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Vesper occasionally loathes her siblings. Sometimes it’s because Whitney, better known as Xandra (the shortened version of her middle name, Alexandra), takes her bow without asking. Her younger sister isn’t even supposed to use a bow at all yet; she’s only seven years old after all and Vesper wasn’t allowed a bow until her ninth birthday not a month ago.
Other times her blood boils because Cival has used one of her possessions in his tangles of wire and fabric that rarely function as he says they will. He’s five, so Vesper usually can find it in her heart to forgive him. Elaina hasn't picked up the habit of thievery yet, but she’s only a year old so she has plenty of time to learn.
Today, however, her wrath is focused on Xavier, Xandra’s twin. Xavier had been trying to get Vesper’s journal for days. Normally, all of the siblings share their notes and ideas freely, but as the twins’ birthday approached, Vesper wished to keep her plans for her siblings’ gifts secret. She refused to give a clear explanation for her secrecy, knowing that any hints toward her surprise could be enough for the twins to spoil it. Xandra briefly gave her a cold-shoulder for her reticence, but soon let the animosity go. Xavier chose to make it his mission to discover what his older sister was hiding.
Until today, Vesper had managed to foil all of Xavier’s plots. But today she left her door open a crack and that was all the opening Xavier or rather his fox, Dawnlight, needed. Vesper saw the fox’s white tipped tail disappear around the corner as she returned to her room. When she found the journal missing, it didn’t take much thought to realize what happened. (Her bedside clock is missing, too, but it’s probably fallen victim to Cival’s latest project, not Xavier’s.)
Now, Vesper storms after Dawnlight. She knows Xavier’s hiding spots well, he can’t hide from her for long. When she gets a hold of him, he’ll be sorry. When their parents hear what he did, he’ll be in a real bind. Her mother hasn’t been called ‘the dragon woman’ without some reason after all. Vesper turns a final corner to the gallery, with its wide windows and view of the garden. One window is open, the pane swung inward, just enough for a breeze to sneak in and for a child to steal out onto the roof.
‘Gotcha,’ Vesper thinks. She climbs out the window, harsh words ready to be sprung on her troublesome younger brother. Xavier is there, on the overhang of the roof, sitting crosslegged. Dawnlight has his head resting on his master’s knee and on the other is Vesper’s journal.
“Vax’ildan Xavier Von Musel Klossowski de Rolo, you inconsiderate, nosy—“
“You’re building me a telescope?” Xavier cuts her off. His voice is so full of awe that Vesper’s rant is thrown off kilter. She knows he adores watching the stars and planets; he’s poured over the books in the library on the heavens for most of his life. A telescope was an obvious gift. Xavier’s got star-filled eyes as he pages through her notes on the gift.
“Yes, I am. I mean, I was, with papa’s help. See if I give it you now, imp,” Vesper grumbles, though her fury is unexpectedly dampened. Dawnlight squawks when his head is displaced from Xavier’s lap as he embraces his sister.
“You will, witch,” Xavier says quietly. “Thank you, Ves.”
“Yeah, yeah, your welcome, I guess. I’m still telling mama and papa you stole my journal, though,” Vesper says, hugging her brother. He sits back, pouting at her threat. Xavier’s hazel eyes and wild dusty brown curls can be a military grade persuasion tactic at times.
“You could have avoided this by telling us it was just a surprise. Or by keeping your door closed, ” Xavier says indignantly.
“Telling you it was a surprise would have changed nothing except Xandra would have joined you in your quest. Did you see her gift, too?” Vesper asks. She leans back on the roof, looking out over the gardens. The gardens are empty for now.
“Yeah, I did,” Xavier grabs the journal and flips to the page with the page with Xandra’s gift. “A portable recording system. Ingenious!”
“I thought it may be more handy for her note taking. It can’t take very long recordings yet, but…”
“She’ll love it,” Xavier assures her. As they speak of their sister, Vesper catches sight of Xandra sneaking out into the garden, Vesper’s bow in hand and quiver at her side.
“Dear Pelor, can’t anyone keep their hands off my things?” Vesper asks, shaking her head. Xavier laughs aloud. He hands Vesper’s journal back to her and pull Dawnlight into his lap.
“Of course not, sister,” Xavier says lightly. “We’re your siblings; it’s what we do.”
Vesper punches Xavier’s arm before she retreats back into the gallery. Xavier is obnoxious and disrespectful, but he’s her brother. Yes, he ruined the surprise, but now he can help her with Xandra’s gift. And Vesper will still surprise him with that telescope. She’ll just have to improve on the design so it’ll be even better than he expected. Perhaps the base can be modified so tracking objects as they move across the sky is easier? Or maybe an attachment to focus the image of the observed object on a projection screen?
Vesper heads to the workshop, certain she’ll find her father there. They have some work to do. And if she doesn’t mention that a certain troublesome brother stole her journal, or that an impish littlest brother stole her clock, or that a sneaky younger sister stole her bow, what does it matter? It’s not like she hasn’t borrowed Xandra’s collecting basket before (the wicker didn’t get those grease stains from Xandra’s plants). Once in awhile, she may have snuck out one of Xavier’s gears from his crafting pile and you could hardly blame Vesper for wanting to examine Cival’s gyroscope a couple times.
Like Xavier said, ’it’s what we do’ Vesper thinks to herself as she enters the workshop.