Welcome to Gaia! ::

Andarien thought for a moment about what he was accustomed to making, but he couldn't see how chemistry could help him. He just didn't know enough about it.

"Why don't I show you the things that I've made, and if you have suggestions for things I could do, I would really appreciate it," he smiled at the man finally. "Would that be all right?"

Andarien grinned widely. "Thanks. I'll go get it, I'll be right back."

He got up and hurried to his tent. It would have been easier to have Eron come with him, but he knew that the man had been traveling for a while and he was tired, so he didn't want to make the man get up if he didn't have to.

While Andarien was gathering his things together, Wren announced that lunch was ready and called everyone around so that she could serve it. It was a thick stew with several different vegetables, large chunks of meat that had been stewed nice and tender, thick, smooth gravy, and herbs that Lancaeriel had said would best bring out the flavours of the ingredients.

She served Shoneah and Eron first, as they looked so miserably cold and hungry, and Shoneah accepted her steaming bowl gratefully.

"Very welcome," Wren said warmly. "And eat as much as you like, there's plenty more where that came from."

By the time Eron was sitting again, Andarien had returned with his chest, and he once again sat next to Eron. He set his chest down carefully, making sure there would be room to open it completely without hitting Eron.

"That smells good," he murmured when he caught smell of the stew in Eron's bowl. He quickly set the gears in the lid to unlock the chest, and then he opened it carefully and pulled out the trays that held his gears to get them out of the way.

"Spoon's easier for stew," Andarien offered as he began to pull out some of the things he'd made.

Earendil suddenly realized what his son was doing. "Andarien!" he exclaimed. "Put that away, let him eat and rest before you bother him!"

Andarien had just finished setting out several pocket watches with various designs on the ground, and he blinked at his father. "But he said it was okay!" he protested.

Earendil smiled. "If you're certain," he chuckled. "Andarien does tend to get very excited about his creations, though, so if you get overwhelmed just let him know and he can put it all away again."

Andarien blushed faintly. "Ada ..."

Still, he did temper his pace, and he was more careful about putting his things out to show Eron. Once the pocket watches were out, he pulled out his music boxes.

Andarien was pleased when Eron picked up the pocket watch and looked at it, and he set down the music box he had pulled out of his chest, careful not to damage the mechanical bird on top of it, and peered over the top of the pocket watch to see which one Eron was looking at.

"I have nicer ones than that," he said, misinterpreting Eron's reason for looking at the watch's face. "Some have glass faces so you can see the gears move. That was Miyuki's idea."

"Ah," Andarien smiled. "Yeah, I had that problem when we first came here from Gaia. Took me a few days to figure out how to make the gears I needed to make it run thirty hours instead of twenty-four."

He blinked. "Wait, that means that your watch is no good here," he frowned. "You need one that works right."

He looked over his watches to make sure they were all out there, and then he looked at Eron. "Pick one."