Wonder • Five Hargreeves

33

Number Five

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"Ben?"

The young boy with his nose buried in a book, glanced up quickly at the sound of his name. He smiled, snapping shut the book.

"Winnie!" Ben answered. His dark eyes sparkled with delight as he turned his full attention to the speaker. He had a way with his words, with his body language, of always making someone feel seen when he talked to them.

Winnie appreciated that about him, as she always did when she peaked around his bedroom door to chat, but especially that cold morning; still so early that the sun was barely peaking over the horizon. They were the only Hargreeves awake, save their robot mother (whom didnt exactly sleep) and likely Pogo who tended to putter at odd hours.

"Hi Ben." Winnie grinned. She was about 15 years old then, and her hair was tied in twin braids. She wore her pajamas that, like all her other clothes, were splattered with paint. Bright pinks and greens dotted the silky Umbrella Academy set.

Ben stood to join her at his door. He easily towered over her and to compensate, he hunched his shoulders and leaned against the frame so they could talk face to face. He was in his matching UA pajama pants, but had traded the collared top for a beat-up T-shirt that read 'Crazy for Swayze.' (Him and Klaus had a long standing tradition of wardrobe thievery, so he hardly paid attention anymore to the shirts he threw on before bed.)

"Nice shirt." Winnie chortled. Ben looked down and blushed, rolling his eyes at her teasing.

"Nice braids." He shot back and they giggled together. They had to speak quietly in the cold morning air as to not wake anyone up, and their breathes were almost visible in the chill. Their noses and toes were freezing, but Ben and Winnie also had a long standing tradition of talking with each other every morning- so they could never forgo that in favor of warm comfort.

"What were you reading?"

"Metamorphosis- by Franz Kafka. Its heart breaking." Ben told her, folding his arms and rubbing some warmth back into his skin. Winnie matched his pose, rubbing her own arms, but despite their shivers; they were positively cheery.

She scrunched up her nose. "You always read the most depressing things so early in the morning. What was it yesterday- Frankenstein?"

"The world is depressing, Winnie." Ben sighed, nodding his head resolutely. "It takes great authors to acknowledge that."

"Oh Ben, my little ray of sunshine." She laughed, cheeks and nose pink in the cold. She reached up a hand and pinched his own cheek between her fingers. Ben laughed and lightly swept at her fingers. She snickered and pulled back her hand into her crossed arms to keep the warmth.

"Careful now- loverboy could get jealous with all this touching." Ben scolded.

Winnie rolled her eyes with a huff. She didn't move an inch from where she stood, nose to nose with Ben, and Ben was secretly pleased by her defiance. He smiled to himself.

He might not have had a crush on her anymore, not for the last couple of years when it became obvious Five and Winnie were a matching set, but he still loved her. And he liked when Winnie prioritized him too.