4283/After The Crash

After The Crash
Date of Scene:	02 December 2020
Location:	E04 - Empty Dorm - Titan's Tower
Synopsis:	In which Gar and Terry do a lot of shutting up.
Cast of Characters:	Terry O'Neil, Gar Logan

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Terry O'Neil has posed:
It had been a thoroughly exhausting day. It started by trying to figure out the puzzle of a white hole and temporal loops, and ended with the four missing Titans crossing paths with a band of intergalactic misfits, running away from religious zealots, almost wrecking the Eiffel Tower and subsequently crashing into Home, Sweet Home.

The celebration that ensued was definitely the highlight of the evening- three months of absence and doubting whether they would see each other again... while Terry was very much chummy with all of his present colleagues, he was inseparable from Gar. For his part, the redhead didn't discuss the eviction notice, or much of anything that was 'heavy', content merely to be in the presence of his extended family and the guy he loved. Of course, the moment they got settled into the party he sent a group text to Lois, Harley, Colette and his mother- telling them briefly that he had just crash landed back into Earth, was not injured, but he was also exhausted and would talk and see all of them after sleeping for the first time in three days.

He stayed at the party for as long as he could, but when his eyelids started drooping he excused himself. Since he didn't know the state of the apartment, he asked Gar if he could spend the night over with him. As if he needed to ask.

Due to Terry's level of exhaustion, though, not much happened outside of some very fond kissing and cuddling, but the human redhead (he had changed in order to stay off the sprained ankle) had fallen asleep in record time, arms wrapped around Gar.

He slept soundly and deeply, as one would under these circumstances. Now, it is noon... when he finally starts showing signs of life. He slowly opens his eyes, feelig both restored but also lethargic from having slept so much, the light streaking through the windows making it a little hard to see, bleary as he is.

"Mmphs?"
%

Gar Logan has posed:
There was stuff that went on for a while, and Gar was happy to participate, smiling normally again for the first time in a while, but his thoughts weren't entirely there. A lot took place on both sides of the coin, with the missing group and those who remained, and a lot of catching up was due.

Soon.

First, rest.

It wasn't hard to see how things had impacted the missing Titans, and while the two shared a few close moments up in Gar's room, sleep came pretty quickly. And it went on, and on, and in Terry's case, on a bit further.

By the time he started to come back around, Gar was seated in his desk chair, turned so his chest was resting against the backrest, his arms wrapped around it. He was just watching Terry, waiting.

"Hey."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Blinking the sleep away, Terry slowly pushes himself up to a sitting position. That's when he notices he still has his jeans on, realizing he must have been much too tired to fully undress. At least he had the presence of mind to kick his sneakers off and not muddy Gar's sheets with them.

"Hey," he answers back, giving Gar a wide grin. "You're really here. I'm really here. For a moment I thought I had dreamed it all, including the talking Raccoon. But it's true, and I'm home."

With a quickness that contrasts with his sluggish awakening, he slides out of the bed and almost bounds over to Gar, kneeling on the floor and wrapping his arms around him in an enthusiastic hug, the only thing keeping him from kissing Gar is the fact that he has just woken up, and hasn't located a toothbrush yet.

Gar Logan has posed:
"What talking raccoon? Maybe you dreamed that part. But someone else said something too.." Gar shrugs. There was no talking raccoon at any partying, and before that he was too focused on Vorpal being carried out by Cyborg to think of much else.

"Dude, get up. You don't have to.." Kneel? He squirms his way out of the chair and slips into the hug, fingers impulsively shifting to scratch at a tailbase that isn't there right now. Oh. Right.

And good thing there's no kiss. He doesn't need Terry's dragon breath. Gar has it enough when he /is/ a dragon. "You don't know how much I missed you."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"You are wrong. I do." Terry's reply is a little muffled by the hug. He reflexively nuzzles Gar's neck, a gesture he's acquired even when he's outside his feline form, "I know exactly how much you missed me. I could feel it- the probe worked. I could feel you missing me, loving me." He looks up and smiles, reaching out to run a hand through Gar's always wild green hair, not too different from his own usually unruly coppery hair. "Without you, we would have been lost. We were moving away from the way out of hyperspace and didn't even know it. We might have wandered forever or ended up on the other end of the universe, but you guided us back."

