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If the guard ever found the Heterodynes, Dimo didn't know. Master Faustus didn't say anything about it, and they roused themselves at dawn, just as they'd always intended, and after everyone had packed up and filed out of the tavern, and got into formation. Monsters they may be, but they were also an army, and they were a well trained one at that. Somehow, it was a common mistake to think that those were two completely separate things, as the boy's remarks from the night before had shown.
But unlike with the guard, if that was the last Dimo expected to see of the boy, he was sorely mistaken.
They'd been marching for only an hour, just barely made it to the outskirts of town when he saw him, one leg crossed over his lap, the cream waistcoat and brown trousers from the night before traded in for a blue military style jacket and a set of crisp white trousers with a matching blue stripe down the side. And to top it all off, Dimo's pin sat plain for all to see at the top of a rather fluffy purple ascot. Clearly, he'd given up and thrown his previous attempt at subtlety completely out the window.
Breaking formation with a low, bestial growl, Dimo stormed up to him, a bright, innocent smile that was tinged with just enough mischief to make it absolutely unbelievable lighting up the boy's face as he caught sight of him.
“Good morning!” he chirped, completely unfazed by the murderous glint in the green Jaeger's eyes.
“Dot's mine, hyu leedle brat!” Dimo growled, jabbing a finger at the boy's throat, and the pin nestled there. “Vhat hyu tink hyu doink, vearink it so shamelessly?”
Gasping in mock scandalized surprise, he touched a hand to the pin, blinking wide, owlish eyes at the accusing finger. “Why, I never! Do you mean to imply that I stole this from you? You hardly have any proof of the matter.”
“Ho, Hy gots proof all right,” the Jaeger snarled, narrowing his eyes as he shoved his face right into the boy's personal space, lips pulled back to bare his teeth, causing the blond to lean back slightly. “Hyu perch all sveet und innocent in my lap, den vhen hyu go, my pin vent vit hyu. Hy ain't zo schtupid Hy ken't see vhen Hy been hoodvinked.”
Clicking his tongue and heaving a put-upon sigh, the boy placed his hand on Dimo's nose and firmly pushed his head back to a more reasonable distance. Dimo almost bit him for his impertinence, but the utter lack of fear the boy was showing this time around gave him pause. Although he should have anyway, just to show the brat exactly who was in charge.
“Well, I'll have you know, it's NOT yours,” he pronounced, looking at the Jaeger sideways, a smirk curling the corners of his lips. “I'VE joined the pack, and Master Faustus has agreed that you would make a suitable mentor for me.”
“Vhat?!” Dimo shouted in disbelief, causing not only a few heads to turn and stare, but a few of the marching members of the pack to stop dead in their tracks. This, in turn, caused a bit of a pile-up of monsters, complete with shoving and shouts of protest, but Dimo did his best to ignore it. If he didn't acknowledge it, it wasn't happening, and the situation was ridiculous enough without having the rest of the horde breathing down his neck in anticipation of a bit of drama. “Dot's not- Don' Hy get a say in dis?”
“Oh, of course, and you've already said it, you know. That's why you gave me this pin, after all, isn't it?” the boy cooed, leaning in and batting his eyes as he coyly fingered the pin. “To show your approval of me, and the arrangement.”
He paused, tilting his head with a coquettish smile while Dimo spluttered helplessly in anger. In a breathless voice, he finished with “You did want to be friends, didn't you?”
That was it, Dimo was going to kill him.
A bellow of “HYU LEEDLE SHIT!” was all the warning the boy got before Dimo launched himself at him, teeth bared and claws extended toward his throat. He fell back with an undignified shriek, tumbling from his perch as his booted feet caught the lunging monster square on the chest, just barely holding him at bay. Every monster in the immediate vicinity converged on them, then, as drama escalated into violence, a circle forming around them as the others hooted and hollered encouragingly.
