bakerstreet | Daemon Meme

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Daemon Meme

In the universe of the His Dark Materials trilogy (or the movie The Golden Compass), every person has a creature called a dæmon that accompanies them all their lives, and is emotionally and metaphysically a part of them. Dæmons are often described as sort of external souls (while the part of the personality in a human's body is the spirit).

Basic Dæmon Facts:

- They take the shape of animals
- They can talk, no matter what their shape
- Children's dæmons can change form at will; around puberty they 'settle' and become one animal permanently
- Neither the person or the dæmon chooses the final settled form, but it always reflects their personality (although not necessarily in obvious or simple ways)
- They are almost always the opposite sex as their human
- If a dæmon feels pain, so will their person, and vice versa
- Being physically apart from one's dæmon causes horrible emotional and physical pain
- Dæmons frequently talk to and touch each other, in ways that reflect or complement their persons' interactions, but dæmons talking to humans other than their own is considered strange, and touching humans not their own is extremely taboo; it generally occurs only between long-time lovers. Touching someone else's dæmon without permission is a terrible violation.

How it works:

Just design a dæmon for your muse and put as little or as much information as you like about them (shape, name, link to a picture or species wiki if you are so inclined) in a comment, with your muse's name and series in the subject. Check out other people's dæmons and let your dæmons interact too.

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"If you're fine, than I'm fine," the Doctor scolds, because even he knows he's not fine. He can still feel parts of his body shifting when they shouldn't be, and that's really unpleasant.

Coro sighs, shrugging a wing at Ant like "what can you do?" because these two are, frankly, horrible.

The Doctor puts a hesitant hand on Martha's shoulder before standing and offering her the same hand to help her up, if she wants it.

"We could... go somewhere? Someplace with lots of sun? Tropical, maybe?" he asks shakily. There's no reason she'd want to travel with him. She's not exactly on his ship by choice after all, so she might just want to go home. Home, to a disastrous flat. He winces at remembering. "We left your flat in a very bad shape. Didn't know what to do about it. Ant told us to leave."

"The TARDIS is a time machine," she points out, taking his hand and standing on two wobbly legs. "We don't have to go back straight away; we can go somewhere to recuperate first, then I can deal with insurance."

...although she's already got several texts from her mum, judging by the insistently buzzing mobile in her pocket. I'm fine, she texts back. With the Doctor. Perfectly safe. And then she turns it off, because she really can't deal with anything else right now.

"We couldn't stay there," Ant says defensively, pinning his ears back. "It was on fire. Well. The living room, anyway."

"I'm going to start making you pay my security deposit," she tells the Doctor, wrinkling her nose. "Seriously. You do realise that now I'm going to have to move back in with my parents again?"

"Right. Yes." He's not about to tell her that his sense of time isn't fantastic right now and even with the TARDIS, he's not sure they'll actually get back properly to deal with the problem. "We can do that." It'll be fine.

"And the fire wouldn't have harmed the TARDIS too badly. We could've just stayed inside," he explains.

He wants to ignore Martha's talk of moving. He intends to do exactly that.

Except.

"You could just stay with us," Coro says, feigning nonchalance, like she doesn't feel the Doctor's panic at her question.

"You were supposed to take her somewhere to get treatment," Ant grumbles. "Though I ought to be used to you not listening to me - you never listen to either of us."

Which is a point Martha privately agrees with, actually.

"I. Erm." She fidgets. She hates the thought of moving in with her family again - not because of the usual rebellion any independent woman in her late 20s would feel, but because she can hear them having nightmares at night, because she knows when they fall apart during the day when she's there, because everyone's just a little more on edge now. It's all her fault, and there's nothing she can do to make anything better. They can't be treated properly, because how could they? You can't explain that you have PTSD from a year that never happened. It's more likely that they'd end up locked away.

"I'd like that," she says softly, looking down at the floor for a moment. "If you don't mind."

He's slowly beginning to realize that he's getting off on a bad foot with Ant this time around, not that they're often on a good foot, and that means somehow making things up with the daemon.

He'd probably make it Coro's job, if he wasn't about to scold her for even thinking to say something like that, whether or not he was considering it himself.

So, Martha's answer causes him to whip around in surprise. "What?" He almost falls over. "What?" he says again.

"Doctor," Coro says.

"Yes! No, of course I wouldn't mind. It'd be great! We'd love to have you!"

Ant actually gets on quite well with Coro, probably because they often agree about the Doctor. (And, really, it's not the Doctor's fault - Ant is the one who expresses the bitterness towards the Doctor that Martha doesn't allow herself to feel.)

