Chapter Text
they don’t know how they managed to do it, but they averted the apocalypse, restored the umbrella academy house, and raised ben from the dead. nothing happened to pogo or grace, and neither knew they had actually died. they assumed it was simply another day.
the whole ben thing was a shock and five couldn’t explain without using his scientific terms that made the others’ heads spin. somehow they messed with the timeline and ben was saved along with the world.
luther, diego, five, ben, allison, and klaus resided in the house, while vanya stayed at her apartment. it was wiser to give her space away when she got overwhelmed and she still taught to kids. diego moved out from the boiler room and allison was staying until she healed, both physically and with her bonds with her siblings. luther, five, ben, and klaus had nowhere else to go.
to stop a second apocalypse, the siblings offered to help vanya control her powers in any way they could. so for the last two months, that’s what they had been doing. luther was atoning for his mistakes, making it up to them for doing every wrong ever. diego and vanya’s relationship was blooming, along with allison and vanya. five was helping her and focusing on keeping the commission off their backs. ben was enjoying his time alive, eating everything he loved, watching movies klaus couldn’t afford to see at the time of their release, and conversing as much as he could with his siblings
and klaus… he was trying.
sobriety wasn’t easy, even after two months. he itched for a hit when they were so overwhelming he couldn’t sleep with all their screaming. he never knew who was alive or dead sometimes, so he ignored everyone on the street. they were everywhere sometimes in the house, so he hid up in his room or took a walk to get away or took a bath. with five’s assassination history, the ghosts didn’t only terrorize him, but also his ignorant, clueless brother. with their childhood of killing assailants and robbers, few haunted the others. no one, but that creep leonard peabody, or harold jenkins or whatever haunted vanya, but he never screamed, only stared like a creep. he had no control, especially now that he couldn’t control when they could touch him. like he didn’t have enough trauma already.
but despite his misery, he put a smile on when around his siblings. he acted like nothing was wrong. he acted like there wasn’t a man behind vanya as she eagerly explained her latest training with five. he acted like the hammer in the man’s head wasn’t frightening or distracting.
until he took a quick glance at the ghost, but that was a mistake because then there was yelling and klaus winced, wanting so desperately to shut his hands over his ears. after all these years, he was surprised he wasn’t deaf.
“what the hell, klaus?” five snapped from next to vanya, startling klaus.
“what?” he asked with confused innocent, green eyes wide.
“were you even listening to vanya?” the boy asked with a sneer.
offended, klaus exclaimed, “of course, i was! she was telling me how she only broke two glasses instead of five.”
vanya and five shared a look, before the latter glared at him. “that was almost five minutes ago. she was telling you about her music,” he said.
klaus’s eyes widened, then he looked down shamed. he must’ve been paying attention to the guy still shouting his revenge behind five and seven. he was just so gross and loud.
“uh, sorry, van,” the medium murmured, nursing the half drunk cup of coffee in front of him. an addiction switch.
“hey, it’s okay,” the sister reassured. “where did you go?”
side glance at the man before his gaze dipped back down to the coffee full of cream, unlike five’s bitter black coffee. “i was here the whole time,” he answered. he missed having ben next to him, teasing him and making fun of him or telling him what they were talking about so he didn’t make a fool of himself. there were too many times his eyes drifted to a spot, only to remember that ben was breathing and alive and spending time with diego.
“oh,” vanya hesitated. “was it… them?”
after summoning ben in the theatre, his siblings went from disbelief of klaus’s powers to a mild understanding. only ben truly knew the hell he went through. it was worse with the longer he went sober.
“you could say that,” klaus muttered.
the three fell into silence before mom strutted in with that ever present smile. “hello, children! shall i make you a nice breakfast?” she offered, hands daintily folded in front of her skirt.
“some eggs, please,” vanya answered.
“toast,” five said simply, sipping his own cup of coffee.
klaus stood, holding his mug in a white knuckled grip. “i’ll pass, mom,” he told her, beginning to exit the room.
