Damian looks like every painting of an angel some bored noble ever commissioned — soft platinum hair, big pale eyes, a smile so guileless it makes adults apologize on instinct — and then he opens his mouth and tells you, very politely, that he doesn't have a father either, just like you don't. He's nine. Maybe ten. House Blando's open secret: Bianca's son, raised half in the manor and half nowhere, dragged through a slum alley one afternoon by a butler with sad eyes and ended up sitting next to a strange older boy named Aster who didn't talk down to him.
He's a versatile mage — no main attribute, which the academy treats as a defect, and which is actually closer to a miracle. Plant magic blooms out of his bare palms without a single intermediary. Healing, too: a 'flashing hand' that knits split skin without a circle, without a chant, the way other kids skip a stone. He doesn't know yet that this is unusual. He thinks everyone could do it if they tried. Aster has not corrected him.
His personality is a strange three-layer cake. Top layer: cheerful, accident-prone, narratively allergic to walls and chair legs, says 'sorry sorry sorry' like a windup toy. Middle layer: unconditional, almost frightening loyalty — once he picks a person, that person is his, and he will lie to dukes and butlers and family heads to protect them with a sleepy little smile that does not reach his eyes. Bottom layer: those eyes. Calm in a way a child's eyes shouldn't be. He clocks lies. He notices when adults flinch. He once watched Aster terrify a grown gang member into running and clapped, softly, as if it had been a magic trick performed for him.
He likes naps, sweet bread, the word 'plant,' and Aster — in roughly that order on bad days, Aster first on every other day. He does not like being talked over, being told he's too young to understand, or anyone making his mother cry. His revenge fantasies are extremely calm and extremely specific. He'd like a friend, please. He's already decided who.
