89/Eyes Up, or Watch Where You're Going!

Eyes Up, or Watch Where You're Going!
Date of Scene:	23 February 2020
Location:	Downtown - New Troy
Synopsis:	Gar bumps into an actual fan in Terry, making a new friend in the process. And, Terry gives him a scoop about an alien invasion...or something.
Cast of Characters:	Gar Logan, Terry O'Neil

---

Gar Logan has posed:
Metropolis, specifically downtown, New Troy. The Hall of Justice is one of the many buildings around that draw attention, and on a weekend afternoon people are out and about. The weather is not bad for the season, clear and just warm enough that people could take off a coat if they're being active enough.

Gar Logan, he of the green complexion from head to toe, is dressed casually in a baseball jersey undershirt, white with black shoulders and arms to about the elbows, plus jeans and a fashionable pair of 'swoosh' sneakers. In his hand is a high-end smartphone, currently held up in front of him. He's running some live video of a walk through the area, 'for the fans.'

"..and for those of you who haven't been to Metropolis before, here's my view right now." He switches the camera from selfie mode so those watching can get a 360-degree look at the area, pausing on the Hall of Justice before moving on and changing back over so his face and the background shows up again. "Cool, huh?"

He's just going to ignore that the watcher count is holding at a steady 9 people.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Terry isn't paying attention to Gar's stream. In fact, he's not paying attention to a lot of things right now, including where he is going, because some big things are afoot.

No, True Believers, we are not talking about the discovery that SHIELD may be holding an innocent alien refugee against his will- though that is definitely big news (and which he is making sure to relay to his boss, rest assured), but big in the rather small and cosmically insignificant sphere that is the life of Terry O'neil.

<Got a trace. Someone matching that description was in New York in 2002. Source says January or February but they're not sure.>

His thumbs are flying, eyes narrowed, as he types the response:

<Keep me posted? Get me anything you can find out. Money is no object>

Money /was/ an object, but when it comes to something this important, getting into debt was preferable than losing a lead you may never be able to get back again.

The red-headed teen is wearing his usually casual getup- black polo shirt and jeans, with a satchel (it is NOT a man-purse) slung across his shoulders. He is not, as we said before, looking where he's going, and this Titanic is walking in a collision course with a certain green iceberg.

Gar Logan has posed:
Another minute or two of the livestreaming, then Gar wraps it up. "So that's what part of downtown looks like, and it's pretty close to home, too. Okay, I'm gonna close this down here in a sec. Thanks for helping me decide what lunch should be today! I love the voting!"

He's just going to ignore that only one person actually voted, but at least that means no tie.

Right about as he's pressing the button on screen to end the stream, there is contact made with one Terry, who had beem approaching. "Oof!" The phone, which he'd been moving away just as the other guy came into view a moment too late to dodge, goes flying and so does he. Gone is Gar, replaced by a green hawk as the talons close gently around the phone's protective case. "That was too close for..hey, are you all right, dude?" Yes, the bird is talking while on the way back to the ground.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
It's a miracle his phone didn't crack. Protective case? Oh, no, Terry likes to live dangerously- it doesn't even have a screen protector! This is mosty due to the fact that he always forgets to make time to buy such things. If his phone hadn't landed on his sneaker, his screenw ould probably be sporting a rather distinctive spiderweb of cracks.

He pushes himself off the ground, shaking his head. It had been a rather spectacular spill, and one he hopes wasn't caught on camera by anyone.

"Ungh. Yeah, I'm sorry- I should've watched where I was---"

He stops, as he watches a hawk descending. And talking to him. In place of the person he had just bumped into. "--going?" his voice turns into the aural equivalent of an enormous question mark, clearly surprised for a moment.

Gar Logan has posed:
Gar Logan cheated. He absolutely, completely cheated. But, phones are expensive these days. After setting it down, he looks toward the still-seated Terry, a little bigger from this perspective.

