2012/Who Plays The Match Game

Who Plays The Match Game
Date of Scene:	08 June 2020
Location:	2D - Terry's Apartment
Synopsis:	Terry and Gar have a heart-to-heart, and then comes the difficult choice: Dinner, or dessert?
Cast of Characters:	Terry O'Neil, Gar Logan

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Terry O'Neil has posed:
After the show, Terry had to stop at the Planet to complete a few assignments. It had been a slow news day, fortunately, so he was done with his tasks early on. As he drove back to his apartment, Terry reflected on things and what he had said. There was the risk that it had all been handwaved away... but, just in case...

The redhead starts unpacking the take-out food. Some of the best chinese food in the area, enough for two people. Two plates set out, and soda.

As he starts putting the take-out boxes in the trash can, he says to himself "Man... I hope he's as curious as I think he is... otherwise I'm going to end up with a lot of food for myself tonight."

Gar Logan has posed:
Not a bad show, even if the answers didn't quite come out that way. It still led to laughs, so fun was had in the end. Gar felt like he was in his element, and a few conversations took up some time afterward.

Only, Vorpal had other business to deal with, and he wasn't at the Tower later on. Good chance he was at a certain other place.

By this point, Gar changed back into something more his speed rather than the coat and button-down shirt, but before anything else happened he had to fly himself over to the apartment.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Window opened. some smooth jazz playing in the background, Terry sits down on the couch and starts paging through a book, feet up on the couch. The apartment slowly fills with the smell of the food. He opted for casual clothes- it was too hot for slacks, so shorts it is, and a tank top.

For a moment he thinks about reaching for the phone and texting Gar... but he decides to wait a little longer, just to see if his hunch is correct.

Gar Logan has posed:
Gar Logan knows the window, and the bird lands on the sill ready to launch into some Disney-inspired riff of a chirping song of its own, only to pause at the sounds and smells of the apartment, followed by a sighting of Terry with his book.

He hops inside, whether spotted or not, and makes his way over until he's perched atop the couch to look down at the resident of the apartment. "Sooo, single, huh?" the bird asks, its head cocking about 90 degrees to the side.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Terry didn't have his cat ears on, so he doesn't notice Gar's entrance until the tweety bird tweets. His green eyes look up from the page, and then he smiles "Oh hey Gar, fancy seeing you here!" he closes the book after marking the page with a bookmark (because he's not one of those philistines who bend the corners) and sits up, "D'you want a soda? I was about to have dinner.... if you wanna join."

Gar Logan has posed:
Gar Logan just started to move to hop over to Terry's head when the movement follows, leading to him sort of bouncing off the side of Terry's face with a little 'unf!' "Dude, warn me when you're about to get up!" The wings spread and he, no more than the size of a sparrow, takes back to the air before alighting down nearby, turning into a form Terry is much more familiar with.

"I figured you'd be here, and food is sounding pretty good right now. It sounds pretty good any time. Soooooo, single, huh?" he tries again, this time with a brow arched.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"Well you are lucky, I happened to get some stuff from The Pearl Dragon. I happened to get enough for two, concidentally." The redhead walks over to the kitchen and comes back with a large plate of ginger stir fry with beef, large enough for two people. Aside from the large plate, he sets two small ones, and scoops for servig.

"Hmm? Oh, you heard that?" he asks innocently, sitting down at his chair and gesturing to Gar's chair. "How do you think I should describe myself?" he asks, resting his chin on his right hand, glancing across at Gar.

Gar Logan has posed:
Gar Logan eyes the food, but decides against going over for some just yet. Or taking any off the bigger plate that's been brought over. He climbs up into a nearby chair and..wraps his arms around his legs, drawn in toward his chest. Suddenly, he's much more serious than he was during the show.

"I dunno, man. I didn't expect you to tell everyone you were single and looking for someone to be with," he answers quietly. Mood swing? Might just be. "I mean, I thought we were, you know.."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Terry raises his eyebrows. "Garfield." He notices Gar's demeanor and he inwardly kicks himself- he was right in one prediction, but wrong in another. The Green Titan confused him just when he thought he knew him. He thinks very carefully about his next words.

"Gar, it was a joke. Didn't you catch on that with every answer I gave, I was pretending to be in a different game show?" he tilts his head. "I mean, it's funny because I technically /am/ single. *Technically* being the operative word here. But in the non-technical aspect, I'm not single, because I'm clearly waiting for a certain someone to finally..."

He sighs and slides off his chair and onto a kneeling position next to Gar's chair, reaching up to touch hi shair. "Gar, look at me."

Gar Logan has posed:
"Well, yeah, but..you know I was in the zone there, in front of the cameras, and I was just kinda into it," Gar explains, gesturing with a hand toward himself. "That's what I do, play things up for the laughs. You know that. So yeah, I heard that and I wasn't sure what you were trying to say, but I just wanted to do the show and then you had to head out afterward."

