5417/One hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred...

One hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred...
Date of Scene:	02 March 2021
Location:	2D - Terry's Apartment
Synopsis:	Has it really been a year already? Terry and Gar take a day to look back and look ahead.
Cast of Characters:	Terry O'Neil, Gar Logan

---

Terry O'Neil has posed:
One Year Ago...

The problem with being hyper-focused on your own problems is that the world can pass you by, because the world is nothing more than that thing that takes place outside of your little bubble. This can lead to many different complications- none more dangerous than when the inside world is on a collision course with the outside.

Take, as an example, Terry O'Neil. Recently moved to Metropolis, obsessed with finding out the truth about his father's identity and his past. Head down, feet walking and fingers furiosly racing across the screen, following up on a lead as he walks right outside the Hall of Justice.

He's on a collision course.

===========

Now.

He's waiting. The 23rd of February, unfortunately, fell on a weekday, which meant he was at the Planet. But he had arranged to get out early enough that there was still a good amount of sunlight. By 3pm, Terry was sitting on a bench right across from the Hall of Justice, and looking down at his phone.

<<I'm here! How far away are you?>>

While he waits for a response from Gar, he looks down to make sure his satchel is right where he left it. Not that anyone would be so stupid as to try to bag-snatch right outside of the Hall of Justice... maybe.

Gar Logan has posed:
One Year Ago...

There were many songs that could have summed up Garfield Logan's state of mind as he returned to Metropolis, attempted to visit Titans Tower, and found a situation that did not feel like it had much good going for it. There was one by a certain alternative, rap-rock band that fit the moment, and it went like this:

It seems uncertain
I wish it was forgone
To know the version
That made life go wrong

Wish I had a clue
What rearranged our molecules
Mostly wondering
It seems uncertain

In times of trouble
Everyone joins a team
No one waves a flag
For all human beings

In times of trouble, everyone left the team. That was one of the big differences. Doomsday broke the Titans. He drove a wedge between the members of the 'family.' He caused them to fracture, to drift apart, never to return.

But someone had to try. It had to be Gar. It always had to be Gar.

Returning to Metropolis was the first step. After the initial rebuke by Raven, with Nightwing there to witness it, Gar was discouraged. He was down, but not out. He didn't cross the country to return from Los Angeles just to give up after one failure. He put on a smile when he started livestreaming a visit to the Hall of Justice. Little did he know he would bump into someone who would change the path of his life.

===========

Now.

<<Dude, I'm almost there. I got held up. My adoring public, you know.>>

Well, that was a bit of a lie. He was running late, that much was true, but in classic Gar fashion he overslept and it left him scrambling to play catch up. Just how you oversleep for a mid-afternoon get-together...don't ask. Just don't.

It's a quick flight over from the Tower, and after sneakily landing out of sight he returns to normal - his normal - before adjusting his clothes, checking his hair in a car's side mirror, then jogging his way over. "Yo!"

Terry O'Neil has posed:
The Titans. They loomed large in Terry's adolescence. Between the walls of the Catholic school and the walls that he had built around himself as a ward to keep his secrets, the thought that there were other kids out there who were different and not just heroic, but media darlings of their own... that was something that kept him going.

Perhaps one day, he thought, he'd get to interview them. Wouldn't that be awesome?

And then, Doomsday came and the Titans were gone, leaving behind an abandoned tower and ghosts. Terry's self-imposed cell grew a little darker, a little colder. Superman was gone from the world, and although Wonder Woman had revealed herself, everything was uncertain and doubt, like the God the Nuns told him was constantly judging him, was everywhere. Everything was in flux.

Some nights, when Agatha thought her son was asleep, she would sneak over to the living room and listen to some of her father's LPs. There was one song that always seemed to prop up, a song that Terry found gave him some mysterious solace, though he did not know why.


And when the brooken hearted people living in the world agree
There will be an answer, let it be.
For though they may be parted, there is still a chance that they will see
There will be an answer, let it be, let it be...

He remembered falling asleep to the sound of those words, and for a moment everything was fine.

And then strange things started to happen to him, and he intuited that his enigmatic father, absent from all of his life, was the key.

