Open | Chose your adventure

[n5]

1- We're canceling the apocalypse

The world ended.

Twice.

And both times, that wasn't quite right with Five Hargreeves. So he got back in time to change it, taking his family with him. They were, after all, the ones to blame for the long list of mistakes that culminated in their sister blowing up the moon. If Vanya was the bomb and Harold Jenkins was the fuse, Reginald Hargreaves was without a doubt the maker of the explosive. They had to do better this time and they had to do it together.

Time traveling was a messy business, more so when you were doing it in a rush and without the proper calculations. But they made it back in time to the morning of their father's funeral, in one piece against all odds, and after some trouble, their brother Ben was back with them.

His family was alive, hurt but whole.

Five gave a small smile before his eyes rolled back into his head and he promptly passed out from the effort, nose bleeding.



2 - (You Give Me) Fever, In the morning child, Fever all through the night

A few days later, the pain in his body had yet to subside and Five wondered if it could be a permanent effect of time traveling. You could only gamble with time so much until it started getting pissed off at you. His family was still dealing with the last week's events, either mourning, keeping to themselves or thinking about the future, but everything was relatively stress-free.

For the past 40 years, Five has never lived a single day that wasn't pressure-packed. And now, his body has decided that ey, this would be the perfect moment to crash. Bright lights made his eyes burn and increased his headaches, his throat hurt so much that he had stopped eating, his cheeks were constantly flushed and he felt hot a minute and freezing the next.

But the worse of all was that he sneezed.

Actually, the worst of all was that the sneezing made him space jump without intent or control. So far he had accidentally teleported himself to the basement, atop the kitchen's fridge, to the bar -knocking several bottles in the process-, to their mother's lap while she was sitting in front of the paintings, and into the bathtub.

The alarmed and frustrated shriek that Five gave out could be heard all around the house after a sneeze had teleported him to the chandelier, leaving him holding onto it for dear life several feet above the ground.



3- Another One Bites The Dust

When tiredness got too much or he had accidentally teleported himself somewhere, Five gave up and slept. Never in his room, if he could avoid it. He hadn't used it for decades and it was a reminder of the life he had lost, filled with books and toys and memories of a lost innocence that felt unpleasant.

Vanya's room was spartan and clean in all ways Klaus' wasn't but both reflected their owners and brought Five a sense of comfort, familiarity. Allison's bed was the comfiest, a soft mattress and softer pillows, while Luther had the biggest one. Five liked to curl into a ball in the middle of it and let himself feel small for once.

Diego and Ben's rooms hadn't been used in some time but Grace made sure to keep them both clean and they had signs of his sibling's personalities all over the place. A peaceful sleep still didn't come easy, though, with the fever only making his usual nightmares worse.


4- Wildcard

[ Do you want Five anywhere? Feel free to write your own starter, I'll adapt! ]

Comments

3-ish

[garb4ge]

It's no secret that Klaus doesn't exactly keep regular hours either, given his own propensity for sleeping in two or three hour spurts at most -- and in fact, that's what brings him into his room this afternoon. He drops onto the edge of the bed and makes what amounts to a very undignified sort of squeak when he realizes he's almost sat directly on Five, who has burrowed himself like some sort of invasive rodent into the nest of clothes, blankets, and feather boas that Klaus has strewn over his bed.

He clamps his hand over his mouth as soon as he realizes he's made the noise, though -- mostly because Five probably does need the rest, given how ill he's been, and he should at least try not to interrupt him...even if he too needs the rest.

[n5]

The clothes were all over the place but clean, and besides, feather boas were surprisingly cozy. Five had been shivering when he first ended on Klaus's room but now he felt, if not in less physical pain, much more comfortable than before.

The squeak gets him to shift, scrunching up his nose a little in his sleep before curling into himself. A small hand reaches out blindly to grab the nearest clothes and pull it tighter over him...too bad the closest thing near Five is now Klaus. He ends pulling at the hem of the man's shirt.

[garb4ge]

Well, apparently Five is really out -- when he reaches to pull at the hem of Klaus' shirt, Klaus just blinks slowly down at him. There's a few options, of course, but the path of least resistance is just to shift with the tug and half-sprawl next to the smaller man.

He ends up settled next to him, pawing up for his pillow to at least stuff that beneath his arm, propping himself up to take a better look at Five and, after a moment of hesitation, put the back of his hand against his forehead. That's how you check for a fever, right?

[n5]

Frustration at the blanket he wanted not budging, or what his sleepy brain categorizes as 'blanket' anyway, almost makes Five wake up. Klaus moves right in time and instead, the teen lets out a soft sigh and rolls closer to the new heat source by his side. He seems to have some difficulty breathing. His skin is hot to the touch and Klaus might notice he's running a Fever.

