Dermot

### Appearance

Tall, baby face, soft rosy cheeks, blue eyes, curly blond hair, doesn't really look his age, often leaning on his staff

## Additional Information

### Likes

Finn <3, dogs, cooking, playing the flute/singing, telling stories by the campside, taking care of others, booze

### Dislikes

Being hit on (especially by girls), feeling excluded/weak, eating meat

### Image Song

Love Love Love, King and Lionheart (Of Monsters and Men)

## Short Bio

Dermot was actually born 200 years ago, but got lost in the Otherworld/land of Faeries. Currently he's Finn's servant. He's not much use as a fighter, but a skilled druid with healing powers. The headband he's constantly wearing covers the Love Spot, a "gift" granted to him by the faeries that makes women fall for him (don't look at me, blame mythology). Since he leans more towards guys, it's more like a curse than a blessing to him, and it causes him to avoid the female gender in general (without being hurtful towards others).

## Personality

~~Actual puppy.~~ Dermot is probably the most innocent one in the group despite being the oldest. Even though his past has been traumatizing at points, he still hasn't lost his naive character, often trusting others too easily or letting himself be fooled into buying things he doesn't really need. He's very optimistic and cares about others a lot, easily empathizing with them. He has a bunch of complexes about not being strong enough, and the entire Tearless business often seems a bit too big to him. Nevertheless, he's an irreplacable member of the group, both in his role as a healer and as a friend. He is very easily moved to tears, which has a both fascinating and repulsing effect on the Tearless members of his group.

## History

Dermot was born 200 years before the main story, in a small druid village, where he learned the basics of healing and brewing potions at a very young age. As a teenager, he is lost in the Otherworld, where he spends one year with the faeries. When he returns, he is not only cursed/blessed with the Love Spot on his forehead, but also realizes that two centuries have passed and all his family and friends are gone. Wandering through the forests lost and alone, he is captured by Tearless mercenaries and sold to slave traders within the clan. However, he is rescued by Finn, who claims him for his own (with no intention of actually keeping him as a slave). Being scared and confused, Dermot begs him under tears to let him stay with him, which Finn agrees to. Afterwards, he hardly ever leaves his side, fascinated with his character and soon falling head over heels for him. When Finn and Grainne decide to leave, it's self-evident for Dermot to join them, although he is just as lost in the Outside world as they are, only knowing a civilization that is long gone.

## Relationships

### Finn

Despite his official status as a servant, Dermot does not really *serve* Finn, but rather acts like his best friend and his person of trust. Although he has romantic feelings for him, he know that Finn is not able to require them (because he's not able to experience romantic or sexual feelings in general), and respects his personal boundaries. He would follow him everywhere and serves as a kind of mediator between Finn's Tearless and human self, with an equal fascination on both sides.

### Grainne

At first, Dermot is scared of Grainne due to her aggressive behavior towards him, but he soon learns that her bark is worse than her bite. Over the years, they become bad friends who constantly quarrel but still respect each other a lot, bound by their mutual affection for Finn. They get along surprisingly well when they are drunk (maybe even a little too well, but no one knows for sure what's going on between them). Due to her family's heritage, Dermot's Love Mark doesn't affect Grainne , which is why she is one of the few female individuals who don't give him panic attacks.

### Branna

The two of them bond with each other because they're both outsiders without connections to the Tearless. Their excitable characters make communication easy between them, although it seems at some point that Branna is a little too interested in his love life, mainly because of her obsession with heroic and romantic stories.

## Trivia/Writer's Corner

Dermot is probably the only character in this story with actual romantic love interests? But his mythological prototype only revolved around romance too, so it was kind of a given lol. He's probably the purest character in this story, and he's really relaxing to write among all those other disasters.