[This isn't their reality; Tim knows. It's so comforting to hear another living being voice it. Tim could sob, but he's lucid, he's lucid, he swears it, and the relief is so at-odds with what's happening that he stands up straighter at the thought. But then it's like he's pulled his stitches again, like the sword's thrust through his flesh again, like he can hear it tearing his skin and insides again, and Tim relents and all but leans his weight on the man. Two steps forward, five steps back. It's no wonder nobody will stick around.
He needs to get himself together, get that gray fog out of his head. Get them both out of his head, away from that End that always follows him. He wonders, a sharp and nearly hysteric laugh escaping the tight burn of his throat, if this is all just some remnants of the Anti-Life.]
It's fine.
[Maybe it's not even Time, or Death, or Lonesomeness. It's just Anti-Life. That certainty that there is Nothing. Tim's heard it, you know. He'd agreed with it, you know. No, nobody knew. Just Cassie. He had told her, and she'd called him crazy, so--
The black lack of life, hope, and future just keeps bleeding closer. It's not going to end. It's not ever going to end. Tim knows that, too, but at least he's not alone here. Now.
And damn if this isn't all some really messed up cosmic joke: second verse, same as the first. Bleed. Die. Run. Bleed. Find yourself cornered. Strike up a deal. But Strange is no devil.
Right?
Hope. Tim's got... some of that left. He guesses. Or maybe he's just stupid, he muses, staring at the spiders. Why did it have to be spiders? They had hunted him, you know. Pushed him closer to the devil he'd struck a deal with, you know. But... But he needs to get himself together, get that gray fog out of his head. Get them both out of his head, away from that End that always follows him. Dana's alright, anyway. She'd gotten better. Had gotten out of that hospital.
And he's bleeding out, he thinks. And Strange is trapped. But Tim's voice is just shy of tiny when he croaks out the stupid joke of] But I want you to know that this is why I have trust issues.
[Always almost or nearly or shy of.
He understands why Bruce despises magic. And him. He thinks.
And he steps through the portal because he doesn't know what else he's supposed to do. But why did it have to be spiders.]
in which Strange somehow keeps making things worse
He needs to get himself together, get that gray fog out of his head. Get them both out of his head, away from that End that always follows him. He wonders, a sharp and nearly hysteric laugh escaping the tight burn of his throat, if this is all just some remnants of the Anti-Life.]
It's fine.
[Maybe it's not even Time, or Death, or Lonesomeness. It's just Anti-Life. That certainty that there is Nothing. Tim's heard it, you know. He'd agreed with it, you know. No, nobody knew. Just Cassie. He had told her, and she'd called him crazy, so--
The black lack of life, hope, and future just keeps bleeding closer. It's not going to end. It's not ever going to end. Tim knows that, too, but at least he's not alone here. Now.
And damn if this isn't all some really messed up cosmic joke: second verse, same as the first. Bleed. Die. Run. Bleed. Find yourself cornered. Strike up a deal. But Strange is no devil.
Right?
Hope. Tim's got... some of that left. He guesses. Or maybe he's just stupid, he muses, staring at the spiders. Why did it have to be spiders? They had hunted him, you know. Pushed him closer to the devil he'd struck a deal with, you know. But... But he needs to get himself together, get that gray fog out of his head. Get them both out of his head, away from that End that always follows him. Dana's alright, anyway. She'd gotten better. Had gotten out of that hospital.
And he's bleeding out, he thinks. And Strange is trapped. But Tim's voice is just shy of tiny when he croaks out the stupid joke of] But I want you to know that this is why I have trust issues.
[Always almost or nearly or shy of.
He understands why Bruce despises magic. And him. He thinks.
And he steps through the portal because he doesn't know what else he's supposed to do. But why did it have to be spiders.]