"Sure, if I wouldn't be intruding."  He follows, letting the family lead them up to town.  It's familiar to Erin, but not to him, and he takes in the sights of the simple village.  

She laughs, "Don't worry, you won't be." Theirs is a long-running arrangement. 

The first big difference between the villages here and the ones in the deserts of Soth is easily picked out - every house is raised off the ground by at least a meter, to avoid flooding. The building materials are different, as well, of course, considering the easy access to wood in this environment. Most of the houses themselves are unpainted, but brightly coloured flowers and other plants adorn them and the ground around them, leaving the village looking cheery even in the intermittent drizzle. 

The Hols lead them into a house a few in from the edge - aside from Cole, still curled up in her arms. She's starting to get tired as they reach the house, and has to set him down to let him dash up the stairs. 

He can compliment the family on their garden.  They're not kinds he's used to, but he knows healthy plants when  he sees them.  

"What do you do for a living?" he asks Tomas, making conversation.  

"Thank you," Tomas says in return for the compliment, patting Ana's shoulder, "We put a lot of work into it.

"I teach, besides that," he adds with a tired smile. "Rhysden is a small village, but there are enough children here to keep me occupied." 

Cole leads the way into the house, pushing the lockless door out of his way and grabbing Erin's hand to pull her after him.

"I helped Mama make an art," he tells her once they're inside, tugging her over to a shelf full of intricate wooden carvings. The one he points to is a slightly cruder turtle. 

"It's Sam!" He adds, beaming up at her. 

"Oh!" Erin says, reaching up to pull it down, "He's lovely, Cole," she tells him with a smile.

"Come help me put dinner together, sweetheart," Dacey tells Ana. They vanish further into the house to do that.

The carvings are beautiful, and he recognizes some of the wood types.  

Hospitality traditions vary from country to country and this is his first time in Gyre.  He'll follow Erin's lead or otherwise go where he's put.  

They don't seem to expect much of anything from him. Erin is busy entertaining the small child. After a bit more enthusing over the carving of Saman, though, Cole turns to stare up at the Large Person. 

"You are very big." He informs Ara'Vine solemnly. 

(Tomas turns a snort into a cough.) 

(Erin hides a smile behind her hand.)

"I am," he says with the same serious tone.

He keeps staring at him for a long moment, then lifts his arms. "Up?" 

"Colin-" Tomas starts - before stopping when Erin puts a hand on his arm, shaking her head. 

Very up!  

He's raised dozens of children, and knows how to pick them up safely.  Ara'Vine's head is less than a handspan from the ceiling.  Colin can reach up and touch the ceiling from where he is if he wants to.  

"I'm tall so that I can see the tops of things," he says.  

He squeals at the amount of Up. 

He does touch the ceiling! He also peers around from this new height. He is the tallest, now! For a little while, anyway.

"How did you get so tall?" He asks, turning his attention to patting Ara'Vine's hair. "I wanna be tall." 

"Eat your vegetables," Tomas comments from the sidelines, smiling. 

Cole makes a scrunched face. 

Erin laughs quietly, smiling at the scene they make. "Your uncle isn't wrong about that, Colin."

"Vegetables are important," he says, as the authority on tallness.

Six year olds are pretty light, at least to him.  He can hold Colin until he starts wanting to be set down.  Just one of many useful things about being so big.

After a moment, he nods, sighing explosively, "I guess." 

He will keep peering around at things for a bit, looking at the carvings he can see from this height especially - "Not too close, please," Tomas requests when Cole asks to move closer to them.

"Down, now," he tells Ara'Vine once he's looked his fill, squirming about in his arms. 

Once he's on the ground, he runs off through the same door his mother and sister had gone through. 

"It shouldn't take them long," Tomas tells the two of them, taking hospitality duties while Dacey handles the food. He motions to a short table and a small pile of cushions off to the side, pulling one of them off the pile and settling on it on the floor. "I hope it's not too short for your comfort," he adds, frowning up at Ara'Vine, concerned.

"It's fine.  I have used this kind of furniture before," he remarks.  He'll need a bit of extra space to one side for his legs, but settles down comfortably. 

(His physical enhancements aren't just about height and the ability to see magnetic fields and such - he can sit comfortably in just about any position he can assume.  He did practice this one in particular to also look like he's comfortable.)

They can all settle around the table, then. And, shortly, dinner will be served. 

"Will you be joining Erin on her circuits of Garnethold, then?" Dacey asks Ara'Vine once she and her children have joined them. 

He hadn't given it much thought.  "Probably, if that's what she'd prefer to do.  We'll be going a bit farther north to Setebre, then taking another detour to Xeni in about a year to help with an issue with the river.  After that... I certainly wouldn't mind spending a while in Garnethold.  It's a nice change from the desert."

"Hm, I should keep helping in this area at least some of the time. If we go farther afield, I will have to check in with the main temple in Elgea so they know I will not be doing so, anymore. I would like to see more of the world, however, and there are other healers." 

He considers that.  "Staying to your usual track might be a good thing for a while.  Towns with people you know well are towns where you'll be able to heal others, once you're able to do that reliably.  I'm hardly one to advise against travelling, though."

"That's a good point." She nods, "After we return from Setebre, perhaps we could return to my circuit until we leave for Xeni." And plans for after Xeni can wait, she thinks. 

He nods, content with the plan.  "How far north do you go on your circuit, usually?"

"Kintheld usually, but I might go farther north briefly if news reaches me that I might be needed there. There was a particularly bad illness in one of the villages on the eastern coast of Amethi a few years ago. That was the last time I visited - healers are far more common in the north of the isles, near Elgea."

"We're not truly strapped for healers, around here, either," Dacey agrees, "But they're in high demand farther south."