if anyone asked the ordinary hargreeves children if they liked their siblings, their response would either be "which one?" or "depends on the day", depending on whether one of them had recently been pranked.

there were six hargreeves cousins, which many people found surprising- how can there be six of you? how do your parents deal with it all? ella would normally respond sweetly, saying that she helped her parents take care of things, mentally noting that she was always in charge when their parents needed some extra help. if any of the other siblings were given a chance to respond, they would say something like, "they don't, we run wild around the city while nobody's looking," and then leave before the adult could figure out they were being sarcastic.

the six siblings had to spend a lot of time together; while most of them had friends, they didn't spend much time outside their home, so they had to learn to get along. if they didn't, the oldest four might've ripped each other apart before priscilla could even exist. of course, just because they could survive each other didn't mean they had the perfect relationship.

on more than one occasion, ella realized her shampoo smelled off and realized just in time that vivenne had dumped dangerous chemicals inside the bottle in retaliation for whatever had happened that week, or fredrick and matthew went three days without talking to each other because they disagreed on the meaning of a book (ella had to lock them in a room until they stopped arguing over the old man and the sea), or camille and priscilla would bite the wrong thing and cause trouble, which meant their older siblings would be very disappointed in them.

but, well, they were siblings. these kinds of things happen to several children who are forced to spend the first two decades of their lives cooped up together. they could fight, they could make up, they could forget why they were arguing and start laughing over the same joke. and, of course, most of their antics were all connected by the phrase "don't tell mother and father."

their parents loved them, of course, but it was a bit anxiety-inducing to hear about what problems they'd all caused that day- or that week, if they were away on business trips and ella had to be in charge.

as the children were on their way to see their uncle for the first time, they found themselves in the front yard of a large, imposing mansion. the house was a grand victorian structure with intricate architectural details. the outside was a mix of stone, wood, and shingled roofing, with large, panelled windows peeking out from the exterior. the lawn around the house was meticulously maintained, and an ornate iron gate blocked the path to the front door.

it was a far cry from their own mansion, which was neat and clean, but there were topiaries made by their artist father and there were usually leftover materials from ella and vivienne whenever they were outside inventing things.

vivienne was the first to arrive, rushing out the taxi with her suitcase in hand and beaming, her brown hair falling over her suitcase as she whipped around. "hurry it up, we haven't got all day!" she called. "yes, we do!" ella called after her, carrying her suitcase. she turned to her siblings, saying, "now, don't wander off. this is huge, and even without people here, we don't want to get split u- matthew, what did I just say?"

matthew, who had tried to wander off into the garden, immediately froze in his tracks at the sound of ella's voice. he sheepishly looked back at his sister and muttered, "just wanted to explore." ella sighed, "matthew, remember what i said. we need to stick together, and we can't go exploring in someone's house, especially an uncle we've never met before."

the taxi driver, seeing the bickering siblings, smirked and said, "you folks in for a long stay, huh? best keep a tight leash on these kiddos, or they might wander into all sorts of trouble." ella smiled politely back, appreciating the well-intentioned advice. "we'll definitely keep an eye on them," she responded.

eleanor hargreeves, or ella, as everyone called her was the oldest, as she liked to remind everyone when they thought it was a good idea to goof off; she was fifteen years old, and with a brilliant mind. she liked to tinker with the family's items, but she disliked the term "repair girl" that matthew sometimes jokingly called her. she preferred the term "mechanic", as she often fixed or improved any item that was brought to her. she said there was "always something" that could be done to better any item, any piece of trash. anything could be useful... except vivienne's ugly clothes, nobody could fix that disaster.

vivienne rolled her eyes as she heard the taxi drivers comment. "oh, don't worry about us," she retorted. "we can handle ourselves just fine. we're not little kids who need a leash." 
ella looked at vivienne with a mixture of annoyance and resignation. "viv, you don't have to be so snarky about it. the driver's just trying to be friendly," she said, although she couldn't help but suppress a smirk at her sister's response.