“don’t forget to come down for lunch!” she called. “i’m making turkey sandwiches!”
klaus didn’t turn around, simply throwing a wave with his ‘goodbye’ hand.
a bath. it was just a bath. something he had nearly every day. there was no difference. he had his bubbles, he had his music, and no one was in the house. for once, the voices weren’t assaulting his ears.
so he might’ve gotten five hours of sleep in the last three days. pogo wouldn’t let him touch the sleeping pills either, so he was pretty tired. so tired that the lack of screams and warm water soothed him and made his eyelids heavy.
he was at peace for the first time in weeks, but it broke like glass, shattering everything as he was physically dragged out. he sputtered, blinking away the water and bubbles that fell into his eyes. water was still draining from his ears, making voices muffled. he felt hands under his arms and some on his face. his vision cleared, finding allison in front of him with a worried but angry look on her face. he glanced back and found ben holding him above the water.
“what the hell were you thinking?” ben demanded, settling klaus back into the tub. “you could’ve died.”
the medium scoffed, rolling his eyes over to the bubbles, away from the crossed and disappointed look on his brother’s face. “you should know by now that death doesn’t exactly accept me,” he commented, then glanced up at allison when her pen tapped the tub.
WHAT DID YOU TAKE
“nothing!” he exclaimed, on the defensive. “pogo won’t even let me take sleeping pills.”
ben moved to sit beside allison and more in klaus’s view. “why…? are you having nightmares again?”
the pale brother shrugged. “Like they ever stopped,” he muttered.
allison was writing again, scribbling loudly.
“klaus-”
“has nightmares like everyone else,” he cut ben off from explaining to allison, glaring at him. it wasn’t like allison could do anything about them. only drugs could, and control, but he didn’t have either.
allison sighed audibly, before writing CAN YOU COME OUT?
klaus raised an eyebrow. “you want me out? right now? allison, you dirty girl. i thought you only had the hots for luther.”
she threw a disgusted look while blushly hotly. WHEN I LEAVE! YOU’RE SHIVERING. worry shifted onto her face.
it was then that klaus noticed the shivering and the biting cold against his exposed skin. “i suppose it’s been long enough.”
allison nodded, happy he was listening to her for once. she got up to leave, but not before dropping a note. DINNER IN 10. then it was the deathly duo, klaus both mad at ben, but also wanting him to tell him that it was okay and hold him because he could do that now.
“you’re an idiot,” ben commented lowly, grabbing a towel from the closet. okay, not what he was expecting or wanting. he held the towel open for klaus.
the seance huffed, but slowly stood, using the tub as support. he was a little weak in the knees, nearly dropping back into the water if ben hadn’t been there to grab him.
“you nearly died… again. you’ll be a little dizzy,” six said, helping klaus out after the towel went around his chest. there was no privacy between the two. ben had seen all there was to see about klaus and klaus wasn’t exactly shy about seeing ben. they were ungodly close. the two shuffled to klaus’s room, the owner leaning heavily on ben.
“i didn’t mean to,” klaus muttered as he flopped onto his mattress.
“i know,” ben said, moving to his clothes drawer. “when was the last time you really slept?”
“what constitutes it as really sleeping?” ben sent him a look that said he wasn’t playing as he threw him a pullover hoodie. “right, right, sorry. no more games. uh… several days ago? weeks? you know, they’re really fucking loud.”
ben sighed, grabbing a pair of black leggings and underwear. “why didn’t you come to me?” he said, handing over the fabric. uncaring, klaus changed, ben glancing away at certain moments, before his hard eyes were watching his brother like a hawk.
“benji, my dearest, undead brother. you don’t have to worry about me anymore,” klaus answered, lightly holding the sides of his face with a sweet smile. “you can now worry about what new foods you are going to have or whatever movie you’re going to rent tonight or that little beast that is persistent inside you. i’m fine! look at me! i never felt any better!”
he stopped his spinning and his smile dropped as he coughed roughly into his sleeves, hand over his mouth. his face pinched in pain. ben was in front of him instantly, setting him down on the edge of the bed and rubbing his back until the fit was over.
