01.01: Impending horror

[dial6forhorror]

WHO: Ben Hargreeves
WHERE: The Bunker
WHEN: Sunday 21st
OPEN TO: Closed to Diego (and probably Klaus pretty quickly)
WARNINGS: Abusive upbringing and past death discussed

---

The blessing was that he was unconscious at the time.

Had he become conscious in water, there was every chance he would have inhaled on reflex, old, forgotten reflex that he hasn't needed in a long time. He may easily have not remembered how to swim, how to make a body do what he wants when he hasn't had one for a very long time.

But he's not conscious. He's pushed into the tube and it closes behind him and he floats there, peaceful and pale. There's no marks even suggesting his horrific end and nothing roiling unpleasantly under the scrubs top, like it's trying to squirm free.

The readout flares up with his vital statistics (alive, healthy, things he shouldn't be) and his name underneath.

Ben Hargreeves.

Comments

[excessed]

After finding Klaus there in the tubes, Diego has been spending much more time down there. He knows it might be staggered, that he came in and then Klaus, so there was a chance that the others will appear. Eventually. Not that it's not boring as hell, but he uses the time to work on his telekinesis so that he doesn't lose control and hurt himself or others. Especially the others, since he's knicked himself a time or two, and has wraps on his fingers and wrists showing that. He's actually not entirely paying attention when things start lighting up. Glancing over, blinking when he realizes this is it, someone is there, and the knife he's been floating in the air hits the ground with a loud clatter of steel on concrete. Instantly going to the display, staring at the words as if he can't believe it, as if his mind is playing tricks on him. Moving instantly to the tube, having studied it since pulling Klaus out and knowing more what he's doing as he undoes the latches and moves to try and haul Ben out of the tube and get him on the ground.

[dial6forhorror]

The tube drains and then opens, releasing the still unconscious Ben to collapse into his brother's arms, a sodden dead weight. He reflexively brings up the oxygenated fluid he'd been breathing, coughing it free without really coming to yet, just flopping helplessly.

[excessed]

Diego is so stunned as the weight of a body falls into his arms. A heavy, wet body that drenches his clothes and is solid and fully formed in his arms. "Oh Jesus," he whispers, moving to try and lowering him to the floor. Stripping off his coat to get it laid over Ben, using his brother's backpack as a pillow for his brother. "Oh shit, Ben. Fuck. How," he mutters, not having a clue what to think in that moment. Moving to turn his brother's head, making sure he doesn't choke too badly, stroking his hair back. And then, unable to help himself, his hand dropping to his brother's stomach. Hesitating there, not touching him but wanting to, wanting to check. He doesn't have his abilities. Klaus doesn't have his. How could this place not only take that away from Ben, but make him alive as well?!?

[dial6forhorror]

It only take a few moments for Ben to start shivering as the chill of being wet settles in and it's that as much as anything else that has Ben's groaning and starting to wake up. He coughs roughly, hand coming up to rub at his mouth and his other hand dropping to his stomach on reflex, to soothe the horror with gentle warmth. His eyes open and focus slowly, looking at Diego, but he doesn't say anything. He gives a small sigh and his gaze moves on, looking about. "Klaus?"

[excessed]

"He's here," he assures him, not thinking about the device yet, just wanting to make sure Ben is okay. "He's nearby. Kind of. It's a walk," he assures him, smirking at that in a wry way. He's not close but he's in this world.

"Maybe you shouldn't move," he says, considering him. "Not until we talk. What do you last remember?"

[dial6forhorror]

Diego speaks in response and Ben freezes. He stares up at Diego with comically wide eyes and then reaches out very slowly with one finger to try and poke Diego in the arm. His finger touches. Ben recoils as if burned and scrambles to push himself up to sitting and backward, away from Diego, looking around frantically. He feels... cold. He doesn't feel anything. But he feels cold. "Klaus?! What did you do?!"

[excessed]

"Hey. Hey. Chill out. Jesus, man." But he backs up, hands up. He's armed to the teeth, but he's trying to look nonthreatening. Sorta. "He didn't do shit. We don't know who did, but it gets weirder so I need you to calm down," he says, still standing there, hands up. "Also, I guess... Welcome back to the land of the living. We missed you," he says, now remembering and moving his hand to tap at the device. Need you at the bunker. NOW! -D "I'm trying to get Klaus here, okay? So chill out and... well, breathe. You might wanna breathe."

