


Pictures Of Us

by ZombieMops



Category: Umbrella Academy
Genre: Friendship, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-10-05
Updated: 2011-02-10
Packaged: 2013-09-21 04:34:29
Rating: T
Chapters: 8
Words: 10,005
Publisher: www.fanfiction.net
Story URL: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5422707/1/
Author URL: http://www.fanfiction.net/u/1451976/ZombieMops
Summary: Growing up in the Umbrella Academy is not an easy feat. Especially if you regularly converse with the dead and a boy with tentacles coming out of his stomach. Klaus/Ben





	1. Chapter 1

A/N: Thanks for the rather nice reviews on my first Klaus/Ben story, and hell, my first UA fic ever, 'Can't Hear Me!' The reviews actually prompted me to write this one, which will be multichaptered.

The entire fic is pretty much based on the theory that Ben and Klaus were really close as kids.

I always wondered when the kids got their real names. Sometime after the whole Eiffel tower thing, I like to think. Unless I missed something, which is possible.

---

**The Umbrella Academy**

**Back Lawn.**

**1:16 PM.**

As far as 00.04 was concerned, as he made his way across the large lawn of the mansion, the day had been going perfectly.

The fact that it was the day he and his adopted siblings turned thirteen counted for barely anything, as usually they celebrated their previous birthdays by nearly getting killed on some stupid save-the-world mission.

No, what truly marked this occasion was the fact that Mom had gotten Hargreeves to let them actually celebrate. Mostly due to the fact that she had a _present _for each of them. 00.04 had never gotten a real present before, since the crayon drawing 00.06 and 00.07 had drawn for him last year didn't really count in his opinion.

Admittedly, the presents were not of any real substance, but 00.04 figured they had all waited long enough to receive actual human names.

00.04 finished setting up his favorite ouija board in the cool grass. It was made of polished stained-black wood, the words on it written in beautiful cursive french, indented and gold-leafed. The planchette was made of the same smooth dark wood, and the glass in the middle was perfectly clear and polished.

Needless to say, it was not the same old ouija board he used whenever he needed to contact the deceased in the middle of a battle. This one was practically his baby.

00.04 was not trying to contact the dead, however. Instead, he gently placed his hands on the planchette, guiding it to each letter himself.

K...L...A...U...S...

"Klaus..." 00.04 let the name roll around in his mouth a bit, testing the waters. Well, it wasn't awful. He actually kind of liked it. Mom had good taste in names and knew her "children" well, apparently, as none of the others had expressed dislike of their names. 00.04 made a mental note to ask them what their names were later. He couldn't be bothered right now.

"Four? Four, you out here?" It was 00.06s voice. 00.04 could tell by the uncertain waver and the slight crack at the end. He turned his head to see the pale teenager standing at the large double doors, scanning the lawn for his friend.

"Over here." 00.04 called, waving him over. 00.06 brightened, practically skipping across the lawn towards him. And the last moment, he stumbled over his own feet, (a very 00.06 thing to do,) and went tumbling towards 00.04 and his ouija board.

"No!" He cried, snapping his mind out and stopping the klutz midair, dangling above his precious board.

00.06 blinked in confusion. "Oh... oh! I'm so sorry!" He scrambled around as 00.04 set him back on the ground, opposite of him on the board. "Are you alright? Is it alright? Are you alright?"

00.04 sighed in relief. "Yeah." He replied vaguely. For some reason, ever since they were kids, 00.06 has inexplicably attached himself to the medium. He had no idea why, it wasn't like he was a pleasant person to be around.

"Sooo?" 00.06 prompted, rocking back and forth in excitement.

"So what?" 00.04 didn't even look up.

"Sooo, what's your name?" He burst out loudly, startling 00.04 out of his calm state.

He brushed his overly long auburn bangs out of his face, glancing warily at the tentacled boy. "You tell me yours first."

"Mmkay." 00.06 agreed without missing a beat, "My name is Ben!" He announced happily, his extra arms worming their way out from under his shirt and quivering with excitement.

00.04 considered this. It fit him. Ben was a friendly name for a friendly guy, and sounded very... round. Which was appropriate, as Ben had not yet completely lost the slight roundness of youth. Whereas 00.04 was all skin and bones and angles, and the name Klaus sounded the same.

Ben looked worried at his friends lack of response, and his tentacles fidgeted. "What? What is it? Is it a stupid name? Oh no, Mom wasn't making fun of me, was she? Oooh no!"

00.04 snapped his head up, eyes wide. "Oh! Oh, no, it's a nice name... Ben." He smiled, and Ben smiled back, relieved.

"So, what's yours?"

"It's Klaus."

"That is the coolest name _ever_." Ben said with absolute certainty.

Klaus (he supposed he'd have to start referring to himself as such,) smiled coyly, looking back down at his beautiful ouija board. Suddenly he didn't feel like primping and polishing the board as he had originally come outside to do. "Hey, Ben, want to help me get onto the roof and throw things at One?"

---


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thanks everyone who reviewed! Be assured, I loved every single one I got. :) I think this might be the last chapter for the kids as thirteen, as this story is supposed to mostly document various points in the boys lives.

Also, if anyone has any ideas for future chapters, PLEASE feel free to suggest them! It took my long enough to think of THIS chapter!

---

Sometimes, Klaus just didn't understand Ben. The kid was a klutz, gullible, and sometimes as dumb as a sack of potatoes as Diego put it, and was never put off whenever Hargreeves yelled at him for calling him "daddy." The others had grown out of this habit, but obviously Ben was not taking the hint.

But this... Klaus blinked, taking off his mask for a moment to scrub at his eyes. He put his mask back on, and sighed. Well, it wasn't his eyes.

"Benji, what're you doing?" He asked, walking through the large oranate living room towards his friend.

Ben looked up from where he was seated on the floor, crayon in hand. "Drawin'." He replied, and smiled at Vanya, who was seated next to him, also holding a crayon. The girl looked guiltily up at Klaus, as if she had been caught doing something awful.

"I can see that." Klaus said, choosing to ignore Vanya. Why was Ben hanging out with her? It would only put him off more with Hargreeves. If there was one thing the academy had taught him, it was that the less time you spent with 00.07, the more Hargreeves liked you.

Ben shrugged, going back to drawing what looked vaguely like a horse. Or a squid. Vanya followed suit and went in to color a flower next to the horse-squid.

Klaus just shrugged, content to watch. If Ben wanted to become the second-to-last favorite, it was up to him.