Honestly, it was a bit much, and Dimo would have hollered at them all for breaking formation so readily if it wasn't for the fact that all he could think about was all the ways he was going to mangle the boy for daring to think he could put a leash on him. If only he could just get a hand on him.
Beneath him, the boy's expression shifted from fear to annoyed determination, his eyes narrowing and lips pulling back to reveal perfectly white, flat teeth. His knees weakened, and in that moment, Dimo surged forward, only to find a knee driving into his throat, the toe of his boots grinding into his crotch. He was close enough to claw furiously at the boy now, foot slammed into his face, snapping his head back.
This time, he didn't even hesitate to bite him, he simply jerked his head to the side and snapped his jaw shut, his sharp teeth slicing into the hard leather like it was flesh, straight down into actual flesh. The boy let out a howl of pain, yanking back on his foot as the leg braced against Dimo's chest pressed up. With all of the Jaegermonster's weight baring down and forward, all it took was a quick rock of the boy's body, then Dimo was tumbling head over heels, the boy reverse-somersaulting back into a crouch. By the time Dimo righted himself, the boy was already on his feet and facing, a cavalry saber in hand and pointed at his opponent.
Dimo didn't notice. He bellowed out his outrage and charged blindly, only to find himself gagging, the taste of blood filling his mouth as the sword pierced straight through his neck. He coughed weakly, rolling his eyes down to stare at the blade in confusion. Where had that come from? He hadn't even noticed the sheath hanging from the boy's belt, but as he looked back up along the blade, he saw it now. It looked fancy. The one on the other end of the sword looked like he was pissing himself.
“Oh! Oh my god!” The boy barely jerked the blade free before he dropped it to the ground like it was hot, and Dimo dropped to his knees, leaning forward and catching himself on his hands as blood rushed down the back of his throat. He coughed and retched to keep himself from inhaling, dimly aware of the murmur of voices around him, and the way the blond youth knelt at his side, hovering his hands worriedly, only to yank them back. “I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I hadn't meant-”
What brought his attention back into focus was the slow, rhythmic slap of skin against skin and a familiar voice calling out “Good show boys! Bravo!”
He glanced up just in time to catch Faustus Heterodyne climb off his horse as Jaegermonsters parted before him, then resume clapping, approaching them with a look of twisted amusement on his face.
“I- what?” the boy asked, confusion plain in his voice, but Dimo snorted wetly, rolling his eyes.
“You what?” Faustus airily interrupted, an eyebrow arched and head canted to the side. When the boy gestured to Dimo, making a strangled, distressed noise, he let out a short laugh, waving his hand dismissively. “Oh child, is that all you're worried about? He's fine, aren't you, sweetheart? In fact, come here, let me have a look at you.”
To the boy's surprise, Dimo rose to his feet, albeit a little shakily, one hand wrapped around the hole in his throat. His other hand roughly ruffled blond hair as he staggered past, the boy plopping down on his butt, watching with his eyes wide and jaw hanging open. Obediently, Dimo stopped in front of his master, tilting his head back and moving his hand away, popping a few buttons of his collar so that Fasutus could get a better look.
Which he did by inserting two fingers into the wound and bowing his head over it, squinting one eye and grinning wickedly as Dimo made gurgling noises of protest. “Oh, hush, darling, I have to see how far you managed to impale yourself before realizing something was wrong.”
He glanced up, the corners of his eyes crinkling as Dimo made a small, whistling whine, eyebrows knitted together. He hadn't-!
“Oh yes, Dimo, this was entirely your fault,” Faustus smirked, removing his fingers and patting the Jaeger's cheek. Dimo's jaw dropped in disbelief, and he started to protest, but he didn't get out much more than a whispery “But-” before Faustus cut him off by placing a finger on his lips, green eyes narrowing sharply.
“You really ought to stop making noise before you make the wound worse, you know,” he chided, the corners of his lips twitching upwards as Dimo ducked his head, shoulders hunching up, glowering balefully up from beneath his shaggy bangs. “Hmn, now that's better.”
