[Good. He's got too much of his father in him to put up with stubborn resistance. What matters is he's doing the right thing, and that right thing is getting a crazy tiger-girl out of the cold, into appropriate clothes, and... like warmed up or something.
Slowly, Damian turns his head to glance around his arm at Kisa, one brow rising.]
What do you mean, it feels "strange"? What exactly do you consider strange?
[Since, really, he thought the well felt sorta off in general. He'd like to mentally jot down some specifics.]
[ "Warmed up or something". Truly, Damian is smooth. ]
... [ Kisa looks a little more troubled now, confusion knitting her eyebrows together. There's really no real way to provide Damian with a detailed description of what feels strange about it, but she tries.
"It was always strange. But it feels even more... powerful."
And she shrugs after a moment, burrowing a little more under the jacket. She tried!! ]
Mm. [More powerful. As he assumed. Restoring color seems to be beneficial in some way or another. What it does to the well, they'll just have to find out as they go along through the month.] Don't linger around the well for long just in case. Not until we understand what having its color restored means for us.
[Steadily, carefully, he leads them to Bruce's cottage again since it's a place she's familiar with having been; the walk is maybe ten, fifteen minutes or so from the center of town. The boathouse isn't a secret hideout, but going back and forth across the water--it's easier to be in Flavo.
All the animals are still there, at least, waiting to greet her with their various noises. The only one not there is Ace... for obvious reasons Damian has now forgotten.
He pushes open the door and holds it for her until she gets inside. There's a fire going, keeping the cottage warm despite its stone and thin wood walls.]
And now Damian's going to wander off somewhere too. Kisa looks a little torn-- but it's not like he has far to go and he isn't Tohru, she doesn't have to be close to his heels every single second.
So of course she seats herself carefully right in front of the fire, fingers outstretched and rubbing her hands together as they start to itch from the sudden change in temperature. ]
[Luckily, Damian isn't gone very long. After rummaging around in one of the rooms, he returns to the den where Kisa is sitting in front of the fire, arms mostly full. He has a blanket, but also a few other things.
A jacket, a long pair of pants, and a long-sleeved shirt. He's more broad than she is, of course, but he's small for his own age, and though the clothes had been made by him for him, they should fit Kisa decently. He puts the folded things off to the side in the seat of one of the chairs.] These are yours.
They might not fit completely, but they'll do. I can tailor them later.
[When he turns around, he opens the blanket, but rather than be a gentleman, he drops it down over the top of her head so it swallows her up.]
It's getting to be winter. Stop going outside in the cold when you're not prepared. The last thing we all need is you getting hypothermia.
[ Kisa turns towards him, gaze both touched and concerned.
"What about you"-- is what she was about to ask, and he might get her mouthing the first part, but that's when he just drops a whole damn blanket on her head and it definitely just engulfed her.
So now there's just a blanketed lump trying to turn its head and fumble so it can find a way out of its prison or at least light and vision beyond "dark and fuzzy".
[Amazingly, this... actually gets a kind of grin out of him. It was mean, but she's okay, and the dumping had been done mostly as something playful and teasing.
When he squats down, he takes the ends of the blanket and, like with a cat, helps lift it up to free her from the dark confines. The amused grin hasn't been wiped away completely, as much as he'd hate it.]
The woman you're staying with. I met her when those morons went into the woods to camp. No wonder you're wandering around outside without the right clothes.
As formally trained and reactionary as he is, Damian doesn't expect Kisa to have enough feist to try something so bold, and that's his mistake.
Grunting, his arm comes up, and the blanket catches on it, leaving them stuck in a makeshift, human indoor tent. The grin is gone, it's not even a smile, but he doesn't seem angry, only deadpan.] What? [He can tell she did it because she was irritated at him, at least.]
It wasn't a lie. She wasn't in clothes appropriate for a cold night in the forest. Don't emulate her choices in fashion. Aesthetics should never be placed above practicality. If you need to stay warm, do it.
[ Sierra is also not exactly human, but Kisa won't mention that. There's the slightest glow in her eyes in their dim blanket tent, as though the tiger in her is trying to adjust.
