metalogs | miles from where you are I lay down on the cold ground (canon update catch-all)

The smudgy black things that had been on Nico’s lap have gotten their bearings after being knocked aside in his rush to get to Tim. Two drift over to the demigod, bumping cat ears and antlers against his legs.

“He’s fading,” Nico says hoarsely. Like Pan. Like Bruce. “I didn’t mean to…”

He can’t leave - it’s his fault and he’s utterly useless to stop it.

Edited 2023-11-04 02:46 (UTC)

Dylan reaches out to Tim's heart. Keep beating. Even pace. Keep beating. In turn, he focuses on the diaphragm, keeping him breathing steadily as well.

Like CPR, but with fewer broken ribs.

He sorts through Tim's memories, feeling them as if they were his own. He trusts these friends unconditionally — and Dylan is just as shocked and hurt when Jaime betrays them.

Dylan's eyes open when Nico speaks, red irises set in black sclera. "You didn't," he says firmly, even as he sorts through memories and maintains Tim's life support. "He was... in battle, just moments ago. In space." He turns his gaze back down to Tim. "The same way I was swinging through New York just now."

Keep the heart beating. Keep the lungs breathing. Talk to Nico. Sort through memories. Dylan very suddenly has several plates spinning at once, and he introduces a new one as he reaches out to through the hivemind.

< Sleeper, you and Jason need to get up to the attic. Something weird happened and Tim isn't looking good. >

Talk to Sleeper. Keep the lungs going. Keep the heart beating. Comfort Nico. Sort through memories. There's a natural progression of memories attached to Blue Beetle, memories of friendship, of battles, of an interrogation in a barn —

"The scarab bonds with and takes full control over its native host..."

Communicate with Sleeper. Keep the lungs going. Keep the heart beating. Comfort Nico. Don't allow the memories to distract you, no matter how guilty they make you feel by association.

Edited 2023-11-04 03:35 (UTC)

"You don't know that!" Nico says angrily and immediately regrets it, tries to shrink back further and not be a distraction. Dylan's eyes give it away; he's doing something. Nico's not sure what he's doing, but - something.

Maybe he's doing that thing with the drops sinking into Tim's palms ... maybe he wants him to talk to Jason one last time. Nico's stomach turns at that thought. He thought he was done - thought that everyone he knew was safe. He's never allowed to think that again.

"Yes, I do. I'm wired into his central nervous system, dumbass." His tone is light, possibly a little too light considering the situation at hand, but he's trying to keep Nico from spiraling. "The memories are front and center. This is from a weapon."

A weapon wielded by Blue Beetle, who had taken over a trusted friend as a host body. He's certain Tim won't be pleased when he finds out how Dylan kept him alive.

Jason had been informed by Sleeper that something was happening to Tim and Dylan in the attic safehouse. Unfortunately, he was in the middle of entertaining a rival gang leader VIP and couldn’t just drop what he was doing.

As soon as the party was done though, Jason ran upstairs. Not for the first time there was an alarming scene before him in the attic safehouse.

“How bad is it?” Jason asks Dylan as he approaches.

Sleeper follows on Jason's heels, but weaves around to place themself next to Dylan and put a paw on Tim, getting a quick read of their own.

With Dylan helping to regulate Tim's body and keeping it functioning, he's coming back to some kind of balance. There's still a brain injury in there, and his vitals aren't as strong as they could be, but he's not crashing on the verge of death anymore. If Dylan removes himself, he might not wake up immediately, but there's a strong chance he'll be okay.

Dylan is visibly relieves when Sleeper arrives, though he doesn't let up just yet. "Head injury. In shock. Heart was stopping. I'm keeping him going right now. He was hit by some kind of... sonic canon? Right after someone opened an airlock into space."

Even focused on the task at hand, he tries to ease some tension with a joke: "Typical stuff for your family, apparently. There's... some brain injury. Sleeper guided me through checking it out and I think he'll be okay. I didn't want to mess too much with it though."

The sonic cannon idea is... really, something he needs to talk to the Apollo kids about, but that idea gets squashed immediately. It's just one of those horrible, inappopriate thoughts that floats up from the subconscious.

He does know what an airlock is, and that there's no oxygen in space. He wishes he didn't, in the context of this moment. Tim's lucky... Nico's worried that his friends might not be.

"He was dying," Nico says quietly. He's not going to pretend that he wasn't. "It feels - wrong, now. Like someone paused the movie." Like Leo did, but at least this time everyone won't think Tim's dead for months and he's just hanging out on an island with Calypso.

Jason walks over closer to Nico. He senses how shaken up the teenager is.

“So one moment you were all just hanging here and then the next… new memories and new injuries?”

Sleeper doesn't bother saying much, just helping to reverse the symptoms they can sense through their contact with Tim so Dylan doesn't have to work so hard.

"Well, I didn't go anywhere..." they feel the need to point out, although it's more to try to lighten the mood. "I think Tim will come around before too long. Shock, a concussion, I don't feel anything else that can't be handled easily without interference."

They nuzzle Dylan gently, giving him some reassurance that he's done well. They don't need to talk just yet if he doesn't want to.

Dylan pulls back a bit, his eyes going back to normal, though his fingertips are still attached. He's infinitely grateful for Sleeper's aid here; They've got a far better understanding of the physiology inside a human than Dylan does. His hands are busy when Sleeper nuzzles close, but Dylan lets the relief it brings radiate through the hive.

He takes a breath, slowly and gently pulling his arms and fingertips away from Tim. Now that there isn't an immediate threat of death, he feels okay stepping away and letting his own healing take over, with assistance from Sleeper.

