[ This is... still so strange to her. Being without her family. Being completely alone. And the people here, trying to reach out to her, as though that's fine, like nothing else is weird to them. Maybe it's just because it's a place like this-- like Damian had said, maybe she'd fit in.
But Kisa looks at him uncertainly. He didn't seem like a big, soft idiot. Does that mean he's not including himself in people to be friends with?
[The question catches him off guard. He pauses for a long time, lips parted, not sure what to say. It goes right over his head he should include himself because... Well, he's who he is.]
No. [He's not sure why she cares either?? Clearly, he's a terrible person, and she should know this based on how dumb he acts.] Why would I?
[ There's not even a mouthed reply this time, because. Well. She turns into a tiger. She'd frustrated him earlier. She doesn't talk.
She's not even aware of the self-conscious tug she gives her hair, even though that's yet another source of ridicule she's dealt with.
It would have probably just been easier to ask if he'd be all right with being her friend, but Kisa is not the best at bringing up the straightforward statements. ]
[Not having an answer doesn't explain much to him, but a part of him is glad he doesn't have to exactly wade through whatever reply she offered. It'd be sad and kind, and he wouldn't know how to deal with it really.
The floor near his feet gets his eyes for a bit.] You don't bother me, but I think you'd be better off with some of the others here. Jon, Strider, Dextera, Midoriya and his friends, Jackson.
They may be idiots sometimes, but they're good people.
Edited (no one saw anything) 2018-09-15 01:16 (UTC)
[ She only vaguely recognizes one of those names, but there's something about the way he'd talked that bothers her more.
She doesn't bother him. He's got enough of a familiar harshness that she thinks he probably means that, or at least... he doesn't say things just to make someone else feel better, true or not.
But he's implying that she's better off befriending someone else while she's sitting here, wrapped in a blanket he gave her, his cat in her lap, full from food he also gave her-- all of that and...
[Her words are compassionate, but Damian is a very logical boy. His frown, at least, isn't as sour as it could have been with someone else.]
You don't know me. [It sounds more like he has resigned himself to this fate rather than he's trying to convince her.] Just because I'm not out hurting people doesn't mean...
I'm not someone people enjoy being around.
[Might as well just be honest, so people don't get their hopes up.]
It's... familiar, what he says, words spat from a smirking mouth but he still stayed close to her, still encouraged her, until after Akito had...
Damian's right, that she doesn't know him. She'd only just met him today. But.
Still frowning, she points to herself.
She isn't someone people enjoy being around either. This place might have more open-minded people, but where she came from was very different. The members of the Zodiac were all very much aware that they were monsters.
[It just sounds absurd to him. Her? Disliked? Sure, she turns into a tiger at the drop of a hat it seems like, but there's absolutely no reason he can find why someone would want to shun her for being different.
Well, shit, this only hits every sore spot Damian Wayne has about people. He's a brat, but he's never earnestly a brat about people's looks.]
Because you're cursed? That isn't something you can help. However people treated you back home, they're wrong. Being forced to transform doesn't mean you're any less of a person.
[As many idiotic, annoying people as he's had try to forcefully befriend him, even openly... Yeah, he can say it confidently.] What?
You don't believe me. Tt. You'll see then. People here aren't from the same world. They're use to different things. Girls turning into tigers isn't something they'll blink an eye at.
Not when there's vampires and demons and heroes with special powers.
[ ... Yeah. Okay, he has a point there, she's run into vampires and demons and heroes already, whether she's quite aware of that or not. It's just...
Well. It's hard to believe something immediately when you've known something else entirely different for your whole life. She does nod, though, a tad tentatively. She'll... try. ]
[This is true, and Damian knows it's true even if he won't admit it for himself. He's only spent three years out in the world under his father's care. For a long time, he's believed he's a monster or unredeemable proportions, no matter what redemption he tried to seek, no matter what Maya told him about forgiveness.
It had been strange to tell people about his mother, about his ten years of isolated training for the sole purpose of being a weapon... only to have them say, "That's rough, buddy," because they've been through something just as bad.]
Don't worry about that. If you need help, ask someone. If you don't want them to touch you, let them know. If someone makes you uncomfortable, run away.
[ She'd tried to warn him, hadn't she? As much as she could have, but he has a point. She'll have to try to let it be known a little more obviously.
