Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Eon's been inside most of the time," Andarien said sheepishly, "and he hasn't been able to do much. Ponydash has been in his ball most of the time. I had a talk with him so he's been really good about it, and I promised him that on Valenya I'd take him out so he can really exercise. Corazin said I could have the day off because I've been doing so well."

"You've been taking a lot of days off," Earendil commented.

"Only today," Andarien frowned. "That's all. Just because we're not in the shop doesn't mean we're not working. That's when we build!"

"So far he's teaching me about the different kinds of metal," Andarien replied with a grin. "Which metals to use for what projects, their properties and attributes ... it's really neat. And they all have different melting points, so he's teaching me about fire, how to make it the different temperatures and how to tell what temperature it is, so that I can know when to put in the metals that need melting. And When we're not working with the furnace then he's showing me better how gears go together and what kind of things we can build with them and how to make different effects, and-"

"Breathe," Earendil interrupted his son with a laugh. "You're channeling River."

Andarien blushed a bright red, right to the tips of his pointed ears. "Sorry, Ada," he murmured.

"To be fair, it's been a while since she's had something to be that excited about," Earendil grinned back at Miyuki. "Besides, I'm sure she's still just as excitable to Jess."

Just then they arrived at Lara and Cantor's house, and Earendil looked around to see if Lin was outside.

"Hey look," Andarien mused when he saw his aunt and uncle talking with Lin. "Aunt Feng and Uncle Ryu. I haven't seen them since we first got here."

He waved and grinned, and when they were close enough he called out, "Hi Nana! Hi, Aunt Feng and Uncle Ryu! Where's Naida?"

Andarien giggled and ran his fingers through his hair. It was different, being bigger. He couldn't just hide behind someone and pretend that he wasn't there when he didn't want to be the center of so much attention.

"I don't think that's happened before," he had to admit with a grin. "I think I'm almost as tall as you, Uncle Ryu!"

"And if you grow again, you're going to be as tall as me," Earendil put in, chuckling softly at the look on Lin's face.

Andarien shrugged, still grinning, though he had to admit to himself that a hug from Lin wasn't the same as what it used to be. He had a feeling there wouldn't be any more snuggling when he felt down anymore.

"Ten months," he said simply. "That's what I keep telling Corazin, too. He didn't believe me until this morning, though. Oh, and he said to tell you that you don't have to worry about getting clothes that fit me, because the ones Uncle Helen made for me don't fit. The tailor came today, and the cobbler too, Corazin is getting me all new stuff because he says I'm his apprentice and it's his responsibility just like giving me a bed and meals."

"I dunno," Andarien said dubiously, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. "I think by the time we get back there I might have finished growing, because I'm only a year and a half old and from how Corazin talks there are a lot of countries here ... so I don't think Uncle Helen will have to worry about clothes for me again, unless I just need new ones because my old ones are all worn out or something."

He didn't know if maybe he was misunderstanding his mother, but those were his thoughts on the matter. He and Corazin had spent a lot of time talking about things, after all.

"Well, it's not like we can tell him from here," Earendil reminded Lin, chuckling at Feng's comment. "But come, we should let Lara know that we're here and ready for dinner."

"When do you think Naida will be here?" Andarien asked Feng. "If she's late she might have cold food!"