And so, Metropolis was the key. He had no way of knowing it would be in more ways than one.

That screen was angering him. Or, rather, the person on the other end. Obtuse and obstinate, refusing to disclose information he very much needed. He was seeing red.

And then a hard bump, a fall to the ground, and then he was seeing green.

=======

<<Your adoring public. And what am I? Chopped liver?>> He added a grinning emoji, and waited.

When Gar finally jogs up to him, he finds Terry in his button-up long-sleeved shirt and slacks, what he usually wore to the Planet.

"You look like you just took a nap for the ages!" Terry quips, standing up and opening his arms to invite Gar into a hug. How does he know? He knows. There are things he has learned to pick up on by now that are more on the level of the unconscious than something fully conscious. Not exactly a normal progression for a relationship- most people spend a lot more time apart, but when you are part of the same team /and/ have lived together in and out of the tower, some things accelerate. "You're looking handsome, nevetheless," he concedes, his smile widening.

Gar Logan has posed:
There was no chance for Gar to sit up at night hearing his parents listening to a song. They had died years ago.

Circumstances led to him finding a new family, becoming one of the members of the Doom Patrol, though he was still not even into his teenage years yet. It was the first step toward his own goal of becoming one of the Titans. When it happened, he'd found the place he wanted to be for the rest of his life, or at least as far ahead as he could imagine, and that usually wasn't beyond the next month or so.

It was why he couldn't give up the ghost, couldn't accept that it truly was over post-Doomsday. They learned how unprepared they were to handle a world-threatening danger, and though Superman eventually returned, the losses the Titans experienced haunted them for an extended period.

Until someone tried again.

=======

Someone who saw green every time he looked down at himself, or in the mirror.

<<More like a pâté, but I just wanted a reason to use that word.>>

By the time he came around, he was in his costume. Sometimes, when you're going out in public, you just have to be ready for anything. Fans wouldn't mind a photo no matter what he was in, but with Beast Boy of the Titans, in full costume? Extra cool points there.

"A nap?" he asks, freezing on the spot, which is the biggest tell of all. "Who was napping? I, uh, totally wasn't, totally didn't forget to set an alarm. You must have me mixed up with some other irresponsible green..person." He never was a good liar.

The hug is a welcome excuse to get away from making excuses, and he lowers his voice. "I didn't forget, though. Really. I wouldn't do that."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"You're..." A pause. His eyes check the face- yep. "Dude, you're Gar Logan."

That had been pretty funny, looking back at things. A chance encounter like any other.

What on earth possessed him to try to prod Gar out into the open? Maybe the fact that this Beast Boy was more subdued, and more dubitative, than the Beast Boy he had followed. Maybe it was the fact that he had a pretty good idea of how adrift he might have felt without the Titans. As adrift as Terry himself felt knowing there was an important secret in his family, but not knowing at the same time.

In hindsight, that outing at the beach had been doomed from the start. "Just try to give me some good angles and we can get this PSA done in no time," he'd said to Garfield as they descended into the beach, all clammy sand and early spring breezes. It had been perfect because hardly anyone went to the beach in that cold, so they'd have the beach to themselves.

The giant monster, apparently, had been thinking along those lines as well.


======


"I know you wouldn't," Terry grins, leaning in to kiss Garfield, turning the hug into an embrace. Someone nearby may be snapping a picture with their camera, he doesn't care much, but he imagines he can expect teasing from Caitlin about being shameless in public again. "So..." Terry says, stepping back and grabbing his satchel from the ground, fiddling with the buckles to open it. "It's been a year already. This is where you knocked me flat on my ass!" the redhead says with mischief, grinning at Gar, "I never stood a chance."

Gar Logan has posed:
In some ways, things moves quickly. In others, they moved very slowly.

The interest was quick to develop, though early on it was more along the lines of Gar trying to help keep Terry from being killed, given what he was getting himself into. In that sense, Terry was Titans material from the start. Reckless, but willing to chase things to the end in order to find answers or come to a resolution about a matter.

Was Gar ever really that different, when it came down to it? Were any of the people in this so-called profession?