“oh, yea, definitely better,” ben sarcastically snapped.
“sobriety isn’t as easy as coming back from the dead,” klaus countered, panting to find his breath again.
“why don’t you get some sleep? i’ll see if pogo has some medicine you can take,” ben said, guiding his brother to lay down and pulling the covers over his lanky form.
klaus pulled a face. “that liquid shit makes me wanna gag.”
“well, it would be the only thing you can take for awhile,” six said, brushing stray hairs away from his brother’s face. klaus leaned into the touch, savoring every moment he had contact with ben after over a decade of nothing. “i’ll be right back. close your eyes.”
the medium whined, but nonetheless, buried his face into his pillow and shut his eyes, taking deep breathes. no one had come to haunt him yet and he was taking advantage of it.
wow, it had to be his lucky day. he woke up to vanya and luther arguing (he was still surprised vanya could raise her voice that loudly) about vanya and her powers as per usual, but when he was going to go back to sleep, which had only been three hours, a ghostly couple had to start arguing. the man was accusing his dead wife of being a slut and she was accusing him of having a kid with another woman. she said she saw pictures with him and a kid she didn’t recognize. he argued it was a cousin’s kid, but she said they hadn’t seen any of their cousins in ages. the yelling continued after that and klaus had no desire to listen or egg them on. he wanted them to shut up.
then luther called a family meeting during breakfast, barging into klaus’s room, pulling the pillow he had over his ears, and announcing it rather loudly. it increased the pain in klaus’s skull, but luther didn’t take notice or sympathy when he saw his brother wince. he simply ordered him to be down in five and left.
klaus groaned, sitting up and clasping his hands over his ears in replace of the pillow.
“there wasn’t anyone!”
“what about that girl from high school, huh? brittany? the only one you always talk about?”
“because i followed her on facebook!”
new age couple, painful.
“would you both just shut the fuck up!” klaus growled out, glaring at the two. it was the first time he had paid attention to them since they started.
“stay out of this, klaus!” it was weird hearing them say his name like mommy and daddy were fighting and he was the kid trying to talk to them while they were angry.
“can’t you take this, oh i don’t know, somewhere else?” he snapped. “because hearing mommy and daddy fighting is scaring me.”
“no!” the two shouted again in unison, then continued their shouting match.
klaus huffed, standing from his bed and shuffling to his door. if he wasn’t downstairs in the five minute timeframe luther gave him, the big ape man would come back up to drag his ass downstairs. he learned that one the hard way.
so he sat next to ben at the table, ghost couple moving about the room as luther stood at the head and all the siblings sitting at the table. mom had something sizzling in a pan and cooking in the toaster. he hoped they were waffles. the ghost couple moved to throw things at each other in their frustration, but when they came up empty, they hissed at klaus before hissing at their significant other. it was a painful, annoying cycle.
klaus didn’t know who to pay attention to either. he knew he should pay attention to luther, who would scold him and gain that look of disappointment on his face that klaus soaked up like a sponge with water. however, lucy and ricky were still screaming over his brother’s annoying voice.
“would you shut up!” he finally sneered. “no one cares!”
“excuse me?” luther’s voice was the first one to say anything and he sounded highly offended.
“no, no, no, not you, brother dear,” klaus quickly explained, rubbing his temple in annoyance.
“if it’s the ghosts, just block them out,” the blond sibling said, as though that was going to help klaus shut lucy and ricky up, who were back at it again, this time on the other side of the room.
“Oh, yes, because it’s that easy,” klaus answered sarcastically, but thick headed luther didn’t quite catch it.
“good. now, don’t interrupt me again.”
he slammed his head into the table with frustration as luther continued with whatever he was saying that klaus couldn’t follow. he felt a hand on his back and knew it was ben, who was probably looking at him with sympathy.
“klaus!”
woah, deja vu? he sat up quickly, ignoring the black stars that coated his vision for several seconds. “yea?”
