the-number-five-blog - Tumblr blog

[the-number-five-blog]

mumbrclla‌:

She looked down towards the floor, she could feel…pain. His statement made her hurt, it was a new feeling something she didn’t understand. Why she felt this way was a mystery to her all she knew was that it hurt so much. 

“I have been programmed to mother but your father has no input past that…” Mostly because Reginald couldn’t be bothered to tuck the children or to read them bedtime stories or teach them basics. “I’m not sure I understand.”

“Of course you don’t understand. It makes sense, if he were to program you with the ability to figure out what you are it would break the system. I don’t blame you for it, just him for pretending to care.” Five replied, arms folded. 

“If you’re so convinced you can make free choices, prove it.” He said, watching her, not sure if she could do anything to make him change his mind on this point. 

Toaster | Mom and Five

[the-number-five-blog]

cuchillosdos‌:

“Won’t that be painful? To go through a growth spurt that severe so suddenly? If you’re going to insist on doing this at least let me get Mom so she can give you something to numb you out before you…do whatever it is to make yourself an adult.”

Diego won’t admit he doesn’t think it’ll work, that Five can somehow magically age himself up like that. As weird as it was to get used to Five trotting around as a thirteen year old, it’d be weirder to have him suddenly closer to their age.

“Aren’t there benefits to being young? You can get into places adults can’t, and adults trust you because why would a kid ever lie?” Maybe he’s doing this just for the coffee, and to walk into a bar as easily as he and Luther can.

“Jeez I forget how stupid you all are sometimes.” Five said, mostly to himself but he didn’t attempt to keep the volume down. “I’m not going to go through a growth spurt. I’ll be travelling back, transferring my consciousness into the older version of myself before returning here. I’ve got the calculations now. I know I can do it.” He said, adding that last bit more for Dolores’ benefit than Diego’s. 

“I’d trade it all to be actually respected for the age I am.” Five said, tone a little less biting now. That had been the worst bit. Coming back and having none of his siblings treat him the way he should be treated. He’d been a child to them and while he could forgive them that based on appearances it was frustrating.

Dolores | Diego and Five

[the-number-five-blog]

thatonecripple‌:

Luther chuckled softly and shrugged.  “Not much to talk about, honestly.  I’m still uh.  Figuring that out.  I’m a bit behind in that regard, as I have been in a lot of areas.”  He admitted.

“Of course. Well, if you do want to talk about it feel free to. I may not completely understand but I can listen.” Five replied, making a mental note to do more research just in case the topic were to be brought up again. 

[the-number-five-blog]

thatonecripple‌:

Luther nodded softly.  “I will, Five.  Thanks.”  With that, he settled back down again and actually wound up drifting off to sleep - albeit a fitful one due to his inability to get truly comfortable.

It was about a week before he was able to get up on his own and be moved, though he was in no shape to return to regular classes yet.  Getting into the wheelchair that had been procured for him, he exhaled a soft sigh - looking up at his brother turned guardian.  “Shall we, then?”

The week had been busy. Between setting up his quarters at Hogwarts and ensuring that the adoption papers were all within order he’d been glad for the brief moments of rest. 

Moving Luther was pretty easy. He’d sent his trunk ahead to be placed in his quarters and all he had to do was apparate him and the chair to the entrance of Hogwarts and then they could make their way into the castle. 

“We shall.” He said, moving to put a hand on Luther’s shoulder and another on the chair before they blinked away from the home and to the castle. 

Five steadied himself on arrival and took a brief moment before smiling, waving his wand so Luther’s chair could move along beside him as he walked. “I’ve made sure your room is all organised for you. You can of course change whatever you want but I hope you’ll like it.” 

[the-number-five-blog]

thatonecripple‌:

Tommy nodded with a soft chuckle.  “Abuse dynamics can be very isolating.  Becoming an adult and learning to lean on each other in a new way can be very…startling.  Tell me about Luther.  You mentioned that he is your twin?”

Five nodded, of course knowing that. It was so strange having someone tell him what he already knew. 

“Yes that’s a newer development. Our Dad chose to not tell us and I suppose it makes sense. It would have created a bond between us rather than the rift he tried to foster.” He replied, sighing a little. “Growing up he was always my competitor. The equal I needed to best to prove myself to Dad.” 

