Cal waited patiently for Elliot's response... If the man had one. He was willing to accept silence too, he didn't really feel like he could complain if the human was still angry with him. So when he did speak it wasn't exactly what the vampire expected to hear, and he considered it for a long time. "Mm, I suppose not." He mumbled finally, a dullness to his eyes as he continued looking outside to the darkness of the forest. "What they choose is best for the family, not for the individuals. However, were I what they wished me to be then I could be living in comfort, spending my time with whom I pleased and hardly working at all, making use of the servants... I would probably have been married off by now too, perhaps even starting a family." While his words probably would have sounded wistful from any other vampire, they simply sounded empty coming from Cal.<br/><br/>"I simply requested one thing of them, to let me enjoy a few foolish years happily. It is childish to continue this way, holding a grudge over a child's whim when I am only going against the whims of adults, but perhaps I am simply not willing to act my age just yet." He shrugged softly, but his words were soft and sullen. It was childish to do all this for something as ethereal as love perhaps, especially for a love that would not have lasted longer than a human's life as it was, but all the same, he resented his family for making every moment of that short love all the more intolerable.<br/><br/>It was then that Cal finally looked to Elliot again, noting that he hadn't finished eating, but he didn't push him to do so. "May I ask why it is so vital to you that we accept the bond? I have no intention of sullying your, or your family's name over this matter. For all the outside world I do intend to show you properly... But... saying that I am something I am not to you, lying to you, is not something I wish to do if possible. I can lie to anyone who would look poorly on you, but I would prefer not to lie to ourselves about what this all is." If Elliot wanted him to play the devoted partner, a lover, a friend... Cal could do that, but the thought that he might have to put up a facade even at home or in private as now wasn't pleasant.