17763/NOT The Father of the Year

NOT The Father of the Year
Date of Scene:	24 April 2024
Location:	O'Connail Construction Site - NYC
Synopsis:	Lobo drops by the construction site where Crush is working... he didn't wave a white flag, but there was no fight. Perhaps a new leaf is turned over, or maybe he's just ready for a chance.
Cast of Characters:	Xiomara Rojas, Lobo

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Xiomara Rojas has posed:
It was an ordinary day, a Tuesday in fact. Crush had attended her morning classes at Happy Harbor Community College, then headed into New York City to her job. Working construction for Mister O'Connail wasn't just a job to her, it was another lesson in human life. At first it had been difficult, given how she looked, but the guys soon became accustomed to her presence and abilities. It helped that she saved two of them when a beam gave out and they fell from eight stories up.

Dressed in black jeans and work boots, with a sleeveless blue work shirt with the company logo, as well as a thick black chain wrapped around her waist and across her chest once, she was quite happily moving steel beams from the truck to a stack near the cranes. Later she would take them up to the fourth floor where they were being attached by the guys, but for now getting them off the truck was priority.

Lobo has posed:
Lobo didn't have a tracking device on her or anything. But he could track other Czarnians if they were in the vicinity and he figured she was in one of the big hero cities so he just flew overhead of them until he got the bleep. "There's my girl," he mutters to himself.

He steers his hog down through the city, clad in his usual leather vest and trousers, oversized boots, spikes and studs out the wazoo and a big hook and chain wrapped around his overmuscled torso. He's not exactly blending in as he hits the street and whips to a stop, fishtailing the rear of the bike against the edge of the sidewalk and sending up a few bits of shattered pavement.

"Whoops," he snickers, unstraddling the bike as he sees Crush "Yo, kiddo!" he says, then puts his hands up, palms out, "Easy, I come in peace, little monster."

Xiomara Rojas has posed:
Crush heard the hog before she actually saw anything, her Czarnian hearing was on par. Had he been on the ground driving, it would have been different, but the sound of the flight engines were unmistakable as anything else.

"Doug, Frank, Jason... get off the structure an get outta here!" she calls out, loud enough to be heard over the machines running. "Now!"

And then he was there. Lobo.

Spinning with the steel beam still in hand, her eyes narrowed as she prepared to use the beam as a weapon... it wouldn't hurt him, but it would knock him away from the site. She was ready, but he spoke up quickly and she stayed her swat.

The black chain around her waist rapidly uncoiled by itself, a part remaining around her while the rest lifts up like a snake with a diamonded head piece of metal being the head. When Crush didn't attack, Obelus didn't either.

"Don' call me that," she growled, keeping herself between him and the men scrambling down the building behind her. "Whatcha want?"

Lobo has posed:
Lobo gives a big, wide, sharp-toothed grin, "Aw, geez, I try to kill ya just once and I'm on the naughty list? Geez, kiddo, yer takin' a chainsaw t'my feels," he jokes.

"Seriously, though, that was, like...look, I ain't got the best relationship with my species, ya get what I'm sayin'? Bein' the last Czarnian was kind of a point o' pride. But I guess if there's gotta be one more'n me, I could do worse," he says. He's not exactly sheepish, but he's definitely having a hard time making crimson eye contact.

"Anyway, ya survived, which just shows you got the moxy it takes to be the spawn o' the Main Man. So I figured I'd swing by and see if I could like...I dunno, what do Dads do on Earth?"

Xiomara Rojas has posed:
First Crush blinks, then another blink, her expression one of shock, disbelief and surprise. She just stand there for a minute, holding the steel beam and staring him as if snakes just sprouted from his head.

That silence stretches on as she slowly sets the beam down, removing the urge she has to use it on his head. As she straightens back up, she is still staring at him.

You want me ta forgive an forget?" she finally asks in a cold tone. "Act like it never happened, that ya tried ta kill me, but got better?"

She snorts, then starts laughing loudly while shaking her head. "Ya lost ya mind?!" She laughs out. "I been livin in fear, waitin fer the day ya show your face again... even got Superman on speed dial... an ya here with hat in hand."

The laughing lasts a short time longer before she collects herself. The guys from the build are long gone, having seen why she told them to leave was enough of a reason.

"I survived cause I'm better then the rest," she states bluntly. "I survived because a Obelus. So whatcha really want?"

Lobo has posed:
Lobo shrugs, "Ain't gotta forget nothin' an' I ain't never asked for forgiveness nor said sorry to a damn soul, not even my own blood," he mutters, gnashing his teeth a little together. He feels that hint of humiliation and it makes the raging thing in his twisted soul thrash a bit inside him.

But he tugs on the collar in his head. Ain't here for that, 'bo.

