Brisk wind off the sea swept at clothes as two pairs of feet thumped down onto the sand of the beach, heedless of the weather around them. Of the two homes built on this sheltered spur of land to the north of city, one was uninhabited, or at least, it had been, until now. Hefting a bag on her shoulder, Leilani tugged on Cian's hand, not even trying contain her excitement. She'd never had a home before.
Cian had never really had a home of his own either. Even the cottage they'd shared until recently at Maple Grove hadn't really felt like home. Maybe it was the fact that there were still too many bad memories for him there, or maybe it was simply that both Cian and Leilani both loved the sea too much to remain away from it for too long. And so, they had decided to build a home of their own close to the sea, on the east coast of Rhy'Din, not far from where James and Ashlyn had built their own home. It was a simple home, a quaint home, but one that was comfortable and inviting and so close to the sea that the beach was right out their front door.
"I have the key, look!" Leilani declared excitedly, digging in her pocket to produce said key as she stumped up the steps to their front door. Several people had been involved in the building and furnishing of their new home, since Cian and his Syreni were more often at sea than not; everything inside promised to be a lovely surprise. She studied the lock for a moment before inserting the key, pushing the door open to feel a rush of warm air sweep over her. "Oh! They left the heat on for us!"
"Of course, they did!" Cian laughed as he stomped up the stairs behind her onto the porch. From what they'd seen so far, the house wasn't big or fancy, but it was theirs. "I hope they stocked the fridge. I'm starving!" he exclaimed, though that was nothing new. One couldn't tell by looking at his tall, slim form that he had a voracious appetite.
Giggling, Leilani dropped her bag inside the door, pulling it shut in his wake. It was warm and homely - not too big, definitely not too fancy. It felt ....right. "Is that bread I can smell?" she asked curiously.
For a young woman - or rather Syreni - who had never known such comforts as hearth and home for most of her life, Leilani certainly seemed to have embraced those comforts, if only for Cian's sake. He couldn't help but laugh at her question, amused by her enthusiasm over something as simple as bread. "I don't know," he replied, taking her hand and tugging her toward the kitchen. "Maybe we should go see."
Following his tug, and her own nose, Leliani happily trotted along at his side, busy eyes taking in the little touches that told her Miranda had been here before them. It was bread - freshly baked and cooling on a rack on the counter of the kitchen. Someone had known to within half an hour when they were going to arrive. "Oh, and fresh butter, too!"
Cian, too, suspected Miranda, possibly with Gabi in cahoots, but no matter. So long as no one was going to jump out from the shadows and shout, "Surprise!" he didn't mind. In fact, he appreciated the welcome they'd left them and the way they'd both welcomed Leilani into the family. "You and your bread and butter," he teased, touching a kiss to her cheek, but there was more than just bread and butter.
A small tray had been left on the counter upon which had been arranged bread and butter, along with various cheeses and sausages. A bottle of sparkling wine with two glasses sat nearby, and a vase full of flowers, along with a small neatly-written note that simply declared, "Welcome home!"
Leilani had come late in life to the vast array of tastes in human cuisine, and was still learning, but her favourite by far was the simple pleasure of warm bread and melting butter. She beamed as he kissed her cheek, reaching out to take the note from where it lay to concentrate hard on reading the words. Literacy did not come easily to her. "Wel ....welcooom ....welcome ho ....Welcome home!"
Cian recognized his Aunt Miranda's writing, but he had a feeling Gabi had been part of this little welcoming, too. That little branch of the Granger family had come a long way in the last few years, as they healed from tragedy to find peace and happiness. "Welcome home!" he echoed with a warm smile. He'd been working hard to teach Leilani to read, sharing with her all the stories of adventure he'd so loved as a boy. He took up a slice of cheese and popped it in his mouth with a mumbled, "Good!" It was hard to tell if he was praising her reading or the cheese or both.
She laughed, rolling her eyes at him as she undid her coat, shrugging out of the heavy layer to let her hair shake loose over her shoulders. Like him, she smelled of sea salt and spray, a life lived both above and below the waves, toeing out of her shoes to let her bare toes wriggle against the warm floor as she snagged a warm piece of bread to chew as she sniffed a sausage curiously. "This is pig, right?"
