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Earendil nodded at Miyuki. "Yes. Food belongs above the table, not below. Senka wants food, she stays up here. As to whether or not she's allowed on the table, that is up to our hosts, wherever we are."

He looked over at Arwen and Roydon, who were sitting together at the end of the table.

Arwen smiled. "Fine by me, though I'm sure at Amon Darthir there may be a bit more question of etiquette."

Celeb chuckled. "Apparently a sliver so thin you can see through it is bad, Senka. Better stop begging."

"Celeb," Leyenda said in a warning tone, "stop it."

"Stop what?" Celeb asked, looking at his sister innocently. "Just feeding the cat."

"Which Lin has been implying that you should not be doing," Earendil pointed out.

"He's being a teenager," Arwen spoke up. "Celeb, you need to stop that. You need to show Lin the same respect that you would give to any of our guests."

"Sorry, Lin," Celeb grinned, his dark eyes twinkling brightly. "Do accept my apology."

Earendil watched Miyuki out of the corner of his eye for the rest of the meal, watching to see how she would treat Celeb. It wasn't that Celeb was being bad, per se, but being a smart aleck ... probably not a good way to get into Miyuki's good books.

Once the meal was over, he stretched and leaned back in his chair. "Ah," he murmured. "That was a good meal. It's been a while since I've had fish, I missed it."

"Thank you," Arwen smiled. "Look forward to getting sick of it after weeks on the ocean."

Celeb smiled back at Lin. "Doing well, doing well," he replied. "Helping Father with the business, we've been a little busy of late but we'll be leaving it in good hands. People who have been doing it longer than I have. Other than that, just a few quick trips up the river to the Zephyr. Checking up on her, making sure she's still ship-shape. She's been used to make a few trips to the human Southland for trading and such, but the past year's been spent preparing her for our journey again."

He grinned widely. "Which I must say, I am very much looking forward to."

"I sure am!" Celeb exclaimed, his eyes shining brightly. "Everything is so ordinary here, I can't wait to go out where there's actually something exciting going on!"

"There was excitement all right," Earendil chuckled, "though I'm not sure you and I are thinking of the same kind of excitement."

"What do you mean, already?" Celeb asked, staring at Lin. "It's been a few years, you know. And besides, it's not that it's just normal, it's that it's ... well ... unexciting, I guess."

"And I'm sure that seeing a certain someone you're very fond of has nothing to do with it," Leyenda deadpanned, examining the ceiling with a little too much interest.

Celeb's face flushed. "Aw, come on," he protested. "That's not fair!"

"Because it's true?" his sister grinned at him.