2014.01.01 - Green Meets Green

It is early morning and the sun is just starting to rise over the Atlantic, lending a ruddy-pinkish-orange glow to the sky. Quite the pretty sight as it makes things seem a little less dreary this cold winter AM. The only thing that clashes with the pretty sunrise hues is the green glow that further illuminates this part of the Village, that being from the shield that has surrounded a female figure, protecting her from the elements as she sits... hovers about two stories above the ground. If one looks carefully they'll discover she's got a travel mug between her hands which she's sipping from while she looks around, making sure all is well here.
Kyle frowns minutely on his morning sweep. A flight around town, a quick trip to the deli, and off to work. But a hovering green woman? And one that his ring is picking up with an oddly familiar resonance frequency.
"Hi. Can I help you?" the Green Lantern says, cruising up from a few hundred feet away and coming to a gliding halt, hovering in midair in his own protective green sheathe of energy. Clad in a black bodysuit and a green domino mask, there's little that can be discerned about him at a casual glance, save for the fact that his ring is holding a /lot/ of power.
"Oh!" Jade startles a little and she fumbles her mug which causes a bit of her drink - hot chocolate, for those who care to take notice of such details - to spill. Blinking, she takes in the floating figure before the ring catches her attention, her eyes narrowing at first only to then widen while she speaks.
"You're a Lantern!"
She moves herself, now, seeking to bridge whatever space might still be between them, her head angling to one side first and then the other, Kyle very obviously being checked out. "You don't look familiar," she eventually states. "Are you new?"
"More or less," Kyle says in a neutral tone, eying Jade carefully. "Been the sector guardian for a few months now." He keeps that energy bubble up as Jade moves closer- just enough that it can be easily sustained and take some effort to force through. "You're not a Lantern," he points out with a minute frown. "But... I'd swear up and down you are sitting on a Lantern somewhere. You some kind of special operative? The bosses send you here?" he inquires of the woman.
"Ah. That explains it, then. I haven't been called upon by the Corps for help in a long time, so we wouldn't have me..." Inspection over, Jade takes one last sip of her hot chocolate before constructing a little green mug holder, a handy little trick she picked up over the years she has had access to her powers. "I am not a Lantern, no," she explains then, once her hands are free from the drinking vessel, "but my powers are very similar to those you in the Corps have. I can show you, if you'd like." As she speaks her pleasant demeanor really starts to shine through, complete with the friendly tone of voice she just can not keep at bay while they chat.
"Well, you show me yours, I'll show you mine," Kyle says with a quirky, lopsided grin. He brings his shields down, still hovering, and spreads his hands slightly. It must look surreal to any passers-by; two people simply hovering three stories up over the street. "So what's the deal, though?" he asks again, pressing the question. "So if you're not a lantern, how are you pushing that kind of energy around? I thought you needed the secret red Ovaltine decoder ring," he says, gesturing vaguely with his right hand.
Jade's own shields lower when Kyle's do, the green glow slowly filtering away from top to bottom as if it was liquid flowing away from her body until it disappears entirely. "It is harder to explain than your own powers are," she starts to say while she shrugs, smiling a little sheepishly. "My powers come from the Starheart. It gives me a lot of the same powers as the Lanterns have... here. Let me show you." Her right hand lifts and she focuses for a few seconds, her mouth held pursed while she does so. Eventually a very large teddy bear comes into being but it doesn't just hover there. No, it begins to walk around, his arms and legs changing positions easily. She lets it remain for a good fifteen seconds, perhaps a bit longer, before it is made to disappear. "See?"
A very complex energy construct flickers across Kyle's face, something perceptible only to someone sensitive to the unique energies he can channel. It's clearly some kind of scanning program, and it vanishes after a few moments. He's quiet for a beat, as if communing internally, then nods decisively. "Right, got it," he says. "Sorry I didn't tag that right off. Lot of information to sort through," he says apologetically. "So what are you doing on Earth, anyway? This your stomping grounds, or are you here officially?"
There's a little peal of laughter before Jade shakes her head and she waves the very same hand she lifted when creating the subject of her demonstration. "It's alright. Nothing to apologize for." The cold once again starts to be felt so back up the shields go, once more protecting Jade, who really isn't dressed for being out in the early winter morning, from the chill. "I was born on Earth so I kind of consider it my territory... sector, as a Lantern would put it. What about you, Green Lantern?" Yes, she's asking Kyle for his story. Whether or not he'll divulge a stranger in that kind of information remains to be seen, however.
"Regular business," Kyle says with a tight grin. "Local recruit, that whole deal. I guess I'm supposed to be in charge of the whole sector, but it seems like it keeps hitting the fan here stateside. I should really make a road trip out to some of the other jurisdictions and see what's going on. I hate for them to think I'm shirking them for my home town."
Kyle eases back into an invisible chair, seated comfortably. "So what's your story? How'd you get hooked up into a living Lantern battery?" he inquires of the woman, curiously.
