Hi Mug! I... Am not good at fluff so I ended up writing something that's maybe sadder than you'd like and if so, I'm sorry! It's some Klaus and Vanya bonding h/c.
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Being woken up in the middle of the night is nothing new. Mission alarms or drills have been a regular part of their lives a far back as Vanya can remember and she is always expected to get up and join everyone, if only to stand at their father's side.
There's no alarm tonight, but Vanya is a light sleeper. Woken by the creek of the loose floorboards outside her room, the shuffling of feet, a voice muttering too low to make out the words.
Klaus is sneaking out again.
She feels a little guilty for noticing. If he doesn't show up at breakfast tomorrow, she knows she'll tell their father about this. They've all done it on occasion snuck out, or sold someone else out for it, in the hope of gaining their father's approval. Still, Klaus sneaks out all the time and she wishes he'd get better at the sneaking part of it.
He'll stumble in at breakfast still half drunk and their father won't even notice as long as he takes his seat and doesn't speak. It's the mornings he doesn't show up that puts their father in a foul mood.
Tonight though, she needn't worry. Klaus stops at her door. She hears it creak as he leans against it and the sound of sniffling and heavy breathing. Vanya waits for a moment, but Klaus doesn't leave and doesn't knock. She switches her lamp on and shuffles to the door.
He jolts when she opens it. Dazed, she thinks, like he might be high already, but he stands in yesterday's clothes, his makeup smudged and hair messy, like he's done nothing since last night's mission.
'What are you doing, Klaus?' She ask.
He looks at her, studying her face like you would a painting. He is silent, but not defiantly, as he often is with their father these days.
He looks ill, she thinks, but that's not unusual for him lately. Since their teenage years began, he has become gradually more gaunt, more sallow in complexion, more hidden behind those layers of makeup.
She wants to hug him, but that's not something they do in this family, and she's not brave enough to challenge that dynamic.
'Klaus? Are you okay?'
'She looks like you,' he says, staring into her face like he's never seen her before. Maybe he hasn't, not like he looks at her now. She doesn't think anyone has ever looked at her like Klaus is now; like he needs her, like she's important
'Klaus? What's going on?'
He holds a hand up, just above knee level. 'Just like you. When you were this big.'
'Who?' She knows the answer. She's never liked to think about it much and that's easy because he's never liked to talk about it much either.
'She won't stop crying.' His voice is strained and she thinks the girl has probably not been crying alone.
He reaches out, slowly, like he expects her to draw away, or to disappear. His hand comes to rest on her cheek and he breathes a slow sigh. A painful release of something she might never truly understand.
'I'm fine, Klaus. I promise. I'm here and I'm fine.' She takes his hand and leads him to her bed, where they sit in silence.
Klaus does let's go of her hand the whole night and Vanya doesn't try to make him.
At wake up call the next morning, Klaus let's go of her hand, smiles in a way that is both more strained and more genuine than anything she's ever seen from him before.
She sits next to him at breakfast from then on, but they never speak of that night again.
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timeasmymeasure
Umbrella Academy - Vanya & Klaus Bonding
Date: 2019-12-22 01:10 am (UTC)-
Being woken up in the middle of the night is nothing new. Mission alarms or drills have been a regular part of their lives a far back as Vanya can remember and she is always expected to get up and join everyone, if only to stand at their father's side.
There's no alarm tonight, but Vanya is a light sleeper. Woken by the creek of the loose floorboards outside her room, the shuffling of feet, a voice muttering too low to make out the words.
Klaus is sneaking out again.
She feels a little guilty for noticing. If he doesn't show up at breakfast tomorrow, she knows she'll tell their father about this. They've all done it on occasion snuck out, or sold someone else out for it, in the hope of gaining their father's approval. Still, Klaus sneaks out all the time and she wishes he'd get better at the sneaking part of it.
He'll stumble in at breakfast still half drunk and their father won't even notice as long as he takes his seat and doesn't speak. It's the mornings he doesn't show up that puts their father in a foul mood.
Tonight though, she needn't worry. Klaus stops at her door. She hears it creak as he leans against it and the sound of sniffling and heavy breathing. Vanya waits for a moment, but Klaus doesn't leave and doesn't knock. She switches her lamp on and shuffles to the door.
He jolts when she opens it. Dazed, she thinks, like he might be high already, but he stands in yesterday's clothes, his makeup smudged and hair messy, like he's done nothing since last night's mission.
'What are you doing, Klaus?' She ask.
He looks at her, studying her face like you would a painting. He is silent, but not defiantly, as he often is with their father these days.
He looks ill, she thinks, but that's not unusual for him lately. Since their teenage years began, he has become gradually more gaunt, more sallow in complexion, more hidden behind those layers of makeup.
She wants to hug him, but that's not something they do in this family, and she's not brave enough to challenge that dynamic.
'Klaus? Are you okay?'
'She looks like you,' he says, staring into her face like he's never seen her before. Maybe he hasn't, not like he looks at her now. She doesn't think anyone has ever looked at her like Klaus is now; like he needs her, like she's important
'Klaus? What's going on?'
He holds a hand up, just above knee level. 'Just like you. When you were this big.'
'Who?' She knows the answer. She's never liked to think about it much and that's easy because he's never liked to talk about it much either.
'She won't stop crying.' His voice is strained and she thinks the girl has probably not been crying alone.
He reaches out, slowly, like he expects her to draw away, or to disappear. His hand comes to rest on her cheek and he breathes a slow sigh. A painful release of something she might never truly understand.
'I'm fine, Klaus. I promise. I'm here and I'm fine.' She takes his hand and leads him to her bed, where they sit in silence.
Klaus does let's go of her hand the whole night and Vanya doesn't try to make him.
At wake up call the next morning, Klaus let's go of her hand, smiles in a way that is both more strained and more genuine than anything she's ever seen from him before.
She sits next to him at breakfast from then on, but they never speak of that night again.