15447/Running Up That Hill

Running Up That Hill
Date of Scene:	24 July 2023
Location:	Somewhere across the rooftops of New York...
Synopsis:	Gar is always running, and Terry is always trying to keep up. Oh, and they have a race, too.
Cast of Characters:	Terry O'Neil, Gar Logan

---

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"Hot town, summer in the city, back o' my neck gettin' dirt and gritty!" Vorpal sings as he stretches. It is /hot/, and the nights haven't been much cooler. It's why he's brought out his Summer variant uniform into play. Red bike shorts, no top but a light vest in red and black with his logo across the back. Special sneakers on his feet. "You ready to do this, Logan?" he says, working on his hamstrings, "Or are you too rusty to beat the champ?"

He shoots his fiance a teasing grin, and a wink, showing the trash talk is in good fun. "Whaddaya gonna give me if I win?"

Gar Logan has posed:
Gar Logan rolls his eyes at the song. He's been going through a few moods lately, some ups and downs. Maybe it's the whole aftermath of the Fae thing. Maybe it's more to do with Dayton. Could be any number of reasons with him, things that have him cheerful one day, grumpy the next. Today hasn't been so bad, at least.

In costume himself, they go through loosening up to the extent they need it, but for the moment he's not taking the bait. "I've been doing this stuff since before you were even able to, but if you win you just get a 'good job," he says, reaching back to grab his foot as he bends his leg at the knee. "And you should see what I got Kian. It's back at the Tower."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Terry smirks, "You didn't get him a little parakeet perch but human-sized, right? Because that's what I was thinking of getting him to prank him." He has been worried about Gar, of course. But the thing about Gar is... you tend to dance around things a lot. Until he's ready to talk. And then you have to wiggle in just right so he doesn't clam up. "Yeah, yeah, you have the experience-- but remember, we're not using powers!" He takes out his mirror, and looks at Gar, "Which means I need to even the odds." He says the words, and the reverse transformation happens. The human redhead is left in place of the Cheshire Cat. Instead of the flashy red and black uniform, he just has a black Underarmour top and compression shorts, and black sneakers. The reverse transformation isn't as showy. There aren't as many lights. "... 'sides, I wanted some rooftop time with you. Rooftops have been good for us," he grins.

Gar Logan has posed:
"Something like that," Gar answers with a small shake of his head. "It has to do with one of his favorite things to have."

As much as he can brood sometimes, especially when he thinks others aren't paying attention, one could wonder if he was a protege of Batman himself. Once Vorpal's gone back to Terry mode he points out, "Yeah, but you forgot something. Even when I'm not turning into an animal, I'm still just better than the average dude. Faster. Stronger. Tougher. Maybe not in a major way, but that's not something I can really shut off. I don't want you whining about it if you can't keep up." Was that a subtle flex?

He merely nods after the reminder about the rooftops.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Terry raises an eyebrow. "Oh, so you are saying that you at baseline is me at Cheshire level?" He crosses his arms and walks up to Gar, and boops his nose lightly. "So you want me to be the cat for this? Fair game, but if I win, I don't wanna hear complaints! I know how grouchy you get at the arcade."

He walks over to the edge of the building and looks down, and then up. It's a close hop across to the other roof, so it's a good start.

Gar Logan has posed:
"Not what I said," Gar answers, his voice a little flat especially after the touch to his nose and the remark about the arcade.

No matter which way Terry decides to go with this, Gar moves to size up the distance across the gap, the roof on the other side a few feet lower than the one they're on. Others aren't as convenient. Without so much as an 'on your mark,' he backs up then runs ahead for a leap.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Terry frowns, clearly at a loss in regards to approaching Gar's mood at the moment. He lets it get in his bonnet enough that he misses the start, and lags behind by half a second or so. He leaps over the gap right after Gar, but his landing isn't as good as he normally gets.

Get out of your head, O'Neil.

He tries to rescue some of the momentum from the landing by springing forward. That leap felt unusually heavy, like he was running under some weight he couldn't quite define but was felt nevertheless. Even borrowing momentum from the landing felt particularly difficult. This isn't usually like him- his body is toned and strong from three years on the Titans plan, it's almost as fit as his other body. He's been parkouring since he was in his early teens.

When the first obstacle appears, the cavorting ducts and boxes of a cooling unit, he cat-vaults over the nearest flat surface, hoping to gain a little more forward momentum.

