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The house was quiet, Klaus noted with a frown as he glanced at the clock on his dresser. Their father had gone away on a business trip so they had the day "off" (the children called it that but Pogo still expected them to train and study on their own accord... Number Four never did). Taking advantage of the freedom, they had all parted ways immediately.
Allison and Luther disappeared into the greenhouse together, probably to literally relive their glory days.
Five holed himself up within his room, probably to work on some dumb equation regarding the space-time continuum.
Vanya practically floated to the gallery room, probably to play her violin (who knows: maybe the ghosts from the dead people in the portraits will be a pleasantly silent audience).
Diego had wandered off to Grace, probably wanting to help her with chores or perhaps the momma's boy had just desired a conversation with their recently undeceased mother.
All that left was Klaus and Ben.
The taller boy was horribly bored, sitting in his room and staring up at the ceiling. He knew without a doubt that Ben was in the library reading a book and while he would love to go bother the hell out of him until he was forced to entertain the medium, Klaus found himself hesitant to spend his free time with his brother. They were, after all, attached at the hip for nearly 13 years; surely he had enough of Four's presence to last a lifetime, right? The Seance knew that Ben would have preferred to spend those years with literally any OTHER sibling (even little Five who was in the apocalypse); but instead, the only person who could actually hear him was the crackhead (both physically and mentally) disappointment who never really knew when to shut his mouth and feared his powers more than dying from an overdose. Geez, Ben was a saint; what did Klaus do to deserve him? Ha, nothing at all; it was more like Ben got the short end of the stick and Klaus just seemed to be the consequence of that. Klaus had probably never done a single right thing in his life other than making his brother corporeal in the theater. He was a mess: he knew it, the world knew it, yet Ben stayed and tried to be a positive influence in his life. And now that Ben was very much alive, it only seemed right to give him everything he wanted; including the implicit desires like Klaus finally getting the hell out of his hair.
The curly-haired boy grinned as he flopped off his bed and made his way downstairs, wandering into the kitchen for some kind of sugary food to subside his itch for a drug. He decided on a bag of plain old jumbo marshmallows, straight up stuffing one after the other into his mouth. He was so distracted by the tantalizing sugar rush that he didn't hear the soft steps making their way to the counter. He heard a sigh behind him as someone flopped down on a stool.
Klaus jumped a little bit, glancing back with a guilty look on his face.
"Keep that up and your teeth will fall out," Ben said with an unimpressed expression tugging at his features.
"Hiya to you too," Klaus muffled out behind the three marshmallows in his mouth, rolling his eyes as he turned back to the task at hand.
His no-longer-dead brother sighed again, making the medium groan out a "Fwineee," as he closed the bag back up.
He watched as the Asian boy drew circles on the counter with his finger, his cheek resting against the cool tile.
Klaus didn't want to step over any boundaries, but he knew Ben well enough to know that something was bothering him. Normally, he'd be too high to care about how Ben was feeling (as horrible as it sounds); but now, he was sober and Ben was alive so he owes it to him. Four didn't want to be remembered as the sibling everyone hated.
"You alright there, Benji? You look like somebody killed your best pig," He teased but his eyes were veiled with concern.
Ben snorted slightly as he met his eyes, "I'm really bored."
Klaus just blinked at him, unsure of what he was supposed to do about that. Sure there were a lot of things he himself could do, but they weren't entirely legal and he knew Ben would kill him if he even suggested it; so, he just replied, "Oh."
There was an uncomfortable silence that settled between them, Klaus mentally kicking himself in the stomach for putting himself in such an awkward situation.
"You know," Ben muttered, his eyes never leaving the boy's green orbs, "I always used to wonder why we were never closer while I was still alive."
Four gulped, feeling an itch in the back of his mind, "You did?"
The boy's gaze drifted back to the countertop as a bittersweet smile painted his lips, "Yeah and then I realized that... I was an awfully boring kid."
Klaus let out a surprised laugh; he was definitely not expecting this turn of conversation. Six frowned and furrowed his brows, "What? It's true."
"Sorry," Four replied, leaning forward on his elbows from where they were placed on the counter, "But I don't think you're boring. We just have different tastes-"
"No," the once-ghost shook his head, "I was super boring. I tried everything, Klaus, everything I used to do before I died and nothing is keeping me entertained! What have you done to me?"
Klaus gave a mirthless chuckle as he said, "Made your afterlife a living hell, exposed you to things nobody should have to see, forced you to grow up mentally faster than you should have to because I was too irresponsible to take care of myself... Should I go on?"