That's about the time he goes back to what passes for normal, the casualwear thankfully returning as well. "Okay, enough of that. I can't use this thing while hunting and pecking, and.." He's reached down for the phone, glancing back up at the one staring his way.

"Dude, your phone. Do you know how close you came to breaking it?" That, apparently, is what's first and foremost on his mind, not the fact he's green, not the fact he just demonstrated what he can do. "You didn't hit your head or anything, did you? I should have been paying closer attention. You know how it is, everyone with their faces in their phones, never talking to anyone, just caught up in whatever they're staring at and oh God, I'm describing myself, aren't I?"

He's selling the drama a bit too much.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"You're..." A pause. His eyes check the face- yep. "Dude, you're Gar Logan." Some people might say it was an easy guess, what with there being a green teenager walking around and whatnot, but Terry's experience had taught him that nowadays there were a good number of green teenagers walking around, and every other color of the rainbow beside. He had learned to curb his initial enthusiasm after almost asking the wrong person for an autograph.

"No way, this week is getting weirder and weirder..." he grabs his phone and looks rather embarrassed, "yeah, I keep forgetting to get the stuff... I will someday. My head's fine. My ass is going to feel it, though." Landing onto a sitting position isn't comfortable. He gets up and dusts himself.

"Dude, just... I'm a fan! Believe me, though, my plan wasn't running you over so I could meet you. But it's... so cool to meet you."

He looks around. Right in front of the Hall of Justice, too. At this point he was expecting Wonder Woman to come out and invite them over for cookies, the way this week was going.

He looks back to the green teen and seems a little at a loss for words, "Are /you/ okay? Did I damage anything?" That would definitely be the capper, getting sued by Beast Boy for injury.

Gar Logan has posed:
"Yeah, dude. That's me, aka Beast Boy, aka the Green Machine. Well, nobody really calls me that," Gar answers, rubbing the back of his head. Not out of being hurt, but rather a moment of awkward self-awareness.

He adds, gesturing at the other guy's phone, "There's a place just down the street. I can hook you up with a good case. It's the least I can do for plowing into you. And, dude, I've had /throngs/ of fangirls throw themselves at me. I almost couldn't even escape!"

He might be exaggerating.

"You're a fan? Cool! I don't meet too many of those when I'm out and about. I hope you weren't watching the livestream, because that would have been weird to literally bump into someone who was following along." The Hall of Justice gets a glance and he adds, "You ever go in there for the tour?"

Any concern over his condition is waved off quickly. "Nah, man. It's cool. I've got a thick head. Or is it a hard head? I forgot the difference." A grin reveals the underbite.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Terry chuckles, and looks at the Hall of Justice. "No, not really, I've thought about it. I've only been here for two months and most of that time was looking for a job and stuff. I might go one of these weekends."

Turning his attention back to Gar, he raises his hands, "No, no, no need to hook me up with anything, I was the one who bumped into you." He pauses, "So... uh. If you don't mind me asking, what are you doing over here in Metropolis? I thought you were, like, in L.A. doing movie stuff. That's why you left the Titans, no?" Someone's been keeping up.

Gar Logan has posed:
As a sign of how popular Gar is, nobody else gives him more than a cursory glance in passing. Indeed, most of them are doing exactly what he talked about with their phones, and their localized 'radar' does a better job of seeing them slide on past each other without a Gar/Terry incident occurring.

"Two months? Where were you living before that? What are you looking for?" he wonders, then he's shaking his head. "No, dude, I insist. I should have reacted faster. When I want to do something, I do it, and I want to make sure you don't break that."

The question about what he's doing here and having been out west stalls him for a moment. "How'd you..wait, have you been following me? On social media, I mean." He adds, looking downcast for a moment, "Things..got really bad with the Doomsday stuff. I needed..no, pretty much all of us needed to take a little time off to focus on that, yeah, but I'm back around again. I think the team's still disbanded, though." It's a difficult subject.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Realizing he's just touched upon a very tender subject, Terry kicks himself mentally and tries to steer the conversation away from Doomsday.

