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 stares, mouth open. Did Henry just deliver a sick burn? That's impossible. Henry can't possibly be that clever and mean. Alex would be impressed, but it's Henry, and he refuses to be. Besides, all he hears is that it is definitely a race and he absolutely is going to beat Henry in it. No way some spoiled inbred bastard is better at climbing trees than Alex is just because he's a little taller. Barely taller, really. Like, practically negligible.

He grabs a branch a little ways above them and pulls himself up, pausing only to stick his entire hand on Henry's face and shove him. Not hard or anything. Just enough to make a point. He's not entirely sure what his point it is, but he's going to be emphatic about it anyway.

"Are you really this childish?" Henry asks, grabbing Alex's ankle to keep him from pulling himself too far ahead. Turnabout is fair play, after all, even if it is definitely not a race.

Alex lets out an indignant yelp, then kicks at Henry's hand.

It turns out maybe he is stupid, not just a little reckless. And it turns out that maybe, just maybe, as so often happens, he's gotten carried away. That a little competitive turned into a little roughness turned into him losing his grip on the tree and he is, in fact, falling now.

Well, fuck.

At first, Henry thinks Alex is messing with him to pay him back for trying to grab his ankle. Then he realizes he's actually falling out of the tree, and likely to hurt himself if he actually does land. He reaches out quickly and grabs for Alex's flailing arm, hoping that when he catches it, Alex's momentum doesn't drag them both out of the tree and onto the ground.

Alex barely has time to think that Henry's definitely going to win their not a race before he feels a strong hand around his arm and he jerks to a stop. He looks up. Did Henry... save him? Did literal Prince Charming yank him out of the air like he's a damsel in distress?

Alex will never live this down. Except fortunately, sort of, he doesn't have to because no matter how strong and solid the grip around his arm is, he's still a full grown man hanging out of a tree, and even Henry's annoyingly toned physique isn't enough to hold them both in place. Suddenly, they're falling again, and just as suddenly, they're on the ground and Henry is on top of him.

It wasn't really a very fall far, no matter how much Henry had been fretting. Alex is bruised, but he's pretty sure his pride is the most injured thing about him. He lets his head flop down against the ground and says, "What is this, the third time we've ended up on top of each other? I really have to insist you buy me dinner before we do this again."

"I believe every instance of this has been your fault," Henry points out, rolling off of Alex and onto the grass so he can stare up at the trees above them. "So you owe me dinner. And drinks, if it happens again. Ow."

"My fault?!" Alex pushes himself to sitting which--ow--that reveals a lot of bruises he had not wanted. At least he hasn't injured his face, and the fact that's probably because Henry slowed his fall is not worth dwelling on.

"If I remember correctly, and I do, you pushed me into that cake, there were firecrackers that sounded like guns in your country, and just now? You pulled my foot! Your fault!" He points a finger at Henry, then grimaces and rubs his back. "Ow."

"First of all, you grabbed me. Second, I cannot personally be blamed for firecrackers in my country. Third--you didn't overbalance yourself just now until you tried to kick me, ergo: your fault." He sighs and frowns at the trees above them. "Where are we anyway? How are you even here?"

Alex could keep arguing. There's something almost comforting in the familiar banter. A fire that lights in his belly when Henry challenges him, even on something trivial. A part of him that even now, wants to push at Henry, find his buttons, see if he can find that same fire inside him.

But Alex supposes he has more important things to do than antagonize Henry.

"Same way you did, I'm guessing. Which is to say, I have no fucking clue." He scowls up at the sky, then pushes himself to his feet, leaning a little more heavily on the tree than he should have to. "I saw a campsite a little ways away, though. It's the only lead I've got."

"Wonderful." He pushes himself to his feet, grunting a little when he notices the new bruises he's acquired from landing on Alex. He's almost sorry they've stopped arguing. It's fun when it's Alex, even if he is the most irritating person Henry knows.

"A campsite. All right. Let's go." He eyes Alex for a moment. He doesn't look particularly steady on his feet. "...Do you need help?"

Alex rolls his eyes, pushing himself off the tree to make it clear he can stand without any help from anyone. It's mostly true anyway. His ankle feels a little more tender than he'd like, but he's sure he can walk it off.

"Sorry, Prince Charming. Not gonna play damsel in distress for you. Even if it was your heavy ass that fell on me."

"I'm so sorry for trying to stop you from falling," he says, rolling his own eyes in return. "Remind me not to bother in the future." He glances around. "Which direction was your campsite in?"

Alex casually flips him off, then points forward. "That way," he says. "It was right over--"

He takes a step and okay, maybe his ankle is not as completely fine as he'd like it to be because it rolls immediately and he swears as he does, indeed, start to fall. Again.

Henry's about to return the sentiment with two fingers of his own, when Alex starts to fall. Again. Despite his previous words, he moves quickly, grabbing Alex's arm to try to steady him. "You are an idiot," he tells him. "Let me help you."

