𝐖𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄 ━ five hargreeves

4│A DISAPPOINTING DOCTOR'S VISIT

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❛ ᴡᴀsᴛᴇʟᴀɴᴅs ᴏғ ᴛɪᴍᴇ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ᴀ ᴅɪsᴀᴘᴘᴏɪɴᴛɪɴɢ
ᴅᴏᴄᴛᴏʀ's ᴠɪsɪᴛ ꒱


❝ YOU THINK MY BUTT IS CUTE? ❞

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"You know that rumor that Twinkies have an endless shelf life?" Five asked once they'd gotten their coffee— his black, of course, and Dolores' extremely sweet.

Now, a soft smile graced her lips as she recalled the memory from what seemed like a lifetime ago, back before she could barely tolerate the boy she'd ended up marrying. It had been one of their better days, back then. She'd found his family's lunchbox as well and had made an attempt at being nice by sharing the treat, though her efforts had been for naught when they'd both realized it was desert-dry and hard as a rock.

"Well, it's total bullshit."

"I can't even imagine," Vanya said quietly.

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

At this, she gave him a confused look. "We?"

Dolores raised her hand. "I survived by pure luck. He found me days— weeks?— later in my basement."

The dark-haired woman stared at the brunette sitting on her brother's lap. It seemed impossible that they were married, let alone this slight, ordinary girl to have survived what they were claiming was to happen. She still wasn't even sure if she believed it. Five had been gone for years and with him just now turning up with a strange girl claiming the end of the world? It seemed impossible.

Seeming to have noticed the look on her face, Five sighed. "You got anything stronger?"

Vanya handed both of them the beverage. The boy took a sip of his immediately while Dolores stared into the depths of the dark liquor, remembering it as the same hue her father and uncle used to drink— her father and uncle who were alive in this timeline.

The seventh Hargreeves was silent for a moment and Five took that negatively. "You think I'm crazy."

"It's just. . . a lot to take in."

"Exactly what don't you understand?"

"I don't know," she started, before she studied him. "Why didn't you just time travel back?"

He rolled his eyes and scoffed as he took a sip of the drink. "Gee, I wish I'd thought of that. Time travel is a crapshoot. I went into the ice and never acorn-ed. You think I didn't try everything to get back to my family?"

"If you grew old there— you know, in the apocalypse— how come you still look like a kid?"

"I told you already," the boy snapped, "I must've got the equations wrong."

"Again," Dolores added with a faint smirk, though her comment was unwelcome as the boy turned to give her an irritated look that said: not now.

"I mean, Dad always used to say that time travel could mess with your mind. Maybe that's what's happening?" Vanya suggested as Five refilled his drink.

"Then how do you explain me?" the brunette pointed out, "I'm not something he manifested out of nowhere. I can't time travel, so that didn't mess with my mind." Here, her words became slightly scathing. How could Vanya not believe her own brother?