Gar Logan has posed:
For this, Gar's eschewed the bare feet in favor of shoes with a good tread to them, the better to maintain grip on these differing surfaces but also to protect against debris you really don't want to have tearing up skin.

He casts aside any banter, witty or otherwise, in the interest of focus. This is good practice, but it still tugs at his competitive nature. He wants to win, wants to prove himself in whatever way is needed.

Feeling that Terry isn't far behind off the start, with that set of metal ahead it's going to be faster to go over it instead of arounds it. Besides, that's what parkour is all about in certain ways. A vault it is.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
The cat vault is not executed correctly because, not having cat-eyes, Terry didn't see the wire. He does, at the last moment, and he shrinks from it- putting his vault, and his landing, off-balance. Bad luck. Not necessarily his fault, but nevertheless it affects him. He recovers well enough, though, so that his lag isn't significant, only noticeable.

Somehow it seems fitting. There are days, or weeks, where he feels he is constantly running behind Gar despite his best efforts. Where he wants to run faster than Gar can just so that he can see his face and know what's going through his mind, instead of staring at the back of his head.

But this is what he does. Running after Garfield Logan. From the moment that they met- he just didn't know it. And there are times where he feels he's about to catch him- but off he sprints, like a green fairy darting ahead into the forest.

The forest of pipes and metal framework of a floor still in construction. Challenging terrain. His instincts tell him that a slide, a roll and then a pickup run to preserve momentum is the best course of action. But it's always a toss of the dice, when you venture into magical forests...

Gar Logan has posed:
A few steps that are where they're meant to be, and it's impossible to say for sure whether or not Gar's nature allows him to see what Terry does not, perhaps giving him an instant to take advantage of. Gar clears the spot and keeps ahead for now, and as they make their way to the next building they come across the construction or renovations in progress.

No slowing down here, just full speed ahead with the trust that his footing will be sure and certain, his balance true. What Terry can't see, given his position, is the determined set to Gar's features. Of course, with Terry behind for the moment, he can still see another part of Gar that he's enjoyed.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Terry is certainly in position to enjoy that. The slide is executed *beautifully* and for a moment it looks like he's about to gain some lead. But lest we forget that the way through magical forests is fraught with danger and untold snares, the redhead ends up sliding right onto a plank that, for the moment, and most likely against OSHA violations, was being used to cover a gap in the floor. His muscular bulk is enough to displace the plank, and it is only thanks to his fast reflexes that Terry doesn't plunge into the unknown below. Arms spread to each side, he lets out a startled cry as his reflexive save was enough to keep him from falling, sticking out of the hole from the chest up. His feet scramble and find purchase, and soon enough he is pulling himself out of the hole and tries to scramble into a sprint now, desperate to catch up on the terrain he has lost to Gar, his heart pounding in his chest from his close call.

Gar Logan has posed:
Gar Logan's own path across is not as clean as he'd wished, and if pressed on it later he might admit (or claim) a part of that was due to the cry from Terry, just to make sure he wasn't falling to some uncertain doom.

No, he sees him continuing, doing everything he can to close the distance between them as rapidly as he can. This is the time to turn it on and hold that advantage, if his own abilities and luck go that way. He springs forward while using part of the metal framework to vault from, to clear a gap in a simpler way rather than having to beat feet a little more. The next rooftop looms, a bit higher than the last so a fire escape ladder becomes necessary.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Terry manages to get a good spurt of speed, and he gains back some of that lost ground. But not enough. When Gar hits the fire escape, Terry is behind him- but too far behind him for the redhead's taste. He usually avoids straight going up fire escapes and instead tries to monkey-climb them then possible, avoiding the back-and-forth, but a risky maneuver is out of the question right now. He needs to pump his feet and get up those stairs.

Gar can be evasive. Nail him with a straight question that touches too deep and he has you chasing him up and down stairs, if the severity of the mood doesn't push you away first. Terry is too stubborn to be pushed away, though, and sometimes he presses too much when he shouldn't. But at the end of the day, he'll join Gar in the up-and-down game, waiting for when Gar tires himself out and is ready to meet him at the top of the stairs.

Which isn't what Gar is going to do in this case- he's going to keep running past the top, and Terry needs to at least get close enough so he can have a chance to move in for the lead. And so he climbs like a devil.