At that moment, Luther burst into the room. Kalus could practically _smell_ the "I-am-in-charge-here" pheromones seeping off him. "Come on! There's been another robbery, it looks like the it's her again." He paused briefly, glancing at Ben and Vanya sitting on the floor and Klaus hovering nearby. "Come on, Six, Four, get moving!" He barked, and was gone.

Ben scrambled to his feet, "Sorry, Vanya, you can finish our picture! I'll be back, 'kay?" He said, following Klaus as he floated out of the room.

"Be careful." Vanya said quietly, sadly poking at the crayons.

---

"I thought we put that hag in jail." Diego mumbled for what must have been the fifth time.

"Two, would you please shut up?" Allison grumbled, ducking and dodging another knife thrown her way. For a 70-something woman, Grandmother Esther was freakishly strong, and armed to the teeth. It was amazing she could shoot a machine gun and hold all those bags of money at the same time.

"Didn't anyone ever teach you to respect your ELDERS?!" She shrieked, and nailed Diego in the face with the butt of the gun as he ran at her, knife extended. Splatters of his blood landed on her floor-length flowered purple dress, staining it dark red.

"Should we really be beating up an old lady?" Ben asked, hovering by the sidelines and looking worried, tentacles still poised to strike.

"_She's_ the one beating _us_ up, Six!" Luther grunted while circling around the old woman, searching for an opening to attack. He ran at her just as she ran out of ammo for her machine gun, only to be shot at with a rather large shotgun. He ducked back, looking for a diffrent approach.

"Six, freakin' DO SOMETHING, even Four is doing something and he's a lazy-ass!" Diego screamed, trying to stop the flow of blood from his nose.

Klaus glared down at Diego from him spot near the ceiling, where he was busily floating the bags of money out of Grandmother Esthers grasp. "I resent that." He called.

Looking stressed, Ben ran forward, snapping his tentacles out to grab at Grandmother Esthers chainsaw strapped to her back.

"Oh, no you don't, sonny!" The old hag scratched out harshly, single-handedly aiming her gun and shooting point blank at Bens stomach.

Ben choked out a garbled gasp, doubling over as his tentacles swooshed back inside him, all except for a single foot-long chunk of tentacle, severed by the close-range shot, laying on the floor, blood-covered and twitching violently like a fish out of water.

Allison gasped in horror and covered her mouth, all of them stock-still for a split second. That split second was all Klaus needed to swoop down from the ceiling to land next to his fallen teammate. "Ben! Ben, wake up!"

"Self-sacrifice!" Grandmother Esther screeched happily, "Very noble of you, my boy!" And she leveled her gun to aim directly at the back of the mediums head.

"Grandmother Esther!" Allison shouted, her shock replaced with anger, "I heard a rumour _you went into cardiac arrest."_

For a moment, the old woman looked curiously at the purple-haired girl. "What on earth do you mean, I- ..._ack._" She clutched at her chest, and stumbled to her knees. "You... you _brat..."_ And fell over.

Klaus payed her no mind, focused intently on the bleeding boy on the floor. "C'mon Ben, get up..."

---

He was stable. Stable and currently under Moms tender loving care, so Klaus had ceased to be worried a long time ago. According to Mom, as she worked on bandaging the unconcious youth as he lay in their medical wing, his tentacles had sustained the majority on the damage, and as soon as he retracted them they regenerated themselves. After that she had begun to talk about how noble they both had been in the fight, and Klaus had sort of tuned her out, just hovering by the bed and watching her work.

That is, until Hargreeves entered the room, Vanya quietly tagging along. The small girl instantly went to Bens bedside, their picture from earlier in her hands. Hargreeves fixed his gaze on Klaus, who met it evenly. _Show no fear, show no fear..._

"Number Four, I would like to speak with you." He said cooly, motioning for Klaus to step out of the room. Klaus did so, wondering what on earth he could have done this time. "Get down on the floor, boy, stop that ridiculous hovering inside." Hargreeves snapped, and Klaus obeyed instantly. "Number One tells me that you got into the line of fire after Number Six was shot. Is this true?"

Klaus averted his gaze, staring at the wall behind Hargreeves. "Yes, yes it is."

"This was a stupid, foolish decision." Hargreeves replied harshly, "You have obviously yet to realize that you are far more valuble than Number Six. You are never to put his life before yours, do you understand?"

Klaus blinked, geniunely shocked. "I..."

"Are far more intelligent, and entirely more useful than Number Six. Do not do it again." And Hargreeves turned, and left down the hallway.

Klaus glared at his back. The asshole! He floated upwards again, and returned to the medical wing. Ben was awake, smiling and talking to Vanya, who was showing him their picture of the horse-squid or whatever she had finished. As soon as Klaus entered without Hargreeves, Vanya muttered her goodbyes and got up, quickly leaving the room.

Ben looked sad. "I think you scared her." He said. His frown deepened as he saw the look on Klaus' face. "Did Dad yell at you?" Ben asked as Klaus floated over. He scooted over to let Klaus sit on the side of the bed.

Klaus just laughed dryly at his concern. "You're turning me soft, Benji."

---


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: _Need more ideas!_ At the rate I'm going, I only have ideas for a couple more chapters, plot-ish ones. This makes me sad, since I really like writing Klaus/Ben things. So if you suggest something I'll probably write it.

---

**The Umbrella Academy.**

**One year later.**

**7:19 PM.**

Click-click-click. "C'mon. C'mooon." Click-click-ftsss. The spark and flame of the lighter momentarily lit up the dark room, illuminating the deathly skinny youth lounging on the bed. Fourteen-year-old Klaus Hargreeves moved the near-empty lighter to light up the cigarette stuck in his mouth, which was, at the moment, outlined with black lipstick.

The red-head had reached the point in his life where he felt he needed to defy his guardian. (Which was a rather stupid thing to call Hargreeves, as he never really gave a shit what happened to any of them.) Although, maybe not to the violent, vocal extent of Diegos defiance. Klaus wasn't quite that stupid.

No, his protest was a silent one, consisting of dark makeup, tight t-shirts, skinny jeans and inappropriate music. Just the other day he had shown off his new black nail polish, which Allison had laughed at and which Hargreeves took every chance to glare disapprovingly at.

Said jar of black nail polish was now hovering by his feet, his telekinesis evenly applying the paint. Klaus smirked. He was getting good at multitasking.

