Hold Onto Death's Hand Like It's The End |P|

Damian honestly hadn't been expecting too many visitors. While he always hoped, he understood why. People had their own problems. Half-bloods were getting hurt, who knew, maybe even killed at this point, and they didn't need to come and visit them when they had that to deal with already. So what he'd been doing was sleeping, resting, staring at the ceiling, but that was it.

For lack of anything else to do or anything to give him a reason to stay up during the day, Damian's sleeping schedule had started going back to a more nocturnal cycle. He'd lie awake at night and sleep for most of the day, unless he heard something which woke him up. It was never that hard, he never slept too deeply. They were more like cat-naps, funny enough.

He started blinking awake when he heard footsteps through the wall, and spent a moment focusing on the ceiling so he didn't seem quite so "ehhhh I just woke up" when whoever it was walked in- and the person in question was...who?

Damian let out a small and somewhat painful chuckle.

"Yeah, that's me. It wasn't exactly an accident but if you want you can call it that," he said, smiling a tiny bit. He couldn't put his feather doyouseewhatididthereiamsofunnylolol on it but while the girl was a tiny bit familiar, he knew he'd never met her before. "Do you have a name?"

[[ I know right I'm so fab yeahhh you can't touch this //bricked ]]

"'Shadow' is hardly a name," Damian scoffed. "It's a mask, just like the one she wears." Damian could tell that the mask wasn't just for her face...it was for her heart too. She'd been scarred by losing a loved one and for her, that grief had turned into anger. But he decided not to go into that so much.

"I don't really mind," the half-blood shifted while he was lying down, trying to stretch out his uninjured wing without bumping into any of the machines or anything- geez they were so cumbersome sometimes. "Restless. I'd like to move but for obvious reasons I can't, haha."

"It's been quiet lately...has anything else happened out there?" He was almost afraid to know.

Honestly...Damian did not want anyone he didn't know close to him right now. His feathers fluffed up the tiniest bit despite his efforts to keep them down and he scooted away casually, but nonetheless as much as he could without looking too uncomfortable or drawing too much attention. He didn't want to insult Opal, just-

He didn't know her at all. While he was like this he was uncomfortable around strangers being this close. And it was reasonable.

Damian had almost sighed in relief when Opal lied at first, but he'd had a feeling that she hadn't told him the truth. And he'd been right. That many....dead? The half-blood's eyes widened and his wings had fluffed up, since this time he didn't bother trying to stop it. "...that many?"

He'd been lucky?

"Right...." Hoping that it had at least been quick was the only thing Damian could do...he knew how much Shadow liked causing pain, though. He sighed, accepting the fact with a sort of resigned sadness. This was the one place where they all should have been safe, finally safe.

"Have we?" Damian asked. "I never forget a face, are you sure?" the owl half-blood thought he remembered hearing a voice kind of like hers before though he couldn't remember where. "I'm drawing a blank here, help a half-blood out? When was this?"

That was the thing, Damian didn't really just forget thing. He prided himself in his memory, actually. Though maybe he was just being a little too hard on himself. Besides, Opal had a point. No need to stress about it, right? No.

But even then he couldn't shake the feeling that he was missing something. Luckily she dostracted him before he felt like he was about to grasp it.

"Hmm?" he asked. "I spaced- oh, sure? Ask away."

[[ Omg that'd be awesome let's do it. ]]

Damian sighed a bit, not exactly fond of delving back into memories he'd rather forget, but he could at least remember what she said without things getting too...painful.

"She thinks she's doing this out of love...but it's out of grief," he tried explaining to the best of his ability. "She lost...somebody, I think her father, and he was killed by halfbloods. She thinks she's doing justice by avenging his death or something, but honestly? I think she's lashing out because she doesn't know what to do. She's villianized all halfbloods because they're the perfect victims to exact revenge."

"Don't question her resolve, though," he warned. "She believes in what she's doing. I think once somebody could have helped but now? I'm not sure."

Damian tried to shrug, but immediately regretting his decision and let out a hiss of pain- that hurt! He spent a moment clutching his right shoulder instinctively, though he knew that wouldn't help it at all. "Ow- I g-guess maybe...?" he was clearly unsure of his answer. On one hand, he'd always wanted to believe in second chances. But on the other...had too much damage already been done? Could there be any chance of redemption for one that had killed and hurt so many.

He didn't know.

"Somebody could try," he suggested. "But there's another problem- she's unstable. Somebody might be able to get through that, maybe get to the real her, but then what? She's already hurt- killed -so many. There's always hope, but others aren't as forgiving as I am."

"You're rather curious about Shadow, aren't you?" Damian asked. "If you wanted to question me about her only that's okay, how about next time warn me, 'kay?" He meant it as a joke, honestly. "How about you then, how are you doing? With all of this going on, I mean."

Damian's smile became a little more distant as Opal commented on how she missed the old days. "I do too..." he gave a small yet fond sigh, rekindling old memories, dreams, stories. "N-not like before all of this I mean, just...before..."

The fire.

"My parents were killed in a fire caused by humans," he admitted. "And I miss them. Everyone here has lost somebody..."

"But there was one good thing that happened out of that, anyway. I met somebody that ended up being the best friend I've ever had, maybe more."

He'd learned to give some humans a chance. Damian had started to see them the same way they saw him, but then he met Cecelia and he remembered getting so confused. How couldn't she be evil, right?

"I wish that just...one day we stop looking at each other as monsters or animals, but just as people. That's what we all are, anyway."

"Well we can only hope."

Since Opal had been slow and rather careful about getting closer, Damian didn't move so much as just watch her intently with owl eyes. She was offering something to him...? Had she been planning that from the beginning. Part of Damian was unsure whether to accept it- from another girl, anyway, since technically he was still in a relationship.

Well Cece didn't seem like the jealous type? She'd understand it didn't mean anything.

"What's that?" Damian held his own hand out, puzzled, yet curious.

Damian silently admired the small carving, before his eyes fell on the scrap of paper under it. He raised an eyebrow, silently asking why, but she had been about to say anyway. Even then the answer was rather cryptic, but he didn't say that.

"...well thanks but...why give this to me?" he asked, hoping he wasn't prying too deeply. "There are other people who've been hurt too, right?" Damian didn't get it. If he had spoken to this girl before, what had he said to make her feel like anything like this was necessary? And if he'd said something so important, why couldn't he remember doing it? Why couldn't he at least recognize her face?

Well that was because he'd never seen it. But he didn't know that.

"I'll ask Claire or Lovino to look into it the next time I see them, alright?"

Damian gave her a strange look for a bit but then nodded slowly. If she wanted him the be the only one...alright. Girls were weird. He didn't understand why she insisted, but he didn't have to to know that whatever it was, it was important to Opal.

"Alright," he said somewhat slowly. He knew that it probably wasn't a good idea to agree, for all he knew whatever the ointment was it could be poison but for some reason he doubted it. "I'll look for it tonight."

What if it was a trap? Maybe it wasn't but what if one of the assassins was out there? He couldn't take another hit, not like this. "Well I'll try, anyway. Good night then- or day- ah, sorry I'm nocturnal..."