"It's a disease, actually," Nathaniel said, kneeling down to the dog's level. He let Titus get a good whiff before slowly reaching out to start scratching him behind the ears. "Not sexually transmitted." A pause, a frown, and he added, "Not usually. That would probably be bad in a city like this. It takes exceptional circumstances that are usually controllable."

He didn't mention that there were many people who didn't care to be controlled.

He continued scratching Titus but finally looked up at Damian.

"I'm Nathaniel."