Gar Logan has posed:
Sometimes, holding on to a lead when the one doing the chasing is more desperate is more difficult. Pressure mounts for both of them in different ways. Whose path will be better? Which one will falter? Can the advantage be maintained, or will it dwindle?

Both Gar and Terry are hitting much more than missing, a testament to the challenge they're placing on themselves and each other, coming through in spades. Gar can practically feel Terry breathing down his neck, even with his own path a sound one.

A series of buildings without much more to deal with other than the leaps across loom ahead, a spot where good footing, momentum, and speed can make a difference more than who vaults or slides better.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Arms pumping at his sides, body bent forward and legs in a blur, Terry O'Neil makes an excellent display of athleticism. Sometimes, especially when he wears baggy clothing, it is easy to underestimate him, especially with his gentle manner and lack of swagger, but the boy is no slouch. Far from it. Today, he is in a much better position to fend for himself without his powers than he was a year ago. You can thank Drill Instructor Harleen Quinzell, Medicine Woman, for starting it all. Donna and Kate, Dawn and Diana, and even the few odd lessons from Kurt, have made of him a much more confident person without his powers.

He's catching up. He is sweating, he does his best to regulate his breath, the movement of his arms.

And that's when his hand comes down on the downswing and gives Gar's butt a playful bap. It isn't a slap- because that hurts and can be unsportsmanlike. But a bap? A bap is totally fair game.

He's too focused on regulating his breathing to quip, but it would probably be something about enjoying the view. Gar knows him too well.

The important thing, though, is that he is catching up. He is actually going to catch up to Gar?

Gar Logan has posed:
Somewhere along the way, Terry erases the distance between them. How does Gar know it? For one, the steps that echo his own. Second, he's surprised by the contact made in..passing?

"You! You..!" Gar blurts, distracted enough that it causes him to lose his pace enough for Terry to surge past en route to another HVAC system to get across. Terry does so first this time, Gar's eyes narrowing as a little something bubbles up inside him.

There's no way he's losing to the guy who isn't even using his feline side!

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Another HVAC unit. This is it. He has to do well. It's not about beating Gar- for Terry it isn't a competition. For Terry, it's knowing he can keep up with Gar, in more ways than one, because there are times when- yes- his old doubts come up. He may have gotten over a good amount of them, but there are still shadows in the corner that loom larger sometimes when the light is especially low. When the day seems unusually bleak. And he sees himself like a little running man trying to keep up, trying to catch up to the elusive wild boy who until very recently was terrified of commitment... and, although that seemed to have changed, Terry has occasionally heard part of him whisper in the dead of night, doubts about whether he /can/ keep up, about whether he can be enough, can be what Gar needs. Keep up, O'Neil.

He feels the ear flick from Gar, but he does his best to ignore it. It's just a vault, he says to himself. You can cat-vault in your sleep. /You are an actual cat/, even if you aren't one right now. VAULT!

Gar Logan has posed:
Yep, that was Gar catching up to Terry again to cast a finger out at his ear as he retakes a narrow lead. Their agreed-upon finish is up ahead of them, a building that's had some colorful streamers tied around a cell tower structure atop it.

"Who's it gonna be, O'Neil? Me or you?" he huffs, having worked himself up into a sprint, wanting to win, a part of him always /needing/ to win. Can't be a loser. Can't fail. Can't suck.

But sometimes you do fail. Sometimes you do lose. Before hitting the edge of the building, he tries to judge the step up for the last leap over. One problem. A patch of loose gravel that's mixed with some oil or grease, one stride before the edge.

When Gar hits it, everything goes out from under him. There's a sudden yelp of pain as a leg crunches against the edge, ripping open skin, and he tumbles head over feet into the gap. Normally it'd be a simple matter of taking the form of an animal such as a bird to carry himself out of harm's way, but the shock and surprise leaves him short of the necessary focus as his momentum sends him toward the brick siding, a hard landing awaiting him some half a dozen stories below. This isn't good.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
There are some things that are primal. Humans have built layers of civility and complicated social constructs around their behaviors and expectations, but there are some things that hit you to the absolute core and bulldoze a path through all of the walls in the perfectly-manicured garden. A loved one at risk, at *mortal* risk at that, is one of those things. Terry O'Neil lost control once before, when he thought Gar was dead and he unleashed everything he always held back upon the culprit. Wonder Woman needed to punch him to get him to stop.

