umbrellajackassery | Young!Klaus Shenanigans

"Well, hello to you, too, V." His words are slurred and they feel heavy in his mouth. Talking feels like a lot of effort right now. He blinks, trying to force his eyes to focus. "What kinda question is that anyway? I live here."

He sounds...he sounds really messed up. For a second she feels frozen, a sandwich in each hand. Only one way to fix that - she reaches out, shoving one of Five's favorites into Klaus' hand instead.

"Are you drunk again? Eat that."

"Nnnope. Not drunk." He admits, pointing at her for no real discernible reason at all, and the action seems to set him off-balance, wavering on his feet for a second before he catches his balance on the edge of a table. At least he isn't lying. He's not drunk this time.

And then there's a sandwich in his hand.

He blinks and looks from it, to Vanya, and back again. He grins. "Thanks." Vanya was still cool sometimes, he supposes. He takes a bite out of the sandwich, and pushes further forward into the house, heading toward the couch in the living room to collapse haphazardly across it. "Dad's not up, is he?" He asks around a mouthful of food.

Well that's comforting. Vanya winces as he catches himself on the table, but rolls her eyes in exasperation as he stumbles through the couch. Where is Pogo? Should she get him, or just try to get Klaus to his room? Maybe Mom--?

"I don't know." By which she means, she's not entirely sure if he actually sleeps, given everything they know. But that's besides the point, which is they may all think she's the family equivalent of teacher's pet since he always keeps her at his side to hold his clipboard, or blow the whistle in training, but there is basically no way in hell she'd even consider disturbing Dad for something like this.

"I haven't seen him, though. Klaus, what's going on?"

'I don't know' seems to be enough of an answer to satisfy Klaus, at least, and he seems mostly relaxed where he is.

At least.
Until she asks that question.

He can feel his heart skip a beat, quicken its pace, underneath his skin. "What d'you mean?" he asks, suddenly awkward, feeling somehow caught, even if he can't say what he felt so caught about yet. "I'm fine. It's fine. Everything's always fine."

So convincing. Truly. Where's his Oscar?

She just gives him the most exasperated look. Please, Klaus. She may be virtually disappearing in this family, but she's not blind.

"You don't sound fine."

"I just... maybe... kind of..." There's a vague, small circular wave of one hand. "took s'm pills." Right. His words are still slurring a little. "S'fine."

They probably should have seen this coming a mile away, given the habits he'd been developing: but how do you predict something you've never really been exposed to before? Vanya's eyes widen when he admits it, and then she very nearly throws her sandwich at him.

Instead, she moves to sit next to him on the couch, poking his shoulder. "What pills?" She is Worried. This is Worried Vanya.

"What? Don't j- judge me. I'm fine." He looks loop as hell, so if that's fine, who knows what his words mean any more, really. "Xanax. Or- uh, maybe it was kuh-lon-uh-pin." He can't remember, but really they have the same effect. They make everything blissfully numb. Amd quiet, and God, it's the biggest relief he thinks he's ever known in his entire life.

"I can't even hear them, V..." He sounds absolutely elated, hands resting briefly palms-to-his-eyes, before sliding down to rest somewhere near the middle of his body. "It's amazing."

She is literally taking a breath to let loose on him about how unbelievably stupid he's being, and ask how he could even think it was a good idea, when - well--

"Oh."

Vanya exhales quietly instead, frowning down at him. She saw him, after the crypt - just for a little while, before he disappeared into his room. He looked worse than she'd ever seen any of them after training, afraid and drained and exhausted. She bites the inside of her cheek. Maybe - maybe it's okay.

"You're going to be careful, right?"

"Of cooourse." That sounded very convincing, drawled and drawn out like that, Klaus, good job. "you don't gotta worry about me, Vanya. People take this stuff every day, doctors hand it out all the time, right? It's like- like the stuff dad makes you take, yanno. Just...makes me feel better." Because that's what her meds are for, right? To make her feel better. That's the impression he's been given for as long as he can remember, anyway. He's never actually gotten a first-hand account from her about it before, so now is as good as any time, right?

"Klaus..." She trails off, because it wasn't convincing, and she is worried, but she doesn't want to tell him to stop taking something that might actually help.

Maybe, a little, V doesn't want to tell him no just to see him pull further away.