"Um, maybe," he replied, uncertainly. He knew sausage could be made of different kinds of meat or even soy, if it was a vegetarian variety. He took up a bit of the sausage and took a bite. "Definitely pig!" he declared with a grin.
"That was my pig!" his mermaid mate protested laughingly, batting his hands away so she could claim a piece of sausage entirely for her own. She even guarded it as she nibbled, hiding behind her own hand, green eyes bright and laughing at him.
"Are you hogging the sausage, Lani?" Cian teased, making a pun he wasn't she'd get and laughing at the way she was hoarding the sausage for herself, as if she was afraid he might steal it from her.
"Only a little bit," she answered with her mouth full, his pun going completely over her head as he had suspected it would. She crammed the rest of the sausage in her mouth, wiping her hand absently on her hip. "Don' vey fing we ea' on'a shi'?"
Cian smirked, grabbing a napkin before reaching for Leilani's hand to wipe it clean of sausage. "They probably think we get sick of eating fish," he told her, though their ship was equipped with all the modern conveniences, including a kitchen, electricity, and a refrigerator.
Her fingers wriggled in his grip as she grinned around her mouthful, letting him wipe her skin clean while she looked around the little kitchen. The children on the Grove had apparently been involved in providing decorations - the fridge was covered in erratic drawings from little hands, each piece of paper rustling as her clean hand skimmed over them.
"What is it?" he asked as she turned quiet, curious what exactly she was grinning about and turning to find the fridge covered in drawings from all the various Granger children. There were drawings of ships and mermaids and swashbucklers, obviously meant to represent them.
"Family," Leilani said simply, her fingertips stroking over the largest of the pictures left for them. It had obviously been done by Gabi's boys, and a lot of love had gone into the pirate and the mermaid, if not much finesse. She bit her lip, looking up at Cian with a smile. "They're here, even when they are not here."
"They're always with us, so long as they're in our hearts, Lani," Cian assured her gently, smiling warmly at the drawings their nephews and cousins' children had made with them in mind. He didn't say as much, but his thoughts turned briefly to those they'd lost, their memory safe in their hearts, as well.
Turning away from the pictures, she curled her arms about his waist, hugging close into him. "Can we see all of the rest, too?" she asked hopefully. "The bed and the bath and the couch?"
Cian had never really had a home of his own either. Even the cottage they'd shared until recently at Maple Grove hadn't really felt like home. Maybe it was the fact that there were still too many bad memories for him there, or maybe it was simply that both Cian and Leilani both loved the sea too much to remain away from it for too long. And so, they had decided to build a home of their own close to the sea, on the east coast of Rhy'Din, not far from where James and Ashlyn had built their own home. It was a simple home, a quaint home, but one that was comfortable and inviting and so close to the sea that the beach was right out their front door.
"I have the key, look!" Leilani declared excitedly, digging in her pocket to produce said key as she stumped up the steps to their front door. Several people had been involved in the building and furnishing of their new home, since Cian and his Syreni were more often at sea than not; everything inside promised to be a lovely surprise. She studied the lock for a moment before inserting the key, pushing the door open to feel a rush of warm air sweep over her. "Oh! They left the heat on for us!"
"Of course, they did!" Cian laughed as he stomped up the stairs behind her onto the porch. From what they'd seen so far, the house wasn't big or fancy, but it was theirs. "I hope they stocked the fridge. I'm starving!" he exclaimed, though that was nothing new. One couldn't tell by looking at his tall, slim form that he had a voracious appetite.
Giggling, Leilani dropped her bag inside the door, pulling it shut in his wake. It was warm and homely - not too big, definitely not too fancy. It felt ....right. "Is that bread I can smell?" she asked curiously.
For a young woman - or rather Syreni - who had never known such comforts as hearth and home for most of her life, Leilani certainly seemed to have embraced those comforts, if only for Cian's sake. He couldn't help but laugh at her question, amused by her enthusiasm over something as simple as bread. "I don't know," he replied, taking her hand and tugging her toward the kitchen. "Maybe we should go see."
Following his tug, and her own nose, Leliani happily trotted along at his side, busy eyes taking in the little touches that told her Miranda had been here before them. It was bread - freshly baked and cooling on a rack on the counter of the kitchen. Someone had known to within half an hour when they were going to arrive. "Oh, and fresh butter, too!"
