Hal drifted on his back through space, adoringly tracing the patterns of the stars with his eyes. He could get lost here, simultaneously in his head and in the cradle of the universe, in a place where Hal and the stars were one and the same.

He gave a sigh of contentment, raising a finger to trace patterns in the great connect-the-dots in the sky; alien configurations offering infinite opportunities.

Hal glanced to one particularly bright point of light, a wonderful planet named Cameon IV. Great place. Great parties. In high society circles, Green Lanterns were hailed as heroes. In the lower levels, no one cared, and you could get yourself lost in the constant adrenaline rush of danger and adventure.

Hal gave an unhappy glance toward his arm, still stinging and half-numb since his last fight with an angry and very illegal intergalactic bounty hunter. Probably for the best that he stay on course. There was a lot of sector to patrol, after all, and Hal almost never ventured far beyond Earth for long periods of time these days. The Guardians didn't seem to care, as long as he was always on call, and as long as he did routinely check the far flings of his sector, ordinarily peaceful as they may be.

Hal straightened out, and sent himself rocketing forward, spinning languidly as his ring kept him on course.

Space was big. Space was simultaneously full of beautiful wonders and vastly devoid of sentient life. On these long trips, when he traveled all the way to the end of his sector, Hal had gone for weeks without talking to another sentient being, let alone a human. That didn't sound like such a big deal, maybe, not talking to a human - there were a lot of aliens out there, after all, but humans were social animals. The more alien the conversation partner, the less… fulfilling it was, in a way.

Also, Hal had started talking to asteroids once, and a rookie lantern caught him doing it, and that had been very embarrassing.

Despite this, there was a certain… lure to it. The everpresent desire to submerge yourself in the changing tides of space, to loose all moorings from any one planet and drift from galaxy to galaxy, doing what you wanted in a whirling kaleidoscope of adventure.

It was the same nagging desire that enticed him to just… stop by Cameron IV on the way home. Just for a bit. To see the sights. And if there were always more sights to see… well, that was just space for you.

Uncomfortable… or at least uncomfortable with how comfortable this line of thought made him, Hal brang up his ring hand, and rolled onto his back, letting the ring display its holographic recording on his command.

"Play recording: Old Man."

An emerald screen shimmered before him, displaying Barry's last birthday party, where everyone sat with party hats strapped onto their heads (Hal's contribution), and Barry hid his face in his hands laughing as Hal relentlessly accused him of 'getting old'.

'Face it, you're halfway into the ground already, old man! I wouldn't be surprised if I come back from space and find you already in the grave!"

This was followed by Hal and Wally's best impersonations of a geriatric Barry, while Barry hid his mouth with his hand and Iris laughed openly.

Hal smiled, and mouthed along with his past self.

"I say, young man, have you any bow ties handy? I can't seem to find anything to match this cardigan in today's stores-"

Hal giggled at his own sense of humor, and felt lighter already. Cameron IV nothing. He had friends to see back home.

He'd just have to be sure to hurry as much as he could. He didn't think their signal devices would reach all the way to the end of the sector.