Back when he lived in the apocalypse, getting sick or injured was a lot of trouble. Five had learned to stitch and treat himself but there weren't a lot of meds around and the ones he found eventually expired after a few years. He got used to a lifetime of suffering illnesses without any medicine and now he's here, he didn't even think of using them.

3 bc why not

[ouiking_ouija]

Checking the bed for a stray Five before throwing himself across it was something that Klaus had learned to do after only the second time he'd almost landed on top of his now-technically-oldest brother. Really as far as Klaus was concerned given how infrequently he used the bed himself -instead napping on other furniture and never the same place twice in an effort to keep the unquiet dead from finding him right away- he figured that if Five was there first, he was welcome to it and Klaus went to find somewhere else to nap.

But at that particular moment he wanted an actual bed so that he could actually stretch out and maybe use his own pillow for once and the fact that Five was already there wasn't even a hiccup, given as how Five was wedged far enough back that he was practically between the mattress and the wall. Something that Klaus figured was to prevent anyone from sneaking up on him, which made a twinge of some kind of emotion tug in his chest, though it was gone again just as quickly and he dropped himself down to sit on the edge of the bed, yanking his shoes off before flopping himself over more or less the right way around and throwing an arm over his eyes to block out the light.

~♥

[n5]

It wasn't like Five had planned to make this a regular thing. The house covered the whole block, he could find himself a new bedroom to crash, that would be the most practical thing. But a sterile, impersonal looking room, that wouldn't make him feel any more at home than living on the streets of a post-apocalyptic world did, wasn't the best solution. He knew it was selfish but staying in his siblings' room made him feel like he fit a little bit better among them.

Klaus was right in his assumption about Five's sleeping habits. On an average day he was also a light sleeper but this whole week was like an ongoing nightmare and when his body crashed, it crashed hard. He didn't react while Klaus made himself comfortable on the bed, yet when the mattress dipped under the extra weight, Five shifted. He was shivering slightly and now that there was an extra heat source next to him? Yeah, even subconsciously he was going to press himself against Klaus side.

[ouiking_ouija]

well that was concerning, if only because cuddling wasn't at all like the territorial raccoon of a brother he'd come to realize Five had become. The shivering, also, was a concern, but not as much of one, because the house, as big as it was, had always had problems with air circulation and his room had either always been too cold or too hot with very little in between, so he shifted over on his side a little, rolling just that much closer to Five, reaching across him a moment to shake loose a knit wrap out of a pile. It wasn't really a blanket, but was close enough for as small as Five was.

He managed to get it more or less spread over him, though didn't tuck the edges in for fear of waking Five up when he clearly needed the sleep. That done, however, debated for another moment whether or not to roll over onto his back again, but decided against it, figuring that less jostling would be better, and just settled in to see if he could get any sleep before one of the ghosts decided he'd had enough.

[n5]

He will resent that description if Klaus ever calls him a raccoon out loud, fitting as it might be. Five would also argue that he isn't cuddling, he's just lying there close to his brother because he's warm and it's practical. A totally different thing.

There's a small, almost unnoticeable content sound coming out of his lips once the knit wrap is covering him and after a little while he stops shivering. After that, there's no further shifting and it looks like they can both get some much-needed rest. Five can't tell how much time passes, could be a few minutes, could be almost an hour, but when he turns on his sleep his right arms connects with something. It's harder than the clothes and blankets he buried himself under and his brain realizes something's not right as he blinks slowly. Someone's in the bed with him.

His eyes, only minutes ago foggy with sleep and disorientation, snap open. He pulls himself away from the other in an alarmed rush, back hitting the wall and making him hiss in pain and curse under his breath.

2

[the_horror]

He had been so grateful to Five bringing him back, and it was taking him a few days to get 'living' under control. Five had passed out, nose bleeding when they made it back. Ben felt frantic. Why would he do that! It could have waited. It wasn't worth Five getting hurt!

He stressed, feeling week and tired once returned. He let others hold him back as they took Five to be cared for. And he hugged everyone of his siblings before he ended up passing out as well.

Days later, he had gone to make food for himself and for Five. Something small. He knew the other was still out of it and hadn't eaten. He walked to the dorm floor, looking to see if Five was in his room, or anyone else. That was when he heard the sneeze and then the slick squeak of someone falling in the bath tub. He moved that way, going into the bathroom to see Five there, looking like he was going to sneeze again.

"You okay?" he asked, sitting the plate of sandwiches down. And just as he went to go check on his brother in the tub, he sneezed again and was gone. Ben looked startled, looking around for him.

