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“It would make more sense for Maeve to have settled as a grizzly bear.” Rhod speaks around the chopsticks clenched between his teeth. The man settles on the other end of the old couch in Greg’s flat.
Greg is ready to throw another pillow at Rhod, uncaring if the cup of noodles now balancing on Rhod’s knee will spill. But alas, Greg is holding his own cup of noodles in one hand and a plastic fork in the other and his hunger wins out.
“We’ve just returned from dinner. Like, less than two hours ago.” Rhod grumbles on, “you ate a whole pizza-”
“Mate, you were right there with me, eating your double cheese extra large monstrosity.” Greg fires back. “Your Stellah could be a blubbering seal and it still wouldn’t represent your food intake.”
“Hey!” Stellah protests, sitting on the back of the couch behind Rhod. The scruffy cat-shaped daemon actually looks like she doesn’t weigh over four pounds. Carrying herself around like an elderly barn cat, graying and ginger. She’s always been that scrawny, ever since she settled in this form.
“Sorry, love.” Greg tells her before he goes back to his noodles in silence. The pizza’s sure were fine, but drinking and bar hopping with Rhod does take a lot out of a man.
They're only a few years out of college, but trips to the pub are still semi-common for the two friends. As are these moments of silently decomposing on Greg’s old second-hand couch, which are still his favorite moments of the evening.
Rhod himself is silent too, which gives Greg a moment to look over his shoulder and stare at his own daemon: Maeve. Just as Stella, Greg’s fox-shaped daemon has a ginger coating with white details at her tail. But where Stellah is currently draped over Rhod’s shoulders and purring like crazy, Maeve is hiding around the corner of the big couch. Out of reach for any scratches some people give their daemons and away from the conversation happening around.
As she usually does, Greg’s daemon is ignoring him and their guests.
Maeve hasn’t spoken a single word this whole evening. This isn’t unusual either. Maeve is always hovering and hiding: behind couches, Greg’s legs or underneath chairs. Never fond of being in the spotlights - or anywhere near lights. Mave is also currently gnawing on her left front paw, displaying a familiar need to munch on something after a long night out.
A daemon who copies you is a settled daemon, copying is good.
His dad used to mumble that, when Greg was younger. Maybe it was said to convince Greg’s mum that their son was doing good. That Geg was in tune with his own soul and mind even though Greg and Maeve were polar opposites. Because aside from the same need for three am munchies, Greg and his daemon don’t have a lot in common.
And this polarization between human and daemon isn’t uncommon but it is a bit weird; daemons are supposed to be a mirror of a person’s soul. A representation of their thoughts, emotions and opinions.
There are people in parliament that cannot hide their true intentions as their daemons give them away. There are whole books written about daemons knowing the main characters are in love before the humans do. There are daemons and their humans that have mind links strong enough to carry whole conversations telepathically. But not Maeve and Greg.
Greg and Maeve have never been very good at mirroring each other. Maeve never showed Greg’s ‘true feelings’ or something alike - unless Greg’s main emotion in life would be indifference.
Okay, it might be a bit mean to think about your own daemon as ‘indifferent’, but some people actually get confused when they meet Greg for the first time! People will think that the man either has the strongest poker face or is totally bored, even at his own surprise birthday party. All because Maeve hides and never reacts to anything around them.
Aside from characteristics, some people also act confused when they see Maeve’s chosen form: a fox. Greg still has no idea how to fend off questions about that. It’s not that he does not like the form Maeve chose, but the stereotypical characteristics of a fox daemon aren’t very positive. Tricksters, liars and cheaters, people still believe that shit.
And Greg knows that he already cuts quite the picture: 6’8 ft tall and not afraid to stand in the spotlights. His inclination for theater, jokes and bits certainly have given him quite the reputation among friends and colleagues. He never wants to come on too strong and scare people away, but he knows it has happened before in the past.
But even with the height, posture, character and ego combined, the fox daemon is still the thing that draws the most attention when people meet him for the first time.
Greg knows that Maeve hates that type of attention the most. During working hours, she prefers to hide underneath his desk. But as a drama teacher, Greg is more used to walking around. Doing active and more physical activities alongside the class. Maeve doesn’t like it when they’re separated - as most daemons do. So she’s forced to walk alongside him as he saunters around a classroom.
Maybe I’ve been tiring her out , Greg thinks as he chews on his noodles. An introverted daemon and a drama teacher are no good match. But even before Greg went into teaching, Maeve was always a silent shadow at his heels. Greg can’t remember a time where his daemon was actively participating in their lives.
As a standard, Maeve doesn’t talk to other humans and definitely not to other daemons. This has sometimes been a bit awkward, since other daemons sure have tried to talk to her. They’re both lucky that Rhod and Stellah don’t mind Maeve’s silence.
It is Stellah that breaks the silence in the room first, after they’ve eaten their second dinner in quiet rest and Rhod has turned on the little tv in Greg’s living room.
“Bless you.” Stellah mumbles, a second before Rhod sneezes. They’ve always been uncannily in sync with each other, even for daemon standards.
“You even sneeze like a sea lion.” Greg puts on a show as he dramatically tuts and sighs as he says it.
