OTA

[pecked_by_birds]

The past month- Months?- Had been strange. One night he'd found himself compelled to go out, as though something was calling to him. A silent siren song that had coaxed him into his car  and out into the country.

Where had he gone? What had he done?

Those were the questions he had to ask himself when he woke up in the middle of Hyde park in a rumpled suit and a brand new body. ...Possibly brand new. Certainly new to him in that moment, since he couldn't recall much of anything from the past few weeks. His head was pounding, and he was in agony. 

A large bird sat upon him. A hawk, he thought absently- Or maybe not. He couldn't seem to focus on it. Not when his gaze was so strongly drawn to all the blood. ...His blood.

"No," he said softly, trying to chase it away with a weak wave of his hand. "I'm free, you can't- He can't," he insisted, right before the world went dark. ...Not that it mattered. It would heal, he would heal. He always did. How else could the punishment continue?

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[goodfellow]

Robin didn't exactly spend a lot of time wandering around Hyde Park. But he was coming out of a bar just on the edge, and a freaking giant bird flew past him into the park. And there was something about it that set him on edge that he couldn't quite pinpoint.

His gaze followed the bird, and he saw it land... on a body. Was that a dead body? Was a hawk picking at a dead body in the middle of a damn park?

He didn't run, but he did head over to investigate... right in time to see the body's head lift. And then fall. So not dead then.

"Hey, get the fuck out of here," he yelled at the bird, and waved his arms.

[pecked_by_birds]

It was strange, just as the world started to go dark, Prometheus could swear he heard the puck's voice. Oh, he really hoped not. If he'd been gone as long as he feared he had, he was certain Robin wouldn't be pleased to see him.

He didn't get a chance to think beyond that.

The large bird had already had its fill, but it turned towards the puck, its razor sharp beak glinting dangerously under the unusually bright looking moon. Its wings spread wide, and it let out a horrific sounding shriek of a sound before taking off.

[goodfellow]

The bird made him think of Prometheus, especially when... oh god, had the bird actually been pulling something out of the guy? How was he still alive?

Robin dropped to his knees beside him, pulling out his phone. "I'm getting an ambulance," he said hurriedly.

But.

Wait.

"... Prometheus?"

[pecked_by_birds]

The titan never really died. That would have been a mercy, and Zeus- Well, he wasn't much of a fan of that sort of thing. It was more like a brief moment of blissful nothing, followed by pure agony as his body healed itself.

He came too with a start, his body knitting itself back together as he grit his teeth against the pain.

"... Prometheus?"

His eyes opened, focusing on the puck as the pain faded to numbness.

"Robin," he said, a bit breathless. "Always good to- To see... You know, I was going to say something clever, but- I... I don't really have it in me right now," he said with a breathless and uneasy laugh.

[goodfellow]

Robin swore, loudly and adamantly, in Greek.

And then - "What the fuck, Prometheus? What was that? And what... what's going on with you? Are you okay?" He knew he'd be healing already so he wasn't that worried about him, but... well, that wasn't normal. And where had he been? And he had yet another face? At least Robin had gotten quicker at (somehow) recognizing him now.

[pecked_by_birds]

"All- All fine questions," the titan replied, sitting up a little and wincing as numbness once again became pain. Though a slightly more manageable sort at least.

"Unfortunately, however, I don't have any answers. Sorry, dove," he sighed, looking down at his ruined suit and frowning to himself.

[goodfellow]

"If I had any pride I'd probably just leave you here," Robin muttered. He really had been wounded when Prometheus had been cold to him when he'd returned to London, and then disappeared so quickly, not even making it to New Years at the club.

But, apparently his pride was in short supply. He offered him a hand to help him up.

[harrowgate]

"Discede."

The word was softly spoken, but precise. Felix approached the injured man in the park with care, and curiosity, and cautious steps. A spell to send away animals was simple enough for him to cast, though he wove a strengthening thread through the magic, just in case this was not quite a normal animal. He didn't think it was. Wild birds did not make a habit of calmly biting human beings, but he sensed no magic in the scene before him.

That didn't always mean anything. There were powers older than magic.

Felix crouched down beside the man, trying to avoid getting blood on his shoes or the hem of his overcoat. "Wake up," he called quietly. "You're hurt, and we have to get you seen to."

[pecked_by_birds]

The bird let out a shriek of a sound, sharp beak open wide as it took off.

The titan, for his part, opened his eyes slowly. The pain was so bright that it eventually turned to numbness, a muted and strange feeling that encompassed his whole body. ...Well, maybe not that strange. He'd felt it so many times before.

His gaze fixed on the ginger haired- Wizard. Cabaline if he recalled correctly. Yes, the past few months were a mystery, but the rest of his memory was doing just fine.

"The wizard who wanted control," Prometheus said, holding the wizard's gaze, then wincing as his body began to heal itself.

[harrowgate]

Barely one person in a thousand recognized the Cabaline tattoos, which caught Felix off guard. Those words rang faintly familiar to him, but he could not place them. Yet he was somehow reminded of his conversations with Eric, and the kind of cadence a voice took on when it was very, very old.

He found he did not dare look away from the man's eyes, as if he were holding something vital in his lace, and to look away would endanger them both. "I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not a healer," Felix explained very quietly. "We need to get you to the hospital. "

There seemed to be blood everywhere, and Felix couldn't see that the source of it had stopped flowing.