That was when he heard the faint alarmed shriek from the main hall. He staggered out of the bathroom and down a hall, headed for the main hall. "Five?!" he called, looking around. He was right under him, turning in a circle, lost looking as he couldn't find the other.

[n5]

There wasn't a way of knowing if Ben's situation was a permanent thing or if Five had access to his dimension at that moment because of the time traveling. He had learned not to take chances, waiting meant that perhaps a few days later he might not have had a way to reach Ben and he wasn't going to risk losing his brother twice.

It was worth it, in the end, all the waiting and planning and stressing and the pain. Problem was, Five's body disagreed and was making everything harder than it should be. He ended slipping in the tub and had heard Ben's voice but he had no time to answer before another sneeze sent him away. A shame because he did want to talk to his younger sibling sooner or later.

His priorities changed and Five was trying not fall and cracking his skull open when he ended on one of the arms of the chandelier. The fall probably wouldn't kill him but it would be really unpleasant, so he held onto the chain and tried not to throw up.

"Up here." His head was swimming and dizzy and Five couldn't raise his voice without his ears ringing unpleasantly.

[the_horror]

Ben couldn't help but feel that the other was sick because of him. Jumping into that half world had to be hard on him, let along having time traveled a group of idiots. ben's own body was disagreeing with the new found life. The pressure was so different here that he would get Dizzy easy sometimes.

Sometimes he forgot to breath.

it was a learning curve. But here he was trying to check on his brother and his brother was jumping with every sneeze. That... that can't be good. he was looking for him, sure he had heard him in here. And sure enough as he heard the 'Up Here' he looked up, and scrambled backwards.

"Holy shit, Five. What the heck is going on?" He said, hands out as if he could catch him if he fell. He could try to summon his creatures, his tentacles, and try to make one help him down, but ever since remembering how he died, and remembering them chasing after Five in the half world? Well, he was scared to use them at all. Scared he'd get pulled in again.

[n5]

If Ben asked Five, he would A- deny he was sick and B- even if the remote possibility of him admitting that feels less than stellar were to happen, Five would tell his brother not to worry. The fault of all this was his annoying 13 years old body, his adult one got accustomed to handling much harder situations, just as it was used to alcohol.

From all the siblings who could find him, Ben was the less likely to mock him and he sighs in relief. He also rests his head against the chain because the cold metal feels nice against his burning skin. He smiled slightly at the view of Ben reaching up with his arms as if there aren't several feet between them.

"Oh nothing, I just thought it would be fun to hang u there, so if I fall and break my neck." The usual sarcasm is lost mostly due to the fact that his voice sounds a little funny and hoarse. "Can you find a ladder or something?"

Let's keep the creatures away from all of them, for the better. Five would rather stay in the chandelier for hours than risk Ben getting sucked again into another dimension.

1

[throwsknives]

It'd been one hell of a ride, but somehow despite getting some innocent people killed along the way, they'd made it out alive. Diego grins, looking around at his siblings and letting something like hope settle in his chest for a second before Five suddenly falls.

He moves to catch him, but he's not quite fast enough, only managing to grab the back of his jacket before he slams his head down on the ground. Diego curses and sets him down the rest of the way as gently as he can. He pats his face roughly.

"Come on, Five," he says, concerned by the blood leaking out of his nose.

[n5]

Good people died but if time traveling has a positive side, it is that these same people are still alive now. If Diego finds the time to call his friend Detective Eudora Patch, he will probably find her with little issue. Annoyed, most likely, but alive nonetheless.

Hitting his head did Five no favors but at least he's out of it when it happens. The extra pain only registers when someone starts to try slapping him awake and Five lets out a low, pained groan. He doesn't bother opening his eyes, they hurt too much.

"S...stop that."

[throwsknives]

Diego lets out a small breath of relief, but he doesn't actually get any gentler when it comes to handling his brother. He grabs him by the shoulders.

"You okay?" The answer to that is pretty obvious to all of them, and Luther makes a move to step in to pick him up, but Diego elbows a massive arm out of the way. "I got him."

He bends down and scoops up Five. He's a hell of a lot heavier than he looks, but he'll be damned if he lets Luther see that. He starts carrying him towards their home which has been miraculously restored in all this time travel shit, taking him to the room that had been his so many years ago.

"You throw up on me and you'll regret it."

[n5]

'No, there's a dumbass manhandling me.' Five thinks but finally decides to keep it to himself. Both because he doesn't have the energy to even complain and because he thought Diego hated his guts. Hearing him this concerned actually shuts Five's annoyance off and he attempts a reply. "Drained...Time travel's messy..."

