[Give him a second. He's going to let one hand dangle at his side casually and the other work on balancing the apple.]
Manhattan. You've maybe heard of it. [There's a small smirk before he pulls his hand away.] Fire away.
[Granted when Damian shoots the last arrow he'll also see a small stream of water jet up from behind Percy to push the apple up and out of the way. What was that about difficulty?]
[Hm. A Manhattan boy. He thinks about Tim, the one who loves to run away to New York frequently to do Red Robin and Titan things.]
I have. I'm from New Jersey. [Percy is cheating, so the arrow misses. Damian, however, doesn't miss entirely. His right hand dips quickly into the tailored, layered belt near his lower back. When it comes around again, it's just as quick, and the wrist flicks.
Whatever it is, it's fast, whistles faintly, and moves something like a shuriken. The apple splits apart above Percy's head, spraying juice. Enjoy.
Said shuriken stabs into the side of a tree. The shape is funny--a bat?] Not what I was looking for, but better.
[Let him cheat?? But at the same time he's not too terribly surprised when Damian moves. He is surprised by the batarang though and he ducks just slightly. The apple juice is immediately repelled off of him though and he looks backwards to where the blade's wedged deeply into the tree.]
Nice. [More toward the throw, but he also acknowledges the comment about where he's from. He's also moving for the shuriken, give him a moment.] Then you probably know that weird things can happen just about anywhere.
[He really shouldn't be flinging batarangs while civilian casual is going on, but most of the people here don't know Batman and don't know he's Robin. The ones who do have been sworn to secrecy.
So batarangs are okay, and he doesn't stumble to try to keep Percy away from looking.] I'm aware.
I'm attempting to gauge what kind of weird things you're use to encountering in Manhattan, however. Is there a reason you're questing?
[It could be worse. Percy's familiar with Batman as a thing that exists (thanks DC thanks Rick Riordan) but he's not making any mention of that. As it is, he's just going to try to figure out the best way to dislodge the batarang in general.]
You could just ask, dude. [Instead of gauging.] But it's what we do. We train to go on quests, we take out a bunch of monsters on the way, maybe risk death a minimum of five times and come back home. I've sort of forgotten what a normal life is like by now.
[Oh no. Percy is waxing poetic about Gotham is what this sounds like. His father is here, and that's enough for him, but he does miss Gotham a little.]
[Damian looks exceedingly skeptical and unconvinced by this clarification. Even when he comes over to reach up with two finger knuckles to wedge the shuriken out of the tree, he still looks this way.]
You just performed hydrokinetics, but claim not to be "super"? [He offers the batarang to Percy.] Are you trying to say you're not a metahuman? What are you then?
It's a genetic mutation; some people are born metahumans, some people become metahumans later. [Don't be smirking at him, Percy Jackson. His brows bunch at the grin, as if he's not sure what it's about and he doesn't trust it. Very quickly and succinctly, he asks:]
[The smirk doesn't exactly go away but it edges more on thoughtful than anything. The idea of becoming something later isn't exactly lost on him either given what's happened to a few people he knows. Still, it's nice that Damian comes right out and says it.]
Greek, yeah. You might be one of the first people who understood right away.
[He's uncertain how much information to divulge to Percy currently. He can say he knows a few demigods, but what will that tell Percy about him, as Damian? Hm. Risky. And is saying Wonder Woman is a demigod...? Not so much risky as is it necessary?]
I've heard of them where I'm from. Half-bloods with metahuman powers are usually alien or demigod.
Does that mean there's a lot of them where you're from? I only know my friends, and kids from the Roman partheon. But I guess Annabeth's cousin is also Norse so that's a thing.
No, not really. Wonder Woman is a demigod. Her mother is Hippolyta and her father is Zeus. [This is a lot of mythology.
But it seems like Damian isn't perturbed by meeting people tied to mythological figures. He isn't repulsed or wary of Percy for the explanation.] Do the gods play a major role in your world?
[...the fact that Thalia Grace would be Wonder Woman's half-sister isn't lost on him and he almost laughs. But like. He remembers Damian's standing there and probably won't know why he's laughing so he keeps a straight face.]
There aren't a lot of Zeus kids where I'm from anymore. But you could say that. Most of the stuff that happens in our world is because of the gods and people fighting against them. Or, in Apollo's case, screwing up and having to fix everything as a mortal to become a god again.
[There's a beat.] Do you think that last apple counts since it was a blade and not an arrow?
