Welcome

[adaptiveimmunities]

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.

Comments

[princebuttercup]

"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.

[holyfuckbatman]

"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."

[bisexualdisaster]

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?"

[princebuttercup]

"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.

[holyfuckbatman]

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?"

[bisexualdisaster]

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."

[princebuttercup]

"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."

[bisexualdisaster]

"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."

[holyfuckbatman]

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."

[princebuttercup]

"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.

[bisexualdisaster]

"Keep telling yourself that, highness."

Alex rolls his eyes, leaning his elbow on the table while Dick retreats, but he's not nearly as mad as the antagonism should make him. Maybe because his natural state is being antagonistic. It's nice to hang out with someone who's on the same page.

But then his expression sobers.

"Is this really happening? Like, how is any of this possible?"

[princebuttercup]

"It shouldn't be," Henry says, frowning a little in return. "I think we can both agree that the Chronicles of Narnia are entirely fictional. But as it stands I don't have a better explanation. Especially with our new friend's agreement. Unless you have a better idea, I'm leaning toward accepting this one for the time being."

[bisexualdisaster]

Alex snorts. "Our new friend Dick. Which is almost as unbelievable as being in a fantasy novel. Who would actually call themselves that by choice?"

[princebuttercup]

He wants to point out that it was a nickname for Richard for longer than it's been a euphemism, but that's hardly the point here. The man seems to be contemporary to them, and therefore is certainly not ignorant of the alternate meaning of his nickname. "Apparently--Dick," he says with a little smirk.

[bisexualdisaster]

Alex rolls his eyes. "Well, yeah. I mean I want to know more about him." He scowls back towards the tent. "Besides the fact that I guess he's a really dedicated cosplayer."

[princebuttercup]

Henry gives him a curious look. "Oh?" He's aware of conventions, of course, but it's not something he's ever seen beyond images on the internet or things like that. He's never seen anyone in a costume like Dick's.

[bisexualdisaster]

Alex raises his eyebrows. "What, do people dress like that regularly in England? He looks like a goddamn superhero and--"

He breaks off because, well, now he's thinking more about superheroes and this is so stupid he can't even handle it. He smacks his face in his palm.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me."

[princebuttercup]

"What?" Henry asks. He has a feeling he's missing something, but he has no idea what it could be. It's not as though superheroes are real.

[bisexualdisaster]

"Dick." Alex looks over at him. "Like Dick Grayson? AKA Robin? Come on, you've seen Star Wars but not Batman?"

[princebuttercup]

"Of course I know who Batman is." But why on earth would he have associated Dick with that? "Isn't Robin meant to be smaller?"

[bisexualdisaster]

"He graduates eventually. Takes the name Nightwing." He nods towards the tent. "Wears a costume that looks a lot like that, except more comicbooky."

[princebuttercup]

Henry glances at the tent, then back at Alex. "You're joking." It's hard enough to believe that they're in the land of "lion Jesus," but adding comic book characters into the mix seems like a bit much.

[bisexualdisaster]

"He could be a really dedicated cosplayer," Alex says, though he doesn't sound convinced. That would be the logical explanation. Too bad they left logic behind the minute they woke up in fucking Narnia.

[princebuttercup]

"I suppose we could always ask him when he gets back," Henry points out, but--loathe as he is to admit it--he agrees with Alex and the doubt in his voice. If they can wake up here, it's entirely possible that Dick is exactly who he appears to be.

[holyfuckbatman]

Conveniently, this is when Dick does in fact get back, Dick reemerges, holding a first aid kit and two rings. He puts the rings on the table and moves over to sit next to Alex.

"Here. You'll need these." He holds out a hand for Alex's foot, then pauses, because Alex is definitely staring at him. "...what?"