He blinks a few times, trying to get the world back to focus, and the lights alone hurt so badly that he's screwing his eyes shut a moment later. Diego and Luther arguing sounds distant, he's too exhausted too pay much attention to it, which is why Five let's out a startled squeak when he's suddenly lifted from the ground. One of his arms latches onto Diego's chest, fingers curling on the fabric, and his other hands goes to his nose to try and keep the bleeding at bay.

"Can't promise anything." It's hard but Five actually smiles at Diego, head resting on the man's shoulder.

Diego and he weren't exactly in the best of terms, too different in personality most of the time, but that doesn't mean Five cares for him any less than his other siblings. It was just a lot harder to show it. He sounds out of breath and possibly about to pass out again but he gives Diego's chest a little bump. "Mom...she should be okay."

2

[channellings]

Klaus has grown used to the tell-tale sound of Five's spatial jumps. When he begins hearing them all throughout the house (on the days he's actually sober enough to do so), he sometimes tries following the noise, attempting to catch his brother in whatever he seems to be doing, but he's never quite fast enough.

So far, he's run into rooms and seen random items-- things from the kitchen counters on the floor, broken bottles, scattered hygienic products. What the hell is Five up to with these random jumps and why's he throwing shit all over the floor?

His answer comes in the form of a high-pitched scream that he wastes no time running toward, rounding corners and stumbling down stairs, until he comes across— Number Five clutching the chandelier. Klaus leans over the bannister, eyes narrowing and head tilting. Okay, he knows he's maybe coming down from something, but that is literally his brother hanging from the ceiling.

"What. The fuck. Are you doing?" Such eloquence, and so very observant. He bends further over the railing, like it'll help him see better, even if he can only tell that Five looks a little flushed. "Have you lost your damn mind?"

[n5]

"Does it looks like I'm doing this for fun!?"

Five regrets yelling back the moment the words leave his mouth. The loud sound makes his ears ring unpleasantly and his headache worse. He closes his eyes tightly, face pale, and his knuckles are white from how firmly he's grabbing the chain that hold up the chandelier.

He doesn't want to make a spectacle of his sickness, even if he refuses to call it that. He was just tired, that's all, time traveling is exhausting. But Five know he's been less than subtle with his jumps, all because he couldn't control them. And now there's Klaus, who will no doubt make fun of him if he knew.

"It's n-noting. Just go." He will find a way to get back to the ground. Maybe if he could jump down there...But of course, now that he needs to actually move, he doesn't feel any need to sneeze or has enough energy left to do so. Crap.

[channellings]

"No," he says simply, blinking widened eyes up at Five. "I've always thought about recreating that song, but looks like you beat me to it."

Considering the fact he's slowly beginning to sober up, it's easier to see that his brother looks like absolute shit warmed over. The fact he's hanging from the ceiling certainly can't be helping the matter, so obviously, this means Klaus needs to find a way to help him down, but how do?

In all fairness, he does think it's hilarious, yet his concern is overriding the amusement and he's gripping the railing tighter while thinking-- which is when it occurs to him: the bannister. He gives it a testing shake, making sure the damn thing isn't wobbly and will be able to support his weight. "No, no, I got this—"

And then he's climbing up on it, arms held out for balance at first before he tentatively stretches them toward Five. "Jump."

[bestfuneralever]

Food. Food is necessary for survival, and if he's going to do this 'being sober' bullshit, Klaus is going to need to eat more of it. You know, since he'll actually have an appetite to speak of. Which is why he's headed to the kitchen just now. Of all the things, both expected and unexpected, that Klaus might think he'd find there, he has to say, Five on top of the fridge is definitely not in the ballpark of thoughts. He blinks and stands in the doorway, staring for a moment, trying to decide if this is real, or just another side-effect of detox. "What the fuck're you doin' up there?" He asks through the laugh that bubbles up from the back of his throat.

[n5]

In Five's defense, he also did not expect to end on top of the fridge. His already flushed face gets a shade deeper when that laugh rings unpleasantly in his ears, making his headache worse.

"Nothing of your business!" Because hell if he's going to explain, Klaus will only laugh harder.

Five looks down at the floor and god, he even gets a bit dizzy. When did the fridge get so large? Things really look different when you are standing on top of them. He doesn't have enough energy left for a voluntary spatial jump so he crouches down, trying to decide how the heck is he going to get down without breaking his neck. "Uhm..."