Sounds tiring and troublesome. [And very much like home, honestly. There's not a lot of mythological gods necessarily, but there is a whole lot of troublesome aliens and otherworldly beings. And criminals, in his case.] I don't mind shooting you again, Jackson, if that's what you want.
[With the bow, Damian points toward ground a few feet off. There's some apples which don't seem terribly appealing, but they at least aren't completely rotted. Maybe a little misshapen too.]
Try not to cheat this time. If we failed, it's your fault.
[Cracking half a smirk, he lifts the bow like he had the previous times. There's only a handful of seconds of him positioning and calculating, and then he releases the arrow so it can cleanly (??) splatter the bruised apple on Percy's head.]
[He doesn't cheat this time so the apple guts are now in his hair, thanks. Luckily he can stay dry from the apple juice but he looks up to bat the apple parts off of his hair.]
That should count. But next time? We're trading places. Not bad, dude.
Fine. We'll see what you can really do. [If he were ten, he'd be a little more arrogant about this compliment. As it is now, Percy just gets a full smirk of smugness.
Please don't feed his ego...] Too easy. You should ask me to try something more difficult next time.
Deal. I won't go easy on you, Jackson, even if it's a cooperative quest. [Why does Percy have DicK Grayson syndrome, and Damian finds himself enjoying this kind of company? Disgusting.] Come on.
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Manhattan. You've maybe heard of it. [There's a small smirk before he pulls his hand away.] Fire away.
[Granted when Damian shoots the last arrow he'll also see a small stream of water jet up from behind Percy to push the apple up and out of the way. What was that about difficulty?]
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I have. I'm from New Jersey. [Percy is cheating, so the arrow misses. Damian, however, doesn't miss entirely. His right hand dips quickly into the tailored, layered belt near his lower back. When it comes around again, it's just as quick, and the wrist flicks.
Whatever it is, it's fast, whistles faintly, and moves something like a shuriken. The apple splits apart above Percy's head, spraying juice. Enjoy.
Said shuriken stabs into the side of a tree. The shape is funny--a bat?] Not what I was looking for, but better.
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Nice. [More toward the throw, but he also acknowledges the comment about where he's from. He's also moving for the shuriken, give him a moment.] Then you probably know that weird things can happen just about anywhere.
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So batarangs are okay, and he doesn't stumble to try to keep Percy away from looking.] I'm aware.
I'm attempting to gauge what kind of weird things you're use to encountering in Manhattan, however. Is there a reason you're questing?
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thanks Rick Riordan) but he's not making any mention of that. As it is, he's just going to try to figure out the best way to dislodge the batarang in general.]You could just ask, dude. [Instead of gauging.] But it's what we do. We train to go on quests, we take out a bunch of monsters on the way, maybe risk death a minimum of five times and come back home. I've sort of forgotten what a normal life is like by now.
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Are you some kind of "superhero"?
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[Whoever "they" are.]
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You just performed hydrokinetics, but claim not to be "super"? [He offers the batarang to Percy.] Are you trying to say you're not a metahuman? What are you then?
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I've never heard it described that way before. That's mutation isn't it? [Give him a moment to muse on it.] Ever heard the term "half-blood"?
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You're a demigod?
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Greek, yeah. You might be one of the first people who understood right away.
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I've heard of them where I'm from. Half-bloods with metahuman powers are usually alien or demigod.
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Does that mean there's a lot of them where you're from? I only know my friends, and kids from the Roman partheon. But I guess Annabeth's cousin is also Norse so that's a thing.
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But it seems like Damian isn't perturbed by meeting people tied to mythological figures. He isn't repulsed or wary of Percy for the explanation.] Do the gods play a major role in your world?
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There aren't a lot of Zeus kids where I'm from anymore. But you could say that. Most of the stuff that happens in our world is because of the gods and people fighting against them. Or, in Apollo's case, screwing up and having to fix everything as a mortal to become a god again.
[There's a beat.] Do you think that last apple counts since it was a blade and not an arrow?
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All you have to do is ask.
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Got another apple? May as well make it count.
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Try not to cheat this time. If we failed, it's your fault.
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Go for it.
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That should count. But next time? We're trading places. Not bad, dude.
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Please don't feed his ego...] Too easy. You should ask me to try something more difficult next time.
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Tell you what. Next month if we have another set of quests that come up, let's do another one and really put you to the test. Deal?
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Let's turn it in.
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