[center][h1][color=lime]G R E E N L A N T E R N[/color][/h1][b]"MARY JANE'S LAST DANCE" || PART VII || POST THEME [ [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNzwskkcT8Y]The Last Leaf Falls[/url] ][/b][/center][hr][hr] All Green Lanterns had a set of quarters requisitioned for their use on Oa. They all came back here, eventually. Kai-ro stood in the doorway of his. Only the second time that he'd ever set foot inside of them. A stranger in his own home. When he had been a hopeful selected by his ring, he had stayed in the familiar surroundings of a communal barracks with the other hopefuls. Now, as a fully commissioned agent of the Corps, Kai-ro was housed apart. His apartment was close to Ch'p, though the H'lven was actually married with children. Originally, Ch'p's family had stayed on H'lven though, like so many others, they had become displaced with the war. At least they had Oa. Unlike many of the H'lven refugees now trying to find a place for themselves in a larger galaxy that seemed so aloof, so apathetic to the ongoing civil war in Sector 1014. Passing through the interior of the small, one bedroom studio, the young Tibetan opened up the windows to help alleviate the layer of dust that had settled through disuse. The place felt empty, even though it was furnished. Generic, functional accent pieces that gave it the character and charm of a futuristic Ikea showroom. Stepping into the bedroom, the boy was presented with a stuffed toy that lay on its side atop the bed. The creature was meant to represent a creature popular on H'lven, most closely resembling the [i]wyvern[/i] of Earth's mythology. It had been a gift to him from Ch'p's children, part of a housewarming they'd thrown him when he'd been inducted into the Green Lantern Corps and made partner to Ch'p. The perks of which apparently included becoming extended family to a group of space chipmunks. Picking up the stuffed wyvern, the Tibetan child hugged it to his chest as he spun around and fell back atop the bed. Something about the conversation with Salaak continued to eat at him, though he was hard-pressed to try and identify just [i]why[/i] the Slyggian's attitude had bothered him the way that it had. It shouldn't have. Kai-ro had dealt with all manner of ill-tempered or rude people before. Their attitudes and emotions had no control over how he reacted in kind. So why did Salaak's snide manner so easily set his blood on fire? Turning onto his side, the young Tibetan was confronted with the reality of his own loneliness. If Ch'p were here, he would be over at their familial residence. They'd probably have dinner together, like they usually did. It was why Kai-ro never came home, because this wasn't what he thought of as [i]home[/i] on Oa. He could go see Ch'p's family, except... The child's hands tightened as he gripped down on the stuffed animal. Sitting up, on the edge of the bed, the wyvern still held to his chest, the youth consciously tapped into the communication network through the ring. A green construct, resembling a H'lven Green Lantern appeared in the room a minute later. [center][img]http://baku-panda.org/images/OU_gldivider.png[/img][/center] "Wait, wait, wait... [b]Salaak said what?[/b]" The [i]Sentinel[/i] lingered in orbit of Scylla. Ch'p and Aya were hitting dead end after dead end. The authorities on the world below were sticklers for due process. Without a warrant, Ch'p wasn't getting [i]anything[/i]. And he meant anything. Even the public filings for the purchase of the building. The Scylla authorities had access to all that information, and more. They just didn't play nicely with outside agencies. [color=azure][i]Green Lantern Ch'p, I may have identified a media post of note.[/i][/color] Holding up one paw, the H'lven motioned for the green light hologram of the human boy to hold that thought. "Show me what you got, Aya." [color=lime][i]"I take it things are progressing more smoothly on your end?"[/i][/color] H'lven's expressed a great deal of non-verbal communication through their tails. The way in which Ch'p's flattened out gave him the answer to his question even before Ch'p spoke. "The local authorities here are tossing up one road block after another," the H'lven remarked, reaching forward as he started pulling up a few other files. "This is interesting though. Aya found the public posting of the real estate transaction from when the club was apparently purchased... and Nova Financial is listed as the lien holder." The holographic kid's eyes moved to the side for a moment, then looked back. [color=lime][i]"So... they took out a loan? What's unusual about that?"[/i][/color] "Back in the day, when Salaak and I were running around Sector 1418 doing counter drug ops, Nova Financial was a name that kept coming up," the H'lven recalled aloud. [color=lime][i]"Wait, you and... Salaak?"[/i][/color] The chipmunk gave an odd sound that might have been part-grunt, part-laugh. "Who'd you think was my partner when [i]I[/i] was a poozer?" [color=lime][i]"I dunno... I just thought you were, I dunno, like, born old or something."