He couldn't listen to Ketvia rant for very long without snarling at her to shut up and drop it, already-- it was he who ought to be angry, after all, not her. And since that just turned her famous temper on him-- not even her shadow insisting that she was angry on his behalf made that bearable-- he gave up and vanished into the nearest patch of darkness, fleeing back to the Watcher clan, its mass of silent shadows and friendly faces, and the house.

He used the front door this time, coming in tiredly and closing it firmly behind him. No shadows inside greeted him, except his own and those he had inadvertently left there, so the dragons weren't home yet and Akija either wasn't home as well, or just wasn't doing any magic. For a moment he just leaned against the door, eyes shut against even the comfortable, familiar, shadow-tinted brightness of his own home, and tried to figure out what he would say to everyone who would certainly want to know what had happened.

We were dismissed.

Laid off.

Let go.

Fired!

Fired?

Yeah! Fired!

What the hell?

Don't ask me, I have no idea where he picked that up.

How can you be dismissed if you didn't really have a job in the first place?

The same way you can hope for something that isn't possible?

Yeah. About like that. Cacopheny pushed up from the door again and shuffled inside, looking around for the familiar red and black, if she was home. He could smell something cooking in the oven, so she probably was, unless she'd just left it to cook....

No, there she was, sprawled out on the couch and, from the looks of it, asleep. He paused again, leaning on the wall just inside the living room, and watched her for a minute.

She's so cute when she sleeps.

You have funny ideas of cute.

Gonna wake her up?

Eh. Probably.

Maybe not yet.

He crept over, trying to be quiet, and settled onto the couch by her feet. There really wasn't room for it, but he tried, anyway, leaning over and trying to wriggle himself between her back and the back of the couch.

Yeah, she's not gonna sleep through that for long.

Sure enough, she half-turned towards him, eyes cracked open to little, golden slits, and made a noise that was more feline than anything else-- and damned cute, too. And questioning. Probably wondering who in the world was bothering her, as she napped.

Before he could say anything to reassure her, though, she put her head back down, scooted forward a little to give him more room, and started purring quietly. Smiling a bit at the first thing to go right all day, Cacopheny settled down in the offered space and wrapped an arm around her, nuzzling into the back of her neck with a little sigh. She settled, too, resting an arm across his, and kept purring. It didn't take her long, though, to yawn silently and actually say something to him.

And, of course, the question was: "How'd it go?"

Cacopheny took a minute to answer, but he finally said, half-muffled by her fur, "He didn't come."

She shifted a little, again, turning her head towards him a little as if trying to look at him. Cacopheny didn't move to help; he wasn't sure he really wanted to be looked at right then. "He didn't?" she asked. "At all?"

"His family sssent a note. Said he hadn't voken up yet. Vore himself out tryingk to hide from sse dark."

She made a rumbly, purry sort of noise in the back of her throat-- a sound of sympathy-- and asked, "So... now what?"

"I ko back to copyingk out sse demon-tales," he answered. "Ant avoid Ketvya for a vile. I kind of zhouted at her...."

"Ketvia?" she repeated blankly, proving that once again he'd left out important details. He needed to stop doing that. "What does she have to do with it?"

"Er. Zhe took me to his house... I tidn't bereef ssem ven ssey said he vas jzust asleep."

She sounded wary when she asked, "Is that where you were all afternoon? What happened there?"

"Vell, ssey vere not ryingk. He vas asleep. I met his family-- I made von vaint. Sse ossers veren't so bad, ssough. Ssey ret me in and talk't to me, but ssstill vill not ret me teatch him." He sighed against her fur and shut his eyes. "Ketvya vas very angkry."

Though she was tense under his arm, and he felt her nearest ear turn back against his hair, she didn't growl. She just stroked his hand with her fingertips and said, albeit a little tersely, "I can imagine."

"And ven I kot tired of her beingk angkry, I yelled at her. Ssat made her even angkrier." He tried for a little lighter tone when he added, "So ve vill not be koingk offer ssere vor a vile, I ssink."

Evidently he failed, because Akija levered herself half-way up on one elbow. However, he didn't really mind, because it meant she turned that motion into twisting herself around to half-lay on her back and tightly-folded wings, so she could brush her fingers through his hair. He pressed himself back into the couch to give her room, and lifted his head enough to kiss her palm.

"I'm sorry," she murmured.

"Isss all right," he sighed. "Iss easier, anyvay... no more vining zhadow or suspizhius bond."

She buried her fingers deeper in his hair, and he put his head back down on her shoulder. "M'proud of you for trying," she told him. "Not your fault dragons're just overgrown idiots sometimes."

"Most of sse time," Cacopheny agreed. "Ssere have been too many dragons today. I do not vant to see anosser dragon for a veek."

"So what'm I supposed t'do with the boys?" she asked, and he thought she was smiling. "Stuff 'em in a closet?"

"Vat?" He lifted his head again to look at her in confusion.

Your bonds, moron.

"Oh. Uh. Do you ssink ssey vood?" He smiled a bit down at her-- not serious, but he could play along a little.

After a thoughtful look, she suggested, "I'll fold 'em up like blankets and put them away with the extra bedclothes."

At the mental image of Sentio and Chario folded up, all protesting, like so much fabric made him chuckle weakly. "Maybe not. I ssink I can handle ssose two, at reast."

"Guess you're stuck hanging out with me, then," she said, rolling back over onto her side and unabashedly tugging his arm back into place around her. He had no protests, to that or the comment. Akija beat Lanithro any day.

"We'll have to have that-- what'd the spazzy one call it?" Since he wasn't sure what she was talking about, he had to wait for her to remember. "That... story-telling spree."

Oh! Yes!

I'd almost forgotten!

I hadn't.

We'll have to bring some of those home.

Maybe we can finish recopying them here, instead of that musty old library.

... Well, that's an idea.

Shoulda thought of that ages ago.

"Ssat is a good idea," he agreed, buring his face back into her neck and the scraggly hair there. "But ve can do ssat tomorrow." Right now he didn't want to move.