The highlight of that day-- other than Sentio making careful, guarded questions now and then about the shadows in an attempt to learn more about them, largely in vain, and other than their brief lunch with Chiya and Ketvia, who Sentio still wasn't entirely sure he liked-- was when a magical messanger arrived in the early afternoon, just as Senio was starting to get restless with being pent up in Cacopheny's room all day with his bond. Cacopheny, apparently, didn't get out much. It made sense, of course, that he wouldn't: he'd spent most of his life in a room even smaller than this one, only leaving when he was summoned by that awful demon who kept him prisoner. Chiya had even confided, while Ketvia teased Cacopheny-- or maybe baited was a better term, though he didn't really seem to get angry with her-- that when she hurt him and then healed him, all she did was regenerate the skin, not fix the flesh and muscle damage beneath, unless it was something vital that she had torn. After so many years of that kind of treatment, Chiya wasn't even certain that he could ever be fully healed, and certainly didn't think he would ever become particularly strong. So, it made sense that he wouldn't move around much.

But, Sentio was discovering, not moving around much was very boring. Especially if one's only company wasn't particularly chatty, unless you counted the more or less constant background noise of the voices Sentio heard through him, which he preferred not to think about except in a scholarly way. Even more especially when one's only company made you nervous. While Sentio could sit all day in a library pouring over some ancient book and making notes, or studying another language, or painstakingly practicing his penmanship, he found that being confined to the space of a dim bedroom with Cacopheny was almost enough to drive him as mad as his bond.

What made things even worse was that Sentio thought Cacopheny knew exactly how he felt, for when he wasn't distracted by some thought or voice or whatever of his own, his dark eyes followed Sentio if he was pacing, watched him if he was reading, or pretending to read, and avoided him when he was trying to make conversation. It not only made him feel even more uncomfortable, it made him feel guilty for even feeling uncomfortable in the first place. The guilt was what made him turn down the half-demon's occasional suggestions that he go out for a while and get some fresh air, while Cacopheny remained behind.

So, when the tinkling knock sounded on the door, Sentio, hurried to answer it. Cacopheny frowned at him, though more in thought than in disapproval, Sentio thought. There was an odd humming in the back of his mind, reflected through their bond: something Cacopheny heard, maybe? As he hopped off the bed he'd been lounging on with a book and trotted to the front of the room, he wondered about that. Cacopheny had heard a sound when they bonded, and had said, or maybe just thought with the bond open and unguarded, that he sometimes still heard it. Like the way he heard voices in people's shadows, voices which said what the person was really feeling. Maybe.

When he opened the door, he forgot all about Cacopheny's magical hearing, for there stood the magical likeness of his mother's humanoid form, smiling down at him. "Mother!" he exclaimed gladly, raising a paw to meet her not-quite-physical fingers in greeting. Humain Canaric wasn't the most powerful mage in the city, but she was particularly gifted with communication magic, such as projecting an image of herself that mimicked her own movements and words, to speak with a particular individual. She couldn't see much beyond that individual, who appeared to her in much the same way as she appeared to them, not without expending far more magic than she would for a simple errand like this one. For once, Sentio was glad: he didn't know what she'd think of Cacopheny, staring at her image from against the wall in surprise and anxiety, hair still tangled from his shower that morning and dressed in the same clothes he'd worn since the day before. Cacopheny, sensing his relief and interpreting it accurately, withdrew some from their bond, but Sentio was too pleased and distracted to really pay attention to the half-demon's hurt feelings.

"Hello, Sentio," Humain said warmly, smiling still. "Your father and I have the evening free, and we heard that you'd bonded. We'd like to meet your new friend for dinner, if you don't have other plans."

Since it was rare to have both of his parents at home at the same time, much less to actually share a meal with them, Sentio agreed immediately and enthusiastically. "We'll see you both at home tonight, then, at quarter-before sunset." Since the sun fell late in the summer, that gave him several good hours to prepare. At Sentio's nod, the apparition made as if to stroke his cheek with the back of her fingers, leaving a trail of tingly magic, then faded away.

Sentio let the door close and pranced happily back into the room. "They're actually here!" he exclaimed excitedly. "They're almost always out, but they're here, and they want to see me! And you, they want to meet you, Cacopheny! My parents!"

The half-demon watched him, expression unreadable and emotions hidden. Sentio couldn't even hear his shadows anymore, which was something of a relief, as well. Since he didn't get an answer, he just continued talking. "That was my mom, Humain Canaric," he explained, feeling more talkative, and happier, than he had all day. "She's a communications expert and diplomat, she travels all over the world and even off-world and speaks nine different languages! I wanna know that many when I grow up, but I only know two so far."

