KRAKEN / 00-02

   “ — is that a …. trick question?” a legitimate question, really. or, it’s supposed to sound like one with the serious face klaus puts on right after, before he’s shrugging his shoulders. “well. what if it is this time? you gonna be an asshole brother keeping me from enjoying some goddamn chocolate? that’s just plain evil, diego. evil.” 

KLAUS. 

     “Yeah, of course, Diego. Jesus, relax! I know I still haven’t gotten back at you from the time you glued my ass to the dining room chair, but this isn’t the time to fuck you up, okay? I’m serious.”

     Restless hands clap with glee when he’s finally given the green light, and he leaps from his chair, tumbling forward until he’s on his knees, sitting mere inches from his brother. He holds out a hand, furrows his brow, and patiently waits for a moment until he feels the gentle lull of his powers, like an engine revving up. When he opens his eyes, he’s pleased to see his fingertips radiating with that familiar blue tinge. It’s showtime, baby!

     “Okay, it’s gonna feel weird, don’t freak out, just trust me, ‘kay?” He resists the urge to chime in with a that’s what she said joke and focuses instead on the task at hand. 

     The first step is easy enough— with his bare feet planted firmly on the ground, he can push himself out of his body with minimal resistance. It’s a stern push at first, followed by a gentle floating, as he lifts up through the top of his skull. The harder part is getting inside his brother (ew, even in his head that sounds awful, he’ll admit), but after a moment of hovering, he’s able to get his bearings, and will himself over to where Diego is sitting. 

     Then, all at once, he dives in through the top of Diego’s head, allowing himself to tumble and fall until he’s finally anchored by the distinctly heavy weight of a body. For a moment, everything is black, all he can feel is the thunderous beating of a heart. Then, ever so slowly, the haze melts away and he’s able to open his eyes— Diego’s eyes— only to see his own body sitting there on the floor in a seemingly peaceful meditation. It’s like something straight out of a horror movie, but before he can even process the true strangeness of the situation, he clutches the chair and furrows his brow, as he searches for some sign of his brother. 

     “Hey, Diego?” He hears Diego’s voice call out. “You alright, buddy? Still with me?”

AT  FIRST  ,  he’s  anxious  as  he  watches  that  blue  coloring  come  over  his brother.          but  ,  there’s  a  calm  that  comes  over  him  at  the  simple  fact  that  if  anyone  was  going  to  hurt  him  ,   it  wasn’t  klaus.      he  trusts  his  brother  -----  knows  this  isn’t  a  game  to  him.          not  after  everything  they’ve  been  through.         as  he  truly  observes  him  ,  he  actually  feels  . . .   PROUD.   

but  then  ,  for  the  first  bit  ,  everything’s  dark  &  cold  &  . . .    crowded.        it’s  that  weird  in-between  sleep  &  wake  place  that  he  spends  too  much  time  in.          it’s  hard  to  pull  himself  from  that  unconscious  state  ,  but  hearing  his  own  voice  without  speaking  helps.          I’M  HERE  ----        he  can’t  make  his  body  speak  ,  but  he  can  think.         it’s  strange  &  uncomfortable  to  not  be  in  control  of  his  body  --  his  temple.           with  a  bit  of  strain  ,  he’s  able  to  clench  his  fist  --  testing  the  limits  of  this  whole  possession  thing.          it  uses  too  much  energy  ,  though  ,  so  he  relaxes  &  simply  watches.    

     “Who, little ol’ me?” Hands press against his chest in melodramatic shock. “C’mon, man, you know I wouldn’t hurt a fly! Literally! I was chief member of Vanya’s Save The Ants campaign!” They were nine at the time, but his philosophy really hasn’t changed all that much. He may have a mile long list of misdemeanors, but Klaus Hargreeves is not a violent offender. 

     “Besides, you can’t get calls about me if I’m with you! Think of the service you’re doing, keepin’ a scoundrel like me off the streets.”

    “—-oh my god, diego, are you—” is he being serious right now? it’s not that hard to tell, beneath the sarcasm his brother absolutely means what he’s saying and klaus isn’t so sure he wants to test how much truth is in there. a roof over his head if he needed one? yeah he can’t lose that. “it’s just chocolate!” with a little added extra, but alas, his brother doesn’t need to know that.

   there’s still clear confusion on her face and his words only make her worry more. How bad she wants to run but this time , she doesn’t back away when he moves closer. She’s frozen in fear , she struggles with words. 