Removing his finger from its place on Dimo's lips, he pulled out a handkerchief, tying it around his neck like a makeshift bandage, then buttoned up the Jaeger's collar. Once he was satisfied that Dimo was once again presentable – or at least as presentable as a Jaeger got – he curled his fingers under Dimo's chin, tilting his head up to look into his eyes. “Now, when the boy came to me last night, making all sorts of silly claims about you, I thought he was lying through his teeth.”
He was, Dimo thought, clenching his hands into fists at his sides, giving a little stomp to show his displeasure. Okay, sure, he'd flirted a little bit, but he'd done it to torment the little brat, he hadn't actually MEANT it.
“Ah-ah-ah.” Faustus chuckled, waggling a knowing finger in his face. “It's too late for that now. If you wanted me to think you didn't want him, you would have reduced him to shreds before he could have screamed. Instead, you allowed him to land a rather foolish, not to mention disabling blow by practically leaping onto his sword. That little scrape was a quaint gesture, to be sure, but now is not the time to be playing around. Do you understand?”
Dimo lowered his eyes, shoulders slumping. Yes, he understood. He didn't LIKE it, and thought the master's entire reasoning was rubbish, but he knew better than to argue, even if his throat didn't have a gaping hole in it. Once a Heterodyne made up their mind about something, there was no changing it. Maybe if he was lucky, the brat would end up getting himself killed when they descended upon the Count of Adalarchy's castle.
Never mind that it was the stupid brat who seemed to have all the luck, lately.
“Good boy,” Faustus smiled, giving him a pat on the shoulder before turning away, pausing to give the blond boy a cool, calculating look over.
He sat wordlessly on the ground, feet tucked behind his body, hands braced between his knees, looking up at Faustus with those clear blue eyes of his, his bottom lip caught between his teeth. Looking over his shoulder to follow his master's gaze, Dimo felt himself twitch as he looked into those eyes, nostrils flaring and jaw clenching tightly. The look in those eyes was so helpless, so pleading and compelling, it was hard to resist, and for a moment, he felt bad for wishing death on the poor thing.
It was quickly replaced with the desire to smash his fist into them, just to wipe that look off his face. He didn't like the idea that someone could hold so much influence over him with just a look. The Heterodyne's were one thing, they'd earned the right to hold power over him, but this boy hadn't done anything but stagger into his life out out of nowhere and look pretty.
A quick look around showed that he wasn't the only one caught by the blond's draw. Sometime during Dimo's scolding, Ognian had separated himself from the crowd and now stood behind him, quietly, but protectively. And part of Dimo couldn't exactly fault the older man for that. The boy sort of did resemble Oggie's oldest, if he was maybe half his size and twice as sharp. Paired with the man's unashamed love for children, it made sense for Oggie to be a bit protective. But it wasn't just him. All around, the rest of the pack stared at him, those in the back craning their necks to get a look. In fact, the circle they formed centered around him, their master and Dimo standing practically on the edge. They may have been the most active participants, but they sure were not the focus of this little spectacle.
Then Master Faustus let out an amused snort and walked back to his horse, mounting up before giving the assembled Jaegers one last look. “Regardless, you've both made your choices, haven't you? I hope you're satisfied with the results.”
With that, he was gone, and Dimo planted his hands on his hips, mouthing the Heterodyne's words back at him before sticking out his tongue. It was childish, yes, but he felt like he deserved a moment of childishness. He hadn't made any choices, and he wasn't satisfied, not one little bit. He got a few snickers from the audience, and just as he whirled around to throw daggers at them, Oggie opened his mouth.
“What are you mangy louts doing just standin' around for?” he roared in a voice that would tolerate no arguments. It reminded Dimo of a parent scolding their misbehaved children, and out of the corner of his eye, he could see some of the more human members of the army cringing in remorse. “We got places to go, people to kill! Back into formation, every one of you! Come on, monsters, let me see you move it, hup hup hup!”
