MHA # 2 | Sunday Evening

[knife_bender]

The whole family dinner thing had not been Diego's idea. In fact he made it abundantly clear that he thought it would be a disaster. But it was three against one, so Diego ordered a couple pizzas and invited Five and his abomination over to eat with them.

This was the weirdest goddamn weekend.

[For Hargreeves and Hargreeves adjacent]

Comments

[knife_bender]

"Where's your abomination?" Diego asked.

[apocalypsehow]

Five sighed and held up a finger. "Wait for it."

[betterthanacube]

Tim was already there, Diego. He was already in your apartment. Sitting down on a chair.

Had he been there before? No? Maybe?

[knife_lights]

"Oh, hey Tim," Autumn said, wandering back in and gracelessly sitting near Tim. "How's it going?"

It took her a second longer to register the other new visitor, and her eyebrows went up a little. "Whoa, Uncle Five?"

[knife_lights]

"Tim, what's up, man?" Ben said, slapping an arm on his cousin's shoulder before sitting on the other side of him.

"Why is Uncle Five an actual child?"

[apocalypsehow]

"Time travel," Five said with a dismissive sniff and then a suspicious look at them knowing this terrible thing that was haunting him all weekend.

[defenderofdesmoines]

Hi, Five, Annie was here with a margarita for you. Thankfully, she had been warned about the whole Tim thing, even if she still really wasn't remotely prepared for him. Not at all.

"Oh, cool, you guys already know Tim. That's nice." Annie's words were pleasant but her face was saying a lot, here.

[knife_bender]

"Wait, what?" Sorry, no, This couldn't just pass by without comment. "How?"

[apocalypsehow]

Five was already teleporting needlessly to get that margarita just a little bit faster. And drinking half of it in one go.

Such a mature old man.

[knife_lights]

Autumn was looking intently at Tim, leaning her chin in a hand, before she abruptly erupted into giggles.

"I know," she said, darting a glance her parents and uncle.

[knife_lights]

"We told him he needed the long hair and beard," Ben said. "But your dad looks like a baby."

[apocalypsehow]

"I'm in my sixties," Five squawked, extra annoyed by the crack in his voice that came from puberty 2.0.

[knife_lights]

"We know, but like, Uncle Five, that is not what you look like," Autumn explained patiently.

Or what he sounded like, but that seemed unkind to point out.

[knife_bender]

"Did he manage to get uglier?" Diego asked, unceremoniously putting the pizzas and paper plates on the table.

[betterthanacube]

Tim somehow already had a slice of pizza in his immobile mannequin hand at that. Which was probably creepy for everyone who wasn't Ben or Autumn.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Oh, wei -- wow," Annie fumbled, before politely making sure Tim had a plate for his pizza, like a good hostess and oh God she didn't want to accidentally touch it. "So, wow -- " Nice save, Annie. "That's really interesting how you're all from, um, the same future?"

Was it? Whatever, talk so she didn't have to look at Tim.

[knife_lights]

"Yeah, of course," Ben said, grabbing a slice of pizza. "We're cousins."

[apocalypsehow]

"Cousins," Five repeated. And only then did it sort of sink in about Dolores. "Oh."

[knife_lights]

"Obviously." Autumn clearly didn't get what was weird about any of this. She took a bite of her pizza, slanting a look at Tim before muffling a little laugh and shaking her head. "Oh my God, no, I don't want to get in trouble again," she hissed.

[knife_bender]

Diego looked from the twins, who were talking to the mannequin like it was people and then to Five, who apparently had banged a mannequin. "I need to get another beer."

[apocalypsehow]

EXCUSE YOU, THEY HAS A REMARKABLY HEALTHY RELATIONSHIP FOR THIS FAMILY.

"I thought Dolores didn't want kids," Fives said faintly, taking a much more measured sip of margarita.

[defenderofdesmoines]

Well, Annie was staring fairly clear horror at all of this, but at least tried to recover.

"It's just a possibility," she tried, gesturing to Tim and trying to look, you know, normal when she looked at him.

Except how it wasn't, because what the actual hell?

[knife_bender]

Diego came back to the table with two beers. They were both for him. "You and I are gonna have a talk about Dolores."

[apocalypsehow]

Five shot him a look that implied Diego was talking crazy here. This family didn't engage in open and honest emotional communication.

Also, he better get a margarita for even humoring Diego through it.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"So Tim must take after his mom," Annie offered, because it was the absolute nicest way she could voice, 'So is Dolores a damn mannequin?'

That made no sense, but there was a teleporting mannequin apparently eating pizza at the table, so.