The PSA had good intentions behind it, even if in hindsight it was little more than an excuse for Terry to get Gar into a wetsuit. But, Gar took to it like, well, a dolphin in water, playing to the camera, and it was absolutely only going to need one take if not for the poor creature that was suffering from mutations and wounds. It saw a meal, attacked, and Gar ended up spending a few days convalescing on Terry's couch.

======

If there's any hesitancy in the kiss in public, it's short-lived. They were already outed before, and Gar leaned into it with his public comments afterward. It was the only real way to handle it.

Once space is made again, he peers in the direction of the bag. "Yeah, good times," he quips, clearly not meaning it. "I sure hope you didn't try to stash a cake in there, because..well, I'd still eat it, but I'd just have to close my eyes first."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Those days were a blur. In a way, the circumstances that brought Gar under Terry's roof were decidedly something of a Monkeypaw twist- he wanted to grow closer to Gar, but decidedly not at the cost of an injury. Still, nevertheless, it was enjoyable and tortuous at the same time, the redhead finding himself unable to fully articulate what he thought while somewhat hoping Gar would read his mind and be somehow okay with it.

Lots of sleepless nights laying in bed, staring at the ceiling while knowing Gar was sleeping just outside his room. The occasional hearbreak when Gar showed such low confidence in himself, and Terry couldn't quite get through to him.


========


"Goof. It's not a cake, that comes later." Terry smirks and draws something out from the satchel. He feels like he has to preface it- "It's not... I mean, it's not flashy because I know you don't do that stuff, but I wanted to... I dunno." He gestures, "I wanted to give you something that marked the occasion. Something you could wear that was from me," he grins impishly, "And although Caitlin's suggestion of a flea collar was funny, I know you'd toss me out the window."

He hands it to Gar. It's one of those Holzkern bracelets made of wood and metal-but this one has a touch of color. Inlaid into each wooden section is the silhouette of a different animal, made out of some green mineral- most likely Aventurine. The one exception is a silhouette of a cat, which is a vivid orange wulfenite silhouette. It's definitely not a model that you can find in stores, so it is likely Terry had it custom-made. "I hope you like it..." he says with a sheepish grin.

Gar Logan has posed:
There was a lot of awkwardness and confusion then, a number of stops and starts. Gar wasn't sure what he was feeling from one day to the next. That was natural when you were used to trying to have relationships with only the opposite sex, and none of them went anywhere. He was afraid of commitment, afraid of being turned away, afraid of being left alone again. It absolutely played into things when, all of a sudden, another guy showed interest in that way. Surely it was only going to end with more disappointment, so he was hesitant to let Terry in too much, too fast.

But, somehow things persisted. They had some ups and downs, some miscommunication, and hell, they're still probably going to have moments like that where they think one thing but it's really something else. Both have insecurities and worries to deal with. The worst was part of the team being lost in space only shortly after they were formally considered to be back again, even written about as a feature by Terry. It almost killed Gar to think not only Terry was gone, but also a few of the Titans he'd grown the closest to. They returned, but that wasn't the end of any uncertainties.

========

"Oh, so this is like some multi-course meal, except maybe not just a meal," Gar says, taking a step or two back as he fiddles with his hands just to have something to do with them. Eyes squinting, he remarks swiftly, "The only one needing a flea collar might be you."

The bracelet brings with it an initial look of confusion out of him. "What is..oh, I think I've seen these around before. Wood and..yeah. It's.." He inspects it more closely for detail, picking out some of his more common forms represented in the thing. "Huh, neat," he starts out, until he gets to the cat of a different color. "Is this one different so I don't forget you? Because..I don't think that's happening." He grins down at it, and fastens it in place. "It's awesome. I might not be able to wear it all the time because I don't want it to get damaged or lose it, like the pendant from the flight ceremony, but this is neat. Thanks."

He scuffs a bare foot against the ground. "I..still have to figure out something for you. For now, you have me?" He looks over with a hopeful expression.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Being lost in space. Uncertain of ever coming back. That sort of thing really helped you sharpen your priorities. When he returned, Terry decided to do away with lies and facades, making his life an open book was a price worth paying to ensure he and Gar could be together openly.


