4922/Act Of Contrition

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Act Of Contrition
Date of Scene: 28 January 2021
Location: Terry's Room: Themysciran Embassy
Synopsis: Terry comes to apologize to Gar and discovers that he totally misunderstood his reaction. But what else is new, right?
Cast of Characters: Terry O'Neil, Gar Logan




Terry O'Neil has posed:
What a night. After arriving at the Embassy, Terry and Kian found that there was not a lot that could be learned in the spur of the moment- emergencies were like that. Terry had better sense than to insinuate himself into the proceedings, despite what some might think about him. Instead, he bade Kian goodnight and told him that he needed to see Gar and apologize to him.

It wasn't going to be an easy task.

In fact, Terry did /not/ go directly to Gar's room but he went out to a nearby sotre to get something, then came back. He was worried sick about what had happened with Diana, and not knowing was killing him,. But there wasn't anything he could do about that right now. But there /was/ something he could do about where things stood with Gar. At least, in part.

He doesn't actually come into his assigned room, but stands outside of it, hiding something behind his back. He gives three tentative knocks and steps back.

Gar Logan has posed:
It's been a strange couple of days since getting Agatha O'Neil to safety and fleeing the scene. He's been out of the loop with some things, staying holed up in the fancy but limiting room at the Themysciran Embassy. It was probably the closest he'd ever get to Themyscira itself, but that was neither here nor there.

It was a form of house arrest, and while he understood the need to hide out away from Titans Tower until the doppelgangers could be surprised, it was boring.

Terry's other could have seen him, and that would have definitely got back to Gar's other. For the moment, maybe 'Manxsome' just thought Terry got up and shoulder-blocked him through the portal. Hopefully that was the case.

With the TV on, Gar rests on the comfortable bed, flipping through channels with remote in hand as the knock at the door comes. "Room service?" he asks himself. "I didn't order any room service. Do they even do that here?" It's fancy enough. Maybe they do.

"Who is it?" he calls, raising the pitch of his voice just enough that he doesn't sound entirely like Gar.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
For a moment, Terry wants to bite back the reply that comes to him by habit- 'It's me, you goof!', but the situation merits something else. He feels he's on thin ice, after all.

"Gar, it's me." He pauses, and realizes the green teen might be mistrustful of Terry's double, so he adds "And the secret anecdote is 'Lion.'" - something only the two of them would know.

Gar Logan has posed:
There is silence, for about fifteen seconds. Not much sound from within the room, perhaps a bit of rustling or movement.

Just when Terry might be thinking Gar's ignoring him, just when he might be ready to turn around and leave with his head low, the door opens.

It opens enough for a green hand to dart out, grab Terry by the front of his coat or sweater or whatever he's in, yank him into the room, and shut the door behind him, locking it afterward.

Then he squeezes Terry into a tight hug. "Why didn't you come sooner? I'm dying of boredom in here."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Terry is so stunned that he doesn't immediately return the hug, after being yoinked into the room. Only after a few seconds does he get his bearings and hugs Gar back tightly, causing something floral and wrapped in paper to crinkle behind Gar's back.

"Oh- oh, right..."

A small bouquet of flowers is hastily presented, to rest in between them. It's not actually a /flower/ bouquet so much as a green bouquet of freshly-cut Hypericum, still in the bud. The tone of the buds are not too far from Gar's own coloration. "I... I didn't... I didn't know what to say or do," he says, his voice is a little weaker than it usually is. "I screwed things up so much and you were so angry at me, I felt ashamed coming back here. Then Donna got mad at me, and I just... crashed at the planet."

He looks at Gar after having looked away for his entire delivery, and there's something odd with his eyes. Whereas they usually are a vibrant shade of sea green, they're looking more washed-out, almost green-gray. His reddish mane seems to have lost some of its luster as well, some parts of it looking a little browner than coppery. "I know I'm in the doghouse. But I don't wanna be... so how can I make this better?"

Gar Logan has posed:
"Dude..did you fade or something?" Gar asks, the first thing he says after Terry's attempted explanation and talk about anger and this and that.

He lets go and realizes the flowers are there, leading to him raising a brow. Why did Terry bring..? Nevermind. Not as important right now. "Uh, just set those over there, okay?" he says, pointing to a dresser next to the bed.

Crossing his arms, he considers Terry with a mix of speculation and confusion. That happens a fair bit with these two. "I'm starting to feel like whatever you think my reaction is to something, you should stop for a second and think the total opposite. We could have contacted someone for help, but you were scared and worried about your mom and just wanted to get there as soon as possible. I should have stopped you and tried to make you see we could have done it another way. It could have all gone upside down on us."

