Wheeling Gull Isle love isn't lying; it's loose in a lady who lingers

perhaps because she was the firstborn, vesper had grown into the dominant role amongst her siblings— not that her littermates were docile by any means, but they generally deferred to her when she made her will known. she was fiercely protective of her sister, smaller and less coordinated than the rest of them; she tolerated no bullying or rough-housing of blueberry. vesper herself was smaller than both peregrine and prevost, but she was unafraid to scrap with them and play-fought with a calm determination.

bwube'ee she chirped at her sister, the others distracted by a game of tugging. her vocabulary was growing steadily, and the ability to communicate with mother had given the child a palpable self-assuredness. c'mere, she encouraged, having pranced away to put some distance between them.

a game of chase, at first glance, but in vesper's mind she imagined she was helping her sister practice so that her coordination might catch up to the rest of them. as they continued to age, the gap in their development would decrease naturally, but vesper didn't yet grasp that blueberry was a month younger and doing just fine for her age.