The underbite shows in the way he chews at his lips briefly. "I mean, what do you want me to do, go make a post that tells everyone we're a thing? Does it matter who else knows?" he asks, and he rubs the back of his neck, looking everywhere else for a couple seconds, then a couple more before he turns his attention to Terry, who's shifted closer to make contact.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"Oh, Gar..." Terry says quietly, his hands stroking the teen's green hair with his fingers. "This has come out all pear-shaped here. I thought maybe you'd..." he exhales a little, and then stands up. "Let me bring you your soda," he says quietly.

He walks into the kitchen and takes a few moments to compose himself, thinking carefully over everything despite the fact that his heart feels like it wants to jump out of his chest. He finally comes back with the soda can and offers it to Gar, standing very close to him.

"I'm sorry. I've been... projecting my own insecurity outwards and I didn't realize how it was coming across."

"I guess it's not about who knows.... I sort of feel like I don't know we're a thing. I mean..." Terry gestures as he starts to pace slowly, "I mean... I think you want... but... am I just..." he suddenly looks frustrated, and then exhales. "I don't even have the words, because I know how I feel, but I don't know how you feel."

He ends up sitting halfway on the table, "But that's my problem. If you don't feel you can say the words, I shouldn't pressure you into saying them. It's just that sometimes... uncertainty scares me."

He grows silent for a few seconds, and then reaches for his soda can, "I don't want you to say anything you don't want to say, and I am so sorry that what I said today hurt you. This is my problem, not yours, Gar."

Gar Logan has posed:
Gar Logan flashes a ghost of a smile at the initial reaction, but as Terry goes off for the drink it leaves him with a few moments to himself, where he can think. "We both kinda have that problem," he says of the insecurity, "but we've, you know.." He gestures between the two of them. They know what they've got into. He doesn't need to repeat it.

"If it means something to you that others know, I get it, but everything in my life has been public and I don't think the whole world needs to know about who I'm into. It'd be nice if that could be one thing I can just share with that person. The other Titans would probably know one way or another, but I never thought we had to go around like, 'We're in love with each other and we want everyone to know.'"

He stops himself, tilting his head before asking, "Is that why you don't know if we're a thing? Because I haven't said that?" Even though he just did, now?

The can has been taken, and he takes a sip from it. One leg unbends, the foot allowed to touch the floor.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"It... isn't really about what others know." Terry says quietly, and takes a sip of his soda. "I guess it's more about... what I know? I know you're not keen on putting words around something. And where I come from, or where part of me comes from, words /create/ the things, in a way."

He smiles a little, "You don't have to do something you don't want to do on account of my weaknesses, Gar."

Gar Logan has posed:
"And you didn't know without me saying something specific?" Gar asks, holding the can in both hands as the other leg joins the first, no longer up like a makeshift shield for himself. "I guess I don't really get the stuff with words creating things. We already had something even before you..well, actually I guess you did have that side in you, but it didn't really show up at first."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"I guess... we approach things very differently in perspective. I mean... for example. A caress. It can mean a lot of things, in a lot of contexts. In many of them, many loving contexts. But..." Terry frowns a little. "Two people can sleep together and be with each other for quite a bit. But one of them might think 'This is will be nice for a little while, and then I'll be on my way' and the other might think this is where he wants to stay..."

He smiles a little, "I guess it's easier in Kian's world, where people apparently know each other's minds without needing words at times."

Gar Logan has posed:
Gar Logan admits, "You're the first real relationship I've had that didn't end up with me slapped within like two hours of me going on a date with someone because I stuck my foot in my mouth and said something stupid." He puts up his hands, forgetting the drink in the can, and he has to recover that before there's any spillage. "Oops."

Clearing his throat, he adds, "I guess what I'm trying to say is I don't know what I'm supposed to do and not supposed to do. I just feel like I'm pushing you away even if you're joking about it at some game show because you're waiting for me to say something I didn't even know I had to say. And, dude, I know cats pick the people they want to be with."

Bringing up Kian leads to him glancing down in self-consciousness. "If it's all the same to you, I dunno if I'd be ready to get inside your head again anyway."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"Do you censure yourself because you don't know what you should or shouldn't say?" Terry looks up to Gar, sipping his soda. "I want you to be honest, Gar.

The redhead then smirks a little, "Yeah... Kian has said the same thing. I guess there's... something interesting in me when I'm the Cheshire cat. I can't say I'm surprised... there's a part of me I don't really touch /too/ ,uch because it's... a little wild." He smiles and shrugs.

Gar Logan has posed:
Gar Logan throws up his hands once more, again managing not to spill his drink.

It's like he's related to Julian or something.

"Dude, I don't know! I figured since we did, you know, /stuff/, that meant we were good like that, right?" Forget the fact Vorpal was just playing up thinking he was on a different game show, or just teasing Gar, or whatever it was.

