with a chuchkle of his own. Then he looks at her for a moment. Sitting down at th offered chair he gives a nod. "You can get people you care about gifts, too. It doesn't have to be about jesus, just remembering to be nice to each other," kyle says just pointing out you can separate Religion out of the season and still celebrate it.

"I got family back in Cali-Fornee," he says with old timey gold digger accent.

Xiomara Rojas has posed:
Crush smirks, crossing her legs with her ankle on her knee. "Dude, Cali-fornee is west," she states before her smirk turns to a coy grin. "You been in space too long, forgot your directions."

Reaching up to run her fingers along the chain as she talks, it might be obvious now that it's something of a natural habit for the Czarnian. "I don't have no one I care about, at least not to the degree that I'd buy em presents," she shrugs her shoulders again, trying to act indifferent but failing at it. "I care bout the Titans, don't wish em ill an would fight to protect em all, cept Damian, but I don't know em."

Glad to have something else to shift the topic too she adds at the end, "I am a bad ass, willin ta admit that any day, any time. I spent a lot a time in illegal fighting rings against metahumans, I know my worth."

Kyle Rayner has posed:
"I've been discombobulated," Kyle defends himself. It's probably a momentay bit of confusioin due to being in Europe so long.

"You've got me. We're about to vacation togther. That should say something," he says again and looks at her for a moment. He looks at her, "You're about to know me if you don't. We're going to spend how much time together?" Kyle poses for a momnt and looks a little more upward. "Sometimes the person you care about, or matters most, starts with a leap of fath."

"True. But the beauty part?" Kyle will pose because everyone's their worse critics. All the Titans would call themselves good fighters? But would they call themselves good people? Heroes? Something to aspire to? Something to be attracted to? These are the kind of questions he knows keeps heroess up at night. So, maybe he's hoping to dispel a few in Crush.

Xiomara Rojas has posed:
Crush hadn't thought of going off in space to another planet as vacationing, she had been more of a mind that it was research... and risky leap that might expose her to her sperm donor. Hearing Kyle call it that made her left brow raise as her red eyes settle on him.

She was just thinking of how to respond to the concept of getting to know him when he poses a question she wasn't expecting, so her brain spins like a top for a moment. Shaking her head slightly to clear it, she flat out stares at him.

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder," she states flatly. "To most humans, I'm a freak with no external beauty an very little internal beauty. Don't know bout others of my own species cause they're all dead."

Letting that comment settle, she shifts back to the first question. "A few days, maybe a week out there. Bein willin to even go is the leap of faith, but gettin to know you? That depends." She shifts her leg slightly. "Will I be knowin Kyle or G.L.?"

Kyle Rayner has posed:
Kyle isn't bothered by the stare. Just another set of eyes to add to an ever growing number. Shaking his head, "Like your sperm donor, a lot of them are stupidd, just for other reasons," he says of th humans. "Trust me. You'll find someone to stare at you. All that fun stuff," Kyle says as ever the optomist.

"True," he concedes about the trip. That alone -is- a leap of faith. "When you're that far out in space wth a person, they're one in the same. You'll learn about Kyle and maybe -why- he's a Lantern. But I'm not like Batman. I mean, whoever he is, you can't see a guy calling himself vengeance when doing whatever he does during the day. I can't call myself space cop if we're just talking, right?" Kyle poses to Jinx letting her digest that information.

Xiomara Rojas has posed:
There is something akin to disgust that washes across Crush's face when he comments that she will find someone to stare at her. She looks away toward the edge of the room, out at the city with narrow eyes, reigning in the sudden wave of anger that hit her. He didn't know, so it wasn't his fault he'd hit a trigger and because of that, she wasn't hitting him off the roof. A year ago, he'd be on the sidewalk by now.

"My people were better than that," she comments once she can keep the anger from her tone. "They were just... pacifists who could never have expected one of their own to go genocidal on them." She'd learned that much from Lobo when he was beating the shit out of her upon their first meeting.

"I don't want people staring at me any more," she finally continues after a few more breaths. "I've been stared at my whole life G.L., I don't want it any more."

When at last she feels the anger is shoved back in it's cage, she turns her head and looks back at him. "No... Kyle an Green Lantern aren't the same. Kyle's a guy from earth, probably has a mom an dad, maybe some siblings. Grew up, went to school, had a life. Green Lantern is a responsibility, a mask that Kyle wears for reasons I may or may not learn... but they ain't one in the same."