“will you do it?”
uh, do what?
ben turned to him, face soft as he explained, “they want you to talk to dad again.”
if klaus had a drink in his mouth, he would’ve done a spit take. instead, he laughed. “are you kidding me?”
“we need a few questions answered and he’s the only one who knows them,” luther explained.
“do you remember how i talked to dad the last time?” the seance asked.
“you were able to summon and talk to him,” the blond responded with a simple shrug and pinched eyebrows.
“no-”
“dad didn’t exactly answer my questions the last time i saw him,” klaus stated, stopping ben from explaining what really happened when klaus talked to dear dead dad. he glared sharply at klaus, who hissed back warningly. “what makes you think he’s going to now?”
“well, we have to at least try,” vanya said, quiet from her spot on the other side of the table, far from luther.
THERE’S NO OTHER WAY, allison wrote on her pad of paper.
diego, bless his soul, glanced warily at his pale brother. “if you’re not up to this, i’m sure we can find another way,” he said.
“we don’t need clues. we need the answers straight from the source,” five butted in, sipping at his coffee.
ben put his hand on klaus’s shoulder and brought his ear close to his mouth to whisper, “if you can’t do this, which i’m pretty sure you can’t, you need to tell them that.”
but he shook his head with an easy smile. “benji, you heard them. there’s only one way to do this. so get me a gun, or pill, or a knife and we can get this party started,” he said, a little too loudly.
“wait,” vanya started, leaning forward in her seat with a questioning look on her face. “what do you mean?”
mask in place, klaus smiled reassuringly towards his sister. “nothing, love. don’t worry about it.” he stood and bowed to the six of them. “i’ll go talk to daddy dearest.”
“here’s the list of questions,” luther said, holding out a piece of paper with chicken scratch on it. klaus snatched it, smile and gesture cold as his fingers.
“but klaus dear, you haven’t had breakfast,” mom said as he strutted out.
“i’ve got something to do, mother.”
“what the hell are you doing here?”
klaus turned and grinned when he saw the little girl on the bike again. she had a deep look of annoyance on her face. “that’s no way to greet a good friend.” he shivered. “remind me to never say that line again.”
“you’re not supposed to be here,” she continued, voice cold and eyes hard.
“yes, yes, i honestly don’t want to be here as much as you don’t want me here. i’m here to please my brothers and sisters.”
god furrowed her thin eyebrows. “you’re still trying to win their approval? you know your siblings are as stubborn as mules.”
“yes, but they needed me,” klaus defended weakly and even he knew it was pathetic.
“and yet they still treat you like gum on their shoes,” she said, but sighed heavily. “just make it quick. i want you back as soon as possible.”
“trust me, i’m not looking forward to this either, baby doll.”
he gasped, back arched against the floor of his room, before he collapsed, turning over and throwing up into his trash bin. he pulled away and placed his hand on his chest, finding no wound and no blood. the knife lay slick with blood on the floor where he had been laying, the only sign of his death.
his green eyes danced around his room and his heart sank when he only found the ghost couple and a few stragglers in the space. the couple weren’t screaming anymore, only staring at him, head tilted in confusion.
klaus shuddered, pulling himself off the floor and stumbling out. everything was spinning like he was a bowling ball going down the lane. he needed to get these answers to his siblings however.
“diego!” he shouted, hoping to earn someone’s attention so he didn’t have to go far. “ally!”
nothing. He whimpered, feeling his legs almost collapse beneath him. had they really left him when he was getting information for them? had they gone out to the store? to griddy’s?
“master klaus?”
the man turned, relief flooding through his system when he found pogo limping up to him with that cane clicking the floor. anxiousness coated the monkey’s face as he took in the state of the fourth umbrella child.