[the-number-five-blog]

insolentbratx‌:

Diego only half-noticed the look Doc met him with, still fully lost in his memories. “He would never… stop… I always asked… Cried for it to stop… And he never… cared…” And it had taken YEARS for Diego to even realize that what was happening to him was WRONG. That’s what made him feel the worst.

“I didn’t try to stop him for almost ten years… I just… let him. And then when I did stand up to him, he stopped…” Except for when he was being punished for his “INSOLENCE” which hurt ten times as much.

Five’s heart was breaking. He usually was good at keeping his distance in these sessions, making sure he didn’t let anything slip. This was perhaps the hardest session yet. He just wanted to reach forward, pull Diego into a hug and curse their father, tell him he had nothing to fear anymore and that he’d rip the man limb from limb for daring to hurt his siblings like this. 

Instead, all he could do was sit and watch his brother break down in front of him. “You’re safe now Diego. You’re safe.” He said, knowing he needed to at least say that. 

Diego and "Dr. V" | Therapy

[the-number-five-blog]

insolentbratx‌:

Diego tightened his grip on the belt for the last time, glad to have found another one of Five’s buttons to push. “Really? Because I don’t think it’s long past 50 that bones and things stop growing back, right? I mean think, you might have that hole in your hand forever.”

He smirked and secured his belt back around his waist while his brother cleaned up, glad the impromptu surgery was over. Five had been… pretty good at it. Diego wondered with a pang how often he had to operate on himself before.

Either way, Diego still didn’t feel bad for this time, especially with how much of an asshole Five had been even since Diego had hurt him. He figured they were pretty even at this point.

“You want that drink now or what? I’m leaving. You can come with me if you want. Or don’t, I don’t really care.”

“Well thank fuck you missed the bone.” Five bit back again, not sure what Diego was trying to get from him with all these insults. He finished cleaning up, trying to make the table as sanitised as possible.  “Course I’m coming for that drink.” He said, flexing his hand a little to test the bandages. It was of course painful but he powered through. He’d manage.  “Where are we going then?” Five asked as he started walking to the exit of the kitchen, his whole body wanting to blink upstairs, the act of walking almost more exhausting as a consequence. 

[the-number-five-blog]

insolentbratx‌:

“I couldn’t always hold my breath forever- or whatever it says in the papers…” he continued quietly, carefully forming each sentence in his mind before he said it. “It started when I was… four or five. Can’t remember how he found out, but one day he just… took me down to the basement, showed me my… new playroom.” Diego’s voice dripped with resentment as squeezed the toy tightly, not even aware he had. He wasn’t fully in this room anymore.

“He put me in the tank, started filling it with water. Eventually it was over my head, full to the top. I remember… it hurt so bad. Every time. Like my chest was full of lava. I knew I wasn’t supposed to breathe in the water, but I would every time and then I’d just… black out. Then he’d bring me back and we’d do it again.”

Five listened, heart breaking for his brother. He wanted to say that if he’d known he would have blinked in to save him or even protest against Dad for subjecting him to such trauma. He knew even if he could say it, it would be a lie. At that age Five hadn’t cared what his siblings were going through, only if he was doing better than them when it came to Dad’s judgements. He had to suppress the guilt. 

“I’m sorry to hear that Diego. I can only imagine how horrific that must have been for you.” He said, forgoing notes to look him in the eye, trying to convey the emotions he couldn’t express. 

Diego and "Dr. V" | Therapy

[the-number-five-blog]

insolentbratx‌:

It was still BIZARRE to see Five this way, and it probably wouldn’t change any time soon. But it would have probably been even weirder to see Young Five doing this. Was that an ageist observation to make? Whatever.

Diego looked away again as Five began to sterilize the wound, nausea quickly returning. 

“Oh good, no more apocalypses. Thank god for that. Real hero move there.” Diego doubted ANYTHING the Commission told Five counted as a guarantee, he wouldn’t trust any of it. But if it WAS true, it was good news. The first apocalypse had pissed him off enough.

“Is it the surgery, or your age?” he couldn’t help but to mutter.

Five rolled his eyes at Diego’s response, “You have no reason to trust them but I do. I know them well enough to know they’re not going to go back on their word here.” He said, pretty sure he believed what he was saying. Yes the Commission were sneaky but they stuck to bureaucracy and he’d ensured there was enough paperwork covering this to make this deal solid. 