Kyle Rayner has posed:
"I mean looked at like a piece of art like Mona Lisa, not like a gawk," Kyle clarifies sensing he stumbled into something negative. So, he's trying to clear things up. "There's a difference when someone looks at you like you're art," he says knowing there's a difference and Crush didn't know that yet.

"It will be Kyle," he says just clarfying that up. "I may wear the uniform, but it'll be Kyle," the hero says again letting her know that.

Xiomara Rojas has posed:
Crush nods slowly, accepting both of his answers and taking a moment to turn them around in her head. The tension that had crept into her shoulders relaxes away after a moment.

"The Mona Lisa's worth lookin at," she admits with a slight chuckle. "Thanks for the clarification though, even if it sorta implies someone can be art."

A hint of a smile plays at the corner of her lips over his second answer, because she truly believed she was right. Those heroes who had secret identities /had/ to maintain a certain image for the public, and that image was like a mask, even if they didn't wear a physical one.

"Alright, so I get ta know Kyle on this trip," she finally says. "And what exactly is Kyle gettin outta taken me off into space to another planet? Why do that for a stranger?"

Kyle Rayner has posed:
"I'm an artist, everything can be art in my eyes," Kyle says as he clarifies that a little bit more. Showing how he sees the world sometimes.

"What am I not getting out of this? I get to see someone live their dream? Not feel alone on a strange planet and have an adventure?" Kyle poses back for a moment. "And I have the ability to help someone out," he shrugs a little bit. To him, it's that easy, that simple.

"No agenda, if that's what you're worried about."

Xiomara Rojas has posed:
Through his entire answer Crush watched his eyes and listened for pitch changes in his speaking that could indicate lies... there were none of course. She had always had troubles believing that someone would just do something for another person out the goodness of their heart, but thanks to the last year around the Titans, that was changing.

"Yeah, I was thinkin you had an agenda," she states with a nod. "But I believe you when you say you don't... hard as it is for me to believe. Very few times I seen people do somethin good just because they can."

Stretching her legs out under the table, she settles back in the chair while still watching him. "Is bein a space cop fun?" she asks out of the blue.

Kyle Rayner has posed:
"I figured you were looking for an angle. There is none unless you want me to have one?" Kyle says of an angle. The breathing never changes nor does the tone. His eyes hidden, but the gaze doesn't shake.

"Most heroes should do things because they can," Kyle says showing his own stance on being a hero. To him it's that simple.

"It can be fun. I see far off places, far off people, but I see horrors of space, too. You know all the crime shows that actually go over homicide and stuff, imagine that oon a galactic scale?" he says letting that image dance about her head before continuing.

"For every wild incident, there's at least one horror," he shrugs a little bit. Or at least it feels that way to him. To him, the quanility outshined the quantity if it's not actually a numbers thing. "Tell me about your chain."

Xiomara Rojas has posed:
"Heroes should do the things they do cause it's the right thing to do," Crush states bluntly, with a hint of ferocity in her tone. "I'm just decidin to be a hero, to do the right thing, just have troubles with the 'don't kill' part of it all cause let's face it, some of those ass holes out there deserve death. They kill people, an the system of justice is broken enough that they don't pay for it."

Taking a deep breath she lets herself not get worked up over that and moves on to the next topic. "I woulda thought there was more to being a space cop than intergalactic murder," comes her teasing comment, accompanied by a smirk. "So you pull spaceships over an ask for license and registration?"

Chuckling a little over her own joke, she reaches up and runs her hand along the chain from her shoulder to her waist. "This here is Obelus, she's my guardian. Been with me since the day I was thrown at the earth as a baby," is offered by way of introduction. The chain in response, shifts along Crush's body like a snake, but doesn't change how many of the blank links are present. "She don't talk, but has her own way of communicatin, an is the only real friend I got."

Kyle Rayner has posed:
"I'm not sayng people shouldn't be put down, but let the law make the decsion. Not us," Kyle will leave the rest of that arguument off the table for a moment. He doesn't disagree with the why. It's just the how.

"I mean, i hadn't planned on it. So, if you woo someone out of a space ship or win a hell of a bet, I won't pull you over in your ship. I can't speak of the Nova Corps though," he says honestly on that front for a moment. "I'm sure I can make many bad cop jokes, but I don't do a lot of that stuff," and he bites his tongue a little bit and shakes his head. it's to stiffle a comment.

"How do yo do," Kyle tries to extend a hand as if to shake hands wth Obelus, but he knows it's more like a metal snake. Eventually, he shakes his empty hand up and down. "Nice to meet you Obelus."

