Welcome to Gaia! ::

Between the look on his face & the gold still being there Relm laughed even harder. She could not possibly tell him of the smudge, so she touched it lightly her eyes dancing.

She nodded, reaching up to straiten his glasses for him in an almost big-sister type way. Which was almost funny, taking into consideration that they were both short & Kaleb was actually much older than Relm.

With everything else, Relm had not noticed when they left they city nor their trek through the countryside to Bass'ken Lake. She blinked in mild surprise to be entering the forest path to her home & gave Kaleb an odd grin. "We're nearly there."

((Yeah. I probably just shortened the journey immensely, but since I don't know how far away the city is from Bass'ken Lake... *shrugs & grins*))

Relm glanced behind them where the lake glistened at the end of the day. "Really?" She looked back at the path, wondering when Amaryllis had spread and grown the moonflowers that now lined the path & bloomed decidedly out of season in the evening. She continued walking down the familiar path, casually watching Kaleb's reactions. "I guess you coming here is like me coming to the city then, huh?"

What passed for evening light filtered through the needles of the conifers & the bare branches of the deciduous trees of the woods. The path was fairly clear, though little wider than a large draft horse. Some old wagon ruts lightly marked the edges.

Deep in the woods a clearing opened up revealing a quaint little cottage, perhaps one and a half stories high. It looked only large enough to have 4-5 rooms inside. Smoke curled welcomingly out of the chimney bringing with it a soft, comfortable warm smell.

The cottage itself was surrounded by a lush rose garden, beautifully blooming surprisingly out of season. Amid the roses there were Amaryllis, Morning Glories, Moon Flowers, Midnight Candy Phlox, Strawberries, Raspberries, and something that looked to be mangos. Around the corner to one side there was a vegetable garden with asparagus & broccoli & spinach & sweet potatoes. All were growing with health despite the snow on the ground. To the other side there was a strange, metallic looking shed beyond the garden with no windows & an odd door.

If one looked close enough a small white & pink cait cit could be seen cooing softly to a small seedling in the gardens to the left of the front door. Relm tck'ed softly. "Still gardening, Maree?"

The cait looked up from the dirt, blue within blue eyes bright. [Yes, Sister Relm. It is best to care for the night blooming plants when the sky darkens.] She placed her pink tipped paws together & bowed her head to Kaleb. [Sweet water to you, friend of Relm.]

"Yes. All of us." Relm emphasized the 'all' hoping that would give Kaleb at least a little warning to the size of their family. In the garden Amaryllis smiled sweetly at Kaleb's reply before going back to work, a small white rabbit peeking over her back at the audios with its nose twitching vigorously in an almost protective gesture. The pictomancer grinned. "Sorry, Peter. Didn't see you there. Should have known you'd be near Amaryllis." For some reason, Relm had never given this pair nicknames of her own & it did not seem likely she would.

She grinned at the nervous male. "C'mon. I know Remus will be pleased to meet a fellow student of magic." Skipping up the stairs she opened the door.

The front door opened onto a communal greatroom. The room was fairly large, with a vaulted ceiling overhead. In the corner to the right of the door a television was on playing a Christmas special, The Little Drummer Boy. No one seemed to be watching it, though a 2 & 1/2 year old human boy played with blocks in front of it, a cream & sienna colored Jivvin Drada beside him playfully butting the toddler with her nose while flicking her small wings to attract his attention. Going to the right wall was the fireplace with a cozy fire burning brightly behind a very secure grate. Above the fireplace was a portrait of a human woman, the young boy, & a man who was broad of shoulders & kind of face with a mischievous crooked smile to match the child's. The painting style was clearly Relm's.

Across the room were two entrances, one to a narrow hallway; the other into what looked like a kitchen. A faint floral fragrance could almost be smelled coming from the kitchen mixed among the scents of the current meal. Relm blinked, not having realized how close to supper it was. Occasionally, a flurry of black robes or the light pink & red markings of a tail or three could be seen through the open doorway.

The left wall had but one door, which looked like it lead out to the gardens. Past the floor to ceiling window to the left of the front door where a beta tank with four fish inside hung suspended four feet from the floor. There were a couple sofas as well as a dozen pillows & beanbags & cushions scattered upon the floor. A handful of cats & cat sized creatures slept or dozed upon them. The air buzzed with a myriad of small fae of varying species.

