Chapter Text
Another sleepless night. Five was past counting them now. It was almost a ritual; one that included being constantly over-caffeinated and swallowed up by endless thoughts.
Now, one may suggest cutting out the coffee altogether, but that wouldn't help in this case. Caffeine wasn’t the enemy here; it was actually the one thing holding Five’s sanity together.
Every time Five even remotely got into some form of REM sleep he’d have awful recurring night terrors that ripped him back into consciousness.
And even with the apocalypse no longer being a threat anymore, the nightmares still persisted leaving Five in his current predicament:
Nursing a cup of coffee; his fourth to be exact since coming down to the kitchen past six.
Five’s foot tapped in place as he took another sip of the room-temperature coffee. His whole arm was ridden with tremors from the caffeine high, however, none of it made him feel any more alert. If anything, the countless mugs of coffee only fed to his increased anxiety ultimately making this coping mechanism quite the drawback.
…
“...Mmmorning…”
Five whipped his head towards the source of the drawn-out greeting to find Klaus stumbling into the kitchen.
Klaus fiddled with the fridge door, snatched the milk carton, and chugged straight from it. Five wrinkled his nose in mild distaste. It was a good thing for Klaus that he took his coffee black.
After taking some rather disgusting gulps from the container, Klaus had the nerve to look Five directly in the eyes. “What?” He asked full of honest innocence as he opened his arms in a questioning pose.
Five rolled his eyes as he brought his gaze back down to the mug in hand. He remained in that position, brows furrowed in clear annoyance hoping that Klaus would grow a brain and leave him the hell alone.
“You know, I’m really feeling waffles,” Klaus began to ramble uselessly, oblivious of Five’s grouchy demeanor. “You feeling waffles?” Klaus paused his rummaging through the cupboards to wait intently for his brother’s response.
“…”
“...Ooookay….then what about…” Klaus tapped his chin in thought before dramatically snapping his fingers. “Righttt, waffles are probably too good for you old people, right? Cream of wheat is it? You like that stuff? I’m sure the old geezer still has that junk lying around…”
Consciously aware of the fact that his eye was twitching, Five sucked in a breath to compose himself. “...Klaus, would you be so kind as to shut that mouth of yours?” He wore a strained smile as he refrained himself from exploding right on the spot. Klaus’ pointless chit-chat was draining his sanity reserve which was quite empty, to begin with. Not to mention, it didn’t help with the relentless pounding headache that seemed to be a permanent existence.
Klaus opened his mouth again but was silenced by the sound of chair legs scraping against the ceramic tile. In a matter of seconds, Five had already swiped his coffee mug and stormed out of the kitchen in poorly concealed rage.
“Woah-” Allison bent herself in a way that prevented her and Five from having a collision at the kitchen entrance. Once he was out of sight, her eyes scanned the room until they met Klaus. “What’s going on?” She asked with a hint of suspicion laced within her question. It was as if she had a little idea of what could have caused her littlest-older brother to rage quit out of the room.
Well, mainly because it had to do with Klaus.
...And Klaus had a way of irritating people.
“I dunno, I just wanted to make waffles, and Five went all...well, you saw.” Klaus made all hand gestures as he poorly explained the scenario. Allison quirked a brow at his meager explanation before deciding it wasn’t all that important and went to brew some coffee.
“Where did all the coffee go?” Allison inquired, the now empty bin within her grasp.“I swear I just replaced it last shopping trip.”
Klaus just pointed towards the exit.
“What are you-” Allison followed his finger to where Five had exited mere minutes ago. “Are you implying that Five drank all the coffee?”
“And you’d doubt that? I mean did you see the little guy? He was all hyped up on that bean juice; he most definitely had more than one cup.”
Allison halted in place and considered Klaus’ accusation. Now that she thought about it, Five had been acting rather on the edge as of late. It would make a bit of sense to pin the countless cups of coffee as the culprit of his recent behaviour; however, something told her that it went much deeper than that.
Sure Five was an avid coffee drinker but draining the coffee supplies in less than a week? Even that was too much by his standards.
“Oh now the gears are turning. You’ve got that thinking face on.”
Allison blinked as she was stripped away from her focus. She gave Klaus an odd face at his unnecessary observation.
Seemingly unbothered, Klaus continued on. “Yeah I bet you’re thinking exactly what I’m thinking.”
