Work Text:
"Look Will, I found him!" The dog barked at him excitedly. They were at work and Rhesa had insisted to look for the blonde girl's daemon on the internet.
Will wasn't going to openly admit it but he too had been thinking about the girl since they had met each other in the church. Before she had vanished and he had been pulled into a fight that hadn't been his. Only that it suddenly was.
So, he had kept himself busy with paperwork while Rhesa had been tapping around on the keyboard with her snout. At her shout, he glanced up.
"Arctic fox. How unusual," the man mused. "Only his fur was black, not white like in this picture," he pointed at the screen.
His daemon mockingly nipped at his finger with her sharp teeth. "It says they change colour, when there isn't any snow the pelt turns dark," she lectured him.
He gave her a quick scratch between the ears in return. "It seems to me you are quite taken, I've never seen you this interested in another daemon before," Will told her quietly. He had no desire to be overheard by one of his colleagues.
The dog looked up at him and let her long tongue roll out. "Oh please, you're one to talk," she scoffed at him and shook her long fur reflexively, making her police tags tinkle.
"Yo man, you're done?" His partner's voice interrupted them as he approached the desk.
Will looked up to see that Diego had already changed into his casual clothes and his racoon daemon Stella was rubbing her little black hands impatiently.
"Yeah, sorry I got a bit carried away. I'll go change and then we can head to the bar. You do owe me a beer after all," Will called over his shoulder and broke into a grin while he left to go change out of his uniform.
"Whatever dude, just don't take forever," the other man called after him and Will knew he would keep himself entertained chatting with one of the female coworkers for the time being.
He decided on a quick shower, mainly because Rhesa insisted, her fine nose wrinkling in disgust when he was about to get dressed. Of course she wouldn't bother getting her fur wet though.
As the warm water ran down his face, Will closed his eyes and the scene at the church came back to his mind immediately. This sense of belonging had been so strong, it was like he had always known the girl and her daemon. The memory made him smile.
Will stepped out of the shower while scrubbing the wetness off his body with a towel when he glanced to where he knew Rhesa would be sitting.
"What the hell-" he gasped when instead of his daemon, a huge grey cat was staring right at him. He could see it was no ordinary cat but person's daemon, at the same time he didn't feel the separation from his own bond with Rhesa.
This was his daemon.
Had she changed? Was that even possible even after they had settled?
The cat spoke to him. "What is going on? Where is Nomi?" To Will's shock, the daemon was male.
The man stammered in return "I - I don't know. But I can feel our link. Yours and mine."
The cat nodded his head. "Yes me too. I don't belong to you, but somehow I also do. My name is Sebastian," the big cat purred and went to rub against Will's bare legs.
The feeling was so achingly familiar that his hand automatically went down and stoked the daemon behind his ears. And suddenly it was his Rhesa again.
He dropped to his knees and slung both arms around her, pressing them together tightly. The dog licked his face in an attempt to calm him but he could feel her heartbeat was just as fast as his own. She was scared as well.
"What is happening to us?" Will mumbled into her thick brown fur.
"I don't know," she whispered back at him.
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Daemons:
Will: Old-time farm shepherd
The Old Time Farm Shepherds are medium-sized, collie-type dogs with moderate coats and large, expressive eyes.
Rhesa, meaning: affectionate
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Diego: North American racoon
The mask of black that covers its eyes is its most characteristic feature. It has grayish brown fur with five to eight light and dark rings alternating on it's tail.
Stella, meaning: star