For now-- well, it's all very good advice, isn't it? Kisa nods solemnly, fingers toying with the edges of the blanket, before she reaches some manner of decision.
[The quest catches him off guard, and he's all the more embarrassed for it. The dark skin by his cheeks turns somewhat burgundy, and he reaches up nonchalantly to rub his face along his arm like it itches.
He looks uncertain for a moment. She hadn't asked to come here again. It's specific. You. His mouth opens, probably to ask, Why? but he never finishes. Instead, he says:]
[ She wouldn't have been able to tell him why, if he asked. He isn't like Tohru, who understood instinctively-- everything. Why Kisa hadn't told her mother, why she had run away, everything she couldn't have said herself. He isn't soft and nurturing and comforting.
But he had helped her. He'd tried to understand and hadn't made her feel like an absolute monster. And his animals love him, which tells her a lot.
Damian is a good person. Whether he believes that or not.
For now, Kisa simply bows her head. She's too drained from everything to really, truly smile, but the gratitude and relief are very much there. ]
[Geez... Girls are so confusing. (Damian, she hasn't even done anything.) LISTEN, they are one hundred percent an anomaly to him.
Careful of Ace, Damian suddenly twists to his feet. He steps over the dog and disappears into one of the rooms of the cottage, and then he returns after a minute or two with another quilt and a very primitive pillow. The cloth on said pillow is nice, but the inside is definitely stuffed with feathers. Authentic down.
He hands the pillow and blanket out to her.] Here. I figured you would say no to the beds. You should really sleep fully, but you can nap, if you want. I might do some things around the house, but I won't leave.
[ He's the most curt fusser she's ever met. But Kisa obediently hands the bowl over and takes a minute to give Pennyworth a good petting session before she gently shifts him off her lap and stares at the new blanket and the pillow that some geese probably sacrificed quite a bit to.
Is this strange? It's probably strange. He's right in that she would have balked at taking a bed, but taking a nap in someone else's house is a little weird too.
What... does she do here?
Give her a couple of minutes to think about it, Damian. ]
[Kisa has time to think about it. When Damian gets the bowl, he turns around and heads out of the room to wash it out with a container of water, to put it away so it can be cleaned thoroughly later.
Again, he returns to her, so hopefully she's made a decision. Whether it's to stay or go, Damian actually doesn't seem ready to force her to do what she doesn't want to do.]
Kind of unintentionally, but by the time he returns, Kisa is curled up in a ball under the blanket, one hand tightly gripping the pillow as though she needs some kind of anchor.
Damian and Ace exchange a glance, but the dog does little more than give a tilt of the head. This is fine? No need to look at Pennyworth, the cat who has already taken it upon himself to turn into a loaf at Kisa's side on the blanket.
Well... Kisa is a strange girl, but Damian trusts the intuition of animals more than anything else. And if Pennyworth and Ace are fine with her, she can't be too bad.
For a while, he mills very quietly about the house, doing things to keep him busy and not sitting around idly nearby like a creeper. Unfortunately, by the time she wakes up, he's probably gone out to get a hold of his father.
He did, however, leave Ace behind as a watchful guard and a little cloth sack on top of the clothes left for her if she wanted them. It has a small slice of cheese and some of Clark's cookies.]
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no subject
But Kisa looks at him uncertainly. He didn't seem like a big, soft idiot. Does that mean he's not including himself in people to be friends with?
... Ah.
"Do I..."
...
"Are you uncomfortable? With me?" ]
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No. [He's not sure why she cares either?? Clearly, he's a terrible person, and she should know this based on how dumb he acts.] Why would I?
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She's not even aware of the self-conscious tug she gives her hair, even though that's yet another source of ridicule she's dealt with.
It would have probably just been easier to ask if he'd be all right with being her friend, but Kisa is not the best at bringing up the straightforward statements. ]
no subject
The floor near his feet gets his eyes for a bit.] You don't bother me, but I think you'd be better off with some of the others here. Jon, Strider, Dextera, Midoriya and his friends, Jackson.
They may be idiots sometimes, but they're good people.
no subject
She doesn't bother him. He's got enough of a familiar harshness that she thinks he probably means that, or at least... he doesn't say things just to make someone else feel better, true or not.
But he's implying that she's better off befriending someone else while she's sitting here, wrapped in a blanket he gave her, his cat in her lap, full from food he also gave her-- all of that and...
