"What, you don't want to hear more about how we've ended up in some bad sci fi movie - You know, more so than our lives already were?"
WHAT: Ben checks in after Klaus shows up WHERE: Klaus's new apartment WHEN: Monday, February 17th before this WARNINGS: Addiction, death, apocalypse STATUS:Complete!
If there was anything Klaus didn't deal with well, it was guilt. Well, Klaus didn't deal with a lot of things well, but guilt was definitely on the list. Which is why he was pacing back and forth in his apartment, stopping only on occasion to marvel that he actually had an apartment, easily distracted as always.
There was much to feel guilty about. The most immediate was that his brother was here and on his way, and Klaus could only see him when he was sober. Given that his plans for the evening were to drink it away, he was going to be shutting Ben out. The thought brought a halt to Klaus's pacing, and he dropped onto the couch, bringing his hands to his face, wishing he had more strength or character or both but also glad that there was a way to so easily slip away from the nightmare the day had been.
He hadn't processed it, didn't want to. It was just too much and so he was doing his best to make light of the situation. The second most pressing source of his guilt was that he had escaped. The planet hadn't been as lucky. He groaned, wishing he had a bottle or a joint already, then remembered Ben was on his way.
He leaned back, resting his head on the back of the couch, staring up at the ceiling before closing his eyes, one hand clutching the dog tags hanging from his neck. Heaving a sigh, he looked up when he sensed he was no longer alone in the room.
"Hey, Ben," he greeted his brother, the familiarity of his sibling's presence providing an almost immediate calm, and Klaus even managed a slight smile in greeting, as out of place as that felt.
Ben knew maybe it had been selfish to ask this of Klaus. To remain sober when everything about this situation was something that would send Klaus into a state of being anything but that. But there was a comfort in being seen. Not just heard, or read he supposed, on a screen, but seen. There were two others who could do so here, but it wasn't the same. It wasn't his brother - the last lingering connection to the life he'd left behind for years now, in spurts of sobriety. And right then, after everything that had happened at home, being dragged into another world - he wanted to be seen by his brother. To look each other in the eye and know that they were both - relatively - okay. As dead and as alive as they usually were and still in one piece.
There was relief on his face when he looked at Klaus. Though of course eyeing on the side of stoic a good ninety percent of the time it may have been something most wouldn't pick up on. But he was sure Klaus would.
"Hey," he answered and sat in the chair across from Klaus. He paused, let out a slow breath and shrugged. "Shit's fucked up." An understatement at best.
Ben looked relieved which made Klaus feel relieved and instantly more at ease. He knew he was being selfish but at the very least, his brother knew and understood him like no one else possibly could. Had put up with far more of his shit than anyone else and still stuck around. Klaus believed that wasn't just the lack of options, either. Or at least, if given more options, Ben would still be as close to him as he was now.
He was tempted to stand up and attempt a hug, knowing they'd managed contact before, knowing he'd just fully channeled Ben's powers earlier in the day, but if he failed? Klaus didn't think he had the capacity to handle anymore failure that day. Fortunately, Ben made things easier by taking a seat.
"Tell me about it," Klaus replied. "By which I mean, don't, because I don't want to think about it anymore."
It wasn't just a lack of options. Even when they'd been younger, before he'd died, Ben had always felt like he gravitated toward Klaus. Klaus who was loud and out there when Ben was quiet and stuck in a book half the time. Back then, Klaus made him brave. Made him try to crawl out of the shell he spent most of his time in. Even now it was the same.
Ben smirked a little. "What, you don't want to hear more about how we've ended up in some bad sci fi movie - " a pause. "You know, more so than our lives already were?" Not that Ben really blamed Klaus. He himself was still having trouble wrapping his head around - well - everything.
"That reminds me of movie nights in rehab… whichever one," Klaus replied, having been to too many facilities to distinguish between them. He shrugged, not particularly caring about the details, but remembering watching the cheesiest sci-fi movies ever made.
"I'd like to think they'd do a better job with our story," he mentioned. "I wonder who would play me…" And just like that he was at least momentarily distracted from the full weight of the day's events.
"How long have you been here, anyway?" Vanya had mentioned an invasion, but Klaus seemed the last to arrive, so far.
"New Horizons," Ben supplied. A lot of them bled together for Ben as well, not ever a patient himself but often there regardless. Keeping an eye on Klaus. Offering encouragement when the haze of drugs and alcohol lifted and they could talk. But he did remember this one, if only for the movie nights.
"Someone who couldn't hope to capture even a fraction of your essence," Ben answered. Half joke, half what he knew Klaus would appreciate - being told he was incomparable. "They'd probably get some white guy to play me," he mused further.
"Since the beginning of the month," so not that long, not as long as Vanya by a long shot at least.
"New Horizons," Klaus nodded. "That was it, wasn't it?" He still had no idea but he trusted Ben to know. Maybe it was because sobriety never lasted long on Klaus and he didn't really want it to. Take away the ghosts and that may have been a different story, but that would mean giving up Ben and Klaus couldn't do that. Wouldn't do that. Even if the cost was sometimes more than he could handle, he would never give Ben up.
And sometimes rehab was the only way to get him back. Other times rehab just meant food and a place to stay. It varied.
"Well of course," he replied, welcoming the compliment as predicted. "Who could ever? But you're probably right when it comes to casting you…" He made a face, already hating the idea. "They'd probably fuck the plot up completely too."
He gave a shrug, but in truth the day already felt lighter. Ben had that impact on Klaus. "So tomorrow I'm all yours," he said. "You can tell me everything I need to know? And you told Allison someone here could see you? Maybe we can meet sometime?" Would it feel more normal for his brother if there was more than one person there to acknowledge him? For all Ben gave him, Klaus longed to give something back. Especially on a day like today, when he was planning on taking off and cutting off his brother.
Selfishly.
Ben would never deny his brother his vices. He spent all day with the ghosts Klaus longed to cut off and he got it. And at least he himself was one of them too. He knew it bothered Klaus, had for as long as Ben could remember. How could it not. Of all of the powers they had been born with there were more than a few occasions Ben thought Klaus had gotten the short end of the stick. Coupled with growing up the way they did was it any wonder Klaus had gone down the path he had.
It was still just - worrisome. Ben had watched Klaus take himself to the brink over and over and come back and God how he dreaded the day there wasn't coming back.
So even then, he didn't mind that they were about to lose this face to face connection. And well, it was helped a lot by the phone in his pocket. A lifeline Ben hadn't realized he had been longing for until he had it.
"Yeah - Noctis," he answered. "And his brother Nyx. Something about the magic they have. They're nice though, you'd like them." Ben did. It was entertaining if nothing else to see the dynamic that was a lot similar to his with Klaus. Noctis quieter and more subdued, Nyx far more outgoing and looking for a good time.
He nodded. "Tomorrow," he agreed. "We'll go for hangover food," he offered with a smile. There was sure to be something around the apartments that would suffice.