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Encke had been making visits to the Velencian encampment fairly regularly, both to visit with Caedus and to donate energy to the cause. The concept that Caedus had come back, that he came back with his people, that he came back with his people with a solution to something that had been torturing him, torturing this planet, for longer than he could even process--

Well, it was thrilling. There was no question he was helping.

But it was also just good to see his friend again.

As per usual, he came with a whole selection of Luke's leftovers, along with a few extra sandwiches he had swiped from the set of the movie he was currently shooting. They were catered and free and no one was going to notice if he just took the sandwiches they were likely going to throw out anyway--

He arrived at the edge of the encampment, rocking back and forth on his feet as he called, "Caedus!"

Encke was fairly convinced that Caedus lived at the encampment, but that only made him easier to find. It was good to see him again, and his face cracked into a grin when Caedus stated he was getting spoiled.

"Please," replied Encke, swatting his hand behind him dismissively, "just," he pursed his lips, "doing something my Greek in-laws would be proud of." And all of his in-laws, really; if Encke thought that Caedus would be receptive to it, he would have dragged him to the Bell household by that point. Luke and Safira had already accepted Encke was apparently once a youma turned into the reincarnation of an ancient alien. An actual living-in-the-present alien couldn't be any stranger--

"Plus, you're a friend of mine. A good friend. Spoil my friends every day if I could."

Hopefully, Caedus' return to Earth meant that he could spoil him more often--

"Oh, Luke will be happy to hear my friends finished the food off." His eyes danced. "Especially since he's always ready for more." That was what the bags were for, presumably, if Caedus hadn't already been able to tell-- "I don't need repayment, necessarily. Your friendship is enough. And you're here to hopefully end our struggle, right?"

Encke desperately wanted to be able to focus his attention on something other than the Chaos.

"Not that I'll complain if you have other interesting artifacts from space, of course."

Encke very much treasured the glowing rock he had already been given.

Caedus' smile just made Encke's grin grow wider. It was good to see him happy, sincerely; with Caedus, it felt like there was frequently an air of sadness around him that was hard to entirely shake.

Or exhaustion. He was also willing to bet on exhaustion.

"Please, I'm honored you think being my friend is an honor," he offered, with a quiet laugh, the faintest tinge of pink making it to his cheeks as Caedus immediately went for his satchel. As eager as Caedus was to share the treasures, Encke was eager to see them. Anything from space was fascinating to him, and if Lyndin had still been traveling, still been adding, that meant that there was only more to see.

The concept that Lyndin kept Caedus' things for him, even after all those years -- he understood that the Velencians, in general, lived long lives (not just Caedus, evidently), but a thousand years was still a long time even considering that -- was a sweet one. It was good to see Caedus had such good friends among his own people, too, and the way Caedus smiled about it and the way Lyndin kept collecting for him made Encke's smile soften into something affectionate.

"I'm glad he kept your things and added to your collection. Maybe he thinks it's silly, but he also clearly knows it's important to you." Encke chuckled. "Signs of a true friend, right? They indulge even the things they find the silliest about you, because they know how much they mean to you."

Like how Richard had grown to indulge the fact that Ignacio refused to go to any new place when it opened--

It was clear Encke didn't think the collection silly.

"I would love to see."

He scooted in a bit closer, setting down the bags of food near Caedus' feet so he could get a better look at what Caedus was pulling out.

"He seems like a really good guy," noted Encke, the affectionate smile returning at the way Caedus described Lyndin. In all honesty, Caedus' praise of Lyndin made Encke want to befriend him more; if Caedus liked him this much, if he had done this much for Caedus, Lyndin had to be a good guy, right? And plus, he was there to rid their world of Metallia, finally.

No more Metallia. Almost felt too amazing to believe.

"I'd like to get to talk to him more sometime."

He eagerly watched the way the quartz rippled in the light with a quiet, "ooh," taking every bit of those few seconds to observe every part of that crystal and how the ripples radiated from within it. Encke gasped audibly, his mouth hanging slack for a moment as he saw the way the galaxy appeared in that tiny crystal.

"These are incredible," offered Encke, sincerely, glancing between Caedus and the galaxy rock he held in his hand. "I agree. Have grown to appreciate the beauty in the small as I've gotten a bit older."

He let out a quiet laugh.

"Even the tiniest thing can give me delight, honestly." He remembered the first time when he saw anything bloom at all, years ago, on his homeworld. It hadn't been terribly much, but to see a blue glow form where there had been nothing but rock? He might have nearly fainted in his delight. "Do you know where these are from?"

The concept of being able to make someone who didn't get to smile often smile was enough of an encouragement for Encke to want to talk to him, never mind the fact that he was such a good friend of Caedus'. Took in Lyndin's nature, made a mental note to perhaps make it back and talk to him a bit before the weapon was ready. He didn't know how long someone so dedicated to his home planet would be sticking around after Metallia was cleaned up--

Seeing Caedus's beam was almost something of a feedback loop; Caedus' excitement over Encke's excitement over the little rocks made Encke even more excited to show enthusiasm about them. He liked seeing other people happy, especially friends. It energized him.

