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Klaus had learned to lip read pretty early on. Hard to focus on any conversation with the never ending screaming of those damned ghosts. When something he misunderstood made him laugh out loud, no one would question him. Just Klaus being Klaus. When he asked one of them to repeat the plan in the middle of a mission, they didn't think too much of it. Just Klaus being an air head, as always. When he wouldn't show up to one of their secretly planned trips to Griddy's in the middle of the night, welp... Just Klaus being too high to remember, probably.
He wasn't hiding it, per se. The subject simply never came up. How was he supposed to know it was worth mentionning in the first place ? How was he to know that they didn't ?
They were sitting around the kitchen table, listening to Luther as he explained away The Plan. To what, Klaus would be incapable of saying. The kitchen wasn't lit very well, and he kept being distracted by Ben trying to get on top of the fridge. It was hilarious, quite frankly, but he kept a somewhat straight face through the ordeal. Mom was baking, stirring tonight's dinner with a focus only she could pull off. And of course the ghosts. There were no less than fifteen scattered around the room. Two of them he knew from his childhood, women with twisted necks, dressed like nannies. Two of them were soldiers, here because of his regrettably good marksmanship during the war. Most of them were nobodies following Five around. He didn't dwell on the meaning of that for too long. He never dwelled on the ghosts. He could swear they knew when he thought about them. They probably did. And they were all screaming but that was nothing new. When he looked toward the fridge, he smiled ; Ben had succeeded on climbing the furniture, and now he was reading a book, cross legged, head low to not bump his head on the ceiling ; Could ghosts bump their head on the ceiling ?
His deep and meaningful questionning on ghost esoterics was rudely interrupted by a pair of fingers snapping away right in his face.
“What ?” He yelped, putting a hand on his heart and a comical frown on his face, as Diego sat back in his chair with a death glare. A knife danced around his fingers.
“Pay attention,” was all he deemed necessary to say.
“Ben pays attention for both of us.” He hated that expression. Because he had to pull his mental strings to understand those damned words. 'May a-eh-huh' ? What the hell ? He actually had to pay attention to 'pay attention'... to pay attention ? How many 'pay attention' for that sentence to make sense ? A confused expression carved a wrinkle on Diego's forehead, the palm of his free hand turning to the ceiling in a 'what's up with you' kind of gesture. Klaus realised moments later that it was more of a 'will you answer the damn question' display of impatience.
“So ?” Number Two said, irritation growing on his traits.
“So what, darling ?” He glanced at Ben for a clue, but the ghost was reading his book, not paying attention, the traitor.
“Are you high ?” Diego's irritation turned to concern in the blink of an eye.
“No you see, the phrase goes 'how are you', dear.” he answered, because why on earth would his brother ask that out of the blue. He knew he was clean, right ? “You know I'm clean, right ?”
“Then snap out of whatever weird hoe your mind went to and answer the damn question already.” Klaus couldn't help but laugh, because, okay, he knew Diego said hole, but damn, the version he understood was much funnier. “For fuck's sake, focus for a second would you ?”
“Alright, alright, already !” He threw his hands in the air, because he was all about flare and emphasis. His siblings could learn a thing or two about emphasis, it would be a great help. “What was the question in question ?” He inquired, because despite his nickname, he wasn't actually a psychic. Not in that sense. Not in that Séance. Gods, he was hilarious tonight.
Behind Diego, he saw Ben waving a hand to catch his attention, and without a word, without even looking up from his book, the gargoyle lobed his arm and pointed at Luther. Oh. His giant of a brother looked like he was fuming. His hands were flat on the table, his back arched because how else could he reach down the table. He casted a shadow that made the whole place look like an evil lair. And it also pretty much made it impossible for Klaus to see his mouth move.
“I'm terribly sorry, I didn't quite catch that, brother dear?” Luther's hands balled up into fists, and if he could see better, Klaus would have caught that thumping vein on his brother's temple. He turned back to Diego, the only one actually close enough for him to see speak. “Maybe you could be an angel and repeat that for me ?”
“What the hell, man, are you deaf or something ?” Up on his perch, Ben threw a fist up in triumph, still burried in his book. His hand phased through the ceiling. He wouldn't bump his head then.
“Why no, love, but you can't expect me to hear you above all this,” he gestured at the ghosts, wailing and crying for help and retribution. It took a second for Diego to say anything. After all that happened, his family actually made some efforts to keep the ghosts in mind. But he got it. It couldn't be easy for them to trust him with something they couldn't see.
“Are the gh- are they loud ?” He remembered, the sweetheart, not to say that damn word aloud. He almost glanced at the ghosts to check, but they didn't react. In the background, Ben put his book down on his lap and signed “SHOW THEM”. He considered it for a second. Why not after all ? He had been working on his skills after all.
“Well,” he started, because he was nice and considerate enough to warn them first, “Wanna see ?” He looked around the table, and it took a second for all of them to grasp what he said. Predatory curiosity suddenly painted Five's face, Allison's lush curls bobbed as she nodded, Vanya leaned on the table with a frown, and Luther crossed his stupidly bulky arms and tilted his head to the side like a puppy. Finally, Klaus turned back to Diego.
“Go ahead, I guess ?”
“Alright !” The Séance sing-songed, along with a theatrical clasp of his hands. “But be warned : Don't look, or it'll get worse.” He feigned seriousness like a very bad actor, but he was, in fact, extremelly serious.
He inhaled deeply, focused all his attention down on his fists, and exhaled as a surge of energy climbed all the way from his feet and prickled down from his head, crystallising blue into his hands, and then he released it and it shot out like a shockwave that rippled in the whole room, wrapping the ghosts in a blue shimmer.