He exhales softly and closes his eyes, resting his head on Gar's shoulder, "That makes you my hero yet again, you know? You seem to have a knack for saving my life." His words are very similar to some of the things he said in his video.

His eyes snap open, as the realization hits him. "...oh god... did ah, did you get a... video in your email?"

Gar Logan has posed:
Gar Logan's hand shifts to the small of the back, resting there. The other is up around the shoulder blades, the back of the neck. An 'mmm' at the gesture.

"It worked, then? I was talking to Colette and something sort of clicked like, 'could we do some kind of beacon?' and Nadia helped make it. We almost got killed out by Jupiter and ran into some aliens, but we were in the wrong spot and..that was mostly my fault because I didn't know the right thing to do, but..jeez, it worked." He exhales, relief clear after Terry tells of how they were on the wrong path until the beacon was noticed.

He smiles, a mix of forced and natural. "That's what we do, man. We save lives all over the place. Even our own sometimes." The video that comes up? "Ahh..yeah. Like, the morning after you guys disappeared. I almost quit living when I saw it." He squeezes closer at that point.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"I'm so sorry." Terry squeezes back, tightly. "I didn't want something to happen to me without... saying some things. I'm so sorry if it hurt you. I didn't mean to, I'd never want to."

He pulls back from the hug, but it's merely a ploy to drag Gar back to bed. Specifically, to sit on the bed and pull Gar onto his lap, to continue the embrace. "I'm... going to be /very/ touchy-feely for a little while. Fair warning," he says quietly, "But you're... you're okay now. I'm back and you heard what I had to tell you. And all of that, what you mean to me, is true." He pauses and strokes Gar's hair.

"Colette came for you," he says with a slight smile, "I knew it. I knew she wouldn't let me down. How's mom? April? Harl? You must have worked closely with Nadia... I could also sense Kian in that telepathic touch. You guys must have worked closely to get that to happen."

Gar Logan has posed:
"It was just..a lot of stuff all at once," Gar says, not resisting any of the shifting in positions, or more than just that. Truth be told, he's going to be in a similar position whether he says it in words or not. "After things kind of got outed at the party, and I wrote what I did, then your story came out, and right before you disappeared..I ran off to a place nobody else knew about and that's when the video showed up. I know why you had it set to go, but..yeah."

He shakes his head amid the touching of hair, explaining, "I didn't do anything for a few days. I couldn't do anything. Then Colette figured out where I was and she tried telling me some stuff and I finally yelled at her, but I remembered I had to check something so I saw April and then I saw your mom, and that's when I knew you weren't really dead, and everyone was probably alive somewhere. But we weren't sure what we could do about it and Robin and I fought once and then the days just kind of blended together and finally we got the idea that maybe we could try to make that beacon." Lots of words, not exactly full of detail, but still conveying a lot of what was going on.

"And you guys were probably doing, well, I don't really know. But I think everyone is okay."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"What we were doing... oh god. That's a whole tale in and of itself. Half of it you'd find unbelievable." He pauses for a moment, absorbing everything. "Everyone is okay. Except maybe me..." he glances over at his phone, and chuckles, "I've got to untangle the mess with my job and my apartment, but right now I'm just... here. Cait told me the pranks you and Vic used to pull on each other," he chuckles, his arms encircling Gar's waist a little more, "... a dog collar, hmm?" he says with a teasing tone, one eyebrow raised.

Gar Logan has posed:
Gar Logan's eyes shift toward the ceiling. "We got attacked by the Fearsome Five, but after we regrouped we went after them and took care of things. I don't know about everyone else, but I was just sort of drifting until we had the beacon idea and we tried to make it work. A part of me wishes I was with you guys instead, but what if you never made it back?"

