The agency had been thrilled to receive her application.
'Sober companion' was not a job that attracted many alphas and it certainly perplexed her parents who worried that stepping away from her work as a doctor meant she was teetering on the edge of some sort of breakdown. Joan could admit that she might have felt a little listless recently but she enjoyed the work she was doing now, she truly did. She liked watching out for her companions and sharing in their accomplishments as bit by incremental bit they would get better.
It had been hard at first despite all the recent steps made in the past hundred years with omega rights. All sorts of birth control and hormonal pills were now available but a lot of engrained stereotypes still remained and the thought of an alpha nurturing was just unfathomable to many. Some refused to have her assigned to their family members, exactly why Joan couldn't quite decide. Did they assume she would force herself on omegas? Be needlessly competitive with other alphas? Cruel to betas? All companions took hormone suppressants when they lived with their charges to erase any potential issues which was one of the reasons why the profession was fairly new. Before modern medicine came to the rescue this never would have worked. Those that did hire her on seemed to do so based on Sayan, the small chimp daemon spoke of an intelligent individual which seemed to comfort some worries. Intelligent, well-educated people usually had better control of their animalistic natures being the general assumption.
So it came as something of a surprise that her boss called her with a new case. A case she had been specifically requested to be put on. Sayan grabbed the phone and leaned in close: eavesdropping. Long used to her daemon's bad manners Joan ignored him.
"He'd heard of you. He said he wanted an alpha to aid in his son's recovery."
This had happened before. An unruly alpha's family had requested her because they figured another alpha would be able to beat down their daughter into submission and permanent recovery. Much to their dismay that was just not how Joan Watson worked but in the end their time together had been successful. She'd relapsed briefly after Joan had left but last she'd heard the woman had been sober eight months.
While walking up the steps to her new charge's home a very provocatively dressed beta brushed past her, ferret daemon draped around his neck, before Joan could so much as ask if she was in the right place. Since the door was open she let herself in and was immediately hit with the smell of sex (recent), food (pizza) and wafting gender hormones. There was that beta that had passed her mixed with… omega. Interesting.
The omega in question, one Sherlock Holmes, was sitting cross-legged on the floor surrounded by half a dozen books all open to various places. What was he doing? He couldn't possibly be reading all of them at once could he? Joan's eyes flitted about the room looking for Sherlock's daemon until a slight flicker of movement atop his head drew her gaze. Nestled in his hair was what look like a butterfly- no, a moth? Joan wasn't quite sure but people with insect daemons were often very… Intense.
"Mr. Holmes? My name is Joan Watson, your father retained me as your sober companion to aid in your recovery."
Sayan took a few steps forward staring up at the daemon resting on Sherlock's head, usually when two people introduced themselves so did their daemons but Sherlock's didn't so much as flick it's wings. Her eyes narrowed, it hadn't been obvious before but the pattern on the back of the yellow and brown insect looked vaguely like a skull.
"Your father said he would e-mail you about me and explain that for the next six weeks I will be living with and available twenty-four seven."
His daemon flapped it's wings and floated down to one of the books and started to turn the page-
"I'm not done that one," Sherlock muttered.
"Well, I'm done."
"Leave it."
The daemon gave a derisive 'tsk' and fluttered over to rest on the windowsill. The note of 'eccentric' on his file was starting to become clear and maybe a tad generous.
"Um, hello?" Sayan spoke up. Joan glared at the chimp, they'd talked again that mooring about the importance of having patience in these crucial first introductions but as usual her daemon insisted on marching to the beat of his own drummer.
Sherlock got to his feet and turned to face them, shoving his hand forward which Joan, a little startled, shook.
"Sherlock Holmes and that little bugger over there," he titled his head towards his daemon, "is Sephronia." He turned his attention to Sayan and raised an eyebrow. "Pan paniscus, more commonly known as the bonobo chimpanzee. Bit unusual but I guess not entirely unexpected that you'd move from one caretaker profession to another."
Joan suddenly felt off-balance.
"Um, did your father-?"
"I got the e-mail, pardon," he pushed past her and started to collect a pair of socks and shoes that were scattered about the room.
"Right, well, that beta I passed coming in-"
"No no, not what you think that wasn't at all about drugs. Purely a sexual exchange I assure you."
Joan's face must have broadcasted her confusion because he continued:
"I don't particularly care for the act but it helps clear my head and allows me to think. I also find if I keep a regular regiment of the act my heats tend to be a bit more manageable. Also, just to make it clear, despite you being an alpha I'm not interested in receiving any help from you in that department despite the fact that my father would love for me to finally be under the thumb of someone. However, I don't care to be tied off by anyone despite my gender. So! Hopefully I'll get all paperwork for my medication sorted out sooner rather than later baring anymore interference," he cocked his head. "You're a doctor you understand."
"I'm not-"
"Well, you were a doctor. Your daemon, a very common settled form for those in the medical profession and your hands mark you as a surgeon."
"How in the world did he figure all that out?" Sayan muttered. Sherlock gave the chimp a tight smile, "I observe and I deduce. It wasn't difficult."
Sephronia fluttered back into his hair as the omega man started to rummage under a pile of clothes, sniffing presumably for something clean. Sayan and Joan locked gazes, it was very unusual for someone to address another person's daemon but Sherlock, if anything, seemed more amiable to addressing Sayan than he did Joan. The fact Sephronia seemed to be ignoring Sayan made her uneasy, daemons who kept to themselves were often a sign of mental disorders or distress. Nothing in his file had mentioned anything like that being an issue but she was now starting to think that file might not actually hold anything useful. If this was simply part of the 'eccentric Sherlock Holmes package' she could deal.
"Alright, Watson, Sayan, let's be off shall we?" Sherlock had pulled on a coat and was headed for the door. Sayan swung up onto Joan's back as she hurried after him.
"Where are we going?"
The rest, as they say, is history.