It's kind of impressive, honestly. Maybe not to most, a mother angry it's hardly a novelty. Except this is Grace and she's anything but common. Five has faced all kind of threats to his life before, snowstorms, sickness, hunger, broken bones, trained hitmen sent to kill him...and yet all that pales in comparison to her new irritated reaction. It's beautiful, in a way, the rawness of such visceral emotion. Kids misbehave, mothers get angry, everything is right in the world.

And yes, for a moment she does sound a bit too much like Reginald for his liking, which almost makes Five flinch. Except that he scolded them out of annoyance so the kids stopped interrupting what he considered important affairs, not because he wanted to make them better people. He lets out a surprised, small squeak when she grabs his ear but doesn't even try to space jump away, doesn't even react to the pain when she actually hits him, mind buzzing with confusion.

Once it dawns on him what is Grace doing, his cheeks turn pink and his whole face heats up. Five has always felt more than he expressed, often annoyingly self-assured. It's probably the first time in decades anyone has actually seen him ashamed. When wetness pools at the corners of his eyes, he blames it on his body, too young and too hormonal, too hard to control most of the time.