InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Screaming queens. "

Kyle Rayner (thetorchbearer) wrote in utr_logs,
@ 2008-05-27 17:00:00

Entry tags:

kyle rayner, solvei samuels

Who: Kyle Rayner and Solvei Samuels
What: Hanging Out/Checking On Her
Where: Her Loft/Bakery
Warnings: Nah, Probably Not

Despite the change in realities, which oddly enough wasn't that strange of an occurrence, the skies of New York had remained as he remembered. The layout to the city was etched in his mind, patrolling the air had become second nature to Kyle, after all, it had served as much of a home to him as anywhere else ever had. Still, there was that lingering feeling of it all being a dream, that none of this could be real. Even as he soared over the homes of hundreds, he couldn't shake it, and had to settle with doing his best to push it towards the back of his mind.

It wasn't as if his life had ever lacked a purpose, not since that fateful night that he had been entrusted with a ring, but he had a specific task at the moment. One that didn't require the presence of a Green Lantern, or the powers of Ion. No, all that was needed was Kyle Rayner, and as selfish as that might sound, it was something he needed. Everything lately had been one giant blur, to put it mildly, ever since the battle with Nero had gone down. It was a puzzle, he knew something big was happening around him, but he wasn't able to see all the pieces just yet.

Maybe that was why he was so concerned with a woman that he barely knew. It made everything else disappear, at least for a little while, but that wasn't the reason. Something about her, some nameless quality, it kinda drew you in. Made you want to care, even when you'd barely spoken, and he hadn't tried to fight it. Her problems had been vaguely described to him, and though Solvei may not know it, he understood her better than most people would. All the women in his life, they met the same fate, cursed by whatever power had been granted to him. Taken away without a reason. He tried to keep his chin up, but he'd been questioning things lately, just like he knew she was right now.

The bakery hadn't been hard to find, he was familiar with that part of town, so getting to the address was a breeze. Kyle landed on the ground a flew blocks from his destination, the increasingly familiar costume of Ion disappearing from his body. He coulda just flown to the balcony, but he didn't want his other persona making an appearance tonight, it wasn't what she needed. The rest of the trip was taken at a jog, until he found himself coming up on the bakery, and immediately went around back. She'd said that she would be at the balcony, so he planned on meeting her there.

Once he was to the back of the building, he looked up towards the balcony, smiling a little. That was his plan. To try and get her to smile. "Kinda feel like I should quote some Shakespeare from down here." He was, of course, referencing Romeo and Juliet, but that'd have to do for now.

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solvei
2008-05-27 11:37 pm UTC (link)

Solvei had felt a little better after she had talked to Faith. Even though Faith didn't offer the information up to her she knew that she wasn't the same Faith from her world. Over the last year and a half, in Sol's world, they'd become really close. Still, hearing (not really, more like reading) her voice and that was a familiar enough thing for her for now.

Don't get it wrong. Sol really wanted to crawl into a hole and bury herself there until she was safe and back at home in Dean's arms where she belonged. But, starting at a very early age, even before she was a slayer she had never done that. She was a fighter down to the very core of her being and she always would be.

Just like she said Sol went for a run in Central Park. That was her guise anyway. She had the iPod that she had found in the desk drawer of the person that she had replaced on. Currently, there was no music on it. If the bad guys thought that one of her senses were hindered they might be more apt to attack her first. She actually liked that best. Because, her prey, unless they knew her, never expected it. Maybe it was the fact that she was blond and tiny, or it might be the innocent look of her face. Either way, she was always ready.

There was a mugger that she took care of quickly that was going after a woman on her way home from work. That amused her, back home she hadn't run across one of those in years. Then she had found a trio of vampires hiding in the bushes waiting for chicks to come home from the bars. At least, that's what she assumed anyway. She took care of them quickly.

