Usually Hal enjoyed socializing with his friends and colleagues at JLA parties, but tonight he could only focus on the young man sitting across from him. Kyle seemed to be having fun trading barbs with Wally, but while Hal understood that Kyle missed seeing his friends while he was on Oa, Hal couldn’t help but feel a little jealous about Kyle’s attention being elsewhere. So he slid his foot further under the table to touch Kyle’s, just once to get his attention.
But there was no reaction. Kyle kept his eyes on Wally, laughing at something the other man said. Hal tried again, a few quick touches on Kyle’s shin. But still Kyle didn’t do anything, apparently too involved with snarking on the other guests at the party to pay any attention to Hal.
Hal huffed in frustration and tried one more time, this time running his foot up Kyle’s leg. Now it was a personal challenge to get the kid to remember he was there, even if he had to—
“Ahem!”
Hal looked up. Dinah was staring at him from her seat next to Kyle, eyebrows raised. “I really hope that’s just a malfunction in your targeting system, flyboy.”