Leaving Akija's home was difficult, especially with Akija herself standing on the porch waving after him, even after everyone else had drifted back inside to their afternoon chores. The morning had been leisurely. Deiv hadn't asked much of Akija, instead taking their latest efforts out for delivery, and Chaith hadn't asked much of Cacopheny, instead devoting her time wholly to her garden outside. Aeta left after breakfast for more lessons in his confusing brand of magic, and both dragons and the daemon-child that linked them had gone off to school shortly after. Thus, Cacopheny and Akija had been left largely to their own devices. Cacopheny had the vague suspicion that this was on purpose, given he was leaving them at last once Sentio returned, but if so, all he could feel was grateful.

Whatever the reason, the two been allowed to spend most of the morning sitting together on the rumpled blankets that would soon be folded, put away, put back where they came from, leaving the room in which Cacopheny had spent the bulk of his recovery from Her looking oddly barren. He'd taught her a few more of Her words, discovering with amusement that she simply could not roll her Rs-- her tongue wouldn't work right-- and she'd told him as many jokes as she could remember, trying to make him laugh. It didn't always work, because most of the time he simply didn't get the joke.

The shadows were oddly reluctant, too, or a good number of them were. One told him it was because they didn't have any other shadows around trying to compete for their attention. Another said they didn't like how restricted they felt at the manor, with Alder Canaric's spell in force to keep the shadows closed to them. Yet another was tired of being tip-toed around, the way the servants there did. Tiger just said that he liked Akija and wanted to see her lose her temper again; Cacopheny thought that was the most honest shadow of all, and it was the only reason he could think of that might make him really want to leave.

Going back to the mansion was even harder than leaving Akija's home. Just walking across the city, haunted by the shape of this building or the angle of that alley, remembering snatches of his desperate flight in search of Her, was bad enough. Actually approaching the house he'd run from was much worse, especially since the first thing to greet him was the stuffy Air dragon who tried-- and failed-- to look down his nose at the half-demon who stood more than a foot taller than he did, and whose shadow was grumbling darkly about his unwelcome return.

Walking through the quiet house, hearing the murmurings of the silent shadows, remembering the darkness he'd brought and the darkness which had chased him away, he felt all the peace he'd accumulated in the safety of Akija's home slipping away. Voices that Sentio couldn't hear jumped out at him from doorways, surprised him around corners, laughed in his own head. Faced with the sight of the room that had been his, all he could think was that now it was Hers and it would never be a haven for him again. All he saw in it were malicious darkness, blood, and a night that had turned into day and irrevocably changed both forever.

Sentio seemed happy to be home, at least. Even with the burden of Kenjista, he still managed to bound up the stairs to his own room, paced around it a few times as if to make sure everything was in order, then raced back downstairs to greet the staff. Cacopheny, shying away from the broken sanctity of his own room, drifted after him, shadowing him without actually touching his shadow. The rest of the staff didn't see him, none of the mundane humans with their dulled senses towards magic, not even Kenjista, not even the Earth dragoness who, after nearly smothering Sentio in a hug, immediately set about making him and his little daemon-friend a massive welcoming meal. If Sentio knew he was there, he didn't show it, and because Cacopheny had once again closed their bond more solidly than he had since before they'd all met Her, he didn't know for certain. He didn't mind; just watching Sentio smile at all the familiar faces, at ease in surroundings he'd grown up in, was enough. Even Kenjista seemed content to be back in the manor; that eased Sentio's mind, as well, and Cacopheny was glad for that. It was for Sentio, as much as for the strain he'd probably put on the Watcher family with his presence, that he'd given in and come back to this place.

By the time true night fell, he was anxious and jumpy all over again. Things he didn't remember-- but which seemed to think he should-- kept intruding on his thoughts, whispering in corners, circling around the ceiling, tugging at his feet, distracting him. His own shadows were louder, as if to compensate, and the general truce he'd had with them since She took them all back to Herself so briefly seemed to be strained by his own stress. All he really wanted was to crawl back to Akija and beg her to let him stay with her, where things were peaceful and reassuring, and there wasn't all this emptiness threatening to swallow him and never let him go again. He'd do anything, wash every dish in the house, whatever they wanted.

But he couldn't, because he was bound to Sentio, and Sentio belonged here. Sentio didn't seem to notice his discomfort, too wrapped up in the joys of being home again, and Cacopheny didn't really want to ruin those joys by enlightening him. It was good to see the dragon happy at last, if only for a little while. He knew it wouldn't last, because he knew now that he couldn't hide things from him for very long-- they'd only get worse, anyway, if he did-- but for now, he resolved to at least give him this one evening.

Resolutions seemed foolish when Sentio finally put away his book and took Kenjista to bed, and Cacopheny had to choose between that room that was no longer his, or wandering the manor, sleepless and quite possibly causing trouble, all night. Since the very thought of going without sleep made him feel unbearably weary, he had no real choice but the room. Even then, tired or not, he tossed in his blankets, hugging Chiya's quilt tightly around him, for hours before sleep finally stole up on him, taking him by surprise and plunging him into complete darkness.

Waking again took a very long time. He felt sluggish, slow, heavy and tired, worn down as if the past week of rest hadn't happened at all. The ache wasn't as bad as it had been, then, but he still hurt. The floor was hard-- somehow he'd rolled off his blanket-nest in the restless night, away from comfort below and behind. There was no wall at his back. All he had managed to keep around him was Chiya's quilt, and he was wrapped head and foot in it, he thought. At least he wasn't cold....

