Not one who needed a good night’s sleep, Caius had been ready for his day far earlier than the average witch or warlock. Standing by the grandfather clock in the hallway that led to the girls’ room, he silently waited, with crossed arms, in the corner — hidden in shadow. In the morning, girls were unaware and failed to observe their surroundings, especially when most suffered from sleep deprivation or worry that their eyelids weren’t embellished with the perfect winged liner. If there was ever an attack on the school, he wondered if any of them would be prepared, including his sister.

Truly, this was a gift of his. It was obvious he wasn’t a small dude. Even so, over the years, he took the time to master the ability to be unseen without using the overrated invisibility spell. For one, he wouldn’t use invisibility to peek at any of them, he had standards. But, Caius did believe that in order to be the best, he needed to groom his more humane skills before his magic. For example, advancing his stealth to help with his research. To research his colleagues, he could use stealth or he could simply persuade someone for intel. There were a variety of ways to get what he wanted and to build on his insight. As one can tell, stealth seemed to be a ‘go-to’ method for the eldest Sterling.

At last, that wasn’t why he was here waiting. He wasn’t that eager to watch the girls come in and out of the room. There was the southern belle that utilized her morning to go for runs. He was usually lucky to see her leave, and return, on a daily basis. Another early bird, the blonde introvert, seemed to prefer drowning herself in a book than interact with too many people. Kind of like his sister. Ah, then there was the attractive, perhaps easily… influenced, ice queen. Yes, a lot of these girls were interesting to watch. Yet, that wasn’t what he was here for.

He was here for one girl.

Eyes red, wide eyed, staring at the ceiling, Anastasia steadied her breathing and waited. Fear stricken, having had another bad dream, she listened to the girls exiting the room for breakfast. Her eyes were full of life, yet lost and uncertain like the vast ocean carrying emotional currents. She hated her disorder. The bloody images flashed in and out of her conscious. Another unnecessarily tragic scene, where innocence was lost. The tears trailed down her cheeks, wishing they’d all just hurry up and leave. She was tired of being in bed. Why couldn’t she muster the strength to get up while they all were still here?!

Doing her counting exercises, she continued to wait, and wait, and wait until she was positive she was the last one left. Or, she hoped! Swiftly, she got ready for her morning: quick rinse, since she ends her night with baths and only needed to freshen up, and more importantly, choosing her outfit of the day that would keep her in a light mood. Preparing herself to socialize and do the whole school thing… required a lot of intensive care, like looking presentable even if it was more for her than anyone else. Confidence. She needed to be confidant.

In the nick of time, she exited the girls’ room with a cute outfit, as per usual. She usually had more vintage vibes about her aesthetic and thankfully, she hadn’t broken any dress policy. So far, she must be doing something right! Tiptoeing, even if there was definitely no more girls on this floor, she whimpering whispered, _{“Brother…?”}

“I’m here.” Coming from behind her, Caius grabbed her hand and turned her to face him, giving his twin a kind and warm smile, “You look adorable.”

_{“Do I?… yes, um, thank you. I put a lot of thought into it.”}

“I know you did.” Softly, he responded. This was a side only she really got to see. Glancing over his shoulder back at the grandfather’s clock, he nodded, “We have one more thing to do before we eat.”

In excitement, her voice rose, “YES! I mean… yes. Alaric better not be late!” She giggled, her mood already taking a better turn.

“If he is, which he might, I’ll fight him.” A sly smirk slipped on Anastasia’s twin’s face.

_{“No… don’t do that.”} She pleaded. Fighting was bad and made her sad. Violence was a no-no in her book and Alistair knew that! Of course, she knew he was bluffing. At least, she hoped he was. It would be the end of the world if her brothers got in a terrible fight. Why live?

With that, Caius led his sister to another area on school grounds, knowing his job was only beginning.

There it was again, that annoying and loud bell. A tired groan slipped from Alaric's lips as he buried his face in his pillow listening to the boys beginning to move around. He didn't understand why some of them were even bothering to wake up when some of them, like himself, didn't even have morning classes. "Ri-Ri You gotta get up! Ali will be upset if you're late!" A high-pitched voice rang in his head followed by the feeling of a furry little nose trying to shove it's way into his blankets.

"Coco I'm going to skin you and feed you to Princess." The threat caused the Marten to squeak and scurry to the end of the bed, making cute little clicking sounds before running off somewhere. The blonde sighed as he pushed himself up into a sitting position...even though he really didn't want to wake up, the rodent was right.