A soft 'ah' and another nod is given, Jade's response to Kyle's answer. "That's got to be difficult, being the sole protector of an entire planet..." She looks around before sitting back herself, making herself comfortable like he has himself. "See, I used to help the Guardians but it was always as part of a team. How do you manage all the stress and pressure and all that?" Not fun for a seasoned veteran, she bets, and she also bets it's even less so for a rookie.
The question about how she came to being what she is gets her to wrinkle her nose. This part of her personal history is not exactly a nice topic to discuss in casual conversation with a stranger, so she decides to gloss over the darker parts and answer as truthfully as she can at the same time. "I was hurt and the Starheart helped me, for the lack of a better way of putting it. It protected me." There is more to it, of course, some of which is best left unspoken until a time where the two of them get to know each other better, assuming they'll become friends.
"Fair enough," Kyle says politely, nodding at Jade. "Sorry to pry. Just doing my job," he says with a cheery grin. Rookie or not, he's basically a cop, and cops are professional askers of questions. "I'm not the /sole/ protector. I mean, y'know, there's Superman, those X-men, the Avengers... I'm just... hm. I'm the /legal/ protector," he explains. "The Guardians don't have a lot of laws, but they like to see them enforced, and I'm here to keep the peace and make sure that invaders or whatever don't go rampaging through the streets."
"It's cool. You're not prying. I just got some stuff that's a bit hard to digest in my past and sometimes it's best to save those details for later." Shrugging, Jade laughs, her cheeks turning a bit pink although it might be hard to tell, seeing as how her skin is green and her shields might help conceal it, too. "Of course. I didn't mean to imply you're the sole hero here. I worded it badly. I meant the sole Lantern. It's been a long time since I was in the Corps, myself, so I can't exactly remember how things are done."
"Yeah, I'm pretty much it," Kyle says with an expressive shrug. "It's a weird beat to fly, but someone's gotta do it. Met a few other Lanterns passing through or here temporarily, but I think I'm the only long-term one. So yeah, I meet other ring-wearers, folk like you," he says, making an 'and so on' gesture, then lounges indolently in his seat.
Jade looks at Kyle, curious. "Other folk like me? You mean other heroes in general or are there others who have had their lives influenced by the Starheart?" Surely she'd know if the Starheart has graced other people with powers, wouldn't she? It causes Jade to fall quiet, thinking about that. "No, I don't think so," she eventually whispers to herself, deciding that no, she'd most likely know, somehow. "I have met other heroes..." Another part of her past. "But none lately. Besides you, I mean."
"Well... y'know. There's a lot of folk who've got something like what the rings run on," Kyle explains. "Whether it's the Starheart or a Power Ring or... man, I dunno," he drawls in that lazy Californian accent. "But I've run into a few of 'em. Seems we've all got something in common, even if we're not quite sure what it is."
The accent. It isn't one Jade can place a finger on as far as its origins but even though Jade can't figure that out she does find it enjoyable to listen to, just the same. "You're right. How we get our powers differ but we all get them from somewhere." Jade reaches up and puts a finger to her lower lip which she then taps in thought. "I never thought of it that way before. Thank you for pointing that out to me, Lantern."
Kyle grins lazily again, slouching into the 'chair'. "Sorry, didn't mean to start lecturing or nothin'," he apologizes. "Just callin' it the way I see it. Long as everyone come here an' play nice, I don't care how they do. Ring or not, y'know?" he says. He stretches languidly, glancing over his shoulder at the city behind him. "I just like keepin' tabs on who's runnin' around in the Majors," he explains. "Y'know, Superman, Wonder Woman, some of the X-men... big hitters. They find a fight, I like to be right behind them."
"Always good to have someone to rely on in a fight. Even if you're a pretty big hitter yourself." Jade was taught the importance of team play during her own time as a Lantern and it's something she still holds as being one of the most important things for a hero to remember. Sadly, she is working alone for now, not having yet found new people to work with. "Hey, you know... if you ever need my help, the Guardians can get you in touch with me."
Kyle brings his ring up and frowns again, concentrating internally, and then nods once. "Nah, I got yer digits," he drawls with a smile, interlacing his fingers behind his head. "I'll ring you if I end up in a bind you can pitch in on. Here's mine," he says, making a twitching gesture. An energetic resonance tone flitters between him and Jade- the equivalent of a vibrational frequency that only their respective rings and powers could detect easily.
Ah yes. The tone. It's been a while since Jade last heard it but it's easily recognizable despite how long it has been. Smiling, she soaks it in for a moment before she laughs. "I look forward to being able to work with you, Lantern." She says that warmly. Sincerely. "In the mean time, try to stay safe out there, huh?"
"You too," Kyle offers, moving back to a vertical position. "Oh- I didn't get your name," he tells the woman, half turning back to her with a grin. "I'm the Lantern. Who're you?" he asks the girl.
The green woman is just about to turn around and fly off before Kyle asks her her name, giving her cause to pause before she leaves. "The name's Jade." It isn't her birth name, that instead being a codename that will suffice for now. "Kind of fits, doesn't it? Anyhow, see you later!"
Category:Log