Cacopheny woke slowly the next morning-- and to his relief, he was still curled up on his pile of blankets, rather than already on his feet and into trouble. What confused his sleepy senses, though, was that he didn't feel the usual chill at his back that said he was huddled up against the stone wall, which had been a familiar sensation for most of his life. Even on the rare occasions he'd fallen asleep in Her room, or in the middle of the floor in his own room, he always found his way to a wall sometime before he woke. Even since he'd left Her, he'd nearly always had stone at his back when he slept. It was comforting and familiar, and this time it was not there.

Instead, this time, there was something warm and moving with a faint, steady rhythm between him and the wall. It was too small to be Chiya. Ketvia would never fall asleep next to him; she knew him too well to let herself do something like that. And She never let him sleep beside Her; if She wanted sleep with him around, She would kick him to the floor so that She would have the bed to Herself.

Forgotten already, have we?

The sour shadow-voice did, indeed, bring back memory. Sentio was sprawled out behind him on the blankets, breathing evenly as he slept on, undisturbed by his new bond waking. The dragon-kit had fallen asleep in the middle of telling Cacopheny about his later schooling, just before being sent here for the second bonding at Midwinter, whatever that meant. Before that, he'd told him about his family, about his home, about his kind. Even before that, he'd dealt with an interview with Chiya and Ketvia, who had returned as soon as they knew Akija, Chario, and Kenjista had gone off to their own home. Before that, he'd humored the half-breed and made sure that whatever blankets that had been contaminated by the daemon-baby's touch were removed and replaced. It was no wonder he'd fallen asleep in the middle of a sentence; he had probably been exhausted.

What was a wonder, was that Cacopheny had fallen asleep beside him. Touching him, even. He never slept touching anyone, unless he was too tired to bother moving, and even then, by the time he woke, he'd always moved, or been moved, away. In fact, the only other person he'd ever fallen asleep touching was Chiya, and that had been for that very specific reason: he was always too exhausted when he actually shut his eyes to be bothered to move away.

Maybe Sentio's tiredness had been catching. That would explain why, when he realized Sentio wasn't just pausing or resting his eyes but had actually fallen asleep, Cacopheny had just settled down beside him and immediately done the same. Besides, it had, after all, been a tiring evening: crowds, magic, bonding, talking, memories....

Kenjista. Her.

Cacopheny crept out of the nest of blankets, mildly surprised to discover he still wore the violet part of his bonding-costume, now all wrinkled from having been slept on. He supposed he'd have to start wearing clothes more often, now... he didn't think Sentio would be terribly comfortable if he went without whenever he wasn't expecting company. Or he supposed he was just expecting company all the time, now, in the form of Sentio himself. This was going to take some getting used to. Probably more on Sentio's side of the bond....

He turned and crouched on the floor, watching Sentio sleep, and hugged his knees in silence. Sentio had given up what seemed like a very nice life, with a family and a home and a future, just to bond a crazy half-demon, probably ruining all of that, and either help him out of some of the madness, or descend into it with him. Sentio knew that was a possibility, but made the choice, anyway. Cacopheny knew Sentio wasn't so proud as to think he was immune to all danger, so it wasn't that which had made him choose. Perhaps, though, he was innocent enough to think it wouldn't hurt so bright and intelligent a one as himself. He certainly was determined enough to at least make a brave stand. Yes, brave summed Sentio up well, even if it was a quiet kind of bravery. Cacopheny didn't think he'd be brave enough to do what he had done, even if he was normal.

And, as if having to deal with Cacopheny himself were not enough, poor Sentio had been latched onto by that... thing. Cacopheny tried very hard not to assign much of anything to Kenjista, not feelings, not images, not even memories; if he could forget her, he would. Even more, he tried not to think of her as Her, but it was very hard. That aura of confidence, that smug, sly voice, how black and sleek she was-- yes, it was hard. He knew she wasn't really like Her: she wasn't a demon, she wasn't human-shaped or demon-shaped, she wasn't even all black, she was only a baby. It was all reassuring, but it wasn't quite enough to dispel the instinctive connection. That her shadow was as silent as Akija's didn't even help; it just made her seem like she was hiding something, holding back a secret that she could use to hurt him later on. Akija's shadow-silence was just a relief.

But no matter how stressful her presence was, he just had to keep reminding himself that she was not Her, no matter how much she might remind him of Her. He needed to keep his fear, his hate and love, under control. Sentio didn't need more difficulty; what he had already was bad enough. Cacopheny just hoped that things would get better, either because he was getting used to them or because the bond was helping.