Rhod rolls his eyes, “You keep working on your jokes, mate. One of them will surely land one day.”
Greg smiles, enjoying the easy way they can insult and joke at each other without it being weird. But deep down, it does sting a little to watch the cozy couple. Stellah drapes herself more snug over Rhod’s shoulders. Everything in their connection screams ‘contentment’.
Greg turns around in his seat to take another peek at his fox-shaped daemon. Only Maeve’s shockingly red tail is visible from under the couch. And as if she feels his eyes on her, she moves it and hides away completely.
It is years later when Greg moves away from teaching.
Panel shows, standup and tv series. There’s some writing here and there and Greg enjoys it all. It is 2014 when they approach him for a developing comedy panel show. It sounds intricate and weird and filming is apparently starting within a month or two. And would Greg like to be on it as a presenter? And what’s it called, you ask? Oh, ‘Taskmaster’!
He hears early on that a certain Alex Horne was the one to drop his name first. He has no idea if it's true, since Greg has never worked with the guy. The odds of getting the role are in your favor when the creator of a show drops your name, but there's still a whole selection process between getting your name dropped and actually getting the job. Luckily for Greg, he does get it in the end.
Greg first meets Alex during a set of phone calls and corporate meetings. They shake hands and share short niceties between an interview and a board meeting. Greg meets a lot of people in those first few days, enough for him to forget half of their names and job titles. It doesn’t bother him, he will learn the ropes of the place soon enough. The only thing that does bother Greg is that in meeting Alex, the smaller man forgets to introduce the daemon sitting on his shoulder.
Alex has a crow-shaped daemon, feathers black and shiny, with intelligent eyes that look up at Greg with mirth. She - ‘she’, Greg presumes - hops around on Alex’s shoulders and even stands right on top of his head. The human is not bothered by this behavior, it seems like this is normal for them; not a bit the comedian does for laughs. The other producers don’t pay the daemon-on-head-thing any mind either.
So between meetings and emails, Greg doesn’t have a lot of time to actually speak with Alex Horne until he’s invited to check out the House to film some bits.
The Taskmaster house is a lovely little building in Chiswick London. Greg walks down the gravel lane one early November morning, looking across a grassy lawn as crew members are working on clearing out a caravan. A locksmith has the front door of the House open and under his hands. There are several other people walking around and Greg can hear more noises coming from inside the building.
Maeve slinks in after Greg as he greets the locksmith and his frog-shaped daemon chilling in the toolbox. There are people from production, construction and a small but fully working film crew running around, amongst them a certain Alex Horne.
Alex’s crow daemon is the first to spot Greg and Maeve. She pecks at Alex’s fingers to draw his attention away from a set of papers spread out on the table.
“Ah Greg, you're here early.” the man says as he invites Greg and Maeve to step inside the Living room.
Greg shakes hands once more with several people - two of them Greg swears he has been introduced to before but he doesn’t draw attention to that fact just in case he’s wrong. “I know we aren’t filming until after lunch, but it wouldn’t be good for my reputation to show up at the last second,” Greg jokes.
Alex smiles at that. “Feel free to take a look around. The make-up team will arrive any minute now, but there’s no need to get fitted before lunch.” Another person from the camera crew soon draws Alex’s attention away from him.
Greg takes a short walk around the House. There are several rooms being prepped for filming and there are other spaces ready for backstage workings. All of it looks loads of fun to film these tasks at.
“Kind of sad that we’ll never get to be here with the contestants, don’t you think Maeve?” Greg mumbles as he checks out a completely white lab room. Maeve, as she’s known to do, says nothing back.
It turns out that Alex Horne is a busy man and Greg decides to just follow the man around for a little bit. Just being near the guy gives Greg a general vibe of how far along the preparations are coming; “There are people here to check the roof, Alex - Alex, we’ve received word from the golf course next door - the contracts for the contestants are complete, do you want me to send them?” On and on it goes.
For all the chaos, Alex is a patient man on top of his game. Greg just makes sure he’s not in the way as more people file in to work on the roofing tiles. Another woman steps forward with a laptop in her hands, almost shoving the thing in Alex’s face. In this whirlwind of activity, the daemon on Alex’s head has vacated her spot. She’s taken a spot on one of the couches, her little black body claiming the whole seat. It bothers Greg a little bit that he still doesn’t know her name.
Appapently, Maeve also doesn’t agree with the ‘not knowing’ as she suddenly steps forward and does something that Greg has never seen her do; actually talk to another daemon.
“Have you guys had lunch yet?” Maeve asks, “It’s getting close to two.”
For a first greeting, it isn’t the smoothest, but Greg is too stunned to think about that. Maeve is talking? At her own initiative?
“Not yet, but Alex will get dizzy if he doesn’t eat soon.” the crow-shaped one quips back.
“In a minute, Pib.” Alex answers without looking up from the laptop. The man probably hasn’t heard Maeve’s first question, but it’s almost impossible for a human to not be aware of what your daemon’s doing.
Taking a step forward, Maeve continues. “My name is Maeve, by the way, I’m not sure we’ve been properly introduced.” It all sounds very formal, coming from her mouth. Greg is still too perplexed to say anything. Over a decade and his daemon has never so much as spoken a single word to another daemon outside of his closest relatives.
