Strangers
she said that we're not lovers
we're just strangers
with the same damn hunger
to be touched
to be loved
to feel anything at all
The first time they meet is at a bar on Halloween.
Klaus is leaned back against the wall, enjoying the way the music thrums through his body, with a drink in hand.
There had previously been a guy making eyes at him from across the room but he had been dressed as a skeleton of all things and that lack of originality was enough to turn Klaus off from that possibility completely. Even if he had really, really wanted to make a joke about the guy having a boner.
He sees her standing by the bar downing a series of shots with her friend. She is very clearly meant to be Sandy from Grease, once she gets all dolled up at the end of the movie. Klaus himself is dressed as Danny from Grease, complete with the T-Birds leather jacket, and so this catches his attention.
Her friend, who is dressed as a nurse, says something and as Klaus watches, she tilts her head back and laughs and it is such a sight that Klaus is already moving towards her before he even realizes it.
He ends up leaning against the bar next to her, but not so close as to make her uncomfortable.
"Sandy!" He says in mock surprise.
She turns to face him, surprise flitting briefly across her face before she gives him a slow smile.
"Tell me about it, Stud," she says, her voice low and sultry and if he wasn't hooked already, he is now, because there is something mischievous behind that smile and in the way she looks him over shamelessly with those bright hazel eyes of hers.
She is a tiny thing, he notices, barely reaching his chin, even in those heels that she is wearing. Her hair is red and has been painstakingly curled and teased to reach the desired effect and her lips are lined with a bright red that is quite becoming.
Her friend, seeming to realize that the attention has shifted from her, rolls her eyes and turns away to talk to someone else.
"I'm Klaus," he says, leaning in so that she can hear him over the thumping bass of the music.
"I'm Luna," she replies. "Do you want a drink, Klaus?"
He grins and nods and so Luna flags down a bartender and a moment later, instead of a drink there is a line of shots being set before them and Luna's eyes are bright and alight with something Klaus can't quite place but he knows that he likes it.
Luna wraps her fingers around one of the shot glasses and looks at him with a grin. "Ready?" She asks.
He nods and grabs a shot glass of his own waiting as Luna raises her fingers and begins to count down.
Three.
Two.
One.
Klaus tilts his shot back into his mouth, relishing the burn, before moving on to the next shot and then the next one.
He finishes his shots only a moment before Luna does but she holds her shots surprisingly well for someone so small that Klaus can't help but be impressed when she sets her last shot glass down beside his with a Cheshire grin.
"Let's dance!"
And so they do, moving onto the dance floor that is a living mass of bodies writhing together to the heavy thrum of the music. Klaus has to hand it to her, she is quite light on her feet. Her movements are mostly grateful and those that aren't, Klaus figures he can attribute to the drinks.
Before long Luna is getting dragged off the dance floor to watch a game of pool and Klaus starts to think that's the end of it, but before she is dragged too far, Luna reaches back to grab Klaus' hand to tug him after her.
She turns to look at him, shouting over the din of people, "Do you play pool?"
And he doesn't usually but somehow he finds himself playing against one of Luna's friends a few minutes later and losing spectacularly. He doesn't mind so much though because Luna stays by his side and laughs at his jokes and he half attributes his loss to her because she is so lively and vivacious that it is difficult not to get distracted.
Afterwards, when another friend of Luna's comes forward to face the winner, Luna pulls Klaus away once more to a less crowded spot of the bar where the thrum of the music is still present but the voices are all distant.
She kisses him then, slow and sensual and pressing up against him until he is pressed against the wall behind him.
She is warm and soft and smells sweet like perfume. And kissing her feels like the natural progression of the night's events. He slides a hand up into her hair and tilts her head and the kisses turn fast and rough and Klaus likes that too.
She pulls away, looking up at him with darkened eyes and bites her lip. "Come home with me?" She asks as if Klaus would say no.
That's how they find themselves walking down the street ten minutes later, after paying their tabs and saying goodbye to Luna's friends.
Klaus has his arm slung around Luna's shoulders and her's is around his waist.
In the club, it had not seemed like such a big deal but now that he's stepped out into the brisk nighttime air, he is farther gone than he had originally thought. Yes, he realizes, as he stumbles. Klaus is definitely drunk. And if he is drunk then Luna is definitely drunk. A quick glance at her is enough to prove this as she is watching her feet, lips pursed in concentration as if to make sure she doesn't trip over anything. This isn't right, he thinks. I shouldn't do this.
He has no problem having meaningless sex but he is suddenly not feeling terribly coherent and that's not okay.
"I'm very drunk," he announces.
Luna's head snaps up so she can look at him as if she had forgotten he was there. Which is ridiculous because at this point Klaus is fairly certain that they are holding the other up.
