closed. families are complicated

[littlemimic]

WHO: Lila Pitts and Five Hargreeves
WHEN: After Lila's return from Ellethia
WHERE: Mouse House kitchen
WHAT: Information sharing
WARNINGS: Cursing, Five's paranoia, will add for more that pop up


Lila has sent out the fishing line, caught herself the fish, and now here he comes. Even knowing that the Commission's most accomplished assassin is on his way over, she only has a sandwich in hand to greet him and no items within reach to use as a weapon. Not everything about her is relaxed, preferring to be on her feet when Five enters the space. She's half-expecting him to just jump in, almost hoping for it because there is a severe lack of superpowers around here, and it would be nice to make sure her own ability is mostly intact.

Leaned up against a counter, she picked at her sandwich while the rest of her senses are honed for his arrival. Chances are that he still doesn't trust her, not the way they had been getting along during the Kugelblitz. As loathed as Lila may be to do it, she may have to drop some big information to gain a little more. They may never get to total trust and that's fine with her, as part of it would be on her end. Getting along with her parents' killer is already hard enough sometimes, regardless of who gave him that order.

"The Merchant has miniature teleportation devices," she said in lieu of a greeting when Five appeared. No need for such niceties between them. "It's how we got to Ellethia and back."

Have some red string for the board of conspiracies, Five. On the island counter, there's a white uniform that indeed matches what the guy in white was wearing during the Unwinding. Her gift to him so the old man can see it for himself rather than rely on her or Constantine's word.

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[somebadnews]

It doesn't escape him that this means Constantine knows about her pregnancy. Lila took that risk, knowing that it could be used against her, because she's worried about her unborn baby. Already, Five knows that he's going to have to follow up on that and make sure he isn't inclined to take advantage of that knowledge. To protect Lila. Of all people.

(And yet, even knowing about her long con in the mental hospital, he doesn't think she's lying about this. Maybe because she knows what he'll do if she is.)

Five tries to move past the absurdity of it all to focus on her exact wish. Magic isn't his forte, so he doesn't know how a door operates on wishes. All he's sure of, is that wording matters. If there's a way for it to twist what she said, history shows that's exactly what would happen.

There's also the problem of a distinct lack of modern medicine around here. They can't exactly do an ultrasound to see if the baby is going to come out covered in armor or if it's turned into something more formidable to fight off whatever they come across. All of those things are a possibility, but he doesn't really want to tell her. Stress is bad for babies, right? Not to mention whatever is going on back home that she's hinted at.

"We'll have to keep an eye on it." That's all he can think to say. He doesn't think he has to mention that he's not going to let anything happen to his brother's kid, no matter how much of an adjustment it's going to be on all fronts. "Does anyone else know?"

[littlemimic]

One of the biggest reasons she is telling Five is due to Constantine knowing. Even if she got sent on a mission to pick up some laundry, it doesn't mean Lila trusts the guy. He could have used it against her after finding out there were people she knew here, which would have driven her a little bit crazy. Crazier. So she's getting ahead of that while she can.

(Lila has pulled a lot of bullshit, even springing the Stanley test on the entire family. But even she can see that Five is one manipulative plot from losing his shit, especially from her. Only because that would also involve Diego and the little gremlin is protective of his family.)

They could probably find someone around here with some sort of magical ability or technology to check on the state of this kid, but Lila hardly knows anyone like that. Even the guy calling himself the Doctor seemed more of a librarian than a guy who studied actual medicine for unborn life.

Let's be honest, Lila would probably laugh her arse off if her kid came out with a suit of armor. Plus, weird children with superpowers aren't a new thing to either of them and something that wouldn't actually be that much of a surprise. The only worry would be if it turned into something else entirely.

"No shit, detective." This may also be another reason that she's telling Five. If something happens to her and she's out of it, he can have someone check on the kid. "You're the second person I've told, third person that knows, since Constantine was in earshot when I made the wish. Diego was the first."

There's no way Lila can judge who else might know from the people in the Commission, and anyone here that might have more information about them than they let on.

[somebadnews]

Five runs a hand through his hair as more and more issues occur to him. He's been here too long, much longer than nine months, and there's a very real possibility that it'll take him more than that before he finally cracks the code to get them back to their timeline. Even if only the three of them know now, that's only until she starts showing. All things considered, Lila had a pretty good reason to make a wish and hope for the best.

"That buys us time," he says without a lot of optimism. Because it buys them time for what? Five never trusted the beacons to get them back, so he planned on relying on his own solution, but that was after he found his siblings. He can't just abandon them to get her back.

It's never just one problem. This should be good news. Five wanted his siblings to have a future, get to live their lives, and here it is. So he takes several deep breaths and tries to get his thoughts to stop crashing into each other. He'll save his meltdown for when Lila isn't watching him.

"How'd Diego take it?"

[littlemimic]

As much as she doesn't want to be stuck in this place, Lila is very aware that it's a real possibility that six months will roll by, and she'll still be here with a huge belly ready to pop. Only three months have gone by for her since the barn, and things have been much more dangerous than a mother would like for her kid. A normal mother, anyway.

"Sure does," in a more hopeful tone than Five's. One of them has to have some optimism and it looks like it's going to be her. Whether a briefcase can jump worlds... they may have to find out if they aren't going to rely on the beacons.

She has a sneaking suspicion that ancient Five is the one who created the briefcases in the first place - being the Founder of the Commission and all. There could be plenty more to his abilities that he simply hasn't unlocked yet. Something to bring to his attention when they aren't in this city with all that's been happening.

