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]

"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?"

[bisexualdisaster]

Alex shakes his head, gingerly raising his foot to the bench in front of Dick. "Just wondering if you were gonna hook us up with fetish gear too."

...Alex, that is NOT what Henry was suggesting you ask.

[princebuttercup]

Henry stares at Alex in horror. "Alex! That is--" he shakes his head and turns toward Dick again. "Not what we were going to ask you. He wanted to know if you're 'Nightwing.'"

[holyfuckbatman]

Well, that's not what Dick was expecting to hear. He blinks, straightening. Admittedly, he is in costume and not wearing a mask, but he's been Nightwing for less than a day. Even with the speed of internet to consider, that's fast.

"How do you know that name?"

[bisexualdisaster]

Alex snickers at Henry's reaction, but when Dick--Nightwing responds, his laughter cuts off.

He almost wishes Dick had just said yes. That would have been easy enough to write off as deluded, or a very dedicated cosplayer. But acting surprised they'd even heard of him?

That speaks of something else.

"The same way we know about Narnia," he says, voice flat. "It's fictional."

[princebuttercup]

Henry rubs at his forehead. He can feel a headache coming on already. "This is probably just as difficult to believe as turning up in--" He glances at Alex. "--not actually Narnia, because the Wood Between the Worlds is different, but I suppose that's just semantics at this point."

[holyfuckbatman]

That's... a lot. And Dick sits back, frowning. Then he reaches down to take Alex's foot. "I am Nightwing, yes. I guess I shouldn't be that surprised, considering we're in Narnia."

He tugs off Alex's shoe and sock and starts bandaging it.

"Your ankle's a little swollen, but it should be fine. Just take it easy for a little while."

[bisexualdisaster]

Alex frowns, holding his ankle still as Dick works it.

"You're taking this well."

[princebuttercup]

"Well, he's had some time to get used to living in one of Lewis's works," Henry mutters, but privately he agrees. He doubts he would take being told he was fictional half as well as Dick seems to have.

[holyfuckbatman]

"And this isn't my first brush with alternate realities. The fact that there might be a fictional representation of my life isn't that surprising."

He hopes it's not too accurate. It's still weird as hell, even if he's not freaking out about it. He finishes bandaging Alex's ankle and hands him a packet of pain pills.

"We don't have too many of these. You might want to save them for when you really need them."

[bisexualdisaster]

Alex takes them with a nod, then leans back against Henry's shoulder dramatically.

"It hurts, but I'll try to be brave."

[princebuttercup]

"You are ridiculous," Henry tells him, though he doesn't shove Alex away from him. He turns his attention to Dick again. "Thank you very much for your help."

[holyfuckbatman]

Dick nods and stands. "I'll leave you two to settle in. You know where to find me if you need me."

...because they're in a forest and there's not really anywhere they can go.

[bisexualdisaster]

Alex nods, and watches Dick walk away and absolutely does not feel anything weird about how much the suit clings. Sure, the guy's good looking. That's just objective fact. He sighs, shifting to face Henry, letting his usual ridiculousness melt away a little.

"So. I guess we're going to have to work together if we want to get through this. Truce?" He holds out a hand.