wildestlogs | FLIGHT TO THE FORD

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FLIGHT TO THE FORD

The Palace is not a safe place. It's far too open and elegant, its walls broken down, its doors thrown open. There are far too many places their enemies can crawl in through. But there is an entirely different land on the other side of the palace, with an entirely different climate.

It's a land of cool temperate forests. It has a gnarled look to it. While things glow, they're knotty and thorny and a little dreary. Every so often a petrified troll can be found, covered in moss. These aren't like the trolls some of them saw frozen in Trollmarket - they're larger, uglier, and more menacing. But they're permanently frozen and no longer a danger.

Otherwise it's just misty forest. Mountains can be seen in the distance. In some areas, a road is visible, but it's perhaps not a safe place to travel, given they have enemies after them. The forest is a genuinely good place to hide. The Shadowhunters have given up chase, frightened off by the Nazgul.

And while the occasional Nazgul screech can be heard far off in the distance, they don't try to attack again.

But this is not because they've given up. They're simply waiting. Because some of the group have been poisoned by the shards of Morgul-blades. They're simply biding their time until those people turn into wraiths under their command.

They're biding their time until they can command them to destroy the group from within.

OOC DETAILS
❧ Quest magic: Players can handwave that the quest bond magic is tugging the group together, so they can regroup.

❧ Archivist Spells: There will be little eddies of magic left near the occasional little bit of human ruins. These spells run a little dark.

Death flashback spells: This spell causes a target to get stuck in a 15 second traumatic flashback of a death of a human warrior in the ancient realm of Arnor, a place that was once filled with people that were gradually culled by the dark forces of one o the Nazgul - the Witch-king. The target is completely distracted during this time. Archivists can bank up to 3 iterations of this spell. Casting the spell causes a temporary Necromancer style curse effect on the Archivist: eyes going completely black for 2 minutes, and plants withering and dying around the caster. The effects are not permanent.

❧ Network: Feel free to use the network in parallel with the log events. The log can be where characters regroup, get first aid, etc. A network post can go up to allow everyone to coordinate their efforts. The mods will leave that up to one of the players.

❧ Resources: As far as food goes, there are not many edible plants in the area, just the occasional edible root. Deer and rabbits can be found but they're rare. The occasional beehive can also be found but one has to somehow get rid of the bees or mop up honey that's dripped below it. There are not many supplies to be found here. However, there are a few plants and substances that can be used for first aid, if some among their number know about them:

Athelas: A sweet smelling green plant with small blue flowers. It can be used to cure the Black Breath by boiling it in water and allowing the victim to breathe in the vapors. It can also slow the transformation caused by Morgul-blades if the wound is washed by water that has had athelas boiled in it. This can also help relieve some of the pain and cold. It smells extremely fresh and sweet, often reminding people smelling of it specific scents that remind them of home. This means it can smell different ways to different people, such making one person smell apple orchards from back home, and another fresh cut grass after a rain. Use of this herb is more potent in the hands of a king. Thanks to the magic affecting the land, it will do so for any king.

Honey: This can offer some help for disinfecting puncture wounds, but works especially well for burns, like ones caused by the grazes of the Shadowhunters' angel blades.

Foxglove: A mashed poultice of this can be put on wounds to help with healing and prevent infection.

Pine sap: Can be used as a wound disinfectant.

Willow Bark: A tea made from willow bark can be used for pain but is not recommended if someone is still bleeding heavily, as it is also a blood thinner.

Poppies: There are a few small patches of poppies. Poppies can be used as an opioid pain reliever, by eating the seeds or making a tea out of them.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[The moment Tim walks onto the scene Elle wants to interfere, but... who knows whether Kon would see that as a potential threat. All of her muscles tense as Tim gets closer and closer to him.

She's dying to know what this whole 'LutherCorps' thing is, but also recognizes that isn't the time or place, and it probably never will be. Some things hurt when you dig, and the last thing Elle wants to do is hurt anyone. Especially these two-- they seem to have already gone though so much.

For a moment it seems like it's working. Kon's calming down and Tim seems to be taking his rage away.

