Various The Umbrella Academy One Shots

A way with words

The Rumor always did had a way with words. It was not just her power that let words slip from her silvery tongue like silk. It was not just her training that made it so that she always knew just what to say, when to say it, and how it should be said. It was, to be completely frank, impressive and a power that no child should wield, not that they ever really should have had to wield any power at all, they were children after all!
For Allison Hargreeves, words just worked, and so she was the perfect person for Diego to go to for help with his own.

"Now, repeat after me!" directed Allison, sitting cross legged on her bed, hair presently tied back in a neat ponytail that she had decided made it look like she meant business, "Brisk brave brigadiers brandished broad bright blades, blunderbusses, and bludgeons, balancing them badly." The tongue twister that she had selected was definitely not one of the easiest of the sort, but she had chosen this particular one because of its inclusion of weaponry. She had hoped that by using a tongue twister that involved The Kraken's interests then he might have been more willing to try.

"That's not a r-real one." was how Diego began, "Nobody can say that." It was fair that he had shot down this option, it was difficult and wouldn't have even been a kind warm up, let alone much use for helping him with his stutter if it was the first thing he was expected to say.

"Well, I can," returned the girl, "I have to be able to if I am to be a famous actor one day!" There was just a little bit of a boast in this, but this was to be expected given how heavily she had been trained into having narcissistic tendencies.

"Don't you have another one?" the lad asked, his pace almost sluggish to try and appear falsely smooth.

"Of course I do," came the response. The Rumor had a veritable arsenal  of tongue twisters that she was made to memorise and practice until her jaw was aching, every single word having to come across perfectly.  "Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager managing an imaginary menagerie!" 

"Imagine an i-i-imaginary..." Diego began, but as it was not as seamless as he had wanted it to be, he cut himself off prematurely. An encouraging gesture from his sister did, however, prompt him to try again. It would be a shame to let himself get too badly discouraged when they only just started, especially given how badly the lad was trying to prove himself. Even his request of his sister's assistance had come because he needed to prove that he could. But whether he was trying to prove it to himself or their father was not a matter he wanted to think about. "Imagine an imaginary menagerie..." he had to pause, gesturing for a prompt.

"Manager managing an imaginary menagerie."

"Manager ma-m-m-managing," he had to stop himself, gave himself a moment to clench and unclench a fist to try and center himself before he continued, slower this time, "An imaginary menagerie."

"Good!" praised Allison, sounding perfectly sincere, even if it was difficult to tell if she was speaking in earnest or just saying what she thought the other would have wanted to hear, "Again. Try not to restart this time, if you can."

"Imagine an imaginary m-menagerie," a beat, "Manager managing an imaginary m-m-menagerie."

"You got caught on the same word twice that time," the lass observed, sounding a little thoughtful with this, absolutely and entirely ignoring the groan that the lad uttered at this, not wanting to have to acknowledge the fact he was not absolutely and completely perfect.

"Can't you just...?" he stated, tapping his mouth to complete his questioning nonverbally. Diego had made this request precisely once before, and had been turned out immediately, and while he assumed this would be to the same outcome, it would have been an easier fix than having to keep practicing and failing every single time, forever failing to the the perfect figure that he was expected to be but could never be. It was unfair for him to have such horrible expectations forced upon him, but The Monocle had evidently decided that the best way to get him to push himself was to the limits as he did.

"I could," she returned, her voice picking up just that little bit of a singsong tune to it for a moment, "But wouldn't that be cheating? I mean, you would not have been the one to achieve anything, it would have just been me, so what would be the point?" Unfortunately she did, in fact, have a point in this and that was what made the other hiss a little through his teeth. "Did you want to try again?"

"Yeah yeah," came The Kraken's begrudging reply, "Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager managing an imaginary menagerie."

He didn't realise that he had said it perfectly, his irritation that had bubbled in response to the thought of being considered cheating on his own successes having ironically forced him into success. Had Sir Hargreeves seen that his conditioning had been so successful in damaging and altering the lad's - all of the children's - psyche then he would have been damned pleased with himself, the smug bastard.

"Diego!" Allison exclaimed, having not missed the successful attempt, "You did it! Try it again, just like that!" She was excited, more invested in this than she wanted to admit to being.

"I did?" he asked, bewildered.

"You did! Keep going!"

The sun had begun to reach out its long and vibrant fingers out across the sky, cutting away at the darkness and bringing about the morning before Diego slipped into his own bedroom, his mouth feeling a little bit like overstretched rubber. Although he had agreed to come back and practice again the next night they were both able to get away, he was still left with a distinct feeling of success, having gotten a little bit more confident every time.