15835/Green Team

Green Team
Date of Scene:	11 September 2023
Location:	Central Park
Synopsis:	Beast Boy meets someone who seems all too familiar in a couple ways: Hulkling.
Cast of Characters:	Gar Logan, Teddy Altman

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Gar Logan has posed:
One of those nice late summer days in the city, Central Park teeming with visitors. Among them, Beast Boy of the Titans. What's he doing there? At least for some of the time, helping kids without pets see what it's like to toss the frisbee around with a dog - a very green one of course - playing fetch. It's put a lot of smiles on a lot of faces, so by way of that alone it means Garfield Logan is also happy.

"Okay, throw it as far as you can!" he encourages a little boy not yet ten years old. Of course it's odd for a dog to be speaking in /that/ way, but it's a benefit.

The child laughs, says, "Here goes!" and launches it, but his throw isn't the best as it peels off in an unintended direction. The dog races after it anyway. "Doggone it!" the green one exclaims.

Teddy Altman has posed:
So what is Teddy Altman doing in Central Park? Well, he's a New Yorker through and through, and he often comes here to relax. Insofar as relaxation today, however, there isn't much going on. Teddy- that is, Hulkling- has stopped several purse snatchers, one attempted mugging, and found a lost cat. It has been a very full day.

Right now, the green shapeshifter is resting against a tree, sitting down on the ground and resting the back of his head against the trunk, eyes closed briefly. He stands out in his green skin, blond hair, muscular build and super-suit. Nobody paying attention would intentionally throw anything at him.

But the kid didn't intend to- and so, something lands on his head.

"Ouch?" he says, more surprised than anything else.

Gar Logan has posed:
That would be a pretty good throw, if it was meant to get all the way over to the other green person. Seconds later, that green dog is skidding to a stop, looking up at the blond-haired, blue-eyed man. That would be a normal enough pair of colors for the typical person, if not for all the rest. Not to mention, there's also that costume.

"Whoa, dude!" the pooch blurts, short, attentive ears pricked up along with his stance being one of keen interest. "Who the heck are you?" Yep, talking dog. That's completely standard.

Teddy Altman has posed:
It has been a hot day, but it hasn't been /that/ hot- not hot enough to make him hear things. With that in mind, Teddy glances at the creature that is 'dude'ing at him, and there are a few things that need to be taken into consideration:

-Teddy Altman, contrary to the stereotypes about his appearance, is a little bit of a nerd.
-This includes nerding about superheroes.
-Teddy has authored several articles on HeroPedia.
-Enough articles with cited sources to be promoted to *editor*.

With these facts in mind, it shouldn't be a surprise that the young hero immediately narrows down the number of possibilities as to the identity of the creature currently addressing him.

The green fur is a big tell, by the way.

"Beast Boy, right?" Teddy says with a snap of his fingers and a pointing at Gar, "Founding member of the Titans, real name Garfield Logan. Public identity."

He offers Gar a bright grin, and he rubs his head, still surprised from the impact. "... it's gonna be real embarrassing if you're actually the Martian Manhunter..."

Gar Logan has posed:
"Hahaha, nope! I ain't hunting men!" the dog all but barks, and in the process turns into his usual Beast Boy self, complete with the red and white costume as a partially gloved arm and hand raises to rub at the back of his head. "At least, I haven't exactly hunted any," he says. The news has made it well-known - confirmed by him - that he's in a relationship with at least one of the Titans. Some rumors have it at two.

Clearing his throat, he gives a grin that shows the snaggletooth poking up from the bottom of his mouth. "I'm gonna need that back, at least," he adds, noting the frisbee. "Gotta give it back to the kid over there." He points in the general direction. That thing really did go off at a bad angle.

Teddy Altman has posed:
Hulkling slowly stands up and tries not to laugh at Beast Boy's reply. "Yeah, from what I hear, you don't need to do the hunting," he wipes his legs from any dirt, and then bends over to grab the frisbee. "You teaching the poor kid how to do assault frisbee? Be careful, J J Jameson will start calling /you/ a menace instead of Spider-Man."

He walks over to Gar and offers him the frisbee with a smile, "I go by Hulkling. You probably haven't heard of me," he says factually, with a little self-effacing smile and a rubbing of the back of his neck. "I'm sorta new at stuff."

Gar Logan has posed:
The kid runs up into view, at which time Gar calls over, "Sorry, that's all the time I have for now! This guy needs my help!" A likely excuse, but he lobs the frisbee back over at an easy, lazy arc. The boy still seems happy enough about the whole exchange, staring for a moment before going back to his parents.

"It'd take a lot for him to switch focus like that. Hulkling, huh? How'd you come up with that one?" he wonders, hands coming to rest at his hips. "And how new?"

Teddy Altman has posed:
Two green guys, the kid must think he's seeing martians. No, not THAT martian. Teddy's build is vastly different from Gar, as the guy looks like he's trying to go pro bodybuilder - but naturally, without the horsey juice. "Matter of months, really... just sort of trying things out, seeing if I'm actually any good at it."

He flashes a grin and puts his hands on his hips, subconsciously mirroring Gar. "I ran into someone I realized was an old acquaintance from high school who started doing this. He sort of encouraged me and I recently thought... why not?" He tilts his head, and as Gar asks his question, the green youth responds by flexing. "I mean... it's all about people knowing what you're good at, right? I kinda look like the Hulk already, so I figured I might as well? It's better than some of the other ones I came up with. When you're green and you can shape-shift, all the good codenames are already taken- you know what I mean?"

