Wonder • Five Hargreeves

13

Run Boy Run

"I survived on scraps. Canned food, cockroaches...Anything I could find." Five said.

Winnie was still curled up in Fives lap, but her legs were now tossed over the armrests and her head held high. They both held a mug in one hand while their other was clasped together down by Winnies hip.

Five was forcing down a mug of truly awful coffee and Winnie had found she missed chocolate milk a little too much, and was now sipping away at that.

"Even Twinkies?" Winnie asked curiously. She was taking his terrifying story in stride and distracting herself with littlest of details.

"Yeah- that rumor that says they have an endless shelf life? Total bullshit." Five replied. He glanced away from her puppy-dog eyes and took a sip from his mug.

"I cant even imagine." Vanya commented. No hyperbole- she really couldn't. Her head would not wrap around anything that he was saying.

"You do whatever it takes to survive...So we adapted. Whatever the world threw at us, we found a way to overcome it." Five said.

Vanya glanced warily at Winnie. The small girl must have not noticed Five switch to plural language. Five wasn't entirely alone, it seemed.

Vanya hesitated for only a moment before looking back at Five to ask her next question.

"We?"

The woman simply couldn't let any question be unsaid. She had grew up with closed doors and came to hate them. Treat others how you would want to be treated, as the saying goes.

"Have you got anything stronger?" Five asked.

"Like whiskey!" Winnie cheered. Five raised an eyebrow.

"Can you even hold your liquor?"

"Can you? Last I recall you were a rookie."

"Unlike Twinkies, alcohol tastes better the longer it sits. I had a surplus and a lot of time to practice. Whats your excuse?"

"I went to college looking like a high schooler." Winnie scoffed, " If I hadn't figured out how to drink, I woulda been screwed."

Five half nodded with a face that said 'alright'. He had read a few books about the college experience, and it was safe to say it was not ever going to be his scene.

While the duo were bantering, they didn't notice Vanya get up and fulfill their request. She had stored away a bottle of whiskey for special occasions, but it seemed as good a time as any. Family reunion, if you will.

Plus it wasn't like it was the first time the three drank together.

—

"Fuck me! I drank- I drank- I drank a whole bottle!" Winnie Hargreeves cheered gleefully.

It was 3am and three Hargreeves children  were all laying lazily in the middle of a park- drunk off their asses. Winnie was on the grass in a similar position to Five, who was flat across a park table. Vanya was propped between the two, against a table leg.

"Ha- I fin-finished faster!" Five called drunkenly.

Vanya squealed with delight and transitioned into an obnoxious laugh. Winnie laughed as well, but only because of Vanya's reaction. The girl was hilarious!

"I guess we don't need to check- check on Vanya's progress." Winnie said.

Five was lost in his own world though, lifting up his empty bottle and waving it in the air. He sang to himself, "Drinky Drinky, Drinky, Ey!"