Aiden nodded at his fellow audios from a hammock about halfway up the height of the room. There was another one located higher up if one cared to look. The one the highlander was in had a good view of the room from nearly every angle. "I see ye've brought a friend home, Relm-lass." The quirk of his brow asked the silent question 'does Keme know?' to which Relm's eyes widened & she put a hand to her mouth in shock for not having thought of that implication. Her brother's golden eyes sparkled, seeing that his sometimes errant sister was being completely innocent in her behavior this evening. "Welcome, Kaleb-lad. Wha' brings ye te our humble home?" He smiled softly. "Aside from our dear artist, o' course."

Aiden chuckled even as Relm piped up. "He's here to see the library, Old Man."

"And check out the magic door? It's such a wonderful addition. I don't know what I'd do with all of you without it." At Trelweny's kind voice the audios smiled. A 6 inch, flying, blue and grey blur screeched & propelled itself at the human woman's long braid, using it like a swinging vine while shouting "Nenemne!" Treln winced a little, then smiled at the shy mage. "I'm going to help Ginny with dinner, you're welcome to stay for it if you like Kaleb. Or take something home with you. And don't be nervous, we don't bite!" She waved heading to the kitchen, a beautiful peacock kyunru near her heals. "If I don't see you before you leave, know you're welcome any time!"

Sharing a glance Relm & Aiden chuckled. "This way." The pictomancer indicated, weaving a path through the "seats" on the floor to the door on the left hand wall. Best to direct Kaleb to the library before he had too much chance to get weirded out by Trelweny's odd way off picking things up. "We can tell the Bookworm & Daddy's Little Girl that dinner will be soon"

Putting her hand on the door, Relm thought about the library. With grin she opened the door onto a huge classic library that could not possibly fit into what could be seen from the front of the house. The walls were floor to ceiling with books of every sort except for long, thin floor to raised ceiling windows evenly spaced throughout. The windows looked thin more from their height then their width, which was enough for an average human to sit in the window seat below each with their legs pulled up to rest a book on their knees while they took on a view of the ever-blooming gardens outside. A small cozy fire flickered in a grated fireplace in front of a loveseat & a pair of large wingback armchairs, all in soft but elegant leather. Each chair was just large enough for a single kitsu (or two audio) to curl into while the loveseat could easily fit two.

On the loveseat a robed kitsusagi was curled around a crimson kitsu teen, a large book opened on the wide seat in front of them.

With a laugh Relm grabbed his hand just long enough to pull him after her into the room. Letting Kaleb go, she shut the door behind her. Hey Bookworm, I brought Scholar to see the library." She grinned, seeing Liliana stretch with a pout then jump down & trot over to sniff at the audio mage. "He smells of magic, Daddy." tiny wings fluttered on her back as she tilted her head at Kaleb curiously. "Not like a wizard though."

The chocolate colored kitsu stretched, straitening his robes automatically. "That is because he is not a wizard, Liliana dear." He smiled apologetically at the mage, with a nod to Relm. "It is always a pleasure to share the knowledge collected here. I am Remus J. Lupin. This is my eldest daughter, Liliana." The teen grinned & bobbed her head.

((oh yeah, between Rikku's machina & the kitsu guardians & other fams, there are enough translators throughout the house that everyone except Tien, Theron (when he's speaking baby-babble over English) & the HouseCats can be understood. *grins* Of course, most of the family knows kunkunese, so whenever the blue-gray blur speaks they can be asked for a translation. *winks*))

Relm snickered, moving to look out a window while the academically minded conversed. "Pleased to meet you, Kaleb-sir!" Lily piped cheerfully, her gold marked white tails fanning behind her. "It is an honor to meet another student of magic. Kaleb. Please, call me Remus."

Hopping from the loveseat Remus padded closer. "It is good to have someone accept an invitation to see our library." His words had a ring to them that almost shifted "our" to "mine"; but then, Remus was the one who had first called the library into being so that would not be far from the truth. "True, my mate comes from time to time -sometimes with another daughter of ours-" There was no hiding the love & pride in his mannerisms, nor the overwhelming sense Remus exuded of still not quite believing his good fortune. Moving to stand beside her father the crimson teen huffed softly, a slight frown marring her features. "But I've yet to get either Ember or Miss Granger to accept the invitation as viable." As he talked he led Kaleb to the largest wall, all shelves lines with books on magic. He smiled at the mage, certain the promise of his company was not what had enticed the obviously shy audio to accompany the pictomancer into their home. "I am not amiss in thinking that these are what interest you?"