five feels the the most free to stim when vanya plays violin. if he’s feeling particularly uncomfy or when vanya can tell he needs something to take his mind off things but won’t vocalize his needs, she’ll whip her violin out and play pieces from his favorite composers!!
her playing makes him feel safe and he’s comfortable enough to rock as much as he pleases, flap his hands, and hum along.
the texture of peanut butter and marshmallows is sensory heaven for five - once again it was vanya found that out when they were young.
he genuinely is unable to tell if he’s being too frank with people. his siblings try to help him with that, remind him if he’s being “too” honest with people and with them.
five wouldn’t say he was necessarily addicted to the apocalypse, but he would definitely consider it a hyperfixation of his.
cannot read social cues at all. dolores was his only solace for so long, so he tends to get overwhelmed with too many interactions in one day.
he gets overstimulated very easily in places like malls and restaurants. too many smells, sights/lights/colors, sounds, and people aka things he was deprived of for years.
his siblings always have noise canceling headphones and stim toys like jangles and fidget spinners handy when they go out with him.
klaus bought him a black chew necklace one day when he found five constantly chewing on his pens and pencils. he hasn’t taken it off since
Five was fine. Everything was going fine. Then Allison dropped her glass. Five wasn’t fine.
I just want to preface I have been diagnosed w/ ASD and have experienced overstimulation due to sudden sounds. Piccolo’s in band, fireworks, and whistles are my biggest triggers. If you see anything that’s incorrect or offense pls do not hesitate to call me out! I did my best to research but there are definitely things I didn’t get 100% correct.
Five was fine. Everything was going fine. It was just another night, everything following the usual routine. He woke up at 7:30 AM, had his morning coffee with Ben and Luther. He trained with Vanya and Klaus during the afternoon. Read for an hour and a half. Took a shower. And now it was dinner time.
The siblings were surrounded around him at the dinner table, enjoying their meal and talking casually amongst themselves about anything and everything. They talked about the weather, talked about Claire, how Vanya’s training was going. Five relished in these domestic moments - it was something he had ached for so, so long and worked hard to get back to.
But then Allison dropped her glass. And suddenly his vision blurred and his ears rang. The voices around him became muffled and everything felt too much. It was all just too much. His hands shot up to his ears and he started to rock back and forth. His eyes were squeezed shut. It felt like his skin was on fire, suddenly the material of his cotton clothes hurting him.
“Too much, too much, too much...” He repeated to himself.
The rest of the siblings immediately noted their brother who was clearly struggling. They have dealt with this episodes before as Five has been back long enough for them to occur in front of them. At first they weren’t sure what exactly was happening. It went beyond a panic attack, something most if not all of them were familiar with. And the usual panic attack techniques never worked quite as well as they could when they tried to help.
Klaus was at a loss with how to help his brother. He took it upon himself and decided to investigate. He had confiscated dear ol’ Reggie’s book about them when Harold died. It was a book about them, their lives. It was for them to read, not him. And Klaus read through every page. What he wasn’t expecting to find was Five’s diagnosis.
“Five has shown consistent signs of ASD, Autism Spectrum Disorder. He is unable to read many social cues and has shown to be more sensitive to sound than that of the other children. He is particularly bright, the most inclined of the seven. Tonight he had yet another episode during training. After shooting a bullet at him for him to jump and avoid, the bullet grazed his arm and he shut down. He broke down in a ball on the floor, holding his hands up to his hands and started rocking back and forth. He was punished accordingly. However- will not bring this to the other children’s attention. He needs to be disciplined. With proper training, he will outgrow these behaviors.”
Those words made Klaus’ blood boil. He knew Reginald was an asshole, but this was on a whole other level. Five had to have been struggling with this for so long, alone. He couldn’t imagine dealing with things like overstimulation in the god damn apocalypse of all things. And to be completely unaware of what was happening to him. Klaus made it a personal mission to make sure he never had to go through those things alone.
Klaus and Ben told Diego first about his findings. Diego knew all too well how Reginald felt about disabilities. AKA he liked to pretend they didn’t exist and would severely punish if you showed any signs whatsoever. They told the rest of the siblings before finally telling Five.
The Hargreeves cared about their brother. He worked so hard not only to get back to them, but to ensure their safety. The least they could do was help Five with this diagnosis. So they researched. Ben and Vanya stripped the library clean of any book they could find pertaining to autism and were eager to relay their findings. Diego and Klaus both researched online tirelessly at the local library, taking notes. Luther and Allison did their best on keeping up with their siblings. Allison purchased an assortment of weighted blankets, stun toys, noise canceling headphones, and anything else that would help her brother feel more comfortable.