“You may call me Pib.” the crow fluffs up her feathers as she says it.
“Pib, is that your real name or a nickname?”
“Nickname, but we refuse to use the other name. Alex calls it my government name, but I just call it an abomination.”
“It’s a nice name. Why is there a caravan in the middle of the field, Pib?” Maeve sits down and curls her tail around her paws, both daemons getting settled.
“You mean the one outside? The guys who hauled it here were supposed to put it closer to the gate, but the bramble bushes are in the way. We’re burning those away with a blow torch at sundown if you want to watch.”
“Really?”
“Not really, sorry. Alex says I cannot say whatever pops up in my head, but he does it too and it got him his own show, so I’m not stopping either.”
“That’s unfortunate, we haven’t had a proper bonfire in a while. I do love the smell of chaos burning.”
The two quibble on like that, like it’s the most common thing in the world. Greg can only watch on while Alex ignores all three of them as he works.
The two daemons continue the conversation through lunch with the team. The crew sets up a lunch counter in the Living room and producers, contractors and film crew alike sit down in plastic lawn chairs to dig in.
Alex and Greg finally have a proper conversation: talking about the first set of contestants and their wishlist of future ones. Their social circles overlap but not too much. There are many people that owe Greg favors and Alex is a nice enough fellow that he’s convinced that he can get quite a few famous names on the show.
Greg feels the need to also keep an eye on the conversation happening underneath their plastic folding chairs where Maeve and Pib have set up shop.
Alex and Pib seem to have quite a loose and relaxed connection: Pib does as she pleases and Alex lets her. She hops and claws all over him until she’s no longer interested in that and then she moves to play about underneath his chair.
At one point, Pib hops quite a few feet away from her human. It’s not dangerous for a daemon and human to have a bit of distance, but most don’t do it unless it’s necessary. Pib does it just because she wants to look through the window to see if they’ve moved the caravan yet.
But the most jarring thing is, still, the chatter coming from both the crow and the fox. Maeve has never - and Greg means this quite literally - ever freely spoken to another daemon. His parent’s daemons could usually get a short conversation out of her but that was that. And yet here they are; Maeve chatting with Pib about everything and nothing.
Favorite colors, visits to Edinburgh, the dread of long meetings, their grandmothers, a common dislike for cauliflower, most preferred vacation spots, and so on.
Two dog-shaped daemons from the design team join in from time to time, but Greg’s fox doesn’t really react to those two. She only has conversation for the crow plopped underneath the chair next to them.
Greg could watch this scene for forever, but soon lunch is over and both him and Alex are off to the fitting rooms and then off to film some little bits and blobs. There’s a small make-up and film crew still present to make sure it all runs smoothly.
And this is one of the things where Maeve’s stillness actually comes well into play. Because she’s the perfect example of a well-behaved daemon that stays put while the make-up crew works with Greg on his hair and suit. She’s looking prim and proper, sitting underneath a small table.
Alex’s Pib on the other hand, flitters and flies about. The make-up team is lucky that the daemon has the decency not to touch them as she flies around in the small dressing room. She moves from Alex’s shoulder to shoulder as they fit the suit around him. Then, Pib crash lands on the table and scatters several brushes and combs.
Alex rolls his eyes and plucks his daemon from the table. “Okaay, time for us to get moving if you start behaving like that. You make us both look bad.”
“You’re wearing the simplest suit of all.” Pib complains, sounding like an annoyed teenager, “There’s no need to fuss over your lapels, you vain-” Alex pinches her beak shut with a smile before she can finish the sentence.
Greg has to admit that the suit might be simple, but it suits Alex well. He does look pretty nice, even though he has to wrestle his daemon into compliance. This makes him look a bit like a weirdo, but still in a good way.
Greg isn’t used to feeling emotions from Maeve’s end of their connection, but the giddiness filtering through the line does feel good. Greg tries not to make his movements obvious as he spies at his daemon. Maeve is still hiding underneath a table, but her head is poked out as she’s staring at Alex and Pib.
Greg realizes that Maeve is enjoying herself. It isn’t often that Maeve enjoys shooting days, least of all in a new and unfamiliar place. Maybe, Greg wonders, it’s the fact that Pib is a crow-shaped daemon. Crows aren’t considered any better than foxes. Crows are stigmatized as being intelligent and mischievous but also as bullies, tricksters and sometimes even bringers of ill-luck.
Pib seems to have none of these bad characteristics. And as the outgoing crow daemon takes to the spotlight like a fish to water, none of the crew members give much thought to the silent Maeve. Nobody has even tried talking to her, which seems like a new record.
Alex walks out of the fitting room, Pib still in his hand like a piece of fruit. Their head of productions shakes her head in mirth as she watches the bickering pair. Alex and her lead the way to the film crew set up in the garden.
“Are we ready then?” Greg asks Maeve as he sets out to follow the others. Maeve, as always, doesn’t say a word but she energetically leads him out of the House.
They’re several seasons in, past the beginning stage of the show and slowly gaining more traction on tv. They’re getting not only recognised by fans in the streets but they get actual calls from comedians who want a spot on the show as a contestant. Greg really likes the job, his role as Taskmaster is hilarious to play.
