14929/Got a Crush on You

Got a Crush on You
Date of Scene:	16 May 2023
Location:	Main Room - Titan's Tower
Synopsis:	Gar finally gets a chance to learn a little about Xiomara, and vice-versa.
Cast of Characters:	Gar Logan, Xiomara Rojas

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Gar Logan has posed:
One of those gaming sessions Garfield Logan often does in the main room is coming to an end, with a good number of people tuning in for the stream. "...and remember to donate to animal charities and no-kill shelters!" he says before signing off. He was playing one of the new Zelda games, good for drawing a crowd, and his status as one of the Titans was even better for the view counts.

A few people came and went in the background, one or two of which he was able to coax over for a closer look by the crowd, at which point one of them asked if he was live and bopped him in the head with a cushion upon being told yes.

"Ahh, I could do for some food. Some /more/ food," he says, drumming his fingers over his stomach, which conveniently rumbles. There are empty bags of snacks and bottles of soda on the table nearby already. Dressed casually, today he's in a custom t-shirt featuring Cats characters Mistoffelees and Rum Tum Tugger, at least in costume, though styled and colored as Beast Boy and Vorpal with a speech bubble above Gar/Misto stating 'He is a terrible bore.' Oh, and shorts to go with the shirt. He's barefoot.

Xiomara Rojas has posed:
There was a full routine Crush followed when she came to Titan's Tower. The first was to bring food of some kind, usually some kind of fast food in vast quantities. Tonight it was fancy Ramon noodles with all the fixings separate so the noodles don't get soggy sitting in the juice, but there is also green onions, beef slices, chunks of chicken, tofu squares and a few others ingredients that make up the good stuff.

Stepping off the elevator she heads to the kitchen first with the five or six large bags of food, and only when they are on the counter does she proceed with the second step of her routine... making sure the kitchen and main room are clean. In this case, with the empty bags of snacks and soda bottles, she doesn't even think twice about starting to gather them up. She makes sure to avoid getting in front of the television, and as she doesn't want to interrupt whatever it was Gar was doing, she didn't say a word.

Gar Logan has posed:
Just in the process of turning off the game system following a save, Gar stops to watch Xiomara coming in. She's got a good eight inches on him, and that's not even counting any extra height that may come from footwear. At first he raises a hand for a wave, only to cut himself off before finishing it, or saying anything.

There have been occasional sightings in passing, but with so many people tied to the Titans in some way, especially if some aren't around as much as others, proper conversations can take a while to occur.

So it's once she's picking up after him that he interjects, "Hey, uh..Crush, right? You don't have to..I mean, I was about to get all that. I'm not a slob, no matter what you hear about sentient socks in my bedroom. All lies." Pause. "I'm Gar. Beast Boy. Everyone's favorite green shapeshifter." Just imagine the laugh track, without the comedy show laughter itself.

Xiomara Rojas has posed:
Already holding a couple of the bottles and an empty bag, Crush pauses to look Gar up and down. In the past she would have been glaring while sizing him up, now however there is a hint if a smiling smirk... she was still working on it.

After a nod in response to his getting her name right she says, "Don't think you're a slob, Gar. Beast Boy... just followin the routine I've developed."

Now she offers a more realistic smile, crushes the two plastic bottles into a small ball of plastic and extends her hand. "You got the name right in one try, nice to finally meet you after all I've heard."

Gar Logan has posed:
"Hey, that's a neat trick. You 'crush' stuff. It fits!" Gar exclaims, and the hand is met. His grip is not the firmest, not the weakest, somewhere in between (if Little Red Riding Hood is keeping score), as he adds, "What routine is that? I'm supposed to be one of the senior Titans now, at least helping with some of the decisions we have to make, so I'm sorry I've missed you before. Have you felt welcomed?" Looking around, he adds, "I haven't seen any more holes in the walls than usual."

He's on his way toward the kitchen proper, curiously sniffing in the direction of the food brought in. "And I deny all the bad things you may have heard. Depending on how bad they are. Whatcha got? Ooh, is this ramen?"

