"A good job with dinner, Agate—I'll admit I was concerned when the pan caught fire, but it seems to have turned out fine somehow. I have to leave for work again, and the family gathering will be next week—Estelle, would you like seconds?"
Agate finished putting his forkful of beef in his mouth and raised his eyebrows. He had gotten used to his dad's way of sneaking departure announcements in during dinner—Pass the gravy, please, also I'm leaving for a month, Joshua, are you finished with the pepper?—but to sandwich a family gathering inside a departure announcement? This was new. He forced himself to chew, not retort, and start counting.

One…Two…Three…Four…C'mon, Estelle, stop inhaling your potatoes and use your ears…Eight…

"Wait, you're leaving again?!"
You're catching on faster, but you only got half of it.
"…You won't be attending the gathering?"
Aaaaaand there's Joshua with the other half.
"Let me guess, you're leaving first thing tomorrow morning?"
"Close, Agate—I'll be going late tonight."
Estelle launched into a barrage of protests; Agate sighed and joined Joshua in continuing to eat.

Watching his siblings wasn't hard—Joshua pretty much babysat himself and Estelle. And Shera, when she was around. Agate even suspecting he was getting babysat some days. Hell, the only time the kid got in trouble was when he was covering for some stupid shit that Estelle had pulled. Agate had figured that one out the day Joshua claimed to have put a hole in Estelle's bedroom wall…..with her staff…..when Agate had heard her yell "ok, but watch this" five seconds before the thunk of demolition.

And while Estelle found Joshua's verbal stunts endearing, they smelled like foreshadowing to Agate—self-sacrifice was a great way to get yourself killed—just ask their mom. And Cassius either hadn't caught on to Joshua's troublemaker act, or was pretending not to know. Agate would rather not ask, in case it was the latter—either Joshua was screwed up, Cassius was nurturing that attitude, or some sick combination of the two. Also, Cassius being out of town too damn much was more likely, and Agate preferred to keep his mouth shut than confirm his potential idiocy.

Cassius's departure went down with the usual resistance—mostly from Estelle—and promises of international Strega models from Cassius. If he couldn't get his hands on a pair, she'd take a new staff, but no more bringing new siblings instead of gifts. Agate rolled his eyes as she continued to list her demands, most of which she'd forget within a few minutes—the girl would accept a freaking orphanage moving in as long as she got some shoes.

The next week was spent frantically cleaning, with Estelle banned—banned—from so much as touching her staff in or within ten arge of the house, and Aidios help her if she put another hole in the damn wall. Estelle aside, they managed to pull off the house-wide scrub-down rather smoothly.

On the day of the get-together, Estelle welcomed family members she probably didn't recognize as they arrived, while Agate hunted through the woods for Joshua. Agate kicked his lack of foresight—he really should've tied the brat to his hip—and Joshua's disappearing act was like clockwork. Is it Tuesday? Better check the woods before he wanders into the sewers again. Agate listed it as Joshua's creepiest quirk, even higher than calling him "nii-san" as a kid. Even Estelle used "onii-chan" at that age, and she's now calling Agate "aniki" like some punk-ass member of the Ravens. Hell, Cassius had introduced Agate to Joshua as "onii-chan"—where did he even get the "nii-san"?! What kind of kid is that formal?! So un-cute. Sorta edging on creepy.

Joshua would be easier to deal with if he just ran away from home on a regular basis—throw together a backpack of snacks and toys and march off to Grancel like Agate used to—but Joshua just…..vanishes. No tantrum, no arguments, not even so much as losing a coin flip—some days, Agate's ready to just ask why—but in a way, it's the only thing Joshua does even remotely like a normal kid. And—Agate paused as the sound of a harmonica drifted through the trees—it's not hard to find him if you wait long enough. At the same time, Agate couldn't shake the chance that—one day—Joshua's disappearance wouldn't be followed by harmonica, and he'd silently walk out on them forever. Agate wasn't fond of sitting on his hands and waiting, anyway.