=====


"I'd call us even if you put that in writing," Terry says with a grin. Gift given, the satchel serves no purpose, so Terry transforms into Vorpal with a glance and a word, the cat hooking an arm with Gar's.

"I have you, I don't expect to give you back you know. Finder's keepers," Vorpal says with a grin, and starts tugging Gar along as a Rabbit Hole opens. "Come. I've got reservations."

====


Gar almost lost Terry, and soon Terry almost lost Gar. Both had been certain of the other's demise for a brief amount of time. This was something they both had feared- and this was a reality that they had to live with, choosing to live the life they lead. While it isn't an experience he wants to live through again, Terry walked away with the lesson that nothing, and nobody, should be taken for granted.


=====


Mylos Café, Bar & Restaurant has a rooftop view of the Pacific ocean. It's in California, the sister restaurant of an identical restaurant in Santorini, Greece, owned by the same proprietor. The fare is mediterranean fusion, with some Italian on the side as well. Vorpal had been planning this surprise for a couple of weeks at least, and the reservation for the entire rooftop to themselves hadn't been cheap, but oh so worth it. As Vorpal bites into the last of his Kleftiko, exquisitely prepared, he glances over at Gar and teasingly taps his foot with his under the table. "Hey... I know I don't say this enough but... thank you for not giving up on me," he says quietly, the mischief toned down in a moment of sincere openness. "There were moments where I was afraid you were going to think I was too much."

Gar Logan has posed:
Now, and only now.

Then is not irrelevant. Then still matters. Then is what leads to now.

But now is all. Many animals live in the now, with what was and what is yet to be not so important. What can anyone really do about either? Nothing. Why not live for the moment?

There has been a shift in Gar since both he and Terry feared for each other's safety, since they worried they might not ever see each other again, or their friends. For Gar, it was a danger to go back to the old way, of running away, of hiding, of thinking he'd never measure up to some undefined standard he thought the Titans required. Now he knows they're all flawed, all just doing the best they can, for themselves and each other, to enjoy life one day at a time and maybe save the world in the process. Terry and Vorpal, two as one, are now part of all that, and Gar has grown from it and more.

========

"You sure about that? You want to try reading my chicken scratch?" he asks, complete with the expected shift as he teasingly pecks around Vorpal's feet before returning to normal. "I already know you claimed me. I guess we both did that with each other. So where are we going now?"

The answer is soon in coming, and he recognizes the state right away from the weather and the positioning of the sun and ocean. "California, huh? How did you find this place?" It's not long before they're diving into the food, then Vorpal is playing footsie with him, both of their feet bare except for the parts of the cat's costume. "Thank /you/ for not giving up on /me/," he returns. "Because I know I'm a lot to deal with too. I'm kind of surprised this even went anywhere, let alone as far as it has. I never would have expected it."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
How had Vorpal found this place? He won't say. He needs to have his secrets every now and then, after all. "We both are a lot to deal with." Vorpal grins, "I'll admit it. But that's not a bad thing. We have a tendency to get squirrelly with communication, but at the same time, Gar, you're one of the most caring, kind and big-hearted people I've ever met."

He reaches over to rest a hand on Gar's across the table, "I'd be an absolute idiot to give that up just because you can be a little extra sometime. Especially since I have my own extra moments."

His free hand sips from his water. "It's been one hell of a year, because a lot of really unexpected things happened. But of all of them, ours has been my favorite. And I don't see myself getting tired of it."

Gar Logan has posed:
"Yeah, well, you're /waaaaay/ more extra than /I/ am, and don't you forget it," Gar remarks, and after a moment his hand turns so the palms can come together."

He admits, "If I'm being honest..I wasn't sure what to make of you at first. As Terry, I mean. And I kind of got surprised when I saw /you/ and something just kind of hit me and I know once I learned what was really going on that made some stuff uncomfortable for you, but it's like..I can be any animal I can think of, and you have a part of you that's a cat, and it kind of felt like a fit after that. I mean, like a better fit. You know what it's like to have a side that's different."

