Evander took a long, calming breath, smile fading as he advised himself to play nicely with his sister. If Evander was the dark horse of the family, Calliope was the raging bull. They’d been butting heads since childhood - Evander’s desire for order and control at odds with Calliope’s bold, abrasive style. She knew just how to get under Evander’s skin. Though Evander was usually able to tolerate her needling, when she did provoke him the results were explosive. But at the end of the day, none of that mattered. They were both Blackwoods, and their allegiance to one another were unbreakable.

“Every so often one must indulge in a little harmless merriment,” Evander tapped another one of the disks, a glass blooming which he filled with liquor. “Besides,” He turned around, subtle smile back as he handed Calliope her drink, “it’s shameful how much time has passed since I've seen you, Calli. If mother was still with us she would be most upset.” Evander delivered this whole speech with the austerity of someone who saw socializing as a skill to be regularly practiced rather than something to take enjoyment in.

Keion was returning home from running a few errands in Elyusian and at as fast of a pace as he could. It was quite uncommon that Evander, of all the siblings, would summon them all together. He knew nothing was wrong, otherwise they would have been summoned in much more haste, but he wondered what could have his brother actually wanting company.

Since leaving the Cavalry, he had spent much of his time training and preparing for the day that Cyrus would call on him to spend time in a different kingdom. It had been quite the change of pace for him, but he had taken to it quite well. When not training, he spent his days within the city keeping an eye and an ear on the local populace.

He entered the estate, heading towards the room where he knew his siblings would be waiting. He swept inside, a big smile plastered on his face. "Brother! Sister! To what do we owe this wonderous occasion?" He made his way to Calliope, bending to briefly press a kiss to her cheek and ruffle her hair. He offered the same big smile to Evander but did not approach, knowing better than to show physical affection to this particular brother. "Is everything alright? I cannot remember the last time you of all people called us all together"

Evander’s eyes crinkled at the edges when Calliope conjured up the memory of the hammer and their mother’s dining table. Of any of her children, Calliope was the one Thea seemed to struggle with the most. Evander had been the same with their father, which only made sense. Calliope and Evander were opposites in so many ways, but that didn’t make him love his sister any less - even if he had funny and subtle ways of showing it. For example, had anyone else attempted to give him a nickname, Evander would have killed it right out of the gate. However much he detested it, with Calliope he’d let it slide.

As soon as Evander heard more approaching footsteps, he started to pour another glass. By the time Keion approached Evander pushed the glass into his hand, returning his brother’s smile with the slightest upward twitch of his lips - which for Evander was quite the display of emotion. He sipped his drink, watching his siblings with vague amusement.

“Just a little something to entertain,” Evander set down his glass, shooting his brother a ‘you’re going to like this’ look before reaching into his breast pocket, “for now, anyway.” Out came a little silver case with two tiny objects inside. Evander palmed one of them, taking the other and holding it up. It was a small silver object which looked like a couple of hollowed-out silver molars which had been fused together. After his siblings had a chance to look at it, he reached inside his mouth and snapped it into place on top of his back teeth. There was no apparent effect.

"I’m sure I’ll find some useful applications. It’s just a matter of exploration,” Evander said nonchalantly, walking casually behind his sister as if to refill his drink. Once he was behind her, he smacked whatever object he’d palmed to the back of her neck. It looked like a small silver spider, whose needle-thin legs and latched themselves into the back of Calliope’s neck. “Like I said,” Evander would go to say, “Nothing too special.”

Only the words wouldn’t come out of Evander’s mouth. Though his mouth would move, no sound would come from him. Instead, his words would come from Calliope’s tongue as if he were the ventriloquist and she was the dummy. Though she was in full control of her other movements, she would not be able to speak or move her mouth of her own accord.

Keion grinned and winked at Calliope, giving her hair yet another ruffle just to spite her. He accepted the drink from Evander, raising it slightly in a show of thanks before taking a sip from it. He also made a point to move a couple paces away from Calliope in case she decided to retaliate for him messing with her hair.

"Well, I am quite excited to see what new invention you've come up with, Evander." it was said with full sincerity. While Keion was intelligent just as all the other Blackwoods were, he had always envied his brother's aptitude for the sciences and his studies. He raised an eyebrow when he caught Evander's look, then squinted at the small metal piece held between Evander's fingers. He didn't speak, allowing his brother to have his moment as he stuck the small piece in his mouth and moved to place something on the back of Calliope's neck.

When Evander next spoke and the words came not from his mouth, but Calliope's, both of Keion's eyebrows shot up in fascination. "Oh Evander, this is absolutely brilliant!" He crouched next to his sister, studying her as if it would make him understand how the device worked. "Yes, I'm sure we could come up with some great uses for this. I'm sure Cyrus will be quite pleased. At the very least, it'll help keep Calli a bit quieter." He chuckled, quickly moving out of reach of his sister.

“It’s undoubtedly the start of something.” Evander mouthed, the words springing from Calliope’s tongue. “There are more things that I want to try. But for now, I’ll settle for a moment’s peace.” Calliope then shut her mouth, smiling as Evander did. The elder brother sipped his drink, eyes sparkling with mischief.

Keion was about to share in another drink with Evander when he realized Calli was moving and had something in her hand. Before he could figure out what it was and what to do, she had flicked it at his forehead. It punked off of him and he felt the strange sensation of heat on his skin that traveled up into his hair. He felt a jolt and winced, carefully reaching up to pat his hair back into place. "Well, that wasn't very nice of you," he said in a joking tone.

When Calli turned to face Evander with another marble in hand, Keion chuckled and shook his head, "You better set her free before she decides to use her hammer on us instead. Besides, have you done any studies on if extended wear of this causes any harm to either party?" It was a question of concern for both of his siblings but also a question of pure curiosity.

Evander resisted the urge to roll his eyes at Keion before flipping the case back open. The spider would immediately retract itself from Calliope’s neck and start to scuttle back to Evander - quick as a flash, returning to the case before Evander placed the molar inside and snapped it shut once again. Keion was no fun.

“I guess we won’t find out today,” Evander said casually, going back to his drink as if nothing of consequence had just occurred. He looked to his siblings - blank-faced with scrutinizing eyes as if expecting a similar show-and-tell from his siblings.

Keion watched the small metal spider crawl quickly back to Evander, shaking his head slightly in amusement when Calliope immediately stuck her tongue out at him. "Well, it's nice to hear there is some sense left in that head of yours," he winked at Calli and finally sunk down into a chair at the table, setting his glass down at the same time. He still had a bemused smile on his face. Spending time with his sibling always immediately lifted his mood, no matter what antics they got up to.

He turned his attention back to Calli as she voiced her question, raising an eyebrow at her and turning the same look to Evander, waiting for his answer.