::Cacopheny, what happened?::

The half-demon wouldn't look at him, but picked at his dinner listlessly. ::I don't know,:: was all he said in response.

::How can you not know? You were at home last night, you were here this morning-- you had to do something to get here.::

Sentio didn't often get angry. In fact, he didn't often even get annoyed. It was something he was a little proud of, the fact that he would never lash out at someone in fury, never want to seek revenge, never even glare and think dark thoughts about someone else. It was part of who he was. And yet, for some reason, finding Cacopheny once again at the Watcher's house, meek and apologetic, irked him. He didn't know why it upset him, and that bothered him, too. He kept turning it over and over in his mind, wondering even as he was annoyed. Was it just because his own plans had been ignored? Did he think Cacopheny thought there was something wrong with his own house? With him? Did he think Cacopheny somehow was escaping his house and avoiding school just to spite him? Was he just upset because his chosen bond was so different from him, and from what he expected? Cacopheny didn't even have an explanation for him. A reason. That only made things worse, because he could only imagine what had brought him back.

They had accepted the Watcher family's invitation to stay for dinner, since they were already there after school, Sentio coming for Cacopheny and Cacopheny there since morning. After that, though, Sentio intended to go back home and, he hoped, take Cacopheny with him. The exhaustion that had kept him from coming to school seemed to have mostly worn off, after a quiet day at the Watchers, so there was no worry that he simply wasn't up to the trip. Now, they sat around the large kitchen table, just like they had two nights ago, and three nights ago, for the whole past week. The familiarity of the Watcher family dinner only made him feel withdrawn and irritable: Akija's chatter, Aeta's bickering interjections, Deiv's well-placed teases, Chario's snickers, Kenjista's mixture of adorable child and haughty princess, and Chaith presiding over it all with her matronly air. Cacopheny was silent, hardly eating, but no one paid him any heed, because it was something that was considered "normal" for him, especially when he was tired. Sentio was the only one who tried to disturb him, because he wanted answers.

::There's gotta be a reason,:: he pressed, trying to keep his expression blank while his mind was annoyed. ::Come on, even if you don't know what happened, you've gotta know why right?:: Not that he really believed that Cacopheny didn't know what had happened.

::I-- I couldn't sleep,:: he heard finally, faintly. ::Shadows, noises, too hot, too cold. Remembering. Couldn't sleep. Not for-- not for a long time.::

::You came here because you couldn't sleep??:: At his bond's faint, almost unnoticeable flinch-- certainly unnoticed by the others, wrapped up in some joke of Deiv's-- he tried to tone himself down. ::Why didn't you just say something? There's all sorts of things you can do for not being able to sleep. I like warm milk, myself.::

::Don't know. Didn't think. Didn't even know I came here, just finally did fall asleep... so surprised when I woke up here... so tired, too....:: Sentio kept his snort of annoyance carefully private, or, he thought he did. Cacopheny, though, couldn't help but hear his thoughts, bond or no bond.... For a moment, black eyes flicked from the plate they'd been fixed on before, up to meet Sentio's, hesitent, apologetic. Then they fell back down again, and Sentio heard the sorrowful thought with embarrassed chagrin: ::Sorry, very sorry... didn't mean to... really really didn't mean to....::

How could he possibly stay angry when Cacopheny was so afraid of upsetting him? It was bad enough being angry to begin with, without being angry for no reason. He stared for a moment at the vegetable on the end of his fork before responding. ::Is there something wrong with my house, Cacopheny? Is that what sent you back here?::

The faint flinch, this time, meant his question had hit some nerve. ::I will try, Sentio. I'll try to be better. Just so many shadows, everywhere there, just so many--:: He broke off, fumbling for even thought-words to explain himself with. Sentio waited patiently, used to the pauses while the half-demon gathered his thoughts, but not prepared for what those thoughts actually did, this time. Without warning, the block on their bond dropped and the other mind swarmed across it, usurping it for a moment to place what it saw and remembered there, instead. For a terrifying moment, Cacopheny's vision of his own familiar, much-loved home overwhelmed him. Rooms he knew became strange and full of frightening echoes; voices whispered from down empty corridors; firelight that had been comforting turned menacing, and magic-light that had seemed natural hummed with unfathomable powers. Scenes, faces, and voices leapt out of every point of light and dark, some remembered and some not, some benign and some not. The room that should have been his was hung with memory and now, no longer safe. Everything was wrong, skewed, and sinister, so that Sentio couldn't recognize his own home.

When the image released him, Deiv was giving him a little shake, asking, "Hey, you all right in there?" The whole table was blinking at him with varying levels of confusion and concern.

"Yes, yes, I'm fine," he managed dazedly. Any thought of anger or even annoyance was gone, faced with that. No wonder Cacopheny ran away!

"My vault," Cacopheny rasped. "Tistract't him."

"Looked like somethin' hadja spooked," Akija commented, though she gave Cacopheny's arm a reassuring pat, as if to say even if it was his fault, no one would hold it against him.

"I'm okay," he assured them again, feeling a little firmer in the truth of it as reality reasserted itself. "Just startled by something, that's all." Startled, all right, and chagrined, on top of that. Through Kenjista he promised Chario, and thus Akija, that he would explain later. That was apparently enough for them, and as they relaxed, the rest of the table slowly went back to their own meals and conversations, but a little more subdued and with frequent glances his direction.

::How could I not notice you felt so uncomfortable?:: he asked Cacopheny after a moment, amazed by his own obliviousness.

::I hid it. I didn't want to... to ruin your evening.::

::Cacopheny, you can't keep hiding stuff from me....::

::I know. I know. Wasn't going to for long... just... didn't want to ruin first evening back for you.::

Well, it was kind of him, at least, but.... ::If you'd just've told me last night, none of this'd have to have happened. We coulda figured something out.::

::But you were not happy, here. Too crowded, too different. I know. Want you to be happy.::

::I wasn't happy when you disappeared this morning. Or all day, when I was afraid you just plain didn't like me and were running away because of me.::

::Not that at all!:: The surprise in the half-demon's voice made him smile a little. ::Was-- was an accident. Think the shadows must have done it, I do not remember. Didn't mean to, certainly didn't mean to make you unhappy. Thought I could handle it, handle your house, handle remembering... thought wrong, I suppose.:: The clarity of the last thought was accompanied with a little sigh.

::I'll talk to my parents next time they're home,:: Sentio promised. ::We'll think of something to do, to make you more comfortable. I don't know what, but I'm sure they will.:: Both of them knew, though, that it would probably be a few days before the Canaric family was reunited again, and until then.... Well, he couldn't force Cacopheny back to a place that was so disturbing, could he? ::Maybe, until then, the Watchers will let you stay here.::

:: .... I have been such a nuisance to them... do you think they would let me?::

::Cacopheny, I don't think they'd turn down anybody, no matter how much of a nuisance they are.:: It was so different from most of the dragon homes he knew, who would probably throw Cacopheny out onto the street if he so much as set foot in the door. City dragons weren't even all that hospitable to their own kind, much less half-demons who had gotten their daughter into danger and then attacked her rescuers, but the daemons seemed able to forgive everything Cacopheny had done and still open up their home to him. It was amazing.

::We'll ask them after dinner,:: he promised, and felt Cacopheny's wordless relief and gratitude through a slightly thinned block between them. It felt much better than being angry; after all, Cacopheny was always trying to help him, and this once, he was able to do something to help the half-demon. It wasn't much, but at least it was something.