Then everything goes wrong. Tim isn't just taking it away, he's taking it into himself. Elle starts to rush forward when he glares in her direction, his black eyes boring into her.]

Tim. You know that's not how it happened. You needed help and Kon wasn't willing to come near you. [She speaks softly but her voice still reaches where Tim and Kon are standing. She shifts to Homid so that she registers as less of an immediate danger. She imagines she doesn't look particularly threatening at this point, barefoot and half-naked as she is.]

Kon. Is he hurting you?

[Because that will change the way she reacts. If Tim is focused on her-- good. He's less likely to hurt anyone else. If he's hurting Kon, even accidentally, she can use that focus to draw him away.

If not, she can back off. She'll show her throat and make herself less of a threat.]

[Dick's been keeping an eye on things through the mirror as he makes his way there. Made much easier by the scream, honestly.]

[He...really wishes he could be surprised by the fact that Tim showed up. But he's really not. It makes him pick up the pace, arriving just in time for Elle to speak up.]

Don't make me break out all four names, Tim.

[Said as he moves forward, putting himself between Tim and Elle. Less out of worry for Elle and more just to get Tim looking at him instead.]

[The black eyes are...concerning. But he still meets them easily enough.]

Kon's here and safe. We'll get to the bottom of what caused it, but fighting our allies isn't a great way to go about it.

[The thing he doesn't try to do is separate Kon and Tim. There'd been a long conversation a few years ago with Kon, heading for that last stand on the ice. And other conversations with Tim since.]

[Separating them would be bad. Even if neither of them would admit it yet.]

You can let go of it, Tim. Whatever this is, we'll sort it out together. All right?

It's fine, Elle. It's fine.

[Tim's holding onto him so tightly it's uncomfortable, but it doesn't hurt and it wouldn't matter even if it did. He won't let him go. He won't move away.]

Tim, she did what I needed her to do. I needed you to be safe just as much as you needed me to be safe.

You were the one that was hurt. I was able to -

[His voice cracks because he can't say "defend myself" when he was the one doing the hurting.]

I wasn't able to be hurt right then. You were hurt already.

Look at me.

[He gets in his line of sight too so both he and Dick are blocking out the rest of the world.]

Your eyes are black. I guess that's what happened to me. It's like you...you absorbed it. Whatever was happening to me. Maybe another power you didn't know you had.

You have to try to calm down and let all the anger go. I think you can. I just couldn't because I was freaking out. It reminded me of -

Of what happened with Luthor. So I couldn't calm down. But you can. You're good at calm. You gotta do that Bat thing you do, okay?

I need you to, Tim. If this hurts you when you took it out of me, I can't...

[His expression is pleading. His voice cracks.]

I can't do it again. I can't be what hurts you.

Edited 2022-01-07 04:45 (UTC)

I CAN’T!

[ It’s a full-throated yell in Dick’s face. He can’t let go; it’s too much to ask. Dick being here is good, but not enough. Dick can let go of things. Kon can let go of things.

But Tim is the one who doesn’t let go, just tucks it away until he’s got a plan. (And he plans and he plans and he plans until he’s got seventeen contingencies). But he never puts down what he’s shouldered, because it’s how he protects his family. And his found family. He will come back to it no one else handles it in the meantime.

And what happens to Tim doesn’t enter the equation. So his eyes are black. So his brain feels as jagged as Kon sounded when his eyes were black. That’s fine. Tim can take it. Tim’s not the one in danger of being restrained, and this has to be done now. ]

They -

[ He tries to see past them, to resume glaring at Elle or Stacia, but moving and twisting hurt. Tim sucks in a whistling breath through gritted teeth. ]

Don’t trust you. Me. Anyone. They’ll think Kon’s - dangerous again. I fixed it.

[ (But it wasn’t them, was it? Elle and Stacia weren’t there when Kon was brainwashed. They couldn’t think Kon was dangerous again for it.)

He’s too confused for this realization, and there’s too many inputs. Tim starts to shake his head and can’t stop doing it. Can’t quite shake the raging voice at the back of his mind screaming that the best defense is a good offense, but what is protecting Dick and Kon if they’re telling him to let go?

