"Well, dig in now. Meredith made you cookies and tea, and it would be a shame to waste them," she said before plucking one of the cookies from the tray. The children dug in gratefully, Vien and James only waiting for Meredith to take a few cookies before scrambling to grab handfuls for themselves. Vien managed to snatch three before going to reach for the largest cup, but it was snatched out from under him before he could even brush a fingertip across it.

"H-Hey!" he protested, his older brother waving the cup in the air as he reached for it.

"Sorry, Vien. Better luck next time," James teased, reaching for the pot of tea as Vien settled for the second largest cup with a huff. He waited for James to finish with the tea before taking it gingerly from the tray. Carefully, he made a conscious effort not to let his wrist twitch as he poured the dark green liquid into his cup. He set the pot down carefully, hiding his hand beneath the table as his wrist twitched a few times. It was a horribly annoying thing, really. James passed him the sugar after a minute, which he took happily with a murmured thanks.

"Are the cookies any good?" Meredith asked excitedly, unable to keep from asking any longer. James let out a small laugh, taking a large bite out of one of the cookies.

"Mm, Meredith, these are great," he said around a mouthful of the sweets, and Vien nodded in agreement. He took a small bite out of his cookie, careful not to burn his tongue on the barely cooled sweet.

"Yes, your sister worked very hard on them. Didn't use a lick of magic, either," their mother said proudly, sending Meredith into an embarrassed fit of giggles.

"Oh quit it, mother. You helped," she protested, pale cheeks flushed red as she grinned. Vien smiled along with her, taking another bite of his cookie to mask the stiffness that had worked its way into his body. He couldn't help the pang of jealousy at the mention of magic. Their entire family had access to an array of abilities, from their father's flames to little Meredith's healing. All but him. His mother had assured him that it was uncommon, but not impossible that his body just wasn't quite used to outputting so much energy yet. He didn't believe her. All Harlocks gained access to their outputs by age twelve, and he was nearly three years over that date. But he kept his smile as he took a sip of his tea, not wanting to hint to the faint twinge of bitterness creeping into his chest.