“    w-… .why?   why were they hurting them?   “

Five almost rolls his eyes, but that would probably make him look even more like the teenager he is not. “You live in a closet,” he says instead. “And at night, you dress up and play Batman. I’m not sure ‘well-adjusted’ is the term I would use for that.”

        the fear hit her when he started to speak. But just because she was afraid didn’t mean she wasn’t going to pry with the questions. She hands back the weapon , but she’s still looking at it , as she does so. “ is that …blood?  did you hurt someone with that? “ she asks , rather innocently and even before he’s able to answer the first question , she asks another. “ are you a good guy or a bad guy? “ 

This was probably going to be a MISTAKE. Surely something would go wrong. Either someone would walk in on them playing with knives the next time or he would continue down this flirty path without her putting an end to it. Which would be WORSE? Sophie sighed internally before looking back up at him and noticing his smirk. The smug bastard. She couldn’t help but respond in turn and SMILE up at him, with a light hearted shake of her head. Oh YEAH. This was going to be a problem. After a minute, the woman pulled herself away from him and in the process she handed his knife back. ❝You’re going to be a handful, aren’t you?❞ With that, she turned back to the cabinet, housing the REST of his knives and went to retrieve them. She couldn’t keep them from him forever after all.

        ❛ SIXTY DAYS ? You must have really gotten on his nerves, ❜ Even by Lila’s standards that seemed a bit excessive. She jumped slightly when his hand makes contact with the table. ❛ Your story involving the President who’s supposed to be in town probably doesn’t help your cause though. ❜ Lila leaned forward, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. ❛ Extra pudding cup for you worries ? ❜ She offered. 

  “am i though? am i really?” he doesn’t look it, taking a drag of the cigarette, debating whether or not getting up and going out to get himself an actual, freaking, proper drink is worth it. before deciding against that – the headache isn’t helping, either. “whatever. i’ll make do.” he has to have something in his coat’s pockets anyway. some funky chocolate ought to do the trick for now.

     “Oh COME ON!” Bottom lip dramatically juts out in a pout as an open-palmed ‘HELLO’ smacks the back of the headrest (resulting in a small “Ow” and the immediate removal of his hand). “You’re really gonna make your poor brother walk the streets? At night?! Anything could happen to me out there!” He pleads, as if Klaus Hargreeves himself was not the worst thing to happen to the streets of this city, like a goddamn Tasmanian Devil broken loose from the Academy. 

“Well,” Five flicks a very pointed glance down at the all-black leather, at the sharp blades strapped to Diego’s waist, “call it a hunch, but I think we might have missed the ‘normal’ mark. By an inch or so.”

      diego’s   confidence  never  ceases  to  surprise  him   –    every time dave caught that  smile  on his  face,   he  found himself  unconsciously  mirroring it ,  space  next to  his  eyes  crinkling  with  the genuine  amusement  he felt  fluttering  in  his  chest.   was  it  possible  to  ever  knock  this  man  down? sometimes   he  seemed  more  like  a   symbol  than a  human  of  flesh and  blood.  

needless to  say  :   dave  grins  at  him  ,  feeling  nerves  melt  away …  like  he was  more  himself.   empowered  by the  other,  like  he always  was.    “ …   yeah.    peachy  keen.    i  never,  uh …  “    a  hand  comes  up  ,   touching diego’s  face  …   thumb  tracing  the jawline,   touching  the  scar  on  the side of his  head,    his  temple   …     dave   smiles a  closed - lipped  smile   for a  moment ,   light  joy  in his  eyes.    “  i’ve  never …   done  this.  anything,   like this.  “

he  leans  into  the  others  hand  ,  touch  craved  as  ever.          his  expression  falls  from  one  of  bravery  &  false  confidence  into  comfort  &  content.        it’s  an  honest  smile  that  touches  his  lips  &  shows  up  in  doe  eyes.         ❛   never  ?   ❜            he  repeats  ,  expression  only  further  softening  as  he  considers  that  he’s  the  marker  dave  has  now  ----------  there’s  that  sense  of  PRIDE  in  being  first  ,  but  also  in  being  the  others  leader.            

❛       i  have.  .  .       where  i’m  from  ,  it’s  not  so  uh . . .      frowned  upon.     ❜            shoulders  rise  &  fall  ,  lips  pursing  momentarily.           ❛     i’m  not  out  in  the  open  about  it  ,  but  . . .     that’s  just  ‘cause  of  my  dad.        always  called  my  brother  the  worst  shit  for  bein’  free  with  who  he  loved.         same  with  my  sister.        to  be  fair  ,  he  gave  us  shit  for  everything  ,  but  --------   i  dunno.        always  took  this  shit  harder  than  the  rest.    ❜               

jaw lax, mouth falling open to form a perfect ‘O’ shape, a combined look of shock and offence crossed klaus’s features as he gasped at the suggestion. 

          ❝ rude. ❞ he reprimanded, tone overly dramatic in nature, before dropping the act with a short shrug. the playful facade fell away for just a moment as he mumbled in response.          ❝ …well… you know. defence…just in case. ❞

Blue eyes FLICKERED towards the door at the sound of someone shuffling by. Sophie didn’t realize she was HOLDING her breath until the sound died DOWN, and she bit her bottom lip once more before turning her gaze back to his. How long was she willing to let this little game continue? How long until it crossed a LINE? Hadn’t it already? ❝I’ll make you a DEAL       ❞ Uh oh. ❝You do the next session WITHOUT even one knife, and you can TEACH me the proper technique if you think mine is SO terrible.                  DEAL?❞