What is fixing Kon if his voice still cracks like that? Put it away, bury it down and come back for them later. (If Tim has a ‘later’.) ]

I’m okay. Not hurt.

[ Just terrified, desperate and dying. But only the first two are about Kon. The third - well, there’s hurt and there’s hurt. Kon isn’t hurting him by asking too much - this much. It’s not too much to ask Tim to put it all away like he normally does. He’s got them trained to just expect that he shows a smooth face to the world. Kon doesn’t know that Tim’s going to fade so rapidly that it won’t get unpacked.

And he doesn’t have to know. (Shove it all down, no one wants this mess.)

When the head shaking settles down to twitchiness, the blackened veins are retracting, but his eyes are still somewhat clouded when he looks at Kon. ]

I won’t hurt you.

[ Not this time. ]

[It may be fading, but Tim isn't letting go. As long as he's afraid for Kon, he won't let go.]

Tim. [Elle says, her voiced slightly raised. She isn't trying to startle him, just get his attention away from Kon temporarily. She keeps her voice even as she speaks.]

I trust Kon. I know Kon won't hurt any of us. [She puts her hands out to show she's unarmed and lowers herself to the ground to kneel and blatantly showing both of them her throat.

It probably looks demeaning, but Elle's been living in the Garou world for long enough to know have an idea of to defuse this kind of fear. Fear from a place that doesn't respond to logic but to basic mammalian instinct. Anyone familiar with animal behavior and body language can tell she's submitting to Tim's display of aggression and dominance; backing down from his perceived challenge. She glances over at Stacia with a look that says either get down or back away.]

I won't take Kon away. I won't take you away from Kon. [Not that she thinks she'd succeed if she tried at this point. Not that she has any desire to, other than the fact that Tim looks worse now than when he first got stabbed and she's not sure if it's because he was moving around, the power he absorbed, or something's wrong with the wound.]

You fixed it Tim. Thank you for fixing it.

[Stacia's been keeping her mouth shut, hovering at the edge of the clearing and wishing that Elle would glance her way so that the two of them can have a conversation of facial expressions. Tim and Kon and Dick are having a conversation with layers and it's not one that invites questions under the circumstances. Later, yes, there will be questions; but not now.]

[She's not a diplomat like Elle, so she declines to kneel and show throat. But she nods and fades further back into the trees. When she speaks, her tone is even, the prototypical talking-about-the-weather voice.]

Guess my work is done. Holler if you need anything.

[She's not actually going far, in case Tim needs to have a fight with a pile of dirt or something else soft enough for human hands.]

[Honestly, Dick's grateful for one fewer set of eyes on the proceedings. He can hear Elle's voice behind him coming from a lower place than it was, but he doesn't turn around to see what she's done.]

[He takes a step forward, hands out to show he's unarmed. Sure, Tim knows that doesn't really mean much, but it's the show that counts. His eyes flicker to Kon, just to make sure that he's okay before looking back to Tim.]

No, they don't trust us. But that's understandable. They've only just met us. But I know you won't hurt anybody. Just like I know that Kon won't hurt anybody.

[He takes another step forward, putting his hand on Tim's shoulder.]

I have you, Tim. Kon has you. And we're not letting go, all right?

I know you think it's your job to have all the angles covered. To worry about things so other people don't have to. But they're not going to do anything bad, Tim. They're not going to hurt me. They had their chance to and they chose to help instead.

There are no enemies here - there's just whatever ugly thing it was that you somehow pulled out of me. So you've got to let it go. I think it'll go away if you do, instead of going back into me.

[He has some instinctual sense of what that ugliness is.]

It's doing a mind whammy on you, like it was doing for me. During a time like that, you know Dick and I would look out for you.

I need you to trust me.

To trust us.

[He presses his forehead against Tim's and says it more firmly. Almost a command. The way Tim might say it when he's in leader mode.]

Let it go.

[ They’re all wrong. They’re all wrong, and he’s the only one who sees it, like the last time. Tim’s initial instinct, fuelled by the otherwise target less rage that he’s swallowed up, is to dig in harder and stick to his plan.