vivienne hargreeves was eleven months younger than ella, currently fourteen, though she was only a few inches shorter than her older sister. and though she shared her eldest sister's knack for technology, was far more of an inventor than an upgrader. if you gave ella three random pieces of machinery, she could mix and match parts until each one was better.
if you gave vivienne three random pieces, she would combine them all into one and hope it didn't explode, or just tear them apart and make something new entirely.

while ella liked to improve on things, vivienne preferred to create things out of her own mind. whenever vivienne was inventing or thinking hard, and her brain was whirling with levers, pulleys, and gears, she couldn't be distracted by something as trivial as her hair, so when she was about four she learned how to tie it back with a ribbon. ella picked up the habit, too, though she used longer ribbons and was a bit more dramatic about it.

matthew chimed in with a shrug. "yeah, we're tough little cookies," he said confidently, puffing out his chest. fredrick, however, looked around nervously before adding, "though... an adult's guidance wouldn't be the worst thing right now. this house is massive. i don't think I'd like to get lost in here."

the twins were the next oldest- matthew and fredrick hargreeves, the only boys. though they were both twelve years old, matthew was thirteen minutes older than fredrick and would never let him forget it. fredrick and matthew did not share their sisters' inventing skills- in fact, fredrick was absolutely useless with mechanics. the brothers loved to read instead. matthew dug into nonfiction books and scientific studies as soon as he could get his hands on them.

he preferred books on the natural world or physics, but he wasn't picky, he'd read anything he could find, and he could memorize those books faster than anyone would be believed possible; but as much as he loved reading, he often wished he could see all those things for himself, instead of just reading about them. though he also had another past time, which was helping vivienne test her inventions, usually by doing dangerous stunts that would scare ella and fredrick.

fredrick was also a reader, but he was much more comfortable just reading than experiencing; he often said that his siblings could abandon him in the library, and he could live there forever and never complain. he didn't get as involved with hijinks as his siblings- he tended to spend most of his time in his room, studying or reading or spending time with his younger siblings, trying to see how fast he could get them to learn how to read with him.

the exception was when he or vivienne had an idea they both liked- such as today's invention- and they would stay up all night working on it, which annoyed their siblings, as they were both insufferable while tired.

priscilla just gave the taxi driver a gummy smile. "cithree." said camille impatiently. can we go now? "we're about to go in, cammie." vivienne said to her baby sister, who only bit into her teething ring in response to her sister's statement. vivienne just chuckled.

the youngest hargreeves were born much later than their siblings- priscilla, the older, had recently entered toddlerhood. she was the cheeriest of the hargreeves, with a smile always on her face, no matter what trouble she was getting up to. she would have the same smile while succeeding in finishing a puzzle as she did when she was playing fetch with matthew- "fetch" being a word which here meant that he would throw whatever was closest to him and she would catch it and bite it. she liked to bite things, though not as much as the youngest hargreeves.

camille was the smallest of her siblings, though size is not a guarantee of power. she could bite through anything that was given to her, even with only a few sharp teeth. she was still an infant, and often had to be carried places by her older siblings, usually ella or fredrick; when she needed to go somewhere she couldn't crawl, she'd have to request one of them to move her. both her and priscilla communicated exclusively in what sounded like incoherent babbles, though their siblings could understand them fine.

as the children approached the imposing mansion, they heard the faint sound of a door opening. standing in the doorway was a chimpanzee named pogo, dressed in a neat suit. "ah, welcome, children," pogo said in a gentle, slightly weary voice. "you must be reginald's nieces and nephews. i am pogo, his assistant."

ella gave her siblings that look every oldest sibling gives their younger siblings at some point, the look that said, don't embarrass me, stop being rude.

"how do you do?" vivienne asked.
"how do you do?" fredrick asked.
"odo yow!" camille and priscilla both said.

matthew stared at them. "you all sound like robots." he said, before turning to pogo. "it's nice to meet you, pogo."

pogo chuckled, amused by the children's greetings. "it's lovely to meet you all too," he replied, a kind smile on his wrinkled face. "no need to be nervous, children. your uncle reginald is expecting you."pogo stepped aside, gesturing for the children to enter the grand foyer of the mansion. "please, come in."

author speaks:
don't worry, guys! the brellies will come in next chapter 😊