So what're we gonna tell her, exactly?

"Might as well start with having to slow down copying the translation," Cacopheny shrugged, crossing the lawn to the house and hoping Akija was home. "And then say why."

The surprise tactic. Hmm, possible.

"Flazh, that's not vat I meant."

It's still what yer doin.

I don't know, I think it sounds more like a "leading into it" sort of tactic.

"It's not a tactic at all," Cacopheny told them sourly, opening the front door and heading inside. "Akijza?"

"Thaaaat's me!" he heard her call back from the living room. Her shadow called out a cheery hello, too. He smiled and told it hello, back, as he came inside. A few other shadows did the same.

Hello, Akija.

Hello!

Well, you were easy to find!

Hiya!

Whatcha workin on?

What in the world are you wearing?

Cacopheny paused in the doorway to the living room to blink at her. She had some kind of wire contraption on her nose that reminded him of his sunglasses. She grinned at him and pulled them off, half of her attention still focused on them, turning them over and over while she fiddled with the magic she'd laced them with. The magic made all sorts of funny noises in response to the adjustments.

"Either something to sell," she explained with a snicker, "or something that will end up melted into the table just like that old ring Pop still razzes me about. Got the idea from Glory's story. I don't know any spell for spotting lies, but hey, I can spot magic all on my own so I figured, why not see if I can get that in enchantment form?"

"Oh," Cacopheny answered, coming the rest of the way in and settling beside her at the living room's low table. "How is it koingk?"

"Well, they're not melted yet!" she laughed. "Pop gave me some pointers, and it's not a hard spell in itself, but... we'll see." She shrugged cheerfully. "So how'd things go at the library today?"

"I rrran out of paper," Cacopheny admitted with a grin. "Ant ven I vent to sse store to buy more... vell, it might take me rongker ssan I ssought to copy it out akain."

"Why's that?" she asked curiously.

"I, er. Promised to teatch somevon dragonic." It sounded so backwards. Teaching some demonic would have made more sense.

Bah, none of it makes sense! the nameless one chirped happily.

Akija looked like she thought it didn't make sense, either. She cocked her head at him and skewed her ears. "Dragonic?" she repeated blankly.

"Yes," he nodded, smirking at her surprise. "He doesn't speak it. Only demonic."

You're enjoying this! Tiger laughed at him.

Well, he had been, until Akija suddenly lost her spell: it jumped free with a very audible snap and zapping sound, and Akija dropped the wire frames with a curse. Cacopheny jumped, too, but since her surprise and stung hand-shaking turned into laughter, he didn't try to apologize. "Asuka!" she exclaimed, whapping him on the back with a wing for startling her. "You and your backwards stories, geez! Start over!"

Snickering, as she leaned her elbows on the table and rubbed her hands together, he obliged. "Ven I valked into sse store, ssere were ssree people inside already: a dragon, a half-dragon, and somevon from off-vorld. The half-dragon vas speaking demonic-- it startled me!"

Woulda startled me, too! her shadow exclaimed as she stared at him. "What was a half-dragon doing speaking demonic?"

"He krew up on Tievaven," Cacopheny explained. "He vas a slave. I ssink he vas a diff'rent kind ssan I vas, but he is... vell, he reminted me of me, anyway," he admitted with a frown.

What're the odds! her shadow marvelled. "Huh," she said aloud. "Why, what is he like?"

"Vell, I. I terrivied him, for one," Cacopheny began sheepishly. "He vas certain I vas koingk to take him back, I vas von of ssem-- and he said 'ssem' rike I say Her. Ant-- ant he sees ssingks, hears ssingks, too."

Not the way the mutt does, Tiger put in, since, y'know, we're real and all that. But he's definitely paranoid and a little delusional.

"Wow," she murmured after a moment of absorbtion. "That's... something else, all right. But now you're going to teach him dragonic?"

"Yes," Cacopheny nodded. "Ve're starting tomorrow. He needs to rearn it-- he's been here a few veeks, and he still toesn't know mutch-- and... I ssink I can teatch him. Since I know boss rang-- rrangk-- vords. Boss sets of vords. And can essprain so he can understand, vissout his bond havingk to trrransrate and maybe not say it sse same vay."

Besides, Tiger added wickedly, I think he wants to find out more about him.

Both of them do, Tek mused, and Cacopheny blushed.

"So vat if I do?"

Akija giggled and reached her wing over his back in a broad-fingered hug. "I think that's great," she told him, grinning. "Good for you! What's his name?"

"Rran-- rrr. Lan. Lan. Is. Ro. Lanisro." Well, that was closer, anyway. "I can't say it rrright. At reast he has ssat-- he can say Ls and ssat... sss. Sssth. Thhhh sound, ssough so var onry in his own name. I still can't manajze ssat von."