Turning his head and letting a thin stream of white-grey smoke slip out of his mouth, Klaus glanced at his clock. Now his new look wasn't the only thing he had become rebellious about. He had decided to take a hint from Allison and had made... plans, of a sort. Last month, he had asked her how she managed to sneak out all the time without getting caught by Mom or Abhijat. She told him in exchange for him not telling anyone where she disappeared to at night.

Klaus stretched from his position on the bed, slipping off and grabbing his trenchcoat from the cluttered floor. He turned to his window, unlocking it and slipping it open to reveal the setting sun, accompanied by a cool breeze.

Klaus' bedroom faced the garden, which was perfect. According to Allison, you could go through the garden unseen, and slip through the bent fence post that was created when Luther threw Diego at it during a very violent match of thumb-war last year.

Floating down from his second-story bedroom, Klaus could see the exact fence post Allison had indicated. Bare feet touching down on the grass, Klaus stealthily made his way to the garden across the lawn, checking over his shoulder every now and again for the onminous figure of Abhijat that would surely result in his inevitable grounding.

He breathed a sigh of relief as he reached the garden, ducking behind a rose bush.

"Klaus?"

Klaus let out a (very manly) squeak, literally jumping a foot in the air. Hovering there, a foot above the ground, he spun around to face the speaker.

"Ben! What the hell are you doing out here?!" Klaus snapped, hand pressed over his radically beating heart. "You scared the crap out of me."

Ben looked almost as startled as Klaus. "Oh. Uh, sorry." He was standing there awkwardly between two rose bushes, a pair of scissors in one hand and three red roses in the other. He blinked curiously at Klaus. "What're you doing out here for? You said you were gonna be in your room for the rest of the night."

Klaus calmed his breathing and lowered back to the ground, eyeing Ben critically. His white hair was still short but shaggy, bangs hanging low enough now to shade sensitive eyes from the sun. But long gone was Bens lingering baby fat, and thanks to their constant superhero antics, he was well on his way to becoming positively, well, handsome, as much as Klaus hated to admit it.

After his sweeping assement of the freakishly pale teenager, Klaus stood up a little straighter, glad that at the moment he was still the taller of the two. "I'm going out." Duh. "What're _you_ doing?" He asked.

Ben looked blank for a moment before perking up, remembering what he held in his hands. "I'm helping Mom. She wanted some flowers for the vases in the house." He held up the collected flowers proudly, before adding, "Where are you going?"

"None of your damn business." Klaus snapped defensively, frowning. The frown softened as a pout formed on Bens face. Oh, god, he'd hurt his feelings. "I'm going to meet someone." He clarified.

"Oh." Ben said, glancing down at his flowers. He looked back up. "Oh! Ooooh, you're _meeting _someone, okay. I get it." He grinned, satisified with himself for figuring it out.

Klaus inwardly groaned, covering his eyes with a hand. "Yeah, yeah." He muttered, not meeting his eyes. "Just don't blab to anyone, got it?"

Ben held up the hand holding the roses, still grinning, "I promise, cross my heart." And he repeated the motions necessary, making Klaus smirk faintly. "Is it anyone I know?"

Klaus blinked at the question, "You don't know anyone besides us, Benj."

"Oh yeah... Well, is she pretty?" Ben asked innocently.

"Er..." Klaus averted his eyes, pulling his trenchcoat tighter around himself. "It's not... a girl..." He mumbled.

"Whussat?"

"It's not a girl, okay?!" Klaus practically yelled. He looked around himself quickly, before lowering his voice. "I'm meeting a guy, alright?"

To say Ben looked surprised would be an understatement. "Guys... can, er, meet other guys?"

Klaus had to grin at the innocence of the question. "Yeah, Benj, guys can _date _other guys. And I do. Don't go blabbing that, either."

"Not even to Vanya?"

"Not even to Vanya."

"Not even to Luther?"

"Oh, god, especially not Luther. The mere mention of the subject would make his masculinity explode."

Ben smiled, even though he didn't quite get it. "Oh! Here, then," He knelt over next to the rose bush on his right, using the scissors and snipping off a white rose near the bottom. Ben stood up and handed the long-stemmed beauty to Klaus. "You can give this to him, the guy you're meeting."

Klaus took it, careful of the thorns. "Hey, thanks." He looked up at the quickly setting sun, "I gotta get going. Take care, pretty boy." Klaus ruffled Bens hair as Ben smiled at the name, "And... thanks for not telling anyone." And Klaus moved off the beaten garden pathway, off to find the bent fence post.

---

After Klaus left, Ben continued about his business gathering flowers for Mom, and returned to the mansion, twenty roses in one hand, and another twenty enclosed in a tentacle poking out from under his shirt. He was positively glowing with the idea that he, and no one else, was trusted with a secret. A Klaus secret no less!

Ben turned down a hallway to his left, bumping into no other than Abhijat. "Hi, Abhijat!" Ben greeted brightly, "Can you take these to Mom, please?" He requested, pressing the roses into the mans hands. Abhijat nodded, taking them without a word. "Oh, and, uh, d'you know where Allison is?"

"Miss Allison is in the library." Abhijat replyed in his thick accent that always made Ben giggle.

"Okay, thanks!" Ben bounded off down the hallway. Abhijat just shook his head. Out of all the children, he had to admit, Ben was the most tolerable. And that was saying something.

Ben quietly entered the library, even though Diego had loudly declared several times that it was _their_ library and they could be as loud as they pleased. Everyone had ignored him and Diego had been banned from the library.

He spotted Allison sitting in a large, comfy looking chair not too far off. She was sitting criss-cross and a large book was spread across her lap.

Ben came up behind her, and leaned on the back of her chair, glancing at the tiny text of her book. He began, "Alls..."

"Don't call me that."

"Do you think I'm pretty?"

The purple-haired girl turned her head up to look strangely at her brother. "The hell spawned this question?"

"Klaus said I was pretty." Ben explained.

Allison snorted, turning back to her book. "I'm sure he did. Besides, don't be dumb, Ben, boys can't be pretty."

Ben considered this. "...Klaus is pretty."

"Klaus wears makeup, he hardly qualifies as a boy."

"Oh," Ben blinked. That would explain a lot. "Okay. Thanks Allison." He smiled at her and walked off, presumably to shower and sleep.

Allison just rolled her eyes, smirking.

Boys.

