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thejusticelounge2012-02-29 03:19 pm
bossymarmalade) wrote in thejusticelounge2012-02-29 03:19 pm
Entry tags:
the wrong lantern
He’d been sitting in the damn cafeteria for what seemed like at least an hour, turning a banana over in his hands. Nobody bothered him, which was kind of great (they respected his privacy) and kind of lousy (what, they were all too busy to say hello?) and now he was at that point where he’d been sulking and ruminating so much he was starting to piss himself off.
“Mind if I sit here?” came a cheery voice, and Ollie looked up from his rapidly-bruising fruit to see Kyle Rayner already sitting down with a tray.
“Can’t you see I’m busy, kid?” Ollie muttered, snapping the stem of the banana. If this had been the old days, he could’ve thrown the thing at Kyle instead. Nowadays everybody was too cool to have weaknesses to things like the colour yellow.
“Doing what?” Kyle asked, not too earnestly. He eyed the banana that GA was squeezing. “Planning attack strategies on Gorilla Grodd? Because believe me - he does NOT like bananas.”
Ollie blinked for a minute, then sat up straighter in his chair. “Yeah, well, you know what? NOBODY should like bananas! At least, not THESE bananas, these goddamn mealy symbols of corporate fucking oppression! All those fuckers, Dole, Del Monte — yeah, even you, Chiquita —” Here, Ollie paused to shake the banana in his fist, red starting to bloom on his nose and spread outward, “— all of you, rife with labour abuse and exploitation out the wazoo! All so we can smother these stupid tasteless things in ice cream swimming with BHT and syrup that’s pure high-fructose and sedate ourselves with sugary goddamn opiates!”
He finally stopped, having half-risen from his seat, and slumped back down, scowling even harder.
Kyle’s chewing slowed considerably as he watched Green Arrow rant. He definitely needed some zen-lessons from his son. “So…you ARE using them to attack Grodd? I mean, I get where you’re coming from; I’m pretty sure he’s anti-GMO himself. Being kinda, you know. Being kinda GMO himself. Maybe? What does GMO even stand for? I can never figure out the ‘O’ part…”
“It stands for ‘organism’,” Ollie said, deflating visibly. He put aside the now hopelessly bruised banana and gave a deep sigh. “Sorry for going on a tear, there, kid. I’ve just got some stuff that I’ve been going over and over in my head … too much, because now I just have a headache and no solution.” He watched Kyle chew and nod for a bit before smiling lopsidedly.
“With Grodd’s crew it might stand for ‘orangutan’, though. The O.”
“Ah hah ha…oh!” Kyle sat up a bit and blushed. “Ohhhh wait you said ‘organism’.”
“Hah!” Ollie broke into a full-fledged grin despite himself. “That’s a bigger O than you could probably manage, Kyle. And a mighty peculiar one to come up during a discussion that involves Grodd.”
Kyle bristled slightly. “I do pretty well, thanks very much. Uh, well. Not when it comes to Grodd, though. No. Um…” Kyle swirled the mac ‘n cheese on his tray with his spoon. “So what’re you thinking about then, other than corporate evils?” He saw GA look hesitant and Kyle leaned forward. “Aw c’mon. I know I’m no Hal, but hey, look - I’m in the same suit! Kinda! You can just pretend you’re confiding in Green Lantern, right?”
“Not unless you gain about twenty pounds and a special kind of faraway look.” Ollie snickered, but the truth was, Kyle’s offer was just sincere enough to thaw him out some. He did give the kid a hard time for not being Hal, but now that Hal was back and alive and disgustingly hale and hearty, wouldn’t it behoove a reasonable man to cut Kyle some slack?
“It’s nothing, really, kid. Just … thinking about family, in all its wild configurations, and the sentiments surrounding it. Believe me, when middle age is encroaching for you, you’ll start having the same maudlin thoughts.” He shook his head. “Mac ‘n cheese any good today?”
Kyle sighs loudly and theatrically. “Family is never fun to think about. Except, when it’s about good family. I mean, take this mac ‘n cheese: it’s not bad, but mom definitely makes it better. I like thinking about family like that.”
“Yeah, well — I’ll bet poodles to poundcake that your family tree doesn’t resemble the mangrove of mine. Finding a branch to ruminate on that doesn’t bring with it a shitload of complications is a pretty daunting task.” Ollie picks up Kyle’s unused knife and slots up some pasta, halting a few inches from his mouth: “They didn’t use Velveeta in here, did they?”
“I dunno? It’s not bad…” Kyle reiterates, but now he doesn’t sound quite sure. “But I gotta agree with Conn - you really are incredibly poetic when you talk, ahah! Mangroves and poodles and poundcake? Sounds like the title of a song.”
Ollie munches glumly on the macaroni, helping himself to more. “Great. I got a stellar future in a folk trio if I ever get tired of this gig.” He swallows, then says, “Connor said I’m poetic?”
“Sure! Okay well he didn’t exactly SAY that, but he’s…uh. He’s said some very positive things about you?”
“Right. Something tells me I better put this topic of discussion to bed if I wanna retain any sense of settledness. Thanks for the macaroni, kid.”
Ollie gets up and wanders over to the food service area, abandoning the mushy and high-smelling banana on Kyle’s table.
