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Five arrived back at the Academy during the early afternoon with a cup of coffee in his hand. It was warm outside, a light breeze that kept the blazing sun at bay. He wiped a bit of sweat from his forehead and closed the door. He called early to ask Pogo if anyone else was in the Academy. He didn’t really want to have to talk to any of his siblings, and when Pogo told him only Vanya was in the house, Five was fine with it and mentally hoped she’d stay by the time he arrived.“Vanya?” Five called, stepping into the middle of the foyer and taking a sip of his coffee. Rich, hot, and filling him up with contentment.“I’m in the lounge,” she called, and he followed her voice and found her in front of the bookshelves. She had her brown hair pulled back with an elastic band, her face revealed, yet there were shadows under her eyes, making the rest of her pale skin seem sickly, while her smile itself was weak. She wore a simple grey buttoned up shirt with a black coat, and blue jeans and sneakers.He would’ve told her that there was nothing remarkable about her appearance. But he didn’t mind it, Vanya blended in with others, the crowd itself and no one would be able to spot her without someone pointing her out. It made her invisible and he cared a lot about that aspect.“Pogo said you called,” Vanya said, turning towards him, tucking her hands into her pockets. “And I was actually...waiting for you.”“Were you?” he asked, slightly tilting his head to the side and smiling. “How come?”Vanya shrugged and stepped closer, “I was wondering if you wanted to do something today? We can grab another cup of coffee, spend time in the library, or go to an art museum. Maybe we can walk in the park.” She shrugged, avoiding his eyes. “I don’t know. Maybe you have other things on your mind, we can do something some other day.”He was probably the only one she tried to find a connection with, knowing it was born there years before. He liked the attempt, even how awkward she can be. He didn’t mind in the least. They were simply making up lost time.“Okay,” he agreed, taking a sip of his coffee.Vanya arched her brows, she probably suspected he would’ve said no, but it wasn’t like he didn’t like hanging out with Vanya. He enjoyed her presence the most, and could contemplate things more with her. It wasn’t much of a hard decision to make, nor one he was opposed by. “Really?”Five nodded, enjoying her mixed reaction. “Yeah. Where do you want to go first?”“We can get more coffee, first,” she said, leading him out of the lounge, “I wouldn’t mind buying myself a cup.” She glanced back at him, furrowing her brows. “Do you need another cup, or are you alright?”Five looked down at his cup. “I’ll have another, if you’re offering.”Vanya smiled. “Yeah. Let’s go, we can head for an art museum afterwards. A few blocks away, but it should be fine, and then we can go to a library, or maybe a book shop. I’d like to get some new—”“If there’s poetry reading at one of these events, are you going to force me to listen?” Five asked as they both walked out of the Academy.Vanya chuckled, her smile only seemed to brighten with each passing second in Five’s presence. “Not if you don’t want too, but I don’t think they have poetry reading until later this evening, and we’ll be long gone by then.”It sounded almost like it was an option she had thought about, but he knew if he wanted to leave, she would follow. Vanya always seemed to respect other people’s opinions, even if she was bothered by it. He also knew that if she enjoyed what she was listening too, he wouldn’t want to interrupt by leaving. It only mattered by whichever came first.It wasn’t uncharacteristic of him to show fondness for Vanya, unlike his own display of annoyance towards his other siblings. Although, he didn’t hold back if his temperment rose too high with Vanya, but that was on rare occasions.Five dropped his empty cup into a garbage while Vanya stood in line inside a coffee shop. He walked by a group of men wearing business clothes, a set of old men who smelled of wet newspapers, and a group of young adults who spoke in a rhythm that reminded him of chipper squirrels.“A medium or a large?” she asked him, her chin tilted up as she looked upon the menu while an older man stood in front of the cash register.“Medium,” Five replied. It wouldn’t be his last coffee of the day, but it was enough for the time being until later on tonight when he makes another cup with the french press.The coffee shop itself was a buzz of voices and the strong smell of coffee, muffins, and cookies. The line was narrow, the man behind him was an inch away from touching his arm, and Five made sure there was space for Vanya who was preoccupied with taking out some money from her wallet to pay for the coffee. She bought them both a banana-chocolate muffin, and smeared a thin layer of butter on top from a small packet before discarding it into the garbage.“So, where is this museum?” Five asked after swallowing a bite from his muffin.