[excessed]

Diego let them have their time as he moves about the house just doing busy work to try and keep himself calm and relaxed. He knows that there's a lot they're going to need to do for Ben, but the truth is that Diego doesn't have a clue where to even start.

So he waits until Ben is out, tucked in and curled up by the fire and then he gestures for Klaus to try and get him to come over to the table where they can talk. It's not the first time he's hoped for beer in this place, but it's the time he most misses it.

"So... How do you think he's going to do?"

[substances]

Klaus can't figure out if it's cute or pathetic that Ben couldn't get to sleep without Klaus hanging out right next to him. Can't decide if it's cute or pathetic that he wanted to stay. So while Diego gets things set up around the house, Klaus sits with Ben and absently brushes his hair back from his forehead, over and over again, trying to process.

Right as he's starting to get a real itch under his skin, feel the tense twist of craving in his gut, wants to check out and deal with this without the sharp edges of guilt and pain over Ben's death and fear of how they're going to take care of him here, Diego is waving him over to the table.

Klaus raises his brows, and then carefully pulls away from Ben, waits until his sleeping brother stirs and settles before heading over to the table, padding there on bare feet, a big wet spot on the thighs and chest of his scrubs from Ben clinging to him. Dropping heavily into a chair near Diego, he rests his elbow on the table and his chin in his hand.

"I don't know, man. He's really competent as a ghost, like, you have no idea how many times he's watched my back when things got really bad but." Klaus gestures vaguely with his free hand, "He was worried he'd forget how to eat. That's...that's really bad."

[excessed]

It's almost as if the last years haven't happened. Looking at Ben, the fear in his eyes, remembering the pain he'd seen there so often in his brother's eyes when they would head out on a mission. He reveled in them. Luther and Allison excelled and Five delighted in the violence. Klaus and Ben though, it wasn't the same for them, and it was the worst for Ben. Ben who never wanted to be there, didn't want to use his power, and there had been nothing they could do about it to try and help him.

And then there was nothing he could do at all for him, and it had gone downhill from there.

Now they have another chance. If they can figure out what to do.

"Yeah, it's nuts, but... He's lived on as a ghost with you. So there's things he's seen, that he might need to try and remember," he says, more thinking about it than suggesting. "After the fire thing though? So going to have to make sure he's not ever alone."

Because he couldn't handle him dying again, and he knows Klaus would lose it if it happened.

[substances]

At that, Klaus runs a shaky hand through his hair then drops it to the table with a soft thunk. Planning has never exactly been his strong point, and he's not used to being the person Diego formulates plans with. He has no preparation for how to reply when he's asked for his opinion on what they should actually do. Oh, of course he always gives his opinion when he isn't asked, but it's usually just so someone listens to his voice, and they never use his input. He never expects them to.

"Yeah. I mean, the problem with that is he's been seeing me and I don't exactly live like a normal person, Diego. In case you haven't noticed, I'm kind of eccentric. If he follows my illustrious example, he's gonna eat a bag of potato chips every few days and sleep on a mattress in an alley and that is not...how I want Benny-boy to live, you know?"

A laugh, helpless and a little pathetic and he leans back in his chair, arms over his belly, brings his knees up so he can rest the heels of his bare feet against the seat. He's laughing, but it's not funny, it's not funny at all, and he feels a little manic with stress about it.

"No. There's no way I'm leaving him alone if he thinks it's cool to just shove his hand into fire. He was glued to me for years, it's my turn to nag the shit out of him."

[excessed]

This place is a different world. Their lives have changed and it's time for them to work things out. Together, not competing against one another. Of course, that means they need to work to share information, to try and figure out what they need to do. For Ben's sake. It's the one thing that it nothing else, Klaus is utterly the expert on Ben, so Diego knows he's going to need him for this.

"You're batshit, Klaus. We can admit that," he points out, though there's a soft smile with those words. "And for the record? It's not how you're living anymore either. Just so you know."

Wanting to be with his brothers and finding himself in this position is hard for Diego, and he's not sure what he's going to do as he leans back, staring at the ceiling before running his hand over his face. "Shit, I am not sure how to do this, but the way things are right now? I'm literally going to schedule you two for everything."