Xiomara Rojas has posed:
Returning the shake her own grip is light, almost too light really, but it's obvious she is attempting to ensure she doesn't break any fingers or hand bones.

"I train daily to make sure I can pull my strength without having to think about it, that it uh..." she shrugs a little, trying to think of how to explain it. "It needs to come almost naturally that I don't use my full strength. So I started a routine when I come to the tower."

Grabbing up anything left, she pauses as he explains his position and asks her about feeling welcome. That causes her to chew a little at the inside of her right cheek. "Felt welcomed," she repeats. "I... don't think I should answer that cause I ain't felt welcome anywhere in my life until Happy Harbor, an I don't really know what it's suppose to feel like."

Heading into the kitchen with him, to toss plastic in recycling and garbage in the correct can she then adds, "I know a few of the Titans. Terry, Kaida, Kian, met Kori, Bart and Caitlin" she pauses to gestures toward the ramen and nods. "The good stuff, cause I like it with all the fixings." She then returns to her list. "I know Irie cause we went to school together, and Nightwing cause he was in the danger room once. I don't know who is who, I mean like you said you're senior... so yeah."

Running her fingers through her hair to ensure the sort-of-mohawk is hanging correctly she offers a smile, "Grateful for a place to train though, cause pulling my strength is a major requirement from Superman."

Gar Logan has posed:
Gar Logan notes the grip, then feigns shaking his hand as if it was too strong. His expression is almost elfishly mischievous, waiting to see if she buys it even for just a moment. This is who he is: a prankster and joker. "Routines are good. I usually try to be up by, oh, 3 PM so I can get moving with things, and..ahh." He drops a bit of the act and admits, "I kind of know what you mean. Think of it this way. When you feel accepted by the people you're with, like you could be part of their family, that's what it's supposed to feel like. I'm not one of the original Titans, not an OG, but I was part of the second group. All the ones you mentioned, they're my extended family." Some, closer than others.

Rubbing his hands together, she may note he's dropped the game of shaking the one. "If you keep bringing stuff like this around, we might become besties in no time. There's no quicker way to being friends than my stomach. I mean, through food here first." He points at his mouth. Can't be vague there. "Oh, Superman's talked to you about that? He's, like, the most Boy Scoutiest guy ever. That's a good thing."

Xiomara Rojas has posed:
Crush knows exactly how little strength she used, and as it never effected anyone else before she's clever enough to realize he's trying to pull her leg. It does make her smirk-grin a little as she offers in a some what dark tone, "Want me to kiss your hand better?" before offering a toothy grin that includes a light chomping motion in his direction.

She let's that go to listen to him explaining about family, and OG Titans, and extended family. She knew it all made sense to him, what he was saying, because he was already there, already part of the extended family. To her however, she was still the weird freaky alien on the outside who borrowed their danger room. She also felt it best not to comment on that any further.

"Yeah, part of my routine," she explains. "Bring food, make sure the main room and kitchen are clean, then go to the danger room and run through a few scenarios of combat, socializing without ending up punching anyone, and then testing my ability to pull strength on the simple tasks like opening a door, opening a bottle of soda, that kinda thing."

Getting a bowl, she starts making up some of the ramen. "Superman sponsors me with the Justice League and has been mentoring me," she finally says. "He's... he understands my problems better than most, but yeah... he's a extreme Boy Scout, which I think should be TV show... "Extreme Boy Scouting... watch little Ted help this old lady across the street."

Gar Logan has posed:
Gar Logan laughs briefly at the 'kiss it' question, even at the mimed bite, but just as she lets certain things go unanswered, so does he. That's one of them.

"I like to look over some of the reports and videos of the training sessions, so I've seen a bit of what you can do. You're a pretty tough nut to crack, and I've seen some of that strength. I'll bet people would pay good money to see you, Cait, and Donna go at it. Not that I'm suggesting anything of the sort, of course. And being able to chat without punching someone over to New York City? Yeah, that's a good thing."

