Big Bang Theory
Everyone at the university had bets on what Sheldon's dæmon was. He told everyone he met that he and Teyori had been Stretched when they were younger so it could be anything. Leonard was kicked out of the betting pool because everyone thought he had an unfair advantage.
Leonard, of course, had no idea. So, when he entered the kitchen one morning, to see a woman sitting in Sheldon's spot, he was incredibly surprised. Anvayika jumped up onto the counter, watching the woman carefully as she eats her cereal, watching him over the bowl.
'You're up early.' She says in a slow Texan drawl.
'I am?' Leonard says, scratching his dæmon's head.
'Yes.' The woman stands, walking towards the two of them. Leonard steps away and Vayi tilts her head. '15 minutes.'
She bends down slightly, looking directly at Vayi, ignoring Leonard. 'Aren't you adorable?
The woman raises a hand to Vayi's fur, scratching her ear. Leonard freezes, watching it happen, wondering where the feeling of dread should be.
'Teyori!' He hears Sheldon calling. 'Where'd you go?' Sheldon walks out and raises an eyebrow at the woman stroking Leonard's dæmon. 'Teyori, what are you doing?'
The woman leans away, raising an eyebrow. 'Social experiment, Shelly. It's fun.'
'Wait.' Leonard says, looking between the two. 'That's your dæmon.'Teyori smiles, continuing to scratch Vayi's back. 'Of course, what else would I be?'
Leonard shrugs, lost for words and Teyori smiles, walking over to Sheldon. 'Sleep well?
'As well as can be expected, considering my soul was wondering the streets all night.'
Teyori smiles, giving a little twirl in her dress, facing Leonard. 'But I look lovely, don't I?' She leans forward, placing a kiss on Leonard's lips before heading back to the bedroom.
'That's your dæmon?!'
'I know. She's very disappointing.'
Anvayika curls up on Leonard's lap, trying to disappear even more. Leonard has his arms wrapped around her, shielding his soul from the outside world. The wolf pup doesn't like to be seen by people she doesn't know, and Sheldon's friend Amy is staring at her quite intently.
'Leonard.' Amy says, her monkey dæmon crawling along the back of the sofa towards him. 'Is there something wrong with your dæmon.
Vayi yelps at the attention, jumping out of Leonard's arms and running towards the bedrooms. Her man blushes slightly. 'She's very shy, doesn't like new people.
'Where's she gone?' Bernadette smiles, raising her head to try and see
'We can only assume she's gone to see Teyori.' Sheldon mutters, picking up some more food. 'They seem to be quite good friends.'
'Our dæmons are allowed to be friends, Sheldon.' Leonard smirks, tilting back as he hears footstep behind him. Teyori has got Vayi wrapped up in her arms, walking along in the same dress as before. The human dæmon passes the wolf pup to Leonard before staring intently at Amy and her dæmon
'I don't like you.' She says, sitting down on the edge of Leonard's chair, absentmindedly scratching Vayi's head
'You don't like anyone.' Vayi mutters, eyes on Agere. The lorikeet is on Penny's shoulder, head tilted. 'You only like me because I'm cute.'
'That is true.'
Leonard smiles, as all the others, bar Sheldon, stare. 'That's very poor science. You might like other dæmons here.'
Vayi looks up through Leonard and Teyori's fingers. 'No. They're not as cute as me.'
Teyori laughs, bending down to kiss the top of the wolf pup's head. 'Bye Vayi.'
'Bye.' Vayi whispers as Teyori returns to her room. She looks up, seeing the others watching her. 'What? I am cuter than you.
Agere rests on Penny's shoulder, watching Vayi carefully. She is draped around Teyori's shoulders, the human dæmon sitting next to Sheldon and Leonard. It's the first time Sheldon has actually brought his dæmon to the Cheesecake Factory and she won't stop holding Anvayika or touching Leonard.
'Stop it.' Penny mutters, printing off someone's bill. 'Stop staring.'
'I'm allowed to watch someone with their hands all over my-'
'Your what?' Penny scoffs. 'We broke up months ago.
Agere flusters, flying off her shoulder without reply. He heads over to the nearest table, checking that the customers are happy with their meal. One of the kids tries to grab him and he flies away, listening to the mother chastise her. He makes his round of the tables, making sure no one has any complaints before landing on Penny's shoulder again. His human is at their friend's tale, so she can't say anything to him.
'How is everything going?' Penny smiles, waiting for Sheldon's comment
'Great actually.' Teyori smiles. 'No issues.'
The dæmon continues smiling at her for a few seconds before Penny realises she's being dismissed. She nods once, leaving to help another table.
'I can't tell who's worse; Sheldon or his dæmon.' Agere mutters, glancing back at the table. Vayi is on Leonard's lap but Teyori is leaning over, one hand on the wolf pup's head, the other on Leonard's arm. 'I still don't understand how they're the same person.'
Penny shrugs, printing off her friends bill.
Later, when Penny pulls Leonard out of his apartment to kiss him and Agere presses his beak to Vayi's nose, all four of them miss Sheldon and Teyori in the background. Sheldon rolls his eyes at the display but Teyori grins, happy that her ploy to make the lorikeet jealous worked in the end.
Kana watches Raj fumble, trying to make words come out of his mouth. Howard had left them alone in the cue and the cashier had asked if they needed anything else. Raj had shook his head but the lady had kept talking, seemingly unable to realise that the Indian wasn't going to say anything. The pygmy marmoset, wrapped around her man's finger, looks up, purposely avoiding looking at the woman's cat dæmon.
