Welcome to Gaia! ::

The meal passed pleasantly, and perhaps a bit slowly for those who weren't particularly hungry, and soon enough everyone was excusing themselves to get on with their days' work. Tinuviel, however, begged off from her morning duties and instead joined Shiro, Kaito, Ura and Lin, taking them (and Aranel and Regan) to see her brother in his study.

"Whatever you do," she warned them as they approached the fourth-floor study, the door open invitingly, "don't touch any of his equipment. He gets quite annoyed when it becomes unbalanced."

Tinuviel knocked on the doorframe, then motioned for the others to head on into the study.

Earendil was indeed hardly visible. The study was a large one, very nearly as large as the queen's, but the organization that was dominant in the queen's study was absent here. Every flat surface was covered in books and papers and measuring tools and trinkets, stacked high and sometimes precariously balanced. Even the walls were covered with maps of all different sizes, scales, and details. Somewhere in the mess, surrounded by mounds of papers, quills, inkpots and tools, was Earendil.

"You're sure he's in here?" Ura spoke up, peering around the room.

A dark head popped up over the stacks of books on the desk. "Wow," Earendil blinked. "You all fit in here?" With a laugh, he stood up and stretched, then headed around the desk, scratching at the back of his neck. "Welcome, everyone ... er ... sorry about the mess."

Earendil laughed and hugged Lin back tightly. "It's been far too long since you've visited, Lin," he grinned at her. "I've missed you."

He turned to the cat, giving her a stern look. "Now you be careful what you do, there's a lot of precisely balanced measures in here and if you upset them you'll be putting me out of hours of work."

He looked around at everyone. "Dare I guess what this is about?" he asked with a slow smile.

Tinuviel reached down to pick up Regan before the child could run into the study and make a mess of everything. "It's finally time," she smiled at her brother. "We need to plan that trip of ours."

Earendil winked down at Lin. "Not looking for suitors though."

"And a chance for you to see more than just the city here," Earendil added with a grin. "I don't believe any of you have been anywhere else in the Southland, have you?"

The three nekos shook their heads. They hadn't even left the palace, save the one time they had visited Elnara's grandparents, and even that had been brief.

"I think Kaa-san and Tou-san were there after Lothiriel was born," Kaito spoke up. "I think Lothiriel was ... eight years old?" He looked to his brothers for confirmation.

Shiro nodded. "A long time ago, but yes," he agreed. He turned to Earendil. "Would we possibly have that as one of our stops?"

Earendil looked at Tinuviel and Aranel, then turned to Lin. "Would you like to go there?"

"To be fair, I don't think anyone has," Earendil chuckled. He motioned for the others to follow him to his desk. There, he opened a wide drawer and pulled out a map, which he set on top of the desk and spread out carefully. "But if we're going to plan this trip, we should begin with our destinations."

"Namonuito is where Arwen and Roydon live, isn't it?" Kaito said eagerly. "Can we go there as well?"

Earendil chuckled. "Of course."

Earendil nodded, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "Then I suppose the question is, how long do we want our trip to be? If we visit every city, it would take at least a month and a half, perhaps even two ... but if we follow the rivers and just visit the main cities ..."

"Then it would be only about six weeks," Tinuviel finished softly. She looked down at Regan, who was straining to reach one of her uncle's finely tuned instruments. "Perhaps the shorter route would be better, we want to take Regan with us and I don't want to risk running out of water with her."

"Agreed," Aranel nodded firmly. He turned to the visitors. "I hope you don't mind."

Shiro smiled warmly at the two. "Don't worry," he assured them, "I'm just looking forward to the trip, no matter where we go or how long we're gone."