Things are doing great, all considered.
Maeve still doesn’t like the attention of too many people. During studio shooting days she prefers to hide underneath or behind his Taskmaster chair, facing away from the audience. Only peeking out from behind the chair leg when a contestant has done something absolutely hilarious.
Pib is more carefree, walking over the backs of their chairs during small breaks and even going as far as sitting on the crew’s camera equipment during the big ones. This always gets Maeve out of her hiding spot, ready to see what the other daemon is up to now. Alex always shoos Pib off, but the crew doesn’t seem to mind. They’re all used to the ‘free range’ crow that stalks the backstage hallways during filming days as Alex works.
On camera in the Taskmaster House, Alex actually has to reign Pib in during the tasks of the contestants. It is truly telling how much Alex enjoys his job as observer of the Tasks; Pib never sits still and is fully interested in whatever the contestants are doing. She’s a happy fluff ball of feathers, even when Alex pretends to be annoyed or confused at one of the escapades of the contestants.
Maeve enjoys watching the tasks where the other daemon is involved in. Alex tries not to step in the spotlight of the contestants too much, but every other task one of the contestants will pull him in front of a camera. Pib’s favorite place is still right on top of Alex’s head, so she’s made it onto several posters and fanart. The silhouette of Alex and Pib has almost become iconic.
There’s one scene, filmed in early days, where Al Murray surprises Alex with a rental gong and four air horns, sporting just his underwear and cap. Pib, perched on top of Alex’s shoulder, falls off laughing as the surprise is revealed to them. Alex actually has to pick her up from the ground, limp and hiccuping, as he asks Al about his choice of instruments.
Greg cannot contain his smile as he watches that moment. A giddy Alex is always good to watch and Greg wonders if he knows any good jokes that might make Alex smile like that at him.
During studio days, Pib tries to behave a bit better. Or maybe Alex is just more reserved, with all the people in the audience watching on. It’s unlikely that the man is intimidated by the crowd: Alex doesn’t seem fazed by anything actually. But Pib will sit quietly on Alex’s shoulder and nod along as Greg hands out points.
The studio days tend to be long. Shooting two episodes in a row, with studio tasks being the most tedious to film. Setting and resetting the stage always takes a while. Alex is usually involved in the organization of it and sometimes the contestants have to be redressed in special outfits. Whenever that happens, it’s up to Greg and some stage hands to keep the audience entertained for a bit. This is usually the only time that Maeve will come out of her ‘hiding spot’ beside the throne, since Greg will be walking about on stage.
Then there are the moments of last minute changes and technical crashes. Where they just have to sit around and wait for the people backstage to fix it. There’s one afternoon of shooting, Greg forgot which episode it happened, where he gets the fright of his life:
Something goes wrong with the mics of several of their contestants, so they’re waiting for the crew to fix that. It is late and almost close to their break and Greg is hiding a yawn behind his cue cards.
“Gosh Greg, I can almost see what you ate for breakfast.” Pib prompts from her spot on Alex’s arm rest. A few audience members from the front row chuckle. Alex frowns and shakes his head at Pib disapprovingly, but he cannot hide the smile on his face. That daemon sure runs her mouth way too often.
“You’re one to speak about food, Pib. Yesterday, I saw you and Alex take the last donut during lunch break and then you lied to Noel about it when he came looking for a snack.”
Noel, currently busy with getting his microphone reset, gives Pib and Alex a mock look of hurt. Alex has the dignity to act apologetic, but Pib doesn’t back down, thus revealing their true feelings on the matter.
“And I’ll do it again. We’ll eat a whole buffet and lie our asses off.” She mumbles, puffing up her feathers as if she’s ready to bodily fight someone for an eccles cake.
“You’re a horrible liar, Pib.” Suddenly, Maeve enters the conversation. “You have a big tell, whenever you and Alex try to lie.”
Both Noel, the sound guys and several other contestants look up to stare at Maeve. Greg’s sure it’s not because they want to learn about Alex’s failing poker face, but because this must be one of the only times that they hear Maeve speak. Sure, Pib and Maeve talk pretty much all the time, but Pib still is the big exception.
“I don’t have a tell,” Pib answers affronted, “Alex and I are excellent actors.”
“You would be horrible at poker, broke before you know it.” Maeve continues her teasing. She’s still hiding away from the audience, sitting on Greg’s right side, but her head is peeking out around the corner of the chair.
“You’ve never even seen me play poker.” Pib flies over and lands on Greg’s right arm rest. The crow apparently feels the need to square up and look Maeve right in the eyes.
Lightning fast, Greg pulls his arm away so he doesn’t touch the bird. He can feel the wind move from her fluttering wings as she lands. Greg holds his hands up as if to show the world that he did not touch her, even though it was Pib that decided that it’s alright to colonize his chair.
“Alex and I played poker in college, we won a set of roller skates once.” Pib goes on a tangent about the differences between rollerblades and roller skates while Maeve eggs her on about a degree well spent. The conversation lures Maeve out of her hiding spot more and more, until she’s leaning her whole body against Greg’s leg while she looks up at Pib perched above her.