He watches her getting things together in the bowl, and without warning he turns into a cat and hops up on the countertop to bat at a tofu square. Bat-bat-bat. Onto the floor, if not stopped! "Supes is one of the good ones. I'm glad he's still around," the green feline says without elaborating.

Xiomara Rojas has posed:
Noodles, beef broth, green onions, some beef, a few of the things she has no idea what are, but they taste good in the ramen and Crush is ready to... freak.

She's seen Mike as a raven, but never saw him change. Gar's sudden green guy to cat, up onto the counter to bat at the tofu actually causes her to fling some noodles out of her bowl as she jumps side ways away from him with an exclaimed, "Da fuck?!"

Once that's happened however, she blinks a couple of times and remembers everything she's heard about him. "Okay... now I get it," she states, letting her breath out as she speaks. "Beast Boy, makes total sense... just... warn a jumpy assed alien next time." She sounds upset, but at this point there is a smile on her face so clearly she's not /that/ upset.

"I ain't met Donna, no idea bout her... and Caitlin," she clears her throat a little and if she could blush she would, but it's not something Czarnian's can do... but the body language is there to indicate it. "Yeah, sure... we could fight for practice, but uh... I ain't allowed to fight for money no more."

Gar Logan has posed:
The cat purrs, satisfied in the surprise. "That's me! Nice reaction, by the way. And here's a warning a little birdie told me." It's a precursor to Gar turning into a fine, feathered friend of sorts, flitting up to land upon a shoulder and watch Xiomara with the ramen from a new position.

"Donna's one of the Amazons. Cait got accepted in as one of them, too. It was a pretty big deal. And I was mostly just joking about the fighting thing. If you're as strong as you seem..well, I don't have to tell you. I think you already know."

For the time being, he gets quiet. Might be he's trying to think of something to ask.

Xiomara Rojas has posed:
Apparently he's the little birdy who talked to himself, at least he is now. Crush watches the second change happen without a glitch, the rest of the noodle remain in the bowl.

"Amazon, like Diana?" she asks, watching him flit up onto her shoulder. It was difficult to look at him and hear his voice coming from a small bird, but she'd get used to it in time. "I match Superman," she finally stated, "So uh... what do I already know?"

Gar Logan has posed:
"I mean, it'd be really easy to hurt someone. I could tell you were being careful when we shook hands," Gar explains, reaching out a wing to 'pat' at the side of Xio's head. Bet she hasn't had anyone do that before. He's in the form of something like a parrot in size, for that matter.

He wonders, "So you've been going to the place in Happy Harbor? I never had an actual school to go to after..everything. What's it like there? Do you feel like you fit in with anyone, or is it like being an outsider?"

Xiomara Rojas has posed:
As her head is patted by the wing of a green bird, Crush slowly turns her head to look right at him. A part of her wants to laugh, not at him but at the image that has got to be on camera by this point. A beautiful green parrot sitting on her shoulder offering comfort... that's not just normal, at all, and yet at the same time... it's amazingly fantastic.

"I used ta hurt a lot of people," she says quietly. "They'd insult me, I'd lose it and..." she shrugs both shoulders, giving the Gar-bird a little ride before letting that entire topic go.

It ain't been easy, at least not at first," she explains. "Happy Harbor, all them human kids, and mutants, and some magics, but... they were all born here, on this planet."

The new instincts she's been working on regarding being kind kick in, and she uses a fork to stab at a piece of beef with she offers to the Gar-bird. "But I gotta admit, once I really decided I had to uh... adjust my thinking, and accepted I /needed/ ta learn, it got easier." If he takes the beef she would get herself some noodles on the fork, if not she adds noodles to the beef already there. "I don't have friends," she finally states. "I got Mister Stadler, one of a the teachers. Mike Hannagan, sort a... he's not really a friend, but... I know I can trust him..." she shrugs again. "That's it."

Gar Logan has posed:
The shrug gets both wings out for balance, which settle back into place after the rustling as Gar's bird feet grip briefly. There's even a light squawk, then a 'hmph!' At least after that, he hops back down to the countertop and continues to watch before picking at a noodle to shake it free. The idea of a bird like that chowing down on the piece of meat might be an odd one, so he goes back to normal, standing with his arms crossed over the surface, opening up his mouth to see if she'll feed him that way instead.