Allison waved the empty container around as an indicator for him to enlighten her. “And that is….?”
“That Five should have taken those therapy sessions when he had the chance.”
“Klaus. This isn’t funny.”
“What? Have you seen him? He’s all out of whack and clearly going through who knows what. Now personally, coffee wouldn’t be my substance of choice but like hey, who am I to judge...”
Allison lowered her eyes at him. “Klaus.”
“Yes Ma’am?”
Forcing in her sigh, Allison put down the container onto the countertop. “I think we have something more serious on our hands.” Her voice was laced with obvious concern.
“Ooookay and what are we going to do about it? You saw him and I don’t know about you but getting attacked by a gremlin in schoolboy shorts isn’t on my to-do list for today.” Klaus then finished his declaration by shoving dry cereal into his mouth. He held out the box. “Want some?”
Allison crossed her arms. “Well then, I guess I’ll go talk to him. Clearly, I’m the only one capable of doing so.”
And with that, Allison huffed out of the kitchen.
Spatial jumping was out of the question. Five had learned that the hard way when he nearly lost his footing on the last set of stairs. He should have known too; blinking took energy, and energy was something he was lacking as of now.
With that revelation, Five was now left with dragging himself around which was a struggle in itself as his feet felt like they were crafted out of lead.
But even so, Five still couldn’t bring himself to rest at all. His mind was spinning with intrusive thoughts and he was really in dire need of a decent cup of coffee.
Which was why he was now trailing along the sidewalk in search of somewhere he could find his fix.
The tell-tale dinging of a bell assaulted Five’s ears as he entered what resembled a quaint cafe. Not too many customers were inside the building which meant Five could at least get some sort of peace and quiet.
Taking a seat that was situated in a far corner, Five opened up the menu. His foot tapped underneath the table with a mind of its own as he searched for what he had come here for.
“Hello Hun,” A loud-spoken woman grabbed Five’s attention in an instant. “What can I get for ya?”
Five peered up from the menu to catch eyes with a broadly smiled barista. He surveyed her before shifting to her nametag.
‘ Suzane.’ What a suiting name for such a grotesque woman.
Folding the menu back up and sliding it to the end of the table, Five gave her a hard stare. “Coffee; black.” His response was curt and apparently not what the woman had expected. Her smile faltered slightly but she managed to keep up a front.
“You sure dear? We have quite an extensive menu here.” Suzane had the audacity to open the menu back up and point her manicured finger at some of the options. “The frappuccinos are quite popular with our younger clientele. I can suggest a few flavours to you if you’d like.”
Five bit back all of the snarky remarks he had on the back burner. The lady was only being nice. She wasn’t aware that she was actually recommending frappuccinos to a fifty-eight-year-old ex-assassin.
So, Five decided to give her the benefit of the doubt and refrain from using the nearby salt shaker as a projectile.
“The coffee will do, thanks,” Five replied, the same tight smile upon his features.
Suzane blinked and shook her head in disbelief as her offer was rejected. However, without another word, she brought her pencil to the notebook and scribbled down the order. With that, she whisked the menu from the table and disappeared.
Five could finally feel himself breathe. He swore that if she said one more thing about those sugary ass drinks, he’d probably have lost it on her. But with that whole conflict averted, Five could now sit back in the rigid wooden chair and find his peace of mind.
That whole idea was short-lived when he spotted that same lady weaving through tables over to him. Five's eyes trained themselves onto the cup and saucer in her hold as she reached his seating area.
"Okie dokie dear, here you are." She placed the cup down and slid it so that it was situated in front of him. "One pumpkin spice latte."
Just as the words left her mouth, Five squinted his eyes hard. "What."
The barista didn't even cower from his tone of voice. "It's all the rage this season. I thought you ought to try it," She cluelessly began, flashing that same ridiculous smile.
Five gave her a hard stare. “I didn’t order this.” His icy eyes bore into the woman in a way that suggested a challenge.
The air between them grew thick with tension, the slow cafe jazz seemingly unfitting of the current circumstance. Suzane fiddled with a blonde curl before going back to what she knew best; her customer service smile. “I’m certain you’ll enjoy this much more. Give it a try hun.”