Dylan stands up, and for the first time he's really able to take stock of what's changed. He has conflicting memories of where he was an hour ago, but it seems like his physical state has become a mishmash of both sets of memories. He's covered with various cuts and bruises, including a cheek that's still bleeding. His height changed, too; He's an inch or two taller now, and thinner — the muscle definition he'd gained here still remained, but god, he's hungry. Before his two realities converged, one of him hadn't had a decent meal in... a while, instead grazing on whatever he could scavenge. Seems that hunger has carried over.

But there's more important things to worry about right now. Tim's injuries are stable, but Nico was panicked, and Dylan needs to make sure he's okay, too. He makes his way over to where Nico and Jason are, sitting down next to Nico and leaning back against the wall. He knows Nico generally doesn't like being asked about how he's feeling, so he opts for a different conversation starter:

"I'm sorry I called you a dumbass."

Edited (changing "ten minutes ago" to something longer) 2023-11-07 05:58 (UTC)

He hates that Jason and Dylan are both gravitating to him in this moment, with Tim unconscious in the room. He's fine. Even the scratches on his face are scabbed over and healing.

Nico wishes he could pass through the floor and let them talk to each other. As he's stuck between them and leaving would be awkward or... possibly involve some child of Hades dramatics, he'll answer Jason and ignore Dylan. "Yeah. But Tim's the only one injured."

Jason remains worried for all three teenagers despite Nico’s response.

“Looks like you’ve all had a hell of a shock,” he says.

He then takes out his cell phone.

“I gotta let the rest of the family know Tim’s okay. We didn’t know where he went.”

He then sends an encrypted text to a groupchat before looking back at the others. He mentally notes all the physical changes Dylan and Nico appear to have gone through.

“How are you two?” He asks.

Dylan's eyes are pointed to Sleeper and Tim, but his gaze is distant. As the memories from home are processed, it's like experiencing the trauma all over again. He hates it. He doesn't want to think about it.

Clearly Nico doesn't, either.

"I could go for some curry."

Tim chooses that moment to finally start waking up, eyelids fluttering a few times before his eyes actually open. His head hurts - though maybe not as bad as it would if there wasn't an oozecat helping out - and he's not exactly 100% sure what's going on, but at least he's not as panicked as he was the last time he was awake. That's probably an improvement.

"Wh...?"

"Shh," Sleeper says, having realized a bit before this that Tim was beginning to wake up. They're mostly just laying on him, using skin-to-skin contact to monitor various things and appropriate painkillers. "Don't try to move just yet, everything's fine. You're safe."

They raise their head a little to glance around the room, well, aware of tension and panic being a little higher than normal, but hoping folks will be on the ball.

"Maybe something a little milder than curry. Japanese?" Okay, maybe they just want a cuisine that has raw options...

Upon seeing Tim awake and knowing Dylan and Sleeper were doing their best to monitor and heal him, the tension in Jason’s body eases, though he’s not entirely ready to relax yet.

“Yeah, sure. Japanese curry for us and a sashimi special for Sleeper,” he says before checking his phone.

“Dick’s going to be here soon too,” he then continues before petting Sleeper. It’s a gesture to show his appreciation and perhaps to calm himself down as well.

"Yeah. Okay." Dylan says flatly. "Japanese place. Sushi. Curry. Maybe some ramen. Something expensive." He leans back, eyes distant. "Something expensive. Then..."

He had spent so many nights these past few months sleeping on the street, breaking into buildings to escape the rain. Even when he'd made it back to his home in New York, it had been a cesspit, with utilities cut off and teeming with rats.

But now, he was back in Central City. Where his real home was. Where a penthouse apartment awaited him. "Some sleep, maybe." Maybe he'd ask if Nico and Tim wanted to sleep over, if they were feeling up for it.

The conversation happening around him isn't soothing, exactly, but it's certainly low-key enough that if he had any residual panic happening, it's gone now. He's confused, mostly, how he got here and why there's a cat on his chest, which is why he promptly ignores Sleeper's advice and struggles to sit up. "Jason...?" he says under the hope that maybe Jason will explain what is happening right now.

“Hey. I’m here,” Jason says, still concerned. He gently puts a chest on Tim’s chest to keep him from moving up too fast. “The others found you injured. Sleeper’s patching you up. Don’t move yet. Dick’s on his way to see you too.”

Jason would rather wait until Sleeper gives the okay than risk letting Tim move before it was safe for him to do so.

"Don't move too fast, but nothing's really wrong right now. Make sure to stop if you feel dizzy," Sleeper advises, letting Tim pull away, knowing they've got enough done that it shouldn't be a problem. "If you don't want to have someone rousing you because of the concussion, I would prefer to be where I can monitor that aspect when you choose to sleep."

They give a flick of their tail that shows just how soon they expect that to be.

Sleeper's damage report draws Dylan's attention, and for a moment, his thousand yard stare is reeled in and he focuses on Tim. He smiles weakly, offering a soft nod, even if Tim's too out of it to really catch his gaze.

Dylan's glad to hear he's doing better.

There's a sound at the window as Dick slides through and into the room. He stops long enough to take off his mask, given he's not trying to hide his identity from anybody in the room. But it also shows how worn he's feeling for a moment before he rallies, making his way over. "Tim? You awake?" Then, to the others, "How is he?"

“‘m okay,” Tim says from underneath the alien cat that is currently administering medical aid. At least it’s not emergency medical aid anymore. “They’re trying to decide on dinner? I think?” He adds helpfully. There, Dick is caught up on events.

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