'Excuse me, miss?' The cashier jumps, looking down at her. Kana holds tighter to Raj's hand but continues anyway. 'My human has selective mutism, could you please stop asking him questions?'
The woman nods, eyes slightly wider than normal. She hands over Raj and Howard's order, accepting the money without another word. Raj blushes throughout the whole transaction and Kana just clings even more to his hand, wrapping her tiny body around his smallest fingers.
The two them head outside where Howard and Chanloh should be waiting. Raj sighs, checking his phone. Sure enough, they have a text, saying Howard had been 'flirting' with this really hot girl and he really thought he had a chance with her. Raj rolls his eyes, heading toward Sheldon and Leonard's place, knowing the two will let him crash there for a bit. He sends Howard a text, knowing the smaller man won't get it until he finishes chasing the girl.
Kana moves slightly, heading up Raj's arm as they head up the stairs. 'Just try and talk to Penny.'
Raj scowls. 'You don't think I try? If I want to talk to Penny, I need to be drunk.'
'Imagine you're drunk then.' Kana says, coming to rest on his shoulder.
'Like that'll work.' Raj mutters, entering the room. Penny and Agere look up, smiling.
Neither man nor dæmon say a word.
Chanloh tilts her head at the raven dæmon, trying to get his attention while Howard flirts with his lady. The girl actually seems to be responding, actually listening to what Howard has to say. The girl, Ellen, Ellie, Ella, seems interested in magic and science and is leaning forward, one hand on Howard's arm.
The raven finally flies down, looking Chan straight in the eye. The porcupine smiles slightly, not knowing what to say. The raven hops closer, trying to flirt with the porcupine.
'Ow!' Emma, Elsa, Erica says. Chan jumps away from the raven, who is shrieking at her, pulling a spike out of her wing. The raven flies back to his human, the two of them storming away in a huff.
Howard blushes as he realised the entire bar is looking at him. 'Well. That went well.'
Someone in the bar laughs and everyone turns away, allowing Howard to save some of his dignity. Chanloh climbs up onto the seat, head bowed so she doesn't have to look at anyone. 'I'm sorry, Howard.'
Howard shakes his head, resting a hand on her chin in an attempt to comfort her. 'It's not your fault, Chan, the bird could clearly see where the spikes are, it's his problem.'
Chan shakes slightly, eyes drooping. 'It wouldn't be a problem if I had settled as something else. I bet Kana never has this problem.'
Howard sighs, moving his hand away. 'I like what you're settled as, it's unique. Besides, Kana's so tiny no one ever sees her.'
Chan laughs lightly, glancing towards the door. 'Shall we go?'
Howard nods, standing up and head out. Some women are still laughing at him but he doesn't allow himself to care. He loves his dæmon, spikes and all, one woman will not ever change that.
Mikro curls into a ball in Bernie's handbag, refusing to come out and meet Chanloh's friends. He didn't want to come to this stupid house, didn't want to meet the human or the pygmy marmoset. He's happy to just spend time with the porcupine, if need be meeting up with Agere or Anvayika but he doesn't see why he has to meet Chanloh's friends.
The main problem with being small is how easy it is to be picked up.
Bernadette lifts him onto her lap, apologising about her dæmon being 'shy'. Chanloh just smiles at him, as if trying to give him some confidence.
'I'm not shy.' Mikro mutters, uncurling to glare at his human. 'Just because I have better things to do.'
Bernie blushes, instantly trying to apologise but Mikro jumps onto the table, watching the tiny monkey already on it intently. Kana squeaks, rushing back to Raj and Mikro has to stop himself from laughing. Bernie can act as innocent as she wants but they both know she's not so naive. Mikro doesn't care for pretending. Teyori, leaning on the edges of Leonard and Penny's chairs, tilts her head slightly, smiling as if she knows something. Mikro glares at her.
'Problem, human girl?'
Vayi, curled on Leonard's lap, looks between the two and Chanloh sighs, stepping towards Mikro. Teyori just glances at Agere, eyebrows raised.
'No, just thinking you'll fit in nicely.'
Mikro huffs, jumping back into Bernie's bag. He ignores outside, content to be annoying, as usual.
Ubongo rests on Amy's shoulder, watching Teyori closely. The human dæmon and her man have visited them at work and are seemingly trying to break everything in sight. Sheldon is, as usual, convinced he can do everything but, as Amy expected, is failing quite miserable at most things he's trying. Sheldon has already broken two syringes and Teyori almost managed to inhale a virus that could melt her skin off. Luckily, the monkey dæmon stopped her and has been keeping watch ever since.
'What's this?' Teyori mutters, fingers moving to prod the slab of meat. 'Is it dangerous?'
Ubongo jumps over, grabbing her fingers in time. 'It's the heart of sheep with mad cow disease. Yes, it's slightly dangerous.'
Teyori sighs. 'Boring. Let's do something fun. Come on, Shelly.'
The two of them leave quickly, Teyori waving goodbye while Sheldon just walks out the door. Amy shakes her head as they go.
'Thought they'd never leave.' She mutters as he jumps back onto her shoulder. 'As nice as it was for them to visit-'
'-it does make working a little difficult.' Ubongo smiles. 'Besides, they only visited because they were bored.'
Amy nods, picking up the slab and placing it on the workbench. 'Why did you tell Teyori this was dangerous? Or that it's a sheep? The cow was perfectly healthy, it died of old age.'
'I know.' Ubongo says, poking the meat and winking. 'I just wanted to get her out of our lab.'
Amy laughs, getting to work.