Xiomara Rojas has posed:
When he extends his hand, a portion of the chain snakes out from by Crush's waist and moves to rest in his hand. In that moment he gets an image in his head, like picture or a snap shot, of a field of flowers. It lasts only a second, maybe two before it is gone, and the chain 'shakes' his hand.

"Hold up," Crush states with a snort, waggling her hand at him. "What did you just /not/ say... I saw it, you stopped yourself. Spit it out."

Kyle Rayner has posed:
Kyle pauses at the field of flower image given to him. He looks at the chain then to Crush. Her own question, no pun, crushes his thoughts for a second. "I was going to make a bad joke about offering to frisk you, or something near it," he says honestly and shakes his head. "Don't mind me."

Then he will focus and a construct will come from the ring. A miniature version of the flower field he saw in something about the size of a shoebox, maybe smaller, except tnted in green. "Does this mean anything?"

Xiomara Rojas has posed:
His answer makes Crush's jaw drop, her eyes widen and then she starts coughing. He said not to mind him, but there was no ignoring the fact that the comment was a flirt. A male... was flirting... with her?! That was a first, an absolute first for the Czarnian. No male had /ever/ done that, and only one female had once before.

Thankfully she didn't get to linger on that shock for too long before he was doing something with the ring, and that grabbed /all/ of her attention. As Obelus slinked the end of the chain back to Crush, Crush was staring at the image he had formed.

"That's amazing," she breaths out. "I mean, I seen you using that light other ways but... okay, when a human looks at a field of flowers, it usually makes them happy, right? So when you meet someone new, most people are all 'happy to meet you', Obelus shows you that kinda image to represent that. Make sense?"

Kyle Rayner has posed:
Seeing those widened eyes. "What? You're cute. More people should make similar flirtationss with you. Not my fault they're idiots and can't see it," Kyle syas and blushes a little bit to her watching him.

Some understanding comes to Kyle after a moment. "Kind of like the Ikea Guy from an episode of 'Close Enough.' Long story short, one of the characters met the Ikea guy. Don't ask, might have been hallucination. Anyway, the Ikea didn't really talk. Just did word bubbles with images in the bubbles to convey messages. Like 'Nice to meet you' would be a photo of a steak then a picture of you. Except Obelus is a bit more vivid and abstract. I can dig it," he just tries to explain the comparison as best he could.

Xiomara Rojas has posed:
Crush is choosing not to engage further on the whole flirting thing, it just wasn't something she could wrap her head around right now. He thought her flirt worthy, she didn't believe herself to be, so for now it was best that she just let that slide.

"No idea what 'Close Enough' is," she states, pulling on Obelus a little to adjust her position. "But that sound a lot like how she expresses herself. She communicates with me all the time like that, other's not so much though, unless she thinks they're okay with it... guess she thought you'd be okay with it."

Kyle Rayner has posed:
"Well, I'm an artist. I can think in pictures. Now sometimes, I may wrongly jump to a deeper meaning that may not be there," he admits softly looking at her intently for a moment. Just sos she knows whre he s coming from on that one. "I won't make any Titanic jokes on the trp." Everyone always talks about that when he mets them. Maybe not right away, but the first two months. It comes up.

Xiomara Rojas has posed:
Lifting a brow quizzically, Crush asks, "Why would anyone joke bout the Titanic? The damn thing sunk, killed a lot of people in icy water." Clearly she has not seen the movie.

"Do you draw, or paint, or is it just..." she wiggles her hand in the air then points at the ring. "I don't have talent like that, just play the drums."

Kyle Rayner has posed:
"It's a drawing joke from a movie based on the boat. Basically, it's an excuse to draw someone topless," he explains the joke a littl bit. Maybe not all the way through, but enough.

"I draw. I mean I can do both, I prefer to draw. If I got a lot of emotions going on in my head, I'll paint somethng bigger. I tend to save painting for personal or special reasons," he can do both. To him painting's a little more raw. "Same for charcoal pencils," he adds on that one.

"What's playing the drums lke?" he's curious on this one.

Xiomara Rojas has posed:
For the first time in their conversation, Crush looks truly interested in what he's saying. That's not to say she wasn't interested before, instead it is that he can actually see it on her face and in her eyes. Listening to him talking about his art seems to touch something in her.

"So, the concept of the joke is you won't be askin to draw me topless?" she asks first with a smirk, then folds her arms across her chest. "Probably a real good idea... an I didn't know there was a moving about a cruise liner that sank."