He holds up a hand, expecting Terry to want to explain further. Not done yet. "So, like, whatever you did with your dupe? That wasn't real smart, but it happened and we'll find a way to fix it. Was I annoyed? Yeah, kinda, but I had to get out of there before the other me saw me. For all we know, your dupe had him spying on us out of sight. Maybe they already know I'm not dead. We already have one Impulse on the team, dude. No more running off without others, and that means both of us."

Imagine him saying this. Yet, he is.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Terry blinks, "Fade? What do you mean?..." puzzled, he sets the bouquet by the dresser, and turns to face Gar. His expression is definitely a puzzled one, and then mobes to full embarrassment when he realizes how much he misunderstood Gar's reaction. "Well... I now feel like an idiot. Again."

He sits on the bed and looks down at his hands. "I screwed it up so much. I thought I had him. I actually did habe him... if I hadn't slipped, if he hadn't said the words... I'd be back to normal."

Normal. Yes. That is the new normal, for Terry. "And now I'm... ordinary again. I'm a burden to all of you, I can't eben be useful in a fight."

What's strange is that there isn't the usual lebel of emotion accompanied by this. He's decidedly more phlegmatic than Terry is known to be. "Habe I always been this much of a screw-up and haben't really noticed because I could always just Rabbit Hole things away?"

Gar Logan has posed:
Gar Logan's mouth forms a thin line, that tooth poking out. "Dude, you're lucky I'm a nice guy, otherwise I might smack you right now. You're moping, and you know how I know you're moping? 'cause I was doing the same thing for a long time, thinking I was no use to anybody, drowning in negativity."

He points a finger at Terry, right to the point of pressing it against the bridge of his nose. "You know who helped get me out of that? You. Nobody else. I came back here hoping for something but I wasn't sure if there was anything to save with the team, and you helped me believe it was worth not giving up on. That wasn't a Vorpal thing. That was you and who you are."

Turning away, he throws a hand up. "So feel sorry for yourself. Feel like you're a failure. Get it out of your system, and realize that nobody is ditching you whether you have the Vorpal side or not. You know how many people we have on the team that don't have any special powers? At least three. Yeah, they're really good at stuff because they had the training, but it's not like you're getting sign-up offers from AARP."

He reminds, "And this is temporary. We're getting your powers back soon. That's all there is to it. You're just gonna have to be careful about it, because right now that other guy holds all the cards. You look like you've lost some color. Like, all over. It's weird. But we all make mistakes, dude. If we left after we screwed something up, there'd be no Titans. It's what we do to make it better that matters."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
And then, there's a pair of arms hugging Garfield from behind. There might be a sniffle, but if there is it is a subdued one. "Thank you," Terry says quietly, squeezing Gar to him. "I... you're right. It just feels like the floor was swept out from under me and my feelings and thoughts are all out of whack... and you say I've..."

He lets go of Gar and walks to the mirror in the bathroom, and he freezes.

"Faded." He turns his head this way and that, and then leans in to take a look at his irises. It is possible that his skin is even paler, if that is possible. "This can't be good," he says quietly, turning his head this way and that. "It's like I've gone through a vintage Instagram filter..."

Gar Logan has posed:
Gar Logan doesn't do a thing to deny the embrace. "I was just telling you the way I see it. Maybe you needed to hear it, but none of it was a lie. I know if that was my parents my evil copy kidnapped and I thought he was gonna kill them, I'd be there as fast as I could...but I'd have made sure I had others with me, not just you. And if I'm saying you have to be more careful, that should probably tell you something."

Hindsight, of course, leads to perfect vision. Terry lost his powers as a result of things. Would that have happened anyway? It's possible, but they could have had Manxsome in a position where he couldn't turn the tables.

"You just gotta remember if your powers got split, even if you lost them, that means it can be reversed. We just have to make sure we get them good, and make sure they can't flip it around on all of us. We're not going after them by ourselves, no matter what happens. You hear me?" he says, putting enough room between them so they can look each other in the eyes.

Once Terry sees his reflection, Gar comments, "I don't know what that means. Do you feel..like you're not whole?"