But it took so much to get here and heal Kon, he just doesn’t have much in reserve to fight an emotional battle with Dick and Kon. If it was just Elle, Tim dies on this hill, but he can’t salt the earth of his support system if he wants to be around to protect them much longer.

And as the rush of the dark magic fades, the pain moves back to center stage. Some things can’t be fought. That shard burrowing on his side. Dick, if Tim in this condition tries to physically force his will on them and continue to threaten Elle, will hand Tim his ass in one move without Kon or Elle lifting a finger.

(But are they all wrong? Elle and Stacia saying they don’t think Kon will hurt anyone - or leaving, in Stacia’s case - that’s not necessarily wrong, it depends on how the truth is framed. That’s too much to process.) ]

It’s my job.

[ Quiet, because he feels so seen to have the words he couldn’t put together handed to him by Kon. Almost too seen, getting called out on his own predictability. It’s embarrassing, and that sucks the blackness right out of his eyes. Tim has to shut them to keep the mortification off his face.

And to keep from going cross-eyed at how close Kon is, with their foreheads pressed together. Was that… something he did? It would be strange to pull away if it was, but the details of the past few minutes are saved as broad strokes only.

(If he pulls away, he’s going to collapse. He’s rethought that one and keeping his dignity intact would be a nice change of pace.)

The shut eyes dam the threat of waterworks, too; he hates the call to publicly acknowledge that he’s been out of control. If it were just Dick and Kon - or more realistically, just Kon - he wouldn’t feel like like it was a concession (or a disappointment). The shallow breathing is because of the injuries, he thinks as he squirrels away another explanation for what they could still pick at after this. ]

Elle and Stacia aren’t enemies, I know.

[Elle... Elle shouldn't be here. This isn't something she should be seeing.

For all of Elle's tendencies to ask questions, be nosy, and pry into things, she does have a line; a line that wouldn't exist if she wasn't trying to consider the emotions and well-being of the people around her.

And this? This just dived off the deep end of that line.

She should've walked away like Stacia did. She was so worried about Tim not being able to let go if he didn't know where she was or what she was doing, and on being here to help in case something went wrong, she failed to consider the damage she could do by staying. She's a voyeur to a pain she doesn't know or fully understand. Sure, she can pick out the pieces and make some probably accurate educated guesses, but that's not the same.

Slowly, as to not draw more attention to herself, she begins to shuffle backward in the same direction Stacia left. She's keeping her eyes averted, allowing them what little privacy she can while she's still here.

She moves so slowly and silently that, in their current conditions, it's likely that Dick is the only who notices her begin to leave.]

[Oh, he does notice. Dick even looks back over his shoulder to see what's happening, but doesn't acknowledge it at the moment. Elle is looking away, after all. So he just makes a mental note to track her down later and thank her.]

[Instead, he focuses back on Tim.]

Right now, your only job is getting better. And the first step in that is getting you back to being horizontal.

[Really, given that wound in his side, he shouldn't even have been UP. But telling Tim what he shouldn't be doing is sometimes an exercise in futility when he knows there's something else going on.]

[Doesn't stop Dick from worrying about him. But, then, he's the big brother. That's his job.]

[The darkness leaves his eyes.]

[Kon lets out a terrified breathe he hadn't even realized he'd been holding.]

You need to rest, okay?

Dick, take him. I'm getting blood all over him.

[And he's fighting himself right now and not sure if he's going to give in to the instinct to stay near the group but...away. Just away.]

[But also Tim's hurt and Kon doesn't want to go anywhere.]

[But also he's hurt and Kon could hurt him more.]

[He needs to be loose if the urge to bolt is the one that wins.]

[No, don’t take him back. Tim wants to be where he can’t be left out of the loop and isn’t dependent on the mirror for his information. ]

It’s probably my blood.

[ Because it really doesn’t matter if Kon gets a little blood on Tim - he’s still bleeding himself. They can all stick together, and then he won’t to go looking for them again. That’s what everyone wants, right? ]

If you let me stay, I’ll stay put, and that includes horizontal, until we leave for Rivendell.

