Having stopped crying and calmed down for good, Damien's voice was much more soft now, almost like a whisper.
"She was already living here by the time that we met. But said the place was abandoned when she first got here; she stayed because she liked the quiet, and also the place was really big so-"
Mari nodded a little as she listened to him. That made a lot more sense than… whatever wacky train of thought she was trying to make sense of before. ”I guess I can understand that. It is still a very nice house despite half of it falling apart. And no annoying neighbors is definitely a perk.” she admitted, still speaking softly but more comfortably now. It just felt wrong to talk too much louder in this old building. And she didn't want to scare Damien again.
Damien was still seated, but when his eyes noticed the dying fire, he lightly stood up and made his way to the fire place, grabbed a few pieces of wood and tossed them on the hot embers, reigniting the flame.
"Mother used to say she preferred the front of the house to look bad, so no one would want to come in here. It was also too big for her to be able to fix anything, so its not like she could do too much in the first place…" he said, watching the flames grow, their warm light reflected in his green eye.
"I kinda like it here too, even tho there's no one else around. People are scary…."
Mari stayed sitting but followed Damien as he tended to the fire. “Well, she was very smart to do that. I just ended up here because I was running and got caught in the storm. Otherwise, I’m not sure if I would have come in.” she smiled a little and looked around the room again, choosing not to say anything about whether or not people were scary. That was a matter of opinion and personal experience. Though it begged the question: what happened to him to make him so skittish around people other than just not being alone for a long time?
"Yea, i guess she was"
Having his head bowed, his hair gently slid forward, hiding most of his face. With the light bouncing off it, it gave off green shines, but just barely. Could have been just a trick of the light. He poked at the fire with the fire poker, trying to arrange the wood he'd just tossed in.
”H-how do you manage for food?” she asked curiously as the thought came to her. He would probably have to come into town every once in a while to buy what he needed… but then again where did he get the money? He didn't look like he was old enough to have a job and if he was this nervous around just her, a job didn't seem like a good idea.
Damien put down the poker, and sort of looked back towards Mari, but not quite, biting his lip and sniffing.
"Food? Mother taught me to grow most of it, so i kinda just manage okay-ish? i eat a bit rarely, to be fair." he responded, going back to arranging the fire wood he'd dropped on the tray.
He had a garden in the back, where most of his food source lay, predominantly plants and vegetables. He hadn't eaten meat since the days his Mother was around, but honestly he did not miss it too much - what he had now was just as good.
(HE, but colored uwu Dug up an old unfinished doodle :")) )
(😍 what a cute sweetheart! I love the picture!)
Mari nodded slightly, though she couldn't help but think that was why he was so skinny. If he was just managing ”ok-ish” didn't eat very much… or did he mean he didn't eat often? Either way, it didn't sound like an ideal situation regardless of if he liked people or not. ”That’s cool that you can grow your own.” she smiled a little. ”I wish I was better at gardening.”
(glad u like hims yvy - should prolly finish it one day)
"Mhm! it's not too hard once you're used to it, you just need to take care of the plants, thats all" he spoke, crouched next to the fire, chin rested on his hands.
A large lightning bolt illuminated the room, followed by a loud crack of thunder. Damien barely flinched at the noise, like it was no big deal at all; probably wasnt, if he'd lived here all alone for years.
"Speaking of food, would you um, like to eat something? i was about to fix dinner…"
Mari, however, jumped a little at the sound. She wasn't scared of storms, she actually enjoyed watching them. It was just the suddenness of that last strike that startled her. She laughed a little as she quickly calmed down and looked back at Damien. ”Umm, I don't want to impose. I mean, I'm already an unwelcome visitor. I’d hate to take your food too.” she shook her head. Truthfully she wasn't very hungry anyway but if he insisted… well, she didn't want to be rude. And she was curious about what he grew.
"Nah, its alright. You seemed to be pretty cold when i walked in"
The boy shook his head a bit, trying to tell her it was alright, then stood up and headed back towards the door he'd came through. Climbing down the 3 steps and opening the door, it led to what looked like a small kitchen, probably used by servants back in the day; on the stove was a relatively medium sized pot with a lid on, which released a small wave of steam once Damien lifted it with one hand.
From the looks of it, it looked like soup, and it smelled alright too.
"Lemme grab a bowl" he said, opening a cabinet under the cutting board, and pulling out another bowl similar to the one that was already on the table; he then proceeded to fill them both with hot soup and then moved them to the table, placing one in front of Mari, keeping the other for himself
She nodded a little, since she had been pretty cold, and stood to follow him. Due to the fact that she didn't know this house, as well as Damien did, she was careful where she stepped. But Mari couldn't help but smile a little as they walked together. She knew there were other fancy houses like this one where you could take a tour, but she doubted that you got to explore these passageways in those homes.
”Thank you.” she said, accepting the warm bowl. ”It smells delicious.”
He nodded, with a tiny smile on his face, before adding silverware to the table. The kind of silver ware that was old fashioned, clearly created a long time ago, but looking brand new and well maintained. Well, at the very least no worries about food poisoning or something, right?
"No problem" he replied, sitting down in his seat. "Well, i… im glad you find it pleasant!"
The soup itself looked alright, nothing dubios in it, just the typical veggies and whatever else was in a soup. Could use a bit of tweaking when it came to seasoning, but overall, it was a good meal.