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"Yeah..." Terry mutters, not being able to take his eyes away from his reflection- "I keep feeling... moments where I don't really feel much. Like a few hours ago I was a total jackass to Kate and Donna and didn't even feel remorse for saying insensitive things. But then when the news that Diana had been badly hurt came in and Donna ran, it was like something jolted me awake and I started feeling..." he frowns, "But even now I feel like I'm cooling down again. Oh Gar, don't let me be an ass to you."

He looks away and back to Gar. "I'm not well. I'm not entirely myself. I know this sounds like an excuse but it isn't." He approaches Gar again, seeking out his hand with his, "I'm going to try not to lapse again. But if it happens... you have to remember that you're the most important person in my life. Even if I'm acting like a cold and detached bastard. In fact, if that happens... I don't know. Slap me. Kiss me. Pants me. Whatever it takes to jolt me out. I've already been an ass to two of our friends and I need to apologize when things are better. I don't want to add yet another to the list..."

His voice drops, "And we'll fix this. You're right. We'll plan as a team. But I need to ask you permission for something."

He looks at the green boy in the eyes. "I want to go see Harley. Kate wants to run me through training so I can be prepared. Okay. I can do that. But I want Harley to teach me every single dirty trick she knows in a fight. My doppelganger was /terrified/ of Harley, apparently he crossed her path in that other world, and she's one of the ones fighting ZZ..." is that a certain twinkle in Terry's eye? Maybe a momentary flare of happiness to know that Harley was redeemed there as well as she was trying to here. She had, after all, been the one with the best idea on how to search for Gar, and she had been there herself.

"She's already taught me how to fight, but he's going to be pulling out every dirty trick in the book when we clash. If I have some tricks up my sleeve..." he reaches out with one hand to touch Gar's cheek. "But I won't if you don't think it's a good idea."

He is learning, little by little.

Gar Logan has posed:
Gar Logan frowns. "Okay, first? Whatever happened to Wonder Woman..this is gonna sound harsh, but we're not gonna be a part of that. I have to stay out of sight, and you don't have your powers. we're just gonna have to leave that to others to take care of and trust that it'll be fine. I'm sure she's been through worse." It's hard to say 'we can't help,' but right now that's the truth as he sees it.

"Second," he says as he lets his hand be held, "you're not gonna apologize to them later. You're gonna do it right now. That can't wait. You need to send them a message so it doesn't get worse because people aren't talking." He doesn't comment on what he might do to snap Terry out of it, but ever since the breakthrough in the microverse lab he's seemed more determined about a few things, like he doesn't want to waste the second chance he was given.

"Third, you aren't going anywhere right now. You're staying here with me for the next couple days. You looked after me, and now I'm gonna look after you. That means no going off to see Harley. You tell whoever you need to that you're keeping a low profile while things are being sorted out. We'll watch TV. You can work on some stories. We'll play some games or something. We can talk about stuff. But I'm not letting you out of my sight right now, and if I have to tell the Amazons here to keep an eye on you and not let you sneak off, I will. I'm not letting you go out and do something dumb right now, because you're not okay. If you want to have someone come here to see you, that's fine."

Someone just got /very/ protective, now that he's realized a few things. "So what's it gonna be?"

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Terry blinks for a couple of seconds, and then nods, a little smile coming to his face. It's not the usual level of emotion, but it's something. "... confined to your company for days on end. I don't know what I'm going to do with myself." Because his delivery is flatter than usual, he kisses Gar's cheek to indicate that he's joking. "You win. I'm sticking with you. And if I /have/ to go out to do something, Kian's coming with me. Or one of the others like Kate if Kian can't. Is that okay?" Kian was Sensible Mind Number Two, so he assumed he could be trusted to be a good keeper. "I'll send the message right now..." and then he blushes a little. "It's... kind of nice, I guess, feeling protected by you. I like seeing this side of you, stepping up into the leadership boots."

And then, he leans forward and places a kiss on the green guy's lips. "Do you want to snuggle up under the covers for a bit and... not watch TV for a while?"

Gar Logan has posed:
Gar Logan makes a slightly strained sound in the back of his throat. "I'm not a leader. I'm just trying to keep you from doing something you won't be able to come back from." Not everyone can turn into a starfish to survive.

"But..yeah. If you have to, it has to be with another Titan. Hopefully at least two." He takes the kiss, returns a brief nuzzle because he does still have that side of him in there, and he squeezes the hand. "I'm not gonna let you be dumb without me getting in the way of it. I've done enough dumb things already." And there will be more. Count on it. Not this moment, though.

He..savors the kiss, returning it. "Yeah. And thanks for the flowers."