Promise [Number 5 X Reader]

- Hostility -

You knew somthing was wrong the moment you woke up.

The house was deathly silent.  Now, silence in the giant abode wasn't unusual, but it was the nature of the silence that made the hair on the back of your neck stand on end. It wasn't the type of calm quiet that came with a lack of things to say, but instead a tense stillness, as if everything in the building was holding its breath.

You looked over at Dzie, his tail was fluffed out and he cowered in the corner of his little bed, not a single sound escaping from his tiny maw.

"Dzie." At the sound of your voice, he darted across the room and into your lap. You mumbled, "What's up boy?" as you gently scratched his neck. Slowly getting up from your bed, you made your way to the door, cracking it open an inch and peering out into the hallway. You fully opened the door and walked out, only to smack into Grace - which felt like walking into a lamppost.

"Oh, Mom!" You jumped back a bit, feeling a furry form wrap around your ankle.

"(Y/n), Sweetheart," she cooed, taking you into her arms. "Let's go downstairs and I'll make you breakfast, how's that sound?"

A hiss sounded off by your foot. Grace looked down at the ferret curiously. "Don't mind Dzie," you said, tapping him on the head with your finger to distract him, "he's been on edge since I woke up; not sure why . . ."

She smiled sadly. "He must sense Mr. Hargreeves' absence; animals are usually more sensitive to things of that nature."

You cocked your head at her. "I don't think that'd warrant the hostility. I mean, sure, he barely leaves his office but - "

"No, Hon," she interrupted. You faltered at the expression on her face. After seeing her smiling for years on end, the gloomy frown she wore just looked wrong to you. "You don't understand. Your father . . . He died last night."

XxX

For once, you didn't put on that stupid uniform of yours. Instead, you dug into the depths of your closet and put on some standard black attire - black felt appropriate, given it was the day of the funeral for your guardian. You weren't slow to admit that it felt nice to get into normal clothes for once. It made you feel more relaxed.

Kind of.

Legs dangling carelessly off the edge of the roof, you stared out across the gray cityscape, hair lazily waving in the breeze that blew by. It almost felt like the weather was sympathizing with your current depressed mood. You couldn't fathom the idea of him being gone, not after the years of his cold shoulder and eccentric, ippity-uppity, shut-in nature.

But now you had to cope with the reality of it.

Speaking of which . . .

The first taxi pulled up to the building,  and the door opened to reveal a hulking figure.

Luther.

His head tilted upward, and the two of you locked gazes. He seemed startled for a moment, staring up at you in bewilderment before shaking his head and walking inside.

You decided it'd be in your best interest to head downstairs to give some sort of greeting to your "brother." Dzie was waiting for you by the door as you reentered the house, following you down into the foyer, where Luther was lurking about.

"So . . ." he started awkwardly. "You really are back."

"On the contrary," you replied with a tight smile, "I never really left in the first place."