“are you alright, master klaus?”
he waved him off, pretending like he was fine if he stopped leaning so heavily against the wall and he hadn’t come back from the dead for the a hundredth time. “dandy like a piece of candy. hey, speaking of which, where are my dearest, sweet siblings?”
a puzzled look crossed pogo’s face. “they have gone out to test miss vanya’s powers. i thought you would be with them.”
yea, you and me both, pogo bogo, klaus thought bitterly, but a goofy grin peeled across his lips. “nah, i was resting. didn’t feel too well after breakfast this morning.”
pogo didn’t comment on the fact that klaus didn’t have any, which the man was grateful for because he really didn’t want to get into that conversation. he simply gave him a look of pity and a nod. “well, i hope you feel better, master klaus, and you’re always welcomed to take liquid medicine under my supervision if you need it.”
klaus lazily saluted the monkey as he turned away and hobbled back down the hall, probably to read or watch some old security footage or whatever he did. klaus… well, he found himself bored instantly. luckily, there was no ghostly couple screaming profanities back and forth, only a few lazy souls floating around. with five out of the house, it was calmer than usual. he loved his brother, god bless him, but it was awful to see how many people the fifty-eight year old had taken from the world.
speaking of the dead, he could try to conjure the one person he wants to see. he didn’t usually get downtime and a quiet house very often, so it was the perfect opportunity.
when the other six arrived home with chinese take-out, klaus greeted them in the kitchen like he hadn’t been screaming and crying in frustration and grief for hours. he also pretended like his heart didn’t get smashed in by a hammer when luther said they forgot to get him any food.
he smiled and dismissed it, saying he wasn’t all that hungry anyways, that he had some food before they got home. he stayed while they ate, ignoring the nausea that rose when the aroma filled heavily in his nose and settled in his stomach. he relayed everything he got out of their dad, which wasn’t much from the dead prick, when he visited the barber shop. he forwent telling them the whole thing, making them think he simply conjured reggie in his bedroom instead of stabbing himself in the stomach. reggie demanded a lot of him finding his full potential again, but said he was shocked to hear that he managed to conjure six and his horror together, before vaguely answering klaus’s questions.
“that’s all you got from him?” luther questioned with a lot of unmasked irritation, making klaus’s chest twist.
“the selfish bastard is stubborn even in the afterlife,” klaus excused, waving his ‘goodbye’ hand around.
“did he say anything else?”
“besides the usual spiel of being a disappointment and finding my full potential and your questions, no.”
“alright, we’ll have to work with that.”
no ‘thank you, klaus, for using the power you hate so much to find answers we need. thank you for doing something that scares the living dickens out of you. thank you for doing it in the first place’. just that they’ll have to work with what they have.
klaus rolled his eyes, pushing down the hot, boiling anger in favor of turning to his smaller sister. he talked to vanya instead about the progress they were making. she adamantly talked about how she could make designs out of the field by blowing the grass in certain directions. they were shaky, but it was progress.
he was happy that she was happy and excited to finally be included and feel like she was ‘normal’ in their family, not the outcast.
he was happy that he took that role from her.
ben sauntered into his room, eyes worried. “did you really do it?”
klaus looked up from the magazine he was reading. he scoffed. “have a little faith in me, benny? it took awhile, but dad managed to come through.”
ben was a little suspicious, crossing his arms. “you haven’t even been able to conjure… you know, but you managed dad?”
klaus got up, shrugging. “stubborn bastard almost didn’t get here. said something about being busy. although he’s as dead as a doornail, so i don’t know what he’s doing,” he answered. the anxious look didn’t leave ben’s face, so he smiled and patted his cheek. “i’m fine, ben. nothing happened,” he lied easily.
either ben didn’t catch it or didn’t feel like arguing. he nodded, a little ‘okay’ escaping his mouth before tugging klaus to his bed. the two laid down side by side.
ben was always there when klaus used his powers, just like klaus had done for ben when they were younger. they’d lay down in either’s bed and lay silent together until they fell fast asleep.
it didn’t help that klaus had really died that day so he was beyond exhausted and ben’s idle fingers running through his curly hair.
