cigarette breaks / five hargreeves

The Prelude

Oh, hello. You're back. You've been wondering what it would be like if it wasn't you. Well, don't worry. Just sit back and watch the story unfold without you.

Meet Oz. Number Nine. Powers of reality manipulation, just like you had.

Oz was always an odd child. They were autistic, for starters. And epileptic. It wasn't the most convenient combination. Oh- but of course. The abilities. That was the oddest part about them. The ability to manipulate reality at will. One time the night sky appeared on their ceiling. One time they could fly. One time their homework turned into a crow.

Their parents had initially put up with it. After all, they'd always wanted a child. And the supernatural pregnancy had been perfect. They had refused Reginald Hargreeves' offer when Oz was born, and they had refused it every week since. What had been less perfect was when another child materialised when they were three days away from turning twelve.

"Y'know, it's not typically normal to be able to bring imaginary friends into reality." Remarked Saturn casually as he sat on the end of Oz's bed.

Oz had hummed as they watched the night sky through their window, "Yeah. Do you want to sleep on the sofa?" Their parents had quite the surprise when they went downstairs that morning.

Originally they had tried to accept it. But it had just been too much. They had accepted Reginald Hargreeves' offer a few weeks later, under the conditions that they would be able to write to and call Oz regularly. This never ended up happening. Hargreeves didn't permit it.

Both of them were sent off. Hargreeves seemed pleased at getting two children for the cost of one. Ironic, really, considering only one of them was real. Saturn was named Number Eight, and Oz was named Number Nine.

Oz was very awkward upon meeting the others. It became painfully clear Reginald had given the group a briefing on their autism, their epilepsy, their powers, and the fact that they were nonbinary. In short, what a mess they were. Saturn was a lot easier for the others to interact with given that he didn't have any of that to deal with- and conveniently none of them knew that he wasn't real. Not even Reginald Hargreeves himself. It always saddened Oz that the person they had made up was more palatable to the others than they were.

Reginald Hargreeves had made all of them take ASL lessons. He insisted that if, in the event of Oz going non-speaking (which they sometimes did) during a mission, being unable to communicate with them could be the difference between life and death. Oz, being from England, had to go through these lessons too. They had only known BSL.

After about four months, Saturn disappeared. Oz had finally gotten their powers fully under control, and as an unintended consequence, this had meant that Saturn was no longer manifested into reality. Oz wasn't quite sure how to handle it, so they didn't. Reginald didn't bother re-naming them.

Now alone, this provided the necessity of actually properly getting to know their housemates. A good lot.

Luther always encouraged them to be part of the group, to speak more when they were able, and offered to help them with social interactions where he could. He was the first one to help whenever they had a seizure.

Diego, who struggled with his speech and his stutter at times, was more than happy to sit with them in silence. He taught them how to use knives in combat, something that interested Oz enough for them to go out and get their own switchblade a week later. Diego approved of this greatly.

Klaus liked to joke that he could speak enough for the both of them- something which was definitely true. He liked to joke around with them and taught them the best way to roll cigarettes and the quickest way to hide the smell.