Welcome to Gaia! ::

"After we check into the Ranch house," Donovan interrupted.

He wanted to know if it was possible to go out again or not, and he needed to see how things were going and well, Donovan had a very long to do list at the moment.

"Don't worry," Lin assured him, "You guys will."

"And I take it you'll be visiting as usual."

"Of course."

"No, the twins will probably meet up with him, or at least at the house as usual," Donovan replied, "But we did run into Rose on the way."

So Roydon's appearance was not a complete surprise just the married part... courting he probably would have expected though.

"We'll see you later," Lin told the four as she led Toshiro and Miyu to the barracks.

Arwen grinned at Kara. "He does tend to try to remain unseen," she agreed, "so that's no surprise. But no, what's surprising is that he does have a voice ... and had recently started to use it, for certain people, and doesn't run away from his own siblings anymore."

She paused. "Most of the time."

Roydon chuckled softly and stepped ahead of the others to hold the door open for them. "I think he has a crush on Rose," he winked. "Though he's got competition."

Arwen smiled at Kara. "Adanedhel. He's been courting Rose ... or at least, trying to. I'm not sure how much she realizes it, since I get the feeling he's also trying to hide it a bit for Adonijah's sake."

She followed Kara inside and called out, "Mother! Kara and Donovan are here!"

"Bring them in!" Haradhel's voice called back from the direction of the dining room.



The door suddenly opened beneath Naida's hands, and Adonijah appeared in the doorway. He was very nearly Feng's own height by now, close to adulthood (in truth he was only one year away from it), but other than his height he looked the same as ever: the white blond hair that fell to his shoulders, violet eyes like his father's ...

The only thing that was really different about him was the eager expression on his face.

"Rose!" he exclaimed even before he had opened the door. "You're here! I-"

But when he saw that it was not in fact Rose who was at the door, he paled and it was almost as if his voice had disappeared on him. Leaving the door wide open, he turned on his heels and fled, running through the house to his bedroom and slamming the door behind him.

Aliya appeared from the kitchen doorway, her eyes filled with confusion. "What ..."

"Hello, Kara!" Haradhel's voice preceded her out of the dining room, and she appeared in the hallway, drying her hands on a towel and smiling brightly at their guests. "Welcome back. I hope you're all well. You look well."

Arwen smiled at her mother. "Roydon and I are going upstairs to wash up," she told her, "we'll be down shortly."

And with a glance up at her husband, she headed for the stairs. Roydon chuckled softly and followed quickly after her.



Aliya perked up when she saw Feng and Ryu and Naida, and she just about skipped over to greet then, hugging her friends tightly.

"Oh, it's so good to see you all again!" she beamed. "Don't worry about Adonijah ... it's just been so long since he's bolted like that, that I had almost forgotten that he did it. Come in, we'll be eating soon, and you can meet Rose then. I have the feeling I'll be having her as a daughter in law before long, I just don't know to which son."

She giggled softly. "Come in, have a seat," she urged them again, closing the door behind them.

Haradhel chuckled softly. "Of course," she murmured. "Nothing really ever changes, does it? But come, there is much to catch up on." She motioned for Kara and Donovan to follow her into the dining room. "Dinner's nearly ready, we can chat as I finish it up. Tell me everything that's been happening with you two, and with Lore and Elnara's family."



After only a moment, Elros's door opened and the tall elf stepped out. When he saw Lin, his normally expressionless face split in a wide smile, and he chuckled softly.

"Welcome back, Lin," he murmured, placing one hand on her shoulder in greeting. He glanced at Miyu and Toshiro. "Aragost is not in today," he told them gently. "He is out on duty, but he should be finished within the hour."

He stepped to one side to let Lin into his quarters. "You're welcome to wait with me," he invited them with a warm smile.



Aliya bit her lip thoughtfully as she set dishes on the table. "Well ... I'm tempted to just have you wait and see," she murmured. "It would be a lot easier than trying to explain a very complicated situation ... though when you're seeing it it's quite obvious. For starters, let's just say that Rose is the only person who has ever gotten Adonijah to come out of his shell, to the point where he would talk with anyone he has seen regularly since he was a child ..."

She looked at Feng and Ryu pityingly. "Unfortunately, I don't think you fit that description ... your visits have been too few and far between for him to feel comfortable with you yet. But we'll see what happens at dinner, maybe he will open up a bit. Rose is good at getting him to talk to others."

Haradhel smiled warmly at Kara. She liked spending time with the angel, not only for news, but also just because she was a fun woman to be around - and always seemed to have some sort of excitement going on in her life.

"So tell me," she beamed as she continued to prepare dinner, "what news on your end? I assume you're all moved into your new accommodations, anything else?"



Elros waited until all three of the children (Lin might be adult age according to elvish traditions, but she was still a child in Elros's eyes - and probably always would be) were in his room, then closed the door behind them and motioned for them to take a seat.

"Make yourselves comfortable," he smiled, moving to sit on the bed. Only then did he answer Lin's question.

"I've been quite well," he told her warmly. "We've gone on several more trips since your last visit, and our good luck continues to hold for the hunting parties. Or rather, the Valar are still helping us, I should say ... they have been quite supportive in our work, though none but Lord Aragost and myself are aware of the fact."



Aliya smiled. "Out of his shell? I suppose ... I only wish it were more of a permanent thing. But you do know you're welcome to take that long visit any time you like," she added sincerely. "You're my dearest friends, and I don't see nearly enough of you ..."

Suddenly there was a knock at the door, but Aliya didn't even bother going to answer it. A tall white blur shot past the kitchen doorway, and Adonijah's soft voice could be heard greeting his guest, his voice filled with excitement.

Kara pouted and whamped Donovan on the arm, "That's my line!"

She slid into the seat next to him and tried to pout some more but it wouldn't work. At least not on Donovan at any rate, and she was pretty sure he was chuckling at the current moment.


Lin took a seat, bringing her legs up to sit cross legged on the seat itself as she considered what Elros was saying. She had been told of the Valar of course many times and knew that Elros, Sir Valdemar and Aragost were the only three people (as far as she knew, but she knew there could be others) who talked to them.

"That's good to know," Lin replied, "I always wondered how things were going since we, or actually Dad can't be here as often as he likes."

Feng blinked and looked and listened, "Wow.... I've never seen him go that fast unless he was trying to get away from someone."

It was kind of neat in a way, and she thought it was no wonder why Aliya thought she was going to have a daughter in law maybe.