8772/Not Her But Me

Not Her But Me
Date of Scene:	13 August 2019
Location:	Crew Habitat - Legion Cruiser
Synopsis:	Lar confides in Lyle regarding woman and family troubles...
Cast of Characters:	Mon-El, Invisible Kid

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Mon-El has posed:
    The sound of an airlock opening can be heard from the crew habitat a few minutes before Lar Gand enters and flops down on a sofa in the lounge area, looking rather frustrated. He sighs and stares up at the ceiling, a hand across his forehead.

Invisible Kid has posed:
    The flop occurs just as a door slides shut behind Lyle.  What, he's not in the lab?  Naw, he can't be *all* the time.  Just most of the time.
    He wanders over in the direction of the flop.  "Long day?" he asks.  He settles into a chair nearby.  There is, for some reason, a small and lean black cat draped around his shoulders.

Mon-El has posed:
    Lar sits up slightly and glances over at Lyle. "Not really. Just--" he shakes his head. "Nothing, never mind." No, he wasn't tired or anything (which, granted is somewhat of a rare thing), but there is definitely something bothering him.

Invisible Kid has posed:
    Lyle gives Lar a look... no, A Look.  "I might be willing to 'never mind' if you don't want to talk about it, but whatever it is, it's not 'nothing'."  He gives one of those smirks.  "And you know if you tell me to never mind, that just means I'll have to fight the urge to find out my own way, and that's not going to do either of us any favors."

Mon-El has posed:
    "..."

    Okay, he has a point. Lar groans. "Ugh, okay, okay."

    "It's Kara." Another long-suffering sigh. But then he sort of quickly corrects himself. "I mean--no, it's not Kara at all, she's fine. She's great. As always. It's -me."

Invisible Kid has posed:
    Well, he *did* ask.  "Grife, if you're willing to solicit relationship advice from *me*, it must be confusing," Lyle says.  "So what part isn't her but is you?  I mean, you're a great guy, she's a great girl, your powers are compatible..."

Mon-El has posed:
    "Hey, did I say I was asking you for relationship advice? -You- asked." Lar points out, chuckling a little. "Although at this point I might as well at least hear it out."

    As to the question. Another sigh. "It's just, I thought I was over her. I thought we could be friends without things being awkward. But..." he shakes his head, then realizes something as Lyle talkes about compatibility. Oh, right. He wasn't there. "No Lyle, I found out the hard way what can happen when your extremely prejudiced and powerful family doesn't approve of your love life. Hint--it's not anything good."

Invisible Kid has posed:
    "Oh boy, family too..." Lyle says.  "Another area I'm not a lot of good at.  I mean, you know the only attention I pay to my dad is just to make sure he's not nosing into anything I don't want him to know about.  I mean, my advice would be that your love life isn't their decision... but there's a whole political dimension to this too.  I'd still be half-inclined to advise calling their bluff... I don't know.  I mean, they can't disown you... can they?"

Mon-El has posed:
    "Ugh, it's so much more complicated than that." Lar sighs, staring at the ceiling again. "That's what I tried to tell them, trust me. It didn't go over well, as you can imagine. Ha, disown me. I -wish-." he shakes his head and sits up again. "Well, not really. I..." He sighs again. "There's a part of me that wants to forget all about them, but another part of me that realizes that would be selfish. They are my family...and my people."

    Hmph. "Politics. Yeah." he mutters.

Invisible Kid has posed:
    "Well, then," Lyle muses, speaking slowly and leaning back.  The cat abandons his shoulders for his lap and he rubs her cheek absently.  One almost doesn't need super-hearing to pick up the purr.  "I'd say that puts a lot of power in your hands.  If they won't, or better yet, *can't* really punish you, then I'd say to call their bluff.  Politically, you get to be an example to your people, defying the prejudices of your family.  Personally, you get to make your own choices about your own life."
    He sighs, and sits up.  "Or, I'm a natural born contrarian who likes causing trouble, especially for the people troubling my friends.  Let's go straight for the really hard question: setting *everything* else aside -- your family, your people, your politics, even the Legion: what do *you* want?"

Mon-El has posed:
    "I dunno, I just want to be able to be -friends- with Kara, without making everything intolerably awkward every time some other guy even acts -mildly- interested in her" Lar admits. "I want -her- to be happy, and I don't want her to have to worry about getting attacked by my overbearing parents. But apparently I just -can't-!"

    There's a crack, and he lookes down at the armrest he'd inadvertantly been gripping a bit too hard during that tirade. A handful of it has come off. Oops. He sighs, running a hand down his face. "Sorry."

Invisible Kid has posed:
    Lyle grins at the armrest.  "No apology necessary.  Now it's a challenge for either Brainy or me to come up with a Lar-proof chair."
    And then... back to serious again.  "So, *be* friends with her.  Maybe that's where you need to start.  Just be friends with her, and don't push anything one way or the other.  She's smart.  She has to see the pressure you're under from your family."
    He sighs, and leans back; meanwhile, despite the shattered armrest, the cat jumps over into Lar's lap and looks up, expecting attention.  "Half the problem is that you like to do things by the book and I'm a roving agent of chaos so I don't really know how to give advice that's suitable or even sensible to you."

Mon-El has posed:
    Lar opens his hand, revealing the chunk of wood and upholstery that had been wrenched free. He scoffs and tosses it aside. "Pff, if that's even possible."

    "That's what I've been trying to do, and it -was- going well, until last night. I don't know, I just feel bad, I guess. It was a perfectly relaxing and fun little hangout until I had to go and ruin it for everyone, just because I -can't- get over her." he sighs, standing up and letting the cat just kind of...fall off of his lap. Whoops.

    "Thanks for your input, though. I appreciate having someone to talk to about this stuff."

Invisible Kid has posed:
    The cat fails to hit the floor; in fact, she floats up to drape herself around Lyle's shoulders again.  Looks like someone installed flight ring technology in her collar.  "I don't know exactly what happened, but I have my doubts that you did any deliberate ruining, Lar.  If you want to talk any further... or if you think I can help in anay way, I'll be glad to.  I think you have more freedom of action in this area than you do... but I never saw a barrier that I didn't want to sneak around."
    He smiles lopsidedly.  "Also, none of this is to be taken as any indication of interest in being the Legion's morale officer."  Huge grin.