cigarette breaks / five hargreeves

Waffles and Words

"𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘢𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘢 / 𝘪 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘺" a mannequin adrift, the scary jokes

/

"So, I think Five's warming up to you again." Klaus remarked once the two were sitting down with food in front of them. He was currently trying to saw through a very thick pile of syrup-soaked waffles with a butter knife.

Oz raised their eyebrows at him, looking up from their omelette, "I hope so. He still hasn't remembered me."

"Oh yeah." Klaus mumbled through the chunk of waffle he was currently chewing on, "For sure. I'm sure he'll remember you any day now."

"Really?" They looked at him doubtfully as they cut into the omelette. They let out a low hum of approval as they chewed. Perfectly cooked.

Klaus stared at them as he swallowed the waffle in an exaggerated gulp. He shrugged, "I mean, probably. He can't just forget you, can he?" He leaned over the table to ruffle their hair, "You're very memorable, Ozzy."

Oz chuckled, allowing him to do this for a few moments before ducking their head away from his hand, "Thanks, Klaus."

"You know him, he's a stubborn little bastard." Klaus shrugged, returning to sawing through another waffle.

They snorted, "Asshole's probably choosing not to remember me out of spite." They stabbed absent-mindedly at the omelette for a few moments before carving out another square of it to eat.

"If anyone would do it, it'd be Five." Klaus mused, mouth full of waffle yet again.

"Definitely." Oz agreed. There was a moment of silence as they finished their current mouthful of omelette, "So, how've you been?"

Klaus waved a hand, "Oh, you know... living life, getting sent to rehab, not terribly interesting."

"How's that going for you?" They grimaced slightly as soon as the words left their mouth, recalling that Klaus was high at the funeral. Probably not well.

He let out a giggle at their expression, guessing what they were thinking, "Well, y'know, I've been there so many times something must've rubbed off on me, right?" His face softened slightly, "It's getting better. I just... really need to not be seeing dead people everywhere, y'know?"

Oz nodded in understanding, "Yeah, I get you. Best you can given the situation and all." They gave a small, dry chuckle, "You really lucked out with the whole 'powers' thing, huh?"

"Well, only one of us got thrown through a billion different universes for three decades." Klaus teased back as he shoved yet another chunk of waffle in his mouth, "So out of the two of us, I guess I did."

/

After a lengthy lunch with Klaus, Oz headed over to the Icarus Theatre, where Viktor's rehearsals were taking place. They slipped in quietly through the heavy doors and slunk into a seat at the back. There were maybe three people in the audience. Viktor didn't notice them, but that was alright. They were just there to listen. The rehearsal was beautiful, and Oz hoped that they would be able to watch the concert as normal next week. If they could do enough to stop the apocalypse. If.

Oz greeted him at the back exit after the end of the rehearsal, "You played beautifully."

Viktor appeared quite taken-aback to find them there, "Were you... watching me?"

"Thought I'd sit in on your rehearsals." They shrugged, sticking their hands in their pockets and giving him a grin, "You play so well. Never been one for classical music, but I'd listen to you play any day."

"You used to. All the time." Viktor gave them a small smile, "Thanks, but I don't do all that much for the-"

Oz shook their head, "Nonsense. You're amazing."

"I'm only third chair."

"And without you, the whole symphony would be worse off." They answered, "Is it not better to be part of a collective, playing together to create music than be on your own, sticking out and nobody else to rely on?"

Viktor resisted the urge to inform Oz that he'd gone most of his life with nobody who he could rely on, always isolated from the others. They were trying to be nice, not start a fight with him. And it wasn't their fault, not really. They'd at least tried. So instead, he simply shrugged, "I need to get going." and began walking off.

"Alright. You want some company? I'm free for the day?" Oz offered, catching up to him quickly.

Viktor shook his head, "That's kind of you, but I'm going to meet a friend."

Leonard.

"You sure? You don't even want me to walk you there?"

"I'm sure." He gave them a soft frown of concern, "Is everything okay?"

There was a half-second delay in Oz's response, "Yeah. Everything's good."

/

i have like the next three chapters done but for some reason i took forever making this one???  this one's a little shorter but i hope you guys enjoyed anyways!!  <3

- toby