"Mom. Dad. Cacopheny is going to be living with me. Here, in the manor."

It seemed like the best way to begin, with the most obvious and most pertinent part of the discussion. Alder and Human sat side by side on dragon-sized couches in one of the lushly decorated, dragon-sized lounges in the manor-- there were several, as well as a corresponding number of human-sized lounges, depending on the species of the rare company invited to sit in them-- staring down at their son as if he had gone as crazy as his bond. Humain's shivering had quieted some, but her wings still rustled and her hide twitched now and then, betraying her continued anxiety. Alder's blood had cooled quickly, as it was wont to do, once he realized that no one was in any immediate danger, but he still didn't look particularly happy. Part of Sentio didn't really blame them for immediately expecting his bond to be dangerous, part of him was furious with them for immediately expecting his bond to be dangerous, but the part that was winning out was calm and doing its best to be rational and reasonable.

"Are you sure that's, ah, the best idea, son?" Alder asked.

"I thought you had a room for-- for him at the bonding complex," Humain added.

"We do," Sentio said patiently, "but it's really small, only meant to be somewhere-- somewhere temporary, for candidates to live in for a few months, at most. It's not fair to keep Cacopheny and me all cramped there, when we've got a huge house here with plenty of room."

"Isn't this a bit far to be walking to and from class at the complex?" Alder suggested.

"It only takes a quarter-hour to get to the complex, Dad. And honestly, I think regular walking will be good for him. He's not very strong." Sentio hoped his parents would pick up on the implications of that sentence: if Cacopheny wasn't strong, then he wasn't going to be very dangerous.

"I won't have him disrupting the staff," Humain warned, a little strength creeping back into her voice.

"He won't," Sentio promised, though he wasn't entirely sure if that was true or not, given that they'd already disrupted the staff at least once since they'd gotten here. "He's not dangerous," he added earnestly for good measure. "He's just kind of odd, that's all." And, though he didn't look like he believed that, Alder had nothing with which to prove it wrong; never in a million years would Sentio admit to them that Cacopheny had once attempted to hurt him and had threatened more than once since. He probably never would, not even if they actually came to like the half-demon.

Before either parent could come up with another objection, Sentio continued hurriedly, "Besides, there is plenty of room here. Even when you're home, Cacopheny will stay out of your way. And it's not as if you're home all that often to even notice. We've been here more than a week now, and you only just noticed he's been living here." Since that was true, it drew a rueful little grin out of both of them.

"It still smells," Humain complained, then, though her resistance was obviously weakening. "I don't want to come home to that reek of Demon, even if I am only home once a week."

"There are spells we can implement, dear," Alder admitted, his resistance almost completely gone; rational arguments worked well, with him. "To clear the air or restrict where particular scents go. I'm sure we can figure something out so it won't disturb you."

Sentio tried not to look too relieved; they hadn't actually said that Cacopheny could stay yet, after all. Alder gave him a hard look, as if he was well aware what his son was thinking; he probably was, for he said sternly, "Even if you do have good arguments, son, you really should have discussed things with us, first."

Swallowing his relief and trying to put on a penitent expression, Sentio answered, "I wanted to, honestly, but you're both gone all the time, and Cacopheny was really starting to feel cramped. And honestly, so was I. At least here, we can each have our own room." Sentio could tell from the look on her face that Humain could not imagine spending two months sharing a room with a half-demon. Until he'd done it, actually, Sentio didn't think he would have been able to, either. It certainly wasn't anything like he'd expected....

"You do have a point," Alder sighed with obvious regret. Even if they were gone all the time, at least they made an effort to make sure he knew they didn't like to be gone all the time. "I still don't know what possessed you to bond that-- person," at least he didn't say thing.... "to begin with, but you're right, he at least deserves the respect of his own room. Particularly when we have so many to spare, here."

"What did possess you?" Humain asked with a shudder, casting a glance over her shoulder, as if she expected Cacopheny to be looming out of the shadows there. Her mate nuzzled her reassuringly, though even he seemed to be running out of patience for her nervousness. Her son certainly was. But, he thought, I haven't had an opportunity to explain, to tell them about Cacopheny. I guess this is as good a time as any, and probably better than most.

"Because I was curious, partly," he admitted. "But mostly because-- because I want to help him."

"Help him?" Humain repeated with a hint of suspicion, not understanding.

"He's had a very hard life, Mother," Sentio explained, and took a breath to steady himself. This was only the second time he'd ever told his bond's story, and it hadn't gotten any easier yet. "He'd never seen the sky, or daylight, or anything other than two little rooms underground until this spring when a pair of dragons rescued him." The idea that a demon of any kind would need rescuing caught their attention, so he continued, a little shakily, "Two demons kept him down there, and one of them-- one of them-- she, um, did things to him...." He felt himself flushing under his fur. One didn't talk to one's parents about rape and torture, particularly not when they were combined into the unholy, unnatural acts that Cacopheny had been subjected to. The thought of putting those things, things he shouldn't even know about yet if he were a normal kit, into words in front of his parents was uncomfortable and embarrassing.

Thankfully, he didn't have to. Alder worked against demons and he knew the worst things they were capable of. "I can imagine what kinds of things," he interrupted, somehow seeming both kindly and disturbed at the same time.

"It was-- it was really bad for him. Hurt him in all sorts of ways. He's a little-- that's why he's so odd, now. He, you know, hears voices that aren't really there, sometimes." All the time. "And he knew absolutely nothing about anything except what she did to him-- and he wants to get better, learn about other things, but he needs help. So the dragons that rescued him, they sent him to the bonding. I talked to him at first cuz he was so different, it was really interesting to think about him and all. And I bonded him because I do want to help him, he's really a good person and he tries so hard, even when everybody hates him and he doesn't understand the way things are. I want to help him-- I just... don't really know how, yet."

Out of words, he sat himself down, realizing he'd stood up at some point in his little speech, and coiled is tail around him so that the short plume at the end sat on his paws, looking at the floor and sighing out the last of the air in his lungs. There was silence for a moment as the adult dragons digested that. Then, with a sound like he was clearing his throat, Alder said quietly, "That was a very brave and very noble thing you did. I'm proud of you." A sliver of a glance proved that he was smiling a little down at him, actually looking as if he was proud of him.

"A bit silly, maybe," Humain added, but then she smiled, too, if a slightly watery smile. "But brave and noble, yes. It was very good of you, thinking of someone else, even a half-demon, before yourself."

Sentio gulped a little, refusing to cry. "Thank you," he mumbled, looking back down at the floor and wiggling the fingers of one forepaw in his tail plume uncomfortably.

Apparently they picked up on that discomfort, too, for Alder didn't compliment him further, but said gently, "Thank you for explaining things to us, Sentio. It's harder to think dark thoughts about someone who is very obviously the victim. We'll try to be more understanding with him."

"Thanks," Sentio said, swallowing back the last of the threatening tears. "Having you not-- not-- like you were... it'll help, since we all do have to live here. He gets enough of that at school."

"I bet he does," Alder agreed, then stepped down from the couch to draw his son against his foreleg in a careful hug. "Well, we'll do our best to make sure he gets none of it here. On my honor."

Sighing with relief, Sentio just cuddled up to his father and enjoyed the moment while it lasted.