Five scoffed at her foolishness. “I asked for a simple black coffee, was that too hard for you to understand?” He responded carefully, eyeing her all the while. The sickeningly sweet aroma of the putrid concoction filled his senses which quickened the aggravating feeling that coursed through him. Was this lady brain dead ? What part of him screamed to her that he’d want this junk?
“Oh there’s no need to be shy hun,” Suzane advanced, still apparently not backing down. “I know kids these days want to look mature and all but I assure you that you’ll like this.”
Five’s eye twitched. Usually, just the mention of being a ‘kid’ would have been enough to go completely ballistic on the person who was unfortunate enough to utter it. However, the heaviness in his limbs reminded Five he wasn’t at his best. So instead, he remained in his seat glowering at the chick. “If I wanted it, I would have ordered it, ” Five responded with teeth clenched.
The jazz music faded back into the air as the barista hesitated. It was clear that she was not expecting such a seemingly unassuming kid to fire back like that. But now that she got a taste of it, it was obvious that he wasn’t going to back down. But neither was she. Not when she received bonuses each time she served the beverage of the day.
“Would you care for a cookie to pair with your drink? Our spiced gingerbread cookie goes very well with our pumpkin spice lattes.”
Oh, and now she had the audacity to upsell. Five was nearing the edge. That sanity reserve that was mentioned earlier? Yeah, that was resembling the Sahara desert.
“And if you buy two cookies then the other is free. You get three for the price of two!”
Five’s fingers began to fidget underneath the table, itching to interlace them together around her throat. If he squeezed enough, would that atrocious smile finally vanish from her face?
There was some more unnecessary babbling before Suzane paused and grinned at him. “So, is there anything I can do for ya?”
There was silence on the other end. Five sat there, staring at the drink that should have been his coffee. His eyes went in and out of focus in his trance.
“Well, then I guess I’ll leave you to it,” Suzane spoke up again. She adjusted her apron before pivoting in her space.
Five snapped out of his trance just in time to smack his hands down onto the oak table. He shot daggers at the lady once she turned back around. “You didn’t even give me what I ordered!” Five accused, now standing with his hands still planted fiercely upon the table. The sheer frustration he was experiencing was now seeping out through his words much more apparent than before.
Suzane huffed a little as she placed a hand on her hip. “Now hun, that’s no way to talk to an adult.”
Nails clawed the waxed surface of the table as Five swallowed down his fury. A short chuckle escaped him as his mouth formed a thin line. “Well, we wouldn't have this problem if you just got me my damn order.”
Narrowing her eyes at him, Suzane stalked closer. “You think I give a shit about what you want? If you know what’s good for you, you’ll be a good little boy and take your seat.” Her tone was hushed, but her intentions were loud.
Suzane leaned back and fixed her scowl into her customer service smile. “Now you enjoy it dear. When you’re finished I’ll take your payment at the front counter.”
With teeth grinding, Five surveyed with hunched shoulders as the woman turned once again. His whole form shook from his head to his toes as he clenched his jaw taut. With a mind of their own, Five’s fingers curled underneath the rim of the table.
And with one powerful yank, the whole table flipped into the air.
It was as if everything was in slow motion. The cup and saucer flew almost comically; its contents spilling over the edge spraying this way and that.
The barista whipped her head towards the commotion in the same slow-mo effect as everything else. Her massive mouth fell agape as her eyes were trained on the wooden structure that was now airborne.
As if someone had snapped their fingers, the whole table along with the contents came crashing down upon the ceramic tile. The clatter was almost deafening and had attracted the attention of people all over. Murmurs floated around the occupying area as surrounding customers gawked at what they had witnessed.
Five was left huffing, chest heaving in and out as he stood there in the disarray of various items. He hadn’t registered what happened, all he knew was that he was tired and just done with all of these obstacles.
“Look at what you’ve done!” Suzane squawked and raised a quivering finger. “You’re- You’re gonna pay for a-any damage!”
Suzane’s allegations fell onto deaf ears as Five blew completely past her. All Five could hear was his own heavy breaths as he took long strides through the cafe and out of the entrance. His mind was filled with a whirlwind of emotions, the sheer amount of them too overwhelming to completely process.
Shouldering past an innocent passerby, Five maintained his pace along the sidewalk. His movements held purpose and each step was forceful; the actual place he was heading to was essentially unknown.
Five huffed and turned a tight corner.
He didn’t care where he was going, he just needed to go.