After two weeks of educating themselves the best they could, they finally told Five as a family. They were not exactly sure how he would respond. They hoped Five wouldn’t take it as an ambush or that he wouldn’t be upset that they researched with out him. But he took it well. Surprisingly well.
For Five, it was finally being able to find language to explain what he was experiencing. He couldn’t compare his experience to that of others as he was only a member of society for a limited number of years, but those years were absolutely telling. He struggled to communicate, struggled with loud noises and blinding lights. He was beyond appreciative at his siblings. He was touched that they would go through extreme lengths to make sure he was okay. He’s had these “episodes” that the Handler called adorable for as long as he could remember. They were anything but. He called them excruciating.
“Five, c’mon bud. It’s Diego, can you hear me? If you can’t talk, can you show me a sign?” Five could barely make out the words but gingerly nodded.
“That’s it, that’s it...” Diego cooed, now crouched down to the right of Five’s chair.
“Can I touch you?” He whispered, knowing that anything too loud would only add to Five discomfort. This earned another short nod from his brother.
Diego stood up and pulled Five’s chair back from the table. He gently leaned forward wrapped his arms around the smaller boy, applying firm pressure to as much of his body as he could. He raked a hand through his brown hair, slowly rocking them back and forth.
Finally after a few minutes of silence, Five slowly pulled away from the tight embrace. His eyes were glazed over, but he certainly felt much better. His ears no longer rang and he was now able to process his thoughts more clearly.
Diego places his hands firmly on his knees, crouched once again. No gentle touches for Five right now, he needed pressure.
“You back with us?” Diego gave him a small smile.
“Yes.” Five whispered, “Thank you.”
“Of course, man.”
Allison chair squeaked as she stood up and made her way to Five, placing her hand on the base of his neck.
“I’m really sorry about that.” She signed and mouthed, her eyes sincere.
“No worries. I know you didn’t mean to. I-I shouldn’t have reacted so drastically.” Five avoided both of his siblings eyes as eye contact was too much for him at the moment.
“No, no, no Five. None of that. That was not and is not your fault, remember? You don’t have to apologize - experiencing a shutdown is not your fault.” Klaus reminded him from the other side of the table, his tone lacking its usual light playfulness but instead steady and adamant.
“You are always safe here, Five.” Ben added after Klaus, his gaze kind.
Five opened his mouth to retort some witty reply, but words were not 100% cooperating with him. So he settled on another nod and a small, appreciative smile.
“How about I get my violin and play the Bach partitas you enjoy, yeah? We can have a light night in. Movie night can wait for another day.” Vanya spoke up.
“I’d like that.” Five signed, throwing a glance at Vanya’s direction. She grinned and quickly got up from her seat to grab her violin.
“You calmed down faster this time, Five. You’re getting better at regulating your emotions.” Luther commented softly, “But like Klaus said. You don’t have to apologize for things like that ever.”
Luther has been making a valiant effort to no longer be Reginald’s toy soldier. Seeing how much his siblings feared him, seeing how much his comments could hurt them, it broke his heart. He loved his family, he did. He just didn’t know how to properly. But he was working on it.
“Why don’t we go to the couch for our free concert. It’d be more comfortable!” Klaus chimed, lightly clapping his hands together.
“Sure.” Five replied, slowly standing. His body still felt off, but he was steady enough to walk to the living room couch.
Luther went upstairs and grabbed Five’s weighted blanket from his room and wrapped it around his shoulders once he was seated. Five gave his brother and appreciative nod and a thank you, to which Luther gave a firm (not freakishly so) pat on his shoulder and sat down on one of the chairs next to Allison. Ben sat on the armrest of the couch and Klaus sat down next to Five, immediately curling himself around the smaller boy. Five was grateful for the contact. Diego sat on the other side, offering his touch to Five if he wanted as well.
Vanya made her way downstairs a few moments later, a stand in one hand and her violin and bow in the other.
“Now introducing our concert mistress extraordinaire of The Umbrella Academy orchestra, Miss Vanya Hargreeves!” Klaus whisper shouted, signing claps by waving his jazz hands around. The rest of the siblings followed suit.
Vanya giggled lightly, her cheeks becoming flushed. “Oh stop.” She said playfully before tucking her violin under her chin. She took a deep breath, placing her bow on the string. And she was off.
Five hummed to the familiar tune quietly, his fingers tapping along to the beat. He always loved watching his sister perform. She seemed so in tune with herself, so raw. Certainly much more assured in herself than ever before.
The Hargreeves house was filled with the sound of Vanya’s violin and small chit chat. Five was surrounded by the people he loved and who loved him. They accepted him - all parts. He was safe. He was home.