He waved off the list, his dark eyes dull as they settled on his brother. "No more of that. I'm talking about how after 13 years of relying on you for entertainment, I now can't think of anything fun to do without you."
Once again, Klaus was surprised by his brother's path of the conversation. He smiled though, hiding the relief he felt deep inside as he joked, "So... Stockholm syndrome?"
Ben shook his head as he laughed; it was a rare sight and Four mentally gave himself a pat on the back for achieving the small feat.
"It's kinda sad, huh? I had to die to realize that I wasted my life trying to be the perfect child. I never stood up for myself, never defended any of my siblings, never experienced anything really..." He appeared bitter with that comment, frowning at the counter again.
Klaus's eyes shone with determination as he said, "Well now you get to have a do-over and we can do everything you felt like you missed out on."
"We?" Six mumbled, eyeing his brother like he was some unsolvable puzzle.
"Yeah, we. I wasted my whole life too with drugs and parties, ya know. Maybe we'll balance each other out," He said optimistically, a new hope fluttering in his chest despite the voice screaming in his head that Ben wants nothing to do with a useless junkie.
Ben smirked slightly, "I'm not going to act like your mother again. Just letting you know now."
Klaus grinned, "And I'm not gonna act like your way-too-young-for-you model of a girlfriend either."
"Fair enough."
They were silent again, but this time a lot more comfortable. The security he suddenly felt distracted him from considering his words before he asked, "Since your alive now... if you had to die again, what would be your ideal way of going?" Klaus immediately regretted his words as Ben looked up at him in shock.
He opened his mouth a few times before he finally got the words out, "I-I don't know..."
Klaus internally cringed as he thought of a way to make it a more humorous conversation. He and Ben always had a dark sense of humor when it came to death after all.
"I would wanna be killed by bigfoot," Four blurted out, earning a raise of an eyebrow and a small smile from Ben.
"That was totally random," he chuckled with a shake of his head, visibly relaxing, "But what else should I expect, it's you."
Klaus grinned, "Wouldn't it be awesome though? God asking how you died and you gotta tell her some elusive eight-foot ape did it."
Ben's nose wrinkled slightly, "You don't actually believe in bigfoot... do you?"
He stared, waiting for a reply, but Klaus just blinked at him with a sheepish look on his face.
"Oh god... You do, huh?"
Klaus placed a hand dramatically on his heart as if he was offended, "You wound me, dear brother. So what if I do?"
"Then you're dumb," he deadpanned, causing the other boy to snort.
"Yeah, but we knew that already..." He then picked up the marshmallow bag again, turning it over and over again in his hands, "But think about it though: paranormal believers and bigfoot believers aren't all that different. They have the same goal, stay up late at night to hunt for them, listen to eye-witnesses; not to mention that they always find some half-assed evidence that may or may not be conclusive." Klaus sighed, appearing almost thoughtful, "And since I, and you now, can personally attest that spirits do in fact exist despite how implausible it may sound for a scary looking vapor to haunt your every waking move because they simply have nothing better to do, it makes sense that some ancient creature we haven't discovered yet is out there too."
The medium could tell that his brother wanted to argue, that he had a million and one stabs ready at the tip of his tongue, just couldn't decide which one to choose. He finally settled on, "So you want to be killed by bigfoot as an ultimate F-you to everyone that's not a believer?"
"No," Klaus said, a rare sense of seriousness to his tone, "I don't care whether people believe me or not anymore."
Ben's eyes narrowed, "Then why?"
"You know how they say big feet and hands means the dude has a big d-"
"Oh my god Klaus, shut up-"
Said boy was undeterred. "So bigfoot must have a colossal dick then, right? I would be fine with him killing me if I just got to confirm-"
"Gross, you're nasty," Ben rambled, his face heating up, "You're so fucked in the head, you know that right? I can't believe you wanna get it on with bigfoot, but honestly, what's worse is the fact that I'm not entirely surprised."
Klaus let out a burst of almost delirious sounding laughter as he smiled cheekily. "Yes, I'm aware. But keep in mind, you did say that I'm the fun one not too long ago."
Ben's skin crawled as the boy just looked at him with an unreadable expression on his face. What were they talking about before this whole bigfoot conversation? Was he expecting to him to share his answer now?
Six let his mind wander for a brief second, reaching down deep within his internal desires. He instantly regretted doing so, though, as his mouth started moving on its own. "I don't know who I'd want to kill me, but I know how I'd want to be killed."
Four looked taken aback for a second, not expecting his brother to actually share such trivial information. Ben was always a little more reserved and secretive than him.
