Then you're better than some people. [Percy seems to be watching the water for some other reason though, given there's suddenly a loud, thunderous noise behind them. The dock begins to sway in the water and the ground shakes as there's a large "woof" from the direction of the forest. The trees snap a little, threatening to break as a large, tank-sized shaggy black dog bursts through the tree line and bounds through the water on the shore toward Percy and Damian. Even in the water she's towering over both of them as she stops in front of the dock. Her tail wags, making waves in the water as she looks at Percy and barks again. It's...very loud, sorry Damian.
[The noise is concerning!! It's coming from behind them, so Damian's face bunches uncertainly, and he turns quickly around to face... an attack? Oh--Oh God? The trees!
Percy doesn't seem to be bothered, however. It has to be the dog. Resolute, Damian stands unmoving and determined as the--it woofs, and he knows--helldog hauls through the forest.
The change is starkly different and surprisingly hilarious. The moment O'Leary bursts through, Damian's face breaks out into excited amusement. Oh NO. He LOVES HER. What a soft, gargantuan good monstrosity??
Damian even takes several steps in her direction as she comes across the shallows to them, stopping at the edge of the dock. His eyes are shining!]
[And this is how Percy knows Damian's actually thirteen years old. It's unfortunate that Mrs. O'Leary is definitely a soft and good monstrosity when she doesn't feel like she or Percy are being threatened. In fact, she watches the small child move closer and she bows her head, panting happily and nudging at him. PET HER, HUMAN.]
...not the reaction I expected, but I'll take it. [There's a grin.] She's a lot friendlier than most hellhounds, but she's spent a lot of time with us over the years she's probably used to it.
[She's... so dark and menacingly shaggy, what the heck!! Damian is going to cry. What a perfect beast Mrs. O'Leary is, he thinks. He would have loved any kind of dog Percy showed him, but this?
This is better than anything he could have hoped. He has a soft spot for terrifyingly gentle creatures.
Without hesitation, he raises both arms to lavish MRs. O'Leary with affection. Who is a good hellhound?! YOU.] Goliath and Mrs. O'Leary would be friends, I think.
[His face softens. That crazy, stupid old bat. He misses Goliath a lot now that he thinks about it. The whistling was a bittersweet reminder.]
[Is Damian okay. Like seriously. Percy's not going to bother asking that since he seems enthralled with Mrs. O'Leary and his dog's been known to appreciate people who are kind. She's doing her best to be at a good height for Damian to reach because she loves the attention probably as much as Damian loves giving it.
He doesn't move, but Percy continues to watch. It's one way to calm down the kid, at least, but:]
[It's fine. Damian is short for his age (and gets hell for it constantly), but he doesn't mind looking ridiculous if it means petting Mrs. O'Leary. What a good doggo.]
He's red and furry, maybe twelve or more feet tall, five hundred pounds. He was a baby in a family of guardians protecting the scepter of the kings in Bialya. I took him back to my mother to make him my champion, and I named him Goliath.
[She even licks his hand which means there's probably doggy drool all over Damian's arm, but whatever.]
So you guys have monsters where you're from, too. [What else would it be? Mrs. O'Leary's clearly classified as a monster and something that's red and twelve feet tall isn't something that could be found in the wild too often. He doesn't know where Bialya is but he understands the concepts of guardians.] What about the rest of the guardians?
[UM, he absolutely, one hundred percent accepts these sloppy, disgusting licks. He has been blessed. Anointed. But he pretends to be disgruntled at getting messy, even if this is nowhere near what he acts like when he's actually upset.]
Some, but not a high population. [He uses the back of his arm and crook of his elbow to wipe his face. The question gets him to pause at Percy, and then, slowly, he looks back up at Mrs. O'Lear. A frown thins his lips, but his eyes are... apologetic rather than angry.]
I killed them. [Might as well just own up to bad choices.] I killed them to take the treasure they were protecting.
[Dogs are so healing...but also, Percy's watching him carefully and he's not sure what to make of that expression. This is maybe the first time he's seen something less like animosity in Damian's expression when talking about fighting.]
...oh. [He obviously feels bad about it, but Percy has to wonder what the circumstances were.] Why?
It was expected of me. To do what was necessary to retrieve a trophy.
[This is offered rather bitterly to Percy, so the fortunate thing is it sounds as if Damian doesn't approve of what he had done.]
To become the heir to an organization of assassins, I had to participate in a rite called the Year of Blood. It's exactly as it sounds: I traveled the world to best champions and beasts and take from them a trophy to bring back to my mother as proof of my success.
Goliath's family happened to be the guardians protecting an artifact I wanted.
And I thought my family had issues. [He can't exactly judge him because, like, Percy's hands aren't exactly clean either and also Damian's still technically a kid. This doesn't sound like it was something recent so that means he went on this Year of Blood thing when he was younger which is also...a lot. That's a lot? Yikes.
Somehow knowing he was born into a group of assassins makes perfect sense to him. Mrs. O'Leary whines a little at the bitter tone, nudging Damian again. Apparently she doesn't think poorly of the choice, or maybe she just doesn't want him to be upset.]
But you didn't kill Goliath. [That's the important thing here.] What happened after that? Did you "succeed" by their standards?
[He might just be annoyed that this is just another case of a young kid being used as someone else's pawn for bigger plans, but he might be projecting just a little. He's seen too many cases like that not to though.]
[Mrs. O'Leary is a good soul. Damian tries to reassure her by giving her some attention and pets. He's quiet for a minute or so, doesn't look back at Percy yet.
And then, finally, he half turns around.] Goliath... wouldn't fight me. It wasn't worth killing him because it wouldn't be honorable. He wouldn't fight back. [Apparently, Damian's ideal of honor is a fair and consenting battle. To the death. Wow.
