7623/Bringing In The Cat

Bringing In The Cat
Date of Scene:	31 August 2021
Location:	2D - Terry's Apartment
Synopsis:	Gar picks Terry up from an awkward scene in West Virginia. Vorpal vents!
Cast of Characters:	Terry O'Neil, Gar Logan

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Terry O'Neil has posed:
Vorpal had accidentally Rabbit Holed into a random location upon waking up. Fortunately for him, that place had been a hotel where a friend of his was staying. But, alas, Rabbit Holing back was out of the question. Not in the state he was in!

And, after the encounter he had with a certain pint-sized (no longer) Bat, the cat was too furious to stay overnight. He had asked Gar to fetch him in West Virginia.

They are driving back now. It's a long drive, since Terry can't use his Rabbit Holes while the last of Phoebe's magic is still working within him. The Cheshire cat was waiting for Gar wrapped in bedsheets and in his underwear, waiting in the lobby with a guilt-ridden Nick Drago who insisted on giving Terry some fancy pants from the tour. What had exactly happened, Terry wouldn't say. It was clear that the Cheshire cat was furious.

It was the angriest Gar might have seen him in a very long time. Too angry for words.

Gar had to get a rental, of course, to drive back. And Terry did eventually cool down enough that, when they piled into the car and started to drive off, he fell asleep due to the exhaustion and the loopiness.

Three hours later, close to four A.M., he woke up. He resisted the urge to put his feet up on the dashboard and stretch, having read all too many accounts of what happened to people in the case of car accidents and deciding that he didn't want a femur through his nose.

After a few minutes of consciousness, his voice comes up, muffled.

"... hey... hon."

Gar Logan has posed:
Getting over there might not have required a drive, but it was the safest way to do it. Gar could turn into a bird or other creature of the air (like a dragon), but three hundred miles or so is going to wear him out. And, that would have been just one way. It'd still be about a five hour drive. That's a lot of time for music, podcasts, audiobooks, or just silence.

Speaking of silence, after saying he was on his way, Gar didn't take any calls or respond to any texts. The message when he finally got there, after staring at Vorpal with basically just the bedsheet on, was simple: "I'm here. Let's go. Long drive back." This was going to take up the entire evening, well into the night. He had little to nothing to say to Nick Drago, or any attempts to explain things.

An angry and upset Vorpal, so much so that he wasn't saying a whole lot yet, fit well enough. It let Gar stay focused on the road as the painted strips on the concrete passed by, the number of other vehicles on the road dwindling into the small hours.

Once words come, Gar glances to the side then returns his attention to the highway. "I don't really need to know the details of this one, but you're going to tell me anyway, right?" He sounds..put out.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Terry sighs, and glances out the window.

"It's not what you think. I got up. I was thirsty. I didn't want to wake you or Kian up, so I tried to make my way to the kitchen..."

He bites the inside of one cheek. "I accidentally triggered a Rabbit Hole and I ended up under Nick's bed. I didn't even /know/ he was in West Virginia. I could have ended up anywhere... but at least I ended up somewhere where I didn't give a total stranger a heart attack..."

Gar Logan has posed:
Toward the end of Vorpal's explanation, Gar reaches out a hand and places a finger against the catboy's lips. "Shhhhhh."

Did he just shush Vorpal? Oh hell yes, he did.

"I said I don't really need to know," he starts, but there's only so long he can go before he starts to snicker like Muttley. "Dude, this is a new one for you. How the hell did that even happen?"

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"I... I'm still under the influence. Of Phoebe's magic. Spells kind of... go off." Gar would have seen this happening, mostly with the illusions that spotaneously had been manifesting all week. "I was being so careful... but I guess I was sleepy." He sighs and rubs his forehead.

"I'm sorry you have to drive all this distance. We really could pull off on a rest area and sleep a little. You don't deserve this."

He glances over at Gar with big, expressive eyes. "I didn't tell you. Nick wasn't the only person in that room..."

Gar Logan has posed:
"You act like I haven't done all-night gaming sessions with Vic. C'mon, man," Gar responds, though for a few seconds his jaw tightens. Could be holding back a yawn. "I'm not even gonna pretend to understand how that magic is wrecking your shit with yours, though. I know, I know. /Chaos Magic/ and all that."

He catches the peeking, leading to a shrug. "Yeah, he's a celebrity. Probably has rooms full of groupies waiting for him everywhere he goes."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"No... he's not like that. I mean. I've slept with him." He pauses, and clarifies, "I've slept in the same room as him, when I was doing the rotating rounds for his security when that demon was trying to get him. With... you know... 'Red X'."

He wiggles his fingers with quotes. Red X. The moniker Robin had used when he vandalized the tower. "That's the other person. He was doing security for Nick, and he must have heard me trying to call you..." he pauses, and glances at Gar. "I sort of accidentally magicked Nick's phone, I told it to call you, and it started yelling out your name. It grew a mouth and everything..."

Gar Logan has posed:
"You're doing that thing again. Details I don't need to know," Gar says, needling Vorpal just so because he knows it often works. He shrugs about Red X. Yes, that happened, it was a thing, and..well, before he really says anything about the arrangement as told to him, he just shakes his head.

What he adds is, "This is sounding more and more like some kind of Roger Rabbit thing."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"You don't know the half of it," the Cheshire cat says. There's a slight tightness in his voice, as if trying to suppress the memory of anger as he speaks.