"It's not her fault. I wasn't trying to be like her. I just forgot."
[The scolding isn't delivered as harshly as he's capable of giving it, of course. Sighing, he twists and settles down on the floor, bringing the edge of the blanket below his chin to the higher portion of his chest.
If she wants to get it off herself, she can, but he isn't going to untangled her himself.]
[ If he's asking whether she and Sierra had a Twilight-esque bonding conversation where Sierra whispered intently in her ear to say it, then no, that definitely Did Not Happen.
But she nods, with the slight tilt of her head (and a shake a second later to get the blanket slid off enough to just drape over her shoulders and not all of her) and a rather rueful look, because should that matter? Damian, you're talking to a girl who turns into a tiger?? ]
[IT MATTERS, OKAY. Just... not for... like... the reason she would assume it matters!!] If you know, then you know to be careful.
Don't give her any blood. You're too young and small. She can get it from somewhere else if that's her dietary habits. [It sounds rude as fuck, but he's only trying to be logical.
It's less he thinks Sierra is going to attack and take advantage of Kisa and more... he knows Kisa is a soft idiot who would gladly offer whatever to Sierra as kindness.]
He's not wrong at all, but Sierra's never asked and Kisa doesn't think she ever will, so it's fine! But Damian is once again fussing, so this time, she scoots closer to him and-- leans.
It's fine, this isn't enough to make her change. And she's still lightly shivering.
"Thank you for worrying about me. But it's okay." ]
[Well, for once in his entire life, he's actually shocked. The lean gets him to immediately grow tense. He doesn't move or shift away, but his back is rigid and his shoulders stiff. Almost as if he thinks she'll break... or maybe he'll break.
Anyone else, and he'd simply shove them over, even Jon, a friend whose company he's grown to enjoy. But Kisa is a girl, and she's young, and even Damian Wayne thinks it'd be rude to push her much less even tell her to get off. So he sits there!! Not knowing what to do!!
His mother and father never trained him for personal connections, hello!!
After a moment, his mouth opens, but the retort he's looking for, the denial, stays lodged in his throat, and he shuts it again to re-calibrate. His face feels warm. This is the end, he's ill.]
[ Poor Damian. Kisa's a little too used to affectionate leans and snuggling with her cousins, so this is really nothing too new for her. Except for the fact that the prickly person beside her isn't Hiro, it's Damian, and she can't really do any more than this, anyway.
But he's warmer than she is, which is great! And... very stiff, so she peers up at him, curiously concerned. He's... actually, she's not sure why. He hasn't nudged her away or said anything about it??
"Thank you."
Well, she might as well humor him in the meantime. ]
[Fortunately, the long she continues to lean, the more he gets use to it. Even when he slowly relaxes, he remains incredibly stiff with a kind of weird formality and professionalism. He isn't sure how one react to something so... intimate.
This is the best he can manage.] You don't have to keep thanking me. [There's a long pause where he just... sits there with her leaned against him.]
What have you been doing besides letting that woman get you into trouble?
[Being aware this can potentially be a quest is completely different than being willing to bring it up without fear of both talking about it and damaging what dignity is left.]
It isn't a bad idea. As long as you're careful about which ones you do. Or who you do them with. [Looks at them and then looks at the camera, honestly.] Some of the rewards are completely asinine, but some are useful.
Has anyone told you anything about the town? About what the colors and the quests may mean?
[ Ah. Actually, now that he mentions it, there hasn't been a whole lot of information about it. Maybe people didn't think Kisa was interested. And of course she's a little too shy to bring it up herself, but she'd finally peeked at the forum and... well. She's not sure what "take someone's color" means, but showing gratitude? Okay. Cuddling?
In a way. [Taking someone's color is just as bad as cuddling to Damian. Listen??] We're theorizing the town has an interest and focus on the bonds between people. There's a story on the quest forum being unraveled to us as we go along. A fairy tale almost.
The quests aren't as important as what happens when you accomplish them with other people in the town. Restoring color may be the end goal, but it only happens when everyone works together.
[ ... So that's it. The event where the food made her want to be close to people, or show off to them, or be possessive... does it have something to do with those bonds, too?