Around him, Jaegers and the humans that rode with them started scrambling around, rushing to get back into line and resume marching, much to Dimo's relief. Being with the pack for twenty years meant that Oggie had the rank to boss the rest of the humans around, but what really got people to listen to him was the way he sounded like he was two seconds from turning them over his knee and spanking them black and blue.
It probably didn't hurt that he actually HAD done it a few times to those who had refused to listen to him in the past.
Chuckling to himself as the area cleared, leaving behind himself, Dimo, and the blond boy, Oggie whirled on the youngest of the trio, thrusting his hand into the younger blond's face, wearing a bright, toothy grin. “Hi, I'm Ognian!”
Letting out a squawk of surprise, the boy jerked back, cringing and blinking owlishly at the outstretched hand. His eyes darted frantically between Oggie and the hand for a moment, then he let out a quiet little laugh, a small, shy smile of his own tugging at the corner of his lips as he reached up and took it. "I guess you can call me Maxim."
"Maxim?” Oggie repeated, pulling the boy – Maxim – up to his feet as Dimo joined them, sullenly glaring at nothing and everything. “Huh, that Schmitzyfritzy guy was looking for a boy like you named Maximilian last night..."
"Schmitzy- who Bastion?” Maxim snorted a bit, the corners of his lips turning up in contempt and amusement. “Yeah, I wouldn't listen to that guy, he's a douchewaffle."
"A what?" Oggie asked, starting to move back towards the road, Maxim shrugging dismissively as he followed along beside him.
"Oh, you know. A waffle that's someone's dumped a bag of water on, making it soggy. Which is icky."
Oggie gasped, his eyes widening in horror. "Who would do such a thing to a poor, innocent, delicious waffle?"
"Bastion."
"That monster!"
Rolling his eyes, Dimo sighed to himself and fell into step behind them, tuning out the rest of the conversation. It was no doubt going to be the same sort of inane chatter he'd be hearing for the next few years.
And if that thought happened to be any sort of comforting, then he was just going to ignore that too!
If the guard ever found the Heterodynes, Dimo didn't know. Master Faustus didn't say anything about it, and they roused themselves at dawn, just as they'd always intended, and after everyone had packed up and filed out of the tavern, and got into formation. Monsters they may be, but they were also an army, and they were a well trained one at that. Somehow, it was a common mistake to think that those were two completely separate things, as the boy's remarks from the night before had shown.
But unlike with the guard, if that was the last Dimo expected to see of the boy, he was sorely mistaken.
They'd been marching for only an hour, just barely made it to the outskirts of town when he saw him, one leg crossed over his lap, the cream waistcoat and brown trousers from the night before traded in for a blue military style jacket and a set of crisp white trousers with a matching blue stripe down the side. And to top it all off, Dimo's pin sat plain for all to see at the top of a rather fluffy purple ascot. Clearly, he'd given up and thrown his previous attempt at subtlety completely out the window.
Breaking formation with a low, bestial growl, Dimo stormed up to him, a bright, innocent smile that was tinged with just enough mischief to make it absolutely unbelievable lighting up the boy's face as he caught sight of him.
“Good morning!” he chirped, completely unfazed by the murderous glint in the green Jaeger's eyes.
“Dot's mine, hyu leedle brat!” Dimo growled, jabbing a finger at the boy's throat, and the pin nestled there. “Vhat hyu tink hyu doink, vearink it so shamelessly?”
Gasping in mock scandalized surprise, he touched a hand to the pin, blinking wide, owlish eyes at the accusing finger. “Why, I never! Do you mean to imply that I stole this from you? You hardly have any proof of the matter.”
“Ho, Hy gots proof all right,” the Jaeger snarled, narrowing his eyes as he shoved his face right into the boy's personal space, lips pulled back to bare his teeth, causing the blond to lean back slightly. “Hyu perch all sveet und innocent in my lap, den vhen hyu go, my pin vent vit hyu. Hy ain't zo schtupid Hy ken't see vhen Hy been hoodvinked.”
