Percy was not expecting his first meeting with his soulmates father to be while he stood in the doorway of the manor, clutching Damien's hand while Damien had a quickly forming bruise and a bloody tissue up his nose. Especially not for the silence that followed the revelation that Damien had returned home, soulmate close behind, clearly fresh from a punch.
Bruce was smart enough to know that the impact that caused the bruise was caused within the last hour, and that meant that the soulmate had likely caused it. He was also smart enough to have done research on the very boy that all his sons had soul marks with. A suspected terrorist, walking in with his bloody and bruised son. Not a good image.
Of course, Bruce also had the wit to avoid jumping to conclusions. He would ask his son for the story, preferably away from the soulmate, and figure out what happened. Then they could decide if actions needed to be taken for potential abuse.
Bruce instead chose to introduce himself after realizing that there had been several minutes worth of silence between the quartet. Alfred ever so patiently held the door, seeing as Perseus had frozen at the sight of the imposing millionaire father of his soulmates. "Hello, you must be Perseus. My name is Bruce." He held out a hand to shake, intentionally reaching for the hand that clutched so desperately at his sons hand.
"Please call me Percy. Can we get some ice for Damien?" He was quick to try to right his wrong. Bruce gave a nod to that, waiting for them to enter the house more fully, which was only prompted by a subtle pulling by Damien.
"My name is Alfred Pennyworth, Master Perseus."
"Please, just Percy."
Alfred nodded, "I'll fetch the ice for Master Damien immediately." And then the old butler excused himself from the quickly growing awkward room.
"So, Damien," Bruce began, "you ran off to find your soulmate?"
To Percy it sounded reprimanding. But to Damien it was exasperation. "Yes, father. Though I would like to show Percy to his room then we can speak."
Bruce only nodded, "I'll be in my study."
And then Bruce stalked off, allowing Damien to begin the trek to the hall all the boys' rooms were, and showed Percy to the last remaining room in the hall. Alfred kept it in tip top shape once he caught wind of the boys' agreement to bring their soulmate to the manor should any of them meet him.
"This will be your room, I'm across the hall and Grayson is to my left. Your right is Todd and your left is Drake. Father will likely let it slip that you're here and they'll be rushing in in no time." Damien followed Percy into the room, "I'll leave you to get settled and speak with father in the meantime. I'll come see you after that and we can explore the mansion if you'd like."
Percy nodded, "that sounds nice."
Damien gave a small smile, grasping Percy's hand and giving it a gentle squeeze. "I'll be back."
And then Damien made the trek to Bruce's study, already sure of the questions that would be asked and the information Bruce would so kindly 'remind' him of. He had told his sons since he'd looked into Percy's background to keep an eye on him once they met.
Damien now knew that it was likely just horrible situations if he based the theory on the obvious trauma Percy held. He knocked thrice on the door and waited for the 'enter' that would always follow.
"Damien, is Percy attempting to abuse you?" And Damien was flabbergasted at those being the first words asked after the door to the office closed.
"What?" Damien blinked for a minute, his signature scowl back in place now that he was no longer by his soulmate. "What makes you ask such a ludicrous question?"
Bruce gestured deftly to the Wayne boys face, "the bloody nose and bruise."
Damien sighed, "Percy has PTSD, unknown as to how and where it was caused. He was freaking out on the way here and when I tried to comfort him, the first reflex was a rather powerful punch."
Bruce nodded at the admission, "we have our fair share of violent reflexes in the manor, so it's understandable. What's he like?"
Damien's eyes softened at the question, which was not missed by Bruce, "he's incredibly shy and nervous natured. He also detests the idea of soulmates for reasons unknown. He ran away when he first heard my name in a coffee shop, so it was a miracle he came to me first."
Bruce nodded, "anything we should be aware of?" And Damien knew that meant terroristic activities.
"If you think him writing stories about demigods is evil then yes, otherwise he hasn't rang any alarm bells, father."
Bruce nodded, "I made your brothers aware of your return but wanted to speak with you before mentioning him. If he's shy and scared about soulmates then we'll wait for them to visit to drop that bomb."
Damien nodded, "thank you, father."
Bruce only nodded, handing Damien an ice pack that Alfred had most definitely dropped off before he made it to the office. And that was the last of the exchange, Damien rushing out to see Percy again, to be able to soak up anymore alone time with his shared soulmate before his brothers decided to ruin the tentative peace.
He gave a light knock on the door and let himself in when he heard a grunt that was apparently mistaken as a come in because his soulmate was shirtless and Damien froze at the entryway. Once again, Damien noticed three things with the intrusion.
One, his soulmate was positively stunning, and no one would ever have the right to argue.
Two, Percy was absolutely covered in scars, ones that put Jason's to shame as they wrapped around his torso.
Three, it makes a lot of sense why the seemingly skinny man was able to pack such a strong punch, as every divot of muscle was sharp and obviously trained to gain.
Damien couldn't bring himself to move, instead staying put as Percy ever so slowly brought his long sleeve shirt the rest of the way down his torso. Damien also now understood why his soulmate didn't seem to own anything other than long sleeve shirts.
"Are you okay?" Damien wasn't ashamed to admit he whispered the words, eyes wide with the horror he would've hidden if it was anyone else he stepped in on.
Percy looked around with a panicked expression, "I'm fine. Please don't ask about them."
"I won't." Damien agreed, closing the door behind him, "but tell me, are you safe?"
Percy nodded, "these scars are two years old now, well beyond healed and nothing has given me more."
Damien noted the use of 'nothing' and not 'no one' but didn't comment. "Are you hungry?"
Percy shook his head, "no, I'm actually eager to look around. I don't really like not knowing how to navigate the area I'm in."
Damien smiled, "let's make our way back to the foyer and start there."
