Alder and Humain Canaric approached the scattering of daemon houses outside the dome of Sanctuary with a little trepidation. They'd never actually been among the daemon residences-- or even among the daemons, really-- and hardly knew what to expect. The fact that they were poor daemons only made things worse, at least for Humain, who very rarely had anything but the best accommodations, being a respected dignitary; though Alder was used to making due with what was given, he wasn't sure his mate would be comfortable in the small house. Neither had ever been visiting for such a strange purpose, either, which only served to make things more awkward.

In human form, dressed in clothes that weren't quite their best, led along by their nervously cheerful son, and with Humain's arm threaded through her mate's, they made their way among the small buildings, along a roughly cobbled road between them, towards the home of the Watchers Deiv and Chaith. It wasn't very big, even compared to the other buildings: one story, certainly not more than four or five rooms, simple wood and hardened, whitewashed clay. Not only was a whole daemon family waiting for them in that tiny building, but also their son's pair of bonds, Kenjista and Cacopheny, and, so they'd been told, dinner. Sentio promised that Chaith was a superb cook, though he had admitted that the table had to be enlarged in order to fit the extra two. Cacopheny had apparently suggested he simply give up his place, but no one else was having any of it. Not even Humain, for all she was still a bit antsy around him, wanted to be the reason to chase him away.

That was one of the reasons they were here, at all, subjecting themselves to possible culture shock and certainly discomfort, if just social discomfort: Sentio's chosen bond, the half-demon Cacopheny. Their house, apparently, made him uncomfortable; Alder wasn't particularly surprised. After spending most of his life in a tiny cell and a slightly larger bedroom, exposed to nothing but demon magic and demon cruelty, a huge manor full of dragon magic and dragon scent would most certainly make him uncomfortable. What the half-demon preferred, though, was this place, full to the brim with and surrounded by daemons and far too small to house even one more occupant, much less two. Even if there had been room, the Watchers had children-- Akija and Aeta, according to Sentio-- plus having the growing-- and eating-- Kenjista half of the time and the Fire dragon who had bonded himself with Akija. Trying to feed all of them, plus Cacopheny and, since he didn't wish to be separated from his bond, Sentio, would surely be a strain on their resources.

Hence, the visit. It was, of course, only polite to meet and socialize with the family who seemed to be halfway adopting their son, daemons or not, but since they were so rarely home for very long, anyway, the Canarics simply hadn't had the time. Sentio's request for help, though, gave them no more excuses, and they had to make the time. So they were here, knocking on the Watcher family's door, with the intent to offer what ideas and aid they could, to make their son happy. They didn't have much else they could do for him, after all, but offer their fortune to whatever he wanted done.

The door opened to a short, red-furred daemon with a feline face and small, black-webbed wings. She was grinning widely but, it seemed to Alder, a little nervously. "Heya! You guys mus' be Sentio's folks, c'mon in! Hi, Sentio," she added with a more relaxed grin at their son, standing behind them a little breathlessly.

The little daemon-- Akija, who had visited the manor before, but never while the adults had been home-- introduced the rest of the family. Chaith was seven feet tall if she was an inch, even topping the towering Cacopheny and certainly looming over the very average-height dragons, and had four burley arms to back up her bulky frame; still, she seemed kind and, for all her fearsome appearance, quite motherly. Deiv was much smaller than his partner-- did daemons actually marry, or just join up for a while to produce children? Alder wasn't sure-- and very cheerful, constantly grinning and tossing his long hair out of his eyes. He had to be where Akija got her small wings; his were even more malformed. Aeta, small and orange-scaled, seemed a little awed by them, or at least unsure how to treat them, though he was polite enough.

Kenjista they knew, from a singular visit during which they'd been home, over a dinner in which she'd made every effort to charm them both. Humain had been thoroughly won over, but Alder found her just amusing; he'd seen that tactic used before, and knew from Sentio's somewhat perplexed expression that such wasn't actually her normal behavior. Charionateran-- just Chario or Char, according to Sentio-- just grinned and waved. Cacopheny smiled hesitantly but said nothing.

"Come, sit," Chaith said immediately once introductions had been made, gesturing with two of her hands to the table-- which had, indeed, been added to with a slightly shorter, square table from another room, or even another house. How many tables could the small building hold, after all? "Dinner before business, I always say."

"Dinner before anything, you always say," Deiv chuckled.

"You, would, too, if you had your priorities straight," came the friendly response, and the children giggled.

Dinner was relaxed and, actually, every bit as good as Sentio had said it would be. Humain even managed some real chit-chat with Chaith and Deiv, rather than her usual suave diplomatic small-talk. Alder found he rather liked Deiv, and how could anyone not like cheerful Akija and shy Aeta? Even when they bickered, they were still friendly; even when one or the other put their foot in their mouth, they still smiled. No one minded having two extra guests, not once everyone got settled, and certainly no one seemed to mind that those guests were slightly over-dressed dragons. Probably the most amazing, though, was that Cacopheny, who neither dragon had ever seen anything other than taciturn and nervous, actually seemed something like content, seated between their son and Akija. It was an interesting change, and certainly interesting to see, giving a little more credence to his preference for living here.

Finally, the plates were cleared away and the children-- and Cacopheny who, though hardly a child, would probably not understand the proceedings, and not have much interest, anyway-- shooed into the bedroom, leaving the two couples to some rather comfortable, if slightly fraying, cushioned, basket-like chairs in the living room adjoining the kitchen. A little more small-talk ensued before Alder finally cleared his throat and said, "So... about these housing arrangements."