He lowers his voice between a few bites of the good food. "And I hope this isn't the only thing you had in mind for today. Not that I mind going straight to chowing down," he says with a grin that shows the tooth. "After all, when you're us you don't need cars or Hyperloops or any of that. And I want to make today last, what's left of it."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Vorpal grins and grabs Gar's hand, bringing it over to his face and kisses it. "Oh, I have plans well into the night," the cat grins. Which explains why he asked for the check as soon as the main course had been served- to sign quickly and then move on. Obviously, he means to have dessert elsewhere. "I think our next stop will be refreshing for you. But I have to say..." he keeps hold of Gar's hand, and nuzzles it while he looks at the titan. "One year gone and a new one beginning. What are you looking forward for the next year? As far as I'm concerned? I want to be better. A better boyfriend- I want to get better at talking to you instead of assuming. And be more careful. And take your worries into account before I do something stupid. And I want to be a better Titan... I want to be one of the new guys you original Titans are proud of."

He winks, "You think I can do it?"

Gar Logan has posed:
Gar Logan grins at this. "So what are we doing next? Will there be time to let all this food settle first?" He watches the kiss of his hand, and a half-smile sticks around. "You're acting a little more cat-like right now. I'm almost expecting you to nuzzle all over my hand." Of course Vorpal should know what a cat doing that means.

And there it is, right on cute. "Heh. Called it."

Forcing himself to act a little more seriously, he considers this. "I dunno. Maybe see if I can land another acting role in something. Maybe..not so much being a leader of the team, but trying to be more active in helping make things happen. I'm kind of a veteran now. Making Raven laugh. That'd be cool. Of course, just keeping doing what we're doing and, yeah, try not to assume things that are wrong. I know you're never gonna /really/ be that careful. I never have been either."

Then a shrug, and he spreads the fingers of that hand toward an ear, giving it a few scritches. "Mmmmaybe you can, with the right guidance."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Vorpal doesn't blush. That is, he probably is, but it's not easy to see, when Gar predicts the inevitable nuzzle. "Then I guess someone's just going to have to give me the right direction, then."

He slides out of the table, letting go of Gar's hand, and waves at the waiter. "Excellent food as always, give my regards to Alexis! Come on, Gar..."

A Rabbit Hole opens, and the scent of brine hits their nostrils even stronger than before. Vorpal sets foot on sand and gestures to Gar. "C'mon, let's get that food settled!"

As it turns out, this very deserted, hard-to-get-to beach has everything already pre-set for them. Parasols, chairs, and even a little cooler with drinks, and two wetsuits draped over the chairs.

The cat gives Gar a grin. "It's still cold, so hardly anyone comes over this time of year!" Uh oh. Where has Gar heard those words before. The cat draws close to take his hand. "You know... on that outing, I was hoping that after taking the footage, I could convince you to spend a bit of a beach day with me, convince you to come over to my apartment after and I'd cook dinner... maybe spend some time together. I mean... that's what you ended up coming to my apartment and I ended up cooking dinner, but you were in excruciating pain." Monkeypaw!

"So..." he gestures to the suits, intended to protect them from the worst of the cold if they decided to go into the water. "How about a do-over?"

Gar Logan has posed:
"I'll let you know when I find that person," Gar teases, then he hops to his feet and rubs his stomach. All the while, he dined in costume. It's like a normal night at the Tower, only better! "Yeah! My mother thanks you, my father thanks you, my sister thanks you, and I thank you."

Little would the waiter know none of that except the last part fits him now, unless the waiter is up on his old, old movies. It could help that Gar says it in a perfect imitation of James Cagney.

With the portal opening up, the scent of more water reaches him and he squints through the rabbit hole to see the scene set up. "Dude, you could have like a hundred different places all prepared in advance and I'd never know it. I remember this. It was just before Kian." He raises a brow at the wetsuits, as if Vorpal is tempting fate with them, and he says, "It sounds like we have some making up for lost time to do."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"What do you mean, 'could have?'" the cat asks with a flirtatious wink, "Just you wait to see what this year has in store, Garfield Mark Logan. We haven't had a chance to have much downtime and just enjoy being with each other. I propose it is time we change that." And with that, he walks over and casts off his clothing with ease, slipping into the wetsuit as he talks. "And that starts now!"

