Chapter Text
Gar snapped his eyes opened and rolled over. He reached for his phone with a the quickness of someone who hadn’t fallen deeply asleep in the first place. Twenty minutes until 0615.
“Perfect. Already ahead of schedule.”
Garfield threw his legs over the site of the bed and filled open the voice recording app on his phone with one hand and scratched that itch that was bothering him at the base of his spine with another. Too soon, he hit record.
“Mmm, that felt nice… Oh, uh, Garfield Logan logging on the the stardate of… uh… This take is trash. Redo!”
He sat up straighter and envisioned himself in a captain’s chair facing a large open window with the view of the entire world practically at his feet.
“Gar’s Log. Stardate: June 21st. Operation: Save the Titans. Day Alpha. There’s a whole lot of work to do and no one to do it but me. So let’s get started. I’ll check back in to go over my progress.”
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Gar, with one towel slung low across his hip and the another wrapped around his head the way Rita had shown him, pulled up the recording app on his phone and left it on the counter.
“I mean, things are good. It’s only the first day and I did my one job. Well, I haven’t done it yet because he didn’t wake up but I was ready to just call ol’ Bruce right up. And nothings broken so? Yeah. Issh goodph.”
Gar took a moment to look at himself in the mirror as he brushed his teeth. First he turned a bit to the left, then the right and squinted before spitting a mouth full of frothy old toothpaste down the sink.
“I’m hot, right? Like, yeah!”
Seeing the toothpaste all over his lower lip, he quickly rinsed and grabbed for the mouthwash and took his time watching his bicep flex as he poured himself a cup.
“Yeah. Yeah. I’m sure everyone thinks so…”
He sighed and swished the green liquid around until he was done with that, too. With little fanfare, he picked up his phone and pressed record.
“Gar’s Log. Stardate: June 21st. Operation: Save the Titans. Day Alpha. Part two. I have devised the perfect schedule to enable me to complete my mission. First, I start each morning with an update to Gar’s Log and the perfect motivational quote. Then I get dressed in something green with some kind of animal print because it’s ironic and awesome. I have coffee because there’s so much of it in here I’d feel like I was wasting it. Oh, the same goes for green juice because it’s healthy! But I have to remember tomorrow to take my morning shower after this because coffee and juice like that makes me have to take, like, the most epic shi-“ Garfield cut himself off with a giggle and paused the recording.
“I can’t be serious for like, five minutes, can I? I’m hilarious, but still. Captain’s Logs require a little more...gravitas.”
Gar shook his head and started again.
“Three, two, one. Ahem. After that I train. When the operation succeeds, I’ll have to be ready to protect myself and the other Titans from whatever bullshit is inevitably heading our way. Then, I’ll be hungry so I’ll have dinner. Because it’s just me, it’s going to be vegan and spicy as hell. I’ll clean after myself, too, so no one is overwhelmed by a mess when they get home.”
He paused the recording again and frowned. “Why do I sound so needy? Whatever, I’m just going to finish it.”
“Three, two, one. Then, I’ll write myself a note for the next day. I know I’ll be able to replicate this schedule indefinitely until my charge wakes up or the others come home, so I have to give myself a little variety and encouragement. Then, I’ll read books to the super boy and super puppy - something sophisticated so if he wakes up I’ll seem, you know, cultured and all that. And, uhm, some down time. I’m not caught up on One Piece yet and maybe some games in moderation and boom, it will be time for shower and bed. If I’m lucky, I’ll get some ideas on how to bring everyone else home and things fall into place. Gar out.”
With the confidence of an empty nester, Gar walked back from the bathroom in just his towels and made his way back to his room. He threw both towels down the laundry chute next to his door and pulled out some solid green pj pants and a t-shirt.
As he changed, he couldn’t help but look out of the window and wonder where Raven was under the same night sky at that same moment. His heart ached to think of her safe, empty bed down the hall.
“It’s a journey of a thousand steps, huh. Oh, that should be one of my quotes!”
Phone in hand, Gar snuggled down into bed. After seeing that he had no new texts, calls or even e-mails, he set his phone on the nightstand that doubled as a wireless charger and rolled over.
He closed his eyes but sleep, like Operation: Save the Titans, didn’t come easy.