[ Which… should be soon. They’re leaving soon, right? Because the side effects of the heal were actually the least of his problems. ]

There better be a Rivendell after all this, with Elrond and functioning Vilya.

[ None of this post Third age fall of the rings of power, because Tim won’t make it to the Havens. ]

I got him.

[Even though Kon would normally be the better choice to carry Tim, Dick understands why Kon doesn't want to right now.]

We're going back to the main group. It won't be long before we move, though. As soon as the sun's up.

[Not that it's likely to stop the Nazgul, he thinks, but the sun helps some. Makes it easier to see where they're going, if nothing else.]

[He chuffs out a soft laugh at Tim's insistence about Vilya, pulling his little brother close to help him walk. He WILL pick Tim up if he has to. But, for the moment, let Tim stay on his feet if he can.]

You're going to be in your element there.

[All fondly said because he knows his little brother is a massive geek. But it's never a bad thing to have loves and hobbies outside of crime fighting.]

[But he does look over Tim's head, eyeing Kon for a moment. He can see that Kon isn't very injured, but still.]

You should probably still get checked over, Kon. And get something to change into. [There's still some fabric they can make work.] Also, we're going to need help getting things together to move out.

Edited (Just adding a bit more.) 2022-01-08 17:23 (UTC)

Mm.

[He can't just turn and run away because Tim is hurt and Tim is talking about needing Elrond or he's screwed. If those were really Nazgul, Tim is already dying, and that means Kon wants to practically be glued to Tim's side.]

[But he's also currently covered in the blood of so many people that he hurt during so much of a blur that he couldn't possibly count them. He was barely with it enough to know he (hopefully) didn't outright kill some of them instantly.]

[He shakes his head frantically, with abrupt little shakes that look closer to someone trembling.]

I promise I won't go that far. Can't, with the teleportation thing anyway.

But whatever that was is gone but I don't know what caused it and I can tell there's... there's something there. Now.

[He can feel it now, whatever power it was that kicked that off. Now that the magic's woken up and isn't obscured.]

[He looks at them wide-eyed.]

I'm not safe. [Not safe to be around, that is.] But I'll - I'll stay in shouting distance.

[His intention is clear. To go off and hide in the dark, alone, injured and scared of himself, still wearing the tattered robes he'd worn in the desert in the cold forest.]

[Because of course he wouldn't even risk going close to people for a change of clothes.]

[ Really. Nothing from either of them, because of course Tim’s the only one who bothered to learn which Elf had which elven ring and what they were meant to do. Without that, maybe they don’t make the jump to what Tim is trying to insinuate might happen.

He should tell them. He should. But what’s the point? He’s got as much support as he can ask from Dick, literally with one arm around Dick to keep himself up.

And if the worst happens - that’s not something he wants to put on Kon, is it? No, he doesn’t. It’s selfish.

(But he wants someone there to lie and tell him he’ll be okay.)

Tim’s left hand prods at his side discretely, for the externally tender spot and the internally tender spot, tries to his the accompanying grimace. They’re not that far away from each other. The shard’s barely moved. He doesn’t need to make this about him. ]

You’re safe. I know you don’t feel safe, but you don’t have it in you to kill me. You would’ve done it already.

[ There’s been at least three times Kon could’ve killed Tim under mental duress and didn’t. It’s not because Tim got in a lucky shot. ]

You want to be really safe; you stay with me. I’ll pull it out of you again. I’m not going to be a threat to anyone if I do that again.

[It's not that Dick doesn't know. Okay, maybe the fine details escape him because he never actually read the books. But he remembers Frodo and what could have happened had the burgeoning Fellowship not gotten to Rivendell.]

[But he's also a big brother and trying very hard to be what a lot of people need. If he starts thinking too much about what needing Elrond and Vilya means, he's going to freeze up and that's not a help to anybody.]

[And if his arm tightens a bit, pulling Tim just a bit closer? Well, neither Tim nor Kon will call him out on it.]

[However.]

Kon-El. [Short. Serious. Nightwing voice. If it works, that's what's important.] You're safe. You're safer with us. Not because of what Tim did, but because I know you. You're a good person. One of the best I know. This time it surprised you, but you know it's there. That won't happen again.