Kyle eyes the banana….mush. “Yeah thanks Green Arrow. No problem Green Arrow. I don’t mind busking, Green Arrow. It just makes me feel like I’m seventeen and barista-ing again, no big deal, Green Arrow.”
“Mind if I sit here?” came a cheery voice, and Ollie looked up from his rapidly-bruising fruit to see Kyle Rayner already sitting down with a tray.
“Can’t you see I’m busy, kid?” Ollie muttered, snapping the stem of the banana. If this had been the old days, he could’ve thrown the thing at Kyle instead. Nowadays everybody was too cool to have weaknesses to things like the colour yellow.
“Doing what?” Kyle asked, not too earnestly. He eyed the banana that GA was squeezing. “Planning attack strategies on Gorilla Grodd? Because believe me - he does NOT like bananas.”
Ollie blinked for a minute, then sat up straighter in his chair. “Yeah, well, you know what? NOBODY should like bananas! At least, not THESE bananas, these goddamn mealy symbols of corporate fucking oppression! All those fuckers, Dole, Del Monte — yeah, even you, Chiquita —” Here, Ollie paused to shake the banana in his fist, red starting to bloom on his nose and spread outward, “— all of you, rife with labour abuse and exploitation out the wazoo! All so we can smother these stupid tasteless things in ice cream swimming with BHT and syrup that’s pure high-fructose and sedate ourselves with sugary goddamn opiates!”
He finally stopped, having half-risen from his seat, and slumped back down, scowling even harder.
Kyle’s chewing slowed considerably as he watched Green Arrow rant. He definitely needed some zen-lessons from his son. “So…you ARE using them to attack Grodd? I mean, I get where you’re coming from; I’m pretty sure he’s anti-GMO himself. Being kinda, you know. Being kinda GMO himself. Maybe? What does GMO even stand for? I can never figure out the ‘O’ part…”
“It stands for ‘organism’,” Ollie said, deflating visibly. He put aside the now hopelessly bruised banana and gave a deep sigh. “Sorry for going on a tear, there, kid. I’ve just got some stuff that I’ve been going over and over in my head … too much, because now I just have a headache and no solution.” He watched Kyle chew and nod for a bit before smiling lopsidedly.
“With Grodd’s crew it might stand for ‘orangutan’, though. The O.”
“Ah hah ha…oh!” Kyle sat up a bit and blushed. “Ohhhh wait you said ‘organism’.”
“Hah!” Ollie broke into a full-fledged grin despite himself. “That’s a bigger O than you could probably manage, Kyle. And a mighty peculiar one to come up during a discussion that involves Grodd.”
Kyle bristled slightly. “I do pretty well, thanks very much. Uh, well. Not when it comes to Grodd, though. No. Um…” Kyle swirled the mac ‘n cheese on his tray with his spoon. “So what’re you thinking about then, other than corporate evils?” He saw GA look hesitant and Kyle leaned forward. “Aw c’mon. I know I’m no Hal, but hey, look - I’m in the same suit! Kinda! You can just pretend you’re confiding in Green Lantern, right?”
“Not unless you gain about twenty pounds and a special kind of faraway look.” Ollie snickered, but the truth was, Kyle’s offer was just sincere enough to thaw him out some. He did give the kid a hard time for not being Hal, but now that Hal was back and alive and disgustingly hale and hearty, wouldn’t it behoove a reasonable man to cut Kyle some slack?
“It’s nothing, really, kid. Just … thinking about family, in all its wild configurations, and the sentiments surrounding it. Believe me, when middle age is encroaching for you, you’ll start having the same maudlin thoughts.” He shook his head. “Mac ‘n cheese any good today?”
Kyle sighs loudly and theatrically. “Family is never fun to think about. Except, when it’s about good family. I mean, take this mac ‘n cheese: it’s not bad, but mom definitely makes it better. I like thinking about family like that.”
“Yeah, well — I’ll bet poodles to poundcake that your family tree doesn’t resemble the mangrove of mine. Finding a branch to ruminate on that doesn’t bring with it a shitload of complications is a pretty daunting task.” Ollie picks up Kyle’s unused knife and slots up some pasta, halting a few inches from his mouth: “They didn’t use Velveeta in here, did they?”
“I dunno? It’s not bad…” Kyle reiterates, but now he doesn’t sound quite sure. “But I gotta agree with Conn - you really are incredibly poetic when you talk, ahah! Mangroves and poodles and poundcake? Sounds like the title of a song.”
Ollie munches glumly on the macaroni, helping himself to more. “Great. I got a stellar future in a folk trio if I ever get tired of this gig.” He swallows, then says, “Connor said I’m poetic?”
“Sure! Okay well he didn’t exactly SAY that, but he’s…uh. He’s said some very positive things about you?”
“Right. Something tells me I better put this topic of discussion to bed if I wanna retain any sense of settledness. Thanks for the macaroni, kid.”
Ollie gets up and wanders over to the food service area, abandoning the mushy and high-smelling banana on Kyle’s table.
Kyle eyes the banana….mush. “Yeah thanks Green Arrow. No problem Green Arrow. I don’t mind busking, Green Arrow. It just makes me feel like I’m seventeen and barista-ing again, no big deal, Green Arrow.”