stepfordbot: (011)
Mom | Grace Hargreeves ([personal profile] stepfordbot) wrote in [community profile] umbrellajackassery2019-03-31 07:26 pm

A sunny start, OTA

Routines are important. Establishing them, maintaining them- a lifetime spent with a house full of children that required minding and strict standards to follow as to their care filled Grace's days and gave her purpose. As the family waxed and waned, as the children grew and lives became infinitely more complicated the routine changed. But one thing remains the same no matter how old or young, no matter how full or empty the house has become. The most important meal of the day.



Nutrition dictates a certain variation now and then, but a single dish tends to surface over and over. Be it the dietary value or the aesthetic- or that it was one of the few ways she could, when they were young, offer the children a moment that was close to normal. Normal children aren't raised with an unloving and distant father, Normal families don't run drills with knives and violence instead of nursery rhymes and storybooks. Normal families and normal children had eggs sunny side up with smiling faces made with bacon.

Which is on the menu today alongside a stack of pancakes and a few prepared, wrapped and warmed sandwiches of egg, sausage, cheese, and english muffins for those that need to eat and run. Sliced fruit and glasses of fresh squeezed orange juice.

She's singing under her breath, something simple and lilting as the smell of bacon fat and frying eggs fills the air. No matter what happens, she's been able to feed and provide. As soon as the first set of eggs are finished she calls out- "Children! Eggs are ready."
n5: (I have the sads)

[personal profile] n5 2019-04-02 11:58 am (UTC)(link)
Despise the guilt, Five nods almost imperceptibly. Space-time breaking powers on top of teenager hormones and family issues didn't help the situation back then, that was true. But for the years to com, after the Apocalypse, he couldn't help but wonder how different things could have been if he had listened. He still remembers the alarmed look on Vanya's face when she realized a second before anyone else that he was going to do something rash. She knew him well, back then.

It's strange but relieving to hear Grace disagreeing with his father, with her programming. As if he's finally hearing her real voice, as hard as it must be for her to get the words out. It makes him proud, he hopes she knows it. He would tell her if he could but he doesn't trust himself to speak, his voice might break.

Five has never minded the lack of a steady heartbeat, she's still alive to him in so many other ways that count, it's just a minor detail. And to think he tried to be above it all, to act as if he didn't need any comfort when he was young just to show his father that it wasn't one of his weaknesses. Reginald Hargreeves really was the worst thing that ever happened to them, buying children like cattle and building himself a servant like a slave. Five was going to burn his painting at the first chance he got, today.

Now he leans into Grace's embrace, eyes firmly shut and shoulders shaking. There's a broken sound coming out of his lips after she explains all the ways his family looked and mourned for him, and then his arms wrap around her, holding on for dear life. He can’t remember the last time he has cried or when he left his guard down in such raw way in front of another person. It's exhausting to keep everything locked inside and he's only realizing it because he can't do that anymore.

She smells sweet, sounds like it too, with her soft yet deceptively strong hand running soothingly along his back or petting strands of his hair. Holding him together as if she can somehow put back all the broken pieces into a person that isn't only sharp angles and cracks. Maybe she can, maybe his family really is the way to build himself together anew.

Five can't tell how long they stay clinging to each other, the coffee might have run tepid by now, but he pulls away slowly, rubbing at his wet cheeks with his left hand.

"Thank you. I...I love you too, mom." He's not sure if he ever told her before but he's not about to leave her to wonder now.
n5: (Oh you sweet summer child)

[personal profile] n5 2019-04-02 12:59 pm (UTC)(link)
He closes his eyes briefly, leaning into Grace's hands. The last one of his tears drips down the corner of his eyes, only to be sweep away by her gentle touch. If the smell of flour reaches his nose, it only makes him smile. Five knows she's sincere. Not because she was never programmed to lie, her code changed and now she's her own person, but because he can feel it in his bones.

It's overwhelming. Like he's given something precious, something that had been out of his reach for so long that it's both confusing and relieving to hold it close. Overwhelming but good. The first stage of healing.

She's always been good at that, at fixing broken children.

A small, surprised squeak escapes Five after the kiss to his forehead, bringing back memories he thought forgotten and making him blush a little. He doesn't complain, it's just...it's a very mom thing to do and he hasn't felt like a kid in decades.

Big blue eyes look up at her when he notices Grace crying, or the closest thing she's capable to do this time, it's him who reaches out to caress her face with a reassuring smile. "I'm happy we are all here too."

There's sound coming from outside the kitchen, approaching voices chatting amicably for once. It's not hard to figure out that the rest of the family is coming to get food. Five reaches out one last time, smoothing out the creases on her dress that he caused while clinging to Grave with a small, apologetic smile. Time to have a normal, family breakfast for once.