For Shaw, it had been the same night as that car crash that killed her father. When they'd been safely pulled from the twisted wreckage Ashar had changed forever into the form of a honey badger. The same as Kent's had been as the firefighter helped the quiet pair from the wreckage of the car.
For Root, it was when she'd lost Hanna. Coda choosing to settle as a Jack Russell terrier. Amusing Root when she thinks back on it letting her fingers slide even deeper into the warmed fur of the daemon dog's back as they end up waiting in shared amusement for the money transfer into the newly opened bank account in Hanna's name considering that the last time, they'd seen them Hanna's daemon had been a fox.
"Catherine Morlander?" Root smiles as she rubs her black painted fingers behind Coda's equally darkened ear before the dog hops from her lap as their cover name was called out. "Showtime." She smiles straightening her glasses and slowing the secondhand copy of 'Flower for Algernon' back into the inside pocket of her leather jacket as the dog at her side shakes out his coat with a doggish chuckle as Root held out her hand in greeting. "Call me Kat." She says winking down at her daemon.
Asher only scoffs as she holds Cole's daemon against the ground as easily as Shaw holds Cole himself as another sparing match winds to a close.
"You need to shut your mouth about this Aquino thing." Shaw conveys holding out her hand to help the groaning man back to his feet.
"But you believe us, right?" the painting Doberman asks as Cole was busy gulping water to ask himself. "Aquino was framed."
"Doesn't matter what we think. The job is done and nothing we can do now but wait for another one." Shaw shrugs letting her fingers brush feather light down the anxious daemon dog's back as she passes the same time Asher rubs against Cole's ankle before stalking after a retreating Shaw on the way to the showers.
"Never would have pegged you for a Reba fan, sweetie." Root comments noticing the interesting way Shaw seemed to deliberately change the channel right in the middle of a football game to a rerun episode of the more family aimed show as Root herself continues working up a new code just for a goof considering Samaritan was destroyed and the Machine was free on the other side of the sofa.
"You kidding?" Shaw scoffed popping the top on the fresh beer Coda had just brought her before the daemon dog curled up against her side. "It's the one that Van guy shaves his head. That is funny." Shaw shrugs sliding her fingers into the soft scruff of Root's Daemon. "and Cole got us started watching this dumb show." Asher covers when she notices Root still watching her over the top of the open laptop balanced across her lap with Shaw's own daemon lounging across Root's shoulders.
Bear only yawns between them scooting over until he was stretched out across Shaw's lap much to Coda's annoyance until Shaw's hands return to their massaging touch between the smaller dog's shoulders.
"Don't give us that look." Shaw huffed taking a sip of her drink her eyes still on the tv screen, but she could feel Root's eyes still locked on her over the top of the computer.
"What look?" Root asks genuinely curious now as she sets the laptop aside and waits for Asher to climb off her shoulders as she'd assumed.
Shaw only grinned her fingers digging a little deeper into Coda's back earning a pleasured shudder from the terrier's human as Shaw had intended.
"Bear," The dog only looked over with mild interest before taking the remote from Shaw's grip and padding into the other room.
"Big sister gave me a simulation to run. Shaw says her eyes still on Root.
"Oh?" Root asks but Shaw can tell just by the subtle but noticeable shift in Coda's body language against her side that she'd at least perked both human and daemon's interest as she nodes her head once in agreeing answer
"How long could I wind you up without touching you," Ash rather than Shaw answers seeing as Shaw herself was busy taking another long drink from her beer just to prolong Root's waiting a little longer.
"Wind us up?" Coda now looking up at Shaw puzzled but not even that could stop the daemon dog's tail from thumping against the sofa seat in eager anticipation earning an eye roll from Asher.
Shaw's jaw ticked at the attempted ignorance in Root's daemon's tone. Or maybe the flash of a grin was the pout Root gave when Asher slipped from her shoulders, yet the badger still stayed within easy touch range of her second favored human.
"So this is touch data." Root muses with a grin when Asher moved to nudge a smaller pillow under Root's neck before returning to her original place against her front.
"Pretty much." Shaw sighed "She wants me to just pet Coda here and see how that makes you feel." She goes on.
"So that stroke you gave to Cods backā¦."
"A test." Shaw nodes "Seems your Robo God is fuzzy on just how deep the human, daemon bond goes." Shaw says scooping Coda up from the couch to hold against her shoulder the same time Asher returned from the bathroom with three neatly folded towels balanced against her back. "Thanks Ash." Shaw whispers in another attempt to be more civilized with her own daemon then adds a coaxing. "Lay down" for Root, once the towels had been laid out over the worn leather of the sofa to make their annoying hacker more comfortable during this little experiment.
"No bed?" Root asks already bending to move the laptop onto the coffee table and stripping off her pajama pants and the tank top she'd stolen from Shaw's bag.
Shaw rolls her eyes "how many times have we already picked this thing over the bed?" she asks taking a seat in the leather-backed seat beside the sofa as Root made herself more comfortable on the makeshift bed. Asher sprawled out over Root's necked stomach after giving the scar of what should have been a killing shot by that hollow-tipped bullet a loving nuzzle.
They'd almost lost Root that day. No way were they wasting any more time trying to keep Root at arm's length.
"So all she wants me to do is pet Coda here and see how you respond."
"Scratch her back, rub her belly," Root sighs already feeling herself relaxing from the phantom touches she was getting from the light brushes of Shaw's fingers up and down her daemon's back as Coda lay across Shaw's crossed legs. Root wished her daemon would stop overplaying their hand considering Coda was already showing her belly in trusting offering to their Compact Persian's itching fingers.
"You got it." Shaw nodes once. "Then after she's that is to say we," At this Ashes lifts her head and gives Root a coy grin. "are finished you and Code get to try this touchy-feely crap on us."
"Not like it will do jack but should be fun proving our point."
Shaw cracks the start of a grin at her daemon's dull tone. "I mean our bond is all but broken thanks to those crap sims." Both human and daemon shudder at the reminder much to Coda and Root's unease.
"But it's not." Root reminds running her fingers through Asher's fur. "It's not." She repeats this time her hooded eyes finding Shaw's own. "They didn't break you." Which half of Shaw she was talking to Root wasn't sure nor did she care.
"Should be fun reminding you of that later," Coda says from Shaw's lap with a drowsy yawn as she leans more into Shaw's scratching fingers much to Root's thanks. "Almost hood and zip ties fun." Root echoes her fingers still braided in the coarse fur of Asher's side.
"Whatever Root." The honey badger against her chest purred nuzzling tenderly against Root's palm as the sounds of cartoons from the direction of the bedroom become the only other sounds besides human and daemon sighs of contented pleasure.
