"Thanks, Sal!" Katarina smiled warmly and waved over her shoulder to the young woman before walking down the gangplank and off of the ship. The spaceport was rather small, compared to their previous location. There were no crowds, only small pockets of people, mostly involving cargo rather than traveling. A lowering sun shined through the windows, and revealed Hope's desert-like habitation with shrubs, bushes, and very little grass.

"I thin' tha' Drew's gonna be pickin' us up. Nah tha' th' spacepor's very far fra th' farm, bu' prolly nah 'nough room 'n th' carriage." Even with the evening hour, she was expecting heat. A simple patchwork sundress of grays and various patterns were accompanied by boots. Even in the casual wear, her dress stood out against the jean pants from the rest of the crowd. Adjusting the bag gingerly in her left hand, she grinned at Locke, "Welcome ta Hope."

Locke's first footsteps as he exited the ship and entered the spaceport were slow, almost hesitant. He immediately drifted towards the window offering him a view of the world outside. He'd quickly come to realize that most spaceports tended to look alike: cold, sterile, businesslike. The real clues to what a planet were located outside the building. His response back to Katarina was delayed, so intent was he on staring at the sand and shrubs. It was because of this that he wasn't aware of the stares of the other planet's residents. Blue skin might have been no big deal on RhyDin, but that wouldn't be the case here.

"Hmm? Oh. Certainly. It sounds aces to me." It was the kind of answer that could've been used for any number of questions. He leaned forward, almost pressing his face against the glass.

She paused as he looked out the window, trying not to rush him in her anticipation to see who was waiting for them. She glanced around at the rest of those in their area. She noticed the stares at Locke - his skin, his clothes, the sense of different. She refused to acknowledge or bring attention to his differences.

"C'mon, I promise all o' Hope looks jist like tha'." A gentle tease as she laid a hand upon his arm to signal for them to keep moving.

Believe it or not, this is my first time seeing the desert. They talked of Cadentia in school, but we never had reason to travel there." He turned away from the window at the touch, reaching for her hand as they headed for the exit. He adjusted the hang of the gray scarf that was tied around his neck and draped over the front of his body, fiddling with the cuff of his check-patterned military-style button-up as he did so. The black, tan, and red checked pattern that covered his chest and upper arms faded into a solid black on his stomach and forearms.

"Really?" She gave a lopsided grin before taking his hand and leading them down the hall to the left that would open into a small waiting area with tables, chairs, and various means of communication.

She would have told Locke to quit fidgeting, only she felt like doing the very same. To have her family so close, and for Locke to be with her, was exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time. So she practically bounced on her toes and continued forward.

There were even fewer people already out in the waiting area than there were by the ships. Most were on the comlinks, but a few gathered around the tables waiting. One man waited with his arms crossed closest to the hall opening. His hair was blonde and long, held together in a low ponytail. His features were distinctively Smith, only his eyes were a clear, light blue. There was recognition as soon as he saw Katarina, or perhaps Locke's unusual attire, and he stood. He was lean, limber, and had a few inches on Katarina.

"Drew!" She released Locke's hand so that she could run the short distance over to her brother, whom caught her in a fierce hung.

"Hey, Katie. Nah problem's on the ship this time?" Even as he was pulling away from Katarina and gathering her bags, he was looking over to Locke.

"Nah problems, everythin' was shiny. Locke, this mah brother, Drew. Drew, Locke."

"A pleasure to meet you, Drew." Locke stepped forward to offer Katarina's brother a hand to shake. The ice elf summoned the friendliest smile he could muster.

"Th' pleasure's mine, ta be sure." Drew's smile was warm, if almost apologetic. "I should hope tha' ya like th' center o' attention, 'cause th' Smith's ar' a ruthless bunch."

"Oh, stop it." Katarina gave her brother a friendly push with her left hand. The right one still wasn't feeling up to par, yet. "Dun frighten 'em when he's still 'n reach o' a ship."