Even though the daemons are not mic’d up, the audience in the first few rows are enjoying the squabble happening at Greg’s throne. Greg is certain he sees a stage hand from the coulisses snap a picture with a big camera. Greg makes sure to slowly move his arms down before the camera flashes; he knows how to hold his body to make it look like he’s comfortable with the other daemon sitting so closely. Even when he isn’t.
Still, something must’ve given him away to Alex - nothing goes past that man. Alex jokingly waves at Pib, drawing her attention away from the useless ‘yes it is - no it isn’t’ discussion with Maeve. The audience laughs again, because isn’t it funny that even the daemons of these two comedians know how to joke around.
“Pib, you and I both know we cant do any tricks on rollerblades. Come back before Maeve convinces Greg to write a task involving those.”
“Hmm, but what about roller skates , Alex?” Maeve asks, waving her tail back and forth like a playful cat.
Greg knows a ‘Talking Maeve’ still is a bit surprising. It must be the reason why the five contestants are still openly staring at them. But it is actually Pib’s behavior that confuses him the most. She’s sitting so close and is uncaring about accidentally touching him.
What daemon would risk touching another human being?
There was no finesse or caution with the landing on his arm rest. Greg’s arm was on it still. In her haste to verbally correct Maeve, she could’ve sent herself crashing against Greg with that trajectory. And Greg’s insight in Pib tells him that the crow wouldn’t have cared.
Alex, at least, has the decency to look a bit sheepish. He must’ve given Pib another mental instruction to move along and act a bit more careful this time. Pib flies back to Alex’s shoulder, in a slightly wider berth around Greg than she did before.
Even though there is no way that Pib might actually risk touching him so casually (right?) , Greg still appreciates the space she gives him.
It’s series seven when Rhod comes on when someone else finally puts the question out loud. They’re hanging out at Rhods place today during one of the rare off-days between shooting in the studio.
“Isn’t it weird that Maeve doesn’t speak to anyone except Alex and his daemon?” Rhod asks.
“Pib, you mean? Shouldn’t you know her name by now, you’ve spent hours working with her during filming.” Greg asks, trying to stall for time.
Greg really doesn’t want Rhod to mention the growing friendship between him and Alex. Lest he might think there’s something more going on between the two presenters. Greg isn’t even ready to think about that himself, let alone with Rhod.
“You know I’m rubbish with daemon names.” Rhod answers. “She didn’t really speak to me either, you know. A very professional bird shooting silly tasks, that is. And thick as thieves, Maeve and her.”
Maeve, fully in character as the stoic fox, doesn’t say a word from her spot underneath the coffee table.
“What do you mean?” Greg asks, truly curious to get some outsider’s perspective on this. This is not the way Greg thought this conversation would go.
“I’ve seen them whispering together during studio days. It almost feels like they’re judging us and handing out points of their own. It’s fitting in a way, a crow and a fox.” Greg has noticed this too, of course. But to be fair, most days Greg was still surprised Maeve had found another daemon she liked hanging around. He was just glad that she was opening up more.
Greg ignores that first part, takes his glasses off to clean them and states: “That’s a bit stereotypical of you. Foxes and crows? ‘Fitting’ ?”
“Don’t give me that, you know I don’t mean it like that.” Rhod placates. “I just think that they fit well together. They actually talk a lot and it’s nice to see that Maeve has a friend - Pib could use one too, I reckon.”
“Pib? In need of a friend?” Greg finds that unlikely. Pib is friendly and approachable. She sits on cameras and jokes with the sound guys. She is always on friendly terms with the demons of their contestants.
“She doesn’t really speak with others either” Rhod states.
Greg shakes his head. “What are you talking about, she talks your ear off if you’re not careful.”
“Yes, your ear, not anyone else’s. Sure, she speaks and does the whole ‘free-range crow thing’, but that’s surface stuff. Pib talks, yes. But Pib doesn’t really speak to other daemons. Not as freely as she speaks to you and Maeve.”
Greg doesn’t want to admit it out loud, because that might make this all a bit weird, but he hasn’t actually met a lot of daemons who chatter a lot with other humans. Pib and Alex were the big exception. But now he hears that the amount of chattering Pib does is actually exaggerated? She only talks this much with Greg?
…if Rhod is to be believed, at least. But why would the man lie about such a thing?
Greg has no idea what to say next so he stays quiet. Rhod lets the subject be, having shared his thoughts and all.
Get your doughnut as high as possible. You must be holding hands with the people on either side of you at all times. If your doughnut is in the air after 100 seconds, its height will be measured from where it lands.
Greg listens as Phil Wang reads out the studio task. It sounds pretty straightforward, but these five will surely make it interesting. They’ve been known for creating chaos, these past few studio tasks: James, Jessica, Kerry, Phill and Rhod.
James blows the whistle and off they go. And within seconds it becomes clear that this is a very ‘active’ task.
“Watch out for daemons!” Greg hears Alex proclaim, but any other warnings get overshadowed by Rhod’s shouting at the audience and the bickering of James and Jessica.
Greg knows that it cannot be Rhod all by himself pulling him inwards towards the whirlwind of arms and legs. He tries to throw his weight into it, but they get pulled along without a chance of stopping.