---


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Ignore the hospital name ripped directly from L4D. It was 6 am and I was lazy. xD Also, I have no clue when exactly Luther got his head transplanted onto a space-gorillas body, so bear with me here. Also, I am attracted to the idea of a guy called "Horror" being a total wimp.

---

**Mercy Hospital**

**Three weeks later.**

**2:05 PM.**

"Ooh, I'm surprised Mr. High-and-Mighty _Spaceboy_ even has time to visit with his lowly siblings." Diego sneered as he and his five other siblings were led down the stark white hospital hallway. "Shouldn't his room be flooded with his thousands of adoring fangirls?"

"Diego, if you do not shut the _hell up this second,_ I will start a rumour that you were born with one testicle." Allison threatened through gritted teeth, fists clenching.

Wisely, Diego shut up.

After a moment of silently trailing behind her, Ben spoke up to his purple-haired sister. "H-how did he even crash?" He wondered,"I thought Luther was s'pose to be awesome at flying spaceships and stuff."

Allison sighed, running a hand through her overly long hair. She would have to cut it soon, it was becoming uncomfortably similar to Vanyas hair. "I don't know, Ben. Something failed in the engines or some crap like that. All I really know is that he's lucky to be alive."

Diego snorted, but under Allisons withering stare, said nothing.

Ben looked worried. "He was really hurt, huh." It was more of a statement than a question. "The papers are makin' a big deal about whatever Dad did to him."

Floating a few feet behind Ben, and flipping through the most recent issue of Vogue that the hospital had, Klaus rolled his eyes behind his sunglasses. They were making such a big deal out of nothing. He was alive, what the hell were they all busting a gut over? Maybe if the guy had croaked, sure, but Klaus didn't think any of them would be dying anytime soon.

Klaus was focused less on the conversation and more on keeping pace with Vanya. Solely because it made the girl nervous, and there wasn't much Klaus like more than making other people uncomfortable.

Shortly after a very uneasy elevator ride, they arrived at Luthers modest hospital room, which was not, despite Diegos earlier claims, flooded with adoring fans. Scarcely anyone was there at all, save for Pogo and a single nurse who promptly left as soon as the siblings entered the room.

Pogo looked briefly up from a very large book he was reading and gave the group a warm, albeit a slightly forced, smile.

Allison was the first to speak. "Oh, my god, _Luther._" She gasped, hand flying to her mouth.

"Jesus Christ." Even Diego couldn't hide his shock.

It was easy to see why the press was all over this "miracle operation." Said miracle operation apparently had consisted of giving Luther a completely new body. The body of a very, very large gorilla. The large, furry chest that now belonged to him rose and fell in the steady rythmn of unconciousness.

"Shhh." Pogo scolded softly. "He's just gotten to sleep."

Klaus picked his jaw up off the floor, but left the magazine where it had fallen. This... Luther wasn't the most tolerable guy to be around, but _this..._ how the hell did Hargreeves get off doing shit like _this _to one of them?! A new hatred for the man swelled in his chest.

Allison had moved forward, standing next to Luthers bed and looking sadly down at the hand that was now just shy of being as large as she was. Diego stood off to the side, adopting his trademark brooding expression. Vanya was shaking like a leaf, so hard in fact that Pogo immediately stood and kindly guided the distraught girl into his chair.

Bens hands were clasped up by his chest, wringing furiously. He backed up a few paces before letting out a terrified squeak and fleeing the room.

Normally Klaus would have just let him go, but the pitiful stare Vanya fixed him with make his gut squirm with guilt. "Alright, alright, jeez." He muttered quietly, abandoning his magazine completely and floating out the door after his runaway brother.

"Beeeeen?" He called, planning to fake search for him and then return saying that the boy had disappeared. Unfortunately, Ben hadn't gone far, instead he was just down the hall, sitting on one of the padded benches provided, knees pulled up protectively under his chin, a habit he'd had since childhood.

Klaus lowered himself to the floor, choosing to walk over instead of float, bare feet padding audibly on the (hopefully sterile) floor. "Hey," He said, "What's up? Monkey-boy scare you?" Klaus sat down, legs crossed, next to Ben.

"N-no. Well, not so much." The pale boy wrapped his arms around his legs, hugging them closer to him. "It... it's just, poor Luther. C-couldn't Dad have put a normal body on him? L-like a human one, y'know?"

Klaus snorted. "Oh, probably. But by crashing, Luther screwed up, and you get punished if you screw up." It was harsh, but it was the truth, and all too likely the reason for the strange body.

Ben whimpered unhappily, tentacles appearing and wrapping around him in a sort or protective layer. "But it's so unnecessary... and mean."

"Hargreeves does a lot of mean and unnecessary things, Benji. C'mon," Klaus tugged at one of the tentacles, and it flopped uselessly over into his lap, curling in on itself. "You gotta grow a thicker skin."

In response to another one of Bens incredible sad faces, Klaus took the tentacle and absent-mindedly began to stroke it comfortingly, continuing to speak. "C'mon, he's alive and sorta-well now, right? Luther is probably awake by now and we can go bug him just like old times, okay, Ben?" The petting slowed as Ben showed no response. "...Ben?"

Klaus looked over just as Ben slumped against his shoulder, eyes closed and all traces of sadness gone from his face. He looked downright happy, in fact. Klaus was just about to ask just what the hell he was on when the tentacle wrapped itself around his wrist and Ben made a sort of purring noise in the back of his throat.

Oh, _god._

Klaus froze momentarily, Bens face still pressed into his shoulder. After a split second, Klaus wrenched his arm out of Bens grip, practically catapaulting off the bench.

Ben sat up, startled out of his weird funk at the loss of his human pillow. His tentacles stretched out towards Klaus and he frowned, seemingly unaware of the clingy behavior of his extra appendages. "What's wrong?" He asked.

Klaus blinked, shaking his head and rubbing at his eyes. "Ugh. Nothing. I'm going back to annoy Luther, you can, uh, come if you want." He said awkwardly, floating upwards and back in the direction of the hospital room.

Ben was still frowning, staring after Klaus. He absently rubbed at the spot on the tentacle Klaus had touched.

What was up with _him_?

---


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Sorry for not updating! Halloween is a hectic time for my family.

So, I think, unless there is some sort of continuation, each chapter the academy will get one year older. That way this thing isn't too long! So yes, a dabble into Seances problems. xD I imagine he started drinking before starting any drugs.

