Live third wheel reaction

The merciless cries echoed vast and loud across the hall made the curly-haired witch jolt from her sleep. The bags under her eyes are too young to take place in a toddler's tiny face. Blinking a few times to remove the sleep in her eyes, it only took her a peak to know that even the night couldn't be spared by her little sister's demand for attention. 

Titan, it's the middle of the night! What does that little gremlin want now, this time? 

She realized the cries weren't going away any time soon, so she put on her glasses and hopped out of bed with a groan. Days and nights aren't peaceful enough for a nap or sleep, especially since her chaotic little sister has finally become a member of the Clawthorne family. So waking up in the middle of the night to the sound of her cries is no longer a big deal. Pushing herself out of bed to attend to her sister's needs when her parents aren’t available is the real deal.

As she passed through the corridor, she noticed a faint light coming from the living room. When she took a peak, she found both her parents still sound asleep despite a show still running at the crystal ball and the sound of their youngest battling whose sound was the loudest. 

Instead of bothering to wake them up, little Lilith went down to turn the crystal ball off and returned to her original job to pacify her little sister. Titan knows her parents deserve to have a little rest.

Now, back to the gremlin. When she creaked open the door to her nursery, she wished for once that she had been born deaf. If the sound that echoed down the halls is considered to awake the whole village, then the sound just outside the nursery door is enough to wake the entire isles, maybe even the Titan itself, just to make that horrible sound stop.

She found the trouble that cost her good night's sleep standing on her wooden crib. Using both of her tiny hands to clutch the wooden bars tightly to support her weight, her golden eyes shining with tears found her big sister's tired eyes. 

And just like that, Lilith immediately melted. Not in the name of Titan that she’ll glare at those soft fiery golden eyes. Maybe soon when she’s big enough to handle her temper, but not now yet.

“What now, Eda? Can't you give us a good night's sleep for once?” She may still be cranky about the sudden wake-up call, but she won't be using a higher tone of voice on the little gremlin for revenge. 

Eda immediately stretched her arms towards her as the sight of her made her crying stop. Her tiny lips trembled dangerously as sweat, snot, and tears disgustingly stuck on her face. 

Lilith did what she was taught to do. Lowering the rails of the crib, Lilith  gently lifted her and carried Eda to her chest to bring her little body to rest. "There, there, hush now." She whispered tenderly as she gently slid her hand from the back of Eda's head down to her small back repeatedly while giving her a little rock.

"Are you hungry?" 

Eda is still in tears, but unlike lately, she's now completely silent with only a few hiccups to unleash. To her surprise, she felt Eda nod like she understood her as she laid her cheeks on her sister's shoulder. "Nem-nem..." 

Lilith knows that there's a bottle of milk lying around here somewhere, but she's too tired and lazy to seek it when it's already hidden in plain sight. She's still practicing her circles to summon things out of nowhere, just in case she'll mistakenly summon winged snakes, she didn't try to draw one so that she could make Eda's drink. Instead, she decided it would be best if she just looked at one of her drinks in the kitchen, where her mother always keeps a stash of those.

“I'm gonna get you a new, erm, nem-nem. So stay here-“ But before she could even put her down in the crib, the little orange spitfire started to wail a lot louder again as she clutched the fabric of her sister's clothes even tighter. It was a sign that her little sister wouldn't let her leave from then on. So, with a sigh, she snatched the towel hanging on her crib and damped it gently on her face to remove the snot and tears. 

"Okay. Just be silent or else I'll let the bed bugs eat you. " She taunted them as they got out of her room. Since it was dark, she drew a circle, and a ball of light appeared. It made Eda in awe as she tried to reach it. Lilith chuckled before letting her have the ball of light as she created another. One for each. 

The two sisters passed down the stairs, silently walked away from their parents, sound asleep in the living room, and reached the kitchen with a ball of light guiding their way. For a three-year-old and a half, her height couldn't even reach the handle of the fridge, even on her tiptoes. Pursing her lips, she pulled a chair and made Eda sit on it as she stepped away to figure out how to open the fridge, which Eda quickly followed for her elder sister's touch. 

Lilith didn't notice that Eda was trying to reach for her as she was concentrating to at least cast a spell that would open the fridge one way or another 'coz it is sealed tight. It wasn't until the very last second that she returned her gaze to Eda, and her heart began to race quickly and loudly. She saw her at the edge, and with one swift move, she crouched and stretched her arms in time before her sister could even land face down on the ground. 

Then there was a thud. 

Lilith's ears perked up by the sound the chair made as it came into contact with the hard floor. She quickly stood up with Eda close to her chest, unminding the icky drool her little sister wiped on her clothes. Then, she felt Eda wiggle excitedly, muttering incoherent words she had a hard time understanding while pointing something behind her back. Confused at first, she followed what was making her sister fuss and turned her heel. 

When she saw something in the dark, her heart beat faster. Two figures with two pairs of glowing eyes stared menacingly in their direction. Lilith instinctively clutched Eda even tighter, burying her face in her shoulder as her stance turned into something protective. The figures seemed to get closer, and when Lilith was about to scream and wake the soul out of their sleeping parents, the shadows spat the scary figures and showed two familiar faces that she definitely didn't want to see again at the shadows. 

"Hawksley! Both of you scared me!" She whispered a little loudly. Tension immediately left her body as the two approached. 