"I ain' th' one tha' dragged 'im here." He led them outside, and Katarina could feel the dry heat suck up any moisture from her skin. It certainly wasn't the same heat from midday, but no one would be caught milling around outside willingly.

Andrew led them to a large carriage attached to four horses. He opened the door first, and packed the bags first, offering to take the ones Locke had as well.

"How'd ya yer fligh', Locke?" He ushered them inside, before climbing in himself and hoping over to the seat outside to lead the horses, "Firs' time 'n space, righ'?"

"I have had my fair share of experiences with Smiths, young and old." Memories of the good times he had with Johnny and Juliane, and Johnny's children, seemed to make Locke's smile glow even brighter. It was enough to get him through the shock of the hot weather. He immediately handed over his luggage to Drew, before reaching up to untie his scarf. The stylish knot he had been wearing was replaced with a more utilitarian wrap that covered his mouth and nose, leaving only dark blue eyes and spiky white hair visible. It also muffled his speech. "It was my first time in space. It was remarkable. Simply remarkable. And here I was worried that my poor constitution would not take well to space travel. I was convinced I would chunder at least once, but it would seem that I was incorrect in that assumption." His eyes crinkled, a tell-tale smile that he was grinning beneath that scarf.

Katarina was already searching in a pocket for something to pull her hair back. The heat was not something she had missed from the planet, and she worried over Locke. Particularly when he had to adjust his scarf. Still, she offered and encouraging wink and rested a hand lightly on his knee.

"Yeah, I guess ya hav', considerin' ya picked th' wors' o' th' lot." Andrew snapped the reigns and the horses responded immediately in a simple pace towards the farm. Drew's remark earned him another push, and he grinned. "I'm sorry, Katarina. Yer too easy." She made a "hmph" sound, but Locke already had his attention again, "Travelin' 'n space ain' so bad a' all. I don't travel a lot mahself, bu' 'round here, the ships ar' smooth sailin's fer th' differen' cargo. Hardly hav' any problems." Both Smiths fell silent for a moment and smiles, dimished, before he grinned and continued. "Ya'll took a nice route, though. Coupla days ain't so bad, considerin' it took Katarina a coupla weeks ta get ta RhyDin th' firs' time 'round."

"I would imagine most trips are not as luxurious as the ones we took." In fact, were it not for the viewing windows on the spaceships they had traveled on, Locke would have been hard-pressed to tell the difference between airship and spaceship travel. The rooms he had stayed in for both were equally as nice, and the ride wasn't any more turbulent. He guessed that might not always be the case, though.

"Well, nah tha' ya'd see here. Mos' people ar' just transportin' goods. Trade an' th' like."

Hope's terrain was very constant, with it's dirt, sand, and shrubs. But the longer they traveled, the signs of farms came in green contrasting colors, or by signs of life in contained animals. The distinction between the natural habitat and the signs of labor were very evident.

"Drew knows so much 'bout transportin' stuff 'cause he sells his glass an' has'ta make sure they dun break 'n th' process, yeah?" Her smile was warm and proud, "Cargo dun git much more fragile 'n tha'."

"What sort of glass do you blow, Drew?" His eyes swept across the horizon, drinking in the new, unfamiliar terrain.

"Usually whateva work comes ta me. Usually house-like items, with cups, bowls, an' vases. Sometimes mah thin's git 'n artshows, an' sometimes they don't." He turned the horses right between a beaten dirt path between a field of corn.

"They're real pretty. Like some o' th' glass tha's a' the gardens we wen' ta." As they traveled between the crops, her smile widened, "This is our farm." She started pointing to the several building on the big area of land, "Th' big house is th' family house... tha' red an' white one's th' barn, if ya couldn' guess. Small studio's go' Drew's furnace an' thin's 'n it. Sometimes it migh' as well be his house." All the buildings were a variation of wood and stone and while simple in design, were well kept despite the natural terrain.

Locke's arm went around to squeeze Katarina's shoulder briefly, before returning to his lap. He looked at each building in turn as Katarina pointed them out, adjusting the scarf around his mouth as he did so.

