wbw | Welcome

Entry tags:

setting,
welcome

Welcome

You awake on the grass. When you open your eyes, you see that you in the Wood. It is calm here. Quiet. There are no birds singing, nor any other sight or sound of animal life. The sky between the branches is an eternal twilight that lightens and darkens without ever becoming true day and night. Interspersed between the trees are the Pools. Each Pool is only a foot deep at most--enough to splash in, but certainly not deep enough to swim or drown. They are oddly uniform, aside from the occasional Pool here and there that has inexplicably dried out.

As you look around, you notice that a short distance away is what appears to be the remains of a small camp. When you approach, you can see that there are a number of tents that seem to be in excellent condition, and in the middle, a campfire circle with plenty of food supplies around it.

The food replenishes itself when taken.

The fresh water never runs dry.

The sleeping bags and mats within the tents are oddly comfortable and restful.

Welcome to the Wood Between the Worlds.

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"Alex!" Henry almost let go of him except that he remembered in time about his stupid ankle and managed to keep his grip. He gave him an annoyed look. "You absolute madman. Do you have a magical key? A yellow or green ring? What are you doing?"

“It was worth a shot! And you didn’t say anything about a yellow and green ring.” He shrugs, unapologetic. “Besides, on the off chance you’re right and we are in Narnia, it probably isn’t exactly like the book.”

"No," he agrees. There are several differences already, despite the very obvious similarities. "But we aren't in Narnia, or the Wood Between the Worlds or anything like that." Because it's impossible, even if it makes the most sense. "Let's get to that campsite." With soaking wet shoes and socks. Good job, Alex.

Alex rolls his eyes. "I'm trapped in a forest with a fucking fairytale prince. Seemed worth ruling out. Just to be sure."

Except they don't have rings, apparently, so maybe it's not ruled out anyway.

Henry makes a noncommittal noise. They haven't ruled it out, they've just managed to get wet socks. He doesn't point that out. Instead, he starts shuffling them slowly toward the campsite again, doing his best not to rush Alex.

They don't go very far before Alex is talking again. He can't stand the quiet, and Henry might not be his favorite person or even someone he likes, but he's the only one here.

"And what the fuck even is a Turkish delight? They make such a big deal about them and I've never so much as heard them mentioned outside that book."

Henry spends their shuffling steps trying to describe Turkish delight to Alex's continued skepticism, and they continue to compare various candies and snacks as they make their way to the campsite because naturally Alex can't simply let silence stand. He surprises himself to find that he doesn't really mind.

There's no obvious movement when they arrive at the campsite.

"Hello?" he calls out.

The list of people who would have kept chatting with Alex about nonsense without telling him to shut up is pretty short. Even June and Nora have their limits, though he's pretty sure they'd put up with him in a situation like this, when everything is so complicated and weird already that adding silence to it would push him over the edge.

He wishes to hell they were here with him, but he's surprised to find Henry's an okay substitute. He really expected that snooty Henry of all people would have no interest in humoring him.

It's possible he misjudged Henry. A little bit. He's still an asshole, of course, but maybe a tolerable one. And he does have the fucking Prince Charming thing down cold.

Alex frowns around the campsite as they approach. "If this is a dead end I'm throwing myself back into that pool."

The flap in the largest tent opens and a man in a form fitting black and blue suit steps out. He isn't wearing a mask, and his eyes widen in surprise when he sees them.

"Oh," he says. After slightly too much of a pause, he adds, "Hi."

Henry raises an eyebrow at him. Well, the surprise on his face suggests that he's probably not the kidnapper. He clearly doesn't expect to see them. "Hello," he says again. "Any idea what's going on?"

What the fuck is that guy even wearing? Alex isn't sure if it's leather or spandex or what, but it's super tight and formfitting and like, wow it's hard not to stare. The outfit seems practically made to be stared at. It's so tight and Alex isn't even sure how much of what it's, um, accentuating is what's actually under there but if it is... damn. Like, is that even allowed?

His fingers dig into Henry's arm a little harder, and he tugs at his collar. Why is this weird-ass forest so damn warm?

"In before 'world's shittiest comic con.'" He waves at the guy's whole... everything. "Should we have brought costumes too? Cause, like, dibs on brown Captain America."

Dick takes a moment to squint at Alex in confusion because what is he even talking about before turning to look at Henry whose words seem actually relevant to the situation.

"Yeah," he says slowly. "But you might want to sit down before I explain it. It's pretty hard to believe. And that's coming from me." He gives an awkward half smile, gesturing over at a wooden table surrounded by benches. "I'm Dick."

