233/One Awkward Drive Back Later

One Awkward Drive Back Later
Date of Scene:	02 March 2020
Location:	Terry O'Neil's Apartment (Metropolis)
Synopsis:	Terry and Gar talk around the issue, and settle for making fun of David Bowie instead.
Cast of Characters:	Terry O'Neil, Gar Logan

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Terry O'Neil has posed:
The ride back from April's apartment had been somewhat quiet. Terry did not press, but made small talk, and also subtly manipulated the car music into the soothing and relaxing genre. Occasionally Terry would make an observation, but nothing that was too in depth.

Once they reach his apartment, he will not let Gar leave just like that- as he suspectted the Titan might give a hurried farewell and fly off -literally. Instead, he says "Hey, do you wanna come up? We can order pizza and hang out."

Terry's apartment isn't big. It's a one bedroom, full kitchen, one bathroom sort of affair. It is surprisingly neat for an eighteen year old, but not spotless. There are posters strewn all over the place- Superman is there, and Gar might actually catch himself in several movie posters. "You wanna grab a seat?" he gestures to the couch that sits opposite a moderately-sized TV screen on the wall. "Wanna soda? I got a few choices...."

Gar Logan has posed:
Indeed, there was much silence from the normally talkative Titan, regardless of the current status of team. Once a Titan and all that. Given it was Terry's car, he made no move to interrupt the changing of the station. He was mainly focused on the drive and ensuring there would be no accident along the way.

It was true Gar came off as fidgety, even flighty once they were back to Metropolis, the drive taking long enough that a lot of small talk could take place. The weather, sports, food, maybe the latest blockbuster movie, but nothing deeper than that. At least, the invitation to stick around for a little while drew a small nod. "Sure, pizza sounds good."

Once inside, he looks around and determines, "Nice little place here. I'm not going to ask what it runs you, though. I probably don't want to know." Catching a glimpse of the Superman poster draws a brief look of sadness and his eyes shift away, passing over..himself, or at least in whatever roles he played. At least he has some posters! "Could go for some cola," he admits before plopping down on the couch.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Terry takes his shirt off, mostlly so that the bandages can breathe, and he grabs a red-and-white can from the refrigerator, settting it down on the coffee table next to Gar.

He plops down on the couch next to Gar, crossing his legs under him and fishing his phone out. "So... tell me what kinds of toppings you like on your 'za? I wanna try it out. Also wings? Breadsticks?"

He tries tto gauge the teen's body language. He knows the tension is probably still there. Certain things had a self-perpetuatting biological feeddback loop.

Gar Logan has posed:
There is the sense that Gar is trying to distance himself from some things, emotionally if not physically. He entered the apartment, accepted the offer of a drink, and is in fact opening the can to take a sip. He doesn't even shy away from Terry taking up a spot nearby. He's just in danger of closing up shop mentally.

"Oh, you know..vegetables, meat. A combo pizza is fine. I sort of did the vegan thing for a little while because it felt like because I could turn into different animals, eating them was sort of like eating me, but."

He shrugs, admitting, "Meat tastes good, and animals eat other animals all the time. The circle of life is not just a Disney song. Anyway, order whatever you feel like." It's still small talk, though.

"But, really. Harley Quinn is staying with April O'Neil? How does that even work?" he eventually asks.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"It' called the O'Neil curse. It is believed that someone in our family history disrespected some faerie or another, an we were all cursed in perpetuity to live in 'interesting times.'" Terry muses, and looks over to Gar. "I mean, how do /I/ end up hanging out with /the/ Beast Boy?"

He puts the order for the pizza on the store's app, making sure to cater to Gar's tastes.

Once the order is placed, he lets silence happen for a little bit. He's afraid Gar will shut down on him.

"You know... I never told you the real reason why I moved to Metropolis..."

Gar Logan has posed:
"And I was starting to think I was cursed," Gar answers, a hand sliding toward the back of his neck for some self-kneading, expression contorting through cycles of discomfort and relief for a few seconds. "Don't forget, I'm the life of the party."

Right now, it's a dead party.

Hands return to Gar's lap, and he stares down at them quietly before Terry brings up the move. "Hmm? Were you living in New York City before?" he asks.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Terry reaches over to touch the back of Gar's neck. It's a tentative touch with his fingertips, but if it isn't rejected, he'll start gently kneading the tension there. Terry knows that it always has to be someone else to do this... it never works out on your own.

"Yeah... actually, when I was very little, I lived in California. I was born in San Diego. Mom moved up here not long after... but, you know..."

"I don't have a dad. I grew up without one. No explanation of who he was, nothing- mom's always been a tomb. I know nothing about him."

Gar Logan has posed:
In a moment, Gar is replaced by a cat that begins to purr from the kneading at the neck area. "Oh, yeah. That's the spot..purrrrrfect." But is it good for him in this shape, or will the tension have returned once he becomes himself.

Still a green gato, he somewhat freezes in place at the admission, not so much the fact Terry's from California and would know Gar spent some time in the same region of the state, but more the latter part. "Damn, man. I'm not sure I know anyone in the hero business that has a full, normal family."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"The reason I moved here," Terry says, kneading carefully now that Gar is in a smaller body, "Is because I started searching when I graduated highschool. I'd worked in mom's office throughout higschool so I knew some things about how investigation... I told my mom I was going to look for potential colleges and I spent a couple of months in San Diego. I tried to find some trail... but it was as if he never existed before he met my mom." He pets the cat slowly.

"Eventually I got a tip from an old friend of his I tracked down. Something about Metropolis... so I eventually told my mom I had decided to do some community college classes up here, and then go into M. U. after getting the general ed sttuff out of the way. And I've been working the beat here... but I'm coming up goose egg."