When she got back to her building she had about twenty minutes before Kyle was going to show. She showered quickly and just threw on jeans and a t-shirt. It wasn't that cold so she went barefoot. She loved her balcony. Even though her building wasn't that high up it was high enough that she could see out a ways. There was one of those cast iron outside heater type thingys that weighted a ton and she decided she didn't like the looks of it. As she was moving it idly with one arm down to the end of the balcony she thought she heard a mans voice.

Hopefully he hadn't heard the scraping noise or figure out that she had moved that herself. She doubted it. It wasn't likely. "Hey, come on up." She said stepping forward to look down as she called down to him.

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thetorchbearer
2008-05-28 12:04 am UTC (link)

The scraping noise that was coming from the balcony had only faintly registered in his mind, maybe if so many thoughts weren't bouncing around, more notice would have been taken of the heater. Instead, he simply smiled up at Solvei when she leaned over to glance in his direction, relieved to see that nothing bad had seemingly happened during her walk. Didn't matter what universe they were in, it just had a way of kicking people when they were down, which was why he had been worried in the first place. Normally he would have just flown up to the balcony and met her there. Not so much an option, at least not at the moment.

Still, there was more than one way to get up, a couple of obvious ones, in point of fact. "Be there in just a second." He'd always been athletically inclined, no surprise there, had to keep in shape for when he couldn't use the ring. So he did what was natural and climbed up to the balcony, though there had probably been an easier path. Pulling himself over the rail, lips were still curved in a very slight smile, just as they usually were. she was dressed casual, he was glad about that, maybe she'd be able to relax.

"Hope I didn't keep you waiting. Came over when everything settled down." There hadn't been too much activity to monitor when he was watching over the city from the sky, your normal muggings, drunk boyfriend being a little too aggressive. Easy to take care of, all things considered, so he hadn't been delayed too much. "Nice out here tonight. Not too much of a breeze." She had the perfect view of the night sky from her balcony.

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solvei
2008-05-28 12:20 am UTC (link)

When she saw him climbing up she silently cursed to herself for forgetting to put down the ladder. The thought hadn't even occurred to her. She winced a little and took a step towards him. "Sorry, about the ladder. I forgot." He was taller than she pictured and... hot. That's not what she figured either. She wasn't sure why.

"No, I just got back a little bit ago." She smiled at him a little but it didn't quite reach her eyes. It sounded like she had taken him from something important.

"Yeah, it's not bad. I hear that it's pretty warm for New York City this time of year."

Sol had a tendency to blurt things out, especially when she was stressed or upset about something. "I'm not going to sleep with you." At the look on his face she backtracked, "Not because you're not hot or anything. Not because I don't like you. I'm just not that kind of girl. I just didn't want you to get the idea that that's why I asked you over here." Fuck, had she really just blurted it out like that? Bluntness was either her charm or her curse. In this case, it was definitely her curse.

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thetorchbearer
2008-05-28 12:43 am UTC (link)

Climbing up to the balcony really hadn't been that difficult, her building wasn't too tall, and there'd been plenty of grip on the wall. Flying was the preferred method, but not the best way to introduce yourself, especially when you had no idea how the other person would react. It was that, and the fact that he didn't want to compromise his identity, not when he didn't have a good understanding of the world he was in. Back home, New York had hailed the Green Lantern as a hero, didn't mean it was going to remain that way. "S'alright, don't need to apologize, got up here fine."

There was something that almost immediately stood out about her, simple observation gave you that, but he hadn't quite been inspecting it. She was tiny. He'd guess just barely over five foot. And she was stunning, but he wasn't trying to pay too much attention to that fact, honestly wasn't a consideration right then. "Would have been here a few minutes sooner but traffic in New York is hard to beat, no matter what time it is." Kyle didn't like lying to her, not remotely, and he didn't plan to make a habit of it.

"Not too hot or too cold. Kinda rare for this place." NYC had served as his home for a long time. But..the city life just had been too much for him at some point. That was why he'd gone to the artist retreat. They say you can't go home, but it sure was nice to know he could visit.