This is something like that. As Gar falls down- through no fault of his own but the danger of the terrain- Terry feels the absolute terror. There isn't even a moment of hesitation as his wristband comes up to his eyes.

He doesn't even need to say the words. There are no time for words.

The hard surface that Gar was sure to meet is suddenly gone. There is a gaping hole in reality surrounded by the telltale purple glow, and Gar passes through it without even so much as an impact.

And next thing he knows, he's been tossed upwards from another hole at ground level. And his momentum will slow until he is almost hovering at rooftop level.

And that's when the strong arms of the Cheshire Cat grab him and pull him back onto the rooftop. Attached to them is the rest of the cat, of course, who immediately wraps his arms around his fellow Titan and lets out an inarticulate sound that then morphs into Gar's name.

Gar Logan has posed:
There's that white-hot flash across the eyes when the pain of that impact registers, the nerves screaming at him. That 'oh, shit' realization that in the moment, Gar is helpless to act as he normally would. He froze another time when he couldn't get his wits about him in time to act. That was when he was attacked by that twisted, corrupted version of himself. This isn't the same, but the end result could be.

If not for Vorpal.

Up is down, down is up, and there's a moment where things quickly flash before his eyes. Memories of others, really, then another flash of a more familiar fashion. There's no contact made with the wall, no splat there or further below. Instead, a brief instant where his upward or downward momentum is balanced out by the other, landing then in Vorpal's arms.

He groans as the sting of not only the physical side hits him, but the mental side as well, and his first instinct is to reach out for the wound that begins to bleed. A pained look on his face, a gasp of breath as he becomes more acutely aware of everything again. "Aaahh! I..what..?" What happened, he seems to ask. Everything is tense and tight.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
And there's Vorpal's arms, picking him up into a carry like he did back at his own rooftop, seemingly a whole lifetime ago when Gar was injured and Terry brought him up to watch the sunset.

"The building gave way," the cat says as he speaks in a quiet voice, aiming to be soothing, "You didn't have time to react. But you're safe now..." He kneels down, Gar still in his arms. The fur on his hand tints red with some of the blood, and he starts looking at the injury to ascertain its gravity. "You are safe," he repeats.

Gar Logan has posed:
It's a bad scrape, one that should be disinfected sooner rather than later. One that would benefit from a wrap afterward.

Within, Gar wars with himself in spite of the knowledge this was an accident that had nothing to really do with who was better or worse. Sensibility doesn't always beat out emotion, which is definitely one of Gar's flaws.

He squirms and wriggles like an animal trying to get out of someone's hold, going so far as to say through a shortness of breath, "Let me..down." Still reeling from the shock, he at least gets some weight planted on that side before grimacing and hopping a few feet to partly sit, partly collapse on the rooftop, hands gripping around that spot without directly touching it.

That's when Vorpal may spot a scrape at one side of the forehead near an ear, as well. That area is easy to get bleeding. "Messed up. I..messed up," he believes.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Vorpal's eyes narrow. He needs to get Gar some medical attention, but first he needs the other kind as well.

He doesn't make another attempt to touch Gar. Instead, he walks over to the edge, and turns around to face Gar, his eyes piercing.

"How? By not magically predicting that the brick would collapse when it did? Excuse me, but when the fuck did you acquire masonry prophecy as one of your powers?" He snaps, giving the crumbled edge an angry /stomp/, causing more of the masonry to fall. He needs to take a step forward, because it almost takes him with it.

"Excuse me, Garfield Logan, but if you hadn't been crushing me at the lead /that would have been me/. If I had gained the headway it would have collapsed under /me/. So now," he stomps back to Gar and sits down on his haunches, looking straight at him.

"Now I want you to tell me what you would have told me in that scenario. Because I don't think 'you messed up' would have been the thing you would have said to me after you rescued me. Or would it have been?"

Gar Logan has posed:
While Vorpal's doing all that, Gar realizes the leg isn't the only spot that took some damage. A couple fingers dab at his forehead and he hisses briefly under his breath when he looks at them, a whispered, "Oh," accompanying it.

