InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Did you just say...hizzle?"

After his extended period in space, Ray had been making the most of catching up in the lab and with the portal team. But now with the weather getting increasingly sunny, he felt compelled to take the time to enjoy some fresh air every day. He still felt most at peace when he was tinkering with his suit, but now with Cosmo in his life he was equally soothed while playing fetch or simply exploring the grounds with the pup. Stretched out on his back, the scientist lay on the grass, watching wispy white clouds drift by in an otherwise bright blue sky. The sun was high and warm and if he let himself, he could probably relax long enough to get the beginning of a tan.

Cosmo was similarly sprawled out next to him, enjoying a snooze after their play. Ray had messaged Constantine a little earlier, suddenly remembering the bottle he'd bought from Knowhere, and soon enough a shadow fell across his face as the Warlock arrived. “Hey, John.” Smiling up at him, he gestured for his friend to join them.

Despite the warm afternoon, John still wore his trademark trenchcoat as he wandered outside and stood over the man laying on the grass. He smiled back at the greeting, unashamedly running his eyes over Ray before returning his gaze to his face, satisfied that the other man had come back unscathed.

“Hello there, space boy. Have fun playing with the stars?” The question was rather blase but there was an underlying concern to it that was uniquely John. He wouldn’t outright ask Ray if he ran into any trouble while in space, but he would listen if Ray was willing to share.

Though he knew John was only checking him over to make sure he was in one piece, the way those dark eyes roved over him made a faint blush creep up his neck. The concern was touching, though he wouldn’t comment knowing the other man wasn’t big on the touchy-feely stuff, instead he gave another soft smile. “I did. Eight year old me would be so happy I went on that trip.”

He scrunched his nose the tiniest bit, “it wasn’t all fun though. Being small for long periods of time isn’t my favorite. Not after… everything.” He waved a hand, realising that John probably didn’t know that part of his history. “We also got caught sneaking somewhere we shouldn’t, but Loki talked us out of trouble, thankfully.”

John chuckled, imagining a smaller Ray Palmer giddy with excitement over being on a spaceship. “Surprised you’re not over it considering you’re normally on a ship back home.” He commented despite believing Ray to be an excitable puppy of sunshine and positivity.

As Ray continued, John only nodded. He didn’t know about any prior experience Ray had with being small for a long period of time. However, the magician could only imagine it couldn’t be comfortable. “I heard that a few of the crew were arrested.” John knew Ray wasn’t one of them thanks to his conversation with Kate Bishop. At least John didn’t think was one of them.

Deciding if the conversation was going to carry on, John sat down beside Ray, stretching one leg out and bending the other to rest his arm on. “Things weren’t exactly quiet around here either. I guess you heard about the visitors?”

“That’s different, the Waverider is a time ship, we don’t often go into space.” Ray shrugged, wondering when he’d gotten so blasé about time travel. At least on their ship he had his own cabin and full sized bed, just the shared bathroom made things difficult sometimes.

“Oh, yeah. Kate and Kyle got into trouble with Rocket, trying to liberate something.” The situation could have been a lot worse, but again it would have been better if they hadn’t been arrested. “I bet if Leonard was with us, they wouldn’t have been caught.” His smile was bittersweet as he mentioned his former teammate.

Rolling onto his side as John took a seat next to him, Ray propped his head up on an elbow, “I saw the posts on the network, Loki projected himself down here to be nosey but I didn’t get all of it. People went missing through the portal?”

“Hmm, true.” John hummed, idly wondering if Ray missed traveling with the Legends or looked to this different world as a new adventure.

A chuckle rumbled through his chest, amused by the trouble but also knowing that it could have ended up a lot worse. His amusement sobered however as Leonard was mentioned, a brief frown on John’s face as he tried to recall him. “Leonard… as in Leo?” John asked. It wasn’t correct but there was a connection there, he was sure.

John nodded at the inquiry. “Bunch of military folks knocked on the gates then the portal activated and took a few of them plus a few of ours through it.” He answered, not entirely sure he was telling the story right. But it was what he had been told. “Ours came back. The others haven’t… yet.”

It took him a minute to remember that John hadn’t actually met Leonard, neither had Nate or Amaya for that matter, just the Legion of Doom version. But Leo was a completely different person to Leonard. “Leonard as in Len. The Captain Cold of our earth. He was one of Flash’s ‘villains’. But he joined the Legends when I did, and he died saving the world.” He smiled sadly, “it should have been me, and I’m not just saying that. Rip saw my death in the timespring, Mick took my place, then Len took his.”

“Ah, that sounds ominous. So they’re probably keeping an eye on Tony, right?” It was troubling how little the government trusted the Avengers. But he supposed it was the same in Star City.

“On a lighter note, I brought you something back from my travels. Not a T-shirt because I know Carol had that covered.” Reaching into the bag at his side, he retrieved the bottle of Terran-friendly space liquor he had procured for his friend. “I wouldn’t drink it all at once if I were you, I ran an analysis on it and it’s 110% proof. You’ll definitely need a mixer.”

As Ray explained who Leonard was (or rather, which Leonard he was referring to) John nodded silently. He had heard of the notorious Captain Cold in passing but had never met the man. Noting the sad smile, John smiled back, understanding the hurt of a friend sacrificing themselves.

“That’s the general consensus.” John replied. It was the same in their world, the government didn’t trust the heroes that seemed to be doing their job for them. Yes, there were a few good people in the government but not enough to let Oliver and his merry band of leather clad followers do what needed to be done.

“A gift? Raymond, you shouldn’t have.” A chuckle rippled through John as the topic moved to lighter subjects. He took the bottle and admired it, turning it over to read the label and look over the contents. “Thank you, Squire. I appreciate it.”

“It’s too bad really, if they just respected what the vigilantes and heroes were doing it would make things a whole lot easier. Why can’t everyone just cooperate and fight the bad together?” It was a grumble that had played on his mind a lot over the years and he shook his head. “Sorry, mini-rant over.”

Smiling at the chuckle, Ray just shrugged when told he shouldn’t have. “You’re absolutely welcome, John.” He knew that John’s Birthday had slipped by without any comment, this was his sneaky way of giving his friend a gift to mark the occasion without actually marking it.

“So, how weird is it sharing a room with a lookalike of me?”

John let Ray offload his opinion on vigilantes and heroes, agreeing but also knowing why it was impossible for cooperation to happen. The law and justice were two very different creatures.

“No need to apologise. You’re just preaching to the wrong crowd. I agree with you.” John spoke in a calm, soothing tone. Hoping to quell the ire that had flared up in the younger man.

Inspection done, John set the bottle aside when Ray changed the topic with a question. “We’ve lived through weirder.” It was true, doppelgangers weren’t something new to them so it really wasn’t the weirdest of experiences.

“Looks is pretty much where the similarities end. Dylan is nowhere near as well versed in technology as you.” John continued. “He knows a fair bit about vampires and werewolves though. So the conversation isn’t by any means stale.” There was another pause before John asked. “Have you got a roommate yet?”

"I did, but I haven't had a replacement yet after Fancy leaving. Though I think having Cosmo living there now will probably stop me having another roommate." He gave a little smile, "I don't mind though, it means I can store ATOM in there full sized without him being in the way."

"Oh I bet you enjoy the alone time with your suit." John chuckled, a little tease in his voice. Of course, the implications that Ray was in a relationship with the ATOM suit was just a harmless jest. John knew ATOM was important to Ray.

"Joking aside. Enjoy having the place to yourself." There was a note of foreshadowing in his response. "I don't know how long it'll take before we can get back. Willing to bet the place will fill up again first and you'll have a bunk buddy sooner or later."