Imagine a woman sitting on the front steps of her townhouse, watching her malamute dæmon rolling frantically in the frost-stiffened grass, dreaming of the snowfalls to come. She's clutching a thermos of coffee, and even though she hates the biting cold that December mornings bring, she can't help but laugh as her dæmon's paws wave in the air, tail wagging, his doggy grin upside-down and exhuberant. This is their ritual every time the weather turns cold; as her dæmon likes to point out, if he can put up with wearing a fur coat in the summer, she can suffer twenty minutes of 35° weather so he can cool off.
Imagine a college student with a grumpy cornsnake dæmon who grows sluggish with the cold weather. They like to coil around their person's neck while they walk across campus, hiding their small face in the warmth of the collar of their human's sweatshirt. These short, frigid days are hard on reptile dæmons, and they think dreamily about knitted tube-sweaters for snakes, or long handwarmers; anything to stave off the chill.
Imagine a young girl whose dæmon has just settled as a Peary caribou. He's still long-limbed and while he hasn't dropped his antlers just yet, he tells her that they're starting to feel loose. Every morning when they wake up, his coat is fading paler and paler; his shoulders and back still cling to the gray-brown he had started as when they first settled, but his flanks are a shining, soft white. In the foggy mornings when they walk to school, he looks almost fae-like, wandering silvery and beautiful in the weak winter light.
Imagine a boy with a small hedgehog dæmon who watches her grow lazier and rounder as the thermostat dips down. Their doctor assured them it was normal after they first settled. Hedgehogs are hibernators, she had said, so it was normal for hedgehog dæmons to be a little slower in the winter. The boy doesn't mind; he carries her around in his hoodie pocket and makes sure to sit next to air vents blowing warm air during his classes so she'll feel more awake.
Imagine a man and his lion dæmon getting caught in a sudden snow flurry. The lion keeps irritably trying to shake the snow out of his mane, since it's heavy enough on its own without the additional weight of half-melted water, while the man laughs at him. The lion points out that he's a savannah animal, he wasn't built for snow and ice. The man tells him he's quite the complainer for a supposed king of beasts. Dæmon and human end up tumbling and wrestling through the snow when the lion tackles the man, playfully growling.
Imagine a ladybug dæmon who quite likes the contrast her scarlet wing cases make against the duller wash of colors winter brings. Her human laughs and calls her vain, but she doesn't mind. Everyone sees ladybugs and thinks of summer, of slow lazy days and hazy heat, but she prefers sitting on her human's hair like a holly berry— festive, and bright, and entirely unexpected.
Imagine a woman with an orca dæmon. They live right against the coast so he can move uninhibited without ever being too far away. They spend hours together every day. The water's gotten too cold for her to go swimming the way they do in the summers, but she takes her kayak out past the waves so they can explore along the shore-line and chase each other until they're both tired, and she can no longer feel her fingertips. Only then does she head back to land, stroking her dæmon's rubbery head fondly before she leaves him. They may be forced to spend some of their time apart, but their bond has never wavered, no matter how far away he swims.
Imagine a great horned owl dæmon fluffing her feathers up and spreading her wings to warm them in front of a fire. Her human is humming in the background, her fingers moving in neat patterns while she knits. The pair don't need words, and are happy to let the crackling of the logs fill the silence, contentment stretching between them, heating them up as surely as the flames. The sun has set outside the windows, and tomorrow will be busy, but for now they can let themselves rest. If they wish that they could stay here, wrapped up in warmth and quiet forever, well, they keep it to themselves. But they both know, and they exchange a smile and a head twist when their eyes meet.
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jacobvanloon
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