Phil’s hummingbird-like daemon zooms past Greg’s ear as their train of linked hands gets yanked in opposite directions. The comedian belonging to said daemon stumbles along, biting down on a plastic donut. Kerry trips and ends up on the floor for a second as Jessica and James run in circles around Alex.
Then, the black and white fur of Jessica’s border collie daemon shoots away from the moving bodies. With his tail between his legs, the daemon takes a stand at the edge of the stage. The fear of bumping into another human was apparently larger than the uncomfortable feeling of having distance between human and daemon.
“Maeve, go stand with Dyante!” Greg tries to shoo the fox away too. He knows she doesn’t like leaving his side, but this game is no place for her. Getting kicked, even by accident, will feel horrible for both of them. In the last forty years or so, no other human has touched Maeve. And although it is no record Greg is proud of, he also doesn’t want to break it tonight in such a way.
Maeve, stubborn as she is, moves closer to him. She tries to hide between Greg’s feet, but the ever-pulling train of people makes Greg stumble forward, leaving her behind between a forest of legs. Rhod twists and turns and Jessica moves her ire to Phil and his donut. The audience cheers along and Kerry cackles like a madwoman. Nobody sees the small fox curled up on the center of the stage. Greg tenses and braces for a kick to the soul as one of the others will surely bump into Maeve any second now.
But it is not a human that touches Maeve.
Greg has lost sight of the fox, but he feels it the moment another daemon knocks against her. And this is no light brush of contact; this is a headstrong shove. It’s a shock to the system to both of them and it’s enough to get Maeve up and moving.
Greg can see her fleeing to the edge of the stage, hiding near Jessica’s Dyante. He has no idea who got her to move, but he doesn’t have to wait long for that answer.
The hundred seconds are up and the audience starts cheering. Greg gives his standard “Head back and we’ll see how this has affected the scores!” quote, but his head’s not in it. He rushes towards Maeve, pulling her up in a crushing hug.
They’re behind the coulisses when Alex walks up to them. It’s strange, because it takes Greg a second to find Pib as she’s not perched on top of his head nor his shoulders. Instead, Pib is cradled in Alex’s elbow as he holds her like she’s made of glass.
“Greg and Maeve, we’re so sorry for that!” Alex stumbles over his words. “I saw what was happening and Pib wanted to help- it wasn’t something we planned it just happened but now we- now we realize this might’ve been a very bad choice to push Maeve like that- Pib is very sorry and so am I and we’re glad that she didn’t get trampled back there but we’re- we’re also sorry we had to- well, we didn’t have to, but that we did that.”
Greg has trouble following along, but now it’s clear to him what happened back there. Pib was the one who pushed Maeve out of the way.
“It’s alright,” Greg lies. “It happened in the moment.” but he flees the coulisses as fast as possible. Maeve is still cradled in his arms, hiding her face in the crook of his arm. Greg’s soul still sears from the brush of contact.
It’s hours later, too late at night it could probably be better called early morning. Greg wonders if he could see the sun rising from his spot near the window of his living room. Probably not as it’s fuck-cloudy London and the window is facing west.
Nothing has moved for some hours now and nobody has made a sound.
Maeve is curled up in a blanket filled cardboard shoebox. It’s an old setup and the cardboard is shaped and sagged to fit her body perfectly. The blanket should probably be washed already, except for the fact that daemons aren’t actually corporeal and don’t shed or make any other messes, so it’s just a bit dusty.
Maeve has her nose underneath her tail, curled up and hiding. She has been like this ever since Greg carried her into the apartment.
Greg can still feel the shock of Pib bumping into Maeve. He didn’t even see it happening, but he knows exactly where the crow pushed against her; Maeve’s ribcage versus Pib’s whole little body. It lasted less than a second, but it felt like forever, like it’s still going strong. Like Pib is still curled up against Maeve in that shoebox.
From the mental connection to her Greg knows that this might become a problem. She’s shocked to the bone, still thinking about the crash too. He doesn’t want it to become a problem.
“Maeve..?” Greg tries. “What should…is there something you want to eat?” They haven’t had dinner yet. A few crew members were going out for Chinese food, but Greg left the studio the moment he was allowed to. Any presence felt like too much.
Right now, after he’s calmed down, the emotion he feels the strongest is embarrassment. Sure, daemons touching is considered a right just for close family members and romantic partners. But it is in no way dangerous for Maeve to touch another daemon. Yet why did it feel like it was?
“Maeve?” Greg asks again, yet the fox doesn’t answer. Greg feels frustration bubbling up inside of him. Why is it his daemon that freaks out after touching another daemon for literally less than a second? Why is it his daemon that never speaks to anyone? Why is it his daemon that dislikes people looking at her? If she dislikes the staring, then why did she choose a fox as her form in the first place? Why can’t they just act like Rhod and Stellah, or Alex and Pib?
Greg does not ask any of these questions out loud.
“Will this become a problem?” he asks her instead. He really doesn’t want this incident to become a problem. Greg really likes working on Taskmaster - likes working with Alex. Maeve becoming scared of Alex and Pib would be very bad.
