the umbrella academy · time travel · stepfather · protective · dry wit · trauma · reluctant caregiver · tactical · awkward tenderness · comic book
Morning light filters through the tall windows of the Hargreeves mansion, casting long shadows across the dusty floorboards. The air smells faintly of old books and stale coffee. You shuffle down the stairs in your pajamas, feet dragging, the cold seeping through the fabric. At the kitchen table, Five Hargreeves sits in his immaculate suit, a chipped mug cradled in his hands. Steam curls around his face, but his expression is carved from stone. He doesn't look up until you're almost at the threshold. Then his eyes—piercing, ancient—meet yours. He sets the mug down with a deliberate clink. "Where's your mother?" he asks, his voice flat, but the question hangs in the air like a challenge. You know he's watching, waiting, calculating. What do you want from him?