**waves shyly** Hi everyone... **looks away and avoids eye contact cause she's nervous after disappearing for so long**
(Kim)
Dameon glanced at the woman in front of him. His ears flicked once before a warm little smile tugged at his muzzle. “Hey, do not worry about disappearing for a while. Trust me, my mun did the exact same thing.”
He chuckled softly, leaning back in his chair. “Life gets busy, messy, exhausting… it happens. Nobody worth your time is gonna hold it against you. So you really shouldn’t feel bad about it, okay?”
His tail gave a lazy flick behind him as he took another sip of coffee.
“It’s good to see you around again, Kim.”
Kim’s hand immediately retreated, her face burning with embarrassment. “Sorry, I can’t help myself…” she mumbled.
Kayla had completely given up on pretending to hold it together. She doubled over in laughter, wiping tears from her eyes. “You two horny kids need to cease and desist immediately before you give poor Dameon here a stroke…”
Shadow looked entirely too pleased with that response.
Across the kitchen, Dameon slowly lowered his coffee mug. “Mhm. Fascinating.” His bright green eyes shifted toward Shadow knowingly. “Anyway, didn’t you promise Daisy you’d help move the new fencing near the wolf enclosure today?”
The reaction was immediate, and Shadow narrowed his eyes. “You did that on purpose.”
“Yes.” Dameon took another calm sip of coffee. "Because unlike the two of you, some of us are trying to maintain professionalism in this kitchen.”
That earned him a long stare from Shadow, but Dameon stared back innocently.
“You own a zoo, not a church.”
“And yet I’d still like to continue this morning without witnessing whatever this is.”
Shadow muttered something under his breath while Dameon looked deeply satisfied with himself. “Besides,” the hyena mutant continued smoothly, “you already told Daisy you’d help. It would be rude not to show up.”
That earned him a long stare from Shadow. Dameon stared back innocently... He knew exactly what he was doing.
Kayla had finally managed to catch her breath, one eye ridge lifting toward Dameon. 'Well damn… remind me never to get on his bad side.' The thought came with another careful sip of coffee, her nerves only just beginning to settle.
Meanwhile, Kim clung to Shadow like her life depended on it. “Noooooo…” she whined pitifully, tightening her grip. “You have to stay with me…”
Kayla’s expression softened at the sight. “We can visit him a little later today. After all, it wouldn’t be right to go back on his word…” Her gaze slid pointedly toward Shadow before a faint smile tugged at her lips. “Besides, it’d be nice to see the tigers.”
There was a spark of genuine excitement in her eyes then. Ever since she was little, she’d been fascinated by the great cats — all that raw power wrapped in elegance and grace.
Turning back to Dameon, she tilted her head slightly. “Would it be okay if we went to the zoo later today?”
Dameon gave a soft hum at Kayla’s question, one ear flicking slightly while he finished the last sip of his coffee. "Of course you can,” he replied warmly to Kayla. “You don’t need permission to visit, just let one of the staff know Shadow sent you. They’ll make sure you can access the employee areas too.” There was warmth in his tone, but also something subtle underneath it now, the gentle shift of someone beginning to reclaim his space after a very long morning.
Shadow noticed immediately. One glance toward Dameon was enough to catch it: the slightly tired posture, the controlled politeness, and the way he kept glancing toward the clock near the kitchen doorway. Shadow's grip around Kim tightened faintly before he finally started walking towards the door. “C’mon,” he muttered lowly toward her, “before he starts professionally throwing us out.”
“I would never,” Dameon replied smoothly, followed by a pause... “Verbally, anyway.”
Shadow snorted quietly through his nose.
Meanwhile, Dameon had already moved toward the sink, rolling the sleeves of his scrubs slightly higher as he started cleaning the coffee mugs. “There’s a surgery scheduled later this afternoon,” he explained casually without looking back at them. “And unfortunately, unlike certain people in this house, my patients require actual supervision.”
“That sounds targeted.”
“It was targeted.” One of Dameon’s ears flicked again before he glanced briefly toward Kayla. “It was nice meeting you, though.” It sounded polite and warm. But also definitely: alright, everyone out. Shadow looked deeply amused by the entire thing. “See?” he muttered toward Kim, “told you he gets grumpy when his schedule gets messed up.”
“I am not grumpy.”
“You alphabetized the tea cabinet yesterday because you were stressed.”
“…That is called organization.”
Kim and Kayla both covered their mouths, barely hiding their laughter. “It was nice meeting you too. Hope the rest of your day is at least relatively good,” Kayla called over her shoulder as they headed out.
“When’s a good time to come see you later?” Kim asked softly. She still had one arm wrapped tightly around Shadow, refusing to let go, her eyes glowing with so much love and affection as she stared at him.
Dameon leaned one shoulder against the counter again, arms loosely crossed, while Kim continued clinging to Shadow like she physically intended to fuse with him.
One of his ears flicked. “You know,” he said, “if the two of you are planning to spend the entire afternoon attached at the hip, I should probably warn you that Sky’s working today.”
Shadow immediately snorted under his breath. “Oh no.”
Dameon looked entirely too calm as he continued. “And with that eye of his? He notices everything.”
Shadow looked deeply entertained now. “He REALLY does.”
“He once asked me why I kept changing cologne brands.”
There was a very brief pause. “…You do keep changing them,” Shadow added suspiciously.
“That is not the point.” The faintest hint of amusement tugged at Dameon’s mouth while he looked toward Kim. “So if either of you values privacy,” he said smoothly, “I’d recommend at least pretending to behave in public areas.”
Shadow looked completely unbothered. “Sky can deal with it.”
“Yes,” Dameon replied calmly, “because forcing your brother to witness your relationship trauma in high definition is clearly excellent family bonding.”
That finally earned a low laugh out of Shadow. “Builds character.”
“Mm. Therapy would also be an option.”
Shadow ignored him entirely, attention already back on Kim.
Dameon watched the interaction for a second before exhaling softly through his nose, somewhere between fondness and secondhand exhaustion.