diff --git a/lib/hellog.ts b/lib/hellog.ts
index c5a78ac..65b04a9 100644
--- a/lib/hellog.ts
+++ b/lib/hellog.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import { format } from 'node:util';
 import { serializeError } from './errors.js';
 import { HellogLevel, HellogLevelOrder } from './levels.js';
+import { HellogMeta, MetaInput } from './meta.js';
 import { HellogMessage } from './messages.js';
 import {
   HellogColorizeDefaultPlugin,
@@ -9,11 +10,12 @@ import {
   HellogPrettyDefaultPlugin,
   HellogStdoutDefaultPlugin,
 } from './plugins.js';
+import { HellogTimer } from './timer.js';
 
 interface HellogOptions {
   level?: HellogLevel;
   plugins?: HellogPlugin[];
-  meta?: Record<string, unknown> | (() => Record<string, unknown>);
+  meta?: MetaInput;
 }
 
 /**
@@ -63,7 +65,7 @@ export class Hellog {
   }
 
   readonly options: HellogOptions | undefined;
-  private readonly _timers = new Map<string, bigint>();
+  private readonly _timers = new HellogTimer();
 
   constructor(options?: HellogOptions) {
     this.options = options;
@@ -108,14 +110,11 @@ export class Hellog {
    * reqLog.info('handling request'); // includes requestId in meta
    * ```
    */
-  child(meta: Record<string, unknown> | (() => Record<string, unknown>)): Hellog {
-    const parentMeta = this.options?.meta;
+  child(meta: MetaInput): Hellog {
+    const childMeta = new HellogMeta(this.options?.meta).child(meta);
     return new Hellog({
       ...this.options,
-      meta: () => ({
-        ...Hellog._resolveMeta(parentMeta),
-        ...Hellog._resolveMeta(meta),
-      }),
+      meta: () => childMeta.resolve(),
     });
   }
 
@@ -124,7 +123,7 @@ export class Hellog {
    * Uses `process.hrtime.bigint()` for sub-millisecond monotonic precision.
    */
   time(label: string): void {
-    this._timers.set(label, process.hrtime.bigint());
+    this._timers.start(label);
   }
 
   /**
@@ -135,28 +134,15 @@ export class Hellog {
    * @param level - The log level to use (default: DEBUG).
    */
   timeEnd(label: string, level: HellogLevel = HellogLevel.DEBUG): void {
-    const start = this._timers.get(label);
-    if (start === undefined) return;
-    this._timers.delete(label);
-    const ms = Number(process.hrtime.bigint() - start) / 1_000_000;
-    this._log([`${label}: ${ms.toFixed(3)}ms`], level, { durationMs: ms });
-  }
-
-  private static _resolveMeta(
-    meta: Record<string, unknown> | (() => Record<string, unknown>) | undefined,
-  ): Record<string, unknown> {
-    if (!meta) return {};
-    if (typeof meta === 'function') return meta();
-    return meta;
+    const ms = this._timers.end(label);
+    if (ms === undefined) return;
+    this._log([HellogTimer.format(label, ms)], level, { durationMs: ms });
   }
 
   private _log(data: unknown[], level: HellogLevel, extraMeta?: Record<string, unknown>): void {
     if (HellogLevelOrder[level] < HellogLevelOrder[this.maxLevel]) return;
 
-    const metaObject: Record<string, unknown> = {
-      ...Hellog._resolveMeta(this.options?.meta),
-      ...extraMeta,
-    };
+    const metaObject = new HellogMeta(this.options?.meta).merge(extraMeta);
 