He'd been about to say something else when she caught him completely off guard with her comment. It must have shown on his face, not anger or being offended, just a little shock, because she'd immediately started to explain herself. "As crazy as it sounds, which anything might at this point, I promise I didn't come here to try and take advantage of you." It was pretty easy to understand why she'd think that, especially when she was upset about other things, and that was why it hadn't offended him. "Just here to talk, get a tour of your bakery, that's all.' And try to make her feel better, but he wasn't sure of his gameplan for that.

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solvei
2008-05-28 01:16 am UTC (link)

She had noticed that he hadn't had any trouble getting up the wall to her balcony at least. Just she was a little embarrassed that she was wrapped so much in her own troubles that she didn't think of a silly thing like putting the ladder down to the balcony.

"I'm definitely not looking forward to the time when I have to drive anywhere here. Think I'll stick to walking or the subway for a while." She really had a horrible sense of direction. Add that to the traffic and it freaked her out almost more than going up against a herd of zombies. She really didn't like zombies.

She started blushing when he said what he said. Now she felt like he was going to think she was conceited and totally full of herself for thinking that she was so irresistible that he would just have to ravage her. But she did feel relieved as well at what he had to say. She never trusted people right off the bat. But, with Kyle, he was getting close. Which was weird. She decided that it'd be best if she just ignored the whole thing and said, "I do have a bakery I can show you but first you can see my apartment."

She opened up the slider to reveal wood floors and the walls were brick. It was an older building and that's something that she liked about it. It had character. "Do you want me to make you some coffee downstairs?" She didn't have a coffee maker upstairs so they'd have to go downstairs if he wanted that. She walked into her kitchen and opened up the fridge. "Or, something else. I have wine, water, milk, juice. If you drink there's a liquor cabinet that's full. There's even some stuff that I haven't heard of. Kinda like the bakery menu."

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thetorchbearer
2008-05-28 01:49 am UTC (link)

Hopefully, in time, if she decided she could stand him after tonight, there wouldn't be a need for the ladder. Lying to someone like her, or really anyone, wasn't something that he remotely enjoyed, even when it was to keep his identity secret. Too many times already he'd lost someone because of his name being known. It wasn't something that he took lightly. That didn't mean Solvei wouldn't end up knowing, it wasn't that he was opposed to that, just not a fact about yourself you let slip during the first meeting.

"Subway's not so bad, once you get use to the people on it, you're pretty much good to go." Kyle owned a bike, couldn't fly everywhere, especially when sometimes he just liked being normal. "Besides, advantage of living where you work? Not like you're going to be late." He kinda knew all about that, one of the bedrooms at his old place had served as a studio.

It would have been hard not to notice the crimson flush in her cheeks, but he only smiled, not wanting to make a big deal out of it. He understood why she coulda thought that, she was upset, and there were people out there who'd see that as an opportunity. Not to mention the fact that she was beautiful. "Can't wait for the grand tour. Building looks nice from the outside. Kinda old, not decrepit at all, I like it."

Once they had moved into her apartment, he looked around, trying to take everything in. The floors were wood, looked polish, a nice touch. The brick walls gave it a classic kind of look, one that he could appreciate. "I'll wait on the cup of coffee. At least for the minute." Her apartment really was nice, he knew she probably didn't have all the personal touches to it that she wanted, but it looked comfortable.

"Water, however, sounds surprisingly appealing." With the fridge already opened, he grabbed one of the bottles, tilting his head to look at her. Once he went back home, he was going to work on a house warming gift for her, he had just the right thing in mind. "Kinda weird, huh? You're suppose to have lived here for who knows how long...but everything is still new."

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solvei
2008-05-28 02:13 am UTC (link)

After getting the whole sex talk thing off her chest and he hadn't pushed her into talking about it more she felt relieved. It was almost like now she could try and relax a little. "I like the whole working and living in the same building idea but I know that it won't take me too long before I might feel cooped up. I'm definitely going to have to find something to do outside this building, you know?" Something besides slaying.