[He lets his voice soften, less Nightwing and more Dick.] We need you close, Kon. More than that, I think you need to stay close, too. Please. Don't run.

[He grabs the bloody fabric of his robes and shakes it.]

This is not safe!

How can I be safe when I don't even know what it was?! And I'm not even sure I didn't kill anybody. I was trying to fight it but there was so much blood...

[He buries his face in his bloody hands in part because he isn't sure if he's going to cry or not and he is far, far too worried about other people seeing it. He's only seen Kal cry like...once. He'd seen Pa cry never. Men can totally cry but supermen aren't supposed to, as far as he's concerned. Kent men also rarely did.]

[Kon's not usually a crier. In fact one of the only times his friends has even seen him cry - like really lose it - was after breaking free of Luthor's brainwashing, when the dust was starting to settle and the Justice League was pouring in to where the Titans and Outsiders were tending their wounded after beating Brainiac 8 and Lex.]

[He'd been mostly numb until Superman arrived, and then seeing the concern on his face as he raced forward - not yet knowing what Kon'd done or what he'd been made to be or who he'd been made by - he'd cracked. In the face of Superman's obvious love, he'd recoiled away, buried his face in his hands, and broken down under the weight of the shame and despair.]

[And that's really the problem here isn't it? It's not just the fear of hurting the people he loves, or innocent people, that he's working against.]

[There's also the shame.]

[When he talks, it's into his hands.]

Nobody should be near me. It wasn't supposed to be like this again. I was supposed to be better. I did everything I was supposed to do. I let STAR Labs fix me, I trained with J'onn and all the others, it wasn't supposed to happen again.

[At least not when it was coming from somewhere inside. If it'd been a telepath controlling him just now, it'd be different.]

[But no, something dirty and violent and hateful and broken had been inside him again.]

[Regardless of what had brought it up, it begged the question: had it ever really left? Was it just the same thing, created some other way, tapping into some ugliness that was already there?]

[Maybe there'd always be some kind of rot inside him that certain things could tap into. Maybe he'd never really be clean.]

Edited 2022-01-08 19:00 (UTC)

You can’t just change the rules you made up now that it’s you!

[ They - Kon in particular - forced Tim to deal with the Green had dealt him. By being near him, and convincing him to test the new powers in him based on anecdotal evidence. ]

I’m not supposed to be like this either! I did something to Nazgul, and it hurt them. It's not just going to magically go away.

[ It’s not the best debate move to repeat back your opponent’s talking points, but fuck that. ]

You’re not going to feel any better if you go hide on the outskirts, and Raven’s not coming after you this time. I am. I will crawl all over this mess after you, because I can fix what you do.

[ The ‘for now’ hangs a little heavy, but Tim presses on. ]

Safest place for you is with me. Stop trying to pass me off on Dick.

[ Tim’s not normally the one to go in for a hug, but he steps forward to try for it anyway. It’s a ploy to make it harder for Kon to leave, but it’s also because Kon’s upset. This is all Tim has to work with. ]

We deal with this like everything else. You and Cassie and Bart are better at this. You shouldn’t be stuck with just me.

[He's actually not expecting the hug because they are not usually particularly huggy and Tim is especially more often the huggee when they do hug. He's rarely the initiator, he's the one you rope into it.]

[Kon doesn't try to get away.]

[As far as tactics for making him not run go, it's a smart one. He wraps his arms around Tim on instinct, never one to reject this kind of warmth when he does initiate, and also wanting to support him since he's hurt and weak.]

[He does bury his face in his shoulder though.]

Your power was healing! Mine is clawing faces! Apparently!

[But he stays there, face buried in his shoulder.]

And I'm not stuck with you. This isn't just a powers thing, this is a -

This is a 'you're being an annoyingly good best friend' thing.

[It's helping.]

I hate it.

Edited 2022-01-08 19:58 (UTC)

You don't.

