"Thank you so much for doing this, sir Aedelian."

"Please, please, call me Aedel. Or just Del, if you prefer."

"Well, whatever you want to be called," Ketvia interrupted with a grin, "Thank you. This is a huge favor you're doing us, we really appreciate it."

The three dragons lounged on some rather quaint, in Ketvia's opinion, couches in an equally quaint little courtyard near the mountain's peak. Aedelian himself lived in a well-furnished set of caverns leading into the mountain from the pavilion, with his daughter and her family. Since Ketvia had preferred the open air, and Chiya had never liked being underground to begin with, they were passing the time while the half-breed slept off being knocked unconscious by having an entire language dumped into his unsuspecting, damaged little head.

"I'd say we're definitely even now," the Fire dragoness continued, chuckling.

"No," Aedelian responded with an easy-going smirk, "I think you owe me for the little monster attacking my granddaughter, now."

"But he was afraid!" Chiya protested instantly, "He didn't mean to hurt anyone, really he didn't, it's just all he knows, I mean--" She broke off as Aedelian started to laugh gently.

"I know, I know," he assured her. "I felt his mind just as you did, perhaps even more deeply; I know that how he is, is hardly his fault. I was teasing. You patched her up quite nicely, anyways, and she is hardly the worse for wear. Rather excited to try and meet him again, actually."

"Sure is an optimistic sort, isn't she," Ketvia commented dryly.

As if she had sensed that she was being talked about, young Enyi Credensin came bounding into the shaded pavilion, beaming and panting. "Is he awake yet?" she asked breathlessly. "Can I talk to him yet?"

"No, child," Aedelian chuckled. "Be patient. I'll let you know when you can talk to him, I promise. Go back outside."

Huffing, the brazen, bronze-yellow kit turned and flounced out again.

"She sure is something," Ketvia pointed out. "Takes after you, Del. And she's going to the bonding, you say?"

"Mmmhmm," Aedelian said, nodding. "We're going to be leaving in about two weeks for Sanctuary. Her mother is quite keen on her bringing home a nice young human to help us against a group of Air demons who have been harrying at the city over the past decade or so." He sighs, shaking his head lightly. "It would be so much easier if you volunteered to stay and help, Ketvia. You're more military-minded than most humans, anyway."

"But I won't," the Fire said cheerfully. "Sorry, 'Del, I'm not the staying-put type."

Aedelian hmphed lightly, rolling his wings in a shrug, then glanced towards the delicately-carved entryway into the caverns. "I do believe your friend is finally starting to come around." He rose, somewhat lacking in grace for all his attempt at courtly manner, and resettled his wings over his back. "Shall we go down to meet him?"

Chiya was on her feet again in an instant, Ketvia following suit more leisurely. "I do believe that's a yes," she quipped, amused at Chiya's anxiety. "You'd think she's fallen for the thing, the way she dotes on him."

Blushing hotly under her pale fur, Chiya lifted her chin haughtily. "Of course not," she retorted, embarrassed. "He's too young for me, anyway."

Laughing, Ketvia followed Aedelian down into the underground, Chiya trotting along at her side. They had to shift down to human form once they reached the little room Aedelian's daughter had shaped for the half-breed, as it was too small for a dragon to even fit inside, much less enter. Aedelian opened the door, sweeping his gawky human self inside and smiling benevolently down on the dazedly-blinking demon-child. "Good afternoon," he said brightly, causing the demon to cringe and put his hands to his head, shrinking back from the light. "Sleep well, I trust?"

"N-noh," the demon-child whispered, obviously blinded and confused, voice as hoarse as ever, as if he had just been screaming only no one else could hear. The vowel sounded strange and short, the consonant too thick, but it was a recognizable negative-- and even better, it proved that he had understood the common Aedelian spoke to him.

"My apologies," Aedelian said, not really sounding sorry. "But at least you're awake now, and speaking well enough, if a little unclearly. What's your name?"

The half-breed looked confused, drawing back from the loud, bright stranger. "I em? Sspeeeekeen? Nem? Vat isss my nem?"

There was a pause, as the dragons sorted out what he meant. Aedelian nodded, then. "Yes, you're speaking the common tongue, I put it in your head for you so you can talk to Chiya and Ketvia, and you can understand what they say. And yes, I did ask you your name, it's customary to answer with what your name is." He sounded amused.

"Tcheee-ah? Tchee-jah? Keht-va? Vya? Who?"

Her heart breaking that he hadn't even been able to pick out their names in all the time they'd spent together so far, Chiya stepped forward, past Aedelian, kneeling in front of the half-breed who was struggling to form their unfamiliar words in his mouth. "Me," she said gently. "I'm Chiya. That's my name. That's Ketvia, my friend." She tried for a smile, "The one who always yells at you?"

"Tchee-ah," he said carefully, staring at her fixedly. "Tcheeyah. Yes...."

Smiling more fully, Chiya nodded. "Yes, Chiya. And what's your name?"

"Vatz-- vat isss my nem." His eyes grew unfocused, inward-looking, and he frowned. For a horrible moment, Chiya was afraid he simply didn't have one, but then he looked at her again, and said, "Cah-cov-nee." She tried to repeat it, but he shook his head immediately, winced as if he had a headache, and tried again, more carefully, "C-Cah-cof-en-eee."

"Cacophony?" Ketvia echoed. "Like, a loud noise?"

"Lettel, lettel. Yes-noh, yes-noh. Ah-mohzt, ah-mohzt." The Fire dragon cringed slightly at the alien accent taking the strange cadence that sounded something less than sane. "Cah-cof-en-ee."

"Cacopheny," Chiya tried again, changing her pronunciation only slightly, and he nodded vigorously, then winced again and moaned, putting the heels of his hands to his eyes. "Cacopheny," Chiya said, more softly, and smiled, putting a hand gently on his head. He leaned a little into her touch. For a moment, he seemed to relax, but then Ketvia interrupted again.

"So you want something to eat, Ca-coph-en-y?" she asked, pronouncing his name carefully.

"Eeet?" He looked blearily up at her over his still-raised hands, as if he couldn't really see her. But then, with all the light streaming in from the hallway, perhaps he couldn't. "Noh... noh, hoortz... heht hoortz... sssick...."

"He has a headache still," Chiya translated as Ketvia stared. "It's making his stomach upset."

"Well, yes," Aedelian admitted. "It was something of a shock to his system. I wish there was something I could to to ease it, but...." He spread his hands wide to indicate his helplessness. "It's not a physical pain. You can't heal psionic strain."

"I know...." Chiya stroked his hair carefully, and Cacopheny dropped his face back into his hands. "It'll fade, Cacopheny," she told him softly. "Give it time. We'll let you back to the dark so you can rest... is that okay?" He nodded slightly against his palms.

"Cooom bahck," he murmured. "P-p-p-prooomeeesssss."

"I promise," she whispered back, leaning forward to rest her forehead gently against his fingers on his own forehead, then she rose slowly and backed away a few steps before turning and following Ketvia and Aedelian out of the room.