Clicking his tongue and heaving a put-upon sigh, the boy placed his hand on Dimo's nose and firmly pushed his head back to a more reasonable distance. Dimo almost bit him for his impertinence, but the utter lack of fear the boy was showing this time around gave him pause. Although he should have anyway, just to show the brat exactly who was in charge.
“Well, I'll have you know, it's NOT yours,” he pronounced, looking at the Jaeger sideways, a smirk curling the corners of his lips. “I'VE joined the pack, and Master Faustus has agreed that you would make a suitable mentor for me.”
“Vhat?!” Dimo shouted in disbelief, causing not only a few heads to turn and stare, but a few of the marching members of the pack to stop dead in their tracks. This, in turn, caused a bit of a pile-up of monsters, complete with shoving and shouts of protest, but Dimo did his best to ignore it. If he didn't acknowledge it, it wasn't happening, and the situation was ridiculous enough without having the rest of the horde breathing down his neck in anticipation of a bit of drama. “Dot's not- Don' Hy get a say in dis?”
“Oh, of course, and you've already said it, you know. That's why you gave me this pin, after all, isn't it?” the boy cooed, leaning in and batting his eyes as he coyly fingered the pin. “To show your approval of me, and the arrangement.”
He paused, tilting his head with a coquettish smile while Dimo spluttered helplessly in anger. In a breathless voice, he finished with “You did want to be friends, didn't you?”
That was it, Dimo was going to kill him.
A bellow of “HYU LEEDLE SHIT!” was all the warning the boy got before Dimo launched himself at him, teeth bared and claws extended toward his throat. He fell back with an undignified shriek, tumbling from his perch as his booted feet caught the lunging monster square on the chest, just barely holding him at bay. Every monster in the immediate vicinity converged on them, then, as drama escalated into violence, a circle forming around them as the others hooted and hollered encouragingly.
Honestly, it was a bit much, and Dimo would have hollered at them all for breaking formation so readily if it wasn't for the fact that all he could think about was all the ways he was going to mangle the boy for daring to think he could put a leash on him. If only he could just get a hand on him.
Beneath him, the boy's expression shifted from fear to annoyed determination, his eyes narrowing and lips pulling back to reveal perfectly white, flat teeth. His knees weakened, and in that moment, Dimo surged forward, only to find a knee driving into his throat, the toe of his boots grinding into his crotch. He was close enough to claw furiously at the boy now, foot slammed into his face, snapping his head back.
This time, he didn't even hesitate to bite him, he simply jerked his head to the side and snapped his jaw shut, his sharp teeth slicing into the hard leather like it was flesh, straight down into actual flesh. The boy let out a howl of pain, yanking back on his foot as the leg braced against Dimo's chest pressed up. With all of the Jaegermonster's weight baring down and forward, all it took was a quick rock of the boy's body, then Dimo was tumbling head over heels, the boy reverse-somersaulting back into a crouch. By the time Dimo righted himself, the boy was already on his feet and facing, a cavalry saber in hand and pointed at his opponent.
Dimo didn't notice. He bellowed out his outrage and charged blindly, only to find himself gagging, the taste of blood filling his mouth as the sword pierced straight through his neck. He coughed weakly, rolling his eyes down to stare at the blade in confusion. Where had that come from? He hadn't even noticed the sheath hanging from the boy's belt, but as he looked back up along the blade, he saw it now. It looked fancy. The one on the other end of the sword looked like he was pissing himself.
“Oh! Oh my god!” The boy barely jerked the blade free before he dropped it to the ground like it was hot, and Dimo dropped to his knees, leaning forward and catching himself on his hands as blood rushed down the back of his throat. He coughed and retched to keep himself from inhaling, dimly aware of the murmur of voices around him, and the way the blond youth knelt at his side, hovering his hands worriedly, only to yank them back. “I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I hadn't meant-”
What brought his attention back into focus was the slow, rhythmic slap of skin against skin and a familiar voice calling out “Good show boys! Bravo!”
