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After timidly shuffling through the front door, Vanya noted to herself that Diego’s cramped studio apartment wasn’t much larger than her dorm room. The walls were all completely bare, save for one dart board on the wall. She assumed it was for target practice, given the knife marks. “It’s... nice.” she lied, looking up to her brother with a wavering smile.
It was a shithole, Diego knew that much. It was all he could afford on the income of a waiter. He wished their dad had taught them skills that could actually get them employment, instead of useless nonsense and ways to kill a man. “I’ll get a better place when I can.” he shrugged, closing the door behind his sister. It wasn’t so bad considering he’d only been out of the academy for just over a year. “Take a seat.” he gestured a hand towards his two-seater couch, before scowling when he found his brother had laid across the whole length whilst Diego had opened the door. “Get up, asshole!” he grunted, throwing the closest thing he had to hand through the air - making it turn downward and hit his brother in the crotch.
“Prick!” Klaus gasped in pain as he dragged himself into sitting. His face lit up with a wicked grin as he noticed the thing Diego had thrown at him was his wallet. Idiot! Diego seemed to have the realisation at the same time, as he hastily lunged over the couch and scrambled to snatch it back. “Finders keepers!” Klaus yelled as he tried to shove his brother away. Diego elbowed him in the nose, Klaus wasn’t sure if it was intentional or not - but it goddamn hurt.
Vanya watched on in bewildered silence as her brothers batted at each other like cats. Klaus’ nose began to bleed slightly, distracting him enough for Diego to grab his wallet back and give their brother a smug sneer. Vanya shifted her weight uncomfortably from foot to foot. She was already regretting agreeing to come. She knew this movie wasn’t supposed to be great, Vanya felt kind of guilty at making it into a spectacle. “Isn’t this kind of mean?” she mumbled, nervously peering up at her brothers through her bangs. They both rapidly turned to glance at her, clearly they’d forgotten she was even there. That wasn’t anything she wasn’t used to, though.
Klaus once again laid across the couch, rolling on his front and propping his chin up with both hands. He began swinging his legs around like a high school girl in a corny chick flick. The blood smeared across his face made him appear even more deranged than usual. “Why would it be mean? We’re not gonna laugh at her.” he giggled. Diego grabbed his brother’s legs mid swing and yanked him off the couch like a magician pulling off a tablecloth. “This is abusive!” Klaus whined as he fell to the floor ungraciously.
“Can you sit down before he does it again?” Diego begged of Vanya. She nodded her head shyly and shuffled to take her space on the couch, looking down at Klaus and offering a guilty smile. He rolled his eyes and sat against the bottom of the couch next to her legs, regretfully accepting his place on the floor. Diego released a small sigh of relief as he sauntered to turn on his tiny television. He had to whack it a few times to get it to work.
The screen came flashing to life, static interrupting it in bursts. Vanya glanced down at her wristwatch, the movie was about to start. Klaus couldn’t wait to roast his sister. When the movie came out in theatres, he’d heard that it was appalling. Which was exactly why he’d pleaded for Diego to throw a viewing ”party” when he saw in the newspaper that it was being aired. Well... technically Klaus wasn’t the one reading it, he was just holding it open for Ben.
“I wish we had popcorn.” Ben chuckled as he sat down beside Klaus, making sure not to phase through the legs of his other siblings since it made him feel weird.
“You can’t eat, moron.” Klaus mumbled irritatedly, wondering how long it would take his brother to fully realise he was dead.
Diego and Vanya glanced over to one another, both looking equally as sheepish. Diego offered a shrug of his shoulders, his face scrunched up with concerned confusion. Vanya forced a polite smirk and looked away, feeling unbearably uncomfortable in her siblings’ company. It felt like she was barging in on a secret club she should’ve never been invited to. Why had they invited her? Were they really that lonely? Vanya bit down on her lip, hoping this movie didn’t drag on for too long.
“Shut up, the movies starting!” Klaus exclaimed loudly with an excited clap of his hands. He had been the only one talking. Diego rolled his eyes and shuffled uncomfortably in his seat, trying to get as far to the corner of the couch as possible. He could sense Vanya had done the same.
—
Noticing his brother had had the audacity to fall asleep during the movie he’d begged to see, Diego kicked him harshly in the side. “Asshole...” Diego muttered under his breath when Klaus didn’t even wake up. He shouldn’t have trusted Klaus to go to the bathroom during the commercials. Allison looked different, her hair had been straightened and Diego was sure her skin seemed a shade or two lighter. It didn’t sit right with him, his sister was beautiful as she was. Before she’d moved to Hollywood he’d known she was having some difficulty with racist casting. He intensified how rapidly he was spinning his knife in his hand, he wanted to throw it at whichever bastard made her change who she was.
“Do you... think she looks different?” Vanya mumbled apprehensively. She didn’t really want to expand on that question, she wasn’t sure as a white girl whether it was her place to ask such a thing. As she glanced over to Diego, he nodded grumpily, his jaw clenched tight.
—
Grabbing her satchel from by the door, Vanya looked down at the ground - she felt so awkward. She never knew what to say to her siblings, but especially not her brothers. “Is he... okay?” she finally murmured, wincing over at their brother who was still passed out. Diego glared at him, cracking his knuckles.
“He’s fine.” Diego grunted, irritated that he was going to have to let Klaus sleep here for the night. “It was good to see you.” he bashfully admitted, reaching for a knife to try and make himself feel less awkward. It had been good to see her, they’d grown slightly closer since Ben had died - but that had all been lost when they moved out. He hoped maybe they’d be able to get some semblance of a relationship back - it would be nice to have some sort of sibling relationship. A sibling who wasn’t so high they passed out during plans he forced Diego to make, Diego fumed to himself. Whatever, he could just throw a blanket over Klaus’ head and pretend his brother had left. Klaus wouldn’t even notice.
That comment had taken Vanya aback, she was honestly pretty convinced all of her siblings despised her. Had it been good to see Diego? She supposed it had, it was better than moping around in her dorm. Plus, it felt kind of comforting to pretend they were normal siblings for a few hours. Maybe they could do that more often. “It was good to see you too.” she proclaimed, hanging her head so she could hide behind her bangs. “See you...” she uttered half heartedly as she made her way out of the apartment. “Bye Klaus.” she called even though she knew he was practically a vegetable.
“Bye, Vanny.” Ben whispered wistfully, trying not to let himself feel hurt that he hadn’t received a farewell - or the way his sister’s eyes passed straight through him. “I miss you.” He did, he missed her so much it ached.