Again, she peers at Damian. So these quests... bonding... it'll help the town in the long run and then they can go home, right? In that case...
[For a moment or two, Damian glances over and kind of... maybe sizes Kisa up a bit. She's not... exactly built in the same way he is, for the same kinds of things. Fighting, athleticism.
But she isn't totally helpless? He thinks... maybe. Just... naive.]
It depends on what the quest is. [Literally helping with one right now. They're stupid.] Some of them are dangerous.
Kisa also... looks down at herself, though. Thoughtfully. And says nothing, because she's probably not cut out for dangerous quests, unless Damian wants to turn her into a tiger for them. ]
He doesn't want to drag Kisa into trouble. Not only would it be dangerous for her and complicated for him, but she doesn't deserve that. And yet... He can't simply continue to regulate her to the backlines over and over, or she won't ever learn anything.]
There's a sphinx. A quest for one. I don't know what kind of sphinx the forest would conjure, but typically they are arrogant beasts who deliver riddles. They've also been known to kill you if you don't answer them correctly. [A pause.]
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Slowly, Damian turns his head to glance around his arm at Kisa, one brow rising.]
What do you mean, it feels "strange"? What exactly do you consider strange?
[Since, really, he thought the well felt sorta off in general. He'd like to mentally jot down some specifics.]
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... [ Kisa looks a little more troubled now, confusion knitting her eyebrows together. There's really no real way to provide Damian with a detailed description of what feels strange about it, but she tries.
"It was always strange. But it feels even more... powerful."
And she shrugs after a moment, burrowing a little more under the jacket. She tried!! ]
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[Steadily, carefully, he leads them to Bruce's cottage again since it's a place she's familiar with having been; the walk is maybe ten, fifteen minutes or so from the center of town. The boathouse isn't a secret hideout, but going back and forth across the water--it's easier to be in Flavo.
All the animals are still there, at least, waiting to greet her with their various noises. The only one not there is Ace... for obvious reasons Damian has now forgotten.
He pushes open the door and holds it for her until she gets inside. There's a fire going, keeping the cottage warm despite its stone and thin wood walls.]
I'll be right back. You can sit where you want.
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And now Damian's going to wander off somewhere too. Kisa looks a little torn-- but it's not like he has far to go and he isn't Tohru, she doesn't have to be close to his heels every single second.
So of course she seats herself carefully right in front of the fire, fingers outstretched and rubbing her hands together as they start to itch from the sudden change in temperature. ]
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A jacket, a long pair of pants, and a long-sleeved shirt. He's more broad than she is, of course, but he's small for his own age, and though the clothes had been made by him for him, they should fit Kisa decently. He puts the folded things off to the side in the seat of one of the chairs.] These are yours.
They might not fit completely, but they'll do. I can tailor them later.
[When he turns around, he opens the blanket, but rather than be a gentleman, he drops it down over the top of her head so it swallows her up.]
It's getting to be winter. Stop going outside in the cold when you're not prepared. The last thing we all need is you getting hypothermia.
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"What about you"-- is what she was about to ask, and he might get her mouthing the first part, but that's when he just drops a whole damn blanket on her head and it definitely just engulfed her.
So now there's just a blanketed lump trying to turn its head and fumble so it can find a way out of its prison or at least light and vision beyond "dark and fuzzy".
Damian has defeated her most mightily. ]
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When he squats down, he takes the ends of the blanket and, like with a cat, helps lift it up to free her from the dark confines. The amused grin hasn't been wiped away completely, as much as he'd hate it.]
The woman you're staying with. I met her when those morons went into the woods to camp. No wonder you're wandering around outside without the right clothes.
She didn't have anything on appropriate herself.
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Up until he pretty much bad mouths Sierra, and then she calmly reaches up to lift the blanket just enough over her head--
To lob it over Damian's head. Though it might just hit him in the face instead. ]
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As formally trained and reactionary as he is, Damian doesn't expect Kisa to have enough feist to try something so bold, and that's his mistake.
