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Dæmons were a part of the soul that manifested alongside its owner. They were something halfway between magic and spirituality, and no one had ever been able to explain well why they existed.
Religions, gurus, sects, everyone had rushed to explain its origin.
However, if there was one thing that all schools of thought agreed on, it was that a dæmon should not be touched by anyone other than its owner. Unless there was explicit permission, of course.
Kenshi's dæmon, Yuki, an arctic fox, had always shied away from the presence of other humans. She had never given him problems, always a faithful shadow, the only one to whom he could confide his dreams of freedom.
Here, his older confidant had decided to betray him in the end, and now she was cuddling against the leg of the most unbearable man Kenshi had ever known.
“Yuki! Stop that!"
His dæmon ignored what he said to continue purring against Johnny Cage's leg, like a damned cat and not an arctic fox. There was probably something in the air of Outworld that was driving the daemons crazy. She had never acted like this before!
Or maybe it was just Cage's fault. Nothing had been going right for him since he met that damn man. Even his thoughts weren't as coherent as they once were. He had a goal to achieve, but Cage distracted him. He was a dangerous presence that he would have liked to do without. But the other still had Sento, and Kenshi needed the sword.
“Ah, I said it, ladies love me,” Johnny joked, getting glared at by everyone, especially his dæmon, Sonya.
“For once in your stupid life, shut up,” the dog said, and well, it was actually kind of worrying that a dæmon would talk like that, it would be all about hidden thoughts and possible self-esteem issues, but Kenshi couldn't think straight. In that moment.
Yuki was embarrassing him, and he wanted her to stop.
“Yuki, this is forbidden,” the Japanese nearly choked as he spoke, trying to install some sense into the fox. “He is not your master.”
“He is ours. It is not clear?" was the response of the fox, who decided to move on to cuddle against the actor's other leg.
Johnny stood still, and looked at him as if he had to give him the answers, “I am what?”
“I don't know what ahe's talking about,” he said, and got a snort from the dæmon.
“Of course you know. You know the family stories, don't you?”
Of course he knew them. He had grown up hearing stories of how his parents' dæmons recognized each other, two kindred souls alone in this vast world, and understood that they were made of the same stuff.
No one understood what it was about. What everyone knew was that the dæmons recognized what complemented them, and didn't hesitate to chase it.
This is what was passed down in his family. Kenshi, a romantic despite everything, had believed it.
Now, much less. Because there was no way that Johnny Cage was his destiny. If so, the Universe was having fun at his expense. Again.
“What are you talking about?” Johnny asked, rightly curious.
“Oh, just a family tradition. Would you like to pick me up?”
“Yuki!”
The fox snorted, “Don't say it like you don't want it.”
The actor chuckled, “I'd like to, but he doesn't seem to agree. It's a matter of consensus.”
“I am consenting.”
"Not him. It'll count for something, right?"
“Thank you,” he found himself saying, not able to believe how much consideration Johnny had for him.
“Dude, don't say that as a joke. You don't touch other people's dæmons without permission. I don't want to make you vomit or anything."
“But I want to be touched!” the fox complained. “Kenshi wants a hug, too, and so do I!”
“I don't want a hug!” he denied.
The fox looked at him with far too much malice, "You know you can't lie to me, didn't you?"
One day he will find a way to silence her. Or to buy a fox fur coat and wear it, so she could see what he could do with her.
Of course, killing a dæmon was inadvisable, and painful. It wasn't worth it. But shit, how he wanted to do this now.
(It wasn't true, and they both knew it. Kenshi was just being mean about it.)
Johnny smiled,”Do you want a hug? It was enough to say it.”
"Don't you think about it."
“If you don't let me hug you, I'll jump on him,” Yuki warned him.
Ah, damn. She wasn't giving him much of a choice here. Armed with what little patience he still had, Kenshi hugged the other man. And if he squeezed a little harder than necessary, that was entirely his business.
“He likes it,” Sonya said, voicing her master's thoughts. “You're hot.”
“He doesn't have a damn coat with this cold…”
“I wasn't referring to the temperature.”
Johnny chuckled uncomfortably, “Sonya, come on. You don't say these things."
“You're both full of shit. You want each other and do nothing about it. What do you call this?”
“Stupidity,” Yuki said, and Sonya nodded, agreeing with her.
“You are stupid. Do you think we don't feel anything? We are a part of your souls.”
Kenshi felt her cheeks turn red. He broke the hug and saw that Johnny was uncomfortable too.
The actor gulped, “It seems our dæmons are unruly.”
“Yeah.”
“I would say ignore them for a while. I'm hungry, shall we go to Madame Bo's? I'm sure…"
Kenshi hugged him again, interrupting the actor. He had to admit that the contact was pleasant (Johnny was kind, despite the cocky air he tried to have and his constant being rude and loud), and warm. He had missed human contact without ulterior motives or assassination attempts.
“Um…Kenshi…?”
“I'm hugging you, Cage. Shut up and reciprocate.”
“Um…ok…”
Yuki meanwhile rolled her eyes, “They're idiots.”
“Sooner or later, they'll both get their heads out of their asses,” Sonya ruled. “Not very soon, but they will.”
It was all useless chatter. There was nothing to talk about. They were becoming friends, that's all. Their souls were just confused by the concept of friendship (and if it was understandable for him, for Johnny it was just sad.), and this made the daemons confused too.
Nothing to talk about here. Nothing exceptional.
But oh gods, how wrong he was.