#timeline? what timeline. there's no timeline only fun in this huose <3

[scorchedhearth]

At first, he doesn’t notice, he’s just happy that Kyle is back. After nearly a month of missions back to back he was needed for, culminating in a two weeks long diplomacy escort in the far end of some sector, Guy is just happy to see his friend again. Even if his face looks worn, despite still wearing his suit, even if his voice sounds a bit too quiet, despite the smile he’s wearing.

He only greets him as loudly as he can when Kyle steps into the bar, and while the crowd of Lanterns presents there passes around ‘welcome home’s, Guy beacons him closer with a drink and a slap to his shoulder when he takes it. His hand flies off when Kyle flinches at the touch, but he quickly brushes it off, too busy grinning at him and throwing a load of questions his way, most of them to get some fun in his own very boring month on Oa.

It’s a while later, after Kyle’s exhausted the attention of the others present, and exhausted his own stories and Guy’s patience, that he notices it properly. Kyle’s slouching on his stool, both hands wrapped around his glass, the tips of the fingers of one hand overlapping with the other, rhythmically pressing into the nails. He’s staring at two Lanterns sharing a seat when the booth proved too small for their group of friends, and Guy really looks at him.

Kyle’s never been the most physical out of their bunch of earth heroes, but he’s not the coldest one either, and Guy reckons a month cut-off has to do a number on anyone. He knocks their elbows together when he reaches over for a pen, and sees Kyle’s finching again, then swaying and leaning toward him before righting himself again. With a plan in mind, Guy stops the pretend tasks and instead, with a couple simple constructs, he fills two glasses with the best they currently have on tap.

“Come on!” He claps his hands to draw Kyle’s attention on him. “Off we go, my feet are killin’ me, we deserve a break.”

“What about the bar?” Kyle asks as Guy walks around the bar and toward him.

“Everyone’s got their drinks they can wait if they want a refill. It’s time we got ours, don’t ya think?” He grins and yield with grace.

“I like the way you’re thinking. Rojiran beer?”

"Rojiran beer,” Guy confirms, slapping his hand on Kyle’s neck. He feels him tense under his palm, and then relax some when he flexes his fingers in a firm grip. “Come on, before we lose our spot.” He pulls Kyle along who follows him. He doesn’t take his hand off, only shifts it so that it rests on his shoulder and stirs him toward a small booth in the back that is empty.

“You’d make some rookies leave one for you, mister Honor Guard Lantern.”

“You bet I’d do.” Some would call it an abuse of power, but Guy can’t say he doesn't like the way others look up to him. Makes him feel good, feels like someone important, someone valued. There’s the added bonus of bright and new Lanterns who have heard of him and haven’t met him yet and would do anything he asks. That usually ends near the second day of interaction, but by then it doesn’t matter much, as they all get he’s the most stubborn in any given situation.

They reach the booth and Guy pushes Kyle to sit in, he puts the glasses he picked up with a construct down on the table and follows him in there, missing the busy atmosphere of the bar but glad to see Kyle relax some more when they’re sheltered from the noise sitting there.

“How’d you get Rojiran goods?” Kyle asks as he takes a sip, hiding his smile behind the rim of the glass. He got a liking for the food found in some mountain range on the planet, and he still visits from time to time to enjoy himself. Guy made sure to stock up again when he heard Kyle was coming back soon. “Last I heard they weren’t exporting outside the planet anymore.”

“Change of government, new rules.” He takes a sip of his own. “And I pulled some strings, we have a new Lantern from there, she brings me some if I give her a hand with convincing Salaak when she needs it.”

“Has it ever worked?” Kyle’s eyebrows are nearly touching his hair.

“She hasn’t figured out yet that nothing can change Salaak’s mind, so I’m taking advantage of that.” Kyle bellows out a laugh that has tables around looking over them, and Guy grins. “Yep, not the brightest of the bunch, but she’s a good one. She knows what she wants and is determined. Giver her a couple months and she’ll fit right in.”

“Yeah.” He calms down and looks at the dark red liquid in his glass, swirls it once or twice before speaking again. “Did I miss a lot?”

“Nah, only the boring stuff. ‘Wog didn’t even get mad once, nothing happened.” He answers easily, maybe lying a bit but Kyle’s looking miserable enough as it is. Guy stretches his arm over the back of the seat and brings it around Kyle, letting it rest heavily on his shoulders. Once again Kyle tenses for a second before settling down, and Guy only has to wait for a second before he sways and leans into his side, not sitting but slouching against him in his seat. He can’t feel much with their suits on, but he seems more relaxed already.

“Tell you what,” he continues as if nothing happened. “Now that the prodigal duo is back together, what d’you say we go cause some ruckus out there, yeah? Been a while since ol’ Guy and Kyle traveled, take the week off.”

“Sure,” Kyle smiles. “Just let me take a nap first, alright? Haven’t slept since I took off.”

“Deal. Some beauty sleeps and off we go. We’ll make a pit stop by Earth first. I wanna pick up something from Hal’s, then we’re good.” And he adds between sips of his drink, “We can stop by your Ma’s too, if you wanna.” Kyle hums, but when he looks over he seems happy enough, so he lets the conversation quietly drops, content to sit here and watch over his bar and the crowd livening it up.

“Hey, Guy?” Kyle pipes up a minute later, and Guy squeeze his arm around his neck. He leans further into him with a small sigh.

“Yeah?”

“Thank you.” He says quietly.

“What for?” Guy plays dumb and Kyle, gracious as he is, lets him.

“You’re a real friend, you know that.” Guy doesn’t add anything, and neither does Kyle. They just sit there, enjoying each other’s presence and the familiarity of the bar, the Lanterns around them and the green glow of Oa's sky.

#it's a shitty kind of day so i'm thinking about my favorite guys #guy & kyle #*myfic #timeline? what timeline. there's no timeline only fun in this huose <3 #dc #glc #guy gardner #kyle rayner