“Several blocks down, about a fifteen minute walk,” Vanya told him, taking a bite and then a sip, “I read about it in the newspaper a few days ago. An exhibit from an independent painter. Might not be what we consider interesting, but I figured it would be something we can do together.”Five smiled, taking another bite of his muffin. There was something oddly balanced about Vanya. She learned of things that were like burning someone’s insides, and a trauma similar to being dunked into cold water without warning, yet she was trying to live her days the way she wants without it harming her completely. He wanted to spend his time with her, making sure that even with his days lost to ruined buildings and barren roads, he could find his way through it as well.They strolled down the streets, talking about what they did before Five returned to the Academy. Vanya spent her time practicing her violin at home, drank tea, and stared at the newspaper before recalling the art museum. She confessed she wanted to bring Allison or Klaus, but when she arrived at the Academy, both of them weren’t there and Pogo told her Five had called not too long ago.“They were your first choice?” he asked, looking down at his cup.Vanya shook her head. “No. They were an option, but you were the end result.”“And if I wasn’t at home?” he asked, glancing up at her.“Then I wouldn’t have went and probably waited until something else came up,” Vanya said, and she spoke with simplicity that Five admired. There was no shame in her devotion even how much she seemed self-contained before when he first arrived. He figured he must seem like that to her.The art museum was a three floor story white building with a wide walkway and chrome railings. There weren’t many people there, and to Five, he was glad since he wasn’t sure if he could deal with strangers. Vanya didn’t seem to mind either as she opened the door for him and they headed inside.The noise from outside went out once the door closed behind them. The rug under their feet was red and recently vacuumed with no sign of dirt. It smelled like dust, almost stiff as he followed Vanya down the hallway where she had spotted a sign leading them into the gallery. There were a few people inside and they paid them no attention while looking at different paintings lining the white walls, stretched apart with a small inscription of what the painting is called and who painted it.“Why do you think people like this sort of thing?” Five asked, keeping his voice leveled as he followed her.“Not sure,” Vanya replied, “but I assume its to see other people’s perspective, to give the world a bit of light in the minds of strangers. Maybe to feel something that others wouldn’t have thought to consider.”Five nodded slowly. Did she think about that all the time? About her music or even her writing? It seemed muted within the room, if it wasn’t for his cup of coffee, he’d probably lose himself in the silence.He stood beside Vanya, looking at paintings the color of autumn leaves and dead set eyes and thin smiling lips. He found a group of women sunken within ponds of waterlilies, tall grass, cattails, and ducks in the distance. Romance twined under scattered stars and a crescent moon, a slit throat with ruby jewels around the neck, and a kiss barely pressed against pink lips.“Excuse me,” Five turned when he glanced down the hall after he and Vanya were finished looking at all of the paintings. He needed something a bit stronger after spending time feeling nothing towards a bunch of portraits, but he didn’t deny he enjoyed seeing Vanya relaxed. However, what he was witnessing was a constant annoyance on his part, alongside many of his physically older siblings. “Is that your son?”Vanya turned at an older woman with blond hair wearing a red skirt and black blazer, a pair of thin glasses sat on her hooked nose. Vanya seemed confused at her question, and she glanced toward Five before realizing what the woman was asking.“What, no, he’s—”“Your brother?” the woman asked, tilting her head to the side, “I was going to say that I’m glad you’re investing the arts with a young man like him,” Five walked towards them, knowing there was something a bit more to this odd conversation, “but I think you should consider that it is the middle of the day and kids his age are in school. He’s even wearing the uniform. I’m only saying that you should take more responsibility for his lessons and be more aware of the time you give h—”“That is certainly none of your business,” Five interjected, glaring into her blue-green eyes, her entire posture stiffened at his words and how he held himself next to Vanya. “How about instead of dictating anyone’s time, how about you think of what’s left of yours.”Vanya blinked, her mouth falling open as the woman scowled before heading back towards her husband who wore a brown tweed coat and grey pants.“Five,” she said, arching her brows, but whatever shock she felt faded from her lips before she let out a laugh, taking his arm and pulling him toward the glass doors. “I can’t believe you said that.”“You weren’t saying anything,” Five told her once she let his arm go. “I was simply stating the simplest fact that what we do shouldn’t bother other people, it’s not their business to control the lives we live.”“It was a misunderstanding,” Vanya said, shaking her head but she didn’t lose the smile.“One I’m sure I’ll be correcting on a daily basis if we keep on running into these types of people,” Five said.