Trying to make conversation during and after dinner was harder than Catame had expected it to be. A nice gentleman down the table a ways, in some strange kind of uniform and with an accent Catame couldn't place, had made the comment that there were many less people here for this, the second bonding, than there had been for the first, but it still felt as if everything were too loud and too crowded. Kaur and Dana sat across from him, the daemon looking uncomfortable at a table not meant for someone as large as she and his aunt as proper and stiff as she usually was. Neither one seemed very keen on holding up their end of a conversation, leaving Catame to listen in silence to Daynoren's easy banter with a very small quadruped daemon sitting beside Dana or to turn to his right, to the lady Aloia.

Catame was finding that he rather liked the bonding mistress, a half-dragon with golden hair, golden eyes, and a kind smile. She seemed used to unsure children, knowing just how to ask a question to get more than a monosyllable response. It made sense, seeing as she was the bonding mistress and would have to deal with many different kinds of people, but it was reassuring, all the same. She even managed to convince the brightly red-skinned, blazingly magical Fire dragon sitting across from her to share a few words with Catame, though Catame himself was so dazzled by the sense of power about him that he could only stammer.

Despite Aloia's best attempts at distracting him, as the meal drew closer to an end Catame felt like his heart was trying to beat its way out of his chest, he was so nervous. The red-headed woman at the other end of the table was laughing so loudly it made his head hurt, and the rest of the tense, idle chatter wasn't helping matters any. He felt hyper-sensitive; colors were too bright, sounds were too grating, the room was too stuffy, and the magic in the air was enough to make him feel a little dizzy. Aloia's own growing distraction as plates and silver were taken away by kitchen staff left Catame alone in the small crowd, staring numbly at the table in front of Kaur.

"Doing all right, cub?"

The daemoness' rough voice startled him into looking up. Kaur's ears were perked, her eyes dark and focused on his face. He smiled back at her. "Just nervous," he said. That's all it was, after all, nerves and raw senses. Besides, if he told her exactly how he felt, she would just worry about him, and might even make him leave. After all that he'd been through to get here, there was no way he could leave before it all came to its end, whether good or bad.

"You'll do fine," Kaur said, reaching over the table for his hand, giving his fingers a gentle squeeze. "You're a good cub."

"Yes, I'm sure you both will do fine," Dana added, catching both the conversation and Daynoren's attention beside him. "We're expecting big things from the two of you, don't forget that. You'll do the family proud."

"No pressure, of course," Daynoren murmured, taking another sip from his water. They hadn't been allowed wine, which in Catame's case was probably a good thing, but Daynoren obviously resented it, especially as many others at the table were enjoying wine of varying shades of red. Dana cast him a sharp, warning look, but Daynoren merely smiled calmly at her, his eyes opaque and expression bland.

There was a sudden, thick silence as an Air dragon at the head of the table rose, beaming happily. All eyes focused on her, the Danuis' included, as she cleared her throat with a touch and began speaking, quite loudly and clearly enough to be heard throughout the whole, massive chamber. Catame cringed slightly at the volume and clarity, and Daynoren finally noticed his discomfort and slipped an arm around his shoulders for a moment. They shared a brief smile of equal nervous excitement before he released him.

"Everyone done eating?" the Air dragon was asking. "Very good." And, without further preamble, she said grandly, "The Bonding will commence now. Candidates, please stand."

There was the hurried sounds of chairs pushing back as the women at the end of the table all but leapt to their feet. Daynoren rose with more grace, as did the bird-woman next to him, but Catame stood slowly, trying to keep from trembling. The room felt more full, the air shimmering with expectation and magic, and when he turned he was not surprised to see that the dragonets had come into the room and arranged themselves into something of a line. The rest of the candidates were doing the same, leaving enough space that the basket of magical scrolls in the center of the room, and Catame felt his brother take his hand to lead him forward when his feet didn't seem to want to move themselves.

For a long, breathless moment, nothing and no one moved. Catame stared blindly at the dragonets, unable to pick one from another in the fog of his nervousness, his weariness, and their magic, until a Water dragon tumbled forward, nearly falling. Catame focused on him as he shot another Water dragon a dirty look for pushing him, which melted quickly into an excited grin as he hurried towards the scrolls as fast as his short legs and long toes would allow him. Two Airs followed him, and all too quickly there were suddenly three flashes of light and three minor explosions of power, far too close together and far too close to him for Catame's comfort. Each one made him blink furiously and waver a little on his feet. At least it distracted him from the worry that no dragonet had seen fit to come find him yet, not even Tantra.

As his vision and senses cleared after the third bonding spell had been released, Catame found himself staring at two Light dragonets coming towards him. They were actually almost directly in front of him now, one tall and stately herding the smaller, less certain quickly towards him. Frux, nudging Tantra forwards, a small scroll in her mouth and her eyes fixed anxiously on his face.

Shifting the scroll to one dainty forepaw, Tantra began, "Ah... ah... Catame?" Then her voice stuck, just as Catame was sure his would have. "I... I..."

"What she means is," Frux sighed with some exasperation in his voice, "that she's chosen you. And for that matter, I'd better come along, or you'll both keep stumbling over your own tongues like this."

He sounded so much like Daynoren might have, speaking for Catame, that Cat had to giggle, even though it sounded slightly hysterical with relief and lingering nerves, and he nodded quickly, to assuage the slightly panicked look on poor Tantra's face. Crouching down, unable to keep his hand from shaking, he touched the scroll that the Light dragonet held up for him. There was another blinding flash of light, enveloping him with magic stronger than any he'd felt since the Kaur and Daynoren healed him in the cave, and for a long moment he couldn't breath.

Perfect.

Then he found himself staring up at two anxious pairs of eyes, one narrow and green and the other wide and golden, the memory of something slipping out of his grasp, replaced by a sense of fear that was not his own. Tantra? "Tantra, it's okay," he tried to say, but it came out a whisper. She whimpered, filling his mind with relief and affection, and his brother's hands helped him sit up; somehow he'd ended up on his back on the floor.

"I think I'll turn this in for you," Frux's voice said, sounding full of a smug satisfaction, and he picked up the bonding scroll and trotted over to do just that.

"Are you all right?" Daynoren asked, helping him the rest of the way to his feet.

"Yes," Catame assured him. "I don't know what happened... I think the magic was too strong...."

"I'm sorry," Tantra whispered, looking horror stricken, and her instant grief and self-blame startled Catame into stepping forward, closing the distance between them and wrapping his arms around her neck.

"It's okay," he said quickly, trying to make that awful feeling go away. "I've been sick, it's not your fault or even the spell's fault. Really, I'm just getting over this awful fever I had in the snow on the way here."

"You were sick?" Tantra repeated, though she didn't pull back, resting her cheek against his chest and folding her wings around them both. She was relieved, Catame could feel it, and suddenly a lot of things made more sense to her.

"I guess I forgot to tell you," Catame said, embarrassed. She giggled in response to his emotion, and then they released each other as Frux came padding back, standing beside Daynoren. It was only then that Catame noticed Daynoren stood alone, no dragon of his own, no scroll, no flash of light.

"And so concludes the second Avengaean Bonding," the Air was saying from the table. "Congratulations to all the new pairs."

"Daynoren, you--"

"It's all right," Daynoren cut him off, smiling his usual, charming smile. "Let's get you back to our room before you pass out again."

As Dana and Kaur were working their way towards them, Catame could only agree and let the matter rest. For now.