"Hearing the commotion, no doubt, 'Red X' decided that someone must be attacking Nick, or something of the like, and he irrupted into Nick's room, wielding a katana and with no shirt on."

He waits a second before he drops the bomb.

"And without his mask."

Gar Logan has posed:
Gar Logan continues to drive, both hands at the wheel, the better to keep them both occupied on something normal. Plus, it's safer.

He deadpans, "This is making me think of two things right now. One, how I'm going to get that image out of my head. Two, you're still here and in one piece, so he must have started to like you just a little bit. He /never/ takes his mask off. That's, you know, his deal. It's how he keeps the secret."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Terry lets out a snort at that, and shakes his head. "Oh, trust me, he does not like me /one/ bit more than he did before."

Glancing at the road ahead, he explains. "He screwed the pooch. He reacted to a sound and he didn't grab his mask in his rush to protect Nick. He wasn't expecting someone who would /recognize/ him."

He pauses for a second, and turns to his boyfriend. "... you know who he is, right?" He is treading that line. Just like he has never asked Gar to tell him who Nightwing is, he has to make sure he doesn't divulge Damian's secret to someone who doesn't know, even if he is the person he trusts the most in this world. It's not his secret to tell, no matter how much he might dislike Damian.

Gar Logan has posed:
"That doesn't sound like him. Are we sure there are no more doppelgangers running around? That could mean..no. Forget it. I really don't want to think about what a dupe of him could do," Gar says with a little twitch and shiver. No, he isn't cold.

Only a moment later does he point out, "He told me after the fight we had when we thought you guys were dead in space."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Terry's hand reaches over and caresses one of Gar's arms, letting his fur run along the green skin to soothe him. "It's not a doppelganger. It's him, alright."

Now that he knows that the secret is shared, he says simply: "Damian threatened me. He said that if I breathed a word of this to the Titans or to the press, he would make sure my career was ruined and that I'd never work in anything but tabloids." There's the edge of anger in his voice again, "... basically threatening me with daddy's money to get me to fall in line."
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Gar Logan has posed:
Gar Logan's eyes leave the road just for a moment, a flickering glance at the familiar feeling along his arm. "Yeah, that sounds like him. He might do it, too. The easy way is to, you know, just keep the secret. There's a lot more that could go bad for a lot of people if someone found out, especially if anyone leaked it because their feelings got hurt or whatever. So, like it or not, you're inside the circle of trust now."

He explains further, "I know you know that a good reporter doesn't spill secrets just because he knows them. I'm not concerned with that part. But..some of us can't really hide a secret identity, or it's not gonna lead to a bunch of problems if people know. It's a hell of a lot different when you're /his/ kid."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"Gar!" Terry sounds surprised, glancing at the green teen, "Like I would even tell? I've kept Kara's secret identity, and a Super is /far/ more a hot news item than the fifth hundredth Robin. I am /furious/ because he threatened me!"

He growls a little. "The little shit insinuated I would tell the press just like that. The absolutely lowest opinion of me." He crosses his arms and sulks, burrowing into the seat. "I hate him. I wish he'd go back to Gotham. I have never done anything to make anyone think I would betray a secret, and this son of a..."

Gar Logan has posed:
"I know that, but he doesn't yet," Gar points out. "The Kara thing isn't the same to him. He probably thinks there's more to lose if that secret got out. So you just prove it by keeping the secret for him, too."

His eyes double up on their focus of the road ahead. "He's hard to get along with. He's grumpy. I get it. But I think he also worries about this stuff. Look at me, sounding like I'm defending him. I guess I am. I'm not saying you did anything wrong. He's the one who stormed in like that without guarding his identity. I bet you he's even more angry with himself for that."

Then he mutters, "I know he put his trust in me, but that was after I said something I shouldn't have and he reacted like, uh, the kid he is. I don't know all the shit he's been through as /his/ son, but we're all supposed to be on the same side. Sometimes you gotta swallow your pride a little and let some things go, give him a chance to see that you'll keep his secret safe, too."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
The Cheshire cat huffs and closes his eyes. "... I have /nothing/ to prove to him. I'll keep his secret because that's what I /do/, and because I like Nightwing and Red Robin. But if anyone has to prove anything, /he/ is the one who has to prove something to me: that he is capable of /not/ being a spewing asshole." The cat settles down again and exhales.

"I love you. I'm sorry, and I'm sorry you have to drive me and I am too zonked out to drive myself. I'm going to sleep for a bit so I can wake up and keep you awake, okay? If you feel drowsy at all just pull over and sleep. We don't have to get there in a hurry..."

A few seconds later, he is snoring once more. Fortunately, no illusions pop up.

Gar Logan has posed:
"We always have something to prove, even if it's just to ourselves. He's upset, you're upset, and both of you are being stubborn. You'll get over it, but how he handles it is on him. I think he's learned that he can't just boss everyone around like we're pawns on a chessboard, but, you know, he's still got some growing up to do," Gar says, shrugging at the apologies. "Like I was gonna leave you out in the middle of West Virginia?"

After Vorpal shows just how quickly he can fall back to sleep, Gar grows silent as well as he remains on the path back home. This time, the radio and any other forms of distraction are left off. It's just him with his thoughts.