"Anyway, there's some really weird stuff in your head from that side of you. I couldn't even begin to figure it out, and I was completely unprepared for it. I don't know how Kian can handle things like that," he adds, not so much an attempt to change the subject as just share what he felt from that little test.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"Maybe I'm resistant to mind-reading? That's something to test. It could be useful." The redhead muses, and smirks a little.

Then he looks up at Gar, and sighs. "Gar, I try not to make assumptions. I mean, people do /stuff/ for a lot of reasons. Wouldn't it be unfair of me to assume you did it for the same reasons as I did without asking?" He shrugs a little and spreads his arms, "You know I was raised by a PI, and the first thing she always tells me is to never make assumptions and to try to read from facts instead to draw a conclusion." And then the redhead smiles, "Gar... you're /very/ hard to read about some things. Like, I seriously was wondering if you liked me at all at some points. At others, I wondered if you cared... it's not really on you. I've... never quite met anyone like you before." He pauses, and his smile broadens. "It's why you're so fascinating."

Gar Logan has posed:
"If I was a mind-reader and tried to read what's in there, I doubt I'd try a second time," Gar admits with a half-smile and shake of the head before he attempts an explanation. "Sometimes I'm just not very good at saying the right thing or getting my feelings across. Sometimes I am. I'm still getting used to there being a group of Titans again, and so many new people around. Sometimes I just get overwhelmed by everything and want to go hide somewhere by myself for a couple days."

He points at Terry with the hand holding the soda. "And there's you, an actual fan who ended up my friend and then more, and then I find out you've got these weird but cool special abilities too, and I felt like that made us closer but then you were worried I liked one part of you more than the other and yeah, maybe I sort of flipped over seeing you as a cat dude at first but you're still you, whatever that means, and it doesn't matter which way you are. I'm not looking to just run off with someone else, dude."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"See, that's interesting. You yearned for the Titans to be back, but they can also be too much for you. I had pegged you as an extrovert when I first met you, but it's like you have a switch, and suddenly you're shy." He sets the soda down and eventually finds his way in close proximity to Gar, reaching over to touch his cheek. "I know I don't quite understand your ways, but I intend to. I'm not going to run away either. I hope that someday..."

Gar Logan has posed:
Gar Logan lets it out, or some of it, but Terry might have already gathered something along these lines. "I know, and it doesn't make any sense, but sometimes I just get afraid that anything good in my life is just going to get ruined somehow, and then I get all inside my own head and it's like a part of me shuts down and I don't know what to do and now I'm sending mixed signals."

This is what happens when two insecure people develop feelings toward each other.

"So Superman comes back and I almost have to change my costume when he flies in, and then we're helping keep people safe because that's what we do and I'm just thinking about how I hope everyone gets through it in one piece this time and..."

The stream of consciousness cuts out at the touch made. "You hope that what?"

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"I hope that you do run away someday. With me." He grins and caresses Gar's cheek. "Figuratively speaking. Not literal. And when you're ever feeling like that, Gar... hold on to something. I know that the urge to flee can be strong but... when that happens, it's good to find something that grounds you, you know?"

Gar Logan has posed:
Gar Logan comes to look like the proverbial deer in headlights, without the deer or the headlights.

"Then maybe we should take a weekend and just go somewhere new, just us. You can do that with those portals, right?" he asks, subtly leaning into the contact, reaching up to do likewise in return. "Maybe we can help ground each other."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Terry kneels down, so that his face is just a few inches away from Gar's, but he keeps his hand on the cheek. "Well... where would you like to go? We can go anywhere... Paris? Rome? Venice? Tokyo? A remote island in the Caribbean?"

He leans forward a little, to touch his forehead against Gar's "... Disneyland?" he says, trying not to chuckle.

Gar Logan has posed:
Gar Logan ends up forehead to forehead, which makes it a little tough to look clearly at the other, but so be it. "Why not all of them at some point?" he asks, coming up with a very clever way to avoid having to choose just one. There's a little half-smile that shows up.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Terry raises his eyebrows, "I am going to find a way to force you to make a decision one of these days, you know." A mischieous smile, and then he leans over to place a light kiss on Garfield's lips before suddenly standing up. "In fact, I'm going to find a way to do so right now. Your food is on the table..."

He has a large grin, and then slowly starts to saunter towards his bedroom, whistling. Before he reaches the door, he gives a quick glance over his shoulder, and disappears beyond the threshold to his room.

Gar Logan has posed:
Gar Logan absorbs that little kiss and feels a warmth spread over him before Terry's getting up to indicate the food and the attempt to get him to pick: food, or Terry. Terry, or food.

"Fiiiine, I'll be right there," Gar says, rolling his eyes as he gets to his feet.

Then, without a word, he looks around, turns into a big spotted cat, chomping on the majority of the food on the plate with his much larger mouth before shifting back to normal.

"Coming!"

You can't out-cheat a cheetah.