Allison Hargreeves Heard a Rumor (changingreality) wrote in madisonvalley, @ 2019-11-11 21:23:00 |
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Entry tags: | !completed gdoc, !log, ~2019 november, ~25 points, ~~allison hargreeves (changingreality), ~~number five (number_5) |
Who: Five and Allison
When: Monday afternoon
Where: Their place
What: Five isn’t happy
Rating/Warnings: A cranky middle aged teenager?
Status: completed gdoc
Coffee in hand Five picked up the mail from the mat by the door and scanned through it, most of it was rubbish but he frowned slightly when he saw one addressed to Allison Hargreeves, Legal Guardian of Five Hargreeves. Throwing the rest of the papers on the table he put the coffee down and opened the letter.
Entering the living room a few minutes later he moved to where Allison was sitting, “This is unacceptable” he told her, waving the paper around, “Being stuck like this is bad enough but there is no way this is happening” He may look like a thirteen year old but he was not going to be stuck in a school with other actual thirteen year olds when he was most likely smarter than any of the teachers in the building, let alone the students.
***
Living with her brother again after not seeing him for almost two decades had been weird enough. Him being trapped in a thirteen year old body was even more weird. Him acting like the older man he genuinely was… Yeah, as she had told Scott, being a Hargreeves was never boring.
Allison eyed the letter in his hand, setting the magazine she'd been reading aside and plucking it out of his grasp. Reading the address, she lifted her eyebrows at him in a pointed look. They'd discuss him going through her mail shortly. But she read it and immediately covered her mouth to hide her grin. Oh, that just wasn't right. Hilarious. But cruel.
Pulling out her cell phone, she pulled up the program she'd found and started typing. "You never did finish actual school," she reminded him, pushing enter and letting the program speak for her.
***
At the pointed look he rolled his eyes, technically it had his name on it too and it currently really wasn’t the issue. They needed to focus on this problem. Which was just beyond ridiculous. And there was no way it was happening.
“School would be a complete waste of time” Five replied realising his sister was really not getting the point, “I was too smart for it when I was actually school age, going now would just be some kind of nightmare. Can you even imagine any of those so called teachers having the capacity to understand the things I know? It would be a waste of everybody's time”
***
"Just like having a guardian, you're probably going to have to do other things thirteen year olds do." The text to voice was never going to match the sass Five was used to from his sister, but that was fine. At least she was alive, and as much as Allison hated that this was her life now, she knew how close it had been.
She leaned back into the sofa cushions, trying to picture her brother in a middle school science class. It was impossible not to laugh, or the breathy sound that passed as a laugh for her these days. "Even some of the smarter kids who are the right age struggle," she admitted.
Honestly, she felt awful for him. His future looked pretty messed up no matter how they looked at it.
***
Five heard the sass, even if the programme Allison was using didn’t have the right intonation. He heard it because he knew her. Sure they’d had a lot of time apart but she was still his sister and when she used the text to voice he heard her voice in his head. He truly hoped he would be able to hear it again for real too. He wanted better than this for her. Not that he’d say any of that out loud.
Rolling his eyes he shot her a look, “I’m glad this is amusing for you” obviously not amused in the slightest himself.
He threw himself into a chair and, for the want of a better term, sulked. He was smart, very smart, there had to be some way out of this.
***
She couldn't help smiling at him. Sure, in some ways he acted like the old man he technically was. But right then, he was her brother at thirteen all over again. All fire and independence and just wanting to be given a chance to show what he could do. He had always been too smart for his own good. And when he was denied his way, he almost always pouted.
Not that Five would ever call it pouting, of course. But Claire made that exact same expression often enough. Allison knew pouting when she saw it.
"Home school," she typed. "We do home school. You can probably test into a higher grade anyway and you'll be done in no time." Hell, Five could probably teach most of those classes, but no one wanted to learn from a kid.
***
In some ways Five was definitely an almost stereotypical grumpy old man. He'd seen and done things most people never would, and a lot of it he wouldn't wish on anyone. But growing up alone as he had done meant that in other ways he really was still a kid. All he ever wanted to do was get back and save his family, that had been his purpose for so long.
"Well that does sound better than being surrounded by adolescents all day" he admitted, even if he didn't like the idea of having to do any schooling. If he was forced to, it would certainly be preferable to not be in a school environment. "You might be onto something" he told her as the idea started to root in his mind.
***
A smug expression crossed Allison's face because, of course she was on to something. He might have been the genius of the seven of them, but none of the Hargreeves had been stupid. Even Klaus was damn smart, whenever he sobered up.
"You are an adolescent," she pointed out, that Allison smirk evident on her face. Then she tossed a couch cushion at him because why the hell not? Even with the weird age thing and over a decade apart (for her, several for him), he was still her brother. "We can contact the school and see if they have a curriculum for you to follow. Which you'll breeze through."
***
Five knew his siblings weren’t stupid, but he did tend to just lump most people in among those who weren’t as clever as he was. It was something he’d done since he was a kid and not something he’d grown out of.
He rolled his eyes at that comment, his body might be stuck at adolescence at the moment but his mind was far from it. He was pretty sure his face must have been a picture when Allison threw the cushion but he soon recovered and couldn’t help smiling. “Of course I will. I can’t imagine it’ll take too long” he told her before throwing the cushion back.
***
Allison was actually quite used to Five regarding pretty much everyone as dumber than him. And, annoying as it was sometimes, she was grateful that some things never changed. Even her brother's ability to make her feel about two inches tall, even on subjects she was versed in.