"Figured you was still scared. S'why I figgered I'd tell ya the coast's clear. I ain't gonna hurt ya none," he says. "Don't get me wrong, I don't need ya, I don't need nobody, but needin' ain't the only reason t'do somethin'. Plus, I know you can handle yerself an' ain't nobody 'round these parts I know can watch my back while I'm hangin' around this mudball," he says. He takes a long puff on his cigar and then just pulls it into his mouth, chewing up the plug and swallowing it.

"But if you want, we can go back to me tryin' to rip yer spine out through yer nose. I get not wanting piece. I always liked war better myself."

Xiomara Rojas has posed:
Up until now Crush has kept her calm, years of practice and coaching, years of learning how to keep the rage at bay... but that protective bubble was cracking. No, he didn't apologize, he wasn't human so didn't understand how it all worked. He was Lobo, the being who attempted to wipe out his entire race, murdered his own children and had tried to kill her...

That was the past, was it not? Was that not the very reason he was here? "Ya don't need no one," she repeated after a deep breath, a hint of red starting to show in her eyes. "Yet ya said being the last Czarnian was a point a pride, but if there's gotta be more... just say it, once... ya want me around. Ya don't need me, but ya want me around."

Lobo has posed:
Lobo snorts and takes a few more steps forward, flexing his pale hands in his gloves for a moment. "Ain't gonna make it easy on me, huh? Guess I can't blame ya for that. Not many folks looked down the barrel o' the Main Man and kept on breathin'. And I guess I did technically abandon ya, although I didn't know you existed for a long, long time, so that ain't really my fault."

He crosses his massive arms over his chest and grumbles a little more, looking around as if he's afraid of being overheard, "Fine, I...want ya. Not in the pervy way. Just, like, y'know...a little bit o' family maybe ain't so bad, I'm thinkin'. An' I saw Wonder Woman up at that spaceport thing and she said you wuz...well, you wuz a pretty good egg."

Xiomara Rojas has posed:
One could say that Crush has always had daddy issues, but they were for a very, very good reason. To hear him admit it, in his gruff way, from his mouth, well it send a tingle up her spine and almost made her smile. The corners of her mouth twitching as she looked at him.

For so long she hated him, but looking at him standing there... a Czarnian like herself... it was an amazing sensation to not be completely alone in the world... at least in that moment.

"Course it ain't in a pervy way!" she retorts quickly, a shuddering running up her spine now. "You ain't had no family, I ain't had no family, just humans. Ya know how hard it is ta be this," she gestures at herself. "around humans?"

"I'm learnin ta help the people on this planet," she admits, her tone softer and the red fading from her eyes. "Wonder Woman an Superman are my sponsors in the Justice League, I hope some day ta earn a place on the team. I need a place to belong."

Lobo has posed:
Lobo nods, "Yeah, I can figger that. I always been a lone wolf, but I saddled up with a group now and again. Most of 'em end up betrayin' me. Or I ended up betrayin' them, but only for money, not cause I'm low down or nothin'. Well, I guess I am a LITTLE low down," he says with a wicked, fanged grin.

"Hell, these humans oughtta be grateful you don't squash their itty bitty heads. Amazin' how much of a thrivin' race they are, given that they're mostly soft as baby food. Them two heroes ain't my type o' folks, but they're pretty damn tough at least."

He leans up against the fence around the construction site, stroking a hand over his big black mustache, "So, uh, now that we's made peace an' all that crap...whadda we do now?"

Xiomara Rojas has posed:
Lobo posed a very good question... what did they do?

Crush blinks again, then reaches up and grabbed Obelus's diamond head and pulls her down from her protective position. "Ya kin calm it down now," she told the chain. "You'll know if I need yeah."

Seeming to be soothed, the chain wraps herself around the young Czarnian's waist and across the chest one more.

"Well," she starts with a shrug, folding her arms across her chest. "Guess the first thing is exchangin phone numbers, then we figure out what sorta things we each like ta do... an killin people ain't on the list."

She glances toward the building and the back fence, then looks back at Lobo. "Humans are way squishy, reproduce at an alarmin rate, an are destroyin their own planet... but hey, it's all I've got."

Lobo has posed:
Lobo nods, "Fer now. Maybe someday, I'll get ya a rig like mine and let ya take a look at some o' the other places in the galaxy. Most of 'em ain't much better, t'be honest, but some of 'em are fun. There's this one spaceport I used to go to where there was this waitress who..."

He stops for a second, "I guess that ain't the kinda story ya tell yer kid, huh?"

"Sure, we can keep in touch. An' maybe if I get a contract that ain't dead or alive, I might cut you in a little if you wanna help the old man out chasin' somebody down. Bounty huntin' is a pretty good gig - you get to travel, money's good and you can kick the shit out of rotten ol' bastiches any chance ya get. 'course most folks what try get kilt real fast, but I already know you don't die easy."

"But I know yer workin' on bein' a," he says, then chokes for a second, trying to work the word out of his mouth, "A 'hero' right now an' I can respect that. Confusin' how any child o' mine ended up a law abider, but ain't the universe funny?"

