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Earendil smiled as a warm feeling spread through him. He too had never been much for showing affection beyond a quick hug or ruffling some hair, even to his parents. But with Lin it was different.

"One step at a time," he repeated quietly, giving her hand a quick, gentle squeeze. He kissed her lightly on the top of her head and let her lean against him, just holding her close. She sounded as if she was going to fall asleep, but he couldn't bring himself to move, he was so happy sitting there with her. And he wouldn't mind if she fell asleep on him. Really, he didn't. A part of him even hoped that she would.

Once Lin had fallen asleep, there was no way that Earendil was going to move and risk waking her up: and it didn't take long before he, too, fell asleep, still sitting up and holding her in his arms.

And so the night passed.

Earendil was fast asleep when Miyuki started moving, but when she moved the bed sort of sunk where she was, and he felt the movement and woke up. He blinked and looked around. Had he seriously fallen asleep in Lin's room?

He spotted Miyuki coming towards him and Lin, and he smiled a bit. Well, might as well make the best of things. He carefully put one finger to his lips to tell Miyuki to be quiet so as not to wake her mother, then motioned for her to come and sit with them. Why not, after all?

Earendil smiled at Miyuki and with his free hand he reached down and ruffled her hair affectionately. They all three of them would need to wash up before breakfast, and Earendil had a feeling that would be soon.

He looked down at Lin, and as much as he didn't want to disturb her, he knew that she was going to have to wake up before someone walked in on them and got the wrong impression. He tilted his head and kissed Lin gently on the top of her head, then nuzzled gently into her hair.

"Lin," he murmured, "it's time to get up."

Earendil chuckled softly at the look of utter surprise on Lin's face. "Yes," he grinned. "If I'd minded, I'd have woken you."

He reached out to pat down some of her hair, then stood up and stretched. "And now we should probably wash up a bit before breakfast," he added. "We're all still wearing our clothes from yesterday."

Earendil grinned at Miyuki. "And so do I. I was out all day yesterday too. So we'll each go and have a bath, and then we'll see each other down at breakfast, okay?"

He looked at Lin. "How does that sound?"

Earendil smiled warmly at the two. "See you later, Miyuki."

He grinned at Lin, then turned and headed off to his own bedchamber.

When they reached the dining room, Earendil wasn't yet there, but there were more visitors from the ship: Arwen and Roydon, Leyenda, Kelirahc and Amalirahc had all come up to visit.

"Miyuki!" Amalirahc beamed when she appeared in the doorway. He waved energetically. "Come sit over here!" He pointed at the chair next to him.