Don't count on it.

As Cacopheny shivered at the shadow-whisper, Sentio stirred, mumbled something unintelligible that seemed to be about not getting up, then blinked his eyes open. Through the bond-- no longer blocked; it seemed Cacopheny couldn't keep the connection closed in his sleep-- he felt Sentio's confusion at the strange place, much like his own when he'd woken and realized he wasn't alone. He couldn't even compare it to the emotions of the shadows, it was so bright and clean a feeling-- and even though he felt it, it remained separate from him. He knew it wasn't something he felt or the shadows felt. How he knew, he didn't know, but he did. That was something of a relief, as well; he'd been afraid that bonding would be just one more addition to his own collection of voices and feelings, but it would be hard to get lost in an emotion that he could tell wasn't his.

Finally Sentio's eyes found Cacopheny, blinked again, then smiled sleepily. "Hi," he said, then yawned. "D'I fall asleep? Time's it?" His voice was curiously slurred with sleep, making Cacopheny smile a little.

"Yes," he answered simply, "ant I to not know." All the dragon-speech that he'd need to use now would be a headache, but maybe practice would make him improve his accent.

Sentio rubbed at his eyes with a forepaw, yawned again, then rolled onto his stomach and went through a series of languid stretches, which ended just with the dragon-kit flopping back down into the blankets with a little murring sound. "D'I godda geddup?" he asked.

Cacopheny blinked blankly. "I... kess not," he said cautiously. He didn't see why he'd have to, but he didn't know why Sentio would even be asking.

Apparently his confusion was noted, for Sentio grinned over at him under half-lidded eyes. "I'm jus' not a morning person at all," he explained. "Hate 'em. Mornings. Y'know. S'hard to wake up when you've been comfortable all night." He was waking up, even so; Cacopheny could tell from his voice, even if he couldn't sense the increasing alertness. Sentio looked around at the blanket nest with a bit of surprise. "This's actually pretty comfortable. Didn't realize it would be... on the floor, an' all."

That got another smile. "I am use't to floorsss, but I leek ssssoft, too. Ant sser vere enough blanketsss to be very sssoft."

"Why didn't you just use a bed?" Sentio asked seriously, all the way awake now. Cacopheny had avoided talking about his own past entirely the night before, instead making the kit talk about his own life. He didn't want to give his bond nightmares on his very first night with him-- and he didn't really know how to talk about it, anyway.

And he still didn't. He shrugged awkwardly and changed the subject without answering the question. "Hungkry?" he asked. Most dragons ate breakfast... Cacopheny usually skipped it, since he wasn't used to eating much even now and no one thought to bring him anything in his room until well after morning.

"A little," Sentio admitted, though he frowned. "You're going to have to tell me eventually, you know."

Cacopheny cringed, and Sentio instantly went contrite, but before he could apologize, Cacopheny said, "I know. I vill. Jzussst not yet. Please."

"All right," Sentio sighed. "I can't imagine it could be as bad as you think it's going to be, though. It might be better to just talk and be done with it."

"After brrrreakfasst," Cacopheny promised, putting it off at least that long. "You ssait you vere hungkry?"

"Aren't you?"

He blinked at Sentio as the dragon climbed back to his paws again. "Not rrreally. I to not eat asss mutch ass osserss, I ssingk. Not use't to it. Haffingk so mutch foot."

"Oh," Sentio said, blinking back at him. "Well, if you're not hungry, then I could--"

"No, you eat. Ko. Go. I vill vait. Ve can talk ssen, before Tchiya ant Ketvya come." He could take a shower, maybe. He did have another set of clothes, he could wear those instead of the hot, heavy robe. He could think about what he was going to say to Sentio, and how he was going to say it.

And you can talk to us.

No, I don't think I will. I'm busy, go away.

Ungrateful mutt.

It was Sentio's turn to cringe at that, and Cacopheny remembered that what he'd done the night before to shield Sentio from the shadows was gone now. "I'll be okay," Sentio promised again. "I'll get used to it."

"Ko eat," Cacopheny said, hesitated a moment, then touched the dragon's forehead and horn with an awkward but well-meant caress. "I vill. Be here ven you arrre tone."

After a moment, Sentio nodded, smiled wanly, then escaped the room to do as he was told. Cacopheny sighed and shut his eyes a moment after he left.

Happy now?

Are you?

"Of course not. Now let me be, I want to think."

As if.

He sighed one more time, then headed to the bathroom, shedding his robe as he went. A shower might help. Maybe.