Grunting, his arm comes up, and the blanket catches on it, leaving them stuck in a makeshift, human indoor tent. The grin is gone, it's not even a smile, but he doesn't seem angry, only deadpan.] What? [He can tell she did it because she was irritated at him, at least.]
It wasn't a lie. She wasn't in clothes appropriate for a cold night in the forest. Don't emulate her choices in fashion. Aesthetics should never be placed above practicality. If you need to stay warm, do it.
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"It's not her fault. I wasn't trying to be like her. I just forgot."
So don't be rude, Damian. To Sierra, anyway. ]
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[The scolding isn't delivered as harshly as he's capable of giving it, of course. Sighing, he twists and settles down on the floor, bringing the edge of the blanket below his chin to the higher portion of his chest.
If she wants to get it off herself, she can, but he isn't going to untangled her himself.]
Do you even know what she is? She's not human.
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But she nods, with the slight tilt of her head (and a shake a second later to get the blanket slid off enough to just drape over her shoulders and not all of her) and a rather rueful look, because should that matter? Damian, you're talking to a girl who turns into a tiger?? ]
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Don't give her any blood. You're too young and small. She can get it from somewhere else if that's her dietary habits. [It sounds rude as fuck, but he's only trying to be logical.
It's less he thinks Sierra is going to attack and take advantage of Kisa and more... he knows Kisa is a soft idiot who would gladly offer whatever to Sierra as kindness.]
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He's not wrong at all, but Sierra's never asked and Kisa doesn't think she ever will, so it's fine! But Damian is once again fussing, so this time, she scoots closer to him and-- leans.
It's fine, this isn't enough to make her change. And she's still lightly shivering.
"Thank you for worrying about me. But it's okay." ]
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Anyone else, and he'd simply shove them over, even Jon, a friend whose company he's grown to enjoy. But Kisa is a girl, and she's young, and even Damian Wayne thinks it'd be rude to push her much less even tell her to get off. So he sits there!! Not knowing what to do!!
His mother and father never trained him for personal connections, hello!!
After a moment, his mouth opens, but the retort he's looking for, the denial, stays lodged in his throat, and he shuts it again to re-calibrate. His face feels warm. This is the end, he's ill.]
I'm merely giving you survival tips is all.
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But he's warmer than she is, which is great! And... very stiff, so she peers up at him, curiously concerned. He's... actually, she's not sure why. He hasn't nudged her away or said anything about it??
"Thank you."
Well, she might as well humor him in the meantime. ]
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This is the best he can manage.] You don't have to keep thanking me. [There's a long pause where he just... sits there with her leaned against him.]
What have you been doing besides letting that woman get you into trouble?
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"I wanted to try the quests. Some of them."
Not that she has even realized they could do one like. Right now. ]
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It isn't a bad idea. As long as you're careful about which ones you do. Or who you do them with. [Looks at them and then looks at the camera, honestly.] Some of the rewards are completely asinine, but some are useful.
Has anyone told you anything about the town? About what the colors and the quests may mean?
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... Okay??
For now, she shakes her head.
"I think they're important?" ]
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The quests aren't as important as what happens when you accomplish them with other people in the town. Restoring color may be the end goal, but it only happens when everyone works together.
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Again, she peers at Damian. So these quests... bonding... it'll help the town in the long run and then they can go home, right? In that case...
"Can I help you with any of them?" ]
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But she isn't totally helpless? He thinks... maybe. Just... naive.]
It depends on what the quest is. [Literally helping with one right now. They're stupid.] Some of them are dangerous.
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Kisa also... looks down at herself, though. Thoughtfully. And says nothing, because she's probably not cut out for dangerous quests, unless Damian wants to turn her into a tiger for them. ]
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He doesn't want to drag Kisa into trouble. Not only would it be dangerous for her and complicated for him, but she doesn't deserve that. And yet... He can't simply continue to regulate her to the backlines over and over, or she won't ever learn anything.]
There's a sphinx. A quest for one. I don't know what kind of sphinx the forest would conjure, but typically they are arrogant beasts who deliver riddles. They've also been known to kill you if you don't answer them correctly. [A pause.]
I would protect you.
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