Her eyes traveled down a fraction to look at his scarf covered the lower portion of his face. It brought a small pain to her chest to see the discomfort just being here was doing. Any thoughts about taking him out during the day were quickly erased from her mind.

As they approached the house, it's size gave way to it's large amount of occupants. It seemed quiet, except from the occasional sound from the livestock in the nearby barn. Hardly any animals were out in the heat, and were taking refugee in the protection of the barn.

"Ya'll head inside, I'll take yer thin's up ta ya ol' room, yeah?" Andrew was already jumping off of his seat and onto the ground.

"Sure thin', Drew. Thanks." She opened the door of the carriage and grabbed Locke's hand as she cleared the short distance from the carriage to the porch, clearing the steps easily. "Ya ready?" She gave a hopeful smile as she placed a hand on the doorknob.

"It is quite different from the city, at the very least." Locke took the bowl and tongs and put some salad on his plate as well, before passing it down the line. "The farmland is somewhat familiar, but south of the city, it is mostly surrounding by trees and forests. Not sand. I have never been, but I would imagine Hope's closest correlation to anything near where we live is Cadentia. Hope seems much more...alive than that place, though."

"Nah ta mention jist th'...." Katarina paused as she put salad on her plate as well and glanced at Locke, before offering the bowl to her father and continued, "there's lots'a differen' people, all fra differen' planets an' dimensions. Dun thin' there's a place like it."

"Differen'. Tha's wha' this place needs." There was a thump heard underneath the table and Lance grimaced after his sentence, but didn't elaborate.

"Katie has been tryin' ta get us to all come visit. Said ta 'pected th' unexpected." Johnathan grinned slightly as he took some salad and passed the bowl along before digging in.
"I wan'ta go!" Hannah piped up from the other side of the table.

"And the remarkable thing is, you would think with all those different people of different races and religions and lifestyles and levels of technology and magic use and what have you, that you would have more conflict. Not to say that there isn't conflict, mind you, but it never seems to get too out of hand. It's..." He paused, gathering his thoughts, before continuing. "It is quite a remarkable place, and I can guarantee you will never forget it, nor will you see anything else like it."

Katarina served some chicken and peaches to Locke before herself. The freshness of the meals from the farm were perhaps one of the things she missed the most. "They'll break down 'ventually. 'Sides, ain't ya ol' 'nough ta come ou' 'n yer own? Ya kin stay wit' us."

Before Hannah could give a hopeful and affirmative answer, Trisha spoke first, "Perhaps if Drew goes with ya. Yanno travelin' in space isn' th' safest thin'."

When Hannah looked over to Drew hopefully, he muttered into his glass and found his food to be very interesting. She huffed, "Ya could mahbe sell yer glass somewheres!"

"Sure, ya kin prolly sell some a' Jo's place." Katarina gave a shrug and a slight smile to her younger sister.

"Or in the marketplace, at one of the vendors there." It was meant to be a helpful suggestion for Drew.

"Do ya know Johnny an' his family well?" Trisha glanced over to Locke.

"Johnny I know quite well, and his wife Sianna. I think we're all in the process of getting to know their children." He laughed, but there was also a far off look in his eye that took a second or two to go away. "I am acquainted with Juliane, but I believe she spends much of her time elsewhere in recent days. I am not as well acquainted with the rest of his family." He would leave details about Natalia out for now.

Johnathan nodded his head an approval, "He's a good kid. They all are."

"I'll hav'ta git Jo ta sen' some pictures o' 'em all ta ya guys. Ian an' Meggie ar' real sweet. 'n fact, I thin' Meggie likes Locke more 'n th' res' o' us." Katarina grinned, but there was a dark moment that fell over the table. The knowledge of Johnny's previous absence and Tali's disappearance had been made very clear to this Smith family.