He glanced up just in time to catch Faustus Heterodyne climb off his horse as Jaegermonsters parted before him, then resume clapping, approaching them with a look of twisted amusement on his face.
“I- what?” the boy asked, confusion plain in his voice, but Dimo snorted wetly, rolling his eyes.
“You what?” Faustus airily interrupted, an eyebrow arched and head canted to the side. When the boy gestured to Dimo, making a strangled, distressed noise, he let out a short laugh, waving his hand dismissively. “Oh child, is that all you're worried about? He's fine, aren't you, sweetheart? In fact, come here, let me have a look at you.”
To the boy's surprise, Dimo rose to his feet, albeit a little shakily, one hand wrapped around the hole in his throat. His other hand roughly ruffled blond hair as he staggered past, the boy plopping down on his butt, watching with his eyes wide and jaw hanging open. Obediently, Dimo stopped in front of his master, tilting his head back and moving his hand away, popping a few buttons of his collar so that Fasutus could get a better look.
Which he did by inserting two fingers into the wound and bowing his head over it, squinting one eye and grinning wickedly as Dimo made gurgling noises of protest. “Oh, hush, darling, I have to see how far you managed to impale yourself before realizing something was wrong.”
He glanced up, the corners of his eyes crinkling as Dimo made a small, whistling whine, eyebrows knitted together. He hadn't-!
“Oh yes, Dimo, this was entirely your fault,” Faustus smirked, removing his fingers and patting the Jaeger's cheek. Dimo's jaw dropped in disbelief, and he started to protest, but he didn't get out much more than a whispery “But-” before Faustus cut him off by placing a finger on his lips, green eyes narrowing sharply.
“You really ought to stop making noise before you make the wound worse, you know,” he chided, the corners of his lips twitching upwards as Dimo ducked his head, shoulders hunching up, glowering balefully up from beneath his shaggy bangs. “Hmn, now that's better.”
Removing his finger from its place on Dimo's lips, he pulled out a handkerchief, tying it around his neck like a makeshift bandage, then buttoned up the Jaeger's collar. Once he was satisfied that Dimo was once again presentable – or at least as presentable as a Jaeger got – he curled his fingers under Dimo's chin, tilting his head up to look into his eyes. “Now, when the boy came to me last night, making all sorts of silly claims about you, I thought he was lying through his teeth.”
He was, Dimo thought, clenching his hands into fists at his sides, giving a little stomp to show his displeasure. Okay, sure, he'd flirted a little bit, but he'd done it to torment the little brat, he hadn't actually MEANT it.
“Ah-ah-ah.” Faustus chuckled, waggling a knowing finger in his face. “It's too late for that now. If you wanted me to think you didn't want him, you would have reduced him to shreds before he could have screamed. Instead, you allowed him to land a rather foolish, not to mention disabling blow by practically leaping onto his sword. That little scrape was a quaint gesture, to be sure, but now is not the time to be playing around. Do you understand?”
Dimo lowered his eyes, shoulders slumping. Yes, he understood. He didn't LIKE it, and thought the master's entire reasoning was rubbish, but he knew better than to argue, even if his throat didn't have a gaping hole in it. Once a Heterodyne made up their mind about something, there was no changing it. Maybe if he was lucky, the brat would end up getting himself killed when they descended upon the Count of Adalarchy's castle.
Never mind that it was the stupid brat who seemed to have all the luck, lately.
“Good boy,” Faustus smiled, giving him a pat on the shoulder before turning away, pausing to give the blond boy a cool, calculating look over.
He sat wordlessly on the ground, feet tucked behind his body, hands braced between his knees, looking up at Faustus with those clear blue eyes of his, his bottom lip caught between his teeth. Looking over his shoulder to follow his master's gaze, Dimo felt himself twitch as he looked into those eyes, nostrils flaring and jaw clenching tightly. The look in those eyes was so helpless, so pleading and compelling, it was hard to resist, and for a moment, he felt bad for wishing death on the poor thing.
