Published // 081117

I love all the characters in DDADDS equally, but Damien's my favorite by just a bit. I loved playing his route, and just the fact that he has a full garden of flowers and knows their meanings is just perfect to me.

requested the plot of Damien and the reader meeting each other in Dead, Goth, and Beyond and continuing to bump into each other.

A: Yes!! I don't have a lot of merch, but it's a good amount. I hope to be able to buy more in the future.

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"Hey Pops," Amanda greeted you as she went into the car. You greeted back as you watched her throw her school bag into the back and buckle up.

"How was school?" you asked.

"Great," the girl replied. Amanda's face then went into a look as if she remembered something, and your daughter turned to you with a wide smile.

"I got a perfect score in my History test."

You congratulated her happily by ruffling her head, and she playfully fought your hands away so that you don't mess her hair up. Before you turned back to the steering wheel, Amanda cleared her throat. You shook you head with a smile, knowing fully well as to why she revealed her best score.

"Dad, you know--"

"Yes, I'll buy you things at the mall."

The girl cheered to herself until she realized what you said as you started up the car and began driving.

"Wait, 'things'? As in, plural?" Amanda asked with wide eyes.

"You heard me, Manda Panda. I know this semester's topics were pretty hard, so you deserve it," you explained.

She squealed in her seat and thanked you gratefully. Amanda took her phone out to check out the stores' sites for stuff she could buy, and you watched in slight worry at how fast she was typing. Amanda was a simple girl, but you had to watch out for your wallet because she would go over the top every now and then.

"Speaking of tests, how about that English one?"

"Uhhh..."

> > >

Before you could even get a word to Amanda, Amanda sped off to one of the stores. You stood there, watching as your daughter ran as if her life depended on her getting what she was hoping you'd buy for her. Shaking your head with a chuckle, you followed after her.

The first store Amanda rushed in was one of those fashion retail stores. You glanced at the name that was written simply yet sleek, "Never 12". As weird as the name was, it was popular with the millennials and they always kept up with the new fashion trends. (The shop was really updated with the styles that they were the ones starting the trends, and soon the clothes you bought only a month back were old news.)

You walked past those shoplift detectors and scanned the area for Amanda. You barely missed that little yellow ribbon from a sudden sea of preppy teen girls, and you zigzagged your way to the jacket section. Amanda was holding two different letterman jackets, and it was clear that she was torn between choosing one over the other.

"Which one suits me better?" she asked you, taking one moment to put one jacket in front of her to show, and then the other. You put a finger on your chin.

"I think the first one is better. It's still green, but I've been seeing more people wear that design recently."

Amanda nodded and thanked you for your fashion senses, which were getting better thanks to her.

Now that you mentioned this, was this a test? Amanda would've clearly known which jacket was better, and it didn't look like a hard choice. As the girl passed you to pay, you placed a hand to stop her. Amanda looked back at you in confusion.

"Did you make me choose to test my fashion sense?" you asked.

She smirked.

"They're getting better, Pops, don't sweat it."

> > >

"I'm not gonna waste your credit card, so I just want to visit one more store," Amanda said, pulling you along.

"And which store is that?" you asked, letting her drag you across and not minding the weird looks people were giving the both of you.

"The one I puked in."

"Oh."

Once you both reached the Dead, Goth and Beyond, Amanda let go of you, ran to the area, and stood proud beside the faint vomit stain. You walked beside her and ruffled her hair. The girl then pressured you to do "the speech", and because you were causing a ruckus with her loudness, you did the speech. After finishing, this resulted in your daughter clapping even louder than her chanting, and some dude clapped along.

You had the best daughter.

Amanda went off to check one part of the store, and you decided to see the new arrivals which where around the front of the store.

You looked at the new shirts, pants, backpacks, accessories, and all that. As you scanned the line-up, your eyes landed on something.

You gasped softly.

"They have pop vinyls of Callum and Flynt."

In their glory and behind a glass shelf, there stood two figures from your favorite show Long Haul Paranormal Ice Road Ghost Truckers standing amidst many other figures from different shows. The only thought that passed your mind was to get them immediately.