Gar Logan has posed:
Gar Logan pads along on bare feet, mindful of anything that might be potentially damaging to them. There are some gloves and booties with the wetsuit over there, just in case they're needed, and he gives a vague grunt at the question, rolling his eyes at the expression that comes with it. "I'm down for that, but..are you sure this is even gonna fit me? It looks like it was made for Warwick Davis or something." He holds the 'suit up, and while it's not /that/ small it does seem like it will be a snug fit.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"Oh, stop whinin', greenie. The water looks deli-" he pauses, "Cold, but nice. And the day is a wastin'. Let's go have a walk and a dip before we go somewhere else for... dessert." He winks and licks his lips, and bends over to grab a soda out of the cooler for a quick sip. "I want to walk down that-aways," he points, "I haven't been in that direction."

Gar Logan has posed:
Rolling his eyes, Gar plays at being miffed, but he's really not. It's all to see how Vorpal reacts. "I don't think it's the water that's on your mind, cat," he remarks, in the midst of swapping out of a Vorpal-designed costume into a Vorpal-selected wetsuit, grabbing the accessories to go with. A soda is nabbed as well, which he keeps in a hand for the time being. "What, over there? What's got you so curious about it?"

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"From over there, it looks like there's a rock formation that forms a natural pool. I figured we could take a dip there, the reverse of a hot tub- a cold pool! But it's also very pretty. A postcard moment and all." He grins and wraps one arm around Gar's waist as they walk. When his soda is done, it disappears down a Rabbit Hole.

"I've been practicing my constructs,too, take a look!"

One finger is raised, and a glowing, purple frisbee appears, perfectly balanced at the center of his fingertip. It glows purple, crackling with chaos magic. "What'cha think? Not bad, eh?"

Gar Logan has posed:
Gar Logan admits, as he continues along, "It /is/ kind of nice here. Quiet, peaceful. I could get used to that." They pass through some vegetation that encroaches up to the edge of a path, likely kept at bay by someone from time to time, and he peers in the direction of the rocks as he pops open his own can.

"Hmm?" he wonders at the mention of the constructs, at which point the frisbee comes into view. "That's kind of neat. Now why would you be making a frisbee out here?" As if he couldn't guess.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Vorpal grins, "Oh, I dunno. You wanted the food to settle... so maybe a little exercise is in order." He tosses the frisbee straight up, and catches it, and then twirls it on his finger again. "What do you think? Think you want to burn some calories with a game of fetch?" he winks. Of course, Gar doesn't need to burn calories. He uses up more energy changing forms than most pro athletes do during a marathon.

"If you're a good boy, we can go to Big Gay Ice Cream for dessert!"

Gar Logan has posed:
Gar Logan crosses his arms, but in such a way that he doesn't spill the soda, which he soon finishes off. Not quite a chug, but he didn't wait long. "You are definitely acting catty enough for both of us right now," he says in passing, and as he walks by he attacks the tail with a quick scritch near the base. "You want to play, huh? It looks pretty thick in there," he says while pointing into the growth. "Better hope I can find it!" Seconds later, he's turned into a retriever, though it's of course a green one. A bark follows.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Vorpal jumps a little at the scritch, and then laughs rather loudly. "You scamp. Very well!" the cat says, reaching his arm back, and going for a powerful frisbee swing. "Have it your way--- Fetch, Ubu, Fetch!"

The frisbee flies into the air, leaving a trail of purple behind as it moves through the air. He is not sending it into the vegetation that is clear, but towards the water. Just then, a breeze comes through and the frisbee arches back, over them, and then disappears into the thick vegetation.

".... well crap."

Gar Logan has posed:
Maybe Vorpal should have called out 'Fore!' with the...quality of that toss. Heralding the beginnings of a time of play, Gar tears off into the undergrowth in search of the disc, with the expectation that he'll find it quickly, bring it on back, and they'll repeat this a while longer before finding other ways to keep themselves entertained.