And really, Goliath was a form of innocence, purity, and it made Damian cry to see it, but he won't tell Percy that!!! Percy will get a memory later or something about this.] So I took him back as an extra trophy.
I succeeded in my Year of Blood. I had collected a hoard of trophies, proof of my loyalty to the League. But... [He looks back up at Mrs. O'Leary, frowning.] I went to stay with my father.
[That also explains so much about Damian "FIGHT ME ALREADY!!!" Wayne, so. He's not at all surprised, though it's a little admirable that he chose an honorable route.]
You probably don't want to hear this, but maybe that was for the best. [Not fighting back, saving Goliath, going to stay with Bruce...yeah. Smart plan.] You gave Goliath a new purpose at least which is probably more than other people would have done if they were you.
[Seriously who tells a kid to go slaughter a bunch of things to prove thems--oh wait maybe that's kind of like demigod training. Gods.] What did the League say after you left?
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Then you're better than some people. [Percy seems to be watching the water for some other reason though, given there's suddenly a loud, thunderous noise behind them. The dock begins to sway in the water and the ground shakes as there's a large "woof" from the direction of the forest. The trees snap a little, threatening to break as a large, tank-sized shaggy black dog bursts through the tree line and bounds through the water on the shore toward Percy and Damian. Even in the water she's towering over both of them as she stops in front of the dock. Her tail wags, making waves in the water as she looks at Percy and barks again. It's...very loud, sorry Damian.
Percy, meanwhile, looks amused.]
This is Mrs. O'Leary.
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Percy doesn't seem to be bothered, however. It has to be the dog. Resolute, Damian stands unmoving and determined as the--it woofs, and he knows--helldog hauls through the forest.
The change is starkly different and surprisingly hilarious. The moment O'Leary bursts through, Damian's face breaks out into excited amusement. Oh NO. He LOVES HER. What a soft, gargantuan good monstrosity??
Damian even takes several steps in her direction as she comes across the shallows to them, stopping at the edge of the dock. His eyes are shining!]
She's perfect. Hello, Mrs. O'Leary.
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...not the reaction I expected, but I'll take it. [There's a grin.] She's a lot friendlier than most hellhounds, but she's spent a lot of time with us over the years she's probably used to it.
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This is better than anything he could have hoped. He has a soft spot for terrifyingly gentle creatures.
Without hesitation, he raises both arms to lavish MRs. O'Leary with affection. Who is a good hellhound?! YOU.] Goliath and Mrs. O'Leary would be friends, I think.
[His face softens. That crazy, stupid old bat. He misses Goliath a lot now that he thinks about it. The whistling was a bittersweet reminder.]
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He doesn't move, but Percy continues to watch. It's one way to calm down the kid, at least, but:]
Who's Goliath?
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[It's fine. Damian is short for his age (and gets hell for it constantly), but he doesn't mind looking ridiculous if it means petting Mrs. O'Leary. What a good doggo.]
He's red and furry, maybe twelve or more feet tall, five hundred pounds. He was a baby in a family of guardians protecting the scepter of the kings in Bialya. I took him back to my mother to make him my champion, and I named him Goliath.
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So you guys have monsters where you're from, too. [What else would it be? Mrs. O'Leary's clearly classified as a monster and something that's red and twelve feet tall isn't something that could be found in the wild too often. He doesn't know where Bialya is but he understands the concepts of guardians.] What about the rest of the guardians?
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Some, but not a high population. [He uses the back of his arm and crook of his elbow to wipe his face. The question gets him to pause at Percy, and then, slowly, he looks back up at Mrs. O'Lear. A frown thins his lips, but his eyes are... apologetic rather than angry.]
I killed them. [Might as well just own up to bad choices.] I killed them to take the treasure they were protecting.
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...oh. [He obviously feels bad about it, but Percy has to wonder what the circumstances were.] Why?
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[This is offered rather bitterly to Percy, so the fortunate thing is it sounds as if Damian doesn't approve of what he had done.]
To become the heir to an organization of assassins, I had to participate in a rite called the Year of Blood. It's exactly as it sounds: I traveled the world to best champions and beasts and take from them a trophy to bring back to my mother as proof of my success.
Goliath's family happened to be the guardians protecting an artifact I wanted.
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Somehow knowing he was born into a group of assassins makes perfect sense to him. Mrs. O'Leary whines a little at the bitter tone, nudging Damian again. Apparently she doesn't think poorly of the choice, or maybe she just doesn't want him to be upset.]
But you didn't kill Goliath. [That's the important thing here.] What happened after that? Did you "succeed" by their standards?
[He might just be annoyed that this is just another case of a young kid being used as someone else's pawn for bigger plans, but he might be projecting just a little. He's seen too many cases like that not to though.]
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And then, finally, he half turns around.] Goliath... wouldn't fight me. It wasn't worth killing him because it wouldn't be honorable. He wouldn't fight back. [Apparently, Damian's ideal of honor is a fair and consenting battle. To the death. Wow.
And really, Goliath was a form of innocence, purity, and it made Damian cry to see it, but he won't tell Percy that!!! Percy will get a memory later or something about this.] So I took him back as an extra trophy.
I succeeded in my Year of Blood. I had collected a hoard of trophies, proof of my loyalty to the League. But... [He looks back up at Mrs. O'Leary, frowning.] I went to stay with my father.
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You probably don't want to hear this, but maybe that was for the best. [Not fighting back, saving Goliath, going to stay with Bruce...yeah. Smart plan.] You gave Goliath a new purpose at least which is probably more than other people would have done if they were you.
[Seriously who tells a kid to go slaughter a bunch of things to prove thems--oh wait maybe that's kind of like demigod training. Gods.] What did the League say after you left?