So she wrestles with it, and if she thins about it - okay, maybe he's right. Maybe it is just like the pills she takes for her nerves. She needs them, and he needs them, just...for a different reason.

"I guess...Do you--" She bites her lip, but she's already started. "Do you need some of mine...? Not for now," she adds quickly, because he seems really messed up. And the ghosts are quiet, so what's the point? "But. Later?"

There's a weight behind that offer that, unfortunately, Klaus misses. But he still seems surprised that she'd make the offer, and it's painted plainly across his face as he sits up more fully. "Whoa, V-- you'd do that for me? What if Dad catches you?" Doesn't he watch her pill count or something? Klaus really doesn't know, the only real reference he has for making assumptions is that time a few years ago when he was being hawk-watched because of the pain medication he had when he broke his jaw.

She wonders if he would ask her that, if he hadn't taken anything. You'd do that for me - like she wouldn't open her veins and bleed for any of them if they just asked.

V bites the inside of her cheek, though, because the prospect of saying any of that out loud is just - impossible. Too vulnerable. So she considers his other question, and shrugs.

"I can just...tell him I spilled some at the sink." It's not a prospect she looks forward to - he won't take something like that well, she knows, but maybe she can convince Mom not to say anything. "It'll be okay."

There's a lopsided smirk tugging up one corner of his mouth, he's a little bewildered that this is even happening right now, but he can't say he hates it. "You're the best, V." he says, getting to his feet to scramble over toward her and give her a hug.

Maybe that's awkward. He doesn't know, and he probably wouldn't care anyway-- Klaus has always been tactile, and this is kind of a big deal.

The surprise is on her face when he moves in for a hug: it's not necessarily shocking that he'd hug someone, he's always been like this despite Dad's best efforts. But that he'd hug her is - well, that's unexpected. What is probably predictable to anyone but a pair of teens is the way Vanya's whole face lights up when he passes that small praise. She's never been the best at anything, in this house, and even if it's this small, questionable thing that makes her feel good and terrible at the same time - it's probably selfish, but she'll take it.

So Vanya hugs him tight, face pressed against his shoulder. She doesn't let it last long, though, and eventually pulls back. "You should probably get to bed."

"Seriously-- thanks." He says again, still smiling a little. God, a way to get some relief, finally. And it doubled as conspiring with a sibling against dad, which just makes his little rebel heart go a-pitter-patter all the more for it. (Or was that the pills he'd pumped through his system? He's fine, surely).

"Yeah...probably. We both should, before dad catches us."

She smiles back, even though there's a gut feeling in the back of her head that this is a bad idea, that she shouldn't look the other way or worse, actively help him.

But he's grateful, and even though he's high, it's like he finally - sees her, as his sister and not just someone who's always there, part of the scenery at meal times. "Yeah..." The sandwiches are gone, and there's nothing out for Five now, if he comes back. For a moment, Vanya chews her lip, wondering if she should go make another.

But Five hasn't shown up, hasn't taken the sandwiches. It's been months. V sighs, and touches his elbow lightly, an offer of help. "Come on." He's practically right next door to her, after all. "I'll help you."

He nods and doesn't at all fight that offer for help, especially once he starts moving only to find he's a little wobbly on his feet. He's also extremely tired, and he can't help thinking he might actually get some real sleep tonight with the world of the dead quieted down from the pills. How thrilling!

He goes upstairs with her, careful and quiet, not wanting to wake anyone and especially not Dad. Once they're in his room and he's safely falling into a heap on his bed, he stares up at Vanya for a second, a lopsided little smirk tugging up one side of his mouth. "I super appreciate you, V..." he idly reaches for her hand, and if she lets him, he threads their fingers together. "I hope you know that."

She lets him. It feels strange, having a point of contact that she so often wants, even though they're all denied it in one way or another - but it's been a night of disobediences, so what's one more?

And since Vanya is clamming up at the acknowledgement, holding his hand feels about as much as she can offer. She doesn't know that, not really - their world is so small, and it's hard to feel settled in its fringes. But the fact that he says it - she doesn't think that it's just because of the medication she can give him (well, she does, but it's fleeting because she doesn't want to), just squeezes his hand.

"I do." She does now, anyway. "Sleep well Klaus." Though she feels some reluctance, she pulls away without much physical hesitation: she's already learning to run from people.

Young!Klaus Shenanigans

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