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The evening went just as well as the morning - or better, in Earendil's opinion, because Celeb wasn't complaining of boredom - and by the time they returned to the ship for dinner (though Aurin went back to the castle) Earendil had already finished a good portion of the elven part of the island.

"I'm going to wash and change clothes before dinner," Haldia told the others, unsummoning Rhiel. "I'll see you in the galley shortly."

"Hold up a moment," Earendil said quickly, "I'm going to drop of my bag. I'll walk with you." He looked over at Lin. "You?"

"Wait for me!" Rhea called, running after them all. She pounced on Haldia from behind, giggling mischievously. "That was fun! Hey Earendil, I bet you liked the afternoon better!"

Earendil chuckled as the four started towards their quarters. "It's that obvious?"

Haldia pried Rhea's arms from around her neck. "Earendil, I think everyone has noticed," she said softly. "You should talk to Celeb about it ... he is a sweet boy, but he does have a tendency to ... how shall I put it ..."

While she hesitated, looking for the right word, Rhea substituted for her. "Pushy?"

Haldia nodded, her expression solemn. "Most of the time, he is just trying to help, but he only helps in his own way, and does not readily listen to others."

Earendil set his jaw, and Haldia looked at him and sighed. "I will talk to him," she promised. "He probably will not listen to anyone else. He looks up to me."

"True," Rhea nodded. "Better be careful, though, he takes offense pretty easily."

"I will," Haldia nodded as they reached the door to her quarters. "I'll see you all in the galley." And she stepped inside and closed her door.

Earendil shrugged and changed over to the Common Tongue. "It's hard to get a word in edgewise sometimes, because he just talks over you. I can't work at night because he goes to bed early, and he can't sleep with even a single candle lit - or so he claims."

They headed down to the second deck. "He's just been alone too long," Rhea murmured. "I'm sure if he would spent time with the children in the city, he would learn. He just doesn't know how to interact with people. Even at Nauros, he spent most of his time alone. He probably just feels that it's the only way anyone will listen to him."

"Then tomorrow, before we start working," Earendil suggested, "we should take him to the city. With someone to keep an eye on him, of course, but he needs to spend more time with children. Did he even play with kids back in Namonuito?"

Rhea shrugged. "Don't ask me."

They arrived at the doors to their respective quarters. "See you in the galley," Earendil nodded at the two women as he headed into his room.

"Oh, I'm sure Arwen's been able to find a way to get her to behave somehow," Rhea laughed as she started to change her clothes. "Arwen's pretty good at that sort of stuff. Besides, she's the one in charge of the fish," she added with a giggle.

Speaking of which, she couldn't help but wonder where her own fluffy cat was. Whisper had been making herself scarce of late ...

"Housecat?" Rhea repeated, pulling a thick shirt over her head. "Different than the fluffy cats, you mean?"

Once she was dressed again, she held out her hand. With a flick of the wrist, her staff melted out of her palm, and she set it on her bed before continuing with more weapons from her hands and arms.

"Saki can be serious enough when the situation warrants, or when she's not trying to make children feel better," Rhea nodded. "I've known her my whole life. She's more like Whisper than Senka, that's for sure."

She finished unloading her weapons and turned to Lin, brushing her hair back from her face. "I'm ready. You?"