---

**The Umbrella Academy.**

**Nine months later.**

**3:36 AM.**

It was either very late at night, or very very early in the morning, and Ben Hargreeves was having tea with a squid at the bottom of the ocean. Squids, as it turned out, were not that fantastic at making conversation.

"So, Mr. Squid," Ben said, his speech still understandable despite being underwater, "Do you ever get lonely down here?"

The squid considered this as he stirred his tea, "Sometimes, I do feel a bit small." He admitted, staring into his drink. "Do you ever get lonely up there on land?"

"Sometimes." Ben replied, and they were silent for a while, the clink of spoon against teacup unusually loud as Ben stirred a lump of sugar into the tea.

"Do you have any family?" The squid asked at length.

Ben smiled, "Oh yeah! A big family. I got a family."

"No, you don't." Said the squid.

Shocked, Ben opened his mouth to reply, but was interupted by a loud thump.

"That's the one you call a brother," The squid said, obviously unamused. "He's trying to get into your room."

A moment later there was another thump, a click, and a creak.

"See?" The squid floating upwards, abandoning his tea and crumpets. "You best wake up now."

Ben nodded silently in agreement and opened his eyes.

As soon as his eyes adjusted to the dark, he noticed the lanky figure of Klaus Hargreeves teetering in the middle of his rooms, faintly glowing from the moonlight streaming in from the open window.

"Klaus?" Ben muttered, sitting up in bed and running a hand through his hair. "Whaddya want?"

Klaus might have blinked at him, but it was hard to tell in the dark. Then he dry heaved, barely choking out, "Toilet, please."

Ben, now fully awake when faced with the threat of a soiled carpet, scrambled out of his warm bed, grabbed his brothers arm and practically dragged the stumbling Klaus towards his bathroom.

Klaus mumbled something incoherent and fell to his knees in front of the toilet, promptly upchucking into the bowl.

The harsh bathroom light on, Ben took in the state of his brother and friend. The dark button-up shirt was unbuttoned from the bottom all the way up to his ribs, his makeup was smeared and his hair tangled and falling into his face even more than usual. Carefully, Ben reached over and pulled it back away from his mouth, keeping it out of the puke.

Klaus dry-heaved a few more times before he finally stopped, just panting heavily. Now that he was closer, Ben could smell the alcohol, smoke, sweat, and something else unindentifiable on him. Klaus just _reeked._

"You're drunk!" Ben exclaimed in a hissing whisper.

"Mmyup!" Klaus said loudly, and Ben shushed him. Klaus continued in an exaggerated whisper. "Drunk! Drunk as a motherfuckin' skunk!"

"Where have you been all night?"

"Cluuub."

"You're too young for clubs, Klaus."

"I hash... conneck-shuns..." Klaus slurred, attempted to stand up, only to fall backwards before he was even halfway straightened. Ben caught him with his tentacles before he could hit the hard tiled floor.

Hoisting the completely smashed teen back up, Ben wrinkled his nose, "You smell awful."

"Deal with it, pretty booooy."

Despite Klaus being incoherent, Ben grinned, "You haven't called me that in forever!"

Swaying slightly, Klaus shrugged. Ben sighed.

"Alright, c'mere, Klaus." Ben grabbed his shoulders, spinning the medium around to face him. Confident he could stand for a while on his own, he reached down and unbuttoned the rest of Klaus' shirt.

"Hey! Heeey! Stop that! Or buy me a driiiink first." Klaus protested weakly.

"Like the first guy who unbuttoned it this much?" Ben ventured, slipping the garment off.

"Mmhm." Klaus allowed himself to be guided to the shower, leaning casually against the tiles as he hummed to himself.

"Sorry, Klaus," Ben mumbled, taking the shower head in hand and aiming it at Klaus.

"Hmmm? For whaat- ARRGH!" Klaus shrieked as he was sprayed with ice cold water. "Shit! That's cold shit!"

"I said sorry!" Ben said, turning up the warm water, "And you _smell._"

Klaus frowned and shook his head, stepping back as to not get his jeans wet. "Do not."

"Sure you don't." Ben tossed him a washcloth and aimed the shower head at the floor of the tub. "Clean up!"

Despite the shock, Klaus was obviously still drunk. Only now he was wet and drunk. Humming, he swished the washcloth around his body. "Ya knooow somethin', Benji?" He said cheerfully, "You're really, reaaally hot when I'm smashed."

Ben, at least, had the decency to blush. "I'm not really sure whether to be flattered than you think I'm hot, or insulted that you only think I'm hot when you're drunk."

Klaus shrugged again, now attempting to stumble out of the tub, "Ooh, it's not only when I'm _drunk,_ Benji!" The sentence was interupted when Klaus fell out of the tub and lay sprawled on the bathroom floor, giggling.

Ben scrambled to pull him up, and Klaus collapsed against him, still giggling hysterically. Ben whined slightly at the fact that Klaus was geting his pajamas wet, reaching for the dry towel hanging on the rack.

"Getting totally drunk like this isn't healthy, ya know, Klaus." Ben scolded as he toweled him dry.

"But it's _fun._" Klaus countered, lifting his arms as Ben toweled under them.

"Your kidney or whatever is gonna give out before you're thirty! Do you want to die before you're thirty?"

"Do _you _wanna die before you're thirty?" Klaus shot back, swaying on the spot again.

Ben frowned, a chill going through him at the words. He tossed the towel in the tub, and turned back to Klaus. "Take your pants off."

"...What?"

"They're wet! Take them off." Ben instructed. Klaus grinned, unzipping his water-splattered jeans and kicking them off, using Ben for balance.

"Okay," He said cheerfully, now dressed only in his, big surprise, black boxers. "Your turn!"

"Hah! No way." Ben shook his head, taking Klaus by the arm and leading him out out the bathroom, turning the lights off as they went.

Ben crawled back into his now cold bed, and Klaus took the hint, crawling in next to him. One of Bens tentacles extended, laying itself down across the mediums stomach.

"Hmm. Hey Beeenji?" Klaus muttered, voice muffled by the blankets.

"Hm?"

"Y'know what I 'membered you liked 'sides from the nickname?"

"What's that?"

"You like being _petted._" Klaus giggled, slightly less hysterical this time.

"Hwuh? I do not, I- uh." Ben stopped talking as soon as Klaus actually started petting the tentacle wrapped around his midsection. Apparently, his tentacles were far more sensitive than normal body parts, because _wow_ that felt nice.

As he hummed happily and started to slip into a blissful sleep, a quick thought flitted through his mind before he lost conciousness.

