#apprentice damian

Asra 

Devastation doesn’t begin to cover it. 

Asra had just gotten some semblance of a family back

And now it was gone. 

He’d lost everything. And he blamed himself for it. 

It was a reality that Asra hated to face. A reality that he would do everything in his power to reverse. 

What was the point of being a magician if he couldn’t save his family? 

It was a long time before he could bring himself to visit Nopal again. He’d never met Damian’s biological family, but the memories and helplessness were still too strong to risk an accidental encounter. 

Besides, if he did happen to find someone who had known Damian, what in the world would he say?

He couldn’t be the one to bring that kind of sadness onto someone else. 

So Damian’s family would never truly discover what had happened.

And Asra kept looking for a way to undo what had been done. 

As Asra drowned further and further into his despair, more and more effort went into his work. He took greater risks. Went into darker magics. 

Julian did his best to draw him back to reality, but that did not go over well. 

Asra was going to see Damian again. No matter what it took. No matter what anyone said.  

Nadia

Damian had visited the palace a few times, both for the Masquerade and to help find a cure for the Red Plague.

He'd had a few conversations with the Countess herself, but all rather fleeting.

Nadia didn’t get a chance to know him all that well. 

But when he was gone, she did have a sense that there was something missing. 

There was a void there that desperately needed to be filled. 

So when Asra first shared his plan to bring Damian back, she was, perhaps, a bit more quick to agree than she would have been if she hadn’t felt that sense of loss. 

She did, though, have one more motivation. 

The second time Julian almost kissed Damian was, perhaps, a few weeks after. Time had begun to lose meaning with Vesuvia cracking into smaller and smaller pieces by the day. They worked as much as they could. As long as they could. But Julian refused to let Damian work himself to the bone... no room for two self-sacrificing fools, after all. So he made the point of taking a night off to make music together. And when they headed home, moods somewhat improved, Damian remained a little closer to Julian than usual. His hands brushed against Julian’s without their fingers ever truly twining. Julian found himself longing to take Damian’s hand. Aching to just pull him closer and show him exactly how much he cared. But he spent far too long dithering about whether he should actually take things that far. By the time he’d come to any kind of decision, they were already back at the shop. And Julian didn’t quite have the courage to kiss Damian goodnight. 

The third time was one Julian would regret for ages to come. Julian was summoned to the palace to work directly with Count Lucio in the search for a cure. Which meant he needed to leave his apprentice behind. He lingered at the shop both longer than he should have and not nearly long enough. He could have kissed Damian goodbye. He wanted to kiss Damian goodbye. But why make things sadder than they needed to be? Once he found the cure, once the plague was over, he could give Damian a kiss in celebration. At least, that was what he told himself. He’d thought they would have another chance. He’d thought they would see each other again. He’d never dared to dream that the plague would take Damian away from him, too. 

The fourth time, Julian could have sworn it was the first. And he had no logical explanation for it. Just after Julian had rescued Damian-- this stranger, this man sent by the palace to hunt down a wanted criminal-- from the wrath of the vampire eels, Julian wound up in a rather precarious position with Damian. It was instinctive. Foolish, but he had the right intentions. Julian had only meant to shield Damian from the guards. But Damian was so close to him. And the look on Damian’s face, the way his eyes seemed to shine in the dim light... gods. Julian convinced himself that it must have been the blood loss. That was all. That was surely the only reason he wanted to kiss Damian. Nothing else. 

There were far too many times after that. Far too many moments when Julian wanted nothing more than to close that painful gap between them. But he knew that would be far too selfish of him. He was already dragging Damian into his complicated mess, he couldn’t cause any more trouble.

For Asra’s words had only confirmed Damian’s suspicions. Asra had always wanted to show Damian more of the world, he’d never made any secret about that. But every mention of Nopal had been cagey at best. The one place that Asra visited more often than any other, a place where he quite literally had a little home of his own, and Damian knew almost nothing about it. Asra had never once invited him along for a visit, or even mentioned when he was going on said visits until he was back in Vesuvia. There was only one reason for him to keep such a secret, after everything. 

Nopal had something to do with Damian’s past. 

That, inherently, came with severe risks. But Damian wasn’t about to back down. 

Asra’s expression shifted a bit, turning pained. 

“You’re right,” Asra said. “Of course. I’m sorry I’ve kept it from you for so long. I had no right to--”

“It’s alright,” said Damian. “I understand. I know why you made the choice you did. But the time for secrets is long past, isn’t it?” 

Another sigh escaped Asra. “Yes. It is. But please, Damian, if you feel any discomfort at all...” 

“I’ll tell you,” Damian promised. 

He wasn’t sure if this was a promise he would fully keep. He’d figure that out if he got to it. 

Asra nodded. And his gaze drifted away, unable to meet Damian’s eye. 