"I hardly think either of us will faint once you tell us what's going on," Henry says, frowning slightly. Still, Alex needs to sit down anyway. He's almost certainly tired of leaning in him at this point. He guides him carefully toward the benches. "It's nice to meet you--you really go by Dick?"

Really? Seriously??

Dick has, believe it or not, gotten this before. He wishes he'd known people were showing up. He could have kept the mask on and just introduced himself as Nightwing. Not that he's sure that would even have helped.

"Can we focus?" He takes a seat and glances over at the two men. "This is... well. Have you heard of Narnia?"

Alex is trying really hard not to snicker at the guy's name. It becomes even harder when Henry questions him about it. Maybe it's the word Dick, even as a name, in Henry's posh accent. He didn't know princes even knew that word.

He sits down carefully and immediately feels the lack of Henry's warm weight at his side. It's... well. Familiar. Not that he's spent that much time that close to Henry, tendency to end up on top of each other aside, but he's someone Alex knows. But he's also someone who has not, traditionally, gotten along well with Alex, so it's probably a relief for Henry not to have to hold him up anymore. He sits up straight, letting his foot rest without his weight on it, and turns to look at Dick.

And then he fucking says that and Alex slams his hands on the table. "No fucking way." He turns to glare at Henry. "Of all the things for you to be right about, it has to be this?"

"I'm as surprised as you are," he tells Alex. He turns toward Dick again. "You're not saying this is the Wood Between the Worlds." Even if it is an increasingly likely explanation now that someone else has brought it up, it's still hard to believe.

"Uh, yes, actually." Dick pulls off one of his gloves, revealing a ring. It's a twist of yellow and green that glimmers oddly in the light. "I mean, sort of. It seems to work pretty similarly anyway. There are rings for you as well. In theory, they'll be able to take you home, but you have to find the right pond and so far I haven't managed that. As you can tell by me being here still."

Alex can't help but stare a little as Dick pulls his glove off like a stripper. Maybe that's what he is. A superhero stripper. That would probably explain the name at least.

It's distracting. Who wouldn't be distracted by a guy basically stripping in front of them? Alex forces himself to focus.

"So what you're saying is we're in a magical world hopping dimension but can't actually world hop home." He frowns. "But what, you can world hop other places?"

"Presumably we would just have to return to the pool we came from," Henry says, frowning. "That shouldn't be too difficult. Wouldn't we just retrace our steps?" It was a pity he hadn't thought to mark where he woke up, like in the story, but it wouldn't be that hard to find.

Dick raises an eyebrow.

"Can you? This place is a lot more confusing than you'd think. It's, well, magic." He waves his hand at the trees around them. "You can always find your way here, to the campsite. But everything else is... impermanent. I'm not saying it isn't worth trying. Others have been here and left, presumably for home. But don't get your hopes up too high." He turns to Alex. "It depends a lot on the pool. I'm sorry that so many of my answers have been unhelpful, but we have more questions than answers still."

He pushes himself up from the table. "Now, we can get you set up with tents, rings," he glances down at Alex's foot, "medical assistance.... uh, do you want one tent or two?"

This is all the worst. Alex is going to have to have a quiet freak out before too long, but maybe not in front of the weird hot superhero dude.

"Two," he says. He glances over at Henry. "No offense, sweetheart, creepy magic woods just aren't putting me in the spooning mood."

"Oh no." Henry's voice is bone dry. "However will I manage without your manly arms around me. Oh tragedy. Oh sorrow." He turns his attention toward Dick again. "Two tents would be best, thank you. And he does need some kind of medical assistance if it's available. He fell out of a tree."

"Hey, fuck you! Don't forget it was your royal ass that fell on top of me." But Alex can't quite hold back a grin. Henry's so much more tolerable when he's snarky. Almost likeable.

"...but yeah, I do need to deal with my foot. I think I sprained it."

Dick is like eighty percent these two knew each other before they got here, but anything else, he's having trouble ascertaining. Are they friends? They're apparently not dating, or at least, not seriously enough to want to share a tent.

He steps away from the table, trying not to look like he's running away from their horrifying amounts of sexual tension.

"Okay, I'll get the first aid kit. Just give me a minute."

"Thank you." He raises an eyebrow at Alex. "Yes, after trying to keep you from falling when you lost your balance. You're right, I am surely the villain in this piece." He shakes his head a little, but he's biting back a grin of his own. At least if he has to deal with fiction becoming reality, he has mildly antagonistic company to share it with.

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