"Good." Martha looks up with a small smile, tightening her fingers on the scruff's of Ant's neck in a silent warning to keep his damn mouth shut for a bit. "You need someone to keep an eye on you, I think. Plus my mum's probably freaking out way too much for me to go home right now." She's become more overprotective since the Master - Martha doesn't blame her, but it's difficult to deal with sometimes. She'll call her later, she promises herself.

He really does need someone. He needed someone awhile ago but he foolishly denied himself that and look where it's gotten him.

This regeneration though, as knocked around as he's been, feels like a breath of fresh air. He can stand on his own two feet again. ...Metaphorically. And he's not alone. He really is glad for that.

"She freaking out that there was a giant red planet in the sky or because your flat is wrecked?" he asks, because he's actually not sure even though he should probably know the answer. But--look--red planet is what freaked him out, so. "Or both?"

"Little more concerned about the fact that half my flat is on fire." Look, her mum doesn't care about alien things as long as her family is safe. Martha's flat being on fire pretty much implies that she's not safe, what with the fire and all, so it ranks higher on the scale of importance.

"Besides," she adds, "it's gone now. You know how London is, once something disappears, it's not important anymore. Like the alien ship on Christmas, or the one that crashed into the Thames. I swear sometimes, it's like someone put Retcon into the water supply."

"This isn't Cardiff," Ant snorts, his only contribution to the conversation. He's sprawled comfortably on the TARDIS floor now that he's calmed down, his head resting on his paws.

It should still be important, he thinks grimly. It shows in his face and even Coro hunches down some. That was his home that went out of sight, out of mind. It isn't like he wanted Rassilon and the Time War to devastate the planet and the universe, but... Humankind didn't have to write it off so fast.

She's right though, that's London.

"Yeah," he agrees thickly.

Then, he bounces and rocks back and forth on his feet, launching around the console. Coro flies back over to reclaim her spot in the wires, though clicking her beak and making quiet, nervous sounds.

"So!" he exclaims with a mask of cheer, "Where to, Martha?"

Martha isn't used to this face yet, but she can still tell that he's not as cheerful as he's pretending to be. Maybe it's just because of long association with the Doctor, or maybe it's something else. Regardless, she puts a hand on his arm to reassure him.

"Are you all right? From the regeneration? Do you need to lie down or something?"

She doesn't realize it--and he hopes she never does--but she's given him an out.

Coro's staring at him, eyes boring through him. He understands it as no one will know it was Gallifrey if you don't tell anyone.

He doesn't tell Martha and he doesn't know if it's a good thing that Coro lets it go.

"I'll be fine," he says, smiling. "Little bit odd. Organs shifting around, energy still eating the rest of the radiation. Honestly! How long does that take?"

He paces around the console, both hands moving as he mows right over the radiation talk. It's not important, just a mild irritation.

"There's a planet that floods once every decade. The whole planet! Something to do with multiple moons coming into one particular rare alignment. So the inhabitants take an entire month to prepare, wait for the worst to happen, and then celebrate after its all settled. It wasn't so pretty the first few times it happened, but after, they got really good at dealing with it. Especially since it took some time for the planet to go back to normal."

He skims a hand over the controls.

"They celebrate with themes of life and rebirth. Fitting, right?"

"How do they deal with it?" She tilts her head with interest while Ant watches the Doctor surreptitiously. It's easier to gauge his emotions by watching Coro, but he'd have to put his paws up on the console, and then it would be too obvious.

"Floating houses? That doesn't seem like it would be very stable the rest of the time, though. And how deep is it?" She furrows her brow thoughtfully, but really, this sort of thing isn't her strong point. Instead, she focuses on something more medically relevant.

"Did you say your organs are still shifting? Seriously?"

"Very deep. Like..." He thinks, trying to remember.

"About one story," Coro pipes in, breaking her long silence.

"Right! Thank you." His cheer is actually real now. He thinks he's gotten away from the topic he didn't want to discuss, and he does always like talking about other planets and how they function. "They have it designed so that every building for the rest of the time is set into the ground normally, but when the Flood comes, every single location rises up on very strong supports. And for structures that don't become elevated, well. They just... build things that are water resistant, or things that they can be sort of..." He cups his hands together, fishing for words. "Bubbled. Protected."

It makes sense for him, but he's been there before, once or twice. It's a great party.

And as though the words summon it, he jerks forward in pain, arms wrapping around his side. Coro jumps into the air a moment, her wings mantling.

He laughs nervously. "Yeah. Shifting. Sorta feels like being kicked in the gut. It's fine, I promise, it'll pass."

Martha isn't convinced, and she glances nervously down at Ant for a moment. He just tilts his head sideways in a sort of shrug.

"Why would your organs even need to shift? I mean, it's the same anatomy, more or less-" She's overthinking this, probably. Weird Time Lord things.