"Oh? Do tell," he inquired, now entirely invested in the conversation.
"I..." Ben's face turned a little red as he looked away, "This is stupid..."
"No!" Klaus shouted, startling Ben. The Asian boy stared at him with wide eyes as the German added softly, "Nothing is dumber than the stuff that comes out of my mouth. Please share, I wanna know now."
"A knife," Ben mumbled, meeting his eyes, "I don't know I just always had a goal to die by a knife, like would I die from blood loss? Or would it be from suffocation as it pierced my lungs? Or would it be internal bleeding or maybe shock?"
The curly-haired boy was no longer smiling, eyeing his brother as he rambled on about ways he'd die from a knife. Klaus never expected this. He was slightly disturbed, if not a little proud that he wasn't the only fucked up child in this house. Speaking of which, he realized Ben was still talking.
"Maybe my throat would be slit like those ghosts that used to follow you around and I would choke on my own blood? Maybe through the brain and I'd lose any sense of bodily functions? Or maybe-"
"Woah ok then, Benjamin. Not gonna lie, I was definitely not expecting this..."
The boy appeared mortified, knowing he shared too much. "Sorry... uh, this is awkward now, huh? We don't normally have conversations like this so I... I guess I got a little excited there..."
It was silent for a few moments, Klaus feeling slightly guilty for making Ben uncomfortable. They never really did have deep hypothetical conversations like this, huh? Klaus was always too high to remember what he said and the once-ghost refused to humor him in such a state. Has Ben always wanted to open up to him about random stuff like this but just thought there was no use because he wouldn't remember any of it? Had Ben actually wanted someone to know about his time alive and thoughts he had? He frowned, Ben had wanted to be remembered as more than the wallflower child. And he succeeded because Klaus doesn't think he could ever forget this conversation.
"Kinky," Four commented, his face blank.
Ben instantly snapped out of the humiliated haze that had settled over him as he looked at Klaus in surprise. "Huh?" he squeaked.
"I said that's pretty kinky," the boy replied nonchalantly; it wasn't that unsettling really, it just took him by surprise is all. He did, after all, imply that he wanted to be fucked by bigfoot. Four shrugged, "So you have a knife fetish, big deal. I bet Diego does too, I don't suggest asking him though..."
Ben just blinked at him, a dumbfounded look on his face.
"Oh geez, please don't try to consider this idea... I think I would barf if you and Diego-"
Ben blushed a bright scarlet as he stammered, "What the hell? No way! I would never! Not with Diego-" Klaus rose an eyebrow suggestively. "And I don't have a knife fetish! I'm just... curious... I guess..."
"Yeah ok, Benny. Whatever you say," he mocked, smirking.
"Shut up Klaus. Not everyone has a dirty mind like you that ties everything back to- to s-sex." He crossed his arms and frowned but it was clear that he was still very much flustered with the whole conversation.
Klaus grinned, "And this is why you are boring. You don't know how to expand your horizons, let loose, explore, have some fun."
He rolled his shoulders to sit a little straighter, to appear more sophisticated probably. "I would hardly count half of you 'adventurous pleasures' as fun..."
"You never tried them, you wouldn't know. Some weren't fun though, like that one guy with the fan and the shampoo bottle- that... that was just weird."
Ben shivered, his face scrunched in disgust as he pleaded, "Ew ew ew, please stop. I don't even want to know."
Klaus laughed, winking at his brother before he said suddenly, "You know, I don't get why you don't believe in bigfoot; you legit have tentacle monsters in your stomach."
Ben's face went blank for a moment before he started laughing loudly, tears pricking the corners of his eyes as he couldn't stop the mirthful guffaws. "It's so true though," he choked in the middle of it, making his brother smile fondly at him.
Six huffed out heavy breaths as his laughter died down slowly, wiping the corners of his eyes as he met his brother's gaze, still smiling. "What? Got another smart-ass remark for me?"
"You know," Klaus said softly, looking down at the marshmallow bag still in his hands, still smiling, "the only good thing that probably came from your death for me is the fact that I got a best friend out of it..." Ben was quiet for a little longer than Four wanted, glancing up to meet his eyes only to see that his brother was no longer smiling. His face was unreadable as he opened his mouth but then promptly closed it.
The medium sighed, pushing himself up off the counter as he turned to put the bag away, "You don't have to agree, I just thought I'd let you know-"
"Did you... Did you really think that the only reason I stuck around with you for that long was because I wanted to get to know you? That I felt bad for you and decided to be your friend?"
