Chapter 2.5 - In which Percy's siblings bicker

Percy

Month 12, Day 19, Saturday 6:00 p.m.

Two days after their harrowing escape from the blood sorcerer, Percy found himself at the theater with his family and Viv, his friend from work. Lysander had requested this outing for her birthday, and invited the older girl specifically. Ever since meeting Viv earlier that month—after the fiasco during the gang fight between the Morrows and the Verdant Stag—Lysander had asked about her several times and seemed to have a small case of hero worship toward the older girl.

They were all wearing their best clothing, and Lysander shifted between watching the stage and talking with Viv as they waited for the play to start. It was some tragic romance that had been popular recently. His sister could barely contain her enthusiasm, practically vibrating in her seat.

Lately, watching performances—of actors and actresses, not puppets or illusion plays—was all Lysander wanted to do. She had dragged Percy to the market on weekends several times. Any pocket change she managed to earn from selling small handicrafts or helping the neighbors with chores went to buying a ticket for whatever small play she could afford.

Lysander had even been dropping hints about taking acting lessons, oblivious to the pinched expression Mom always tried to hide.

Each time, Percy said nothing, but he understood. Lessons were expensive, and being an actor wasn’t like other jobs. It was a profession that typically required family wealth or a sponsor to break into, let alone become popular.

Percy’s eyes roamed the theater, taking in the ornate decorations and the richly dressed patrons. His fingers itched to reach for his camera obscura, which was tucked safely away in its case. He had originally hoped to capture a few photographs of the play and the actors, envisioning selling them to local papers or the theater itself for advertising purposes.

However, a stern glance from Mom had quickly extinguished those plans before they even made it out the door. She had made it clear earlier that this evening was about family time.

Percy had reluctantly resigned himself to leaving his camera obscura untouched. That didn’t mean he would leave it behind, of course. Once the play was over and the place cleared out a bit, he planned to snap a portrait of the Irving family in front of the theatre stage. He would print it large, frame it, and give it to Mom for her birthday, which was also coming soon. And maybe they could even sneak Lysander up on stage for a few solo photographs. He was sure she would love that, even if Percy was on her blacklist at the moment.

Lysander was sitting as far away from Percy as possible, but he still caught bits of her conversation with Viv. “Have you read anything about this play?” Lysander asked. “I saw in the paper that the the lead actress captured her character’s emotions beautifully. ‘Like a dying butterfly.’” She sighed wistfully. “Embers in the Wind is the most popular play this year.”

Viv smiled politely. “Oh, I caught some buzz about it. But drama has never been my favorite genre. Most of the time, the actors just…stand there.” She waved a hand limply. “I prefer action, or musicals with dance numbers. Movement! Vivacity!” she said, throwing her arms in the air.

Aethelwulf leaned over excitedly, pressing against Viv. “Yes! Like a battle dance! I want to be a tattoo knight who dances while fighting dragons!”

Mom looked to the ceiling, and then pointedly met Percy’s gaze. Aethelwulf had not given up on her fascination with tattoos ever since the filigree moth on his wrist had mysteriously appeared.

Gideon kicked his short legs excitedly in the air, his lips green with the imitation battle-wand candy he had been sucking on. “And I’ll be the dragon! Rawr! I’ll do a big dance tail attack while flapping my wings!” Forgetting the saliva-wet stick of candy in his hand, he flailed around, managing to catch some of Aethelwulf’s puffy hair on the green wand.

Aethelwulf shrieked, then yanked her head away and snatched the candy out of Gideon’s hand. “First rule of battle magic: never point your wand at someone you don’t want to kill. This is mine now,” she announced imperiously, pulling a few strands of her hair off and then popping the end of the wand into her mouth with a gloating, lordly expression.

Gideon’s mouth fell open in shock, but soon wordless tears welled up in his eyes and rolled down his cheeks. “Mom!” he cried, turning to the woman and yanking on her arm.

Mom didn’t even let him begin to complain. “If all three of you cannot behave…” she said, her voice low and dangerous.

Aethelwulf went pale and immediately handed the candy back to Gideon. “We’ll share it, okay? Because I’m so nice.”

Gideon sniffed a couple of times, but nodded. “Okay.” After a moment, he gave another puppy-eyed sniffle and added, “Thanks,” not seeming to remember the fact that originally, he should have had the candy all to himself, since Aethelwulf had gotten her own package of marshmallow crisps.

Lysander gritted her teeth, trying to ignore her younger siblings. “Choreography sounds fun! Maybe we could go watch a musical sometime. Without the kids.”

Percy held back a smirk. Lysander had just turned thirteen. Did she think she was an adult now?

“I’m interested in the themes of societal expectations and the character struggles,” Lysander continued, but Percy tuned her out as movement from above caught his eye.

To his dismay, he spotted Tennyson Bourgeron in one of the private boxes. Even worse, the young, brightly dressed man was waving enthusiastically in Percy’s direction.

Percy immediately sank lower in his seat, silently praying that Tennyson wouldn’t make a scene or draw attention to him. How was Percy supposed to explain how they knew each other?

Unfortunately, Tennyson’s waving only grew more vigorous, and though Percy pretended not to notice, focusing intently on the program in his hands, his cheeks grew warm with embarrassment. He could only pray to the stars above that his family wouldn’t notice the young aristocrat’s attempts to catch his eye.

Author Note: This bonus chapter is rather short (even for TCC, which has shorter chapters than PGTS), but I'll be back again on Thursday with another. 

Weekly discussion thread on the Alcove: https://alcove.azaleaellis.com/t/chapter-2-5-weekly-discussion-in-which-percys-siblings-bicker/859