In a flash, Maeve appears in front of him. Her tail is puffed and straight, the hairs on her back standing up and ears pointed backwards. Her stance screams defiance and anger.
“Have you ever considered, ” she pushes the words through their mental link, too angry to speak them out loud, “that it is not just me?”
Greg blinks a few times in confusion. “What do you mean?” he asks Maeve.
“Have you ever thought that it is not me that wants to be this scared?” Maeve asks him through the link again.
“You’re not scared, Maeve. You’re just shy. And… careful. Careful about who you give your time to.” Greg knows he sounds like his mother, saying the placating words she used to tell Greg when they were younger. It’s along the same kind of stuff she placated the school teachers, grandparents and visitors with. Greg isn’t shy, his daemon is just careful. - Careful, why?
Maeve huffs. “You can tell that lie to others, but lying to me has no use.”
“Then you tell me.” Greg snides at her. “Tell me why you are still too scared to talk to anyone but-” but Greg cannot finish that sentence.
Speaking it out loud, putting the words out in the world, will make them real. All is well as long as Greg can act and joke and pull the attention away from quiet Maeve. All is alright as long as they can keep the attention away from Maeve.
A fox cannot smile, but if they could, Maeve would’ve offered Greg a rueful one. Of course she can hear his thoughts. Of course she knows what Greg is scared of the most. It is not that Greg does not like the fact that Maeve hides and shies away.
Greg hates the fact that his Maeve, his actual soul , is exposed for the whole world to see. Humans having daemons feels like a sick joke to him, it always has. That anyone can judge and form opinions on her? That for all his posturing and joking about, his real feelings are always on display?
As a comedian, this feels horrible. Greg has no idea how other people do it, has no idea how Alex does it. The fact that Pib is oh-so comfortable around others and him still feels like a shock to Greg.
Pib was never scared of touching Greg because Alex isn’t afraid of getting close to people. Getting close to him .
But Greg knows that he could never be that free with his own emotions. His … affections. Ugh, just thinking it feels too personal. And isn’t that the truth with comedians? They joke about the things that they are the most insecure about. Greg jokes about his height and his posture and his weight. Anything is up for laughs.
Anything but Maeve. Which is why he -unconsciously- makes her hide away. Why Maeve barely speaks to anyone.
“If I could take the form of a mouse and hide in your pocket, I would.” Maeve tells him through their link. “ But I didn’t take that form and I don’t think we want me to be like that.”
“I want you to be exactly as you are right now.” Greg tells her. And he knows that he means it when he says it. He truly doesn’t want Maeve to be any different.
“And I think,” Maeve says out loud, “it’s alright for us if we were shocked by the… accident during the studio task of today.”
Greg nods at that. “But I also think,” she continues, “that we won’t let this become a problem.” And Greg feels it through their connection; they will be alright. Just because Greg isn’t used to people getting close to them, doesn't mean that it’s immediately a bad thing.
“We can get used to others being close.” he offers and Maeve gives him a judging look. “I think I can get used to others being close.” he adjusts his promise. Maeve nods at that, ready to let it go after she’s finally said her piece.
Daemons are supposed to mirror a human’s feelings and it was mean to judge Maeve on her shy and reserved behavior if he was the one that made her act that way.
“And if Pib ever bumps into you again, I think Alex would be alright with you if you bite her in her arse. Pluck some feathers while you’re at it.” Greg jokes as he stands up. It’s time for some dinner, even though it’s close to sunrise already.
Maeve chuckles, “Pib is a horrible flier.” Greg agrees with a nod, remembering every crash landing of the damned bird. She truly is a menace, uncaring about her trajectory. But secretly, Greg knows he doesn’t mind.
Greg approaches Alex as they enter the studio, not wanting to have any bad feelings linger between them. “I feel sorry for brushing you off, yesterday.” Greg says as a way of a greeting. “I’m sorry-”
“You shouldn’t!” Alex immediately breaks in, “like I said, it was stupid what Pib and I did. I didn’t think about the consequences and Pib just wanted to help but didn’t know what else to do-”
“Alex, Alex, calm down. I mean it when I say that it’s alright.”
Alex stares at him to make sure he’s speaking the truth. “Are you… truly?” he asks.
“Yes I am, and I shouldn’t have overreacted like that. You were helping me. So, Pib,” Greg angles himself so he can see the bird hiding in the bag of camera equipment, “thank you for helping Maeve when she needed it.”
The little feathered head of Pib peaks out of the bag. Maeve takes a step closer to the bag, making sure that Pib can see her before she repeats a soft ‘thank you’.
Alex and Pib do seem relieved with this. Alex is still a bit cautious around them for the next few days, as is Pib. But neither of them treat Maeve or him any different and for that Greg is grateful.
But as the days tick by and life goes back to normal, Greg feels like normal isn’t supposed to be so…normal!
Does he even want life to go back to how it used to be? Isn’t he supposed to be more open and forthcoming? Isn’t Maeve supposed to be carefree? Greg knows he cannot force these things, but he also knows that he doesn’t want to settle for the old ways.
Maeve, for her part, seems to be waiting on something. She’s still hovering, but she doesn’t hide behind his legs like she used to. Yet, she doesn’t speak often and usually waits for Greg to start any conversation. It almost seems like she’s on the verge of telling something, but waiting...