"I would say thanks, you know, for liking my building but it's not really like I picked it out." She said with a little smile. But she did like the building it wasn't home yet but she hoped eventually she'd get enough of things that were more her.

"Yeah, it is weird. Really weird." She was trying hard to look at all of the little things and not focus on the big things at the moment. Somehow the little things that she liked about her place, or the things that they were talking about were a lot less painful to talk about and almost seemed normal.

After he'd taken a water she closed the refrig and moved into the living room to show him it. There was a huge flat screen tv and all sorts of electronic type stuff that she really didn't know that much about. What she did like? Was the fire place, it'd be nice to curl up with a book on the couch on a winter day with a fire going. "I'm not really that much of a tv girl but I like the fireplace."

Then they moved into a study area that was kinda masculine for her tastes but she liked the built in book shelves that went floor to ceiling. The computer looked brand new. "I haven't really had the chance to look at what books are in here yet. It's on my list."

Then she showed him her bedroom quickly, it wasn't that spectacular to her either. It was just a big bed and there was a walk-in closet. The bathroom however was her favorite. "Is this all too chickish to be showing you all the rooms?" She hoped it wasn't for him. "This is my second favorite room in the house." She was obsessed with bubble baths and the bathroom had what would be a two person old style claw foot tub. She had only showered so far but she was looking forward to the tub, especially after a hard night of slaying. "I love taking baths."

They walked out and she asked, "Ready to see the business part of my place?"

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thetorchbearer
2008-05-28 02:31 am UTC (link)

"S'why I left NYC the first time. The cooped up thing. Lived in the city most of my life, but it takes a lot out of you, couldn't find my muse anymore." Kyle missed the retreat already, it'd been pretty peaceful, except for his job still found him, even out there. Part of him was already itching to get to work on something, a painting for her, something that'd compliment the room, or just let her at least be a little happy when she looked at it. There was definitely a thought in mind, but he'd save it or later, on one of those nights were he couldn't sleep.

"I kinda felt the same way about my loft. It's not really mine, even though my name's on the lease. Doesn't have that touch of home yet." Everything inside of it had been nice, sure, and some of it did fit his taste. But it wasn't like they were things that he'd picked out. It didn't have all of his personal belongings that reminded him of the people he cared about. That was going to take some getting use to.

When they moved into the living room, a grin spread across his lips when he glanced at the TV, it was a huge screen, not to mention it had surround sound and a DVD player hooked up to it. Definitely something he himself could have enjoyed at home. Of course right after that the fireplace caught his attention. It made the room appear that much more cozy. He understood why it was her favorite. "Kind of a TV geek, mainly at night, helps me sleep sometimes."

The tour was something that Kyle appreciated, mainly the fact that she was comfortable enough to show him everything, he just wanted to keep her mind off of her problems. Try and make Solvei's night a little better. "Looks like you have plenty of them. My place has sketchbooks scattered everywhere."

Kyle peaked his head into her bedroom, giving a slight not. The bed was huge, which almost made him laugh, considering how small she was in comparison. From there they quickly moved on to the bathroom, which he'd admit, was pretty extravagant. "Too chickish? Pssh. I consider myself privileged to get a personal tour." The bathtub was something else, it had that classic look to it, but comfortable as well. "I think you definitely have the right kinda tub then."

"I am pretty curious about the bakery. So of course I'm ready."

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solvei
2008-05-28 03:27 am UTC (link)

Sol wondered if he would be able to find his muse again living in the same place where he had lost it before. She hoped that he would. When she gave up ballet for slaying she just assumed that she'd closed the door on that part of her life. Now, she wondered if she could do it again. Since she would be staying in one spot and not having to travel the globe with Xander it might be a possibility. Or living in hotel rooms and traveling across country with Dean and Sam.