[pecked_by_birds]

The titan shook his head, surrendering to the pain for a moment as his head tipped back and he grit his teeth. Those sharp and focused eyes finally squeezed shut, and his agony was obvious as his whole body tensed- But something was happening. The blood flow began to slow and skin began to knit back together. Prometheus' eternal life came in the form of healing, but it was the most brutal way to recover, always healing from the outside in.

After a moment the wound was shut, leaving only a scar that refused to heal. Despite the fact that the rest of his body changed often, that was a mark that would follow him always.

Inside was still regrowing and knitting itself back together, but despite the pain he managed to sit up a little and open his eyes again.

[harrowgate]

Felix gasped a sharp breath as he saw the change, and the hand that had nearly gone to the man's shoulder snatched back again. He quite nearly overbalanced onto the grass behind him, and caught himself with a hand. Vampires could do that, he knew, but this man was clearly experiencing pain. Also, he was breathing, and warm, as far as Felix could tell. Never let it be said that a Cabaline couldn't draw conclusions from empirical data.

"Strike the hospital," said Felix faintly.

[pecked_by_birds]

"Yes, let's," the titan agreed, sitting up a bit more and propping himself up against a nearby tree. "As much as I like watching mankind use the gift of knowledge to do great things, I'm not really feeling up to a field trip."

Resting his head back against the tree, he observed the wizard.

"Do you not remember me? ...No, I suppose you wouldn't. This face has changed since you wandered into my shop. ...I remember you though." He always remembered the interesting ones.

[callmevod]

Vod wasn't one for walks in a park. He was, however, one for taking it as a sort of shortcut from one place to another, and since he tried to keep his outside time to a relative minimum, shortcuts (and getting to know the city better) were kind of necessary for his life.

Except things got more interesting when there was a dead body around. With a bird on top of it. That wasn't so odd to Vod, though. Both the Kathaari homeworld and its boot camp world were full of various predatory birds, and some weren't unknown to attack Kathaari.

Of course, he did realize that it had been the better part of a year or so since he'd walked past a corpse. Which was one of the few reasons to give him pause. That and the suit.

Heedless of the bird, Vod approached, and went to one knee beside the body. Unceremoniously, he gave it a pat in the pockets, checking for a wallet. If he was dead, and he had cash, he wouldn't miss it, right?

[pecked_by_birds]

The bird was still there, and it very much did not like this other person so near. It screeched, a piercing sound that chilled the air, then swatted at the stranger with one massive wing before taking off.

The titan was not dead- death would be a mercy- And once the bird was gone his body began to heal, dragging him back into the moment.

"Remove your hands from my person," he said, his voice low and cold. Prometheus didn't have his full power anymore, and he was weak from his wound, but he was still a titan, and there was still power there. Dangerous and heavy, and currently focused on the stranger.

[callmevod]

"Fucking bir-- holy shit you're alive!" Vod said, falling back onto his ass and looking at the man, astounded, hands on the grass, now.

"Shit. Do you need a hospital or something, dude?" Vod asked.

[pecked_by_birds]

"No," the titan replied, that cold gaze still locked on the stranger. He only blinked when he started to wince, hissing in pain as skin stitched itself back together.

[callmevod]

"Holy hell..." Vod could hear his wound closing, in the relative quiet.

"W-what the hell even are you, man?" Vod asked, raising an eyebrow.

[pecked_by_birds]

"Something beyond your comprehension, I'm sure," the titan scowled, propping himself up against a nearby tree.

[miss_ives]

Vanessa did not know why Judgement had been so heavy on her mind for the last few days, but for a brief moment that evening, as she walked through the park, she thought that the card had come to life before her. It took her a few seconds to realise that it was very real, and she felt compelled to come closer, against all instinct. One tentative step after another became more rushed, until she was running at the bird and whispering words in a language she ought never use, words that would hurt the bird if at all feasible.

[pecked_by_birds]

The bird streaked, either in pain or anger, and took off with something hanging from it's beak.

Prometheus cried out, then grit his teeth in pain as his body started to regenerate and knit itself back together- Starting on the outside and working its way in.

[miss_ives]

Vanessa's steps slowed until she could kneel by the man, glancing the way the bird had gone before focusing on him fully.

And on his skin knitting itself back together on his abdomen. She started, and looked up at his face with mounting dread. "...Prometheus?"

Anyone else would have been too much of a coincidence.

[pecked_by_birds]

The titan opened his eyes, just long enough to see her face, then let them shut again as he pushed through the agony that was endless life.

"Miss Ives," he managed to hiss in reply, nodding his head once.

[miss_ives]

She'd reached out and brushed his hair away from his forehead before she might have curbed the urge. "Don't talk." He was clearly in pain, and healing, and he should focus on that, for now, while she looked around to make sure that they had not drawn attention. She still felt wrong for using the Verbis Diablo, but at least it had spared Prometheus more pain.

[pecked_by_birds]

The titan took slow breaths, pushing through the pain until it finally became something more manageable. Only then dd he open his eyes again.

"I'm alright. I'm fine. ...I am always fine," he sighed, frowning to himself as his fingers touched the skin around the scar that would never heal, even when the rest of his body did.