He heard something, on the edge of awareness, and he twitched weakly. The shadows again? Sentio, at the door? He thought he sensed light, but he didn't want light.

Nono... don't want to wake up... too tired....

No, he didn't sense light: he felt it, on his closed eyelids, accompanied by words he only barely heard and didn't comprehend at all. His response was to twitch lightly again and try sleepily to duck away from the speaker, whoever it was. Sentio, probably. "Too tired... just let me sleep," he muttered petulantly and squeezed his eyes further shut.

Refusing to let him be, the light only got worse, making his head ache. There was no getting back to sleep now. What was Sentio doing? He never came in and turned on the lights.... Someone was shaking him, a large hand on his shoulder. Sentio never did that either. No one ever did that. What--? "Come on, Cacoph', wake up...."

That was definitely not Sentio. Too deep, not quite young enough, certainly not nervous enough. But when he tried to open his eyes to see who it was, the light stabbed at him and he had to close them again. He thought he'd caught a blur of red, but that voice certainly wasn't Akija, either, and besides, how would Akija get to Sentio's manor? "What-- vat?" he rasped, switching languages mid-question. Only Sentio understood Her words.

"Hey, it's Chario," he heard. Chario? What was the Fire dragon doing here? "Dunno how you got here, but Sentio says we gotta get you ready for school with us. You like showers, right?"

"Y-yes," he managed, dazed and horribly confused. "Vere-- vat?"

"G'mooooornin' sleepyhead!"

Now that one he knew immediately. "Akizja?" Had he dreamed about going back? Were they still staying at her home? It would be a relief-- but no, Chario had said Sentio had told him to get him ready for school. Sentio would tell him, himself, if he were here. But then... where was he?

Akija's voice snickered, said from somewhere closer: "You must be one heckuva sleepwalker!"

... not the manor, then. Shit. He managed to get his eyes open one more time, peered at the pair of fuzzy red faces. Akija was grinning, and Chario's shadow was muttering about surprise, shadow-walking. But-- he couldn't do that, not from inside the manor. Could he?

Either you broke it, or you got out of the house first.

One of you did this, I know you did. I was asleep!

But if one of them had broken through the shadows that Alder Canaric had closed, maybe that was why his head hurt so badly. And why he still felt so tired. "Confuzzz't," he moaned, putting a hand to his temple, shielding his eyes against the dim-but-bright room. "Am I-- how tid I-- I ssssorry I-- het hurts...."

"I think ya did that shadow-walk thing again," Akija volunteered, "cuz we woke up, and there ya were!"

"I called Sentio when we found you," Chario added, "and we're supposed to bring you to school with us. You can use the shower, and Akija can probably get some clothes from her mom that'd fit you." School? He didn't even know if he could get up, much less walk across the city and stay awake through classes.... "Or do you need to stay here, with your headache?" But staying here meant-- staying here. He'd just left-- no one would want him staying again, especially not Sentio.

He didn't want to have to decide anything. His head hurt and he felt like he hadn't slept at all, all night. Mercifully, at least, the light was dimming. He nearly sank back with relief and weariness, but when he brushed something wood and pole-like, he instinctively scrabbled away, crowding weakly into Chario. A bed! Two beds! Able to see a little better now, he knew where he was: on the floor in Akija's room, at the foot of her bed. "I-- I-- I-- I ton't-- I--" Stammering, trying to swallow words that wouldn't come out, he crept backwards away from beds, dragon, and daemon-- daemons, for Aeta was still in bed, staring at him-- and found the safety of a wall. Actually, all three of them were staring at him, pressing himself into the comforting solidity and shaking faintly.

Then two expressions changed, at least: Chario's to embarrassment, Akija's to understanding. Aeta didn't look anything like understanding, but then, Cacopheny didn't feel like he understood much of anything right now, either, so he couldn't blame him. Akija's movement and words were a welcome distraction. "C'mon, Coff', relax," she suggested, crossing between him and the beds, to the closed door. "Let's find you something to wear, hey?"

Something to wear. School. Letters and words and dragons and people everywhere, all whispering and giggling and staring at him. "Do I have to?" he whined softly to himself, in his own language, then sighed and answered himself: "Of course I do...." And he obligingly, if reluctantly, levered himself to his feet.

Only to sink back down again, trembling and dizzy.

Hmph. Guess it was too soon.

Too soon? What?

To be trying to do anything.

Wore yourself out, you know, before.

Probably stupid to try even coming here.

But I didn't mean to come here!

Too late now, you're here.

And weak as before.

So he was stuck here, then... oh, but Akija's family would love that. Sentio would certainly be thrilled. Why didn't anything ever work out the way it was supposed to? "Ton't-- ton't ssingk. I can ket. Ket up," he managed, embarrassed and apologetic, looking solidly at the floor. "Not-- not ant stay up."

"Nothin' sez ya gotta do everything on yer own, silly," Akija chuckled, padding over and crouching beside him. When she ducked under one arm he looked up at her in surprise, twitching but unable to really jerk away, even if he really wanted to. With her free hand, she used a claw to part the veil of hair around his face, smirking at his expression. "Go a step at a time. Lean on me, lean on th' wall.... We'll getcha a tub if'n ya can't stand fer a shower, an' you kin soak while I find clothes fer ya, and then we'll work from there, okiedoke?"

A bit bewildered now, but not completely adverse to it this time, he nodded faintly. "I kess... yess." With her help, he did manage to stay on his feet, though leaning on someone so much smaller than he was, was tricky. At least she stayed near the wall, so he could balance against that and keep from knocking her over. A shower did sound nice... provided he didn't fall asleep in the middle of it.