It was a good moment for Locke to start digging into his food. It was far better than what he was used to eating when he went to his mother and step-father's home, and that, combined with the uncomfortable atmosphere, had Locke eating a little faster than usual. He set his fork down momentarily, looking slightly apologetic. "I should apologize to Johnny and Sianna for that, I suppose. It was not my intention to steal Meggie's affection." A cheeky grin accompanied the words, to show he was only kidding.

"Apologize ta them? How 'bout me? I hardly eva git ta hol' her 'less I go ta visit withou' ya." Katarina chuckled, and catching his slightly quicker eating in-take, gave him a slight nudge that had the dual message to slow down and to tease.

"No need ta apologize, tha's just th' way babies can be. Katie didn't pay any attention to who was holding her, so long as she was given attention."

"Nah so differen' fra now." Lance quipped with a grin, and this time the foot came from over Locke's legs and across to Lance's from Katarina. This time he laughed.

"Dun be jealous tha' no one wanted ta hol' ya, if I 'member righ'." Katarina smirked.

Hannah giggled, and Drew rolled his eyes. This playful banter seemed to unphase him, and so he remained quiet as listened.

"Well, it does take a'bit o' patience wit' a babe tha' has colic." Trisha tried to ease Lance even though she was grinning.

"Nah so differen' fra now." Katarina couldn't help but quip with a laugh.

Locke snickered at the playful banter, even as his thoughts drifted slightly to his own brother. Had they ever gotten along as well as this? He was also reminded of Hogmanay, with the heavy family atmosphere that had stifled much of his playfulness and left him feeling slightly drained when the evening was over. The Smiths, however, were energizing him, inviting him into their teasing. "Do you know what I think this calls for?"

"What's tha'?" Katarina asked the question, but everyone had their attention on Locke to see what his answer would be.

"Embarrassing baby photographs. Or something of that sort."

Katarina's eyes narrowed on him, but everyone else chuckled and seemed to be in agreement, "Sure thin', Locke. Go' plenty o' those an' holograms ta embarrass Katie fer th' week a' leas'." Trisha, having finished her share, started to go around and pick up the plates of anyone else who had finished their dinner already.

"Shiny." Katarina mumbled under her breath as her family seemed thrilled at this idea. However, she grinned slightly, pleased with the bonding outcome thus far.

"You're a brave soul, Locke, ta invite th' wrath o' a Smith so willin'ly." Johnathan pointed a finger to Locke before giving a low laugh.

"Some would say brave, some would say foolish, and some would say barmy. I would like to think I take a little from each of those columns, savvy?" He pretended to shrug his way into a suit of armor, then "donned" a helmet on his head.

"Well, good luck wit' tha'." Still seeming amused, Johnathan stood and placed a hand on Katarina's shoulder, "Whay dun'cha let us clean up, an' head ta th' livin' room? We'll all be 'n there 'n a bit."

Katarina frowned, "Ya sure? We kin-"

"Now now, listen ta your father." Trisha gestured for them to leave the room, before gesturing to her other children, "Put this 'way, yeah?" Trisha bounded up the stairs to retrieve the pictures and holograms.

Left without given any choice, Katarina took Locke's hand and returned him to the room with the couches, stone fireplace, and visible wooden rafters.

Locke glanced over his shoulder as they went to the living room, as if he could still see what was going on in the kitchen. He couldn't, though, and after briefly watching Trisha head upstairs, he turned his attention back to Katarina. His eyes drifted towards the rafters, and he got a mischievous grin, as he started to scan the rest of the living room more intently.

That grin had her eyes narrowing on him, "Wha'?" She sat down in the deep red loveseat, and turned to turn on the lamp on the end table next to her. She grinned as the light turned on and exposed the lamp that seemed to be made of a pale yellow teapot, and two matching teacups.

"Just remembering an unfortunate incident that occurred at the Inn one time, and seeing if it would be possible to replicate it here." He took the seat beside her, attention now bouncing between her smile and the lamp she had turned on. "Impressive. Drew's?"

