casually draws various sentients without their permission (open!)

[spacesharks]

Who| Kyle Rayner (spacesharks) & anyone!
What| Readjusting to the superhero life.
Where| The mess hall.
When| Lunchtime!
Warnings/Notes| N/A!

On a better day, he might have gone about this differently. Kyle wasn't entirely new to the concept of working with a team—he knew, at least in theory, that it'd be a good idea to meet everyone, to get to know the people he'd be spending the next who-knew-how-long with. And he wanted to. But it wasn't that long ago that he'd arrived, and maybe he still felt a bit— disoriented. It was like his body was here but his mind hadn't quite caught up yet, still lost somewhere in the past, somewhere in the middle of the war in the Vega system.

So he opted for a more indirect route in adjusting. Drawing was a good way to unwind, to give his mind a chance to catch up to where he was right now, so he took a seat in the mess hall and started sketching. People passing by, excitedly chatting with their friends, their expressions when they nearly drop their food— oops. Well, it wasn't like they'd ever know...

He was paying more attention to the sketchbook than his food, but that was okay. He was more here for the people, anyway. This felt so normal compared to what he'd left. And once he was able to accept the fact that everything he'd been through in the past couple months didn't mean anything right now, then he'd go about doing this the right way.

...eventually.

Comments

[uzuki]

Shion had been in sort of the same boat. Physically present, but mentally? She was in and out, at best. She did realize, however, that being a recluse wasn't going to benefit her much in this environment. Especially with no distracting work to be consumed by.

So, that meant reaching out the best way she knew how. Over a meal.

After grabbing something to eat, she surveyed the mess hall. Most of the people there seemed to be socially engaged already. Sure, she could absolutely squeeze into a conversation that was already happening. But, she noticed Kyle. He was alone, just like she was. He seemed to be occupied, but... Why would he come to such a busy place to work if he wasn't hoping to be approached? She stared over, mustering a friendly smile.

"Excuse me, would you mind if I took a seat here?" She asked, indicating the spot across from him.

[spacesharks]

"Oh," he looked up at her, and shook his head. "No, not at all, go right ahead."

He gestured for her to take a seat. His expression turned somewhat sheepish as he continued, though. "I, uh, know it probably doesn't look like it, but I actually wouldn't mind the company. I'm kind of new here."

Just in case she was worried about intruding or anything. He understood that 'artist staring down at his sketchbook' probably wasn't the most inviting image he could be conveying right now.

[uzuki]

"Thank you." She nodded, setting down the tray with her plate of delicious orange pixels vegetable curry before she seated herself.

"So I guessed right, you were looking for company!" She laughed, just a little. "I used to do the same thing back home when I first started my job." Well, sort of. More like she did all her work in public, hoping to see the guy she liked, but whatever.

"I'm Shion, by the way. I'm new here too."

[spacesharks]

"I'm Kyle," he said, reaching over to shake her hand with a smile. "It's nice to meet you."

A kindred spirit, too, no less! He kind of appreciated that, because it meant he didn't have to explain why he wanted company despite apparently being busy with something (or, well, semi-busy, because it was more a thing to help unwind than anything else). She already understood.

"Where I was before, I wasn't around people very much." Or when he was, the circumstances were kind of... stringent. It was hard to really enjoy the few times he did have chances to be 'social.' "So it's nice here. Feels a little more like home."

[uzuki]

"Hm, you're right. It feels that way for me too." She said, glancing around as if she'd just noticed. In truth, it just sort of looked like home. Though, she felt at home so rarely she wasn't sure she'd recognize the feeling if it really did happen again. It didn't seem so bad though, but she could only judge by what she'd read on the network so far.

"I was in the same situation back home." She stirred the food on her plate around thoughtfully. "I had coworkers around sometimes, but that was just time spent doing work, you know?"

[spacesharks]

"Yeah," he nodded. "It's not the same as having time to yourself, time to relax. Although I have it on good authority that it doesn't stay quiet around here for long."

He didn't mind that too much, though. Maybe it was a stretch to say he was 'comfortable' with being a superhero, but he was familiar with it, and it sure beat most other kinds of work.

(What if they had been kidnapped to the space future and forced to do paperwork for aliens instead of be superheroes? You never know, man.)