It was a definite concern of his. Even the beacon wasn't guaranteed to work, and he..pauses, squinting at Terry after a dog collar is brought up. "I dunno what you're talking about," he answers, sounding innocent. But is it legit?

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"I'm glad you weren't hurt. We'd be a pair... my ankle is still spained as Vorpal. I expect to be pampered until I am fully recovered," he jokes, and then he grows serious for a second. "You and Robin fought? Over what? I... can't say I didn't think about the possibilitty of us not coming back. Donna was dead set that we'd find a way back somehow... but I have to admit I had my dobts. Gar, I was worried about you and mom the most. Momm... I'm her only child. You..." he takes a slow breath, "I was worried you wouldn't be able to move on. The reason I made the video is because I'd hoped that maybe ... in time, you'd be able to find someone. Not be scared to open up to someone else... that you'd go to a dark place."

He runs a hand up and down Gar's back, with a gentle caress.

Gar Logan has posed:
Gar Logan deadpans, after Vorpal brings up being pampered, "I'm more of a Huggies kind of guy, but whatever floats your boat." If he can joke, things aren't too bad. His eyes turn evasive, at least until a sensitive spot is come into contact with, then he shakes his head. "Robin thought it was useless hoping you guys were gonna come back, and I said something about him not knowing what it was like to have any friends or something, and the next thing I know he's right there in the same room and punching me, so we went at it for a few minutes before he..uh, well, let's just say I think we learned a few things about each other after we stopped."

"And I don't know. About moving on. When I saw your mom..she wasn't doing so great, but she seemed to figure out what was going on with you and I filled in a couple blanks. I saw your old room. And the lamp." He avoids discussing dark places right now. They both know the past he came from. Now, Gar reaches up to rest a hand along the top and side of Terry's head.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"... oh god my room..." Terry mutters, shaking his head. That means Gar saw The Poster. And everything. His pale skin reddens visibly, but he welcomes the distraction of the hand, against which he leans with a slight 'hmmm'. Green eyes open and look at Gar, "She figured out... wait, you mean she knew? All of this time? ... crap. Colette was right. Don't you ever tell her I said that," he says. Then he lets himself fall back on the bed, pulling Gar in with him to land on top of him, which is a perfect excuse for an impromptu kiss.

They did a lot of kissing, last night, almost enough to catch up. Almost. Unfortunately there has been no toothbrush action that would make a kiss feasible, so instsead he scoots so that his legs aren't dangling off the bed and both can cuddle comfortably in the mess of covers.

"I am going to see mom and April today. Harl will probably be there as well, so there may be food involved. If you want to come..." he reaches over and runs a fingertip along one of Gar's pointy ears, "Donna and I had a talk. While we were preparing for the last leg of the journey... made me think. Maybe I should 'come out.' Life is too uncertain and precious to go around playing hide and seek and pretending. I don't want to pretend like I'm not your boyfriend when I'm not wearing the fur, you know? I want to be able to make you regret you took me out in public no matter what I look like," he says with a broad grin, squeezing Gar to him.

Gar Logan has posed:
"It was mostly what I expected," Gar comments, regarding the room he saw and what was in it. "And your cheeks are almost like your hair right now. Did you know that?" He shakes his head, then. "Dude, you know moms figure everything out. That thing you thought she never found out about? Of course she knew. They all do. I won't tell Colette she was right about anything, though. Don't worry." Even if he might have already.

He adjusts positions again, burying himself partly in the covers, partly in a tangle of limbs. "Do you want me there for all that? Or would you be more comfortable by your..hnnhh..self?" Just as that ear as being touched, too. The question of 'coming out' is one he passes off, maybe even skillfully. "That's something you have to work out for yourself. I don't have a secret identity, and I was waiting for the right time to say something about us but someone beat me to it. If you think it'll be easier on you, you should be the one to control how you let everyone know. But after all of this..yeah, if it was me, I'd just do it." He clears his throat. "I can't take you anywhere, regardless."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Terry raises an eyebrow and smirks, "I beg to differ. You could take me right here, right now." he gives Gar's backside a playful squeeze and a subsequent wink. "It's been three months. What can I say?" he says. "I mean. I guess I should be /responsible/ and all that and go and take care of things but... I missed you. And you're in the same boat. We could spend a little time catching up." Now it is his turn to place his hand along the side of Gar's face, fingertips sliding into his hair.