"TV helps you sleep?" She asked wondering how it could. Maybe the background noise. It seemed like the more they talked the more things they realized that they had in common.

She smiled a little at the mention that he was glad that he was getting a tour. Even though she had glanced at everything she hadn't bothered to really look. She hadn't even thought to think of what she wanted to do to make it more her. In truth, she hadn't wanted to.

Then she showed him to the stairs that were on the front of the building and took him down. The sheer size of this building even though to most it wasn't huge, was huge to her. She didn't remember the first house she lived in with her parents until she was three. The flashes in her memory of it, it was small and cozy. Then after her mother died the apartment that she had shared with her Dad. Then the small house that she lived with her uncle. They had all been small. After that there was various hotel rooms, council houses, and then of course there were even a few huts thrown in. She'd never had a home besides her parents house that was truly hers. It was totally a foreign concept to her.

As they were walking down the stairs she said, "It's not like any of the bakeries I went to growing up." There was just the one in the little town of Indiana where she lived until she was sixteen.

Once they were down the stairs she turned the lights on. The ceilings were high and the walls were the same brick as the upstairs. The floor in the what she thought was the lounging area were cobblestone. It was almost like at one time whatever this building was way back when they had continued the street into the sitting area. It was kinda weird because the tables and chairs only fit just so but she thought it was a cool look.

The display cases of course were empty for the night until the morning crew got in. She waved a hand at him for him to follow her into the back. Behind the counter were regular tile floors that were easier on the feet and she assumed they took the cobblestone out and put tile in for sanitary reasons.

The kitchen was large and there were industrial sized mixers for dough and big ovens. "This is where the magic happens." She pulled a box from a hiding place in one of the cabinets and handed it to him. "They were just made after I talked to you earlier so they still should be good." Inside were two of the brown sugar donuts he asked her about earlier.

"So, what do you think?"

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thetorchbearer
2008-05-28 03:43 am UTC (link)

"Sounds weird, I know, but sometimes it takes me a long time to wind down after work. So I turn on one of those dumb infomercials, the kind you see at 2 AM, puts me right to sleep." Kyle scratched the back of his head, giving a slight shrug of his shoulders. "Or I watch those old black and white movies on TMC."

He moved down the stairs with her, fairly eager to see what the bakery was going to be like, and even he was surprised at how large the building was. While it hadn't looked small from the outside, it hadn't looked overly big either, but your perspective kinda changed once you were inside. The ceilings were fairly high, which he was sure added to the whole thing, and it had that classic look like some of the things in her apartment did. Not necessarily old or out of style. Kind of the opposite.

The cobblestone was definitely a nice touch, it made his lips curl into more of a smile, eyes looking around at everything with a certain amount of curiosity, trying to imagine what it'd be like to live there. Something that she was just finding out herself.

It wasn't any surprise that the display cases were empty, he was sure they'd be full of all kind of pastries during the early hours of the morning, that was the way that it usually worked. He followed her behind the counter and let out a low whistle. "The equipment is definitely top notch. Couldn't imagine anything from here not being amazing.

Kyle hadn't ever really been behind the counters of a place like this before, so seeing the large mixers and huge ovens was a little different. It had been while he was inspecting one of the ovens that he saw her pull a box out, which immediately caught his attention. He took the white box from her and flipped it up, lips splitting into a wide grin when he saw the brown sugar donuts inside. "Did I mention that you're my hero? 'Cause this? Awesome."

"I think that you're going to kick the competition's ass. This place must smell like heaven when it's open."

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solvei
2008-05-28 04:04 am UTC (link)

It seemed a little peculiar to her that it would take so much out of him to paint. Maybe it was just a really emotionally draining thing for him. She was hoping that she could ask him about it at another time. It didn't really seem like the first meeting type of question. Yes, at times, she could be tactful. "Oh, black and white movies? What's your favorite?" Now that's something that she could probably get into.

