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Haradhel laughed, both at Miyuki and at Lin - and even at Earendil, who was blushing and trying not to look at anyone now.

"When I cook, I clean up afterwards," she grinned at Miyuki. "So now he gets to do the same. And as for being an average person, Lin," she laughed again, "the average person also gets teased. So you're going to have to get used to it."

"Of course you can," Earendil smiled, glad of the distraction. He picked up Miyuki and set her on his lap and hugged her warmly. "How did you sleep?" he asked her, hoping she would have slept all right. It was her first time sleeping on her own, he wanted to make sure she was fine.

Earendil smiled and hugged her again. "That's all right," he murmured. "We'll always be down soon after you, I'm sure."

The last thing he needed was Miyuki walking in on him and Lin first thing in the morning. Unless there was a lock on their door, he was fine with her not knowing where their room was. They were going to have to talk to her eventually about privacy - and their need for it.

Just then Arahad walked in with a plateful of pancakes. "Breakfast!" he announced cheerfully.

Haradhel arched one eyebrow at him. "We need dishes, too."

Arahad blinked at her, then pouted. "You didn't help at all?"

Haradhel just laughed. "Do you ever?"

"Nah, I'll be fine," Arahad chuckled, setting the plate of pancakes onto the table. "I'll be back in just a moment with everything else."

He headed back into the kitchen for the dishes and jam. He had always been a mama's boy, and he and Haradhel loved to tease each other. It was one of the ways they showed their love for each other.

Just as Arahad left the for the kitchen, Shiro and Kaito entered the dining room and sat down for breakfast. Kaito yawned widely and rubbed his eyes, but Shiro looked wide awake and ready for the day.

"Morning," he greeted everyone cheerfully.

At the mention of pancakes, Kaito's ears perked up and his golden eyes brightened. "Pancakessssss," he purred, sitting up at the table. He closed his eyes and sniffed at the pile of pancakes on the table. "Mmmmm...."

Shiro chuckled and sat next to him. "There's always one way to wake Kaito up. It's amazing he's still as thin as he is, with all he eats."

And with all the exercise he didn't get. He was quite a lazy person most of the time, when he could get away with it.

"True," Shiro agreed as Arahad returned with an armload of dishes and began to set the table. "For today ... well, I had been hoping to meet this Luk fellow and talk with him, but Kaito wanted to go see Celebor and his family."

"It's been forever since we've seen them!" Kaito spoke up, eying the pancakes and licking his lips.

Earendil chuckled. "Yes, Shiro, you'll have all sorts of time to talk with Luk. Come with us to the valley today."

"Well, if you put it that way ..." Shiro grinned, his tail flicking back and forth. "The valley it is. Besides, I heard someone say it's changed since the last time we were here, I'm eager to see how."

"I'm eager to see the looks on peoples' faces when Ulrich's sister and her family show up," Kaito quipped, digging into his pancake the moment there was one in front of him. "This promises to be fun. It's so hard to take Ulrich by surprise anymore."

"I think he likes being surprised as much as he likes giving surprises," Earendil said thoughtfully as he began to eat. "I mean, he just plain loves surprises, whichever way they go."

Suddenly a soft voice came from the doorway: "You're talking about my brother?"

Leilani and her family had arrived downstairs for breakfast just in time to hear Ulrich's name being mentioned.