𝐌𝐨𝐧 𝐃𝐨𝐮𝐱 𝐂𝐢𝐧𝐪

𝙚𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩

Annalise rushed around her room, pulling out a dress from her armoire and hauling it over her head as fast as she could. She slipped on her most comfortable pair of flats and twisted around to her vanity. Her hands dig through a drawer and she pulls out a brush and a pink piece of ribbon. As she races to get ready, Five listens to her faint mumbling from the other side of the apartment.

He slowly walks through the living room, inspecting every picture on show while trying to come up with a story behind each of them, trying to fill in the blanks that were missing. He had neglected to tell Annalise that they were only going back to the Academy and sleep there. He already has the address to the clinic, where the eye was manufactured. He also already had a plan, though he needed to avoid the conversation with Vanya the next morning. Honestly, he just wanted to see Annalise in her day to day aesthetic.

Annalise was running a brush through her slightly damp hair, trying to figure out exactly what Vanya does to keep the ribbon in place. She pulled a small section of hair from both sides to meet together in the back, before messily tying the fabric into a bow. She takes a step backward, inspecting herself in her mirror before she smiles with a breathy laugh.

She leaves the room quietly, a small smile on her face. Five turns as he heard her making her way down the hall. His eyes met hers and he suddenly lost his breath, his lungs failing him for a moment as he studied her. Five remembers how her image was burned to the back of his eyelids during his time in the apocalypse, every time he felt like giving up, he saw her and kept pushing forward. Her eyes were what took him by surprise every time; the way she could just glance at him and he would forget where he was, of when they would light up when talking to their siblings, but what Five loved the most was right after she finished playing a song and her eyes would take a second to focus back on reality around her, pulling her out of her dreamlike state.

Annalise smoothes her dress down a bit, feeling fidgety under Five's gaze. Five watches her hands as they pat the pale pink material before disappearing to rest behind her back.

"Too much?" she asks, tilting her head slightly.

"Not at all." he breathes, "This looks much better than some old uniform, it fits you."

Her head drops down into a nod in an effort to hide her red cheeks, "M-merci."

And like that, they were off, slipping out of the apartment quietly, hoping that Vanya wouldn't catch them leaving. Five and Annalise walked down the sidewalks listening to the sounds of the city far off in the distance. Annalise slips her arm into Five's, the two walking to their destination due to the fact that they could take this time to slow down for a little while before the inevitable chaos begins. Only a little while.

The two wind up at the Academy, quietly slipping in by space jumping to Five's bedroom. Annalise trips over herself a little, the feeling of space jumping was unfamiliar to her again, as Five had been gone for so long. Once she steadied herself, Annalise slipped off her shoes by the door before she crashed onto the bed, her exhaustion catching up to her once again.

"You don't mind if I stay here tonight, right mon chérie?" she mumbles while curling herself into a ball, making her look even smaller. Five shakes his head and pulls out some pajamas to change into.

"You want to change into something that isn't squishing your organs together?"

"No chest, no corset," she says into the mattress.

"You got me there. Scootch over, will ya?"

Annalise shuffles over slightly, before repositioning herself. Her dress was uncomfortable, but she didn't feel like getting up at the moment. She continued her shuffling, unable to find a way to lay due to her dress being awkward in every position other than vertical. Finally, she sits up with a huff, leaving the room to get pajamas while Five was laying in the same spot snickering. When she comes back, clad in her old umbrella academy nightwear, she looks mad and exhausted.