Work Text:
According to Nick the thing that carried over most from Phil’s shapeshifting showed up when he was trying to get to sleep. The lowering of all those inhibitions and softening of his ‘Coulson’ persona meant that he was at his most vulnerable to a mood-induced shift outside of a threatening situation.
On a flat surface of a bed his foot would mimic the back and forth motions of a tail and crawling under the covers meant that Phil burrowed and wiggled like his high-flying, nested counterpart. And that wasn’t counting the number of pillows he’d chosen to nest with.
Waking up and stretching – when he wasn’t on a mission – was just as telling; the whines and huffs of breath (growls) were animalistic as he got up on all fours to stretch under the duvet mountain. More often than not something furry or feather-y would emerge from the burrow rather than an actual person.
Thank god he never relaxed that much on missions. The NDA paperwork would never end.
That's not counting Barton and all his bird jokes...
As for his water shift... well... Nick didn’t clarify on that score; “Motherf- I don’t know and I don’t want to know! These are your tells Coulson. Fix them.”
Hmph. “Your tells as far as I’m aware” more like. Maria and Jasper were much more helpful on that score.
Although “you flare your eyebrows when you do the Alien Thing” was new. Most people were too distracted by the actual 'Alien Thing' - by the seemingly black, apparently soulless abyss of demon/witch/Satan that his eyes became. He'd gotten some feedback.
Apparently he also tore into his meat with unusual relish when he got it. but that's usually because he's angry when he orders meat.
He's a pescetarian. Mostly. Fish are the one animal he can say he hasn't hunted down and torn apart for their eyeballs and other good nutritions.
Maybe Nick was right; “Shifting carries over some weird shit.”
He ordered a lot of meat in the year after Natasha Romanov is inducted into SHIELD.
With a bundle of dangerous neurotoxins in a collar - later changed to an implanted chip when he got his clearance for ops back - he had to make the most of his meals. Who knew which one might be his last?