“Before... I left,” he began awkwardly, “you spoke of Nopal often. Particularly of your family. And the home you shared, before you moved to Vesuvia to help your aunt with her shop. 

Damian’s pulse pounded double-time. His head didn’t threaten to split in two, thankfully, but Asra’s words still hit him like a heavy blow. 

Home. He’d suspected that, but... family. He’d worked so hard to rebuild a family after he had woken up with no memory. And it had been there, in Nopal, all along. A part of him was furious that Asra had kept that to himself all this time. The rest of him understood what would have happened if Asra had told him.

“Do you think I might still have family there?” Damian asked slowly, choosing his words very carefully. “Did you ever try to find them? Did you tell them...?” 

The knowledge was so heavy, the question so difficult, that he couldn’t bring himself to say any more. He felt he understood Asra’s years of struggle a little better now. 

“No,” said Asra, “I didn’t try to find them. It was cowardly of me, but I had no idea what to say. How could I face them after failing you so horribly?” 

“I never thought you failed me,” said Damian, the reply almost instinctive at that point. “And... I’ll be honest, I have no idea what I’m going to say, either.” 

Asra’s eyes widened. “Going to say? So you really are planning to visit Nopal.” 

“I am,” said Damian. “Whatever happens, Julian wants to experience the Flower Festival, and I don’t want to deny him that. And... if my family really is in Nopal, I want to try to find them. I may not be able to rebuild my past. But I might be able to start building a better future.” 

A ghost of a smile flickered across Asra’s lips. “Then I wish you luck. And please, Damian, be careful. If you need me, I’ll reach you as quickly as I can.” 

“You could come with us,” said Damian. 

That made Asra’s eyes go even wider. “I would never impose like that.” 

“You wouldn’t be imposing.” Damian smiled almost slyly. “Call it a double date. I’ve seen the way you look at your... what was it... ‘favorite customer’?” 

Heat rushed to Asra’s cheeks. “I have used that phrase, yes...” 

“I’ll help you plan your first date beforehand,” Damian chuckled. “And Asra?” 

“Yes?” 

“When I do talk to my family, I’ll want Julian there, of course, but I’ll also want my best friend by my side,” said Damian. 

It looked like a weight had been lifted from Asra’s shoulders. He smiled warmly at Damian. 

“I’ll help you in any way that I can,” he said. 

“I know you will,” said Damian. “You always have.” Then, before Asra could get too embarrassed, Damian added: “And you can start by telling me more about Nopal. I’ve got to prepare for the trip. Need to know what to pack and all that.” 

Asra’s smile turned into the mischievous one that Damian knew so well. Which was how Damian knew that the air between them was perfectly clear. 

“To start, you’ll need something to help protect Ilya from the dangers of being out in the sun,” Asra teased. 

A bit of an ammeter inventor as well as an alchemist.

He loves creating things. Experimenting. Tinkering. Putting things together to make something brand new. 

Sometimes his work is methodical and by-the-book. Sometimes he just throws everything together to see what works. 

He has very little fashion sense, preferring practical, comfortable clothes.

(This man does not know how to do his hair. It's always a mess. Please help him.)

Very much has Big Brother Energy: he can and will defend and fight for his family until the end of time.

Damian constantly toes the line between Determined and Just Plain Stubborn.

He's super dependable and will always see things through to the end, but if he gets stuck in one way of doing things, it takes a lot to break him out of that cycle.

When his feelings are too strong to articulate with words, he’ll always turn to music. 

Has a playfully dry, witty sense of humor

Pretends to hate puns but "secretly" loves them.

The type to either know exactly what’s in his bag at any given time or to have fifteen different notebooks in there because he kept forgetting he already packed a notebook. There is no in between.

“I promise, my love, I’ll only be a moment,” said Julian. 

Damian let out a little laugh. “Only a moment, huh? Now where have I heard that one before?” 

Julian’s returning laugh was rather awkward. “Well, uh, that’s... a fair point. I do tend to spend a little more time window-shopping than might be strictly necessary...” 

“Nearly everything down here is open-air,” Damian teased. “Or as open-air as we can get underground. So where exactly are you seeing any windows?” 

“Ah, you’ve cut me to the quick again,” Julian chuckled. He put one hand over his heart. “But really, darling, I give you my solemn oath. I’ll only be a moment.” 

Damian sighed. “Let’s just hope ‘a moment’ means less than three hours...” 

“Less than one,” Julian insisted. “Cross my heart. I won’t even stop to chat with any of the other customers.” 

Damian gave him a very pointed look. He knew very well that Julian chatted with everyone. Including the others around the Red Market. Which he probably wasn’t supposed to do, particularly since they were now friends with the Countess herself. They probably shouldn’t have been here in the first place. But Julian had dragged Damian down there to pick up a few supplies that they were running dangerously low on. Julian insisted that said supplies were best found down here, that there was nowhere else to get what they needed on such short notice. 