Shame she'll miss that meltdown, but there's always the next one, and all the ones after that. This likely isn't going to be the only one he has while they're in this world. Lila swings a leg at that question, contemplating just how much to say on that.

"Shock, disbelief, and then shifted into dad mode. Handling it a lot better than I am. He wanted to tell the rest of you." Taking a look at who raised her would give plenty of insight into why Lila would have worries and doubts.

[somebadnews]

Five allows himself a moment to imagine that. It makes some sense that Diego might jump at the chance to be a dad. Give his kid a better childhood than they had. Which puts a lot of responsibility on Five to make sure that happens. Fortunately, he's friends with a powerful demon that knows to look after his family. He can tip him off without mentioning the pregnancy while he continues his search for his brother.

It's hard to miss the impact it's had on Lila. To even tell him that she hasn't been handling it well shows just how much it's changed her. And her relationship with him. Is he the one she confides in, in the future? Only three people know. Does that make it the first or second time she's told him?

Whatever happened, he doesn't have a choice but to roll with it.

"...You should tell Allison. She'd want to know." Five will let her be the one to do it, but he's open to being present if she asks. He knows it makes her seem more legitimate if it looks like he believes her. "Then we can figure out a place for you to stay."

[littlemimic]

She will leave out the part about tricking him with a kid that wasn't theirs, and basically all of the other shit that happened. Though, Lila knows without a doubt that Diego makes a damn good dad, and it's all her hang-ups about being responsible for this tiny life. Not just bringing it into the world, but actually raising it to be better than her.

After realizing someone else knew, someone who wasn't Five's family, she may have a small panic. Trust doesn't come easily to her, and it would have eaten away at her that somehow Five would have found out through someone else. At least this way, he knows pretty much up front.

"It's hard enough having you know, pipsqueak. I'm not ready to have the whole family in on this information yet." When Diego found out, it had been an accident, and Lila doesn't want to explain that Allison being in on the kid situation might do more harm than good in the future. When they reach the point of having that Talk, Lila will bring it up then.

[somebadnews]

That's interesting. Five is so distracted by his thoughts that he doesn't even react to her casual insult. Not only is she telling him, but she's choosing to keep it a secret from the rest of the family. Lila didn't even consider that he'd let it slip to Allison. — Which he won't unless he has no other choice, but still, it goes some way to prove his suspicions. Even if it's partially because she knows he would have figured it out before long, it feels like unfamiliar territory for them.

He nearly questions it, but he's not prepared for what her answer might be.

"Fair enough." He seems to understand, in as much as he knows his siblings and how they might treat her after finding out. Although they all seemed ready to accept her as family the minute Diego invited her into it in the barn, even if she had been trying to kill him minutes before.

"But if you're going to make me your confidant, I need to know when the Merchant decides to send you on some secret errand." Lila has already adopted one trait they all seem to have in common. He's tied of chasing after everyone, and he's not going to lose his brother's unborn kid. "I've been here longer, I've seen what's out there. You were lucky a magic door was the only thing you ran into."

[littlemimic]

From the way she sees it, Five is always the one trying to carry all of the family burdens and he's willing to do it all by himself. Whether that's because he's just gotten used to working alone, doesn't want his family to end up dead (again), or because he's a little shit that just thinks he can do it all on his own - in this case, it's just because Lila has knowledge of future events and knowing who she'd rather know this secret.

Lila is putting this fact in Five's hands over someone who knows what it's like to be a parent, a mother. That should bring up so many questions in anyone's mind. Of course, if Diego was still here, he'd be the one she was telling instead of Five, but here they are.

If there's one thing she's learned about this family, it's that they're more hurt by all the little lies and secrets over the physical violence done to them. Lila had been ready to go through all of the Hargreeves to get to Five on that farm, but they'd hardly blinked when she rejoined them in the new timeline.

"Fine. I'll let you know if I get picked for a special assignment." No hesitation to agree to more than just accepting errands from the Merchant. She doesn't know if anyone else would give her secret tasks, but might as well include them too if they're going to make this deal. Having as much information as possible before stepping into trouble would only benefit her. "Just don't expect me to sit out everything because it's dangerous."

She might be pregnant, but Lila is also a trained assassin and would only rebel harder if Five (or anyone) decides to treat her like a fragile piece of glass. If he can respect that, then she can accept when he tells her to stay out of certain things.

[somebadnews]

He's not sure if he anticipated that to be more of a fight, but he's had to do a lot of catching up about how their relationship evolves in the future. Not that he's unhappy about it. Necessarily. Lila's easy acceptance of his request seems to fall in line with how she's acted ever since she showed up fresh out of the Unwinding.

Lila likely weighed the risks of telling him ahead of time. No matter what she blames him for, she's well aware of what he'll do for family. At the moment, he's her best bet to survive, so in that way it makes perfect sense that he'd be the one she came to.

"That isn't really an option." They're in a world where the undead might outnumber the living, where magic and curses are rampant, and mind control is a real problem. Everywhere they go is dangerous. He's got no idea how to plan for the months ahead, but he doubts he can keep her in a locked room until the baby comes. The second he got close she'd just mimic his powers and turn this into a bigger headache.

Hell of a way to form a truce.

"I've done the same thing you did. When I first got here, the Merchant asked me for a favor, and I did it in hopes of learning something." He hesitates in saying more, because he's been cursed ever since. "There's always something he leaves out."