"Are you sure you aren't still radioactive?" Which is probably a question she should have asked about a half-hour ago, and now she feels the need to run a Geiger counter over herself. Ant knows what she's thinking, and gives her what she thinks of as his judgmental look. "Maybe I ought to check you over."

"No it's not," he argues. "It's all... all different! Nothing the same, Martha. Nothing. It's all rewritten! Coronella's got feathers and I've got new lungs. It's really not that odd when you've done it again and again."

He's just going to press his hands into his gut though.

"You both are fine," Coro answers. "The TARDIS would be causing a ruckus if there were any harmful levels. At least this time we're not unconscious. Already better than the last."

"Oh, well, that's reassuring." A slightly manic laugh bubbles up from Martha's throat, one that makes Ant rise to his feet and press protectively against her legs. "As long as your new lungs don't end up where your new spleen ought to be."

She grips the console harder than is strictly necessary; there's something like a punch rolling through her own stomach. "If it's new, why isn't it in the proper place to begin with?" The fact that he isn't unconscious isn't entirely comforting.

"I don't know!" he squeaks, temporarily forgetting he's supposed to be the calm, rational one right now.

(Who is he kidding, he hasn't been that since he took on this face.)

"It's just..."

He pulls away his hands and holds them, palms up. There's a sheen of regenerative energy there, glistening like sweat. "I'm just not done," he admits.

"You did take awhile to go into the regeneration," Coro says. "Maybe that's why it's taking so long to come out on the other end."

"Maybe we shouldn't be going to a party just yet, then." She doesn't look down at her knuckles, doesn't see the glimmer of glowing energy under her own skin. Ant can't see it either, not from his vantage point.

"What do you normally do after you regenerate?" Probably not anything that a sane person recovering from dying ought to be doing.

Coro, in a rare moment of displaying some of the Doctor's excitement over danger, flaps her wings and exclaims, "Last time we were asleep for awhile! And then we were in a swordfight! For the fate of the planet!"

Before that, well, there was the Time War. And that... he... well he... made himself a warrior.

Before that--

You know, maybe Martha has a point.

"Each circumstance is different," he says.

Martha just stares at Coro. She can't really be surprised by it, but it's one of those moments where she desperately wants to facepalm. Especially because now even Coro is getting excited, which is not a particularly good sign. She's usually the more reasonable one of the pair.

"You might want to consider resting," she offers politely.

"I did consider it," he admits, a bit of a mad glee creeping into his voice as he smiles. "And then I stopped considering it."

He's his own worst enemy. He probably beats the Master out on enemy-ing by far.

"Trust me, I don't need rest. I need to keep the energy flowing. Get it to where it needs to go."

The worst.

"I don't think that's how that works." Not that she knows a damn thing about regeneration energy, but it seems awfully sketchy. "Resting means the energy focuses on where it needs to go, rather than diverting it to running around like a chicken with its head cut off."

Martha gives Coro a pleading look. She'd rather have the logical half of the pair agreeing with her. "At the very least, I think you need to stay on the TARDIS till everything calms down."

"I don't run around like a chicken with its head cut off!"

Who knows, maybe he does. He could be that kind of person.

Oh, he hopes he's not that kind of person.

Coro's only so helpful at this venture. She doesn't really want to rest either. She knows what will happen if they rest. He'll dream of Gallifrey. She'll dream of Hilde. Raw and fresh in their minds.

They don't want to rest in the slightest. That's their logic, but neither of them are about to tell Martha that. Even Coro lies to companions sometimes.

"That's a compromise I can work with," he relents with a sigh. "I need a bite to eat though, which means tearing through the kitchens a bit."

"You used to." And she doubts that aspect of the Doctor has changed, although it could just be the extra regeneration energy.

"I'll keep you company," she offers. She wouldn't even want to leave him alone if he went to sleep - she feels like someone needs to keep an eye on him right now, and she and Ant are the only options available. "Ant needs something to eat anyway." And she feels a strange gnawing hunger, too. Hopefully he's actually got the kitchens stocked; that's questionable if he's been travelling on his own for any length of time.

He didn't used to, she doesn't know what she's talking about, and he's sure not going to do it now.

He feels like this is a trap, but he heads in the direction of the kitchen anyway, Coro leaving her perch and flying ahead of them.

He's craving something, which is weird, but he doesn't know what and... and he realizes when he gets there that there isn't a whole lot available. Certainly not a lot that's still good. Time ship or not, there's only so long that even the TARDIS will preserve food.

Picking through the fridge, he calls over his shoulder, "Are you sure we can't just take even a quick trip somewhere?"

He pulls something out that he thinks used to be a vegetable, and then it became alive, and then died.

"Don't you dare eat that," Coro says.

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