#yeah i think there'd be an adjustment period where everything feels weird and out of time.

[hyperfixation-or-death]

headcanon for the kids' concepts of their own ages during the time immediately following the finale:

i.

Post-finale, there was exactly one instance of Victor being unsure of how old he technically is. He regrets letting that slip, partially because of how concerned everyone looked, partially because Sam wouldn't drop the issue despite Victor very much not wanting to discuss it.

But Sam does drop it, eventually, leaving Victor free to ignore the age question. (Because seventeen feels wrong, but so does thirteen, and everything's a little fuzzy but some things are all too clear and he doesn't want to think about it.)

Until one day, he's talking to Sofia Belkebirs, and she's explaining why, exactly, he can't do [some risky thing with his powers, idk].

"You're thirteen-" She starts, slightly exasperated. "Seventeen." He interrupts, just to be difficult. "Fifteen." She continues without missing a beat. Victor blinks. "...okay." Average out the numbers; that was a fair compromise. Why didn't he think of that?

ii.

Romane doesn't care how old she was. She's fourteen now; that's what she wanted. She wants to be fourteen. And she can almost convince herself that it's that simple, except for the days when everything feels off. When she nearly stumbles with every step, disoriented. When she can't fight off the swirl of anxiety telling her how fragile everything is. When nothing feels like the fresh start it was supposed to be.

On days like that, she eventually figures out, it helps to count back and forth.

14 years old on that night in the bunker. 15 years old was her first birthday since age 10 that was spent without her friends. 16 years old was the birthday that Camille helped make cupcakes. 17 years old was the birthday her mom gave her a necklace and talked about the future with her for hours. 17 years old, in the bunker with Victor. 17 years old, in the bunker with Victor, Sam, and Bilal. 14 years old on that night in the bunker. 14 years old, at Bilal's house for cake and presents. 14 years old, remembering.

It's grounding, in a way, to straighten out the years in her head. The details don't matter as much, as long as she keeps moving forward. And she does.

iii.

Bilal doesn't want to know. There's too many contradicting memories, too many conflicting emotions. They all culminate in piercing headaches when he focuses on them for too long. Everything's more vague for him then it is for the others. There are gaps in his memory; sometimes he has no idea what he actually lived through.

A classmate asks him how old he is. He blanks, his head feeling like a static screen: inconsistent, loud, rapidly moving, and a signal that something was wrong.

"Um-"

Without looking up from her paper, purposefully nonchalant, Romane answers. "His birthday's [I forgot what his canon birthday is]."

"Oh. So...15, right?"

"Sure."

Yeah, that works.

iv.

Sam is fourteen years old. If the topic of age comes up, he'll recite birthdays and let whoever's asking do the math.

Sam is fourteen years old. When it isn't enough for Romane to go through the years in her head, he's fine with listening to her list what she can remember.

Sam is fourteen years old. As long as Victor stops claiming to be, "technically, in a way, older," he'll go along with the phrase "fifteen years old in theory".

v.

(As time goes on, its effects begin to settle. Some memories fade; others sharpen. Within about two years, the kids feel more tethered to this timeline, and more normal about their chronological ages.)