Klaus stopped dead in his tracks, swallowing around the lump forming in his throat but not daring to move a muscle to look at him.
"I had always admired you growing up," Ben said quietly, "You wouldn't have known, I wasn't exactly obvious about it... You just always looked so free and comfortable with yourself, I was always a little envious of the fact that I couldn't be more like you."
Klaus found himself squeezing the marshmallow bag as Ben continued, "I regret a lot of things, but my death- my death is not one of them."
His brother instantly whipped around to face him, anger and shock on his face. "How can you say something like that-"
"I don't regret meeting you, growing with you, spending time with you... Those years, I would never want to take back. You may think that you needed me and that's why I stuck around, but honestly, I needed you just as bad. Not because I couldn't talk to anyone else, but because I needed to be a little more like you."
Klaus opened his mouth to protest, but Ben added, "You're the reason I'm comfortable with myself now, the reason I'm not afraid to speak my opinion. You taught me that life is short and it is pointless to try to be exactly what everyone expects of you. You taught me that I wasn't really living when my heart was still beating. I had never felt more alive than, ironically, when I was dead. You gave me purpose and I love the person I've become now because of you."
The tears: that's the first thing Ben noted before realizing that he was slowly moving around the counter towards his brother.
Klaus swatted at the tears rolling down his cheeks with the back of his sleeve as he hiccuped. "T-That's probably the nicest thing anyone has e-ever said to me," he said with a small, bittersweet chuckle.
Ben reached up, cupping his brother's cheek as he wiped the tears away with his thumb. "I never wanted to be just your brother or your best friend. You're really important to me, Klaus... and geez this is gonna sound cheesy but," he giggled before saying, "not even death did us part. Our bond is kinda stronger than marriage, huh?"
Klaus laughed warmly, placing his hand on top of Ben's as he gave a watery smile. "Yup, I guess so. Does this mean I can't call you my hubby then?"
Ben's eyelids lowered as stood on his tippy toes to be closer to Klaus's lips. "Do you really need to to know that I would say yes to you a million times over again if we could even get married?"
"I like that answer," he breathed, his breath mixing with Ben's, the scent of mint and old books starting to drive him crazy.
"Good," Ben declared, lowering back down to be flat on the floor, "Because after the first year of being with you, I realized I was staying because I loved you. I couldn't leave after that, you know, the whole loose ends sort of deal with the dead."
"And I never knew," Klaus said, his voice laced with guilt, "I'm sorry."
"Don't be. It's not like I ever tried to tell you, I guess the confidence I feel now got the better of me in this conversation," he rubbed the back of his neck, slightly embarrassed now as he realized that he just confessed to his crush of 13 years.
"You know... I have an idea of how to cure your boredom."
Ben suddenly felt nervousness and excitement bubble in his stomach at Klaus's suddenly suggestive tone; his green eyes gleamed with mischief as he watched him for a reaction.
"Who says you haven't already?" Ben asked calmly as he raised an eyebrow, ignoring the heat spreading across his cheeks and quick thumping of his heart.
"Oh come on, don't be like that," Klaus said with a faux pout, "You can't be at least a little curious."
"I... um... I... You don't know what you're talking about." He was moving backward now, feeling his back hit the counter as Klaus cornered him. "S-Stop teasing me Klaus..."
The Seance grinned as he leaned forward, "That was the plan." He stopped mere centimeters from Ben's lips. The Asian boy's eyes were closed, anticipating the contact but then he heard him whisper, "You wanna go hunt for bigfoot?"
Ben deadpanned. He opened his eyes to glare at his snickering brother. "I take it back, I fucking hate you," he muttered in frustration, crossing his arms.
"Aw Benny, you don't mean that," Klaus laughed, putting a respectable distance between them.
"No, I don't, but you're still an asshole."
"So..." Klaus drawled, digging his toe into the tile, "is that a no to bigfoot then?"
"Jesus Klaus, I swear to God-" he didn't get time to finish his outburst as the boy gripped his face and planted a soft kiss to his lips. It lasted for only a second, but in that second Klaus felt like he said a thousand words.
"I was just kidding," he giggled with a grin as he pulled away, "Well mostly, anyway."
"You can't just do that and not even let me kiss back!" Ben shouted in almost a whine, his hands flying wildly.
"I'm sure you'd be fine with it if I had a knife pointed at you or something, huh?"
"S-Shut up! It's n-not a kink!"
There were a few more kisses that afternoon and neither could say that they could be bored again. They would never be bored with each other, after all.