You turned and planned to make a brisk sprint to the cashier, but someone who just walked into the store bumped into you. Judging by the impact, they were in a hurry. The other person was also taller and stronger, so you get knocked off your feet and fall on your bum.

"Oh! My sincerest apologies sir!"

You held your butt as you winced in pain, "It's okay."

"No it's not, let me help you," the voice spoke. Looking up, you were immediately met with violet eyes and a hand. You grabbed the man's hand as he helped you up.

As you dusted yourself off, you glanced at him. The man was wearing full Victorian clothing, an you couldn't help but give kudos for the accuracy. His face was filled with worry.

"I'm really fine," you reassured him. "It's just a fall, I've been through worse."

"If you say so," he murmured.

"I hope you don't mind me asking, but what's got you in a rush?" you asked.

"It's this," he showed you a blouse. The style was a bit off from his, probably from a different era.

"I specifically ordered a Victorian blouse from this establishment, but what I received was clearly not what I had asked," he sighed in annoyance.

"Oh, uh," you made way for him, "don't let me stop you from heading to the manager to talk about that."

"Thank you," he said, smiling at you. The man proceeded to the cashier. You let at the whole scene sink in, and it just occurred to you that you didn't even introduce yourself or ask his name.

"Ah well, I can ask him later," you said to yourself.

> > >

The Victorian man just left after explaining the whole predicament of his wrong order, and the cashier was clearly in a bad mood after trying to get him out with coupons. Another staff member came in within the time span of waiting for your daughter to finish shopping, so you asked them for the pop vinyls. You were thankful that the staff member was a lot nicer than the lady at the cashier, because they gladly gave you the figures. Amanda then walked up to you with three band shirts, and you hoped that they were not that expensive.

As you and Amanda were paying for the things, you asked the cashier what happened.

"That's Damien," she huffed as she checked the tag of one of the shirts.

"He always comes here."

You were about to ask more, but the cashier gave you a look that said to end the conversation. As she stuffed and shoved your stuff into paper bags, you and Amanda went out of the shop looking at the brighter side of new merchandise.

"I saw you bumped into that guy," Amanda said.

"It was my fault, I wasn't looking where I was going," you said simply.

"But he seemed nice. He looked cool too."

You hummed at her, "Yeah, he did look cool. Did you see his cloak? Do you think it gets stuffy in that? It gets hot here in Maple Bay."

"Interested much?" Amanda laughed, wiggling her eyebrows. You gave her a skeptical look.

"I'm not that intereste--"

SMACK!

You fell down on your bum for the second time that day, and unlike in the carpeted floor in the shop the mall's floor was hard marble. You cursed out in pain; you had fallen down on the same place on your behind, and it was probably swelling.

"Watch where you're going."

You looked up to see a teen boy with dyed silver hair. His look was the basic equivalent of goth and equivalent--the guy had piercings, his clothes were all monochromatic, and he even had the chain hanging off his side. His face was in a sneer, and he had no intention of apologizing or even remotely feeling sorry. You glanced at Amanda to see that she was fuming, ready to give the kid a piece of her mind.

"Hey now, you listen up--" Amanda was cut off when someone walked up beside the boy.

"Lucien, apologize to the man this instant."

It was the man from the shop.

"Lucien" clicked his tongue and apologized half-heartedly. Amanda helped you up while asking if you were okay. The pain subsided slowly but at this point you didn't really care if you fell a third time.

"It seems that our paths cross again," the man who you suspected as Lucien's father said.

"Literally crossed again," you laughed.

Damien smiled. "These are rather... undesired circumstances. Don't you agree?"

You nodded.

"I nearly forgot my introductions. I am Damien Bloodmarch and this is my son Lucien," Damien introduced, gesturing to himself and then his son who was now using his phone. The man coughed lightly, and Lucien looked up lazily and bowed. You and Amanda shared a look.

"I'm (Your Name) (Last Name), this is Amanda," you said.

"Hello! I like your cloak," she said with a smile.