Suddenly, everyone of his siblings' hands shot up to their ears, Some of them shooting up from their seats. And even above the thundering roaring and howling and screeching of the undead, he heard the booming “WHAT THE FUCK” from dear number One. He could keep it up for a little while now, but he had mercy on his siblings, and released his hold. The room lost it's blue ghostly lighting and turned back into a vilain's lair, all warm orange and gloomy obscurity. The siblings untensed, dropped their arms to their side, and stared at Klaus.
“Tada !” He shot his hands away like a magician, held the pose for a second, a toothy, stage worthy smile on his lips. Luther said something, but the guy was still in front of the light, his face in the dark. “Buddy, you'll have to step back if you want me to hear you,” he says, because well, how was he to know that they didn't ? Diego's hand appeared on his arm, and and the rest of the man was suddenly too close. Before Klaus could turn toward him, the Kraken screamed.
“HE SAID, DO YOU STILL HEAR THEM ! BUT I GUESS YOU DO, RIGHT ?” And Klaus, never one to mind anyone's personal space, much less his own, had to move away from the screaming man. He held his free hand up between his ear and his brother.
“No need to scream, my man ! Do I really deserve more of that ?” He infused all the drama he could muster into his plea to get his point across : He wasn't selfish like the others, him. He turned back to Diego, who would get stuck like that if he didn't stop frowning so much.
“Wait, why do you hear me, and not the others ?” On the fridge, Ben facepalmed, and went on reading his book, shaking his head. Was it for his book, maybe ?
“I can't hear you either, dummy. You're the only one close and clear enough for me to read your lips.”
“Oh shit,” he dropped, before covering his mouth ; What a dick move just after that statement. But he wasn't a complete dickwad, and dropped his hand on the table before he continued. “Since when- since when- since when...” He stopped to collect his words. “Since when have you been doing that ?”
“What, lip reading ? Since forever ? Do you think they ever shut the fuck up or something ?” That's when he finally realised. Oh, what a dumb bitch he was ! He looked at Ben, who was looking back with a grin that said 'At long fucking last, you get it you idiot'. He shot a finger at his ghost of a brother. “Did you fucking know all along, asshat ?” And in his anger, his hand glowed blue and Ben appeared to everyone, because now Klaus could actually do that, and if he could spare himself the hassle of explaining this conversation to his siblings, then good. And Ben, because he was a little shit, and also, because he had picked his brother's flare for the dramatics, slowly put his book down, and signed, smiling like the shark he was.
“Of course i knew you dumbass slut” Klaus gasped, Draped his hands over his chest, and turned to the siblings behind him ; Diego had turned around to see Ben of course so he was no help, and certainly no good public.
“Did you hear that ? What an asshole !” The others weren't good public either, though, because obviously they would stare at Ben too. They were speaking, sure. To Ben he supposed. But they were across the table and in Luther's shadow. He considered fading Ben away, but he was a benevolant man, and the others seemed happy to see him.
“Explain yourself, you idiot,” number Six told him when he looked at him again. And despite Ben's presence, his brothers and sisters turned back to him.
“What do you mean,” Diego newly articulated, gesturing at Ben to include him in his question, “What did he know all along ?” Seeing his brother making efforts to let him read his lips was... unsettling to say the least.
Klaus sat down on his chair. He hadn't even realised he'd stood up. Everyone else followed him and settled back.
“I thought you knew,” He sighed, rubbing his hands on his face. If he could, He would hear Ben snicker from the top of the fridge. The others did, and their heads turned to their ghost brother. “I thought you just didn't care enough to make efforts.” Vanya asked something, but it's not like he could suddenly read her, so he turned to Diego.
“She asked 'why would you think that ?'” Klaus shrugged. Had to think about it.
“Dunno. Didn't think it through.” He glanced at Ben, now fully into the conversation. His book had vanished.
“He said, as if thinking was something he actually did.” Klaus glared and flipped the ghost off.
“I... I'm sorry, I thought you... were selfish and couldn't be bothered to emphasis.” He waved his arms around a bit. For emphasis.
“Bothered to what now ?” Diego asked for everyone.
“You know,” Klaus said, waving around more, “Emphasis... Huh...” Ben had finally decided to be useful, and he explained to everyone, signing along for Klaus.
“He's talking about all the drama and the theatrics. It helps him get the... The gist of the conversation and the... tone you use when you speak.” He concluded by imitating what Klaus had done just a few seconds ago ; putting his hands to his chest with a shocked expression. Number Four sure hoped he hadn't looked so stupid doing it. “That stuff.” Silence fell on the table. Well, not silence silence, but the living seemed to introspect for a little while.
That's when mom turned around to announce dinner, spatula still in hand. Diego got up to help her, and Ben jumped off the fridge to join the table setting effort. He looked genuinely happy, and it made Klaus smile. The ghost came and sat next to him, forcing Diego away with a shoo of his hand. They tensed up a little when they had to explain to mom Ben didn't need a plate. It was late, and it was almost time for her to “go to bed”, as they used to call it when they were children. She had trouble getting it, but she finally let it go and went about her business in another room.
Eventually, everyone started digging in the stew. And, well, you can't really read lips when you're focused on targetting one of each vegetable with your fork in order to appreciate your mother's efforts into making a great, if complicated meal. So while he was dead set on getting that damned bit of potatoe without breaking it to bits, a blue coated hand draped his own. He looked up, and Ben, in his infinite wisdom, head butted the air in the others' direction. And Lo' and Behold ; With shaky, barely understandable signs, looking to Ben every few second to follow his own signing, everyone around the table spoke with one voice :
“We'll learn sign language to help you.”
Well, fuck. Now he was crying.