She shook her head slightly, "Nah, Ma made it when I was li'l. I broke the otha teacups, so she go' a new set an' made a lamp." She said it as if that would be the logical conclusion, and explained, "She likes ta do home-made thin's like tha'." She held up the deep blue pillow next to her as an example, "If yer real nice, mahbe I'll wear on' o' th' dresses she's made me."

"And if I am cross, what will you do?" Another glance up at the rafters accompanied the question.

"Stick ya ou'side durin' the day?" While that was the automatic response, she wrinkled her nose at the unkind nature of it. "Er.." she glanced up as well, "I kin tie ya ta th' rafters. Thin' Drew an' Pa'd help me."

"That is assuming they can catch me. I assure you, I can be quite slippery when I want to be." His eyes dropped down, sending Katarina a challenging look accompanied with a slight arch of his eyebrow.

She matched his challenging look with one of her own, "Oh yeah? An' jist where ar' ya gonna slip off ta? Dunno if ya've noticed, bu' there's nah a lot'ta hidin' places 'round here, an' I dun thin' you'll be goin' anywhere durin' the day 'less ya wanna melt. 'n fact, sounds more like yer mah prisoner."

"Of course ya are." Trisha stood up and placed the shoebox in an orderly fashion by the holoplayer. "These aren' goin' anywhere. Ya're more than welcome ta look at them when ya like."

"Yer stuff's in Hannah's room, Katarina." Johnathan's comment had an odd tone to it, along with the usage of her full name.

"Righ' then. We're hittin' th' hay. See ya 'n th' mornin'." Everyone exchanged their goodnight's before Katarina stood, took Locke's hand, and led him up the stairs.

Locke waved to the rest of the family as he walked up the stairs to the second floor. As soon as they were out of sight, he leaned in to whisper in Katarina's ear. He had picked up bits and pieces of tension from the last bits of conversation, but he hadn't quite put two and two together yet. "I missed something down there, didn't I?"

She crinkled her nose and sighed, "Despite th' fac' tha' we live togetha, an' hav'... obvious boundaries, 'm nah ta sleep 'n th' same room wit' ya, 'less I hav' a shiny stone 'n mah finga an' called Missus." Her smile was slightly apologetic as she moved down the hall. She passed several doors and another set of stairs going up, before going to the last door on the right and opening it, "So yer stayin' 'n mah room an' I'm gonna stay 'n Hannah's."

The room was not quite as pink as Hannah had exaggerated. However, the walls were a slightly strong (but not bright) shade of pink. The bedspread was cream with black lacy designs, accompanied by cream furnishings. It was big enough to have a small couch in as well as a desk. One wall was left blank to support a very large black frame that nearly took up the whole wall. It was a college of pictures, programs, and posters of all the ballets Katarina had ever participated in. Some were yellowing slightly in color, and the freshest one was of The Nutcracker done in RhyDin.

It hadn't come up when they'd visited in Port Leicester, but a lot had changed since that trip. "I understand. Or, at least, I will deal with it." One shoulder shrugged, as he followed Katarina to her old room. He peered in, eyes immediately drawn to the poster collage, then drifting over the remaining furniture in the room. "Shall I fetch my sleeping bag, or am I being given carte blanche to chill the room?"

She pointed to the gathering of bags on the floor by the foot of the bed, "Tha's all o' yer stuff. Nah tha' I dun min' if ya freeze th' place, bu' I dun wan' ya tuckered ou', yeah?"

"Right-o." Locke approached his messenger bag, and unzipped a compartment. After some tugging and a little grunting, he removed a sleeping bag that was nearly twice as big as the bag containing it. The wonders of bags of holding. He laid it out on top of her bed, flattening it a little, before removing his gloves. He shut his eyes, and a familiar brisk wind enveloped him as he touched the bag and enchanted it. Once the task was complete, he pretended to wipe his hands clean before putting the gloves back on. "And Bob's your uncle."

