Welcome to Gaia! ::

Earendil nodded, though he still wasn't satisfied with her answer. After all, she didn't know what he had really meant, and so she couldn't have answered the one question that was nagging at his heart. Still, even though she hadn't directly answered the question he most desperately wanted an answer to, she had at least relieved him on one aspect of it: she would indeed be careful of how much time passed while she was gone.

It was enough for him for the moment.

Earendil looked ahead at the house that was in front of them. It was a pretty little house. One story, large picture window showing a sitting room. Large front porch with a swing on it. Flowers in the flowerbed that ran all along the length of the house, bushes at the corners.

"Have you ever been inside there?" he asked Lin curiously as they drew nearer. "It looks small ..."

Though of course there could be other rooms on the other side of the house that he just couldn't see.

"Looks comfortable," Earendil smiled. "And I have to be honest. It kind of makes me wistful ..."

For his own family, his own home, one where he wouldn't be subject to so many rules of propriety, actions, etiquette ... in short, a place where he could be himself with the people he loved, rather than simply being a small part of a much larger world of the palace.

Earendil looked down at Lin, and his smile grew wider. "A home," he murmured softly. "A home of my own ... and everything that goes with it. A family ..."

He broke off suddenly, afraid that he might say a little too much. Instead, he looked back at the house as they continued to walk towards it. "Just ... wishing."

Earendil watched Lin thoughtfully. Of course ... he had forgotten, she had heard at least a part of his conversation with Shael. It still bothered him, wondering how much ... clearly not all of it. Or had she? He had no idea. If she had, she was doing a good job of pretending she hadn't.

He didn't know why he didn't just ask.

"Anyways," he murmured as they approached the house, "that's just what it makes me think of."

He stepped forward and knocked solidly on the door.

After only a moment, the door was opened, and Adanedhel stood in the doorway. He blinked down at the his visitors, and a grin slowly spread across his face.

"Lin!" he beamed. "It's been forever since I've seen you!"

He laughed and leaned over to hug her, careful of the child in her arms.

"Or the time before that, or the time before that," Adanedhel grinned, standing straight again. "You better not be planning on running away on us any time soon."

Earendil chuckled. It was interesting to him, seeing how Lin was always received when she visited people.

"You come back, sure," Adanedhel grinned, "but to the ranch, not here."

He grinned at Earendil and held out his hand. "Pleased to meet you at least," he said warmly. "Lin's been talking about this trip that you two were going to take for as long as I can remember. I hope it was a good trip."

"It was," Earendil smiled, shaking Adanedhel's hand. "I hope that we can repeat the experience sometime, perhaps find some new lands."