"What do /you/ want to do? I imagine you're probably hungry... but what are you hungry for the /most/?"

Terry definitely is on full mischief mode- an impish smile that makes him look like the cat that ate the canary.

Gar Logan has posed:
Gar Logan rolls around from the hold and swats at the offending hand. "Terry! Not in front of the kids!"

They're alone, obviously.

He will get Terry back the next time the cat is around. Oh yes, he will.

"Responsible? I'll believe it when I see it. And..yeah, I missed you too. More than you know." Which is why it might be odd that he's suddenly shying away from the touch of hand to face, fingers in hair.

The mischief is not returned, not right now. "Actually, there's something you need to know," he begins, sliding away from any contact or touches, light or otherwise, to get back to his feet and rub at one of his elbows.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
By now, Terry knows a lot of Gar's tells. His power and metabolism makes the Titan have a voracious appetite- so if he ever says 'no' to a meal, there's something bothering him. He has a tendency to rub his ears when he's thinking about something challenging, like some form of self-soothing stroke. But when he eludes touch and starts rubbing at his elbows, it means there's something that is really bothering him.

Terry sits up on the bed, a frown furrowing his forehead. He pushes errant strands of coppery hair out of his eyes, which are slightly wide in apprehension. "What is it?" he asks quietly, "You know you can tell me anything."

Normally he'd pat the side of the bed to encourage closeness, but he can see that he is keeping aloof. Perhaps for a reason.

Gar Logan has posed:
Can he? That's about to be found out.

Gar begins, finding a particularly blank spot on the wall to stare at as if it's anything but nothing, "So, like, at first we figured everything would be back to normal in a couple weeks once we had an idea you were all okay. And then it turned into a couple weeks more, then a couple months. I couldn't stop thinking about it, and you and, just, everything."

He walks over to that nonexistent spot on the wall and probes at it, as if there's a mark there he needs to remove. "Kian and I were talking one day and he noticed I wasn't..me. Like, it was as if I had dark clouds following me around everywhere, and I wasn't smiling or joking as much. Then one day I was on monitor duty and I saw him up on the roof doing something, so I went up and he explained he was doing some ritual of his. A couple times, I went flying with him as one of his people and I could tell how much better it made him feel for a little while. You remember when we first met him?" That was the time Gar surprised everybody, especially Kian, by becoming an Akiar.

"Anyway, the way they can talk to each other just by thinking is kind of, you know, just this pure thing, and I think he knew how lonely I was, and he told me about someone who was special to him back where he came from, and we ended up just..together, and it felt really nice, but I never stopped thinking about you or hoping you'd be back soon." The last little bit is said extra fast. Then, his shoulders tense up and he goes to the elbow again, avoiding eye contact.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Terry sits on the bed, watching Gar as he goes into the recital of all of the things that have happened up to this date.

It is customary, in the history of romance, for jilted lovers to sceam. To throw things, sometimes. To walk. Terry just sits there in silence, his hands playing with the covers, making little figures here and there. Thee's a little hooded figure that looks like Raven. There's a little bunny rabbit. His eyes are on the sheets, but his mind is clearly processing things.

"Okay... that... wasn't what I was expecting..." he says quietly, as one who is going through different thoughts at once, but they don't quite reach his lips. "Kian... has been away from his love for... nine months now? He fell to earth in, what, February?" he muses quietly.

Gar Logan has posed:
Gar Logan starts to peek over a shoulder at Terry, to see how he's handling this. Is his expression shocked? Angered? Disappointed? Betrayed? Green hands dip into the pockets of the shorts he's wearing, and he glances curiously at the rearranged bedding.