     const err = data.find((d): d is Error => d instanceof Error);
     const serialized = serializeError(err);
diff --git a/lib/index.ts b/lib/index.ts
index cd9b250..a2d0f9e 100644
--- a/lib/index.ts
+++ b/lib/index.ts
@@ -2,4 +2,6 @@ export * from './errors.js';
 export * from './hellog.js';
 export * from './levels.js';
 export * from './messages.js';
+export * from './meta.js';
 export * from './plugins.js';
+export * from './timer.js';
diff --git a/lib/meta.spec.ts b/lib/meta.spec.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4b9111d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/meta.spec.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+import assert from 'node:assert';
+import { describe, it } from 'node:test';
+import { HellogMeta } from './meta.js';
+
+describe(HellogMeta.name, () => {
+  it('should resolve undefined source to an empty object', () => {
+    assert.deepStrictEqual(new HellogMeta(undefined).resolve(), {});
+  });
+
+  it('should resolve a static object source', () => {
+    assert.deepStrictEqual(new HellogMeta({ service: 'api' }).resolve(), { service: 'api' });
+  });
+
+  it('should resolve a factory source freshly on every call', () => {
+    let counter = 0;
+    const meta = new HellogMeta(() => ({ seq: ++counter }));
+    assert.deepStrictEqual(meta.resolve(), { seq: 1 });
+    assert.deepStrictEqual(meta.resolve(), { seq: 2 });
+  });
+
+  it('should merge extra meta on top of the base, extra winning', () => {
+    const meta = new HellogMeta({ service: 'api', env: 'prod' });
+    assert.deepStrictEqual(meta.merge({ env: 'staging', requestId: '1' }), {
+      service: 'api',
+      env: 'staging',
+      requestId: '1',
+    });
+  });
+
+  it('should merge with undefined extra unchanged', () => {
+    assert.deepStrictEqual(new HellogMeta({ service: 'api' }).merge(undefined), { service: 'api' });
+  });
+
+  it('should layer child meta over parent, child winning', () => {
+    const parent = new HellogMeta({ service: 'api', env: 'prod' });
+    const child = parent.child({ env: 'staging', requestId: '1' });
+    assert.deepStrictEqual(child.resolve(), {
+      service: 'api',
+      env: 'staging',
+      requestId: '1',
+    });
+  });
+
+  it('should re-evaluate dynamic parent and child sources lazily', () => {
+    let parentSeq = 0;
+    let childSeq = 0;
+    const parent = new HellogMeta(() => ({ parentSeq: ++parentSeq }));
+    const child = parent.child(() => ({ childSeq: ++childSeq }));
+    assert.deepStrictEqual(child.resolve(), { parentSeq: 1, childSeq: 1 });
+    assert.deepStrictEqual(child.resolve(), { parentSeq: 2, childSeq: 2 });
+  });
+
+  it('should nest children arbitrarily', () => {
+    const root = new HellogMeta({ a: 1 });
+    const nested = root.child({ b: 2 }).child({ c: 3 });
+    assert.deepStrictEqual(nested.resolve(), { a: 1, b: 2, c: 3 });
+  });
+});
diff --git a/lib/meta.ts b/lib/meta.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..131f6fe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/meta.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+/**
+ * Static meta or a factory resolved fresh on every log call.
+ */
+export type MetaInput = Record<string, unknown> | (() => Record<string, unknown>);
+
+/**
+ * Owns meta resolution and parent/child merging.
+ *
+ * A factory source is re-evaluated on every {@link resolve}, so dynamic meta
+ * (e.g. a request id read from async-local storage) stays current.
+ */
+export class HellogMeta {
+  private readonly source: MetaInput | undefined;
+
+  constructor(source: MetaInput | undefined) {
+    this.source = source;
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Resolve the source to a plain object. Returns `{}` when unset.
+   */
+  resolve(): Record<string, unknown> {
+    if (!this.source) return {};
+    return typeof this.source === 'function' ? this.source() : this.source;
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Merge per-call extra meta on top of the resolved base meta. Extra keys win.
+   */
+  merge(extra: Record<string, unknown> | undefined): Record<string, unknown> {
+    return { ...this.resolve(), ...extra };
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Derive a child meta that layers `extra` over this one. Resolution stays
+   * lazy: both this meta and `extra` are re-resolved each time the child is
+   * resolved, and child keys win over parent keys.
+   */
+  child(extra: MetaInput): HellogMeta {
+    return new HellogMeta(() => ({ ...this.resolve(), ...new HellogMeta(extra).resolve() }));
+  }
+}
diff --git a/lib/timer.spec.ts b/lib/timer.spec.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2aefb17
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/timer.spec.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+import assert from 'node:assert';
+import { describe, it } from 'node:test';
+import { HellogTimer } from './timer.js';
+
+describe(HellogTimer.name, () => {
+  it('should return a non-negative elapsed time for a started timer', () => {
+    const timer = new HellogTimer();
+    timer.start('req');
+    const ms = timer.end('req');
+    assert.strictEqual(typeof ms, 'number');
+    assert.ok((ms as number) >= 0);
+  });
+
+  it('should return undefined when ending an unknown label', () => {
+    const timer = new HellogTimer();
+    assert.strictEqual(timer.end('never-started'), undefined);
+  });
+
+  it('should only allow a timer to be ended once', () => {
+    const timer = new HellogTimer();
+    timer.start('req');
+    assert.strictEqual(typeof timer.end('req'), 'number');
+    assert.strictEqual(timer.end('req'), undefined);
+  });
+
+  it('should track multiple labels independently', () => {
+    const timer = new HellogTimer();
+    timer.start('a');
+    timer.start('b');
+    assert.strictEqual(typeof timer.end('a'), 'number');
+    assert.strictEqual(typeof timer.end('b'), 'number');
+  });
+
+  it('should serialize a duration into the log message form', () => {
+    assert.strictEqual(HellogTimer.format('req', 12.3456), 'req: 12.346ms');
+    assert.strictEqual(HellogTimer.format('boot', 0), 'boot: 0.000ms');
+  });
+});
diff --git a/lib/timer.ts b/lib/timer.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..68a9579
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/timer.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+/**
+ * Owns named duration timers and their serialization.
+ *
+ * Uses `process.hrtime.bigint()` for sub-millisecond monotonic precision.
+ */
+export class HellogTimer {
+  private readonly _timers = new Map<string, bigint>();
+
+  /**
+   * Start a timer for the given label. Call {@link end} to stop it.
+   */
+  start(label: string): void {
+    this._timers.set(label, process.hrtime.bigint());
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Stop a timer started with {@link start} and return the elapsed time in
+   * milliseconds, or `undefined` if the label was never started. A timer can
+   * only be ended once.
+   */
+  end(label: string): number | undefined {
+    const start = this._timers.get(label);
+    if (start === undefined) return undefined;
+    this._timers.delete(label);
+    return Number(process.hrtime.bigint() - start) / 1_000_000;
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Serialize an elapsed duration into the log message form, e.g.
+   * `"request: 12.345ms"`.
+   */
+  static format(label: string, ms: number): string {
+    return `${label}: ${ms.toFixed(3)}ms`;
+  }
+}