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Packing her unbelievably sparse possessions into a depressing duffel bag, Vanya wondered if she could actually muster up the confidence to leave for college. She knew she couldn’t stay here, it was even worse since everyone but she and Luther had moved out. She’d barely even left her room for the past several months. Vanya loathed having an October birthday, she could’ve gotten away to college much sooner otherwise. She hadn’t even thought it could’ve been worse, but it turned out the eery silence wasn’t preferable to her gaggle of extraordinary siblings making her feel lacklustre.
She couldn’t believe she’d actually been accepted into music college, why would they want her? Vanya knew she wasn’t even very good at the violin. She had to do this though, for Ben. He’d been so desperate to escape to college, it ached to know the opportunity had been ripped from him. Vanya couldn’t take this chance for granted. The thought of dorms was still daunting though... the noise would ricochet through her like a machine gun. Dad had had to have her medication preemptively increased, to counteract her inherent worsening anxiety. She was so on edge that even the creaks of the ageing house in the deserted hallway seemed amplified.
Walking towards Luther’s room, Vanya tried to build the courage to knock on his door. She lifted her hand to knock, but just paused in mid air like a mime. “Luther?” she whispered instead, finding her quiet voice less intrusive. Number Seven didn’t really have any right to knock on Number One’s door. She rather hoped he didn’t hear, so it gave her an excuse not to suffer through a painfully awkward interaction. They were both as bad at socialising as each other, especially since Luther found her existence a waste of space. He likely wouldn’t even notice her absence. Vanya felt she could smell cigarettes and alcohol for some reason, though she doubted Luther had picked up those habits... maybe all the stress was messing with her mind. She held back a sigh of disappointment as her eldest brother opened the door. Their height difference always made her feel overwhelmingly pathetic.
Looking down at his tiny sister and her bag, Luther assumed she was leaving. She was the last one to go besides him, it was a slight shame to lose her... the academy would be even lonelier now, the only non-parent Luther would have was Pogo. Though that idea wasn’t completely unappealing to Luther, the chimp was his best friend - as depressing as that was for him to acknowledge. Luther had to stay here though, the world still needed him. He wanted to stay here. “College?” Luther grunted, feeling like an idiot as soon as the word left his mouth. Why was he so incredibly awkward? Even Diego could communicate better than him, and his words couldn’t leave his mouth half the time.
Vanya meekly nodded in return, cowering behind her bangs. She was so minuscule, Luther hoped the big wide world wouldn’t chew her up and spit her out. “Good luck.” he self-consciously mumbled, forcing a polite smirk. He had been furious when his other siblings had left, but there wasn’t really much point in Vanya remaining here. “Thanks...” his sister murmured uneasily, turning to dejectedly trudge down the empty hallway. It was just him now. All alone.
“Is she leaving?” Klaus abruptly shout-whispered from down the hall, making Luther nearly bang his head on the ceiling in shock. His brother seemed to be schemingly staring at the space of wall between his and Vanya’s former rooms for some strange reason. He was probably just pretending to see a ghost again, Luther imagined. “I told you to stop sneaking back in!” he scolded Number Four, irritated he was going to have to escort him from the grounds once more; he was like a lingering bad smell, impossible to fully get rid of. At least it wasn’t Diego who kept coming back, that would be torture. “It’s really cold, you prick!” Klaus hissed, frantically dodging backwards before Luther could grab him.
Luther stilled to contemplate what he should do, he knew dad had said Klaus should under no circumstances be allowed back unless he agreed to stop poisoning himself. “Are you still...” Luther grimaced at the mere word being in his mind “...on drugs?” he terribly awkwardly inquired. His brother shook his head in a way that was far too eager to be convincing. Luther rolled his eyes with aggravation, though he had to admit it was a tiny relief to not be totally isolated on the day Vanya left. Although Klaus was insufferable, Luther didn’t really want him to freeze to death. Maybe he could stay for just one night. Luther felt guilty in advance, knowing he was going behind dad’s back. His youngest remaining brother had been kicked out for a very valid reason.
His brother held a hand up to silence nothing, which caused Luther to roll his eyes again. They could get stuck in the back of his head at this rate. Klaus was always attention seeking, it was like he was addicted to that too. Why did his hand have huge writing on it? Luther grabbed his brother’s hand to curiously take a peek, feeling utterly baffled. Klaus tried to snatch it back, but obviously failed - he would’ve been unable to break from Luther even if he wasn’t built like a twig. “Hey! Reserve your inces-“
Ben attempted to hit Klaus, forgetting he couldn’t actually make contact. The shiver was thankfully enough to disrupt his stupid comment, though. “Don’t tease him about Allison when you need to stay in the goddamn mansion!” Ben nagged, longing to have actually been able to smack him. He hadn’t realised quite how irritating his brother was until he was with him 24/7. Ben wished he could tell Vanya good luck with college, it tore his no-longer-existent heart out that he couldn’t. He’d never be able to say a single word to her again... it was indescribable how much he missed his sister. He was so close yet so unreachably far.
Approaching the foyer, Vanya heard the comforting tapping of Pogo’s cane. It was anxiety inducing that she may never hear it again, Vanya certainly had no plans to return to living here. “Miss Vanya.” the chimp kindly greeted, hobbling over to meet her. “Pogo.” she smiled diffidently, finding it hard to even speak with her nerves. “I’m afraid your father is too busy to say farewell...” Pogo admitted regretfully. Vanya always found it slightly insulting that Pogo favored dad so much, always making excuses on his behalf. Dad didn’t give a damn about them, especially Vanya - why lie? Pogo had been more of a father to them than Reginald ever had, so Vanya turned a blind eye to him being complicit in so much of their mistreatment. It wasn’t really as though he had much choice, his actual personhood was tied to dad.
“Yeah, I guessed.” she replied flatly, fiddling nervously with the handle of her bag. Pogo looked down to her fidgeting hand with a concerned frown. “Do you have all of your medication packed?” he checked cautiously. Vanya nodded from behind her bangs, too occupied biting her lip to respond verbally.
Pogo placed a supportive hand on her back to guide Vanya towards the door. “Your father has arranged for your future refills to be collected from your college’s physician.” Pogo informed her stoically. “I shall call every month whilst you settle in, just to be certain you don’t forget.” Just as they approached the door, Vanya stopped their ambling to turn to ask Pogo one last thing. “Do you have Diego’s number?” she timorously requested, wanting to have at least one single connection on the outside world. Her two favorite siblings were gone... which broke her heart to even think about. Allison was on the other side of the country. Klaus was... Klaus. But Diego had been trying to become more like a big brother after Ben had died, maybe he’d want to continue now she was out of this horrendous place. Pogo grinned, seeming relieved she’d wish to receive it. Now if she could just actually bring herself to call him... the thought alone made her need a pill.