[Dick isn't going far, but he definitely didn't entirely let go of Tim until he knew Kon wasn't going to duck away. Now, though, he's stepped back a bit. Just enough to make it clear that he's fine with Kon.]

More than that, Kon, I have proof that you're not a threat. I returned early after trying to track you down. I've seen the injuries rolling in. Nobody with claw injuries or anything like that.

[He leaves it there for a moment to sink in, watching Kon's face before he elaborates.]

Even when you were least in control of whatever your powers are, you knew enough to separate friend from foe. You didn't attack indiscriminately. You protected people who were in danger.

You're not a danger to Tim or any of the people here. I know that for certain.

Edited (Hit post too early.) 2022-01-08 21:19 (UTC)

[ Oh, so this it what it feels like when you launch a successful hugbomb. Yeah, Tim honestly could do without feeling like he’s surprised someone into holding him.

It’s warm and Kon seems comfortable even though Tim’s definitely letting him support some of Tim’s weight, but where is he supposed to put his hands that allows him to brace himself and also says it’s okay big guy, without making it weird.

Because Kon’s head is on his shoulder, and this is one of those crisis hugs that Tim usually tries to duck when someone’s died. He’s supposed to ruffle his hair or something, like Dick would.

Tim pats Kon’s back a few times with one hand, hangs onto a shoulder with the other. ]

You’re a little stuck with me. And I hate it too. You’re big, you’re as stealthy as jet engine, you tell stories about cows.

[ Tim nods along with what Dick’s saying. The patting hand flashes him a thumbs up behind Kon’s back. ]

You pulled it back when I was hurt and made sure I got to the right people. And that tree you were hitting was an evil tree, too.

[What other choice does he have here than accepting this? It'd be different if Tim wasn't hurt, if all Tim would do in response to him running of was to eventually ninja up on him, but he can't do something that'll make Tim try to get up and find him when he's hurt, when he needs to rest.]

[It's easy to move from hugging to slinging Tim's arm over his shoulder and wrapping an arm around him - high up - to support him. He chooses the same arm Dick had been supporting him with because it seems like it hadn't caused Tim to recoil in agony earlier, so it's a safe bet.]

[It says more than words could because "I'm going to support you" is not a thing that Kon can easily recant and withdraw. At least not once it's given.]

[His face is wet. He can't really do anything about it because he doesn't want to rub bloody hands on his face and eyes.]

We need to get you laying down, okay? And then I'll get cleaned up. I won't run. I just... I need to go get this off me.

[Psychologically, he needs the blood to be gone. He thinks he can hear a stream nearby.]

And eventually we really need to thank the girls. [He looks around.] Not only did they help us but apparently they ninjaed off to give us privacy when it got all real.

[He's absolutely willing to let Kon take Tim. It's back to what he was thinking about earlier, about not separating the two of them. Not by force, any way.]

[Dick runs his hand back through his hair before nodding.]

Yeah. Stacia announced it, but Elle did it quietly. We can track them down later. For the moment, let's find you something clean to wear and let you get cleaned up once everybody is settled.

[Where 'everybody' is 'Tim', but still.]

Okay.

[ Laying down sounds great. Curling up under that cape sounds even better. Not having to drag himself anywhere means that maybe the steady throbbing down in his side will relax into something that he isn’t constantly breathing through and ignoring. ]

Tim isn’t treating this as a win. It wasn’t that kind of fight. He’ll go without any further trouble, because he wouldn’t have gotten up if he hadn’t been afraid for Kon. With his friend to lean on, he can make it mostly under his own steam. ]

I’ll tuck myself in. When you get back, I’ll be the easiest patient in camp. You won’t notice me unless I’m cold.

[ And it won’t be because he’s snuck away. He’ll be on his absolute best behaviour to make it easier on them to get him, and the others, to Rivendell. Once Kon comes back from getting cleaned up, the worst they’ll have to worry about is chattering teeth. Tim won’t so much as try to prep them for the possibility of not reaching Rivendell. No advance stressors. ]

Can someone thank them for me? If I’m being settled, I can’t go looking for girls.

[… is he going to take advantage of this to avoid Question & Apology Time with Elle? Betcha bottom dollar he is. ]

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