"Hardly silly," replied Encke, shooing off the concept of it being a silly hobby at all. "You probably have a whole catalog of the universe in your collection -- oh," Caedus was offering him another rock from his collection, and Encke showed his excitement at the idea by the way his face nearly broke in two at his grin. "I'd love one! If you don't mind, of course. Actually, thought you'd appreciate, display the one you gave me a few years ago pretty prominently--"

He dug around in his pocket and pulled out his senshi phone, scrolling to where he had taken a picture of the small glass case that the crystal Caedus gave him still sat. Encke had taken another picture where he lifted the case up, just slightly, the electricity seeming to dance in the crystal.

"I love it."

Caedus' pride also was a bit of a feedback loop; Encke became happier that Caedus was happy with how he kept care of his gift. "I'm glad you like how I kept it," Encke let out a quiet chuckle. "Always tried my best to make sure it was displayed in a way worthy of a sweet gift from a good friend, right?"

Not only was the crystal itself fascinating, not only was the crystal itself from a mysterious asteroid that Encke would never have the chance of visiting out in the depths of space, the fact that it came from Caedus' personal collection had also meant something on its own. The collection was important to Caedus, and to entrust Encke with a piece of it in permanence brought a lightness to his heart--

And again?

"Thank you," replied Encke, quiet and honored that he'd give him another one, of all things; he'd have to find another good glass enclosure for this one, too. But which one should he take?

"Could I have this one?" he asked, quietly, pointing to the one with a miniature galaxy that seemed to swirl within. "If I look at it the right way, could swear I'm looking at a tiny image of one of the galaxies in the universe."

It was strange, and that was part of what made it fascinating. Was it a galaxy? Was it just an illusion of the materials in the crystal? Encke took the crystal, reverently, and held it up toward the light above briefly to look at the way it reflected the galaxy.

It was beautiful.

"I will, promise. Maybe I'll find a place to put it where I can put a light on it regularly." Encke showed Caedus his phone once more before tucking it away, adding, "I'll bring pictures here."

Would be nice to actually show Caedus his house at some point. He'd probably be treated to a meal meant for a king. Then he could show him where his other crystal had been displayed, in person, but-- the most important part was that Caedus had found his people again, that he had been reunited with his people, and maybe soon, this would be over.

Encke put his hand over his heart in a show of how flattered he was by Caedus' words-- "I'm glad you're back, Caedus. Missed you too. Admittedly, looked forward to seeing you back," and worried that the world would be swallowed by Chaos before--, "and glad that I make you feel welcome here. You're a friend. And I want you to be comfortable here."

But it was interesting and also perhaps worrying that Caedus didn't feel as comfortable on his homeworld as he did here.

"What's it like on your world that makes you feel like an intruder?" asked Encke, unable to keep the concern out of his voice.

Caedus looked a bit guilty for even bringing it up, but what use of a friend was Encke if he couldn't comfort Caedus even a little bit. He stayed quiet and listened, nodding when appropriate, watching with some quiet interest as Caedus touched at the crystals on his hairline -- Encke had never really thought about them before, presumed they were some part of his species, but now that he had seen other Velencians -- moved on from that, kept his eyes on Caedus directly as he spoke.

He saw his people as perfection.

It was fascinating, too, that the younger generation hadn't even known he existed at all, which seemed odd considering his royal status; did the Velencians attempt to bury the existence of Caedus, or had he just been lost to time? One implied malicious intent, the other just implied the passage of time. Encke had to presume it was the second one considering how close he and Lyndin seemed, but--

"It can be strange to go back to a place after years of being away from it. Can't even imagine centuries." He could do decades, maybe. Even a year. Attempting to go back home after his stint dying, youmafying, and living again at Barren Pines had not quite been smooth sailing. An already rocky relationship with his father had hit new heights, resulting in him running away from home, first to Grayson, then to Melody, then to an apartment of his own. "If it helps, you've had to grow and adapt, too, just differently than them. To overcome. I know what youma are like," more intimately than he wanted to admit, "and to be around them for that amount of time and survive -- Caedus, that's incredible. Don't forget that."

He offered him an encouraging smile before gazing out toward the Velencian encampment -- or the dome of it, anyway --

"I'm relieved to hear it's not them directly, admittedly," he chuckled lightly. "Worried for a moment." Still a minor bit concerned about his wording, "But they seem to be good people. It ... feels bad to be out of place. To adjust, or readjust, to a reality that seems to have moved on without you," Encke was speaking from experience. "But that helps. And you want to be part of their society, to figure out how to resync with it. Think that helps, too. You all want the best for your world. And perfection is always an illusion." He turned back toward Caedus with a wink. "They're a well-oiled machine, but I'm sure they have room for you, even if it takes a bit for you both to get used to each other again."

He imagined a bit was considerably longer for him than it was for Encke, too.