[/i][/color] [b]"Ha!"[/b] Comments like those made it hard not to think of Kai-ro like he did his own kids. "No, back in the day it was me, Salaak, Kilowog, Abin Sur..." [color=lime][i]"You knew Abin Sur?"[/i][/color] Kai-ro blurted aloud, interrupting him. Had Ch'p never mentioned it before? Well, actually, why would it have ever come up? So, no. He probably hadn't. [color=lime][i]"Wait, Salaak knew Abin Sur?"[/i][/color] The H'lven's tail sagged slightly. "We all knew Abin Sur," Ch'p recalled, his voice dropping to little more than a whisper. Perking back up, the diminutive Green Lantern seemed to square his shoulders again as he smiled and offered, "We all wanted to [b]be[/b] Abin Sur..." A different Corps. A different Ch'p. A [i]younger[/i] Ch'p. An absolute idiot who didn't appreciate how young he'd been. Until one morning he'd woken up, looked himself in the mirror, and realized that he wasn't young anymore. And wondered where the time had gone. And good friends. Some no longer with them. Others who were, but who had chosen to stand apart from whatever former friendships they might have once had. Clarissi Salaak was one such name that came to mind there. It was the main reason why Ch'p had sent Kai-ro in his place to talk with his former partner. He should have known better. No one wearing the ring of Abin Sur was going to get so much as the god damn [b]time of day[/b] from Salaak. Maybe that was an error on his part. Maybe he should have gone himself, except he hadn't spoken to Salaak in ten years. And wasn't really looking for a reason to change that now. No, Ch'p had learned how to navigate the Corps by going around Salaak. It was something he hadn't wanted to teach his new partner, and so he'd sent Kai-ro to do the [i]right thing[/i]. Not the thing that Ch'p would have done. So now they'd just do it Ch'p's way. And Salaak could suck a... "Ancient history. Before you were born," the H'lven offered dismissively, rousing himself from his own brooding. A change of subject was in order, before he started getting nostalgic. Nostalgia never ended with anything more than bitterness. At least in Ch'p's experience. "What are you doing for dinner tonight?" [color=lime][i]"I dunno... I'll probably just go over to Biscuit Baron's."[/i][/color] The fast food joint? The H'lven tail twitched in a faintly amused wag. Now he definitely sounded like Ch'p's own kids. "Nah, kid. Head over to the house," Ch'p remarked, something wistfully. When was the last time that he'd been by there himself? A homecooked meal. Helping the boy with that [i]new math[/i] that made absolutely no sense. Or arguing with the girl about why she wasn't going out of the house dressed like that. Good times. "Tell the old lady I love her and I'll be home soon." [color=lime][i]"You're staying out there?"[/i][/color] "This Nova Financial connection makes me curious," the H'lven noted, shutting down the monitor and turning his full attention to the hologram of the Tibetan child that he'd been paying only scant attention. "I'm going to sit on the place and see if anything comes up," the veteran Green Lantern said. As for Salaak's decree that they stop investigating this murder and go write some parking tickets... The H'lven's tail flicked dangerously behind him. Yeah, he definitely wasn't speaking to Salaak. It wasn't a situation that was going to end well. For anyone. [color=lime][i]"Oh... okay."[/i][/color] The dejected tone immediately brought to mind conversations over subspace with his son. Another half-grunt, half-laugh. "Hey, kid, when you talk to Kilowog, ask him about that little maneuver at Tyegin," Ch'p noted simply. The boy seemed to brighten up at the proffered bit. A distraction. A mission of his very own. [color=lime][i]"Oh, okay!"[/i][/color] It made for a good note to end the conversation on. "Night kid." [color=lime][i]"Goodnight, Ch'p."[/i][/color] The green light hologram of the Tibetan youth faded out of view. Through his ring, Ch'p felt the connection between the two slip away, until the H'lven was left alone in the center of the Interceptor. "Aya, pull up the files from..." the grizzled veteran began, pausing as tried to recall what the designation was that he'd filed the report under. "Two-eight-seven-nine-beta. The vice sting on Xabas. I want to look back through the case notes on Nova Financial." [color=azure][i]The files you are requesting are archived. The archival data requires a level five clearance to access.[/i][/color] The tail flicked again. "Level five? There's no such clearance level." [color=azure][i]Level five denotes information in the Book of Oa available only to the Guardians and the Clarissi of the Green Lantern Corps.[/i][/color] So Salaak had restricted all of the old case files? The H'lven's tail bristled, flattening out much as it had earlier. Drawing in a deep breath, Ch'p let go a heavy sigh. "Of course he has," the rodent uttered bitterly.