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The house was quiet. Not quiet, no-- calm. One could say it was too quiet, but the Hargreeves could argue that was how things were now. After stopping two apocalypses, both of which were of their own making, they had learned to settle into a now softer routine.
Or, well, they were trying to adjust to it. 'Trying' with a capital T.
They still had setbacks every now and then. They'd still get nightmares and night terrors as well as panic attacks and the house would be as loud as it used to be, but eventually it came down to it's okay, you're okay, we're here.
Five was easily the most unsettled by the sudden casualty of things. He'd spent decades in the apocalypse then spent a pretty long time stopping two more, not to mention he'd watched his family die twice. He saved the world, his family- but now he didn't know what to do with himself. He never thought about the aftermath (he didn't think he'd have one).
The boy was more often than not restless, unable to sleep for several nights, insisting on staying up and patrolling around the house. He had the habit of blinking into his siblings' rooms in the middle of the night and watch them while they slept, paying mind to the way their chests moved gently. They were still breathing. They were alive.
Of course, that calm moment rarely ever lasted. The blue light that came from his jumping always woke the others up -- Luther always rose in a jump, Diego had the knee-jerk reaction to throw knives at him (all of which Five sometimes just barely dodged, even him being a victim to his brother's impeccable aim), and the others settled for standard terrified and confused screaming. ("Jesus, Five, what the fuck?!")
Boring.
Sometimes, though, there were moments that... Felt natural. Like there was never an apocalypse, like none of them were off and weird and wrong. Sometimes they felt like a normal family, and they cherished those moments.
Right now, they were spending as much time as they could savoring one of those moments. Luther was sat on the couch, curled in on himself on the far left; on his lap laid a half asleep Ben, eyes barely open. Diego, though he'd never admit it and would absolutely stab anyone that dared mentioning it, was sat by his brothers' side and rested his head against Luther's shoulder. Ben's feet touched his legs slightly. He found comfort in his brothers' warm presence — Luther was big and safe, Ben was soft and alive.
Allison was sat on the floor in front of the couch, legs crossed as she flipped through the channels on TV. She wasn't sure what she was looking for - a rom-com, a nature documentary, but none of it caught her eye.
She shared a quick, fond look with Klaus, whom was lazily lying on the floor, when she heard Ben's soft snoring from above. When he was dead he didn't need to sleep, and now that he was back, all the tiredness from seventeen sleepless years hit him in the face with full force.
(He fell asleep pretty much anywhere, anytime. He doesn't know his siblings check his body for a pulse and anything that indicates he's, in fact, alive.)
Five was, as usual, on the move around the house. He was upstairs nervously pacing around, eyes wide and body fidgety, as if he was waiting for something. Someone. He often felt like he was missing something- like he was being watched, like there was some imminent threat coming for his family and he wouldn't be aware of it until it was too late.
A gentle hand was placed on his shoulder. Despite knowing who it belonged to, he still blinked away out of instinct, now behind the person that caught his attention.
"Sorry," A voice so gentle, it matched it's touch. He visibly relaxed and the person continued, "I didn't mean to scare you."
"It's alright. Is something up?" Five questioned, now afraid his suspicions were correct.
"No, no, I just... Can I talk to you about something?"
—
Footsteps desceding towards the living room caught the siblings' attention and they all perked up, Luther being careful not to wake Ben up. Klaus' back cracked as he sat up and Allison offered him a hand, which he gladly took; he now sat by her side and gently tapped Diego's legs before gesturing at Five, whom had blinked in front of the TV.
"Hey, I was watching that," Luther spoke up, careful not to move too much so he didn't wake Ben up. Diego was secretly touched by how careful he was being.
"You've been on the moon, Luther. What could a documentary about it possibly have that you don't already know yourself?" Five retorted, earning a 'fair' from the blonde.
"Anyways, before you get me sidetracked any further, as per usual-" an offended chorus of 'hey's , "There's an announcement that needs to be made."
Usually, to them, that didn't mean anything good. Everyone immediately tensed up; Diego sat up straight, ready to stand up and attack any second if needed. Luther frowned and pulled Ben closer, shielding him; Klaus and Allison both grimaced and Five could see the man's tattooed hands begin to shake slightly.
