Violent Delights - Five Hargreeves - Umbrella Academy

nice socks

Five sat in the diner with his fist clenched around a butterknife that had been laid in front of him. He looked defensive, angry, prepared for a fight.

The first thing that set Five on edge was her face; not in the least because she was or wasn't nice to look at but because he recognised it - and there weren't too many people he recognised nowadays that wouldnt try to kill him at the next given moment.

She had a blank stare on her freckled face, not entirely emotionless but rather a fake mask of contentedness that remained glued to her expression at all times.

This was the most unnerving thing about her ignoring the fact that she was right in front of him and she most definitely shouldn't have been.

She was actually slightly offended at how he looked ready to slit her throat any second.

Maybe he has something against pastries.

"Nice socks." Was all she had said.

She thought that was quite nice considering the many other things she could have started out with saying.

But he'd gone and sought out the nearest sharp object as soon as he laid eyes on her. All she did was stare at him unbothered.

There was something about the girl that made him think she was bored all the time. The way she spoke, the way she looked at people.

"Relax, I'm not here to kill you." Her accent was British of some kind but not the most common he had heard in his long lifetime. Shed said it so blankly that he had to pause.

Her shoulders were loose, eyes tired, uniform crinkled around the edges and if he wasn't mistaken, it looked like she'd had a long shift. That made no sense, however, because she should not have been there in the first place.

He eyes her suspiciously. "Am I supposed to just take your word for it?"

She shrugged.

It made no difference to her.

Well, it did. Because if he didnt take her word for it then he might try to stab her eye out with the blunt knife in his grip and that would be unfortunate for her to say the least.

Her name tag said 'Nel.' Everyone knew her to be Eleanor.

"You do know a butterknife wont do much damage to someone like me, right?" She doesnt seem phased, acting like them meeting face to face is a casual occurrence.

(It wasnt. Theyd met a total of four times, all brief, two of those containing nothing but an incline of the head and no exchanged words. The other two they had swapped no more than a few sentences of a strange but forgotten casual talk that likely was of no importance to their jobs - which is why they hadn't retained it.)

"Why are you here, Eleanor?" He jumps to the chase and shes pleasantly surprised that he's not dragging this out.

She looks down at him calmly and states, "i work here."

He almost smiles. "Whats the real story?"

She rolls her eyes and gives him a look. "No, I mean I actually work here."

The ponderous silence lasts no longer than two seconds.

"Since when?"

"Couple of weeks ago."

He tenses then untenses his jaw. "So you expect me to believe you work in a place I happen to be at just hours after I broke my contract?" His eyes narrow. "Do you think im that stupid?"