"You know three, now," Cacopheny interrupted softly, in his native, grating tongue.

Sentio paused, ears flicking a little. "I hadn't thought of that," he admitted slowly. Then he sat down heavily as the enormity of the idea actually hit him. "Wow, I can understand the demon language. I... I might be one of the only dragons who do. Demons don't like to teach us their language, you know, and it's just so... so strange, that we can't figure it out on our own." That opened up so many possibilities for his future it was dizzying. 

Cacopheny smiled faintly, but didn't comment, so Sentio just continued, shaking off the surprise and hopping right back to his previous topic. "But she's really smart, and really nice! You'll see. We're going home to have dinner with them tonight-- I guess you probably heard, right? We've got a few hours, though, so I can show you how to use silverware before then, I think." He gave Cacopheny a speculative look, taking in the wrinkles in his expensive black tunic, while the half-demon looked down at his clasped hands. "Didn't Ketvia get your robes and stuff cleaned? She put them somewhere...."

It didn't take very long to find and lay out Cacopheny's double-layered robes for him to change into later, or to beg a table setting out of the kitchens, just to borrow for the afternoon. Cacopheny took being taught basic table manners very quietly, even patiently; it was enough to make Sentio a little nervous, but he told himself firmly not to think about it. The easier this was to make his bond presentable enough for his parents, the better. He knew that showing up with someone who smelled like Demon was asking for trouble, and if Cacopheny was going to be accepted, he needed to make a good impression. And Sentio was terrified of what would happen if he didn't make a good impression. These were his parents, and he wanted them to like his new bond, or at least not try to tear out his throat or throw him in a magic prison or send him to be tried by Sanctuary's officials or anything. He'd settle for common courtesy, at first; maybe liking could come later. Maybe once Cacopheny's started to get better. Because, after all, he would get better, right?

Finally Sentio figured he'd taught Cacopheny all he really could teach him about what to do and what not to do at a banquet table-- that's where they'd be at, he figured, the long, formal table in the dining room-- or at least, all he could teach him in the span of one afternoon. He took the plates, silverware, napkin, and drinking glass back to the kitchen while Cacopheny changed and, given how wet his hair was when he got back, took another shower, a quick one. Sentio helped him with the outer robe's fastenings, then sat him on the floor in front of the beds on one side of the room while he sat behind him on the bare mattress, unknowingly mimicking Chiya as he worked a comb carefully through the long, black hair. It surprised him, actually, how quickly Cacopheny relaxed once he got started, even shutting his eyes and seeming to forget his proximity to the hated piece of furniture, the bed-- as long as he wasn't touching it, anyway.

Finally, his gratified surprise must have registered to his bond, for Cacopheny murmured by way of explanation, in demon-speech that made Sentio cringe a little, "Chiya combs my hair... it's... very nice. I like it."

"Huh," the dragon answered somewhat blankly. He couldn't really think of anything to say to that, though he filed the information away, anyway. Apparently, combing Cacopheny's hair was something that soothed him, and he wanted a whole arsenal of things that made the half-demon calmer ready in case he needed them. It wouldn't do much good to know that combing his hair relaxed him at dinner, of course, but it would help in the future, maybe. If Cacopheny was in any mood to let him close enough when he needed soothing, anyway; Sentio couldn't imagine getting within touching distance if Cacopheny was feeling murderous, like the other day.

Okay, think about something else.

While he finished carefully smoothing out the tangles in his bond's hair, Sentio quite happily thought about his parents, and how pleased he was to be able to see them both. His mother constantly traveled with her own job, and his father, a powerful mage, was usually away protecting people from demons or, over the past year, fighting hydras in the war off-world. Sentio knew they both loved him very much, they told him so whenever they could, but they were very important people, and they simply didn't have much time for him. The times they could share with him, though, were always wonderful.

As he tied back Cacopheny's hair with a length of ribbon, the same he'd been wearing for the bonding itself, he realized that Cacopheny had been listening in, as it were, on those thoughts and memories. ::I wish I had a family like that,:: he said softly. Or maybe just thought, and it drifted across their bond, which Cacopheny had apparently relaxed some, as well. 

"Maybe you will now," Sentio answered, a little awkwardly, trying to be optimistic. "Maybe my parents will like you a lot."

A hint of bitter amusement and doubt assailed him before Cacopheny's slightly-off mental presence withdrew again.

"It'll be okay," Sentio said again, promising them both, hopping off the bed and padding for the door to let them both out. He just hoped he was making a promise that wouldn't be broken.