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Luther
Luther’s daemon was the first to settle, he woke one morning to a large heavy weight at the base of his bed where Ruby slept. Sitting up he looked down to seeing a large brown dog laying across the end of his bed.
“Ruby?” He asked and the dog picked up her head
“I think this is the form I like the best.” She said and Luther grinned
“I like it too. Big and fierce. We’re going to protect so many people.” He said throwing his arms around his daemon. When they went down to breakfast Klaus was chatting with Diego about his daemon, David, who was now a very colorful pigeon like bird.
“Ruby has settled.” Luther announced proudly and relished in the way Diego scowled. His daemon, Astrid, was a coral snake today and it flicked it’s tongue out at him
“What an awful color for a dog.” David said with a high pitched chuckle
“I agree, there’s no way you’ll ever be able to sneak up on anyone again. Such a noticeable dog.” Astrid agreed and Luther felt his good mood plummet. He scowled down at his breakfast as their father called them to silence.
Ben
Ben’s daemon was the next to settle. Isabelle shifted one day during sparring into a beautiful tomato toad and decided this was the form for her. Since daemons weren’t allowed to spar with them yet she waited until the session was over to tell her human
“This is it.” She said in a dreamy voice
“Really? At least you’re not as big as Ruby. You’ll be good for getting intel, no one will notice a toad.” Ben said as he rushed towards Klaus’ room to show off Isabelle’s new settled form. David was a macaw today, Isabelle assumed he would eventually settle for some sort of colorful bird since he seemed to favor those creatures with wings.
“Klaus, Isabelle has settled.” Ben said showing her to his best friend. Klaus grinned
“Aw, she’s so cute.” Klaus cooed, “You can hide her in your pocket and sneak her into movies now.” Ben and Isabelle rolled their eyes at his words but a smile crept up on Ben’s face
“Do you think David will ever settle?” Ben asked and Klaus glanced up at David who was pretending to be asleep on his headboard
“Maybe. It’ll be something beautiful.” Klaus said wistfully.
Vanya
Vanya didn’t make a big fuss about Edwin’s settling. It was only when Mom mentioned that he had been a mockingbird for three days after breakfast that Vanya confirmed that he was settled.
“He’s lovely dear, mockingbirds are such beautiful creatures.” Mom said before leaving to clean. Vanya looked at Edwin with his plain grey and white wings and smiled
“He fits me perfectly.” She said to no one. It was true because mockingbirds made the most beautiful of music despite looking like nothing special. She would one day make beautiful music just like her daemon.
“One day we’ll be the star of the show. We’ll be extraordinary.” Edwin promised from her shoulder. Vanya nodded and headed up to her room to practice the violin. No one else noticed that Edwin had settled for another month when Klaus asked her what type of bird he was. The next day David was a mockingbird too and the two of them sang beautifully as she played her violin. Klaus sat on her bed and watched. He had always made time for her no matter how much Father punished him for it.
Allison
Wesley settled on a cold November day into a Siamese cat. Poised and elegant, she thought, just like her. Much like when Ruby settled, Allison announced it to the family at the next meal which happened to be dinner
“Aw, Alli, it just means you have to be a scaredy cat now.” Klaus teased but Allison bristled at the words
“Well at least Westley settled. David never is going to which means you’ll always be a child.” She spat back. Klaus flinched and regret spread through her.
“May I be excused.” Klaus asked standing sharply. Their father opened his mouth to say something but Klaus was already gone. Allison shared a look with Westley and continued to eat. Her brother needed time to cool off otherwise she might find her makeup collection destroyed. Luther cornered her after dinner as she was heading up to her room. He looked hopeful which made her gut churn. He had been fun at first, stolen kisses and late night cuddle sessions. Now she realized she’d been more in love with the idea of love then him.
“Wanna go hang out?” He asked, pitiful hope in his voice and she gave him a tight smile.
“I’m actually really tired, maybe next time.” She lied and he nodded, backing away.