She leaned against a dresser as and simply watched him. That he was here alone with her, to meet her family in the dead heat of summer, brought a large, goofy grin to her face. "Shiny." Moving off the wall, she glanced around at the various pictures hung up on the walls or in photo frames on the dresser. Some of them had Cal in them, and she glanced away and back to Locke, "So, are ya really knackered, or would ya min' me keepin' ya company fer a bi'?"

He answered simply, by patting the side of the bed without the sleeping bag on it.

Smiling, she blew him a kiss before moving to his messenger bag and rummaging around for a pair of gloves. Content with white knitted ones, she didn't mind that they were a little too big. Then she sat on the couch exactly where he had patted, "Well, they're nah too bad, yeah?" She assumed he would understand that she meant her family.

He sat down beside her and immediately reached for a gloved hand. "No, they weren't. It was...very good. Aces, you might say." Noticing the extra fabric on her gloves, he started tugging on it teasingly.

She giggled and tried to half-heartedly tug her hands away without the gloves slipping off. "Good. I... " her giggled died down, "I dun hav' words fer how happy I am ta be here wit' ya, yeah?"

"Maybe you don't need them, then." The fidgeting and grabbing stopped, and he sat very, very still.

She frowned slightly, and gave a slight shake of her head, "Mahbe nah, bu' I wan' ta be able ta tell ya." Her hands came up to cup his still face, "How else ar' ya gonna know jist how happy ya make me?"

"Like that?" He imitated her, turning his face into the gloved hand. "You know what they say about actions and words."

Her lips curled into a rueful smile, "I gotta come up wit' words, since I kin't do all th' actions 'm thinkin' o', yeah?"

"Sure." He nuzzled against the hand, as it slightly muffled his speech. "The sentiment is appreciated, at any rate, melamin."

The edge in her smile disappeared, and she kissed the tips of her fingers before lightly putting them to his lips, "Yer welcome." She gave him a wink before flopping her back down on the bed with a light thud.

His eyes slitted into crescents, and he looked utterly at peace. He followed quickly on her heels in falling onto the other side of the bed beside her, a smile quickly turning up on his face. "No problem at all."

"Nah." Again she snuggled up against him, but this time she was not very discreet about it. "So," she stifled another yawn, "Wha'cha wan'ta do tomorrow?" Asked as if he was supposed to plan out their time in a place he had never been too before.

"Does it matter?" A contented sigh interrupted his speech, before he went on. "You pick a time and a place and an activity, and I will be there with bells on."

"We could... do nothin'." She chuckled softly, trying to wiggle underneath his arm to get closer. "Jist lock ourselves up 'n here an' nah worry 'bout a thin'." Even though he couldn't see it, surely her smile could be heard in her tone.

He lifted an arm up to ease the process of scooting closer. He draped the limb across his chest, feeling it rise and fall with his chest as he breathed. "Look at the rest of the holograms and photographs and...rigmarole of that sort."

"Certainly. An' when it cools down 'nough, we kin go ta th' lake. Ya still gotta walk 'n wata fer me." She rested her cheek on his shoulder and gave a content sigh, "Prolly hav' the house ta ourselves fer a good portion o' th' day. Farm work doesn't do itself an' all."

"Then we shall have to explore the house more, while we have the chance. And-" He didn't really know where to go next, so instead he just echoed her sigh, reaching across his body towards where her face was resting on his shoulder. He switched to Elvish, hoping that the time it took to translate back to Common would make it seem less corny. "Ar'iluve*."

She closed her eyes as his hand touched her face, and she nuzzled his shoulder, "Ar'iluve*." She echoed the words, and was content with the following comfortable silence as she gathered her next thoughts. "An'.. I was thinkin'.. I usually try ta visit Cal's grave when 'm here.. would you like to go? I understand if you don't." She tried to hide her nervous in asking the question, but her failing accent betrayed her.

"Iluve ar'ainat*." It was a bit more cryptic of an answer than he was used to giving out, made doubly cryptic by the foreign tongue he spoke it in, and he quickly added on in Common. "Yes. I will go."


*Everything
Everything and anything