When she saw the look her mother's palisman was giving her, she pursed her lips. It seems like she's seeing her mother in Hawksley's place. Well, he's her familiar after all. 

The strong flapping of wings that Hawksley made as they flew made Eda giggle as the wind brushed their face. The yellow cardinal perched on her other shoulder, immediately catching Eda's attention as her little sister's baby hands tried to catch the bird in one quick move. It made Lilith chuckle when she saw how irritated Eda was when their father's cardinal flew even faster than she was to catch them. 

"I was just trying to get her a drink because she was crying because she was hungry," she explained. Pursing her lips, an idea popped in her mind. "Now that you're here, would you do me a favor and get Eda's milk? so that we could get a decent sleep in just a couple minutes." 

Her proposal seems to make Hawksley agree with the idea of sleep. But then, as Lilith waited for Hawksley to do something, it just stared at her for a whole minute before she figured he wouldn't be helping her do the task. 

"Hawksley is bad." Then she stuck out her tongue and used her free hand to pull the skin beneath her eye downwards, forming a goofy look. Eda found it funny and blew raspberry directly at her sister's mouth that made Lilith yelp and disgustedly spat on the ground like it's some kind of drink that their Mom often makes. The giant bird cawed and tilted its head, watching in amusement. 

Then, when Lilith was about to put her sister on the floor because it's much safer for her on solid ground, Hawksley circled the sisters and stopped mid-flight in front of Eda, who was now petting the yellow cardinal carefully. Lilith had no clue what he was up to when suddenly, it dug its talons inside Eda's mane of orange hair, which immediately sent Lilith into a panic. 

"Hawksley, stop! Your claws might hurt her! " She tried to take a couple steps back to shoo the giant bird away, but it didn't. The idea of Eda getting lines of scratches on her scalp made Lilith upset and angry. When she looked at her sister, instead of her already throwing a fit over the uneasy movements around her, the little one looked unbothered. In fact, she even looks like she's about to laugh. What? 

Lilith stayed still while keeping a watchful eye between Hawksley and Eda's unbothered looks despite the sharp claws their mother's palisman had. Sure, she trusted him to be careful with her, especially since Eda is still a chaotic baby, but it's best to get cautious about what's about to happen if those talons ever dig deeper into her orange fluff of hair. For a one-year-old, Eda has already developed a mane of hair, forming in a way that's just like their mother's. She won't be surprised if Eda is also able to fit unending supplies of things—

Wait... just like... their mother's! 

The moment she figured out the reason why the giant bird was behaving like that, Hawksley presented the answer itself. Eda's half-empty bottle of milk was clutched tightly around the hawk's talons. Lilith let out a relieved huff that was shortly followed by a snort as the little Clawthorne set eyes on it and snatched it quick to finally have her midnight drink. 

"So that's where it went." She trailed, watching her sister hungrily devour the drink she'd been on the hunt for this night. She then looked back at Hawksley, who was resting on top of the counter, and gave the bird an apologizing look. 

"Sorry for doubting you, Hawksley. Thanks for helping me out. " She said sincerely, and the hawk let out an affirmative caw. Lilith brought her attention back to her sister, who was already halfway through finishing the drink. "Let's get you to bed." 

The palismans led the way for their masters' daughters to get to their respective quarters. The yellow cardinal flew ahead with a ball of light above its head for the eldest to see which way to go, while the giant hawk trails behind the young Clawthornes, a ball of light above its head too, making sure that the eldest won't fall as she takes the stairs. 

As they reached Eda's nursery, Eda had already finished her drink and was now being her giddy and energized self. Titan, it's not even halfway daylight yet. 

She knew very well that forcing her to sleep would only make the spitfire regain more of her energy. Not only did she watch her mother prove that point, she also watched how her dad did a certain type of trick to trick her to sleep. The trick? Show Eda various types of glowing and shiny objects.

Glowing and shiny objects, just like this cylindrical lamp in her hand that has shapes of stars and circles on its exterior, and once a light ball is placed inside, it would illuminate the room with a soft glow of light.

With the help of Hawksley, she sat on the rocking chair located near Eda's crib while her arms wrapped around her sister to secure her place on her lap. The lamp had already a ball of light inside and now shining bright above the circular table in front of them. With Eda keeping her eyes steady at the twinkling little thing in front, immediately getting mesmerized the moment it opened, Lilith let out a heavy sigh.

Finally, she's calm.

Hawksley and their Dad’s cardinal did them a favor and perched above the chair's headrest and rocked the chair for the little ones to sleep. It made Eda startled for a second, breaking the eye contact from the lamp and looking immediately at Lilith. But just a smile from her big sister, the little one knew it's alright.

Their Dad's little trick really worked because Lilith, too, was on her limit for the night as she watches the stars slowly circled the room. Lilith let Eda lay all her weight on her chest after a while, getting herself comfy and snuggled in her warmth.

This is nice...

When the little gremlin yawned widely, her growing baby fang showed. With tired eyes, Lilith let out a small smile when finally, Eda closed her eyes. Her breathing turned steady, the spitfire is now sound asleep.

Too tired to put themselves to bed, the eldest decided to just spend the night at the rocking chair. There are no worries that they might fall while they're sound asleep for there are two strong familiars watching them closely, her mind and body is at ease as she trusted them their safety.

As the made-up stars engulf the room with a soft glow of golden light, as the gentle wind outside seems to whisper hushed lullabies...

"Night-night, sister."