The stomping around over there, attacking the brickwork before coming closer again to stare at him, then Gar glances away from Vorpal. "You're mad at me," he says, and for a brief moment he sounds akin to a child being admonished by a parent. "I'm sorry I scared you. You're right."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
A gentle sigh. "I'm not mad at you, Gar. I am trying to point out that you're beating yourself up for no reason. I wanted you to picture yourself saying to /me/ what you were saying to yourself. Just so you could see how cruel you're being to yourself." He reaches out and gingerly touches his cheek. "... you were going to win. But something happened. Something you had no control over. You couldn't have messed up because you didn't do anything. But I was there to catch you." He leans forward a little.

"You saved /me/. Many times. Multiple times. And you told me not to beat myself up... and in my cases, I /did/ screw up. Many times. Don't you see?" his voice grows quiet, a slight tightness to it.

"I never quite get to be at your pace. Every time it feels like I am, you spring forward. Like you're scared to let me see what's going on. I get it that you've spent your entire life running away from letting people see that. But I'm marrying you. Don't you think that means you can stop running?" A Rabbit Hole opens up, leading to the medbay, the better to get him bandaged up.

"Will you let me carry you?" he offers, holding his arms out to him.

Gar Logan has posed:
Gar Logan listens, but there remains a part of him that doesn't want to look at Vorpal, a part of him that doesn't want to acknowledge any truths being said. Depression is a female dog sometimes, and there can be no telling when it will pop up or how irrational it will make someone.

Terry's seen it over the last few years with Gar, keeping the green Titan off the mark just enough under certain circumstances that it acts like an extra layer of negative shielding to get past. "I..know. I know. Really," he insists, although his tone of voice is flat and attempted to be emotionally dry.

"You were passing me anyway," he adds, which isn't really the most important thing to take away from all of this, not at the moment. "And you did catch me," Gar acknowledges. Otherwise this could be a much different aftermath.

Rather than answer the question about his pace, or staying ahead of whatever he thinks is after him, he turns it back around, "Do you think I can ever stop running?" He touches his forehead again, feeling a throbbing that thumps in line with his quickened pulse. A numbness blends with the sharper sensations from the nerves exposed to the air around them, and he merely nods to the last question. No gloating about how he would have won if only for...

Instead, he whispers once they're closer, "I think..you're getting to be better than me."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"You could stop running right now. But you're not ready to admit it," Vorpal states plainly, "You're afraid to be vulnerable." Who wouldn't? Considering what Galtry did. What others did. That Gar trusted Terry enough to get this far into his life was a miracle, or an accident. "Someday, you're going to realize I already know who you are, and I love you for being who you are, not who you want the world to see." And there's a conversation to be had soon. Not now, but soon enough, about seeking help. Because the scars from the past haven't healed all the way. Just like his own. And maybe it's time they both see someone who could help them.

"And I'm not getting better than you, Gar," he whispers back, slowly lifting him off the ground. "I'm getting better at complementing you. There will only ever be one Beast Boy." he says, passing through the rabbit hole.

Gar Logan has posed:
OOC: The actual rolls, which were used to measure progress on both sides up to the end by comparing results. The final round was already agreed to be the last one before it was done.

<DICE ROLLER> Gar Logan rolled 1d20 <16> + 0 = 16
<DICE ROLLER> Terry O'Neil rolled 1d20 <13> + 0 = 13

Gar +3

<DICE ROLLER> Gar Logan rolled 1d20 <17> + 0 = 17
<DICE ROLLER> Terry O'Neil rolled 1d20 <14> + 0 = 14

Gar +6

<DICE ROLLER> Gar Logan rolled 1d20 <11> + 0 = 11
<DICE ROLLER> Terry O'Neil rolled 1d20 <9> + 0 = 9

Gar +8

<DICE ROLLER> Gar Logan rolled 1d20 <16> + 0 = 16
<DICE ROLLER> Terry O'Neil rolled 1d20 <20> + 0 = 20

Gar +4

<DICE ROLLER> Gar Logan rolled 1d20 <13> + 0 = 13
<DICE ROLLER> Terry O'Neil rolled 1d20 <20> + 0 = 20

Terry +3

<DICE ROLLER> Gar Logan rolled 1d20 <20> + 0 = 20
<DICE ROLLER> Terry O'Neil rolled 1d20 <16> + 0 = 16

Gar +1

<DICE ROLLER> Gar Logan rolled 1d20 <1> + 0 = 1
<DICE ROLLER> Terry O'Neil rolled 1d20 <20> + 0 = 20

Terry +18