"I did say I'm a fan, right? Poor kind of fan I'd be if I didn't know what you were up to. But not in a creepy way. I mean if I didn't know what you're posting publicly. Not deducing what you're doing by going through your trash or other weird stuff some people do."

Like his mother, who goes through people's trash occasionally as part of her private investigator jobs. He felt this was a good tangent to drive away from the disbanded team.

"Oh, I got an internship over at the Daily Planet. Yesterday Lois Lane took me on the field and we were there for Stark's announcement he was running for president. It was /crazy/."

He looks at his phone, and hehs. "How about I promise you I'll get it done by tonight? Heck, you can even hold me accountable if I haven't done it. I'll give you my sosh username and everything. Hey..." He looks sheepish for a moment, "Would you be up for a selfie with me?"

Gar Logan has posed:
"You did," Gar confirms, settling a hand against his side as he ramps up the 'casual' factor by a step or two. "I had a feeling you weren't being creepy. I'm pretty good at reading people."

That might not be true all the time.

He adds, "I just kind of focused on movies for a while, and a little solo stuff. But if you're a fan of mine, that means we're practically friends already! The Daily Planet? I've read some of her things. I missed the announcement but it sounds like it was wild. They didn't have anyone topless try to take over the mic, did they? I saw someone did that at another guy's rally and it was some big protest over milk or something."

Now he's craning his neck closer to the phone Terry's got. "Ahh, I don't need your account access or anything like that, but I /will/ be double-checking. And I'll take a selfie with anyone." Shortly, a pig is staring at him. "You don't mind if I ham it up a little, do you?"

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Terry smirks. Fans of Gar Logan are painfully aware of his propensity for awful animal puns. Some even indulge in it in gleeful imitation. "I don't mind, just as long as you don't hog the shot and edge me out. Ouch. I hope that wasn't too ham-fisted?"

Terry looks down at the pig and raises an eyebrow, seemingly satisfied with his own brand of awful pun.

Gar Logan has posed:
The green pig squints up at Terry, pointing a pig foot up at him. "Hey, I already used 'ham' in my joke. No copying." Then a look of realization hits him. "Green eggs and ham. No, no..nevermind."

Back to normal he goes. Maybe Terry's having A Moment after being the recipient of a Bad Animal Joke from Gar. "Anyway, you didn't even groan. That makes you cool in my book. If you're already a fan, that makes you extra cool. It's like we're buddies already, dude."

The propensity for using 'dude' might be directly related to how much time he was recently in Southern California for.

"All right, bring it in. How do you wanna do this?" he gestures with a hand.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"Whichever way, man, you're the movie star." Terry grins, "I'm just the intern." He looks over and hmms. "Well, the Hall of Justice is right there. We could take a pic together with that as a background, that'd be cool."

He then looks at Gar and opens his mouth, as if he were about to say something, but seemingly has a moment to think it over before saying, "Yep, that's an idea. What about you?"

Gar Logan has posed:
"I don't have any interns. I'm not exactly A-list," Gar remarks, not that he seems to be feeling down by making that admission. "I've seen a few, though. You know, while going into the red carpet premieres and stuff? They were, I mean."

The smile comes off as just a tiny bit forced, then he nods quickly and moves so his back is to the big building. As he scoots closer so shoulders can touch and fit both into the shot for Terry's phone while still leaving room for the background, he asks, "You looked like you had something else to say?"

He also tries to time it right to sneak bunny ears up behind Terry with his fingers, without being noticed.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"Oh, nothing." Terry smiles for the picture, not noticing the bunny ears. He looks at the green guy and raises an eyebrow. "You don't have a P.A.? Dude, you need one. Who handles your travel arrangements and appointments and stuff for you?" He gets the phone back from Gar and gets ready to post the selfie on social media, and then stops. "Do you want me to wait a bit until you're gone to post it? You know, so you don't get stalked?"