Why had Klaus come to _his _room?

---

The first thing Klaus was aware of was the sunlight pounding against his eyelids, and the splitting headache that accompanied the sensation. Okay, goddamn hangover, check.

The second thing he was aware of was the fact that he was almost completely cacooned in tentacles. It was rather warm and snug, really. Klaus squinted and craned his head over to glance behind him. Ben was there, he two normal arms flung around Klaus' shoulders, peacefully dozing with a small smile on his face.

The third thing he was aware of was that he was almost completely naked. ...Wait. What? Going stock still, Klaus started to mentally panic. What had he done last night? Klaus strained to remember.

He vaguely remembered leaving the club, and being dumped off at the mansion. And he very, very vaguely remembered somehow stumbling to what was apparently Bens room, for some drunken reason.

Carefully, he looked back at Ben. He appeared to be fully dressed in the over-sized shirt and shorts he called pajamas, and Klaus breathed a sigh of relief.

Well, whatever reason he was now being cuddled by Ben, it didn't really matter. His head still hurt and he was still sleepy, so Klaus snuggled deeper in the nest of tentacles and closed his eyes.

---


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: I'm so neglectful of my stories, haha. I've actually been busy workin' on a number of TUA fanart, only one of which is actually finished at the moment. (It's a simple pic of Ben, and it's up on my dA page if you wanna go take a look. Link's on my profile. /nudgenudge )

I think a good alternate title for this chapter would be 'Teenage Experimentation,' heh.

---

**The Umbrella Academy**

**5:46 PM**

While he was never one to complain, Ben couldn't help but think that there were a million different ways he would have rather spent his birthday.

The sixteen-year-old superhero was cold, bruised, battered, but satisfied with the result of their all-day mission. It had only been him and Diego this time, but it had been underwater so it only made the most sense to send the guy who didn't need to breathe and the squid-boy.

Ben just wished they had gone out for cake and delicious ice cream instead of fighting against rabid sentient over-sized sea monkeys while trying to disarm an underwater bomb that would have destroyed the ice caps.

Maybe he'd go out for a scoop of rocky road later.

Parting ways with the equally unhappy Diego at his bedroom door, he waddled off, shoes squeaking and shoulders shivering, towards his own quarters. Already Ben could hear Abhijat behind him with the mop, cleaning up the brothers tell-tale trail of water.

Safe in his own room, Ben practically had to peel off the freezing cold and sopping wet uniform, and he noticed his normally snow-white skin was tinted a pale blue. Fabulous, now he looked like Klaus.

Ben redressed himself in his more casual suit and on top of that wrapped himself in a large spare quilt that was normally reserved for the winter seasons. His birthday was pretty much ruined anyway. All he wanted to do was get warm, crawl into bed and sleep the rest of the day away.

When he moved to go to his bed, however, he noticed a small package resting on his pillow. It wasn't wrapped, just a plain cardboard box sitting there, but Bens face lit up with a grin regardless. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he pried to box open and inspected the contents.

Crammed inside the box was a pale green plushie of what appeared to be an octopus, a small smiling face adorning its head. There was a ribbon wrapped in a bow around one of the tentacles. Smiling so huge it hurt, Ben peered back inside the box and fished out a small piece of cardstock.

_Hey Benji, _it read,

_Sorry you had to spend today enduring the company of old stick-up-ass, that's something I wouldn't wish on anyone._

_Anyway, figured you could use a little pick-me-up. I saw this little guy and he reminded me of a certain someone._

_Happy sweet sixteenth, oh-six._

_Klaus._

_P.S., don't tell anyone else I gave you a present. They'd get jealous._

Ben smiled again at the last part. Underneath the whole "I see dead people" thing, Klaus could be a real sweetheart sometimes. Still, Ben felt a pang of guilt in his gut. He hadn't gotten Klaus anything for their birthday!

It was the very least he could do, Ben decided, to go and thank Klaus for the present, sleep be damned!

Picking up the stuffed toy, and wrapping it up completely in his tentacles to avoid anyone seeing it and questioning him about it, Ben set off down the long ornate hallway towards Klaus's bedroom, counting down the numbers on the doors starting with six.

Ben reached the doorway marked with **00.04** in large black letters, fist poised to knock lightly on the wood, when from behind the door he heard what sounded like muffled groaning. Becoming a little concerned, Ben knocked anyway. "Klaus? Are you okay?"

"Ben!" Ben heard Klaus yelp, there was creaking of bedsprings, a loud THUMP, rustling of fabric, footsteps, and finally the door creaked open. Klaus peered out, squinting in the light of the hallway. "You're back already."

Ben nodded, "Yeah, Diego's real good, so we got it done in no time."

"And I'm sure you helped a little, too." Klaus teased, smirking. "What'd you want, anyway?"

"Oh!" Ben remembered and held out the octopus, beaming. "I wanted to say thank you for this. It was really sweet of you, and ...are you okay?" Ben took a step back to take in Klaus's state of dress. "Your pants are open."

Klaus swore and buttoned his jeans back up. His eyes were hazy and distant and red-rimmed like he'd just woken up, but his face was flushed and he seemed short of breath "M'fine."

"Were you asleep?"

"Uh, yeah, I was. Y'wanna come in here or just stand there all night?" Klaus stepped back and opened the door a little wider.

"Sure," Ben smiled at him and stepped inside, Klaus closing the door behind them. "Er, why is it so dark in here?" He heard rather than saw Klaus shurg.

"I like it dark." Klaus said and fell backwards against his twin-sized bed, head narrowly missing the wall.

"Well, um... can I turn on some lights?"

"You can try. I took all the lightbulbs out of the lamps."

Ben stared at the dark shape that was his brother. "Why on earth would you do that?"

"Dunno." Klaus told the ceiling.

There was an intensely awkward silence for a few tense moments, until Ben finally moved to go open the heavy black curtains covering the windows. The blue evening light did little to brighten the room, but it was something of an improvement. The dim light showed that the ceiling was clouded with smoke, and Ben sniffed at it. It didn't smell like normal cigarette smoke. "What exactly have you been smoking in here?"

Klaus shifted himself into a somewhat upright position, resting on his elbows. "Don't worry about it," Ben worried anyway, "C'mere, I wanna show you something." He patted the covers next to him and once Ben sat down, he held out his skinny hand.