Gar Logan has posed:
"I'm green and I never thought about calling myself, like, Kid Hulk or Hulk Boy or anything like that," Beast Boy answers. Was the Hulk even around when Gar went green? There were rumors of sightings for years, but nothing formal until the matter with Loki was going on in the city.

Waving it off he adds, "Anyway, cool. Can't have too many green dudes around, I say. And if you're going around as one of the good guys, that means I ain't gotta fight ya. Even better, because I'm not in a fighting kind of mood and I'd hate to have to embarrass ya." He flashes a wider grin and a wink. Definitely the joker, and /not/ the one Batman's got to deal with.

Teddy Altman has posed:
"Well, that wouldn't be cool, 'cause you're one of the good guys and one of the top most popular entries in HeroPedia. Also your Tiktok channel just slays." And then, suddenly, there is another Gar across from Gar, returning that wide grin. "Can't have too many green dudes around, doubled. But you're, like, with the Titans, and that's awesome. Maybe you could autograph stuff for me? And hey, maybe you could get Raven to autograph a photo for me? I hear she's the hardest to get. Literally nobody's got a Raven autograph on the 'net. There were some dudes who claimed to have one but then they got scared away or something weird."

The green guy stops being the other green guy and returns to his Hulkling form, "You were out here playing with the kids in the park? That's solid, man. I've seen the stuff you do with the hospital kids, too."

Gar Logan has posed:
Garfield Logan's eyes narrow at the shapeshifting demonstration. "That's..cool," he says, but there's a hint of something in there that suggests he thinks otherwise, brief as it is. A moment of surprised jealousy that he's apparently not the only green shapeshifter? There /is/ Martian Manhunter, but he's never really been around that one. "Sure, I can get you some autographs, but probably not hers. You heard right about that."

A quick thumbs-up follows the observation with the kids and all. "Yeah, they love me for that stuff, and I like doing it. But, uh, I have to ask...have you ever had something called Sakutia? How did you get to be kind of like me?"

Teddy Altman has posed:
Teddy catches the narrowing of the eyes and lets out a sheepish grin, his hand rubbing the back of his head in some discomfort, as something in Gar's body language tells him that was not the right shape to take. Beast Boy asks him a question, though, which he takes as the perfect off-ramp from his current embarrassment, and he gladly takes it.

"So... I'm not sure- I mean. I think I'm a mutant." The alien is clearly not aware of his heritage, which is just as well, for now, "I mean, as far as I can tell. I can shift into people... and I can do some animal stuff-" he demonstrates by sprouting large wings from his back, "But I can't do what you do. Like, the full animal thing, which is /awesome/, by the way. I've got screencaps of you doing dragon shape- when you were fighting that doppelganger? I can't do that- yet? Maybe never. I'm still coming to terms with everything I can and can't do."

Gar Logan has posed:
This other one has some skills when it comes to the animal side, but it's soon obvious he isn't on Gar's level. That brings a little smirk of satisfaction. "Mutant, meta, it all comes out the same in the wash, right?" he says, waving a hand - an all natural one - at the talk, though his demeanor turns briefly darker at the reminder of the doppelganger and everything that happened around that. "Oh, yeah. That was a thing," he mutters in a way that's intended to be dismissing.

"Anyway, I'm sure you just need some more practice, or who knows, maybe you're destined to only do stuff like wings, arms, and legs. I dunno." He forces a smile this time.

Teddy Altman has posed:
Uh oh. Now he knows there's another spot that's tender, so he tries to dance around it. This isn't going very well. Beast Boy is the first major hero he has met, and he needs to make a good impression, if he's going to have a serious go about this. You want other heroes to think well of him.

"Sure. But hey- maybe you can help me practice? You know? Green shape-shifter to green shape-shifter? We could hang out and stuff and you can tell me wise things I need to know in this line of work."

Fortunately, Teddy does have his store of knowledge. There are many things that are public knowledge about Beast Boy.

"And I can buy lunch, too! There's an all-you-can-eat Chinese place I go to in M-town that's got the best pork buns this side of anything."

Gar Logan has posed:
Garfield Logan can tell the guy, Hulkling, is excited. He's been star-struck before, but more often than not it's someone else fawning over him. Just a couple ways that touched on a sore spot or two. Poor guy had no way of knowing for sure, did he?

"Well, you always need to practice. I've seen just about every animal documentary ever made." As long as he can find it, he can watch it. "So I guess so, as long as we're clear on stuff that's off-limits." Which can be figured out in due time, because he perks up slightly, as if there's still a part of that pup in him that heard 'food' mentioned. "The buffet place? I think I've been there," he says, subtly wiping a hand past his mouth.

Teddy Altman has posed:
Okay, food works. That's a good thing, because food works for Teddy, too. It's probably the shapeshifer metabolism that creates the common bridge- he doesn't know, though, he hasn't spoken to other shapeshifters. It does stand to reason, when you factor in the public knowledge of how speedsters turn into veritable black holes. "Yeah, the buffet! Wanna head that ways? I'm about ready for some lunch myself!" he offers Gar a bright smile and extends his wings. "We can go by air, too. I make decent time with these- but nowhere near as good as you - 240 mph as a peregrine falcon, right?"

Gar's not the only one to watch documentaries, sometimes.