[jordans house—early sunday morning]
"GUYS! GUYS, you need to see this!" Five ran up the stairs as quietly as he could, the canister unopened in his hand.
"What? What is it?" Luther stood up. Diego and Allison where quick on their feet as well, with Klaus pulling Ben off the floor.
"The Commission. They sent me something."
"Is that a purple velociraptor on your forehead?" Klaus asked. Five felt his cheeks heat up at the thought of the band-aid.
"Not important. What's important is that the Commission is contacting us." He said, shaking the container.
"What does it say?" Luther asked. Five popped it open, the small paper sliding out into his open palm. He unrolled it, tongue poking out between his teeth. It read, in the thick, blocky letters of a typewriter:
Dear Number Five,
You are very stupid.
Have a good day.
~ The Handler
Then, just underneath, a butterfly was pinned.
Allison leaned over and picked it up, turning the animal over.
The wings where an iridescent blue, shimmering into purples and greens, occasionally pink. The legs and body where blacker than night; it's eyes gleamed darkly, but it was dead.
"Five? Does this mean anything to you?" Luther said, pointing to the butterfly. The boy shook his head.
"Not a thing. The Handler isn't very fond of animals in general, and she doesn't particularly favor butterflies."
"Do any of you know what kind of butterfly this is?" Ben asked. No one said anything.
"Tomorrow, first thing we do: ask Jordan to get us some butterfly books." Allison said. "For now? I think we should sleep." She leaned over and poked Fives shoulder. "Especially you."
Five rolled his eyes and slapped her hand away, going over to the window. Allison and Ben sighed, exchanged a look, and then shook their heads.
Klaus yawned ostentatiously. "Benny-boy, c'monnnnn," he threw his arms around Ben, causing the smaller boy to stumble. Ben sighed and went over to the bed they'd been sharing and lay down, Klaus already snuggled into him.
"Sometimes, I think all Klaus has is drugs, sex, etcetera; then he's just a fuckin' teddy bear," Diego mumbled. Luther scoffed as he lay down. Allison was still watching Diego, who hadn't moved.
"Diego? Going to bed?" She said.
"I have to pee. I'm gonna sneak to the bathroom."
"Be careful," Luther said. "Jordan's on edge, and for good reason."
Diego rolled his eyes and went down the stairs.
~{}~
Diego stared at himself in the mirror, brows furrowed.
God, how had he ever been so old?
Sure, he hadn't even hit thirty, but compared to now? Fucking hell, he was practically a baby!
Sighing, he washed his hands and then splashed his face with the cool water. The tub had remnants of a bath, and it was assumed that Jordan had done that. Considering Ron was asleep and the mother seemed to be missing. He hadn't seen her once, only heard her tell Jordan to say sister instead of brother. Which was odd.
Sighing again, he patted his face dry and just as he went for the door, he heard footsteps.
In a flash, he had flicked the lights off and jumped into the tub, hiding behind the shower curtain. He took a deep breath and waited.
The door opened. Lights turned on.
A boy stepped into sight, eyes sleepily half-shut, and scratched his leg. Diego frowned, eyeing the boys long brown hair.
As he snatched up a razor (just in case!) the boy in front of him pulled the long hair up into a bun and patted it, giggling. After a minute, the boy slowly opened up a cabinet; Diego frowned, flexing his fingers. Even if this was Ron (Diego was under the assumption this was the little brother), you could never know.
"God, I hate my stomach," the boy sighed, patting his belly with one hand as he searched through the cabinet with the other. "And my hair, and my eyes, and my legs and my hips. Mouth, nose, thighs." As the boy listed them off, he pinched himself; his scalp, the corner of his eyes, both legs and hips. He pulled out something that looked suspiciously like a pad. Diego felt his heart constrict. What the hell was going on?
Sighing again, the boy went around the corner. Diego closed his eyes as the sound of peeing echoed, followed by the crinkling of a wrapper, and only reopened them when the faucet was running. Peering out from behind the curtain, he could finally see the boys face.
His features where soft, still half-asleep, and he had hardly any resemblance to Jordan. But perhaps the thing that concerned Diego the most was the boobs.
Holy shit, this guy had real-ass-boobs.
Diegos mind was running a million miles a minute, going over this knew information. Jordan's mother saying 'sister' instead of 'brother', how in the few family pictures there has been Ron has long hair and dresses. It was because he (she? they? what?) wasn't a boy. At least not biologically.
Then, Ron dried his hands and gripped the sink with delicate hands; Diego stared, realizing just how small this boy was. How old was he? He couldn't be older than nine. God.
"I am a boy. I am a boy. You are a boy." Ron said quietly to himself, but Diego was unconvinced that Ron believed it.
Then, Ron pinched his thigh and left, turning the lights off. Diego waited, his mind a-flurry, for the sound of a door to shut. When the soft creak of the quiet sneaking of preteens reached him, Diego slunk out of the tub and up into the attic.
When he reached the few comforters he was using as a bed, Allison sat up, Luthers arms falling off her.
"Awful long time to pee, huh Diego?" She arched an eyebrow.
"I almost got caught by Ron." Diego said. Allison's eyes widened.
"What?"
"I didn't, though! He just peed and left." Diego left out the small hate-parade the boy had had, and what he knew was a pad. It made him uncomfortable and confused to think about.
"Hmph. Alright," Allison said. She studied him a moment longer and then lay down, Luther instantly throwing his lanky arm over her.
Diego waited until her breathing evened out. Then, he paused, studying his siblings in the slanted moonlight and dim shadow from the single lamp.
Vanya was pale, hair sticking to her forehead; her mouth was drawn in a frown and she continuously muttered things he didn't hear, fingers twitching occasionally. Luther and Allison where cuddling, Allison curled into Luther's side. Her hair was obviously tickling his nose.
In the nest of blankets, Klaus had his famous death grip on Ben; arms around the other, Klaus drooled a bit. Ben was being held, looking rather uncomfortable, but asleep; he was drooling as well.
"It's amazing how small they look when they're sleeping, isn't it?" Five said. Diego jumped. He hadn't even realized Five was awake, but he was. Sitting in the damn windowsill. Again.
"Yeah, I guess."
Five nodded and fiddled with the sleeves of his blazer. He opened his mouth, eyes conflicted, and closed it again.
"Something you wanna say?" Diego said. Five scoffed.
"As if."
Diego felt his heart deflate a bit, but he crawled into his comforter and fell asleep, knife clutched in his hand.
Thoughts of Ron, Jordan, Tate, his siblings, Eudora, Mom, and a trillion other things kept him up until even Five was snoring, head leaning against the window.
A/N:
So, the Commission contacted them! And sent them a pretty butterfly! Why? Who knows (i do lol).
Diego realized that Ron's transgender! That's fun? And Five has something on his chest (maybe) ?
Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! I feel like it was a bit uninteresting, but it's i m p o r t a n t I promise
I hope you all have a lovely day!!!