[Introduction] The apocalypse is canceled until I say so

[boysundering]

Inter-dimensional travel was never pretty.  Damian had read reports of being sucked into an alternate reality where everything that didn't matter was the same and the few things that did were altered in some key, disturbing fashion.  And considering his line of work, he had always figured it would only be a matter of time until he experienced the

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[thenotsofair]

As usual, Celegorm is preceded by his dog. Not the Dog, no - this one is a substitute, a great deal smarter and a great deal less clever, a mixed breed of hound that obeys easily enough and is loved well but will never be the Dog. There is no replacing that one, and truthfully, he wouldn't have it any other way. Said dog comes bounding up to Damian, full of energy, and runs in a circle around him, almost prancing, only to dart away at the sound of a sharp whistle and a call in another language entirely unfamiliar to usual ears.

Following the whistle by just a few paces, and now holding the dog by the scruff of the neck, is a very tall, dark-haired elf, talking in a low rapid voice in Quenya to the hound at his side - and thus taking a moment to observe what distracted his dog's attention. He stops, releases the hound, who lies down with his head on his paws.

"...have I seen you before?"

[boysundering]

Damian kept still, nose wrinkling in distaste as the large mutt circled him. This beast had nothing on his own beauty of a dog. Titus could have ripped it apart. Only on his command, of course, Titus was very well behaved. Unlike this thing.

Although it obeyed the strangers command promptly enough, Damian admits as he approaches. Tall and regal looking and with the bearing of a warrior. Not that Damian's impressed. "Obviously not." No one forgot him.

[thenotsofair]

Celegorm's eyebrows jumped up at that response and he settled back on his heels, expression shifting to something between dubious and amused. "You look a bit young to be wandering about on your own." His hound's tail thumped on the floor, and Celegorm glanced toward him and gave his dog a bit of a smile, almost reassuring.

Something about the tone...he was forcefully reminded of Kurvo. (That thought stung, a little.)

[boysundering]

"I'm not wandering, I live here." Damian snaps, because one, he doesn't particularly want to be living here and two, he just turned eleven, doesn't that count for anything? He's gained an inch in past few months and everything! "Don't you?"

Damian sends another glance back at idiotic looking mutt. "Does that?"

[thenotsofair]

A whole inch! Wow.

Celegorm's mouth twitches a little like he kind of wants to smile but is thinking better of it. "I do, yes. As does he." At Damian's glance, the hound twitches as though to get up, but Celegorm shoots him a sharp look, and he subsides again. "And living here doesn't mean you should necessarily be out on your own. This place can be dangerous, as you ought to know."

He wonders where the boy's parents are. Of course, perhaps he's older than he looks; it's always hard to tell with mortal children.

[boysundering]

"I know it can be dangerous." Damian tilts his head up, hoping to gain some height, and somehow manages to have the appearance of looking down at this tall stranger. "I'm dangerous." Unfortunately, Damian knows, so is he. He is reminded, as he gives the stranger a closer look, of a Tamaranean, though less alien looking. Tall and lithe and muscular all at once, clearly more physically powerful than a human. Not that he's sure this one isn't human.

A meta, at least.

[thenotsofair]

Celegorm is a little unwillingly impressed by that particular talent. No one has looked down on him in a long time, by virtue of height at the very least. Nelyo, of course. And others, more figuratively, perhaps most notably his new brother in law. But never by one so small as this, let alone mortal.

However, that assertion has the unfortunate effect of making him entirely unable to keep back a slightly muffled snort. "--yes, indeed."

[boysundering]

Damian goes rigid, his hands clenching into fists. He is being patronized, he can hear it in the disgusting snort this imbecile let sound. Another slight, and he will show this stranger how dangerous he is, meta or not. "You disbelieve me."

[thenotsofair]

At least Celegorm knows a little better than to answer that directly honestly, with a 'yes.' If it were one of his younger brothers, maybe, but he got his nose bloodied by Caranthir enough times - though it was always hilarious at the time - to know a little better now. At least with someone he's not related to. "Not your valor, certainly," he says, soberly. "But your stature, perhaps."

Okay, maybe he failed at that.

[boysundering]

Celegorm is lucky. Damian is used to that. He uses it to his advantage. He relaxes and smirks up at the stranger, a little less concerned with appearances. "Yes," he agrees. "People often underestimate me because of my height. It makes it easier for me to beat them bloody." His tone is light, almost cheerful. There is no Grayson here to scold him for such a statement and no Father to judge to him.

[thenotsofair]

Celegorm's eyebrows go up further, and rather than looking concerned he completely fails, this time, at keeping the amusement off of his face. Because that is just adorable. (Of course it's adorable. Though he might have a little bit of a skewed perspective on that, in all likelihood he would find baby elf-eating wolves adorable. Though he might be a little conflicted about it, at least.

"You're a fierce one, aren't you?"

[boysundering]

"Yes," Damian agreed. "I am." He forgives the amusement because of the compliment it came with. And he is curious by this stranger. Almost human but something off. He won't antagonize him. Not yet.

[thenotsofair]

Celegorm's mouth tilts a little more toward a grin. Seriously, adorable. "Do you so challenge all those you meet?" His entire posture is perfectly relaxed, unworried, and untroubled. However fierce Damian may be, this one clearly doesn't think of him as a threat.

[boysundering]

Damian, surprisingly enough, quirks his own lips up in a sharp bit of a smile to match Celegorm's. "Only if they seem worth it." No, this one doesn't seem anywhere near as pathetic as most of the other's he's met in this cursed place. The meta is powerful. And Damian respects power.

[thenotsofair]

That wins a full on laugh from Celegorm, full-throated and entirely unconcerned. Naturally. Despite the tempering of it, Celegorm's sense of invincibility is still fairly intact, and certainly against such a pint-sized mortal. "Oh-ho," he says, with a full grin. "Honored am I to be judged so worthy!"