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━ END OF THE EARTH xvii. swan song ┈┈┈┈┈┈┈୨♡୧┈┈┈┈┈┈┈
EVERY PASSING SECOND WITH NO WORD FROM EITHER FREYA OR DICK ADDS TO TARA'S ALREADY FRAYED NERVES. They left an hour ago and since then, there's been nothing. No texts, no calls, no emergency distress signals, just an agonizing silence that never seems to come to an end.
There's a burning sensation under her skin and she scratches along her arm, eyes fixed resolutely on the TV in front of her. She's been flickering through news stations since they left, the anxiety building and building and building, never getting a release, for the past sixty-three minutes (not that she's been counting) and Tara's genuinely concerned that if she doesn't hear something soon, she'll burst into flames.
Garfield swindles up to her and it takes her a moment to notice, tearing her gaze away from the screen. There's something about a battle in Metropolis... she doesn't really care. They've got Superman and she's only got Freya.
"What the hell do you want?" She snaps.
He raises his hands in defence, leaning against the counter. "Just wanted to check in on you. You seem stressed, is all."
"I'm not stressed", she says, stressed out of her mind. Her blood pressure must be insane at this point. "I'm perfectly calm!"
He chooses to look away at that which is probably a good idea. Tara doesn't want him to see her trying to light him on fire with the power of her glare alone.
"If you need to talk ━━"
"I don't."
"Not even about Freya?" He continues and now, it almost sounds like he's teasing her. Like they're friends. Are they friends? Does she want to be friends...? (Yes, yes she does). "You and her seem pretty close."
She can feel her face growing a bright red. "Dunno what you're talking about."
He snickers and she represses the urge to punch him. It probably wouldn't shut him up, anyways. "Uh-huh. Well, when you do know what I'm talking about, you know where to find me."
"Annoying the crap of Cyborg?"
"Exactly."
She rolls her eyes and it's ━━ it's not mean. When she first came here, malice laced every interaction she had with the Titans and now it's absent. Something else has taken its place, something warm and glowy, that reminds of Freya and violets and peace.
She thinks it feels a little like love's supposed to.
Gar starts to retreat away and she focuses in on the TV, flicking through the channels once more. It only takes her to the second station ━━where Bethany Snow is reporting ━━ to get the exact thing she wanted and feared.