Mari smiled encouragingly back and sat across from him before trying the soup. She hummed happily at the flavor. ”Mmmm… I guess you have a lot of experience cooking, cause this is really good.” she complimented, even though she thought it was missing a little something… She couldn't quite put her finger on it though.
"Ah.. thank you" he seemed to blush a little bit, bowing his head at the compliment. "Mother taught me, because i wanted to help her out"
Damien then proceeded to quietly start eating, seeming small in his chair. As he ate, his mouth became more visible, specifically his teeth - oddly, his canines stood out the most, being much longer than expected and quite sharp looking.
She smiled a little, wondering what it was about seeing another human blush that made them look so cute. Of course, Damien already looked adorable, in her opinion. “You must’ve been a big help.” she commented, impressed. He didn't look older than fourteen and yet he was already able to grow a majority of his own food and cook if pretty well. While she honestly had some trouble keeping a house plant alive without help.
Not wanting to seem rude, Mari kept quiet when she caught a glimpse of his teeth. Though she couldn't help but quirk a brow as she stared for a moment before returning to the soup.
Perhaps it was the boy's pale skin that made the blush stand out, or he was always cute regardless of what he did. Too bad one of his eyes was hidden all the time.
"I'd like to think so" he admitted, between two spoonfulls. "I did try to help her wherever i could and when i could."
”I bet she really appreciated that.” Mari nodded, remembering how many times her own mom said that when she helped out with something. ”Umm, if it's not too personal a question, what happened to your birth parents?” she asked softly before blushing a little in embarrassment. ”I’m sorry, you don't have to answer that if you don't want to talk about it. I just… I have so many questions…” she apologized, not making eye contact.
"I hope she did, she was very nice to me." his response came, after a spoonful of boiled carrots and other veggies. It felt nice to get warmed up from the inside by the food, and he kinda enjoyed munching on the veggies, especially the hard ones.
Damien lifted his eyes upon being questioned, his expression a small mix of curiosity, inquiry and hesitance.
"Mm, no, its okay. No need to apologize" he spoke, spoon still in the half eaten bowl. "I never met my dad, he was kinda never there, but that was because he had to go somewhere. She never told me where tho. As for mom… i last saw her before we got separated."
Mari sighed a little in relief when he didn't get offended and gave a small, still slightly embarrassed smile. ”I guess your dad had to work a lot then, if he wasn't around. Was he military or something?” she couldn't help but wonder before tilting her head slightly as he explained what happened to his mom. ”How did you get separated? Maybe I could help you find her.” she offered.
"She never specified what exactly he did, just that he could not come back, for some reason."
He took another bite of his food, emptying his bowl and pushing it slightly away from him. Damien then looked up to Mari, looking somewhat surprised at her offer of helping him look for his mother. He knew better what the situation was, but the gesture itself was really touching.
"Well…, it was a long time ago but if i remember correctly, i think we got separated because of me…" he said, looking away, letting the hair drip down on his face. "People back there said i was a freak, they didnt really like me, at all… I think even mom got a lot of hate for it too"
She hummed a little as she listened to Damien. She knew it wasn't uncommon for a kid to grow up with only one parent for one reason or another so she decided to focus on his stronger relationship with his mother. Though she almost choked on her soup when she heard that people actually ”hated” the boy in front of her and his mother. She knew that she didn't know him very well but… ”Why…” Mari rasped out before pausing to clear her throat. ”Why would they do that?”
Damien had stood up and grabbed his bowl, pouring a bit more food in it - he liked the warm feeling it was giving him so wanted a bit more.
"I was different from them, its what i heard" he responded, putting back the lid and taking his hot bowl back to the table. "They didnt like me for being what i was, and mom because well… she was my mom. She got shamed a lot because of who my dad was."
Mari couldn't help but scowl at the stupidity of those people. ”Sounds like your dad had a bad reputation but that's no reason for you or your mom to be treated that way.” she commented, absentmindedly stirring the rest of her soup. ”Everyone is different from someone else. I have twin younger brothers who do a lot together and are more in sync with each other than anyone in their class, but they still have their differences.” she pointed out, though she did wonder if his last statement was just him using the wrong word or if it was just habit from hearing other people talk down about him. What he was was a sweet young boy who was raised by two separate women that were both his mother and he obviously loved them. He just had an unfortunate absent father who people didn't like for some reason.
Damien was already half way into the second bowl, head bowed and listening to her talk. He liked listening to her - of course, one could say it was because he hadnt heard anyone in years, or that he happened to like her in particular, who knew. Thing was, he enjoyed her company, and quite a lot.
But would telling her the truth change her mind about him?
"Well… I dont think thats what they meant by being different." he spoke after a while, pronouncing every word slowly, bracing himself for what he was about to do next. "What they meant, i believe, was being different than a regular person. Like having these"
He raised a hand to his mouth, lifting his lip with two fingers, in order to better show off his teeth. Like noted before, his canines were indeed larger than normal, and the same thing could be said about the ones on the bottom row.
Releasing his lip, he also tucked some of his hair behind his ear, revealing it to be somewhat pointy, not in an extreme way.
He lowered his head again, basically sinking in his seat.
"It was more about 'what' i am, rather than who…"