Damian was skeptical, to say the least. It certainly didn’t help that their first foray into the Red Market had included Julian getting stabbed, and this time he had no real way to recover from something like that. 

Julian’s only response to that look was to give him that smile. The one that Damian could never say ‘no’ to. 

Damian sighed. “Fine. Go get what you need. I’ll stay here. And if you take longer than--” 

“An hour?” Julian teased. 

“Five minutes,” Damian corrected him, “I’m coming in after you.” 

“Oh?” Julian smirked. “Well, in that case, I may need to chat with a few people after all. You always look so dashing when you come swooping to my rescue...” 

He waggled his eyebrows. Damian started pushing him towards the nearest booth. 

“Just go.” 

Julian chuckled. He didn’t protest in the slightest as he was all but shoved into the shop. Damian stepped back, both keeping an eye on what he could see of Julian past the curtain-like entrance to the shop and the crowd that drifted past him. 

There was no way of knowing exactly what type of people came down here. Or how much trouble that they would be in if one of the more unscrupulous characters happened to come across them. Damian really would swoop to Julian’s rescue if it came down to it. He knew that Julian would do the same for him. But Damian desperately hoped that this would be a relatively quiet trip. 

Though quiet hardly ever meant anything when it came to Julian. 

Sure enough, Damian was almost immediately distracted by a high-pitched shriek. He whirled around. And quickly spotted a very grimy-looking merchant trying to shove a small furry creature into a rusted cage. The creature was protesting mightily, fighting back at every possible opportunity, shrieking so loudly that several people actually turned to look. They moved on as soon as they had seen what the fuss was about. 

But Damian wasn’t about to let things go so easily. 

The merchant kept trying to shove the animal-- a bat, Damian realized-- into the cage. 

“Shut it, you!” the grimy merchant hissed. “Ain’t worth the trouble I went through to catch ya... rare species my ass...” 

Damian slowly slid towards the merchant, weaving through the crowd. He had known that people sold animals down here, of course. There were rumors that many of the animals in the Countess’ menagerie had been rescued from the Red Market. But he had never caught one in the act before. 

And now that he had, he very much wanted to punch the merchant. 

He knew better. That would just start an unnecessary fight. And Damian didn’t relish the idea of getting himself stabbed any more than he wanted to see Julian hurt. 

But he couldn’t let the poor bat suffer like that. It sounded so hurt, so afraid. 

Just before Damain reached them, the bat made one last-ditch escape attempt. It bit the merchant’s hand. The merchant flinched. The bat managed to wriggle free. It tried to flap in the merchant’s face and distract them even more... but the merchant only snatched it up again. 

“That does it!” the merchant growled. “I don’t care how rare ya are, gold ain’t worth this! Dunno how much you might go for anyway... and I know exactly how much some magic types’ll pay for fresh cut bat wings!” 

The bat clearly understood the threat. It fell completely silent. And it started to shudder in their hand. 

Damian all but threw himself right in front of the merchant. 

“HEY!” he shouted. 

His hands were already clenched into fists. He glared daggers at the merchant, as though daring him to start trouble. 

The merchant was far from impressed. 

“What do you want?” they snapped. 

The little bat peeped softly in the merchant’s grip. Damian glanced up at it. The bat’s eyes were locked right onto his. And its large ears had pulled back, dropped almost pleadingly. As though it were begging Damian for help. 

There were a hundred things Damian wanted to do just then. Such as conjure up the biggest fireball he could manage and hurl it at the merchant. Or invent a brand new curse specifically for the occasion. Or maybe just shove the merchant over, grab the bat, and run. 

The bat’s fear felt so real. Damian would do almost anything to get it out of that horrible situation. But starting trouble would just end in twice that much trouble for him. And for the bat. Not to mention everyone else in the vicinity. 

So he did the only thing he thought might actually work. 

“How much for the bat?” 

It came out more like an accusation than a question. But the merchant stopped short. 

“You sure you want this ugly little thing?” they said coldly. 

Even in his weakened state, the bat still managed a very indignant-sounding squeak. 

“I’m sure,” said Damian firmly. 

“I’ve got plenty of other specimens that you might find a lot more--” 

“I said I’m sure,” Damian hissed, cutting the merchant off. “How much?” 

The merchant stared at him a moment more, still very skeptical. Then they grinned. 

“How much are ya willing to part with?” 

Spending so much time with Julian had definitely helped Damian’s haggling skills. In a few minutes, they had settled on a price that was a little bit less than absolute robbery, but possibly more than what Julian had planned to spend during this entire supply run. Then Damian left the merchant to their antics. For the moment. He made a mental note to tell Nadia about this entire exchange later. He knew she would be very interested to hear about it. 

