NEW GODS: The Awakening

The Father Of A God

Leon felt sick. Physically ill. He barely reminded himself not to slam the door closed, hearing his mother in the back of his mind parroting the same lecture about manners and etiquette.

Even so, all he could do was stare at the man, defeating the purpose of attempting to be polite. If not for Dame’s stare on his back, he might have lashed out right then and there.

Instead, he bit on his tongue and glanced away.

Goro frowned at the lack of response, the wrinkles along his small dark eyes intensifying, while he shifted from foot to foot awkwardly. He scratched at the top of his neat black hair and cleared his throat.

“Can I…?” Goro motioned towards him and it dawned on Leon with something bordering on terror he was asking for a hug.

He dug his nails so deep into the door that the wood gave away beneath his force and a long mark was left behind, his own fingertips getting bloody.

“No,” he gritted his teeth.

“Oh, okay then. If you don’t want to…”

“I don’t,” he confirmed harshly.

His lips parted, prepared to let all the reasons why he did not want to breathe the same air as him, let alone touch him, flow out. He left him all alone, he lied and deceived him, he hurt Cassandra, he abandoned them.

And yet, right as the words were about to fall, he chocked on them. They dawned on his throat and suffocated him, drying his lips. He was being boiled alive, his own skin wishing to get away from his body, and like that he glanced down- as if he was the one who had something to be ashamed of.

He did not know how he was supposed to talk to Goro anymore. How to address him, how to behave. And the abruptness of his reappearance was not helping matters. So, both let the silence sink in, finding it less disorienting than what was to follow if either spoke up.

In that short pause that they stayed in, Leon heard footsteps approaching from behind him quickly. Damian curled up close to him, eyes wide and questioning, but he did not have answer.

Damian grasped his hand, squeezing it softly, and Leon let out a deep breath. Damian gripped his hand tighter, a tad bit painfully, while his gaze reached Goro’s round, tanned face which lit up at the sight of him.

“Is that you, Dame? Gods, it has been a long time…. What are you doing here?” he asked confusedly.

Leon straightened his shoulders and stepped forward. Damian did not deserve to be exposed to his family problems so he attempted to physically shield him from it. He tried to hold himself from shuddering at the mention of how long it had been.

Goro had noticed that a little too late…

At the same time, Damian’s breath hastened and when he caught a glimpse of him over his shoulder, he looked like he was burning from the inside out.

Leon was suddenly pushed to the side while Damian charged forward. Goro yelped when his back hit the wall. Damian seized him by the shoulders, hands dangerous close to his neck, bordering on a threat.

“You just now notice it has been a long time, you worthless waste of oxygen!”

Goro blinked at him blankly, not entirely aware. That appeared to only anger Damian further who moved his hands closer up his neck.

Leon gasped before quickly gathering himself together. Despite everything, the worried glint that flickered over his father’s face almost shook his resolve to be cold and distant to him.

Even when he pushed aside that foolish instinctual reaction, he still concluded he could not allow this to escalate. Goro was a few heads taller than Damian, and wider as well. If the confrontation became physical, Damian would either swiftly lose or have to use his magic, and he no longer knew what Goro was capable of.