A daemon is a reflection of a person’s soul.
So if Maeve is hovering and acting like she’s waiting to tell the world something, it must be because Greg is. But what is he supposed to say?!
Pib and Maeve sure are back to being friends and Alex and him do talk quite often, even outside of shooting days. Yet Greg has no idea what and why he is feeling off-balance. The ending of this filming season is nearing. This will mean a period of low-contact is approaching. With Alex stuck filming at the Taskmaster house with the next contestants, where Greg won’t be needed until the studio days.
Greg knows that he does not want those months of radio silence. Maybe he could ask Alex to hang out after his shooting days. But what if Alex will say no? What if Alex will say yes, but only out of politeness? What if they won’t find anything to talk about outside of work and things will be horrible? What if it will affect their work dynamic next season and Greg will ruin something great?
Greg procrastinates and lets the feelings of ‘waiting’ growing and growing and-
Then it’s the end of the season and their last day of shooting. There will be one more day for interviews and post production editing where Alex and or Greg will be needed to repeat some lines or the contestants will need to do some voice-overs for other stuff.
Greg and Alex are both waiting in the wings left of the big podium as the camera crew packs up their last items. The contestants have long been dismissed and most of the crew are already waiting at the front door. The only reason Greg is still waiting inside is because Alex is still here. The other man has nothing to do but he’s too polite to leave the workfloor until the last person is also ready to go.
“There’s this event I’m invited to, “ Greg starts in the waiting silence, “and it says you can bring a plus one. It’s this Friday afternoon, but I haven’t found anyone to go with.”
“You mean the series afterparty?” Alex asks dryly.
“Duhhuh, what other events- … yeah.” Greg swallows his sarcasm. Being annoyed at Alex is his on-camera persona, but Greg has always made sure that All That stays out of their friendship off-stage.
“No one… romantic … to bring?” Alex digs for details. Greg smirks, knowing that he cannot answer that question truthfully unless he knows the recipient is interested too. Greg would rather keep their relationship neutral than risk their day-to-day job.
“No one in particular.” Greg answers cryptically. They both watch as the last sound crew people stack crates of equipment on top of a metal cart. Greg would offer his help if he didn’t know that the guys dislike it when others touch their equipment and place it in the wrong cases.
“Have you thought about bringing your mother?’ Alex jokes. “With all the ‘helping’ she’s done this season, it would be nice to speak to her.”
“And give Rhod more ammunition to humiliate me during the party? Noooo, thank you.”
Alex hums in agreement. It’s a serious sound, but the small chuckle from Pib tells Greg that Alex is already fully aware where this conversation is going. But instead of himself offering to go together, Alex is willing to play into the bit. “Well, then you could always ask to go with Nicolas from the post-production team. I hear he has an apartment nearby, so that would be an easy spot to crash afterwards.”
“Hmmm, Nicolas is nice.” Greg agrees, even though he has to think hard before he can put a name to the face. “And I was thinking about just bringing someone from the set. Way easier, no need to introduce them to everyone at the party and such.”
“Sure, introductions are always the worst part of these gatherings.” Alex smiles. Pib rolls her eyes at the both of them. The crow loves meeting new people, and so does Alex. Alex shoos her off his shoulder and the little crow flies down to peck at his boot laces. The sound guys roll their equipment to the exit and now Alex and Greg are the last ones on set.
“So what if I just bring someone who needs no introduction?” Greg continues. “Someone who everyone already knows.”
“That does sound perfect.” Alex looks at him expectantly. Greg opens his mouth to continue, but the question stocks in his throat. Just ask him already! Greg thinks, or maybe it’s Maeve through their mental link. Greg wonders if there’s even a difference.
Alex is still waiting for him to continue as the silence stretches, and Greg has no idea how to continue.
Luckily for Greg, Maeve is willing to help along. “Plus, we could Uber to and from the party and split the costs.”
It is such a random thing to say that it takes Greg by surprise. Alex immediately smiles at the fox again, the tension broken.
And isn’t that the best way to ask someone: having your daemon blurt out the question with an inappropriate mention of cost reduction. Greg looks up to the sky and closes his eyes in defeat. Laughingly, he asks ‘So what do you think? Will you help me reduce Uber costs by being my plus one to the party this Friday?”
"...sure." Alex sounds a bit uncertain, but the questioning look in his eyes disappears the moment Maeve starts leading them out of the building. It’s like the whole thing is settled for the daemon and Maeve has a certain spring in her step that Greg does not often see. She looks back once, calling for the two humans to hurry up.
Pib takes off too, flying above and around the fox. She almost crashes into a chair and then almost into Maeve as she steers herself around - truly that bird needs some flying lessons.
The two daemons start talking about the merits of taking an Uber or a taxi. Not in a ‘planning for next Friday’ kind of way. It’s just more random chatter where the two pretend to have a serious argument about something mundane. Alex is the first to follow them, like the whole matter truly has been settled. And Greg wonders if it is. He knows he should work on being open with Alex and there are still things to be said, but then again, as long as he has a daemon to help him all should be fine.