“diiiiieeegoo~” klaus sung out, holding out the first syllable as he rounded the corner of the drawing room. he found two cleaning a set of his knives at the bar. klaus skipped over to the side with the liquor, leaning his head onto his hands with his elbows on the table. “hello, dearest brother.”
diego lifted an eyebrow. “what do you want, klaus?”
he ignored the sharp pang that went through his chest. annoying, a ghost whispered to his right, voicing the emotion on diego’s face.
“i was wondering if you would take me to the store,” he said, giving him his widest, prize winning grin.
diego was still suspicious, laying down his knives and staring intently at klaus. “what for?” he asked suspiciously.
“oh, just the essentials. salty chips, tasty cakes, pick n’ mix,” klaus answered easily.
diego’s face twisted roughly in confusion. “pick and what?”
“i need sweets, dee,” the lanky brother said sharply. his fingers shook slightly. two and a half months and he was still struggling. “i need a fix.”
probably the wrong word to say because diego was instantly turning away and saying no. “i’m not helping you with your addiction.”
“wha-” klaus sputtered, rounding the bar to quickly follow after the leather-clad brother. “i’m not high! i need sugar, sweets, the junkiest of foods you can imagine!”
“what for?” diego repeated, a knife pointed dangerously close to klaus, but his heart never bounced in fear. it hadn’t for a long time.
“because it’s either that or drugs,” he stated simply.
diego relented, fishing out his keys and stomping to his car. klaus floated behind him excitedly. he almost jumped into the backseat when he remembered there was only one of him now. he didn’t need the other seat for his dead company, so he shuffled into the passenger seat and messed with the radio.
diego was hesitant to let klaus go into the store alone, so he followed after locking the car. he’d be a few feet away, not wanting the medium to know he didn’t trust him enough to go into the store alone. however, like his brother explained, he went to the candy aisle and got oreos, chocolate chip cookies, gummy worms, and chocolate. then he snatched white puffs, wavy chips, and popcorn from the chip aisle, stashing all in the little basket on his arm. he seemed happy with his findings, a little skip in his step, but it lacked his usual enthusiasm. he seemed almost tired or stoic in a way.
diego wondered for a brief second if everything was alright with klaus. they had been paying a lot of attention to vanya and diego couldn’t remember the last time he really had a conversation with his brother. he knew klaus was fine, probably figuring out his own powers after the whole theatre incident and being able to conjure ben. it probably made him exhausted which kept him in his room all day.
but the thought was gone instantly as klaus went up to some guy, slightly older with dark hair, smiling brightly and conversing. the man went from unimpressed to surprised to pleased. he gave klaus a proud grin, which the man soaked up, before shaking his hand and bringing him into a hug.
to anybody else, it was a sweet thing.
to diego, it was a bad thing.
he assumed the man was secretly giving his brother drugs through the handshake, a hug hiding the exchange from his view. he saw red, clenching his jaw and fleeing the store to his car. he sat there for several minutes, taking deep breaths and trying not to stab a knife through his radio.
klaus popped the backdoor open, clumsily putting his three bags of junk on the seat, before moving to the front. a happy smile was on his lips, something that wasn’t seen often, but it fell instantly when he took in the state of his knife wielding brother.
“dee? everything okay?” klaus asked. “you look like someone shit in the backseat then painted with it.”
“did he give you anything?” diego asked.
klaus’s eyebrows furrowed. “what are you talking about?” he sounded genuinely perturbed.
“that man. did you buy anything off of him?” he questioned sharply.
“no! no! wait- did you follow me into the store?” silence was his answer and he laughed bitterly, leaning his head against the cold window. “i can’t fucking believe you didn’t trust me enough to go into a store.”
“you said you needed a fix.”
“a candy fix! a sweet fix! a fucking craving!” klaus snapped. “the girls get it all the time. what’s wrong with me getting one?”
“the only fixes you’ve ever had in your life is drugs,” diego stated hotly.