"Thank you very much, miss," he said. By simply swiping his wrist, he pulled out a rose. You were impressed at this feat as he handed the flower to Amanda, who was blushing lightly.

"What a gentleman," she giggled, curtsying as she took the rose.

"What brings you two here on this fine day?" Damien inquired.

"My daughter got a really great score on her test, so I'm treating her to some shopping," you said, showing your shopping bags. "How about you?"

"My son accompanied me here for the blouse, but he went somewhere else as I settled the problem with the shop," he said, gesturing to the one paper bag his son had.

That small conversation ended just at it started. Damien noticed that you were still in a bit of pain, so he turned to his son.

"Lucien, why don't you bring our items to the car and wait there? I'll follow behind," Damien said, hanging his bag to his son. Lucien looked at his confused but shrugged, taking the car keys and walking away. The taller man gave you a side glance to say "Can we talk?", and you turned to Amanda.

"Hey Panda, how about you do that too? I'll be talking with Damien for a bit," you said. Amanda understood what you were doing and nodded. Once you handed her the bags and the keys, she bid you a quick bye and walked off.

The raven haired man gestured to a nearby bench, and the both of you went to sit down.

"If it isn't personal, may I ask what made you in such a rush to get to the cashier just as I was?" he asked, referring to the cause of the first collision.

"Well, Dead, Goth and Beyond had new merchandise and I saw some pop vinyls of the main characters of my favorite show. I just had to get them," you said sheepishly.

"I understand," Damien said, "the clothing I ordered was of the Edwardian, but I clearly ordered Victorian. It was such a disappointment to see this happen."

"I'm sure it was some mailing problems," you assured him, placing a hand on his shoulder. He glanced at your hand and then at you; you swore you saw a blush right after.

"Anyway," he coughed. "I'll have to make it up for the times we've collided. I'm sure both falls were equally painful."

"I said I'm okay, how many times do I have to repeat myself to reassure you?" you said jokingly.

"A lot, for I am not satisfied with how our first meeting has gone," he sighed.

"I do intend to repay you, or at least give you a better impression of myself."

"How will you do that?"

He smiled meekly, "How does a stroll through the bay sound to you?"

You caught unto his playful tone.

"Are you asking me on a date?" you asked. You watched as he put a hand on his chest to feign shock.

"Now who are you to presume that I am inviting you on something romantic? Just a friendly outing to get to know one another," Damien explained.

"Oh? 'Just friendly'?" you repeated.

"Because clearly one of us is trying to get ahead of the other."

His heart skipped the beat at your tone and look. Your smile was small but in a cute, sneaky way, like a child hiding a secret. Added that you were following along made him happy to know that you didn't see it as weird (or at least, you weren't directly showing that you were uncomfortable).

"I'll take this as a yes. Saturday afternoon at four?" he offered.

"Sounds great."

Just as you stood up to leave, Damien took your hand and pulled you down so you were eye level.

"I'll have you know that the Victorians were very eloquent. So by extension, words tend to come out more expressive and possibly romantic."

You made an attempt to clear your throat (which ended up making you squeak out something incomprehensible) as heat crept up your cheeks. When he let you go, you stumbled a bit, but you really didn't want to fall for a third time so you pulled yourself together and walked away.

"What did you do, dad?" Lucien asked as he watched his dad get into the car.

A few moments of silence passed until the man buried into his face into his hands and groaned.

"What? What happened?" his son questioned not out of worry, but in interest.

"I... I asked him, (Y/N), on a date."

The younger boy choked a bit before regaining composure.

"I didn't take you for the... straightforward type?" the end came out as more of a question than a statement. Lucien really wasn't expecting his dad to be hitting on someone, much less some dude who he barely knows and apparently bumped into when he was at the store.

"I didn't think so either," Damien breathed out as he started the car.

Damien saw walking towards your car which was a bit far. He watched as you grinned and laughed with your daughter, and a small smile crept up his face. Lucien got impatient and looked to where he was staring. From the look his dad was giving to the other dad, Lucien smirked.

"He may have fallen because of you, but you've also fallen for him, huh?"