A part of Alex wishes Henry had let him fall. It would almost be better than having Henry continue to be so damn frustratingly perfect. Stupid, handsome prince charming and his strong, steady hands sweeping in and catching him. For a moment, he can't even respond because there's something caught in his throat, adrenaline, or frustration, maybe, that Henry can't even let him walk on his own. But he's smarter than this. Or he should be, anyway, if Henry didn't keep getting him all flustered and turned around.

He needs a list.

1. He doesn't know where he is.
2. He doesn't know where any of his secret service agents are.
3. Henry is the only person he's come across.
4. Henry probably doesn't want to be alone either.
5. His ankle might be injured badly enough that walking on it is a bad idea.
6. If he doesn't let Henry help him, they'll both be screwed.

He scowls and glances up at Henry. "Fine. But if you start singing or talking to chipmunks or whatever, I'm bolting."

"Good luck getting far on your bum ankle, but fine," Henry agrees. He starts moving them crefully in the direction Alex had indicated, watching out for any obvious hazards. "In any case, as the damsel in this situation, I think you're much more likely to break out in song or strike up a conversation with the local wildlife. My role here it to be completely useless until most of the story is over."

"Oh, fuck you," Alex says, before he registers that Henry just called himself useless. He falls silent, for once, letting Henry support his weight as they move.

Henry is solid and strong, a fixed point, holding Alex steady, keeping him from doing what he always does and going too fast and hurting himself again. It's weirdly comfortable.

Damn, maybe he hit his head harder than he thought.

Obviously, he doesn't stay silent for very long. "I'm kind of surprised. I didn't think you had a sense of humor."

"They do try to breed it out of us, but there's no accounting for accidents of genetics," he says dryly. They move carefully along for a few more moments before he speaks again. "How's your ankle doing? Do you need a break?"

Alex wants to snap that he's fine, but he bites it back. He's already decided to accept Henry's help. Fighting him now just to be stubborn is a good way to make his ankle worse.

"Might be a good idea." He shifts his weight, leaning a little more firmly on Henry so he can pull his leg up and poke at his ankle. He grimaces. "But just a short one. I'd really like to get to that campsite ASAP."

"All right," Henry says. He stops so that Alex can rest and put a hit more of his weight in him if he wants. "Perhaps the campsite will have some answers for us. Surely someone there must know what's going on and what happened to everyone." After all, neither of them go anywhere without a flock of people managing their security, and the fact that none of them are anywhere in sight is... concerning. Henry isn't willing to suggest anything sinister--surely there's just some miscommunication--but it's still worrying.

And there's still something naggingly familiar about this wood. He feels like he's missing something big, but he can't see the shape of it.

It's probably Alex's fault.

Alex shifts, leaning against Henry. As always, those few inches Henry has on him annoy him, even if it means Alex fits really well against his side. Why does Henry have to be so damn tall?

Whatever. It's fine. Nothing new there. They just have to get to camp so he can lean against something less mortifying.

"Maybe. Or it'll just fuck with us harder. Somehow, I doubt this is some weird surprise kidnapping training drill."

"You don't think it's an actual surprise kidnapping, though." It seems incredibly unlikely. Actual kidnappers would probably not let them wander around and climb trees. Even if they weren't tied up, there would be eyes on them to make sure they stayed put, in order to get whatever they wanted from their respective people. So far, there had been no one.

And Alex's weight against his side was annoyingly soothing--they might not know what was happening, but at least they weren't alone in it.

Alex shakes his head. "It just doesn't make sense. Why would we be dropped in a random forest? Why not tied up in a warehouse or something? Why us, and why are we together? If this is politically motivated, it's fucking weird. If it's just some psychopath, well, they'd have gotten past all our security on two different continents, so they'd have to be the smartest, most competent psychopaths imaginable and then they do this."

He waves at the surrounding trees vigorously enough that his weight shifts onto his bum foot. He grimaces and leans back onto Henry again.

"Anyway." Just gonna ignore that. "If I didn't know better I'd think we'd, like, gone the rabbit hole into Oz or something. But that's not real. Also? Those books pretty much just star white kids. So seems unlikely on my end anyway."

Henry scoffs quietly. "I don't recall falling through a looking glass, do--" He stops. Blinks a few times and looks around. Hang on... The trees. The pools. He does know this place, only it's... impossible. Even more impossible than insanely competent but also weirdly stupid kidnappers. C. S. Lewis wrote fiction and Christian allegory and the fantastic places he wrote about aren't real.

He's not speaking his thoughts out loud, but the look on his face is pure shock and disbelief.

That's... a weird reaction. Alex can't even form a snarky reply properly because Henry didn't finish his sentence. He frowns, looking at Henry's face. That's... probably more facial expression than he's seen from Henry, like, ever.

"What?" He smirks, but it's not as solid as he'd like it to be. Because the fact is they don't know what's going on and Henry's being extra weird and that's alarming. "You don't actually think we're in a magical portal universe, do you?"

He means it to come out scornful, but it comes out a little less certain than he'd like it to. They aren't. Right? That's impossible. It definitely has to be impossible.

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