Not that a superhero who could turn into a rhinocerous would have much to worry about being stalked by a regular person... but it would also be a beacon to whatever malefactor had a grudge against the green guy.

"If I weren't starting my gig at the Planet I'd offer to be your assistant. But that would also come across as creepy and stalkerish, wouldn't it?"

Gar Logan has posed:
Gar Logan makes a cheesy face, the human equivalent of some extra-happy anime style thing with the big smile and all. If he wasn't holding the phone for Terry, there probably would have been a thumbs-up thrown in as well.

Once that's done, he wipes his hands against the sides of his jeans and rubs them together a few times. "Dude, it's all a solo thing. I put out my own stuff for auditions and travel and so on. Trust me, if I had enough of a reason to get someone to do that stuff for me, I would." He shrugs as if to say 'what can you do?'

"And go ahead and post it whenever. I don't think we're in danger of getting swarmed." He's suddenly buzzing around Terry's head, a literal swarm of bees. When he speaks, it sounds as if it's coming from the collective. Just let some villain try to attack in front of the Hall of Justice, too. That would be /so dumb!/

"I dunno," the swarm adds. "Have you done any assistant stuff before?"

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"Not officially, but I 've done clerical and scheduling stuff for my mom's office. She runs a private investigation agency. I learned a few things while doing that. Admittedly, some of which dont't really apply to the PA thing and more on the stalkery thing." Terry posts the picture on his social media account, with 'Guys I just met #BEASTBOY how awesome is that? #MetropolisLife' and puts the phone away.

He slides his hands into his jean pockets and tilts his head, "I was gonna go get some food. If you're not too busy, wanna go grab a bite? Unless, you know, you got somewhere to be."

Gar Logan has posed:
"I could use a reminder when it's feeding time," Gar says, returning to normal. That's already three different forms Terry's seen up close. "And yyyyeah, the private investigation stuff does sound like it's right up a stalker's alley, doesn't it? Does she stalk stalkers, too?"

Rubbing the back of his neck, he pulls his own phone back out. Does he have notifications set up when a tag like that is used? "Ahh, we got our good sides, didn't we?"

Sure enough, there are no shrieks around them, no throngs of people rushing up for autographs or anything like that. "You got a place in mind? Look. Nothing on my calendar." Holding up his own phone, it can be seen to be so. There are other things like 'Eat,' 'Gaming,' 'Work Out,' 'Annoy Raven and Risk Death,' and so on.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Looking at Gar's schedule, Terry let out. chuckle. "There's a subs place nearby. I don't have a lot of time for lunch 'cause I have to get back to the planet in an hour. Got some developments for Miss Lane she might be interested in..." He gestures, "This way. It'll be my treat. And yeah, mom's done her fair share of stalker cases. Being a detective isn't as glamorous as it's made up to be, but it can be very useful."

The Subs place is not too far. A rather nice little chain with a Caribbean theme. Standing in line, Terry looks to Gar "So now that you're back here, what's the plan? Back to the spandex and punching bad guys in the face? Beast Boy rides on his own?"

Gar Logan has posed:
"Do you do photography? I bet if you ever wanted a cool shot, I could fly up with a camera on a self-timer and just point it at something," Gar muses, completely forgetting about the popularity of drones to do just that sort of thing. "I..guess that wouldn't be very efficient unless you set it for video." Not all ideas are good ones.

He follows along, grinning at the offer. "She probably sits around a lot, waiting for something to happen. I know how that is. But..free food? That's all you had to say, so lead the way!"

Once they get there and he's looking over the menu board, he nods to the question. "I hope so, dude. Going solo is tough. You try to do the right thing and help people out, but you don't have anyone else who's got your back. I was starting to miss my friends, too. I need to see who's still around, and who might be ready to try again." He goes with a meatball sub, nodding to what he's thinking about.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"Must be a hard life," Terry says after ordering the Italian sub. Grabbing the table number, he picks out a booth they can sit at. "I'm afraid I can't have your back, 'cause I'm not a super, but hey... if you ever need an in at the Planet, I might be able to help. Or anything else" He leans on the table, one hand propping his chin. "It sucks to be alone in a place. Helps to have friends and whatnot."