Which is treating them like kids, but he's not sure what else to do.

"First thing first, we need to make sure that no one puts their hands in the fire, or walks into the water, or gets eaten by those weird vampire deers."

[substances]

It's a little bit off-putting...not in the bad way, just the confusing as all fuck way, when Diego asserts that he's not going to be living like that anymore. Sure, he'd run into Diego a few times when he'd been on the streets, because they ran in similar circles (opposite sides of the equation, of course, but still) and had bummed rides or gone for food with him, but it's not as if Diego had actively taken care of him.

Cared whether he lived or died, sure. But taken care of? Not really. Klaus hasn't been taken care of since Mom.

"Oh. I'm not?"

It's curious, because Klaus doesn't really know how to cope with that, with Diego deciding to take a more active role in his life here. It's nice. It's foreign. It's weird. He fiddles with a loose thread on the hem of his scrub pants, and avoids eye contact.

"Yeah yeah, you control freak." Joking makes things easier, and he lifts his gaze, gives Diego a little teasing smile, "Anyway, I don't mind hanging out with Ben. It's not like I haven't been doing that the second my high went away for the last like...forever. Just my turn to make sure he doesn't choke on his own vomit in his sleep."

Almost without thinking about it, he turns to look at Ben, to make sure he's still breathing, to make sure he's still solid and not back in that black hoodie and jacket and staring at him impassively without needing to sleep. And Ben is, asleep, his chest rising and falling evenly, eyes closed.

"Wait, there's vampire deer?"

[dial6forhorror]

In his sleep, Ben dreams. He doesn't remember his dreams, except that when he wakes up, his face is damp with tears, his mouth feels like something rotted in it and he's feeling overheated with the fire in front of him and Klaus draped over him from behind. He wriggles free from Klaus' octopus like embrace and sits up, drawing shaky breaths and rubbing his face with his hands. He feels overheated and chilled at once and a faint memory says that that's how he feels after an anxiety attack in his sleep.

[excessed]

Diego left them to sleep after they were both settled in. It feels like a start, though he doesn't know like a start to what. Grabbing a small nap, not really able to sleep and feeling unsettled by all of the changes and wondering what comes next.

So he settles himself at the dining table, bits of small items in front of him. Thread. A small piece of paper. A slip of fabric that he'd cut from a shirt. Focusing to use his telekinesis and fine tune it so that he can lift each piece and move them as he wants without losing control.

Knives are easy. Finesse is something else entirely.

He glances up though, seeing Ben moving. "Hey." Almost smiling as he gives him a nod. "You doing okay?"

[dial6forhorror]

For a moment, Ben doesn't respond. He isn't looking at Diego and thus doesn't realise Diego is speaking to him, looking at him. The pause is a touch too long before he starts and looks over. "Oh. Me. Yes." He rubs his eyes again. "No? I don't know. My mouth feels awful."

He reaches for the scrub top that had been dug out for him and pulls it on, feeling a little less exposed.

[excessed]

It doesn't bother Diego as much this time. He's getting used to it, not bothered by it, though he makes a mental note to start using his brother's name so that he knows who he's talking to. Maybe it'll help? He's not sure, but it can't hurt to try.

"I can help with water? And there's some toiletries in the bathroom. Some people give them away, whenever they get those boxes of things. I think we have toothpaste left, maybe." He hasn't checked.

Even as he talks, the piece of paper is hovering but as he gets distracted, it goes shooting across the room, flapping like a moth. "Well shit."

[dial6forhorror]

Hearing his name would probably help him realise when he's being addressed.

"Water would be good," he agrees softly. "I think I overheated between the fire and Klaus." He pushes himself up to his knees and takes a moment to sit on his heels, gaining his balance.

And watching the paper go shooting past. Reflexively, his hand goes to his stomach and only feels smooth skin. "Maybe give that a break?"

[excessed]

"I can go get it," he says, pushing up from the table. "We don't have a lot of amenities here, but we're trying." Which doesn't say much but its something.

He winces at that, looking away and then down at the table before back at Ben. "It won't happen, Ben. It won't. There's nothing like that here," he says. "I've been over that thing a million times waiting for anyone after Klaus. I just... I had to go help save someone kidnapped and felt more comfortable like this."