[bestfuneralever]

His biting statement only seems to make Klaus laugh harder, if only because stuck up there, screaming down at his brother only makes him seem like an angry kitten. And that's the kind of stray thought that Klaus can't stop running wild-- mind's eye mentally morphing his tiny-older-brother into a cat, spurring another cough-laugh-cough as he tries to recover. He runs a hand in front of his face, as if to erase the laughter built up in him suddenly. His had falls away to rest on his hip as he considers his brother's current predicament. Or... is it even one, really? He could just jump, right? That uncertain utterance that never quite made any more words follow it kind of tells Klaus everything he needs to know, though. "You can't get down, can you?" He tries not to let too much of the rising amusement coat his voice. Sorry, Five. He loves you, but this is kind of hilarious.

#3

[obediences]

After Five rescued them all, it was hard to forget how much they owed him, for plucking them safely away from the apocalypse. Luther had a tendency to treat Five with kid gloves anyhow; he had trouble seeing past the boyish facade despite all Five's cutting wit (just as sharp and exasperated as it had always been, even moreso with forty years appended). Luther tiptoed around him, let him rest, and treated him gently. With gratitude. It was like looking after a sickly sibling, except Five was suffering from some sort of... inexplicable extra-dimensional flu, having pushed his abilities too far.

So when Luther entered his bedroom and saw the boy(slash-man) asleep in his bed, Luther simply let him doze safely. He turned his attention to the bookshelves instead, and did some quiet reading at his desk, the shades drawn against the sunlight and a small desk lamp lit instead. He was good at whiling away the time by himself. The two of them had the most experience with it, after all.

Eventually, there was a creak of the floorboards: Grace poking her head in at the doorway, carrying a tray with some plain buttered toast and a mug of soothing honeyed tea.

"Hello, boys! I thought Five might like something for his throat?"

Luther looked up from the jigsaw puzzle he'd been working on, glanced over to crumpled form as Five stirred. "How are you feeling?"

[n5]

If he was honest with himself, Five was a bit of a loss about how to deal with Luther. They were both products of their messed up uprising, very different in personality even since they were kids. Luther eager to make their father proud and Five antagonizing him at any given opportunity.

From all of them, Luther probably was the most heroic. The one on the side of the angels while Five was the kind of person who operated best from the shadows. The one who desperately tried to help people, to please their dad, until it cost him his body. And the old bastard didn't even appreciate his efforts.

If he was really honest with himself, Five would admit that was the part that pissed him off the most. He wanted Luther to realize how awful and selfish his father was just so he could move on, which was why they butted heads so often. They argued and got on each other nerves but then when push came to shove, Five knew exactly on whose side he wanted to be, the rest be damned. It had taken his humanity and soul to come back to his family and he wasn't going to let them die twice. And now here they were, dealing with the aftermath of the almost-apocalypse.

Hurt, but whole.

As a family.

Five's mind and body were too tired to even muster enough energy to growl at Luther for treating him with kid gloves. It was more comforting than annoying this time because in his current state the teen was aware he could not teleport them anywhere or be of much use if there was a threat. But his brother could. Not like Five would ever admit under torture that the reason why he liked Luther's bed was the sense of safety it brought him. It was big and comfy, that was all. Really, all.

Grace's voice, as soft and sweet as always has been, startles Five awake and he looks around the place in confusion, almost falling off the bed. Face flushed in embarrassment and hair in disarray, his eyes go from Luther to his puzzle, then to mom and her tray. If someone is ever safe from snarky remarks, that was her.

"...'m fine..." He doesn't sound all that convincing even to his ears and takes the offered tea with a soft 'thank you'. His voice is hoarse and after mom leaves the train on the bed so both Luther and him can reach her, Five looks over to his brother. "You should have woken me if you wanted your room to yourself."

[obediences]

“No, it’s alright.”

Luther been so territorial when they were younger; this was his private space, the team leader’s headquarters, only Allison allowed to slip in uninvited. But nowadays—

Just having anyone around, at all, is such a relief. The comforting buzz of all the Klauses talking to each other down the hall. Even Five’s level breathing. Mom’s heels clicking down the hall. Four years of silence and vacuum pressing against his eardrums, and Luther (even oblivious hard-headed Luther) is self-aware enough to realise how desperate he is for company. Even if it’s companionable silence as he bent his head over the desk to line up a picture of a lake, a mountain range, a plane streaking above it.

“You probably needed your rest.” And to an extent, it let him keep an eye on Five too, making sure he’s safe. If Five is in view, then he’s not zapping all over the city and getting into slippery business with time-travelling assassins.

Watching his brother now, Luther mulls over a thought. Finally says it out loud: “We could clear out your room, you know.”

Because of course it hadn’t gone unnoticed, how Five had napped pretty much anywhere and everywhere but his own bed.