Noticing something on the palm, Ben caught his hand and held it palm up. "'Goodbye'?" He asked doubtfully, tracing the words with his finger. "Did you get 'Hello' tattooed on the other one?"

Klaus swapped hands, leaning back on his left elbow and holding out his right hand. "Yes, actually. See?"

Ben looked closely at the freshly healed tattoo with unconcealed wonder. "Did it hurt?"

"Like a bitch." Klaus said, smirking.

"Well, now I know why you've been wearing gloves all week." Ben smiled at him.

Klaus shrugged, letting Ben continue to hold and inspect his hand in the rapidly receding light. "The bandages looked tacky. I thought of 'em as an early birthday present to myself. Speaking of," He nodded his head at the plush toy in Bens lap, "You like?"

"I _love._" Ben confirmed, taking hold of thetoy with his tentacles. "It's adorable!" He gave it a squeeze to prove his point. Klaus, however, was looking curiously at Bens tentacles as though it were the first time he'd actually seen them. "I feel bad, though. I didn't get you anything!"

Klaus leaned back on both elbows, face obscured by the shadows. "Oh, I could think of some other things you could do for me." He said casually, eyeing the tentacles next to him.

"Really? Like what?" Ben asked, curious.

Klaus chuckled. "Well you did sort of interupt me earlier... heh, nevermind. Hey, Benji, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"What do you do with your tentacles when you aren't using them to fight?"

Ben looked a little confused at the question. "Well... they're really useful for making sandwiches. And carrying things. You know, things like that." He stared at Klaus. "You know that, you've seen me do those things."

"Well, yeah, _those_ things, but c'mon..." The grin Klaus flashed at Ben was on the verge of predatory. "Don't you use them for, you know, anything _else?_"

Ben blinked, easily unnerved by the grin. "What do you mean? I- oh." A look of realization dawned over his face as he realized what Klaus was suggesting. "Oh! Klaus! That's disgusting."

Klaus started laughing hard, falling back against the mattress, chest heaving as he howled with laughter. "Y-you..." He gasped for breath, "You are _such _a prude!"

"I am not!" Bens face closely resembled a tomato. "_You're _disgusting! Stop laughing!"

Klaus got his laughter mostly under control. "Haha, aah, come on! You can't honestly tell me you've never jacked off?"

Bens face burned even harder. "W-well..."

"Or that you never even thought about using your wonderfully useful extra arms?" Klaus grinned wickedly again as Ben silently fidgeted with the stuffed octopus. He leaned over and rested his chin on his shoulder. "You can't tell me you haven't, can you?"

Ben jumped at the sound of Klaus's voice so close to his ear. "I-I haven't--" He stammered.

"Suure." Klaus brought his hands up to also rest on Bens shoulder. "If you haven't... you wanna try?" Panicked at the suggestion, Ben spun his head around to face Klaus, only to have him take hold of the back of his neck and crush their lips together.

If he wasn't panicking before, he sure was now. It _did _feel nice, wonderful in fact, just like the tv said, but God, it was Klaus! He sat stock still as Klaus moved his lips against his, and flinched when he felt a tongue brush against his lips. Ben opened his mouth to make a feeble noise of protest and it dove in.

Klaus tasted like an ashtray, and something else earthy he couldn't quite place. At length, Ben came to the reality of what Klaus was doing and flung him arms up against his shoulders, trying to shove him off without hurting him. Klaus easily grabbed both of Bens wrists in his hands, taking Bens shoving against him as a good thing and pressing back roughly.

Whimpering, but still not wanting to hurt the drugged-up medium, Ben allowed himself to be shoved down against the mattress, each hand pinned next to his head. He shut his eyes, hoping soon Klaus would snap out of it and apologize. That didn't seem likely, though, as Klaus enthusiastically pressed on, apparently not caring that the make-out session was one-sided.

It wasn't until Klaus shoved his knee between Bens leg and pressed up against him did Ben being to actively struggle. With great difficultly he tore his mouth away from Klaus, tugging at his wrists. Klaus ignored it and went for his neck instead. "K-Klaus! Do you e-even know what you're doing?!"

"Probably not." Came the muffled response, followed by a dark chuckle as he ground up against the other boy.

With a panicked yelp, a mass of tentacles came bursting out from under Bens shirt, nailing Klaus square in the stomach and effectively knocking him off Ben and onto the floor.

"Shit!" Klaus swore, gripping his midsection and groaning in pain.

Ben scrambled to the far side of the room, as far away from the bed as he could get. "S-sorry! I'm so sorry! B-but you... you're high or something, yo-you don't know what you're doing, I-I had to..."

"Like _hell _I don't! Get out!" Klaus rasped, the door flinging itself open behind Ben.

"K-Klaus, I'm sorry, b-but I-"

"I said _GET OUT!_" He roared, and Ben felt himself being physically lifted and _thrown _out of the room, crashing into the opposite wall with an enormous THUD. Pictures and paintings in the hallway crashed to the floor as 00.04s door slammed itself shut.

Sitting there amidst broken glass and with an aching back, Ben stared in bewilderment at the door in front of him. Klaus... Klaus never used his powers on other people. He wasn't supposed to. He... he _wouldn't _use his powers on other people, especially not on Ben. But the ache in his shoulder proved otherwise.

Curling his knees up to his chest, Ben allowed himself to cry.

---

TBC...

A/N: On second thought, a better name for this chapter might be 'Reverse Tentacle Rape.' (Yes, yes, I am an awful person.)

---


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: After a short, unexpected hiatus, I am on a singular mission to make this story better. Huzzah!

(Also, I like the idea of the girls having a good relationship with their only brother who isn't insane/an asshole/missing.)

---

"What the hell is wrong with him now?"

The voice, normally smooth and confident, was now cracked, tired, and generally pissed off. It was, of course, Allison who had come into the library this fine evening.

Vanya shrugged from where she sat on the small lounge sofa. Ben sat practically-- scratch that, he _was _sitting in her lap. His ass was seated firmly on the the sofa to her left, his legs over her lap and feet secured on her right. He wouldn't have even been touching her if it weren't for that fact his head was bowed and resting on the petite girls shoulder.

Their complete size difference would have been hilarious if Allison was in a joking mood. "I assume it has something to do with all the broken glass outside Klaus's room?"

"I guess." Vanya shrugged again, using the hand that wasn't rubbing Bens back to flip back her long black hair. "I found him in the hallway. He won't talk to me, aside from saying he wanted a hug."