It was quickly replaced with the desire to smash his fist into them, just to wipe that look off his face. He didn't like the idea that someone could hold so much influence over him with just a look. The Heterodyne's were one thing, they'd earned the right to hold power over him, but this boy hadn't done anything but stagger into his life out out of nowhere and look pretty.
A quick look around showed that he wasn't the only one caught by the blond's draw. Sometime during Dimo's scolding, Ognian had separated himself from the crowd and now stood behind him, quietly, but protectively. And part of Dimo couldn't exactly fault the older man for that. The boy sort of did resemble Oggie's oldest, if he was maybe half his size and twice as sharp. Paired with the man's unashamed love for children, it made sense for Oggie to be a bit protective. But it wasn't just him. All around, the rest of the pack stared at him, those in the back craning their necks to get a look. In fact, the circle they formed centered around him, their master and Dimo standing practically on the edge. They may have been the most active participants, but they sure were not the focus of this little spectacle.
Then Master Faustus let out an amused snort and walked back to his horse, mounting up before giving the assembled Jaegers one last look. “Regardless, you've both made your choices, haven't you? I hope you're satisfied with the results.”
With that, he was gone, and Dimo planted his hands on his hips, mouthing the Heterodyne's words back at him before sticking out his tongue. It was childish, yes, but he felt like he deserved a moment of childishness. He hadn't made any choices, and he wasn't satisfied, not one little bit. He got a few snickers from the audience, and just as he whirled around to throw daggers at them, Oggie opened his mouth.
“What are you mangy louts doing just standin' around for?” he roared in a voice that would tolerate no arguments. It reminded Dimo of a parent scolding their misbehaved children, and out of the corner of his eye, he could see some of the more human members of the army cringing in remorse. “We got places to go, people to kill! Back into formation, every one of you! Come on, monsters, let me see you move it, hup hup hup!”
Around him, Jaegers and the humans that rode with them started scrambling around, rushing to get back into line and resume marching, much to Dimo's relief. Being with the pack for twenty years meant that Oggie had the rank to boss the rest of the humans around, but what really got people to listen to him was the way he sounded like he was two seconds from turning them over his knee and spanking them black and blue.
It probably didn't hurt that he actually HAD done it a few times to those who had refused to listen to him in the past.
Chuckling to himself as the area cleared, leaving behind himself, Dimo, and the blond boy, Oggie whirled on the youngest of the trio, thrusting his hand into the younger blond's face, wearing a bright, toothy grin. “Hi, I'm Ognian!”
Letting out a squawk of surprise, the boy jerked back, cringing and blinking owlishly at the outstretched hand. His eyes darted frantically between Oggie and the hand for a moment, then he let out a quiet little laugh, a small, shy smile of his own tugging at the corner of his lips as he reached up and took it. "I guess you can call me Maxim."
"Maxim?” Oggie repeated, pulling the boy – Maxim – up to his feet as Dimo joined them, sullenly glaring at nothing and everything. “Huh, that Schmitzyfritzy guy was looking for a boy like you named Maximilian last night..."
"Schmitzy- who Bastion?” Maxim snorted a bit, the corners of his lips turning up in contempt and amusement. “Yeah, I wouldn't listen to that guy, he's a douchewaffle."
"A what?" Oggie asked, starting to move back towards the road, Maxim shrugging dismissively as he followed along beside him.
"Oh, you know. A waffle that's someone's dumped a bag of water on, making it soggy. Which is icky."
Oggie gasped, his eyes widening in horror. "Who would do such a thing to a poor, innocent, delicious waffle?"
"Bastion."
"That monster!"
Rolling his eyes, Dimo sighed to himself and fell into step behind them, tuning out the rest of the conversation. It was no doubt going to be the same sort of inane chatter he'd be hearing for the next few years.
And if that thought happened to be any sort of comforting, then he was just going to ignore that too!