To his question she offer a slight shrug as she says, "It's like taking two sticks in your hand an beating the crap outta somethin. First couple of times I destroyed the drums, tryin to learn how to control my strength... now though, it's..." she hmmms softly before continuing.

"It's a form of expression from somethin inside. It's knowin that the music don't flow right without the beat of the drums." She shrugs again. "I don't really know how else to explain it. It's... feeling like ya belong to somethin an needed by it."

Kyle Rayner has posed:
Kyle notes the interested looks. It's not to indicate a lack of interest, just her beng genuinely resonating with the topic on a deeper level. There's no offense on that front.

"Yeah. It's a bad joke since the movie came out," he shakes his head a little bit.

Then his own expression changes similarly when the talk of drums come up. "You like feeling you matter. Since your family didn't care. Sperm donor didn't care. You like knowing something needs you, even if it's just a song,' he looks at Crush knowing this might be touching a nerve.

Xiomara Rojas has posed:
"My adoptive parents cared," Crush corrects, sitting up straighter. "David an Lisa, they loved me the best they could. They took me in as a baby, fed me, clothed me, schooled me, played games with me... sure, they were stoned or high most of the time, an we moved around a lot... but they tried."

Taking a deep breath she relaxes her back again. "I don't hold it against em that they were perfect, I owe em everythin. They're the reason I went to high school, they're the reason I graduated an went to college. I know what they wanted for me, even if they couldn't give it."

Now that she had corrected that mistake, never having meant to imply that her adoptive parents didn't care, she moves on to the other part of his comment. "You can't grow up on a world where you're so completely different an not feel lonely, even with the best of parents. So yeah, I want to feel like I belong, that someone needs me, that I got a purpose for existin."

Kyle Rayner has posed:
Kyle's quiet for a very long time. He wants to think of the right thing to say. There's one response he has that keeps coming up. It's a little cheesy. He knows this, but it's the best he has. "What if I need you? We can figure out the what later on, but I need you." Before she begins to say anything. "We've been pretty honest with each other. People can need that. It's a start, yeah?" he poses to her.

Xiomara Rojas has posed:
Once more Crush finds herself blinking at him as her body tenses slightly, surprise and confusion on her face. No one just meet and needs someone, at least not in the world she'd lived in most of her life. If it had been a year ago she would have laughed at him, but the last year had shown her a different world. She wasn't a part of the world she'd seen, but knowing it was there had been something of a comfort.

Once he finishes speaking she raise her hand in a 'hold on' motion, so she can have just a moment more to figure out what to say and how to not sound like a bitch while saying it. "Let's be more honest," she starts slowly. "We been talkin, an there's things ya know bout me now that you didn't know before, but we just met. If you're sayin ya need a friend, then I can say that's what we're workin on here. If you're sayin ya need me, just ta make me feel better, then you can knock that shit off right now. I don't need platitudes."

Trying to relax her shoulders, and finding it a little difficult, she just settles for being tense. "I don't trust easy. Only trust three people right now, an I'm thinkin you could earn my trust in time. Is that whatcha thinkin? To earn that trust an be a friend?"

Kyle Rayner has posed:
"No bluffs. No angles. No blowing smoke up your ass. People need people. Maybe we needed to meet someone we can be honest with, utterly. A friend, at minimum. It's not often you can make threats honestly and the other party not be offended by t much," he looks at her for a moment. "Cause I don't think I'm the only one that needs a friend here," he will point out to her honestly on that one. He looks at her for a moment. "Yep. I am. You're worth the effort cutie," and he uses that term half to flit and half just to throw her off. Crush isn't too intimidating. However, he is trying to cut the tension a little.

Xiomara Rojas has posed:
The wall Crush uses to keep people at arms length was partly in place, so his cutie comment may not have thrown her in the way he expected, instead what he got was, "I'm a lot things, cutie ain't one of em." in a serious tone. "Wanna call me beautiful, go for it. Wanna call me sexy, whatever... don't call me cute, I ain't cute. I loath cute."

And just as serious as that was, her tone shifts because she'd given the warning. "You need a friend, I need a friend... alright then, that's what we're workin on... friendship." She nods once, then finally relaxes a little, but just a little.

"You're right that people need people, bein alone as long as I've been, trust me... I know. No one else seems interested in bein a friend, so... thanks."