"It's nothing bad, you guys can chill," Five tried not to sound too caring but his voice was so soft, it made him sick. He didn't wanna worry his siblings, they'd been through enough shit already. "It's not about me, though. I'm just preparing you because he's nervous."
"He?" Diego questioned quietly, leaning forward so he was closer to Klaus on the floor. "Who's-?"
"Come when you're ready," He called out behind him, making his way to stand by the couch.
Number Seven nervously walked into sight, and Five's genuine reassuring smile and the sense of euphoria in their chest kept them from chickening out.
The siblings stayed quiet. Though Five had said it's nothing bad, it still seemed serious. They were nervous nonetheless. Luther had gently woken Ben up, who was now sat between him and Diego.
Seven took in a deep breath, then calmly breathed out.
"I'm trans," He finally said, sounding calmer than he expected himself to be. Feeling confident, they continued. "I've- I've known for a while now but I was too nervous to bring it up, you know, after the things with my powers and Sissy I thought it would be too confusing, but- I talked to Five first and it's not because I don't trust the rest of you, that's not it! I just, I don't know, I needed a second opinion, and-"
"What are your pronouns? And your name, if you've already picked one." Five cut him off, though it was clear he didn't do it out of annoyance or frustration. He knew Seven was bound to keep rambling anxiously
"He/They," He said with a soft, thankful smile. Though he knew Five would be okay with him being trans, he hadn't expected that reaction right away. "And.. Viktor. My name's Viktor."
And it felt so good to pick his name, and even better to say it outloud.
Five nodded, and no one said anything for what felt like a minute. Every second dragged itself by slower than it should be possible and for a moment Viktor thought shit, I messed up. I shouldn't have said anything, I shouldn't have-
Viktor hadn't realized Allison came up to him before he processed her arms around them and he melted into her touch; he hugged back and buried his face into her neck, immediately relaxed.
"I'm proud of you for telling us," She said so sweetly he could've gotten a cavity, but they didn't mind much. "I know it's cheesy, but we love you no matter what. I love you, Viktor, and that's not gonna change."
Viktor's heart burned in the best way possible when he heard his name come out of his sister's mouth so casually. His name. His.
An extra pair of arms wrapped themselves around both he and Allison and that's when they realized Klaus joined them with a smile, "Just so you know, Vik, you're coming with us on a Boys' Night sometime."
His cheeks felt warm with joy at his brother's words as well as Luther's confused 'we have boys' nights?' and Ben's 'now we do' - Diego gave them a soft smile and he returned it. Was he glad he managed to mend his bond with him.
"I also use He/They pronouns," Klaus broke the silence as he pulled away from the hug, raising his hand a little, a small smile tugging at his lips. "Just for the record."
Diego huffed slightly, something between a 'i already knew that' and an 'good for you'.
"... Is this a good time to say I'm bi?" Allison asked nervously, and Klaus nodded. "I've been waiting to tell you guys for so long."
"I'm so happy for both of you, I-" Viktor was cut off by Luther, who blurted out "I'm asexual."
Five turned his look to him and Luther noticed; he quickly started trying to justify himself. "I just- I don't really feel that way towards anyone and I don't think I ever have? I just never mentioned it because I thought I was broken or something like that, and-"
"You don't have to explain yourself to me. Or to any of us, for that matter," Five cut him off. "Especially not me. I'm asexual, too. Though I feel like that's a given."
Ben shyly raised his hand, had he been quiet the whole time absorbing all the new information. "I think I'm somewhere betwee bisexual and asexual. Not all the way asexual, but- yeah."
Diego tilted his head to the side slightly then breathed out, "Y'all really made that seen so easy. Alright, y'all got me. I'm also bi."
For a moment they were silent again, but Viktor soon broke into a fit of giggles. His siblings weren't far behind, and Viktor couldn't remember why he was so nervous about coming out to their siblings.
"Oh, our old man would absolutely hate this whole thing." Klaus added, which made them all laugh a little harder.
They were right. Reginald would, and none of them could care less.