Altar of Twilight i painted you a picture, but it never looked right

*flays self for holding this up*

Unlike his dark sister, Sirius is affected deeply by the tension of the adults. He doesn't understand why, but he wants everyone in the vicinity to be happy and yet instinctively knows that things are not all fine here. Fortunately, he's distracted by all the stimulation -- all the newness of discovering his other family -- so he doesn't react to the thickness in the air, but focuses instead on learning what he could about these strangers.

He freezes up slightly when Olive comes closer. She's the angel in his dreams but an unknown variable in the waking world. He swallows a dry lump in his throat as she buckles before him, and Sirius finds himself oddly delighted by the sight of her on his level. She was in no way frightening -- her countenance too gentle, her scent too sweet to be such a thing -- but he hesitated still. Until she spoke. "'m not stardust!" he giggled, delighted and eager now. "I'm Sirius," he enunciated in the same chiding tone all confident children take up at some point. His smile broadened as he lost the last of his nerves and moved closed to meet Olive. He stretched out a small foot, and batted gently at her nose. "Didn' you gaved me my name? My mama tolded me you did. Don'chu 'member you gaved me my name?"

He certainly talked more than either of his siblings, and an onlooker might wonder if it had to do with their separate upbringings. Sirius glanced up at Dakarai as he spoke. This wolf was certainly much more intimidating than Olive. Sirius did not make to approach him, but he listened to the softly authoritative voice all the same, and his tail wagged at the praise he was given. "Yeah'm so stronger! I'm so stronger, I'm bigger dan Roarke, an' Molly, an' Cella, an' Eirly an' alla dem! So dat means I'm stronger," he told the dark male matter-of-factly, clearly not understanding that his age played a big part in his idea of "strong."

His attention turned suddenly to Aries, and because he had seen himself in the water before, he felt suddenly like he was doing that now -- looking into a mirror. "Yeah, you Aries -- 'm Sirius! We... we're brudders?" He turned to look at Hemlock and Arturo questioningly. Was that right? Were brothers supposed to look alike? Cassiopeia piped up again, drawing Sirius' attention like a moth to a flame. For all the words he spewed, and for all the deeper voices that surrounded them, Sirius felt most drawn to his sister's uncultivated authority. Had things been different, he and Aries might have acted as left and right hand to a queen.

He let her question to their parents hang in the air. He wanted to know too, but when the girl of midnight addressed him again, Sirius returned her affection by sniffling playfully into the side of her neck. He looked over his own shoulder, and stared wide-eyed and hopefully at Hemlock. "You tolded me dey'd like me, mama! You did, you did," he nodded enthusiastically. "That means e'rrbody can come home wit' me right? Can I take Aries an' Casshopeia an' we all play an' be siblin's wit' Lotte's kids?" He looked at Arturo then -- for surely the man wanted more children to play with his.