Cian, too, suspected Miranda, possibly with Gabi in cahoots, but no matter. So long as no one was going to jump out from the shadows and shout, "Surprise!" he didn't mind. In fact, he appreciated the welcome they'd left them and the way they'd both welcomed Leilani into the family. "You and your bread and butter," he teased, touching a kiss to her cheek, but there was more than just bread and butter.
A small tray had been left on the counter upon which had been arranged bread and butter, along with various cheeses and sausages. A bottle of sparkling wine with two glasses sat nearby, and a vase full of flowers, along with a small neatly-written note that simply declared, "Welcome home!"
Leilani had come late in life to the vast array of tastes in human cuisine, and was still learning, but her favourite by far was the simple pleasure of warm bread and melting butter. She beamed as he kissed her cheek, reaching out to take the note from where it lay to concentrate hard on reading the words. Literacy did not come easily to her. "Wel ....welcooom ....welcome ho ....Welcome home!"
Cian recognized his Aunt Miranda's writing, but he had a feeling Gabi had been part of this little welcoming, too. That little branch of the Granger family had come a long way in the last few years, as they healed from tragedy to find peace and happiness. "Welcome home!" he echoed with a warm smile. He'd been working hard to teach Leilani to read, sharing with her all the stories of adventure he'd so loved as a boy. He took up a slice of cheese and popped it in his mouth with a mumbled, "Good!" It was hard to tell if he was praising her reading or the cheese or both.
She laughed, rolling her eyes at him as she undid her coat, shrugging out of the heavy layer to let her hair shake loose over her shoulders. Like him, she smelled of sea salt and spray, a life lived both above and below the waves, toeing out of her shoes to let her bare toes wriggle against the warm floor as she snagged a warm piece of bread to chew as she sniffed a sausage curiously. "This is pig, right?"
"Um, maybe," he replied, uncertainly. He knew sausage could be made of different kinds of meat or even soy, if it was a vegetarian variety. He took up a bit of the sausage and took a bite. "Definitely pig!" he declared with a grin.
"That was my pig!" his mermaid mate protested laughingly, batting his hands away so she could claim a piece of sausage entirely for her own. She even guarded it as she nibbled, hiding behind her own hand, green eyes bright and laughing at him.
"Are you hogging the sausage, Lani?" Cian teased, making a pun he wasn't she'd get and laughing at the way she was hoarding the sausage for herself, as if she was afraid he might steal it from her.
"Only a little bit," she answered with her mouth full, his pun going completely over her head as he had suspected it would. She crammed the rest of the sausage in her mouth, wiping her hand absently on her hip. "Don' vey fing we ea' on'a shi'?"
Cian smirked, grabbing a napkin before reaching for Leilani's hand to wipe it clean of sausage. "They probably think we get sick of eating fish," he told her, though their ship was equipped with all the modern conveniences, including a kitchen, electricity, and a refrigerator.
Her fingers wriggled in his grip as she grinned around her mouthful, letting him wipe her skin clean while she looked around the little kitchen. The children on the Grove had apparently been involved in providing decorations - the fridge was covered in erratic drawings from little hands, each piece of paper rustling as her clean hand skimmed over them.
"What is it?" he asked as she turned quiet, curious what exactly she was grinning about and turning to find the fridge covered in drawings from all the various Granger children. There were drawings of ships and mermaids and swashbucklers, obviously meant to represent them.
"Family," Leilani said simply, her fingertips stroking over the largest of the pictures left for them. It had obviously been done by Gabi's boys, and a lot of love had gone into the pirate and the mermaid, if not much finesse. She bit her lip, looking up at Cian with a smile. "They're here, even when they are not here."
"They're always with us, so long as they're in our hearts, Lani," Cian assured her gently, smiling warmly at the drawings their nephews and cousins' children had made with them in mind. He didn't say as much, but his thoughts turned briefly to those they'd lost, their memory safe in their hearts, as well.
Turning away from the pictures, she curled her arms about his waist, hugging close into him. "Can we see all of the rest, too?" she asked hopefully. "The bed and the bath and the couch?"