Xiomara Rojas has posed:
The red iris of her eyes looks toward the space hog for a moment, then a wicked grin spreads across Crush's face. He can see a little of himself in that grin, and the look in her eyes, that there is a devious though passing through her mind.

Turning her attention back to him, she clears her throat slightly and says, "Ya give me a week with that hob an I can built myself one." She may sound cocky, but she also sounded certain. "Just gotta find the right power source."

For a moment her brain focuses on the almost waitress story, and she smirks, "The only way ya tell me bout the waitress, is if ya take me there. I ain't gonna watch or nothin, that's sick an demented, but we ain't exactly like normal kid and pop. Say watcha want, talk bout whatcha want... won't phase me."

Pulling her phone from her pants pocket she sends off a quick text in answer to the 'Are you alright' texts she was getting from the guys.

"I won't kill on purpose," she repeats, but then that smile returns. "But a chance ta beat da shit outta people for money? I'm in."

Lobo has posed:
Lobo chuckles, "Your loss, kid. Ain't nothin' like the rush of a good bloody kill, one you had to earn. Gets the blood heated up, makes a body feel alive. Raw meat ain't nothin' but fuel for the devil in the belly that keeps you goin'. You don't wanna kill, I ain't gonna make ya, but that's human talk makin' ya soft an' I'll call it like I sees it," he says.

"That all sounds good. I ain't no good at censorin' myself nohows. I can be pretty sick and demented in a lotta ways, but I always have fun doin' it. An' if there's one thing in this lousy world I think you need, kiddo, it's some good old fashioned FUN," he grins.

"So, where can we go to have some drinks we can actually feel and maybe beat a few asses? They got any proper dives here or is it just sissy bars like that one on the Cheers show? Somebody gave me some discs of that one once, it's pretty funny watchin' that Sam guy lose his shit over that little chicken lady."

Xiomara Rojas has posed:
Behind her one of the guys, Frank, is peeking back at the site. Once he sees that there's no blood, fighting, or destruction, he waves the rest of the team back in. They don't get paid for running away from an alien.

"May be human talk, but humans'er all I've had," she shrugs, accepting his words. "Was raised by humans, live with humans, work with humans... they may be squishy, but bein alone don't work for me."

She waves the guys back in and points up the steel skeleton of the building they were working on. "Ain't go good bars, Earth alcohol don't do shit an apparently aliens ain't welcome less they got a purpose. Ain't right what happened at the Spaceport, but uh... there are some underground fight clubs. None to the death though."

Lobo has posed:
Lobo shrugs, "Don't gotta be t'the death. Just a little recreational brawlin' to pass the time. Too much downtime, too much peace...makes me antsy. When I get antsy, I start breakin' things," he says. Self-control is not one of Lobo's strong suits, it seems.

"Bet there's someplace. Maybe that Superman pal o' yours knows. Kryptonians ain't no slouches when it comes to booze, at least you get 'em in the right solar system. I bet he's got a big ol' wine cellar full o' Krypto-brew t'get wasted on. Probably goin' t' waste since he's such a goody goody."

He pulls out another cigar, striking a match against the bottom of his boot tread and lighting it. "Anybody whose ass you wanna kick? Enemies I should know about? Other'n me, o' course."

Xiomara Rojas has posed:
A slight smirk crosses her features before Crush rolls her eyes. "I doubt Superman's got anything like that on Earth," she sighs. "Round here bein under twenty one means no alcohol an, like ya said, he's a goody-goody. Squeaky clean even."

She snorts softly, watching him light the cigar. "If ya give me a couple days, I kin find the location of the next metahuman underground rumble. Get paid if ya win... I always win."

In regards to his last question, she shrugs. "I ain't go no enemies yet, though there'r some humans out there that shouldn't still be breathin. Maybe I'll make a list so ya can entertain yourself."

Lobo has posed:
Lobo grins, "I do need entertainin'. Best way to keep me outta mischief," he winks.

He shrugs, pushing off the wall, "I ain't gonna take up too much o' your time. Just wanted to...get a fresh start, I guess," he says. "I don't expect a bunch o' hugs an' kisses or none o' that. I never had much time for that neither, not even with the dames. Don't make no mistake, I ain't got nothin' 'gainst ya, but I ain't no hero neither. I'm still the Main Man, the baddest mofo in the galaxy, with a trail o' bodies from here to the Kree Empire. Speakin' o' lousy sumbitches you can't trust," he mutters. "Ronan still owes me money on a couple bounties."

He heads over to go straddle his hog again, "If you get in any trouble, call me, if only so's I can hear 'em scream when ya stomp on 'em. But if ya need some help...you got my number now."

Xiomara Rojas has posed:
Folding her arms back across her chest, Crush listens to what she will now call 'the speech'. Baddest mo-fo, trail of bodies, etc... yawn. She didn't figure he'd be the huggy, kissy kind of patron, hell she wasn't huggy, kissy.

"Don't worry bout the time ya might take up, if ya wanna hang, we'll hang... other wise I'll call ya, maybe well find something to punch."