“The surgery of course. I’m 58, not decrepit.” He nearly spat back, temper flaring a little before he pulled it back so he could focus on sewing up the wound. Once he was done with one side he reached forward to move Diego’s hand away for a moment so he could turn his wrist in the belt. “Tight again.” He instructed before cleaning, sterilising and finishing up that side. 

Once he was done he took his hand out of the belt and examined it, testing the movement of his fingers a little. “Lucky for you I’ll be fine.” He said, moving to clean up the debris. He now needed a bandage but he could probably get that himself from the medicine cabinet. 

[the-number-five-blog]

insolentbratx‌:

Diego let out a long-suffering sigh, hating that he was trapped into talking about this. He could LIE about it, but that somehow seemed wrong. He looked down and picked up the last stuffed toy from the table, a colorful fish, and fidgeted with it rather than throwing it. 

“It… happened a lot. I’d be stuck in there longer every time. I guess I sort of got used to it, but at first…” He stopped, avoiding looking at Doc, not even knowing what to say or how to say it. It wasn’t like he’d ever talked about this before. How was he supposed to communicate the sheer horror he’d felt that first time?

Five watched his brother reach for the fish, something warning him that if this one got thrown the next thing wouldn’t be as soft. He needed to tread lightly here. 

“Take your time Diego, there’s no rush.” He said, letting the man in front of him figure out what he needed to say. He had an idea of what it might have felt like, remembering the own trials Dad had put him through but drowning was potentially much more terrifying than being pushed off buildings to force him to blink to safety. 

Diego and "Dr. V" | Therapy

[the-number-five-blog]

insolentbratx‌:

“I somehow feel more obligated to be polite to old people than 13-year-old punks. Call me old-fashioned. And I’ll buy you one, and then you can buy yourself a drink for me as an apology for scaring me half to death thinking there was an intruder in our kitchen.” Diego tightened his loosening grip on the belt and looked away again. He wondered if his brother even knew he didn’t drink, how many other things they didn’t know about each other anymore.

He looked back at Five, surprised by what he’d heard, ignoring the nauseating sight of his brother’s bleeding hand. “So what, they said ‘please don’t bother us again’, you said 'okay’, and they believed you? Well hey, good for you for at least getting something good out of it. You almost done with that?”

“Despite me being exactly the same in every way apart from appearance. Some might say that’s ageist Diego.” Five replied, placing the knife down on the table with a little clatter before going to sterilise the wound. He inhaled sharply through his teeth as the alcohol hit but otherwise showed no sign of this process hurting at all. 

“Well, they agreed to let the timeline stay on this path and to not let another apocalypse happen, at least in our lifetimes. I was hardly going to let them off without getting that guarantee.” He said, reaching for the sewing kit to start closing the wound. “Funnily enough impromptu hand surgery in the middle of the kitchen can take a while. But yes I’m nearly done.” 

[the-number-five-blog]

☂️  the umbrella academy:

number five + smiling (part two)

[the-number-five-blog]

cuchillosdos‌:

Diego watched Five and “Dolores” interact, fiddling idly with one of his knives while he observed the pair of them. Five talked like Dolores was really responding to him, much like how Klaus did when talking with Ben of some ghost. He still wasn’t sure if there actually was someone or something in there, or if Five had gone a little crazy out in the future on his own without any human contact.

“You sure that’s a good idea Five? Aging yourself up like that? Won’t that be disorienting for you?”

Between Diego and Dolores he wanted to rip his hair out. 

“Oh and ageing down 45 years wasn’t disorienting?” Five asked, motioning to his current appearance. “It’ll be much easier getting used to a body I lived in for just over 37 years than one that’s just about to hit the peak of puberty...again.” 

Dolores | Diego and Five

[the-number-five-blog]

insolentbratx‌:

Diego snorted, slightly amused that that was the ONLY thing Five was asking for help with, but happy to oblige. He always seemed to forget how squeamish he was around blood. If it was his OWN blood that was one thing, but for some reason… anything medical on anyone else… no. 

So he was fine to hold the belt and look away when Five did his thing. 

“I am sorry about it…” he apologized, probably one of the first times he’d ever said those words to Five sincerely, “You know how I get when I’m… trying to protect the family or whatever. I’ll make it up to you. I’ll… buy you a drink, yeah?