"Klaus," Allison nearly growled, throwing her eyes heavenwards, fists clenched. "I'll kill that drunk piece of-"

"Noo, nooo!" Ben spoke up suddenly, startling the girl he was sitting on. "I-... he just... don't talk to him." He begged his sister, eyes wide behind the mask.

Allison regarded him coldly. She wasn't going to lie, she loved Ben, but his idiocy was infuriating at times. "Why shouldn't I talk to him?"

"He... he doesn't... he didn't do anything. You don't have to talk to him."

"Bull." The pure contempt dripping from her voice made the two on the sofa wince. Mostly in sympathy for the target of all that hate.

"You're going to sweet-talk him to death." Ben accused.

Allison kneeled in front of the sofa, arms resting on the cushions. "You bet I am."

"Please don't."

"What, exactly, even happened? If I'm not mistaken, there is a pile of broken glass outside of Klaus's door, and you're a blubbering mess in Vanyas lap."

"I am _not!_"

"Bull." Allison repeated plainly.

"We were just hanging out! H-he was drinking a lot, and he yelled at me _that's_ _it _I swear to god."

"There's a Ben-shaped dent in the wall."

"He may have gotten a bit violent."

Allison rolled her eyes and stood up, heading for the door. A bit _violent_, yeah. She had noticed Bens face turned faintly pink when he began speaking.

"No, nononono! Where're you going?" Ben started to scramble away from Vanya, only to have the girl grab his arm and pull him back.

"Don't kill him, Allison, Hargreeves'll ground you for life." She advised.

"Yeah, whatever. Go to bed, Ben."

---

Klaus wasn't in his room. Allison ignored the broken glass and went inside, only to feel the chill of the open window, a tell-tale sign of his escape.

As it turned out, he was on the roof, a cig in one hand and a bottle in the other as usual. He had probably used his mojo to sense her oncoming wrath and this was his idea of hiding.

"You are a complete piece of shit."

Klaus was sitting cross-legged and leaning against a chimney. He saw her climbing up the side of the building, just barely a sillouette in the darkness, outlined by the moonlight. "So I have been told, numerous times, by women far more beautiful than you." He let out a breath, ghostly smoke flowing from between his lips and into his sisters face.

She didn't Rumor him out of existence, instead settling for a method that had been used since the beginning of time. She kicked him in the face.

"Jesus fuckin' tits, woman! The fuck?!" Klaus swore, gripping his face, blood flowing from his nose and between his fingers. The cigarette fell forgotten, smouldering orange in the dark.

"What the _fuck _do you think you're doing?" Allison hissed, leaning down to his level.

"The fuck are _you _doing?!"

"You don't go around molesting your fucking _brother _just because you're horny."

Klaus's eyes narrowed, blood still dripping from between the hands clasped to his face. "What did he tell you?"

"_Nothing._" She stood straight again. "I figured it out. I'm not as dense as he is, or as easy to take advantage of."

"I think you've proved the latter quite well." Klaus commented, leaning his head back against the bricks. If he was cold up there in the wind with his sleeveless shirt, it didn't show.

Allisons expression was still furious, but her voice was softer when she finally spoke again. "Don't do this, Klaus. Don't fuck with his head. Ben's the least screwed-up person in this pathetic excuse for a family."

"Maybe he needs to hop on the crazy train with the rest of us." Klaus replied simply, and jumped off the roof.

---

Technically, Ben _had _gone to bed like Allison ordered him too. He'd gone to his room and sat on his bed in the dark, chin resting on his knees and tentacles twitching and curling restlessly around him.

He felt better after sitting with Vanya for a while. She was nice to him, and in a family where it seemed like everyone either hated eachother or was Klaus, who was indifferent to the universe, it felt good to have someone genuinely care about him.

Ben felt his chest tighten when he thought the name 'Klaus.' Klaus cared about him, too, right? Ben hoped he did, and he acted like he did... well, used to act like he did. This New Klaus scared him more than fighting villians ever did.

And this New Klaus _hated _Ben. There was no other reasoning at this point. Ben had, after all, punched him in the stomach. He hadn't wanted to hurt him, but he had panicked...

And now Klaus hated him. Hated him enough to cause him physical harm.

"Argh." What was supposed to be a sound of frustrated anger came out more like a desperate mewl. He wanted Old Klaus back, the Klaus who spent time with him and laughed at his attempts to be funny, not the New one who drank and smoked and... and... did other things.

New Klaus didn't like spending time with Ben, and his sort of happy was a harsh, sadastic, blurry sort of happy.

Ben looked up when he heard a door down the hall open and close shut, lock clicking softly. Klaus.

He wanted Klaus to like him again.

A glance at the clock glowing softly in the moonlight told him it was four minutes to one AM.

He wanted Klaus to be happy.

Ben slid off the bed, bare feet padding across the carpet, door opening, closing, and padding into the hallway.

He knew what Klaus wanted to be happy. It was him.

Ben tapped lightly on the door.

It was the least he could give.

---

Allison knew.

It was hard for her to NOT have known. Her room was next to Klaus's. For the majority of the night she had been treated to the sounds of quiet whispers, heavy breathing, muffled moaning and the constant rhythmic creak of bedsprings.

Noises she so would have so loved to Rumor out of her memory.

As far as she could tell, though, it changed absolutely nothing in Ben and Klaus's relationship. The next morning, while they were up a bit later than the others, they still ate breakfast like normal, Diego snapped at Luther like normal, and they were all normal.

Well, as normal as a Hargreeves could be, at any rate.

The only noticable differences were in Ben. He would stare into space and go a little pink every now and again, and the morning after _it _happened Allison kept noticing him wince slightly every time he sat down. It was almost sort of funny.

The thing that really got her, though, was when Klaus would smirk every time Ben winced.

Allison wanted to kick him again.

---


	8. Sorry!

Hey!

I regret to say that I am putting this thinger on permanent hiatus. That is to say, discontinuing.

BUT BEFORE YOU RAGE AT ME, listen close now!

I'm only ending this because I feel like I can't work with something that is so far from my current way of writing. I want to start again, with a better story, with a plot that actually exists. (Because, in all honestly, this story NEVER had a plot, and I hated it.) And of course, it would have a far greater abundance of more _believable_ Klaus/Ben.

So, in a way, I am rewriting and retitling Pictures of Us. It's titled Rigor Mortis Eldritch, and the first chapter is up already!

SO, I am sorry, but hey. New, more quality story. Rejoice!


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