Alaric had to force himself out of bed and to the showers where he quickly washed up and dressed himself. Unlike his siblings who wore sensible clothing he rather liked to be a little rebellious. He used some light gel to fluff up his blonde locks, threw on a T-Shirt that had some sort of band symbol on it and his signature black leather coat. Then he threw on a pair of faded jeans and his favorite black converse. Alaric did this all in the time span of 30 minutes and rushed out of the boys room, not really taking any time to greet or speak to anyone who may have spoken to him. He had to get to the music room before the other two did.

And he did.

After reaching for the doorknob, Caius opened the door, scoffing when he saw the familiar face of his twin brother, while letting the youngest Sterling prance in. The first thing Ana did was run to Alaric and give him a kiss on the cheek, a more careless demeanor flowing over her. Without saying a word, Caius walked past the two of them and went to the record player. Fucking old-fashioned. He needed a morning energy song for Ana before they entered the den known as the cafeteria.

Ah. This one will do.

Grabbing one of the records off the shelve, he nonchalantly twirled it, before placing it in. He would literally die if anyone saw him dancing like a fool. Before moving the tone arm over the the record, he looked back at his siblings, waiting.

“Did you sleep well?” Ana gleamed at Alaric. Unbeknownst to her, her familiar, Arrow, the smallest fox in the world, slipped into the room and hopped onto one of the chairs. He had things to do while his mistress slept, but now their day was starting, which meant he had to keep her safe. He widely yawned, anticipating a show to happen in a matter of seconds.

Alaric smiled softly at his cute baby sister, “I slept fine, Leona. How was your night?” He asked, laying a gentle hand on the top of her head for a moment before looking to Alistair and than back at his sister. “You ready?” As the trio got ready for their morning routine Coco scrambled up onto the ledge of an open window and leaped up onto the same chair as Arrow, plopping down next to the small fox. “Hi Old man!” The rodent chirped.

“Ah yes. Of course, you can sit next to me.” Arrow sarcastically responded, as he straightened his posture, his baby fox tail leisurely moving on the seat, side to side. “It is far too early for your… bright disposition, Coco.” The kitsune didn’t understand why this rodent bothered. If it wasn’t obvious enough, the fox wanted to keep to himself and not have a childish Marten poking at him for attention.

“Of course I’m ready! And… let’s not talk about my night. Let’s just—”

“Dance.” As per tradition, ever since they were young, the brothers would loosen Anastasia’s nerves and give her a temporary fix of forgetting her bad dreams by starting their day with some jig. The song that resonated throughout the room was I Think We’re Alone Now by Tiffany, a late 80s song (yes, a nod to Umbrella Academy).

Stealing his sister from his brother, Caius reeled her in and gave her a little twirl before releasing her and allowing her to be a dork and do every corny dance under the sun, like The Sprinkler and The Cabbage Patch. He had a preference for ballroom dancing, but for her, he’d get out of his comfort zone. Bobbing his head and awkwardly swaying side to side, with a blank expression, he watched his sister’s face brighten expeditiously.

“Come on Alistair, loosen up a bit.” Alaric stuck a tongue out at him as he grabbed Ana’s hands and hopped around the room with her, letting out a bright laugh. While his brother may have been embarrassed by their morning traditions Alaric liked them and honestly wasn’t bothered about anyone seeing him. Alistair seemed to care about the image he portrayed but for him he just wanted to be himself and didn’t care who saw him. Besides this was fun for both him and Ana, it was a good way to spend the morning.

Looking over his shoulder to the window which peered into the courtyard, seeing no students around, Alistair rolled his eyes and gave a little more 'umpf' to his groove shimmying and eventually joining in with his siblings that were bouncing throughout the whole room. He did not bounce, but he followed along. The only time he would choose to follow them.

He felt like a fool.

And yet, this was tradition. Tradition and making Ana happy were priorities to him. With a slight smile, like hardly visible because that's how far he allowed his face to stretch, he snapped his fingers to the beat.

While the room was turning into a party, Coco watched the trio with gleaming ups, his little tail wiggling about. “You're so grumpy all the time.” he mused aloud. “You should try to look at things on the bright side! Makes your day a whole lot better.”

“You do that enough for us both." Smug. Arrow gave the hyper Marten a wink and then brought his attention back to the triplets, observing them in silence. Together, they made each other better. Separated, though? That was far more interesting.

Curious...