Regardless, after that's over, he says, "I can understand it being tough. Kian went there at first, before he ended up coming here. We have others who aren't from Earth. It takes time to adjust."

Xiomara Rojas has posed:
She watches him, the movement to the counter than back to himself, and without a pause Crush puts the bite of beef in his human mouth. She offered, she's not backing out now.

"I been here my whole life," she snorts, "Fell outta the sky with Obelus wrapped around me, got picked up by stoners at a Burnin Man. They knew I'd never fit in, so home schooled me while running from drug dealers and cops." Her free hand runs lightly over the black chain around her waist as she talks, the only indication of the Obelus she is talking about.

"For a long time, I didn't give a fuck if I fit in, I mean..." she sighs, shaking her head. "It took me a long time to find what I wanted to do, and what kind of person I wanted to be, but I still don't have a place to belong, not really. So, I'll graduate from Happy Harbor this year, go on to college and keep trying to figure out where I'm supposed to be to be the helpful hero I want to be."

Gar Logan has posed:
Gar Logan grins at her after the beef is given, even playing the role of the polite one by chewing with his mouth closed, letting her talk uninterrupted. When it's time to answer, he shakes his head. "That sounds..crazy, but totally in line with what I'd expect from someone like us. And..you came with the chain? That's kind of hardcore, yo." There's been some stuff in the training videos that featured it, but it's still an unknown quantity to him.

"I worried about being accepted too, until the time finally came where it didn't matter to me any more. You're you, I'm me, and that's just the way it is. Most of the Titans are different in one way or another, and that's what makes us all closer. It's what makes us pretty awesome, too. And I say learn all you can in school if that's what you want to do."

Xiomara Rojas has posed:
Crush watches and listens to Gar rather intently. He was giving the speech she'd heard a few times from others, different words with the same sentiment. A year ago she would have laughed at him, like hard core falling down laughing... so much had changed in the last year though.

"Obelus considers herself my protector," she states to explain the chain a little more, not something she has done with anyone else. Gar was a Titan, he'd shown an interest, so she decided to share. "I think she was there when I was born, I like to think that whoever my mother is, she's where Obelus came from... but I got no facts to back it."

She takes a bite of her noodles and chews, considering her next words then decides to just be blunt. "I'm not a Titan, I'm just here... Irie got Titan help to "save"," Yes, there are air quotes. "me from some hard core meta gang bangers. I was brought here, offered access to the danger room and the tower as a guest, and well... that's that. Maybe some day I'll be more useful."

Gar Logan has posed:
That's Gar, upbeat in the face of things that would leave most people downtrodden and depressed, and yet the perceptive ones can tell, even still, that in some ways he's hiding his own past traumas behind the facade of that laughing personality.

"I don't really understand how a chain does that, but I'm gonna take your word for it. There's a lot of stuff out there that doesn't have a good explanation. Some people think that way about all the food I eat, but I just have a really high metabolism from all the different animals I can be," he explains, drumming a few fingers atop the table before pushing away to a fully upright position again.

He scoffs, "You may not be an official Titan, but by being around this place you're more than just some outsider. Guest or not, anyone staying under our roof is part of the group one way or another. So don't argue with me." He winks and points at her, then gestures toward the gaming setup after pointing to her bowl. "I'm gonna let you finish that without me talking your ear off. Stick around and there'll be more than enough time for that."

Xiomara Rojas has posed:
Crush runs her hand along the chain again, then shrugs as she says with a laugh, "I don't get how she does it, she just does."

"I'm here three times a week, sometimes more, but I always bring food," she says as she eyes her bowl and his hand pointing. "So I'll uh... try not to argue with you," she then winks back before slurping one noodle into her mouth.

"Once I finish my noodle I'm headed to the danger room... feel free to join me, or not," she then says with a grin. "An I don't mind my ear being talked off, learn something new every time someone talks to me... for now though, gotta eat then train."