Welcome to Gaia! ::

River giggled and spun again. "Thank you!" she beamed. "It's a lot more comfortable than I thought it would be!"

She stopped spinning and looked at Miyuki. "Oh! That's a new dress for you, isn't it?" she said brightly. "It's so pretty! All those flowers on it! You didn't get that done here in the city though, the style is like your other dresses!"

Andarien held tightly to Miyuki's hand, wobbling slightly now that he was standing still. He was still new to walking, and it was his sheer determination to keep up with his sister that had gotten him this far.

River grinned. "Neat. You should see Grandmama's dress, it's really pretty too! It was funny when Grandpapa saw her, he couldn't talk!"

She had found that hilarious, really. Just the look on his face, the way he couldn't form words.

"Come on, let's go see if Amalirahc is ready, or maybe Jess's family is here!" she exclaimed.

At just that moment, Andarien lost his balance, yanking on Miyuki's arm (unintentionally) as he fell to his bottom. "Oof!"

Andarien clung tightly to Miyuki's hands, wobbling unsteadily as he regained his footing.

"He's not that big," River mused, watching the two of them. "You can't carry him?"

He was just a little taller than Miyuki's knees, and elves were light, after all, weren't they?

Little did she know that despite his looks, he wasn't like the elves of her world.

"Me?" River blinked at her friend. She was four times Andarien's height, how in the world could she be lighter? "Seriously?"

She looked down at the boy. "Should I try carrying him?" she asked hesitantly.

She knew she was strong for her age, even compared to her sister, but if Miyuki couldn't carry Andarien then maybe he was even heavier than she imagined ...

River frowned slightly at Miyuki as she knelt to pick up Andarien, careful of her new dress.

"We are what we are," she replied simply. "Maybe we're the normal ones, and you're just heavy."

She put her hands beneath the boy's arms and picked him up. She blinked in surprise when she felt how heavy he was, and she had to shift her balance before she could pick him up. She hefted him and held him with both arms, grimacing slightly. "Wow, you're right. He is heavy."

Still, she could carry him. It was like carrying her bag of belongings, really. It had just taken her by surprise.

Andarien, for his part, was surprised that it was River who picked him up, rather than his sister, and he held his arms out to Miyuki. "Mi!" he frowned.

River nodded. "Well, we are of different races," she admitted.

She bounced Andarien a bit in her arms. "Come on, Miyuki can't carry you," she smiled at him. "But we're not going to leave her, don't worry! We're off to find Amalirahc!"

Andarien blinked at River, then looked over at Miyuki. "Mawahc?"

Andarien nodded and settled down. "Mawahc," he said again, showing that he understood.

River giggled. "Good, Andarien." She turned back to Miyuki. "You're probably right. He always does everything so fast. Honestly, I doubt there's anything he really takes the time to think about."

She turned and started with Miyuki towards the suite Amalirahc shared with his parents.