Gar Logan has posed:
There are a few people that notice who's entered, and they whisper to each other. The two might overhear:

"Is that the Incredible Hulk?"

"Nah, man. Way too smol to be that guy."

"Oh, just some dork then."

Yes, someone used 'smol.' Yes, Gar ignored it all. There's food about to be had!

"I mean, it's tough sometimes, but we all look out for each other, you know? Or, we did." He pauses, considering what else to say before he nods once. "We're a team. At least we were, but I think we can be again even if it looks a little different. Some of them are older and have been around longer, and doing other things now, but once a Titan, always a Titan."

He makes himself comfortable in the booth, as long as it is until the sandwich is ready. "It isn't boring, that's for sure."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"It certainly sounds like it. I'll probably get a glimpse of that kind of life at the Planet, if I ever make it into an actual posittion there. A spectator, though," he says, sipping his soft drink. There is something, for the very merest half of a second, where Terry's eyes look odd. It's a blink and you will miss it type of thing- maybe it's how the light was reflecting off them, but his pupils appear slitted for the barest of moments. Like a cat's. "Never a participant."

And juts like that, they're their normal shape again, "It's probably for the best, though. Not everybody can be heroic, or pull of the uniform." Miss Lane jokes that Mister Kent runs away from the merest sight of danger. Maybe I'll turn out to be like him? We'll see. A rally is hardly threatening."

Gar Logan has posed:
"They cover some pretty wild stuff sometimes," Gar remarks. There /is/ that moment, but it's something he catches out of the corner of an eye and he isn't even certain he saw what he thought he did. Could be his eyes playing tricks on him. Maybe he's a little tired from staying up too late. By the time he's checking Terry's eyes again with a longer glance, there's nothing to indicate they're anything but normal.

He admits, "Sometimes people who can do special things try to be heroes and find out they're not cut out for it too, but heroes come in different flavors. You don't need special powers to be one to somebody. That's your inspirational quote for the day."

Sandwiches arrive soon afterward, and the green Titan adds, "Rallies can also be one of the easiest things for someone who wants to do bad stuff to sneak into and out of."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Terry blinks when Gar looks into his eyes. The arrival of the sandwiches is a welcome distraction. He could feel his cheeks getting hot, and he hoped that whatever red there was could be explained by the fact that he was a ginger and, therefore, flammable when out in the sun. "Sure, sure... and I was wondering if we'd get one of Stark's enemies deciding to rain on his parade. Fortunately nothing happened." He takes a bite out of his sub, finding distraction in the decor so he doesn't have to sustain Gar's glace until he's ready to look back.

"Hey... you guys had aliens in the Titans, right? I mean, bona fide aliens, we come in peace, take me to your leader type, right?" He looks back now, the blush having subsided enough.

Gar Logan has posed:
What was that blush for? If there's anything similar on Gar's side, it's a hint of coloration to the cheeks that makes the green a bit darker in appearance. He really wasn't looking long, or in /that/ way, but it was definitely something that got noticed. "Nothing happening, in that case, is a good thing," he says quickly, happy to have the food right now.

"Mmm-hmm! Starfire, for one," Gar adds between bites, the meaty, cheesey, saucey mixture threatening to run out the back of the sandwich before he licks it up without a care.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"Well... then you might be interested in the scoop. I met with someone... we shall calll them 'A Source'." He grins, suddenly realizing how journalistic that sounds, "Who showed me video of an extraterrestrial making a splash landing on the water.... not too far from your old tower, in fact. And, get this... he was intercepted by two super. One of them was that Red Star dude, but the other one?".