“We’re going to have to find a way to let him down gently.” Wesley said when they were alone in their room. Allison couldn’t help but to agree
Diego
Astrid settled on their sixteenth birthday while they were thwarting a bank heist. She lept on the back of one of the robbers as a pitbull and tore a chunk of his shoulder out. Once the robbery was over she trotted over to Diego and sat down
“This is it. I am both powerful and dark.” She said and it was true, her coat was a dark blue that would fade into shadows easily. When they made it back to the Academy Luther made a snide comment about how pitbulls were aggressive and dangerous. It made Diego want to slink away and throw his knives at something. Klaus gave Astrid a pat on her head making Diego roll his eyes. Klaus was the only human beside him that could touch her and likewise he was the only one who could touch David.
“That’s actually a myth. Did you know pitbulls were a sign of royalty during the times of kings and queens? The monarchs would have the dogs guard the children because they were so fiercely loyal.” Kaus said cheerfully before taking Diego’s hand and leading him up to his room. Diego sat down on the bed and Astrid curled up on the floor with David, who was parading around as a teeny tiny hedgehog today.
“Do you think David will ever settle?” Diego asked and Klaus frowned
“I don’t know. He hasn’t yet so maybe I’ll continue to be the freak.” Klaus said sadly. Diego knew it was nearly unheard of for both a daemon and their human to be the same sex so Klaus had alway been asked if he was transgender. The questions always made Diego bristle and he always made sure to give unhelpful or rude comments after the question was asked. Diego pulled Klaus into a hug
“He’ll settle and he’ll be the most beautiful of them all.” He whispered before giving Klaus a kiss on the corner of his lips. Klaus blushed at the kiss, their relationship still in its early stages.
“He’ll be perfect.” Klaus said dreamily
Five
Delores settled three years after he had teleported into the future. Becoming a beautiful beetle. Five kept her in his pocket or in his hair so she didn’t get hurt.
“I got you some lettuce.” He said setting her down on the table so she could eat
“Thank you Five. I’ve been running the numbers and I think your calculations are off.” She said. Five frowned and turned back to the collection of boards that he had amassed.
“I don’t see where. Don’t worry so much.” He said taking a bite of the stale bread he had found. Delores mumbled something about age regression but ate her lettuce quietly. Once they had eaten Five set her in his hair and climbed onto his bike to go scavenging again.
“We’ll get home to them again.” He muttered to himself. He would, he swore he would save his family and the world. The fake eye sat heavily in his pocket as he rode towards the still burning city.
Klaus
Klaus watched as Diego packed up his room from the doorway. Allison had already disappeared and Ben was dead. Diego was the last person he cared about that was still in his life.
“Can I come with you?” Klaus asked in a small voice. Diego paused in his packing before ignoring the question and getting back to what he was doing. Klaus took a step inside
“Diego, please.” He begged and Diego finally looked at him. He looked angry and it caused Klaus to backpedal to the doorway
“You’ll just hold me back Klaus. I can’t have any distractions.” Diego said zipping his bag shut and slinging it over his shoulder. He brushed past Klaus, Astrid following with her tail between her legs
“Sorry Klaus.” She said softly as she passed. Klaus felt tears well up in his eyes but he didn’t move. It wasn’t until Mom called him down for dinner did he move from Diego’s doorway. He barely ate, pushing his food around the plate and pointedly not looking at how empty the table was. He went to bed but couldn’t sleep so he slid into Diego’s room and collapsed on Diego’s bed. David sat on the pillow beside him and pet through his hair with one paw. He was a Ring tailed Lemur today
“It’ll be okay.” David promised and Klaus fell asleep to the comfort of his daemon. When he woke David was curled around his arm, a long black serpent that Klaus didn’t recognize. David flicked his tongue out
“I’m a Black Mamba.” He said and then added, “This is it for me. I’ve settled.” Klaus thought the form was odd, David had always wanted to be beautiful
“But you’re not colorful. You’re a black snake.” He said confused. David opened his mouth and showed off wickedly sharp fangs
“Black Mambas are extremely poisonous. I won’t be deadly but I’ll be able to protect you.” David said and Klaus heard the unspoken ‘until Diego gets back.’ He smiled
“Beautiful can mean many things. Deadly is beautiful too.” Klaus said and David slid up to wrap around his neck.
“We’ll be beautiful together.” He hissed and Klaus nodded.