Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Thanks very much for dinner," Earendil smiled at Timaeus and Alyse as they put on their cloaks once more. "It was wonderful."

"Thanks for letting me go with you!" River beamed in reply. "I can't wait until we set out! It's going to be so much fun!"

Timaeus laughed and put one hand on his daughter's head. "Calm yourself, River, or you won't sleep again," he grinned at her. "You're going to overexcite yourself."

River giggled. "I'm sorry, Papa, I just can't help it!"

"That's only twelve days!" River exclaimed, clapping her hands together excitedly and bouncing a bit on the balls of her feet. "But there's going to be so much to do before then! I'll have to pack and get ready and Mama will have to talk to Nako about my lessons, and of course before we go there's Mettarë and Yestarë to prepare for-"

"River!" Timaeus interrupted her with a laugh. "Let us worry about the celebrations! You just make sure you yourself are ready when the time comes."

Earendil looked down at Miyuki, and seeing how tired she was he picked her up, tucking her head against his shoulder. He didn't mind carrying her, and she seemed to be quite tired. It was still quite a walk back to the ranch house, and it would be faster if he carried her.

"Thank you once again for dinner," he said sincerely to Timaeus and Alyse. "Good night."

"Good night," the couple replied together.

River waved a bit. "Good night!" she beamed as Earendil opened the door for Lin.

As they stepped out into the darkness, Earendil raised Miyuki's hood so that her head would be covered. It was colder now than it had been earlier, and even he couldn't help but shiver a bit. The wind had picked up as well, and though it wasn't snowing, he couldn't help but feel that it might start any time. The clouds were thick and ominous.

"Let's try to go quickly," he murmured, reaching for Lin with his free hand. "Come on."

Earendil shifted his position so that his body blocked most of the wind from reaching Lin, but it meant that he took the full brunt of it. Still, he gritted his teeth and kept moving forward. He was elven, he could handle it far better than either Lin or Miyuki.

The wind made conversation difficult, so he focused instead on reaching Elrohir and Haradhel's home. It took them a bit longer than it should have, but eventually they reached the house and stumbled inside. The house was cool as well, but warmer than outside, and most importantly, there was no wind.

A faint glow from the dining room meant that someone was still awake.

"Do you want to see who it is?" he asked Lin in a soft tone. "I'll take Miyuki up to bed and make sure she's warm."

Earendil nodded and kissed her softly. "I'll be waiting for you upstairs," he murmured quietly; and then he turned and headed up the stairs to bring Miyuki to bed.

He would make sure Miyuki was properly taken care of before taking care of himself.

Arahad was the one who was waiting in the dining room, and it appeared he had fallen asleep while waiting. The fire was almost out, and he was sitting on one of the table-side benches, his head in his arms on the table top, eyes closed.

At the sound of Lin's voice, he jumped a little, his head whipping up, his eyes snapping open.

"Lin," he gasped softly. "Praise the Valar ... we wondered what had happened to you." He rose from his seat, his dark eyes anxious. "You didn't get lost, did you?"