"I don't think you're a bad person." ]
no subject
You don't know me. [It sounds more like he has resigned himself to this fate rather than he's trying to convince her.] Just because I'm not out hurting people doesn't mean...
I'm not someone people enjoy being around.
[Might as well just be honest, so people don't get their hopes up.]
no subject
It's... familiar, what he says, words spat from a smirking mouth but he still stayed close to her, still encouraged her, until after Akito had...
Damian's right, that she doesn't know him. She'd only just met him today. But.
Still frowning, she points to herself.
She isn't someone people enjoy being around either. This place might have more open-minded people, but where she came from was very different. The members of the Zodiac were all very much aware that they were monsters.
If nothing else, Akito reminded them lovingly. ]
no subject
Well, shit, this only hits every sore spot Damian Wayne has about people. He's a brat, but he's never earnestly a brat about people's looks.]
Because you're cursed? That isn't something you can help. However people treated you back home, they're wrong. Being forced to transform doesn't mean you're any less of a person.
No one here will treat you that way.
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He's been here longer than she has, of course, but can he really say that so confidently? ]
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You don't believe me. Tt. You'll see then. People here aren't from the same world. They're use to different things. Girls turning into tigers isn't something they'll blink an eye at.
Not when there's vampires and demons and heroes with special powers.
no subject
Well. It's hard to believe something immediately when you've known something else entirely different for your whole life. She does nod, though, a tad tentatively. She'll... try. ]
no subject
[This is true, and Damian knows it's true even if he won't admit it for himself. He's only spent three years out in the world under his father's care. For a long time, he's believed he's a monster or unredeemable proportions, no matter what redemption he tried to seek, no matter what Maya told him about forgiveness.
It had been strange to tell people about his mother, about his ten years of isolated training for the sole purpose of being a weapon... only to have them say, "That's rough, buddy," because they've been through something just as bad.]
Don't worry about that. If you need help, ask someone. If you don't want them to touch you, let them know. If someone makes you uncomfortable, run away.
And don't fall into any more holes.
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For now-- well, it's all very good advice, isn't it? Kisa nods solemnly, fingers toying with the edges of the blanket, before she reaches some manner of decision.
"Can I come to you again?" ]
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He looks uncertain for a moment. She hadn't asked to come here again. It's specific. You. His mouth opens, probably to ask, Why? but he never finishes. Instead, he says:]
I guess so.
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But he had helped her. He'd tried to understand and hadn't made her feel like an absolute monster. And his animals love him, which tells her a lot.
Damian is a good person. Whether he believes that or not.
For now, Kisa simply bows her head. She's too drained from everything to really, truly smile, but the gratitude and relief are very much there. ]
no subject
Careful of Ace, Damian suddenly twists to his feet. He steps over the dog and disappears into one of the rooms of the cottage, and then he returns after a minute or two with another quilt and a very primitive pillow. The cloth on said pillow is nice, but the inside is definitely stuffed with feathers. Authentic down.
He hands the pillow and blanket out to her.] Here. I figured you would say no to the beds. You should really sleep fully, but you can nap, if you want. I might do some things around the house, but I won't leave.
Hand me your bowl.
no subject
Is this strange? It's probably strange. He's right in that she would have balked at taking a bed, but taking a nap in someone else's house is a little weird too.
What... does she do here?
Give her a couple of minutes to think about it, Damian. ]
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Again, he returns to her, so hopefully she's made a decision. Whether it's to stay or go, Damian actually doesn't seem ready to force her to do what she doesn't want to do.]
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Kind of unintentionally, but by the time he returns, Kisa is curled up in a ball under the blanket, one hand tightly gripping the pillow as though she needs some kind of anchor.
And yes. She is extremely unconscious. ]
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Damian and Ace exchange a glance, but the dog does little more than give a tilt of the head. This is fine? No need to look at Pennyworth, the cat who has already taken it upon himself to turn into a loaf at Kisa's side on the blanket.
Well... Kisa is a strange girl, but Damian trusts the intuition of animals more than anything else. And if Pennyworth and Ace are fine with her, she can't be too bad.
For a while, he mills very quietly about the house, doing things to keep him busy and not sitting around idly nearby like a creeper. Unfortunately, by the time she wakes up, he's probably gone out to get a hold of his father.
He did, however, leave Ace behind as a watchful guard and a little cloth sack on top of the clothes left for her if she wanted them. It has a small slice of cheese and some of Clark's cookies.]