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[hydrokinetics]

"Chances are now's REALLY not a good time."

Percy Jackson | Blue | #136F92

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pops ur inbox cherry with Quest 17

[bittybat]

[Damian is already waiting for Percy. He's had a turn with Dave, so he's still prepared with the bow he crafted from wood from the forest and some string. He'd prefer better bow material, but... he'll take it. For now.

He also made three arrows with stone arrowheads and the feathers from Dextera's chickens. Fallen out, of course, not plucked. He also has three fresh apples.] Hello, Jackson.

Have you come to be a guinea pig?

yes perf

[hydrokinetics]

[Look, he's just impressed that Damian actually went through the effort of gathering supplies because that's more than Percy can say for himself sometimes. By the time he actually gets to where he's supposed to be, he can't help but grin slightly.

Damian's still an interesting case to him, and it's for that reason Percy's not too fussed about being shot at. (Also like. He's probably used to this.)]

Hey. Having been an actual guinea pig once before I think this is preferable. [Who just says stuff like that??? But he gestures to the bow and arrows.] Did you make all of these this morning?

[bittybat]

[Percy gets a very weird look at the statement.] I've been working on it. [He repurposed his bo staff into... a bow. A... bo and arrows? As Percy gets to know Damian better, he'll come to understand Damian is always making some shit.] Now seemed like a perfect opportunity to finish it.

Have you really been a guinea pig before?

[hydrokinetics]

[Look. Look...on the other hand there's a nod. It's not like Percy doesn't have friends who tinker and build on their own anyway. The nice thing is that Damian's stuff probably won't blow up.] So it seems. It looks pretty sturdy.

[He's not the best archer, but he's met enough of them to guess. The question renders an embarrassed smile though.] It was a while ago but yeah. Got turned into one for a couple of hours and everything. I kind of feel sorry for the pirates who were stuck like that for ages but they eventually were changed back.

[...and pillaged Circe's island and ruined stuff for one of his friends but we don't talk about that.]

[bittybat]

[Won't blow up for now.]

You can see it when I'm finished. [WOW. Wow. Surprisingly? Percy actually manages to get Damian to--well, it isn't a smile exactly, but it's a smirk. He gets Damian to be amused about something.] That sounds ridiculous and unbelievable, you realize.

You might get turned into one again here, knowing how this place runs.

[hydrokinetics]

[Look he'll take what he can get from Damian. But he nods because yeah, he wants to see the finished product. As it is, he's drifting a little just to get somewhere that's a good position for Damian to shoot an apple off his head.]

A lot of the things that've happened back home sound ridiculous and unbelievable and I've lived through them. [He gets it. Trust him. As it is he rolls his eyes.] I was kind of hoping this place would have some new tricks, but so far it feels pretty similar.

[bittybat]

[Percy barely gets the apple up and situated before Damian is raising the bow, notching an arrow, and quickly releasing it. The aim, even being done so fast, is impeccable. The arrow spears the fruit and snatches it away off Percy’s head.

Damian notches another arrow and raises it, ready.] Likewise.

What kind of tricks seem similiar?

[hydrokinetics]

[WHAT! THE HELL!!]

Well that first of all. Dude. [Dude?! Damian you're ten, explain!!]

[bittybat]

It's not a trick. It's skill. Anyone could do this. [If... they practiced... a lot.

He still has the arrow pulled back and waiting.] Are you going to stand there and gawk all day? Do the other two, Jackson.

[hydrokinetics]

[Stares at the C- in archery on Percy's progress report. There's a mumbled sort of argument but it's apparently not that important. Damian's the one shooting so he has no room to complain.

As such, he's placing the second apple on his head before answering the question.]

Quests. That's what's familiar. It's what we train for back home and what we're supposed to do. Fighting monsters, stealing stuff. All of that's kind of normal.

[bittybat]

[PERCY PLEASE.]

I see. What was your home called? [He waits until Percy's hands are out of the way, and then he releases the arrow again. It pops into the apple and zips it right off Percy's head. He notches another.

Final one, Percy.] You didn't make this very difficult, Jackson.

[hydrokinetics]

[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?]

[bittybat]

[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.

[hydrokinetics]

[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.

[bittybat]

[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?

[hydrokinetics]

[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.

[bittybat]

[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.]

Are you some kind of "superhero"?

[hydrokinetics]

Minus the super. [Hm. He's careful at least while he's pulling the shuriken out of the base of the tree.] But they call us heroes back home.

[Whoever "they" are.]

[bittybat]

[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?

[hydrokinetics]

[He raises an eyebrow, but he's a.) taking the batarang to get a better look and b.) he's giving him a curious grin.]

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"?

[bittybat]

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:]

You're a demigod?

[hydrokinetics]

[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.

[bittybat]

[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.

[hydrokinetics]

[He tilts his head a bit.]

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.

[bittybat]

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?