Welcome to Gaia! ::

Andarien watched Miyuki carefully, thinking to himself, and after she had her bag open, he turned his attention to the bag that was in front of him. He shuffled forward on his bottom just a little bit to get closer to the bag, then reached out and picked up one of the clasps. He studied it for a moment, and then, with his small fingers, began to pull on part of it. The strap began to pull loose, and Andarien beamed with delight as he pulled it the rest of the way open. When it was all the way out, he stuck one hand in the bag and pulled out the first thing that his fingers encountered - some of Lin's undergarments.

"Nana!" he said proudly, twisting around and holding it up like a trophy. "Nana! I got it!"

Of course, at this point, he didn't have any clothes of his own, and he was so used to wearing other peoples' clothes by now that he didn't think twice about what clothes he picked up.

Andarien blinked at Lin. "Can't wear Nana's clothes?" he asked, perplexed. "I wear Remiel's clothes ..."

Remiel of course was the only person on the trip who was anywhere near Andarien's size.

Earendil laughed. "I think we'll need to get him some more clothes while we're here," he grinned at Lin. "And we're going to have to find some other way to protect the bags now."

Andarien pouted. "But I just got it!" he protested, referring to learning how to open the bags.

Andarien looked back at the undergarments that he was still holding high above his head. "Hmm ... yes," he decided. "Too big."

He stuck it back into the bag, then pushed himself back to his feet. "Nana, if I get a bag," he began, "can I pick it? To have something on it?"

Everyone else had something they liked on their bag, he wanted something special too.

Andarien grinned, happy with Lin's answer, and he stood up again and pulled off the large shirt that he wore as pajamas - one of Earendil's shirts that pretty much covered him from neck to toe. He set it on the floor and smoothed it out before he tried folding it: in half one way, then in half the next way, and then in half again. It was wrinkled and lumpy, but he was happy. He was learning to copy more and more of what his parents did every day.

"Here, Nana!" he said, picking it up and holding it out to Lin again. It unfolded again the moment he picked it up off the floor, but he was holding it so high it was behind his head, and he didn't notice.

Andarien grinned back at Lin and waited for her to get the clothes out that he would wear.

Earendil helped Lin to dress Andarien, then glanced at Miyuki to see if she was ready for the day yet.

"Miyuki? Ready?" he asked her.

Earendil smiled. "Would you like some help?" he offered.

He was quite proficient at braiding hair. Back when his had been long, he had braided it as well, though after he'd gotten it cut short he'd only braided others' hair, and only a few times. His niece Aranxia, mostly.

Earendil saw the indecision in her eyes, and he chuckled softly when she finally relented and allowed him to braid her hair for her. He sat behind her and picked up the brush, giving her hair a few extra strokes before he split it into three thick strands and began to braid it together. He knew that Miyuki could do it herself, he had seen her do it many times - but he loved being able to help her. To him, it was quality time with her.

It didn't take long then, and he had her hair braided, and he tied a leather cord around the end of it to keep it in place.

"There you are," he grinned, hugging her from behind with one arm. Then he let her go again. "All set now?"

Earendil nodded, looking down at Andarien, who was dressed now in clothes a bit big for him. "Make sure Andarien gets breakfast food, and something to drink," he told Miyuki. "And don't let him wander off, all right? We'll be there as soon as we're ready."

Andarien looked up at his parents. "Bread?" he beamed.