Kyle Rayner has posed:
"Last time I called you beatuiful. Sexy or anything close, you didn't believe me. When you are. And you're right. Cute you're not. It's an insult to you. Because beautiful s far better than cute," Kyle smiles at her as he tries to recover from wording and speak honestly.

Then he will give her a nod. "Well, you got a friend. This means I get to give you a Christmas Present. So, tell me shirt sizes and styles or I'm going to get you the ugliest thing I can find," he says and counters to here. "Friends get each other gifts."

Xiomara Rojas has posed:
Tilting her head, one brow lifting high on her forehead, Crush stares at him as if snakes just sprang from his face. That expression remains for a few seconds before she just shakes her head. Some how he had in fact managed to win. She would replay the conversation in her head later and find the point at which she was suddenly getting a gift.

"My style is... well," she shrugs. "Punk, heavy metal, rocker... I don't know. I just wear what I like, an call it my style." Now she was turning around what sort of present to get him, because friends get each other gifts. She rambles off her shirt size for him while she's thinking, then comes up with something that almost makes her grin.

"I got an idea of what to get you," she then says with a snort. "Cause friends get each other gifts... right? First time for that in my life." There is a pause and her brain just changes gears. "I told ya before, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. You call me beautiful, that means in your eye maybe I am... in my own eyes, not so much... both can be true."

Kyle Rayner has posed:
Kyle nods putting the shirt size to memory. "Boot size?" he asks just in case. Then he gives a nod when the memory comes. His gaze foocuses on her for a moment. The snort makes him smirk. "I won't pester, but you have me curious."

Then Kyle smirks and shakes his head for a moment, "We are our own worst critics. But yes, you are beautiful. Never let anyone tell you otherwise. Even yourself," he gives her a firm nod and yawns a little bit. "I should hit the hay, but I live here. You don't need to be stranger, alright? I'll bee watching Shin Godzilla soon, if you don't mind Japanese movie monsters," he offers her.

Xiomara Rojas has posed:
Lifting her foot up and laying her leg on the table, Crush grins broadly as she says, "This size right here." She's wearing her usual knee high combat boots, her favorite boots in the whole world. "They're eleven wides my friend, an they make a solid imprint on people's asses."

She starts laughing, clearly having relaxed back into a better mood. The idea of having a friend, a /real/ friend, was so appealing to her that she actually let her guard down completely.

"I ain't watched a Godzilla movie in a long assed time," she admits, removing her leg from the table in case Caitlin were to come around. Pissing off Caitlin was something Crush hates doing. "Maybe I'll take you up on that offer later, go get some sleep... oh," she pulls out her phone. "Gimme your number."

Kyle Rayner has posed:
Kyle will pull out his cell phone from his boot, "It might have subtitles. Do you mind?" Kyle asks as he hands Crush his phone. Not everyone is a fan of subtitles. "I'll doublecheck if it has a dub, if you're not a fan," and he will wait for a moment to get back his phone.

Xiomara Rojas has posed:
Handing over her phone so he can input his number, Crush puts her number into his phone then passes it back. "I loath dubbed movies," she states bluntly. "Better with subtitles, even if sometimes the fucking subs aren't what's actually being said. If ya ever wanna know what they're really saying, when the subs are off, let me know."

Standing herself up she stretches her entire body, arms up over her head, half shirt lifting to reveal her stomach. "You tell me when ya wanna watch it, I'll bring the snacks an soda."

Kyle Rayner has posed:
"Well you've got literal translation versus the meaning thereof," Kyle talks about the debate with translations. He adds his nuumber to her phone. A secon dlater she stretches, "I see you're showing off," he winks at her and then hands back the phone. "Translator by the by," and Kyle wiggles his ring finger. "I'm good," h winks and starts to head back toward the entry back into the tower. He'll pause and look back to her, "You going to be okay out here? I know you don't sleep, but wll you be okay?" he asks and there's genuine concern fr Crush in his voice.

Xiomara Rojas has posed:
Cruch accepts her phone back, cants her head for a moment, grins rather broadly, then strikes a body builders flex pose to really show off. Just one, and only for a moment before she laughs.

"You don't need to worry about me," she offers with a softer tone, surprised he's concerned but finding that he is... touching. "I'm gonna watch the stars for a little bit, then go back to my room an finish next weeks homework."

Kyle Rayner has posed:
"Tease," he calls out to her before making it to the stairs. When there he will nod to the response. "Don't stay out here too long. Just watch something fun," Kyle says softly and gives a nod. A second later he's heading back into the Tower.