”How… did this work out for you anyway? Your old boss just gave you your body back or what?“ Was it wrong of Diego to assume something fishy had been involved? He didn’t think so.

Five watched Diego as he looked away and sighed a little, working on his hand while the other talked, his eyebrows raising a little at the apology. “You know, apologising doesn’t really fit your whole ‘badass’ vibe you’ve got going on but I’ll take it. Drinks on you after I’m patched up.” He requested, knowing he needed a drink to deal with everything else that had gone on today. 

“Had to make a deal. My body for an agreement that I won’t meddle with the timeline again.” He said, not sure he wanted to share just how binding that deal had been and how blind he had been to what they were really giving him. No fixing the timeline if he couldn’t travel in time or space. He’d never bothered to learn to fight without his ability and at this age without a gun? He was pretty useless. 

[the-number-five-blog]

insolentbratx‌:

He sighed, knowing he was caught. He could either keep talking about the book thing or he could disclose one of his most painful childhood memories to the guy who charged him $160 a session. 

But there was no going back now. Diego uncrossed his arms, trying to play casual.  “Fine. He used to train us, you know. Different ways with each of us. Sure, knives was one part for me, but every now and then we’d work on my other power… Well, the only way Dad knew to train a kid to hold his breath a long time was to… make him. He built a tank for me. He’d… lock me in it. As long as it took…”

Five listened, actually noting something down for the point of remembering it rather than just so he could look like he was doing something. It was interesting, and also promising. Diego was opening up enough to talk to him about the darkest things that happened to him and that was a good thing. 

“I’m sorry to hear that. Was this a one time thing or did it happen more than once?” He asked, wanting to get all the information before working with him to deal with it. 

Diego and "Dr. V" | Therapy

[the-number-five-blog]

cuchillosdos‌:

Diego listens to him, his gaze flicking over to the mannequin when his brother appeared to be responding to something it had said. Well, either Five had actually gone a little crazy with his whole time travelling, or maybe he really could talk to the mannequin. Or it talk to him.

“Uh are you sure that’s a good idea Five? Wasn’t you coming back and winding up in your thirteen year old body a mistake? If you, I dunno, put yourself into your infant state that’ll be a little harder to correct and none of us can talk to Dolores for you.”

“Yes it was a mistake but I’ve learned. I know what went wrong and I can fix it.” Five bit back, eyes squinting at Diego. It was almost like Dolores had turned his brother against him. Not that she could have, she hadn’t left his room. 

He looked at Dolores, “I’ve taken your corrections yes. Of course I did. I’m not about to spring into this without taking your advice, especially after last time.” 

Dolores | Diego and Five

[the-number-five-blog]

superhighgoodbye‌:

Klaus followed Five’s hand movement toward his pocket with the same eager eyes as when there’s drugs getting offered to him. It might be only $20 but it slightly opened some doors. Doors that stayed shut til now.  “I’ll try but I can’t make any promises.” he reached out his hand to take over the money from his brother, quickly putting it in his croch area of his black leather pants. Hey, you have to be creative if you don’t have pockets…. at least it will stay in place in that area.  Klaus wasn’t going to lie, but he was quite amazed by Five’s question of him keeping an eye on the whole situation when he would take those pills. Since when was number Five trusting him that much?  “It’s the past isn’t it?” Klaus took a few steps back until he reached the edge of his messy looking bed and sat down, fidgeting with his hands while his eyes didn’t look away from his brother. “…. those pills are not going to erase it you know. Believe me, I know. They will only make you numb for a bit of time but when reality hits you again, it will hit hard.” 

“Just...try.” Five said, sighing a little, not like he could talk now that he was standing with a packet of pills in his own hand. Any judgement of Klaus was now hypocritical so he kept it to himself, pushed down the voice telling him his case was different. Weren’t they both escaping the past as Klaus so accurately pointed out? 

“It’s not like I can go to a doctor. What 13 year old gets diagnosed with PTSD without their background being investigated. I don’t have the energy or time to deal with questions, I just need to stop....stop seeing it.” He said brushing a hand down his face before he sighed, moving to sit on the bed too as he looked at the pills in his hand. “One right?” 

High | Klaus and Five