She grinned brightly as she caught the cushion, setting it back neatly. Sometimes it was easy to forget that they'd both changed a lot, especially just looking at him. If he kept his big mouth shut, it was a bit like being transported back in time. Something he had both managed and yet not. "I'll send them an email tonight," she typed. "We can see about testing out, too. You may not even need to do most of it."
******
It was a good job his siblings were used to him because it was unlikely he’d ever completely change. It was just how he was, a natural arrogance perhaps.
It was a weird one for Five, he could see Allison had changed obviously but he often forgot he had until he had to do something and his thirteen year old body reminded him in some way or another. But then there were times like this when it felt like no time had passed at all.
He brightened at that though, “If I ace all their tests there’s nothing else they can do” he grinned, before adding, “Thanks Allison” Because he was an arse but not that much of an arse. He did appreciate her help.
***
She rolled her eyes, but she was still smiling. Maybe she wasn't cut out to be the leader of this family, but without Luther or Diego, she felt obligated to be just the same. And that meant navigating things like Klaus keeping a job and Five finishing school if the city was going to make him. And even if she never spoke to her again, helping Vanya become who she was meant to be.
Her face fell just slightly at the thought but she wasn't going to let Five know that. He and Vanya had always been closer than the sisters were. It was dumb of her to think that years apart, an Apocalypse, and that goddamn book were going to change that. "What do you want to do for dinner?" she asked, hitting send before getting to her feet. Dinner was an easy subject. A safe subject.
***
It was only natural Allison take on the role of leader without Luther here, despite technically being the oldest at least mentally Five didn’t have the skills or want to guide his siblings like that. He’d done his own thing for so long that relying on others, even family, was still something he was getting used to.
“I’m gonna guess peanut butter and marshmallow sandwiches aren’t what you consider dinner food?” he said with a slight smirk.
***
Allison glanced over her shoulder at him, an answering smirk in place. She walked into the kitchen and returned a moment later with a container of marshmallow fluff, lifting her eyebrows. It may have been a long time, but it certainly hadn't been that long.
She set the jar down and picked up her phone. That part was more annoying and she wondered how people who spoke ASL did it. It seemed like hell, needing your hands to say literally anything at all. But, well, at least it was communication. And she didn't have to use the whiteboard all the time. The marker smell had been starting to get to her. "If you were my kid, I'd say no. But you're not my kid or a kid at all so." So have at it, really. She was more a peanut butter and banana girl, but there were reasons she bought the giant jar of peanut butter.
***
Five wasn’t quite sure what to make of that until she came back into the room with the container and then he simply grinned. Since returning from the future he’d taken joy in being able to eat his favourite foods again and nothing could beat a peanut butter and marshmallow sandwich.
“Best sibling” he declared as he stood up, “You want one?” he asked as he picked up the jar. He had no problems sharing the chores including making dinner, even if sandwiches really were his limit.
***
Allison's cooking wasn't a lot better and they'd always had their mom to help with cooking and cleaning, so between the two of them, domestic skills weren't top notch. But she knew they'd figure it out. They sort of didn't have a choice, it wasn't like they could afford to hire a housekeeper or anything.
She gave a wry smile but after a moment of thought, she nodded. The sugary sweet snack was hardly the best thing for them, but so what? They were adults, peanut butter had protein, who cared? It wasn't like they ate like that every night.
Sometimes they ordered takeout, after all.
***
They’d definitely work it out, after all they were pretty smart though he couldn’t say there wouldn’t be a mishap or two along the way.
“Excellent, two peanut butter and marshmallow sandwiches coming up” he was fairly sure they had some chips in the cupboard too so he’d throw some in a bowl. And of course he’d put the coffee on, because he rarely didn’t have a cup going.
***
Any members of her Food Club would be ashamed if they saw their leader, the woman who had stopped at almost every hot spot she could find in Europe, standing in her kitchen eating a peanut butter and marshmallow sandwich. That wasn't going to stop her, though.
She did have to draw the line at having coffee with it, though. Also, unlike Five, Allison couldn't make herself drink it black. She reached into the refrigerator for the jug of milk and poured herself a glass. "Want any?" The app couldn't even begin to imitate the teasing in her tone but her expression did.
***
Everybody had times when a peanut butter sandwich was called for, anybody who claimed they didn’t was lying. And he knew for a fact that some of those who attended Allison’s food club brought things which weren’t homemade.
Five turned his nose up at the offer, “I’ll stick to a decent drink” he told her, a smirk across his face at the teasing look on her face.
***
Hovering the carton near her brother's coffee cup, she grinned with a threatening air. They'd never been the closest of the siblings, but she was really, really glad to have Five back. Sure, they'd both changed a lot, but in some ways he was the only sibling who had a clue what she was dealing with.
She finally put the bottle back in the refrigerator, hiding the offending object. "Thanks." Even if she could vocalize the word, it didn't say everything that she meant. All the reasons she had to thank him. But she hoped maybe he knew. Or assumed. Her big ego brother tended to do that.
***
Five raised an eyebrow when she pretended to almost taint his coffee but ended up rolling his eyes at her with a smile. While it was true they hadn’t been the closest he’d fought to get back to all his siblings and was glad Allison was here. Even if these circumstances weren’t ideal.
He nodded in response, “Of course” was all he said as he finished making up the sandwiches for them.
***