"I don't really talk about it much. But. It's... disconcerting. I don't know who my father was. I feel like I'm missing a very important part of myself. And the questions... why did he leave righ before I was born?"

He stops patting and says quietly, "Sometimes I feel that I wasn't good enough, that I couldn't be good enough and that's why he left. Sometimes I feel that's what it was, and I feel down. Like I don't wanna talk or see anyone, you know?"

Gar Logan has posed:
Gar Logan will at times seek refuge as an animal, to hide in the shape of something cuter rather than face things the way he normally is. Sensing this might be a moment where staying as a cat isn't the best course of action, the feline heaves a tiny sigh and begins to grow again until Gar is back.

"That really sucks, dude. Maybe he was some kind of spy or lived a double life and had to leave for your safety. Maybe you're a prince and you don't even know it." As far as reasonable ideas go to explain a situation like this, they aren't the best in recorded history.

He admits, then, "My dad was kind of a jerk at first, but I was always getting into stuff and making his work take longer. After what happened, he was probably even more protective than my mother until the..accident." Hands are looked down at, resting atop his knees.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
In the world they lived in, none of those ideas were completely farfetched. It wasn't, however, that Terry was feeling any of those things right at this moment, but rather that he hoped he could make Gar feel less alone in fighting those demons. He is about to say something, when the conversation derails into the 'accident' and he grows quiet.

The beginning of a thread begins to profile itself for Terry, but he isn't here interviewing Gar, he's not going to push.

Instead, his hand moves and rests atop one of Gar's in a silent gesture of solidarity and commiseration.

Gar Logan has posed:
"But," Gar goes on, starting to slip back away from discussing his own past, "I've talked to some people whose mom or dad left for some reason, and it's almost never because of the kid. It's usually something else. Maybe they got afraid of the responsibility and left, which sucks and.."

He frowns, realizing, "I guess that does make it because of the kid, doesn't it? Nevermind. I'm just trying to say you shouldn't blame yourself. There has to be a good reason. I'm sure he cared about you."

It could be easy for him to think he's sticking his foot in his mouth, then the thought that he's doing just that is interrupted, for a moment, by the other hand settling over his own. Fingers flex, briefly.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"I know. But sometimes knowing and feeling are two different things. It's hard to fight something with thoughts when you're feeling a certain way."

Terry's hand reacts to the flexing by adjusting, letting his fingers rest in the spaces between Gar's fingers.

"Sometimes it's ok to let other people know you're having a hard time." He isn't premeditating his actions. Hi heart does go out to the Titan whose career he has followed. He had never seen a friend die, much less killed by someone else.

He really couldn't begin to imagine what ghosts arose in Gar. But he was going to be there, nevertheless.

Gar Logan has posed:
Gar Logan looks down at the hands, giving some thought and consideration to the contact and touch. Pale fingers mix with green, leaving him..curious? Confused? Something, at least.

"Yeah, I know. It's better to make people smile and laugh," he explains, without going further into why. Terry may have already figured that part out. It doesn't need to be said. "So, but..I mean, if nothing else, thanks for being supportive. Sometimes people need that, too."

While considering their hands again, his makes a brief kneading motion.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Terry's hand responds in kind, closing onto Gar's. He didn't know what he really meant with the gesture, save to say that he saw someone hurting and he wanted to reach out. The unspoken rule is that guys don't touch guys, and that guys don't express affection to other guys. This is a rule Terry knew he would always break, even back in the days of early Catholic school. It just wasn't who he was.

"I don't want you to make me smile if you're hurting, you know. You saved my life, you don't need to also put yourself responsible for my entertainment." He smirks, a little.

Gar Logan has posed:
Gar Logan doesn't react like someone who knows what to think about this. It feels like Terry is trying to help, which is what he takes it for, but anything beyond that doesn't register yet. So, the hand is squeezed back before he begins to loosen it from Terry's with a murmured, "Thanks," again.

He leans back against the couch, staring up at the ceiling. "I like to smile, too. I'm happier that way. But it was hard to smile for a while. I don't want to go back to that place. And with you, I was just doing what any hero should have done. You just have to be more careful next time."

Then he eyes Terry, shaking his head. "Somehow I don't think that's going to get through when your cousin has Harley Quinn as a flatmate."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Terry smirks and reaches for the remote. "Yeah, precedent says it's not likely. My cousin has the Joker's ex number two in her apartment. I work for Lois Lane. I've only just gotten started. For all you know, I'll end up with Killer Croc over for tea and crumpets one day." He joke and winks at Gar, and turns on the television.

"I've got an idea. Why don't we watch Labyrinth and make fun of the armadillo stuffed down David Bowie' tights? Oh, and to up the ante we'll make it a sing-along. Pizza should be here in twenty."

Gar Logan has posed:
"If you're going to hang out around me, things are gonna get weird a lot," Gar warns. Already, Terry's seen it.

In front of the Hall of Justice? Check.

The gang in Suicide Slums? Check.

The incident with the forgotten keys? Check.

April, Harley, and the hyenas? Check.

What's more, that's just in their first few encounters. He eyes the TV as it blinks into operation, giving Terry a sidelong glance. "I'm not sure I'm ready for that kind of commitment, but I'll give it a try in between stuffing my face."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"That had better be a promise, or I'll sue you for false advertisement," Terry smiles and queues the movie up. At Gar's reticence, he feigns impatience and rolls his eyes.

"Fine, fine. /I/ will sing along. You don't have to. Just be glad I decided not to add the finger puppets."

He sits back against the couch and hits 'play.'