Not like Anne and being a tiger, even if it was cool as hell.

To complete the trifecta...

[dial6forhorror]

Diego had been really reluctant to leave them alone in any fashion.

When he had finally fallen asleep at the table, Ben went and got one of the fire warmed blankets and wrapped it around his brother, tucking him in and then going back to the fire and the sleeping Klaus. Years of observation made him think Klaus really was still asleep, but probably wouldn't be for much longer. He slept fitfully at the best of times.

Ben bundles himself up in a blanket and settles down near Klaus' feet, not touching, just a little, self contained bundle of blanket by the fire.

He lets his mind wander. He's very good at that after so many years. Just watching Klaus, counting his pulse in his bared throat and the slow rise and fall of his measured breaths. It just doesn't occur to him to do anything else but watch.

[substances]

It's true that Klaus sleeps fitfully at the best of times, and tonight isn't exactly the best of times. He's still running on adrenaline and shock, and while he's slept worse places than the floor in front of the fireplace, after a few weeks in a bed, it isn't really comfortable anymore. But he's warm and a light enough sleeper that he's aware of voices in the room, familiar, comforting voices that let him last a bit longer in the sweet arms of sleep than he usually would.

It's after the voices fall quiet that he starts to stir, mumbling in his sleep and rolling onto his back, head tilted back, coughs a couple of times and whimpers a bit, brows furrowing as he fights to stay asleep. Doesn't last long, and Klaus' eyes slide open, unfocused, he wakes up groggily, groans in his throat and drapes an arm over his stomach.

Ben is staring at him.

Far from the first time he's woken up to Ben staring at him, Klaus doesn't really register it as strange at first, he just braces himself for the reprimand about his sleeping habits. But after a moment, his brain helpfully reminds him that Ben isn't wearing his usual hoodie and jacket, he's in grey scrubs, wrapped in a blanket, and his expression is calm but not the cool detached dispassionate look he's usually giving Klaus. Klaus, who's just staring at him upside-down, lying on his back.

"Ben?"

His voice is a little scratchy, a little slurred with sleep.

[dial6forhorror]

Ben is more staring through Klaus at this point, off into the middle distance while he listens to the world outside and his brothers' breathing, both in front of and behind him.

He blinks when Klaus speaks and then smiles slightly, shuffling forward to lean over Klaus's head. "Hey. Diego's gone to sleep, finally. I have some water if you want it."

[substances]

Klaus looks up at him, still upside-down, his mouth curving into a soft smile, and he reaches up to press his finger against Ben's nose, voice soft.

"Boop."

Rolling over onto his side, he presses his elbow against the ground and hoists himself up with it, grunting softly in his throat as he pushes himself into a sitting position, muscles all along his side and back aching a little.

"Oh good. He could use it." As if the bags under Klaus' eyes didn't suggest maybe he could too, "Mm, water would be good." A pause, and then, Klaus meets Ben's eyes for a moment, "How are you...you know?" A vague gesture with his hand, brows a little furrowed.

[dial6forhorror]

Ben smiles, leaning into the brief touch and then rocking back onto his heels again, giving Klaus space to sit up. He hugs his legs, tucking his chin onto his knees and watching Klaus still.

"No idea," he admits, gaze dropping from Klaus. He nudges the mug of water closer, watching the surface move with the momentum. "I've had about three of those, but always sips. It's so... quiet. I never realised before how much They were there. Just, this background whisper of awareness."

[substances]

Ben reacts to touch like a flower does to the sun, and it's nice to see. Klaus smiles at him, expression soft as he searches Ben's face, watches him push the mug of water over toward him, and he reaches out to take it, lifting it and drinking a few gulps. It isn't until he's had the first that he realizes how thirsty he was, but he puts the cup aside before he finishes it, in case Ben needs more.

"Yeah, I get that."

Glancing down, he fidgets with a piece of thread on the cuff of his scrub pants, brows a little furrowed, "It's like that with the ghosts. So quiet, it's somewhere between awesome and completely terrible. All I have are my own thoughts. And apparently most of my nightmares come from me and not them. Funny, huh? Is it like that for you? I mean...so far."