“If I told her you were actually fifty-eight in a thirteen year old body, she’ll think I meant your studies are quite adept—”“They are adept,” Five said, “I’m probably smarter than her, her husband, her kids, and grand kids combined.”“You’re prideful, I’ll give you that,” Vanya said.“It’s not a grandiose thought.”“I know,” Vanya said, and she sounded sure, which he knew because of their awareness of who they were beyond the normalcy, and because of this, he was proud she finally found where she could stand. Not particularly lower than them, or even away, hidden from portraits lining the walls inside the Academy, but above them with no collection of fear that held abundance of destruction within her hands.“Where are we going next?” he asked, feeling more appreciative now that they left the art museum and were headed down the same street they came from. He could smell the strong scent of coffee, including the wet mud beside the sidewalks and pieces of garbage lining the red brick and brown buildings.“Book shop,” she told him, a bounce in her step. “Do you want to get another cup?”The caffeine must be getting to her, and he didn’t object as she bought them another cup and they were on their way to the book shop. Unlike the library where he’d stay to investigate and research, the book shop itself seemed like another world within its confines. A place filled with voices, coffee, and literature of dust filled pages and a sense of longing within each printed word.Vanya led him deep within the book shop where barely anyone else could see them, and she told him about a few interests she had in mind. Sewing, and possibly knitting to help Klaus, writing poetry for her next book instead of what Diego assumes.“Maybe I wanted to do something that none of you can do,” Vanya said, opening a book while Five sat down on a stool with his cup in his hand, and two books she had picked out sitting beside him. “I wanted to feel extraordinary with the life I lived and the words that followed, I needed to take initiative.”“Even though you knew about their backlash towards your autobiography?”Vanya nodded, closing the book and sliding it back into place before reaching for another. “It’s my life, and I’m no longer restricted to his rules. If I want to write something that they’d be angry at, then I had to make the jump.”Five smiled, enjoying her commentary. This was why he liked being with her, she talked about what she thought about, except on her own, she’d freeze up and be locked away inside of her. Without the pills dampening her emotions, she was a lot more outspoken about her thoughts.“Besides the poetry, anything else?”Vanya shrugged, passing him a book so he can add to the other two beside him on the stool. “I’m not sure, but I was hoping to bring out the typewriter again. I’m not going to lie to you, Five, I really enjoyed writing. It gave me something to do, and I didn’t have to overthink too much.”“Is it like playing the violin?”“Not exactly, playing the violin settles out the thoughts and helps me concentrate on the sound, but writing is completely different. I can express myself in a different form and I like that.” Vanya met his eyes and smiled, and he loved how genuine she was, her voice, how less shaky and less unsure she sounds is a magnificent change in who she was before.“We should do this more often,” Vanya said as they walked out of the book shop, Vanya holding her bag with the books she bought. "Maybe add Klaus or—”Five shook his head. “No. Let’s leave them out of it, we haven’t spent time together since we were kids, and having them with us would ruin it.”Vanya laughed, and in the middle of the sidewalk, she pulled Five into an embrace and they stayed like that for a long minute. Five’s heart racing inside his chest as his fingers clutched her coat and he closed his eyes.“I would like that,” she told him, pulling away. “It’d be a date, for the both of us.”Five turned away and smiled and asked, “Now what should we do?” They continued striding down the sidewalk. Her arms were a phantom touch around his body, it was somehow tingly, and since he returned, he barely had anyone touch him and he didn’t seem to miss the contact until she held him.“I’d like to go back to my apartment, but if you have something else to do, then it’s fine,” Vanya said.Five nodded. “How about you come to the Academy later, and I’ll make us drinks.”“Your margaritas?”“Dolores likes them.”Vanya chuckled at that. “Okay. Fine, I’ll come see how good your drinks are.”“Promise?”“Yes, I promise.”And then they came to the crossroads and Vanya said she’d call before returning to the Academy, and Five said he’d call if she didn’t.“I’ll call,” she said, walking backwards with a smile warming her face.“Don’t make me wait.”“We both know you’ll be awake, Five, all that coffee isn’t good for you.”Five rolled his eyes and he couldn’t stop the smile on his face. “It isn’t that good for you either.”“I’ll see you later, Five.” She waved, and turned around, heading away from him as Five stopped on the sidewalk and stared at her retreating form. All the butterflies flapping around in his body seemed to fade, but there was still the fluttering of his racing heart that kept him in a good mood.“See you later, Vanya.” And he too turned on his heel and walked back to the Academy to wait for her call, and to grab ingredients so he can end their night with margaritas.