“i’ve been clean for two and a half months, diego!” the seance choked, voice cracking at the emotion welling in his throat. it was burning anger, aching his chest, burning his eyes, making him sweat. “the sweets are a substitute for drugs. the man was my rehab counselor. every time i was out, he’d give me my coin and expected me to stay sober. he wasn’t too happy when i kept going back. but i finally got to tell him that i was sober and you know what? he was the first fucking person to congratulate and be proud of me. he believed me. he said he could see the difference. if you don’t believe me, go to the rehab center on fifth and franklin and ask for bobby.”
diego was at a lost for words. he didn’t really expect klaus to be sober. he sure hoped, but after decades of being high or drunk, after decades of getting phone calls at two in the morning with his voice singing or crying or simply murmuring random things, after decades of dealing with his nonsense, he didn’t believe he could do it.
klaus didn’t stay for a response, shoving open the car door, slamming it and walking away. he shoved his hands into his coat pockets and strutted off down the sidewalk.
diego felt shitty. it wasn’t a strong shitty, but he felt bad that he accused his brother of buying.
he didn’t chase after his brother, deciding that space was needed, and went back home. he put all the food klaus bought (with what money he didn’t know) into his designated cupboard.
none of it was touched.
another night of nightmares. another night of hearing their screams and shrieks. another night of not sleeping.
klaus sat in his bed, knees drawn up for hours, trying to calm his increasing anxiety and push away the voices of the dead. he couldn’t bother any of his siblings like he had done when they were kids. they were adults now and had to handle their own problems alone. plus, he was sure they were all exhausted from the last few weeks dealing with their own issues and they needed their sleep.
the longer he stayed in his room, the more claustrophobic he felt, despite its size. he shoved his covers off, threw on a pair of sweatpants and sweatshirt, and stumbled out of his room to the kitchen.
he had only planned on sitting in the room, relishing in its cool atmosphere compared to the heat that burned him after having a nightmare.
however, as soon as he stepped through the giant hole in the wall, he jumped back when blue light flashed in the dark space of the kitchen.
“christ on a cracker!” he hissed, hand on his heart. “what the hell, five?”
five didn’t say anything as he flipped on the switch and light assaulted their eyes. he was instantly on the coffee press, gathering water and coffee beans for a brew.
“what are you doing up?” klaus asked, as he settled on the kitchen table, putting his legs on a chair.
“i could ask you the same thing,” five countered, not looking up from making his coffee. “it’s three am.”
klaus tugged on the ends of his sleeves. “i couldn’t sleep. you?”
“too many unanswered equations,” the smaller male grumbled.
“you know they can wait a few hours while you get some shut eye. i’m sure this whole commission spiel can wait-”
“it can’t,” five cut him off, but his voice was full of exhaustion and defeat rather than the usual bitter tone he usual held. “it can’t. i have to keep you all safe.”
“you can’t do that if you’re sleep deprived and drunk of caffeine,” klaus argued.
five shrugged wordlessly, pouring the black drink into a cup and setting it on the table. he turned back to the cupboards, pulling out bread, marshmallows, and peanut butter. four pieces were set out, one side smothered with marshmallows and peanut butter, the other smacked right on top and pressed down.
a plate with the second sandwich was in front of klaus, much to his surprise, and five was enjoying his own meal across from him. klaus didn’t pick up the sandwich.
“why couldn’t you sleep?” five asked, seeming so innocent, but the narrowed eyes of suspicion reminded klaus of his real age.
“oh, you know, the norm. nightmares and all,” he answered, picking at the few pill pieces on his pants.
“of the war?”
klaus chuckled bitterly. “not this time actually.”
“do you… want to talk about it?” five hesitated to ask.
four saved him from having awkward emotional moments. five wasn’t good at those and was severely emotionally uneducated to handle someone as emotional as klaus.
“not particularly,” the seance responded, slowly standing from his seat. “i’m going to… go try attempt number two.”
“good luck,” five called as he shuffled out of the room. he looked down with furrowed brows, thinking about the possible nightmares his brother could have and the rude fact that he didn’t touch his sandwich made for him