But that would all need to wait. Despite Damian holding the bat as gently as he could, the poor thing was making very sad little sounds. It was clearly the worse for wear after... whatever else it had gone through. Damian’s heart went out to it. 

“Don’t worry, little one,” he murmured reassuringly. “We’ll fix you up. Julian’s the best in the business. And we won’t let that creep get anywhere close to you anymore.”

The bat’s wing wrapped gently around his wrist. The sounds it made were decidedly happier. 

Damian smiled. 

It wasn’t long before Julian finally finished his own purchase. Which was still decidedly later than the five minutes that they had agreed upon, but Damian was too busy making sure the bat was as comfortable as possible to really notice. 

Julian sauntered over with a grin. “What did I tell you? Guess you didn’t need to come rushing to my rescue after...” He trailed off. He’d finally noticed the bat. “Hello... who’s your new friend?” 

“Someone who needs a little bit of help from an expert doctor,” said Damian. 

Julian looked concerned for a moment. Damian could practically hear him thinking about how he was a doctor for humans, not for animals. But that doubt was very swiftly replaced by a warm smile. 

“Well then, we don’t want to keep our little patient waiting, do we?” said Juian. 

And Damian beamed at his love, an odd mix of relief and pride washing over him. 

Even with all the slightly-less-than-legal shenanigans they got caught up in, Damian could always count on Julian. No matter what. 

It was wonderful. 

They returned to the shop as quickly as they could. They wasted no time in treating the bat’s various wounds as best as they could. They made sure to send messages to the palace, both describing what had happened in as much detail as possible so the perpetrator would be caught, and asking for advice from those at the palace who worked with animals. 

Even with said advice, it was a few days before the bat had fully recovered. Damian was the best caretaker he could possibly be. The more he watched over the little bat, the more he learned what the creature needed. 

Soon, Damian was rushing to get something to help the little bat before it showed any signs of needing help. 

This greatly confused Julian. But everything was made immediately clear the night when the bat was fully healed and ready to find a new home, hopefully in the wild. The bat told Damian in no uncertain terms that he wanted to stay. 

And Damian had understood. Perfectly. The bat’s voice rang in his mind as clear as day. 

Damian had finally found his familiar. 

Julian didn’t fully understand what that meant at the time, but he was still more than happy to welcome the bat into their little family. Even Malak grants his approval. Julian declared that particular interaction to be the greatest blessing that the bat could receive. 

The next morning, the bat had officially named himself Oswald. Damian didn’t know where the little guy had heard the name. But everyone agreed that it was perfect. 

And Oswald proved to be the perfect companion. He even managed to convince Julian to start getting to bed at a relatively decent hour. He did so by screeching until Julian finally got under his covers, but they all knew Oswald’s heart was in the right place. And he still wasn’t as loud as Malak. 

Nadia

Nadia and Damian share a deep bond of mutual respect

Damian’s experience as a “simple” shopkeep grants him invaluable perspective on all the challenges Nadia faces as she continues to try to improve the city

And Damian deeply appreciates all of Nadia’s insight and hard work towards leaving the world a little better than she found it.

Beyond that more business-like side of their relationship, Damian and Nadia love to sit and chat about all kinds of things together. They’re a great intellectual match

And since Nadia’s a bit of a tinkerer herself, they share lovely conversations about their latest projects

With Nadia and Portia as a (very adorable) couple, Damian is the only person allowed to playfully call Nadia his “second sister-in-law.” Julian does not have the same privilege. He can’t even call her his actual sister-in-law.

Portia

Oh, the shenanigans Portia ropes Damian into…

Damian pretends to take an attitude of “someone needs to drag you out of trouble if you do this, so I might as well come along” whenever Portia gets him in on one of her schemes, but it’s obvious how much he actually enjoys them

Damian’s Big Brother Instincts do come into play every so often with Portia… which sometimes clash into Portia’s own Sibling Instincts.

They both want to take care of each other, which causes a few problems

But it’s nothing they can’t handle. And the adventures far outweigh the occasional, very sibling-like arguments.

At the end of the day, they’ve got each other’s back.

With their powers combined, they’re actually starting to successfully bully Julian into taking better care of himself.

Muriel

Damian doesn’t know Muriel quite as well as he knows the others.

Muriel is mostly “Asra’s friend,” therefore Damian’s friend by association.

Muriel was very wary of Damian at first, thanks to their complicated history.

But when he saw that Damian fully respected his need for some space and some quiet, and when Damian never pried into his history, Muriel started to relax a bit.

It’s going to take some time before they’re super close, but they do enjoy spending time together.

With Muriel’s skills at whittling, Damian has occasionally asked him for help with some of his own magical projects. No pressure, of course.

It’s the “no-pressure” part that Muriel appreciates the most.

Lucio

No.

Not a friend.

Even if Julian was a bit more willing to let things go, purely because Lucio “isn’t worth it,” Damian’s much less forgiving.