I think you sound just fine, her shadow sniffed, and he blushed a little again. You sound like you. "Lanithro," she repeated, correctly, and he nodded.

"Yes."

"Guess it's a dragon name, then, from whichever parent was the dragon?"

"Yes," he said again. "His fasser. He found his fasser's family and is rivingk here in sse city, viss ssem."

"Lucky him," Akija smiled. Wow, talk about lucky-- or divine providence, or something! Maybe Asuka really is> looking out for 'em.

Considering how Chiya had confided in him once that she thought Asuka might have led her to find him, Cacopheny could believe it. He wasn't sure he liked the idea, but he could believe it. "Yes. Essept none of ssem seem to be able to teatch him dragonic." He grinned a bit. "His cousin vas viss him at sse store-- ssey are Right dragons. Asssskans."

Talk about ironic, running into the dark demon mutt, huh? Flash snickered.

Akija blinked, then grinned, too. "Whoah, really. Well, good luck succeeding where they all failed," she said, patting his back with her open wing.

"Ssank you," he smiled at her, though he had a feeling he'd need that luck. He just hoped Sentio had a few ideas.

I have a few, too, Tek said.

And I, Genner added.

See? You've already got a start, Tiger smirked, and he sighed in relief.

"No getting his head blasted fulla words by a weird ol' Makanan for him, eh?" Akija told him, sounding amused.

"No," Cacopheny agreed with a chuckle. "Vitch I esspect is a good ssingk. He vood not rike sse headache ssat comes viss it, and his bond vood propably try to hurt sse poor dragon."

Can you imagine, a toddler-daemon-thing, threatening me?

"After knowing Kenjista?" she asked dryly, then frowned. "He's not bonded t'one of her siblings, is he?"

"Oh. No. Is some off-vorld dragon, but I ssought he vas a daemon at virst. Rooks rike he could be von of your youngker cousins, viss a rongker face." He paused. "I hope he is not koingk to be angkry viss me still."

She started laughing. "Geez, there's an offworlder in this story now, too? This is just-- too wild! When does an escaped slave run into an offworlder and bond them, no less?"

"I'll have to ask him rater," Cacopheny chuckled. "I don't know."

"Why was he angry?" she asked, still amused.

"Because I vrighten't his bond," Cacopheny shrugged. "He is still a tchild, and even ssough I'm zhure he knows no demon could ket into Ssanctchuary, he sstill sseemed to ssink I could be rying about not being von of ssem, because his bond vas avraid of me."

She considered, then decided, "Sounds like he was just being a good bond, then, looking after his. If this Lanithro stopped being afraid enough for ya t'wind up about t'teach him dragoninc, I imagine the offworlder kid will relax, too, yeah?"

"I hope so," Cacopheny sighed. "But he vill have to rearn not to ket drawn into his bond's harrucinazhions and vear, too. He is young, so I ssink he vill rearn." He smirked a bit. "I jzust vizh he vood rearn before I haff to deal viss him." The smirk didn't last. "I am rucky I did not do ssat to Sentchio."

Thankfully, Akija understood, and when she cocked her head again it was with a smile. "Sentio's made of pretty tough stuff for a bookworm," she said. "Had time t'grow up some before you came along, too. And from what I hear, offworld dragons are pretty dang grown up already when they hatch or whatever-- like Chiya and Ketvia's lot were, all talking even while they were still in their shells. So Lanithro's kid will probably be all right. Especially," she added with a playful little grin and a punch to the shoulder, which felt more like a nudge with her fist than the kind of punch Chario would get, "with your good influence around now!"

"Oof! If you can call it ssat!" Cacopheny laughed, playfully shying away from her "violence". "Rook vat I did to you-- assozhiating viss bratty bonder daemons, crazy zhadows, and murderous demons!"

She cackled delightedly. "And that's what I call an adventure! We get t'be crazy together, remember-- give it a few more years, and all the bedtime stories getting told t'the newest generation of Watcher-kits will be about me, you, Chario, Sentio, and the overgrown brat, instead!"

Just what it was about Akija grinning cockily, hands on her hips and a wink on her face, that made him want to pounce her, he had no idea, but since she probably wasn't in the mood-- and he made a point of not smothering her-- he settled for tugging her over into a kiss, instead. She laughed a little into his mouth, but didn't resist.

"Ssose poor Vatcher-kits," he said with a chuckle after he released her again.

"Lucky Watcher-kits," she corrected, smirking and settling her wing all the way around him in her casually affectionate way. "S'a great story. Gonna be wonderfully infamous, just watch."

"And isss not effen over yet," he added contentedly, wrapping both arms around her, and she chuckled.

"Not by a long shot," she agreed happily, resting her head on his shoulder and leaning into him.

She could get back to her magic later, he figured.