Welcome to Gaia! ::

Earendil laughed and when he reached the bottom of the steps he picked Miyuki up and hugged her tightly. If there were more room, he'd have swung her around; but as it was there wasn't any room, he just hugged her instead.

"Good morning," he chuckled, setting her down again. "Good to see you're so energetic ... as usual."

Earendil chuckled and took Miyuki's hand to lead her to the dining room. "Today is Mettarë," he replied. "The last day of the year. Today we celebrate and mourn the Old Year. Wearing dark colours is a symbol of mourning, of passing. It is a part of the rituals of the day."

He brought her to the table to sit and wait for breakfast, making sure there was space for Lin as well.

Earendil chuckled softly. "Don't worry about it," he assured her. "It's not like we're going to force you to do something you might not even understand. Besides, it's more about the thoughts than anything else."

From behind them, Alena and Elros entered the room, both of them dressed as they usually were. Alena had Shiloh in her arms, and the infant was wrapped warmly, her eyes wide as she looked around.

"Good morning," they greeted the others warmly.

"Good morning," Earendil added to their greetings. "Lady Alena, I was wondering ... Lin and I were talking a bit about our customs for today, and just to get another perspective on Mettarë, would you mind telling us about your customs in Amon Darthir about it?"

Alena laughed softly as she settled in at the table with her husband. "Not at all," she replied, her eyes bright. "Though I'm afraid I haven't much to tell on the matter."

Alena smiled. "For us, the day is as any other. We work, we go about our daily tasks ... until, for one hour at the very end of the day, we return to our rooms and take one hour to contemplate. Think about the past and the decisions we made. At the end of the hour, or at the end of our contemplation since of course for some people it takes longer than others, we retire for the night. That's it."

Plain, simple, nothing like what it was here.

"Yes," Alena replied with a soft smile. "Tomorrow, on the other hand, has as much tradition for we of Amon Darthir as it has for those who are here. I believe there is very little that is different for us in that regard."

"Tomorrow promises to be great fun," Earendil grinned just as Aethos, Shiro and Kaito filed into the dining room.

The three replied with good mornings, and Kaito, grinning widely, quickly hopped into the seat across from Miyuki.

"I always sleep well," he winked at her, his tail waving slightly. "You ought to know that by now."

Indeed, it seemed as if nothing could prevent Kaito from getting exactly the perfect amount of sleep - he was always energetic, always ready for one adventure or another.