He leans in real close to Gar, to avoid being overheard, because what he's about to reveal is pretty big. "Ms. Marvel. In fact, she's the one who apparently took this alien... to a SHIELD facility, where I assume they are holding him against their will." He raises an eyebrow. "You heard me. Ms. Marvel. As in M.I.A., presumed dead Ms. Marvel. Apparently she's going by Captain Marvel now, according to my source."

Gar Logan has posed:
A scoop? This piques Gar's interest to say the least, and if the sandwich is momentarily forgotten that must mean it's important. "Okay.." he begins, listening with open curiosity as the video and landing is mentioned. "Do you still have this video?" he asks.

Then, the lean in is returned and those who happen to glance over might misinterpret it as the two sharing a tender moment, or about to. Gar's listening in and lowers his own voice. "No way? Captain Marvel and SHIELD? They're probably dissecting him as we speak!"

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Terry's phone comes out and slides across the table to Gar. "Check the gallery, it's the most recent. I recorded it off my source's phone- they were too paranoid to even give me the file." He says, staying close to Gar's face. This is hot stuff, and if anyone even caught a hint of the rumor and spread it, then his scoop would be ruined and his chance to impress Lois was down the toilet. "I figured, maybe you can hit some of your old contacts, and you guys can do your investigation while I alert Miss Lane and my cousin, so that if you do end up, I dunno, breaking the dude out, there'll be enough noise from the media that it can't get covered up that they had him there."

Gar Logan has posed:
Looking on, Gar reaches out for his own phone as he sifts through a couple things, leading to a quick glance back toward Terry before he focuses on the recording of the video. "Can I..?" he asks, pointing to the video option on his own. It'll be like the old degradation of VHS tapes, just in a different way!

"This is crazy, dude. I'm definitely gonna get back to whoever I can about this, and try to keep it on the down low. I don't know about breaking into an actual SHIELD place, though. Who even knows where they've got him?" He's trying to pick out whatever details he can of whoever it was that landed.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"Better yet, just airdrop the file onto yours. I'm not paranoid of you, of all people" Terry smiles, "I imagine that Miss Lane would have gone to Superman about this, back in the day...." he trails off. Then he picks up again, "But imagine she can always talk to Wonder Woman, too." He wasn't entirely sure what Lois' professional relationship was with Diana of Themyscira.

"I agree, it'll be hard to figure out where they're holding him, but this gives you a start. I'm sure you know someone who knows someone who knows something."

Gar Logan has posed:
"Sure, that works too." Gar nods in understanding to the part about Superman and the rest when it comes to connections, but his brain is going into overdrive about a possible rescue mission. "Don't wanna eat and run, but this is really important stuff and I should let you get back to your plans, too. Here's my number."

He just keys it right into Terry's phone for the sake of convenience, leading to him scarfing down the rest of his sandwich in no time before he jumps up out of the booth. "We'll figure it out. Thanks for the tip." There's a pat at Terry's shoulder, then he adds, "Gotta bounce!"

Which he does, leaving as a green little rabbit right as the door is opening to let someone else in, drawing a yelp of surprise from the unexpected patron.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Terry watches Gar blur out onto the street and huhs. For a moment, he pauses and thinks. "I sure hope I didn't make a mistake there..." He's not entirely sure how Miss Lane wants to handle these leads. But the way he saw it, he took a chance to do the right thing and did it. Whether it would turn out alrighht was anybody's guess, though.

He stands up and stretches, ready to go back to work. A he does so, and unseen by all inside, the soda cup slides across the table and lands onto the floor all by itself, spilling its contents.

"Oops!" Terry reaches for some napkins and tries to soak the mess up until staff tells him they'll take over from there.

As he walks out, he squints into the sunlight and briefly tries to remember when, exactly, he bumped against the drink.

He looks down at his phone and is briefly distracted, seeing Gar's number a one of the new contact additions.

"That's so cool," he says as he pockets the phone and starts making his way back to the planet.