Welcome to Gaia! ::

Suddenly from the direction of the house veranda came an excited squeal:

"Serenity!"

Laer had emerged from the house and spotted her longtime friend, and now she ran over and greeted her with a kiss to both cheeks. "It's been so long since you've visited!" she laughed. "Welcome back!"

Serenity laughed with her. "Thank you, Laer. I see there have been many changes here."

"Many, indeed," the olive-skinned woman replied warmly. She turned to Beren. "And Garrick, you look like Serenity's still taking good care of you."

He grinned at her. "As she always has."

Garrick/Beren chuckled and put one hand on Miyuki's shoulder.

"It is," he winked at her. "In my first life, I was called Garrick, though my real name was Ruel. When I was reborn, my new parents called me Beren. Now I'm known as Beren or Garrick, depending on how long people have known me."

He gestured towards Laer. "She and I knew each other for a very long time in my first life, so she calls me by my first name."

He grinned at her. "You can just call me Nineko. Just be aware that if someone's talking about Beren or Garrick, that's me. But if they say Ruel, then it's my son, Ruel. Earendil's father."

As if things weren't confusing enough.

"Somehow, that doesn't surprise me," Beren said dryly, glancing at his wife. "He's not the easiest person to get along with, and if he doesn't like something, he just comes out and says it. He's always been that way."

He smiled at her. "But I've heard he's getting better, so I'm sure that will change. When do you think you'll get to see him again?"

A slow grin spread over Beren's face. "Ah, then we'll actually get to see my grandson for more than just a little while," he said happily. "It's so hard to visit the capital, though we try to as much as we can. And of course, Earendil hasn't been there in such a long time ..."

He stretched then. His arms, back and legs were rather stiff from the flight, and he made sure to stretch out all the stiffness. Then he turned to Laer and Serenity, who were talking together excitedly (understandably, since they were old friends who hadn't seen each other in a number of years).

"Hmm," he mused. "I don't think those two would heard me if I talked to them." He turned back to Miyuki. "Shall we get some water? It's quite dry, going through the desert, even if you're flying. Or would you prefer to stay with Daemon?"

He grinned at the blond-haired scholar. He knew Miyuki was as much Daemon's great-granddaughter as his own, so he would bear Miyuki no ill will if she chose to stay behind.

Beren grinned and held one hand out to Miyuki. "Lessons with Daemon?" he asked cheerfully. "Teaching you about magic, then?"

He knew that Daemon knew a lot of things, but he also knew that Daemon knew more about magic than anyone else around. Of course, it was still a guess.

"Tired of people sneaking up on you?" Beren chuckled softly. "Well, I'm sure they never meant to do it. But you're learning to sense when they're around, by sensing the power that they have?"

That was something he'd always wished he could do. He could detect people because of his training, always keeping his eyes and ears and nose alert; but to sense people by feeling their power, strength, or magic approaching? That, he could not do.

"I'm sure you could, at least partially," Beren agreed as he led Miyuki into the shade of the veranda. "Though if someone has a stronger aura, they might feel closer than they are, and someone with a weaker aura be closer than they feel."

He opened the door and let Miyuki lead the way in.