Percy was in awe at the complexity of the mansion. It was rather easy to memorize the route to everything, especially after the labyrinth. But he still relished in the hand settled on the small of his back — a place that usually made his skin crawl in even his shirt brushed it too much — leading him through the manor. (Never mind that he felt comfortable with a full hand pressed firmly against his own personal Achilles heel.)
And Damien seemed rather glad to show him around the manor. Though Percy had a strong doubt that the joyful boy next to him would keep the same radiance when the other boys began to visit. Especially if he considered the bewildered look on Bruce's face when they walked past him.
Unfortunately their peace was much shorter than they'd originally thought it would be, when one Richard Grayson nearly ripped the front door off its hinges in the amount of excitement he held. Percy basically vanished down the hall towards his room and Damien released a tired sigh.
"Grayson. You're acting more moronic than usual."
"I heard my baby bird was back and had to rush home to make sure he had a safe trip, and rightfully so. That's a nasty bruise."
"Percy was in quite a fright during the drive to the manor." Damien agreed, watching the gears turn in Grayson's head before his eyes widened.
"Percy, as in Perseus Jackson?"
Damien nodded, "I visited Manhattan and ran into him at a coffee shop."
"I have a feeling that's not the full story, but where is he?" Grayson excitedly looked around, forgetting himself in his excitement.
"Before that," Damien interrupted, "we need to talk."
Grayson only nodded in agreement, "is everything okay?"
"Percy doesn't like being called Perseus, don't do it. He's also rather against the idea of soulmates for unknown reasons and has a lot of trauma, hence the bruise." Damien informed, "if he seems freaked out when you introduce yourself, give him space. Tell him that you'll be in the manor so he can come find you when he so chooses."
"Is that what you did?" Grayson annoyingly asked, which made Damien roll his eyes and mutter something that sounded suspiciously similar to imbecile.
"When he first heard my name he rushed out of the coffee shop and didn't come back for two days. The second time he sat across from me and seemed more than anxious to be there so I gave him my phone number and allowed him to reach out on his own time. He texted the next evening and then asked to meet up two days after texting." Damien elaborated on their meeting, still nervous about the way Grayson was staring at him. "He's still jumpy and anxious around me, so don't expect him to get comfortable with you immediately."
Grayson stood stock still as he took in the information, "is he in the room set up?"
Damien only nodded, his scowl deepening when Grayson immediately began the trek to their soulmates room.
"I'm assuming I should avoid telling the others he's here?"
"Yes, they'd rush in with the same moronic excitement you did like a babble of buffoons."
Grayson laughed and Damien's scowl deepened a bit more, stopping when Grayson stopped in front of the room they'd declared would be Percy's.
Damien knocked, "Percy?"
There was a long beat of silence before the lock on the door clicked, "come in." It was muffled and Damien could tell Percy was walking away from the door as he said it.
The two entered the room, glancing at the suit case on the end of the bed and the desk set up with all the stationary items. "Percy? I brought Grayson with me. Feel free to kick him out if you're uncomfortable."
Percy stepped out of the bathroom, his hair slightly damp and sticking to his face from where he'd likely splashed water on himself. Percy looked wearily at the new soulmate.
"I'm Richard Grayson, but you can call me Dick." And despite feeling insulted, Dick smiled when Percy let out a small snort at the name.
"Percy, please, just Percy." And Dick reached out a hand to shake so they could break the touch barrier, but Percy stepped away from the hand.
Dick dropped the hand but his grin was unaffected, "I'm gonna run to my apartment and get some of my stuff. After that I'll be in the manor for awhile so you can talk to me whenever."
Percy nodded, and Damien took note of the once again dejected look on his face and realized it was because Percy felt as though he had failed them, not because they were leaving him. "You'll have many opportunities to talk with him again, don't worry." Damien intervened, missing the way that Grayson's eyes widened at the blatant show of verbal affection.
"I'll be back!" Dick called, rushing out of the room and not even two minutes later the front door of the manor slammed shut.
"Do you think he's mad?" Percy asked, staring at the still opened door.
Damien immediately shook his head, "Grayson is the most difficult of my brothers to upset. He likely realized pushing you would go nowhere."
Percy nodded, "I feel bad though. I feel like I'm a disappointment to each of you."
"What do you mean?"
"No one wants a soulmate that doesn't know if they want soulmates, or that swings punches in the back of a car because they're panicking. Or can't sleep more than a few hours a night."
Damien huffed out a laugh, "Percy, everything you're telling me is things each of us struggle with. The only difference is that you're afraid of love and we all are desperate for it."
Percy felt his eyes widen, suddenly much more comfortable about his soulmates and the idea of them. But there was one more thing he couldn't tell. They'd be destroyed when Percy inevitably died in the next few years. Either the monsters would finally win, or the poison from the last war that had been slowly killing him would win before Apollo could finish the treatment. And even then the treatment will make him extremely weak, and he'll probably be on Olympus until his body heals.
Damien took a step back when Percy seemed to zone out. Learning from the still very fresh bruise under his eye to give him space in these moments.
"Percy, can you hear me?" Damien asked, tentatively resting a hand on his shoulder, "i need you to look at me."
"Yeah, sorry. I need to make a call real quick." Percy then stepped into the bathroom, scrolling through the contacts on his phone and dialing a number just as the door closed.
Damien knew the words from the other end of the line were most certainly not english. And that the language Percy spoke in response was also not English. But it wasn't Greek or Latin, so Damien settled on the bed. Waiting patiently for Percy to step out of the bathroom.
When Percy did, it was not what he was expecting. "I need to step out for a bit. I'll be back in about an hour."
And before Damien could react, percy grabbed a small ballpoint pen and rushed from the manor.