Disclaimer: I don't own OK K.O.! Let's be Heroes!
Title: The D Word
Summary: Gar knew he was many things, but smooth was not amongst them.
...
Gar knew he was many things, but smooth was not amongst them. It never has been. Just look how many years it took for him to properly apologize for Laserblast, stumbling and spitting like a sprinkler all the way. Look how many years it took to actually ask Carol out on a proper date, the woman smiling the whole way, waiting patiently for him to finish every word. He's lucky she didn't just laugh and walk away.
But maybe it's for the best. It's gotten him to where he is today; sitting in Carol's bed, blanket up to his waist, quietly whiling away the time before bed. Carol's reading some sort of book right beside him, only in her undershirt and sweatpants, and you'd have to be a fool not to find her intimidating. Not just for her beauty (though Gar finds that to be a close second on the 'reasons to be afraid of my significant other' list), but for the muscles rippling through her arms and legs, the scars darting across her skin. She's got some belly pudge, from having K.O., but that only makes her even prettier. And scarier. If Gar had found her terrifying before, it was only because he didn't realize just how protective of a mother she'd become.
K.O. quietly snores between them. Gar is slowly becoming used to that. He glances down at the small child, finding Carol's fingers to be absentmindedly playing with his hair. The headband has gotten itself dislodged as some point, letting the locks fall flat against his back. It's an eerie reminder of his other form.
"Yer starin', Eugene," Carol says suddenly, without looking up from her book.
"O-Oh." He sat as straight as a washboard. "S-s-sorry, Carol."
She reaches over to pat his arm, making him sweat profusely. "Relax, big guy."
K.O. snorts, snuffles, and rolls over, one of his hands bumping Gar's leg. Gar tenses a little, unsure, but doesn't push him away.
"He's really warmed up to this," she notices. "I didn't think he'd be so willing to share bed snuggles."
"Carol," he prompts, so suddenly and clearly it honestly shocks him. "I have to ask a question."
She blinks at him. "If this is a marriage proposal, I want dinner and a date first, buster."
That leaves Gar a stammering wreck for a good two to three minutes. It's been a nervous habit of his since he was just a child. Thankfully, all these years together have equipped Carol with a willingness to withstand it, turning a page in her book and waiting for him to settle.
"I'd just wondered..." he gets out eventually. "If... if we got serious enough..."
Carol looks up from her book. "This isn't actually a proposal, is it? Because I feel like that's something we need to discuss first."
Gar vehemently shakes his head, though the not-panicking part of his brain stores the fact that she didn't necessarily refuse into a safe corner to consider later. "I just wanted to know... if we did get serious one day... what you thought I should say..." he stumbles a bit more, tapping his fingers together, then blurts it out all at once. "If K.O. asked to call me dad."
"Asked to call you dad?" she repeats, voice low but steady. Carol sighs and sets her book aside completely, patting the slumbering boy on the head. "It never occurred to me. And, honestly, Eugene? If you want the cold, hard truth? It probably hasn't crossed his either."
"Well, obviously," Gar wheezes. "We're still new... but if we did-"
"Gar, he's never gonna ask that."
He deflated in an instant, feeling silly. "S-Sorry, Carol."
"Don't be sorry, ya' dope." She punched his shoulder. "Listen. Dad isn't a word my lil' dumbbell's ever really had a definition to. He knows what it is, and that he's don't got one, but that's all that really registers." Carol stares at the wall as she speaks, and there's a distant look in her eye. Gar has noticed she does that a lot when K.O.'s father gets brought up. "But you... you're more than that to him. You're his number two hero, Eugene. Someone he looks up to. The name 'Mr. Gar' is bigger in his mind than 'dad' ever will be."
"Oh," Gar says, smiling. "Number two hero, huh?"
"Don't think I'm giving up top billing just yet, mister." She slips her fingers between his, squeezing reassuringly.
Gar laughs. "Yes, ma'am."
Author's Note: I like writing Gar and Carol, but writing Gar stuttering is a nightmare, so here's my attempt at a middle ground between the two. =)
-Mandaree1