"What were you expecting?" he ventures to wonder, then the question of how long Kian's been away from his lover is touched on. "I..guess? Has it been that long?" Three times as long as Gar was separated from Terry/Vorpal. "He described him to me. Actually, he showed me what he looked like when he was showing me how they played that sport he said he told you about."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"Yeah. I saw him too. You got to see the match, didn't you?" Terry's voice is perfectly calm, almost preternaturally so, "He showed it to me. Before I changed and my mind got too... chaotic."

He exhales softly. It was confusing. Strange. "Gar... I don't really know how... I mean." He waves his hands a little, "Like, normally... I'm not going to kid you. I would've waked out of this room to go cry somewhere and just... doubt the shit out of everything."

He sts his hands on the sheets, and exhales slowly, "But I heard you. In my mind. I felt you. So... I know you love me. I was also in Kian's mind and I know /he/ is lonely, too."

He loos up at Gar and frowns a little, "But there's still a little part of me that feels..." he tilts his head "... Insecure? Maybe. Like.... you slept with Kian. But at the same time... you were an Akiar. With him. And Kian at one point explainted to me how Akiar see relationships... they don't really... mind the physical part, they put a lot more importance in the emotional commitment... at least that's what I remember..."

A pause. "Am I off base here?"

Gar Logan has posed:
Gar Logan turns back to face Terry, and there's uncertainty in his eyes, his expression. "I got to see it, and kind of feel it. It was interesting." The answer is on the guarded side, emotion kept in check.

Then, "I know. Like, I knew I shouldn't have, but I thought he needed some, you know, comfort, and so did I, and it just sort of happened, and I wouldn't blame you for being angry or hurt or anything, or if you did something while you were gone because you didn't know if you'd ever see me again, but.."

He gets quiet as he thinks about the beacon again, before chewing at his lip, that one tooth sticking out as usual. "I almost got some of us killed trying to get that beacon out there. Whatever you felt from it, that was the truth. I admit it, I like being an Akiar sometimes, because I like helping Kian feel a little less alone. I don't know if he'll ever get to see his people again, and they don't know he's alive. But you're who I want to be with."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"And you are who *I* want to be with, Gar."

Terry slides a little down so one foot is on the floor, another one propped on the mattress. Crossed arms perched over one knee. "So I guess... that if this is going to work out, we both should come to some agreement as to what that /means/, right?" he asks quietly. "I'm... a little conflicted, more like surprised, really. Normally I'd be hurt but.. I know what you feel for me. And you risked your life to try to get me back."

He frowns for a second, "You're going to find it funny, but... if I had never come back, that's what I would have wanted for you. So... why am I a little in dissarray?" he asks, with a wan smile. Then he notices the uncertainty in his eyes.

"For the record. I still love you. That hasn't changed."

Gar Logan has posed:
Gar Logan rubs an ear, the back of his neck, /and/ his elbow. All sorts of tells up in here!

"I guess that means we should, uh, talk to Kian soon," he says, and it sounds like there's some relief in his words at the indication that Terry isn't hurt, even if there's confusion in abundance.

He suggests, "Probably because you're back now, and I'm here, and it's complicated, and maybe we should just shut up for a minute and do something else."

'Something else' in this case? It's Gar advancing to take those hands, previously fretting over parts of his own body, and use them to seek out Terry's cheeks. "Terry or Vorpal, you're everything to me." Then he gets on with the shutting up part, leaning in.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Big, complicated situations and feelings can wait for a little while. It's been three months since Terry has been with Gar- held him in his arms. Kissed him. He leans into the kiss and eagerly gives back of himself, his hands touching Gar's face as if revisiting familiar territory that had been brarred to him. When he finally comes up for air, he gazess back at Gar and smiles, cheeks as red as his hair. "... dork."

He then laughs and pulls Gar up onto the bed with him, where they can cuddle and... shut up.

At least, at first.

Gar Logan has posed:
Gar Logan's last words before they disappear as a lump beneath the covers is, "Whatever. So I'm your hero, huh?"

They have some catching up to do.