She smiled at his reaction to the donuts. They were just donuts but it really was the least she could do with all the stuff that he'd done for her today.

"It smelled pretty good today, we'll have to wait and see. Now? Do you want to see the best part?" She hadn't turned on the lights in that part of the bakery yet because it was her favorite and what she was the most excited about. The coffee bar.

She walked quickly to the light switch and turned it on and it lit up the whole thing. There was several machines for espresso making and other assorted auto drip machines. The wall directly behind where the baristas stood had all of the different coffee in bean form ready to be measured out and made into coffee. "How's that for coffee making at it's finest?" She grinned at him.

Solvei felt at a loss as to what to do now that the grand tour was over. She felt as though she really wanted to ask him if he was the one that found Faith for her. It was either him or Henry. Since Henry knew a little bit more about her background since he offered up personal information about himself first she assumed that it was him. But Faith had said that both of them had been worried about her.

"What do you want to do now? We can talk on the balcony or go for a walk or something? Or if you need to go, that's cool too." She didn't want him to go but she would understand if he needed to.

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thetorchbearer
2008-05-28 04:16 am UTC (link)

Kyle realized that he'd almost let slip the fact that being an artist was really a side gig for him. It was what he loved to do, but it wasn't at the top of his priority list, being a Lantern had taken first for awhile now. Not that he was exactly a GL anymore. He was still one of the guys, but he was something more, the next step, progression, whatever you wanted to call it. He'd been hoping and praying that Hal was going to pop up, but no luck yet, which had left him at kind of a loss. "This is gonna sound even more geeky, but I love the old horror movies, especially Wolfman."

Of course he couldn't help but smile when he was holding the box in his hand. He use to always get a cup of coffee and two donuts when he went to Radu's. It was a strange little reminder of home, even if it wasn't the same cafe that he usually hit up. He grabbed one of the brown sugar donuts and took a bite from it, more than pleased with the taste.

"Tryin' to tell me it gets better? Sh'yeah, now I'm really curious." Moving behind Solvei, he watched as she flipped the switch on, and another area of the bakery lit up. The one where all the coffee was made. There were all kinds of different machines, ones for making espresso, normal coffee, cappuccino, everything you could imagine. It wouldn't have surprised him at all if his mouth had dropped open a little. "I think it's official. Definitely made a regular out of me."

Having finished off one of the donuts, he momentarily set the box down, looking down at her. "I...would you wanna take a walk? I was gonna ask, but wasn't sure if you'd feel like it." The balcony sounded really appealing to, he figured they could sit up there when they got back, unless she wanted him to leave. He didn't wanna overstay his welcome.

"Just haven't gotten my bearings since showing up here, figured exploring the city on foot could help a little." Mainly, he wanted to spend time with her, make sure she didn't have to concentrate on her problems, not right now.

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solvei
2008-05-28 04:31 am UTC (link)

The expression on his face that he admitted his geekitude made her laugh a little. "That's not really that geeky. I like old kung-fu movies, especially if they are dubbed." It was mainly so she could make fun of them and run her own commentary in her head about what they should or shouldn't be doing. It was a trait that usually drove anyone that she was watching them with absolutely nuts.

When he told her that he had made a regular of him she tilted her head to the side and gave him a quizzical look. "I'm sure you say that to all the girls you know with their own coffee bar." She smirked then to let him know that she could still have a bit of a sense of humor at the moment.

"Yeah, I'd really like a walk actually. Just let me grab my keys, oh and shoes would probably be a good thing. I'll be right back." She ran up the stairs quickly and slipped her feet into some shoes. She grabbed her jacket the one with the pockets on the inside and she slipped a stake inside the pocket just in case. She sometimes had suspicious tendencies. She thought that if she didn't take it then she'd need it. But if she did, then she wouldn't. She got her keys off the coffee table and came down the stairs.

She turned off the shop lights and said, "Ready."