"Yes," she says finally. "I believe I am too."
Silence settles between them as they look at each other. They've stopped walking now which is probably for the best because, in the state that they're in, they definitely need to be paying attention to where they're walking.
"I have a couch," Luna says finally. "And I don't have plans tomorrow. So in the morning, if you still want to… "
It takes Klaus a moment to realize what it is she's saying but when it finally hits him.
"You want me to stay the night?"
She laughs. "That is the general idea, yes. It'll be interesting. Like a sleepover."
He didn't know about her, but Klaus had never had an innocent sleepover. All of his had been in his adult years.
"Sure," he says with a grin. "Maybe we can have a pillow fight."
What Klaus had been expecting was a small, shithole apartment like everyone else in their age demographic seemed to have. Instead, what he finds when Luna swings the door open, is a townhouse the likes of which Klaus had previously believed only existed in movies.
It wasn't that Klaus wasn't used to nice places, he himself had grown up in a damn mansion, but it was not at all what he had thought it would be.
"Holy shit," he says.
She steps in and closes the door behind her while Klaus has wandered into the living room and flicked the light on so that he could examine his digs for the night.
There is a large cream colored sectional that looks like it'll be a dream to sleep on, as opposed to the shitty mattresses that Klaus has shared with his ever-changing cast of lovers as of late.
The walls are a soft eggshell blue and beyond the couch, he can see a polished wood dining room table and the doorway leading to what he imagines must be an impeccable kitchen.
"Yout rich," he jokes, turning to face her. She must have one hell of a good job to afford this place.
"My parents are rich," she corrects, completely serious. "I just get some of the perks."
What a coincidence. Klaus' dad is rich too. He doesn't say that though because he avoids talking about Reginald Hargreeves whenever he can. There is too much water under that bridge to share with temporary lovers, which is all that Klaus ever has.
Luna unceremoniously kicks off her heels and lets out a sigh of relief. Without saying anything she turns back into the entrance hall and opens a closet so that she can pull out a spare blanket and a pillow which she brings over to Klaus.
"So, about that pillow fight… " he says as he takes him.
She grins. "Maybe in the morning when we're not as drunk as skunks."
He cannot argue with that and anyway, Klaus is feeling pretty tired and so they say their goodnight and as she proceeds upstairs Klaus thinks how this night has not quite gone how he had initially expected when the two of them first started talking in the bar.
Still, it's for the best. Whether they had both wanted it or not, Klaus wants her to be clear of mind if they're going to sleep together. It's only right.
Klaus is awakened the next morning to the smell of coffee. It takes him a moment to remember where he is when he opens his eyes to see a much nicer living room than what he has grown accustomed to.
When he remembers that there is a very hot redhead who may or may not want to fuck him he bolts upright, groaning at the headache that has resulted from too many drinks the night before.
He hears a giggle from behind the couch and turns to find the woman from the night before standing there, freshly showered and holding a mug of coffee in one hand and a bottle of extra strength Excedrin in the other.
He immediately reaches for him, regarding her as a moment as some kind of angel to have known exactly what he would need.
"Morning," she says. "Or… afternoon. It's pretty late."
He's not surprised, Klaus is a notoriously late sleeper, after all. He takes a long drink of coffee, downing half the mug. She is watching him expectantly and Klaus thinks he knows why.
Well, this could be fun.
"So," he begins, giving her a Cheshire grin. "How'd you sleep?"
She purses her lips as if she has already caught on to what he's doing.
"Like a log," she says simply.
Klaus takes a leisurely sip of his coffee. "This is really good," he tells her. "French roast?"
She nods. "I went on vacation to France with my parents three years ago and have been hooked on the stuff ever since," she explains. "Do you remember last night?"
"I remember meeting you," Klaus replies innocently. He is being quite mischievous this morning, but the Excedrin is beginning to kick in and he slept like the dead last night and now he is in a good mood. A great mood actually and part of that has to do with Luna who is looking quite pretty this morning with her damp hair curling slightly around her face and the blue silk robe she is wearing is quite becoming.
"Anything else?" She prompts.
"You're a terrific dancer."
"And you are a terrific bullshitter," she rolls her eyes, shaking her head slightly, but the corners of her lips have curled up into a smile so, even though Klaus doesn't really know her, he can tell that she's not really annoyed. Which is great news for him, really.
"One of the best, baby."
"Let me be more specific," she says, coming around the edge of the couch and sitting down. "Last night we agreed that if we still wanted to have sex today we would."
She is direct and shameless and Klaus loves that because, while most people would dance around the subject in embarrassment, Luna has gotten right to the point.
"Oh, that," Klaus says with a smirk. "Yes, I remember that."
Luna narrows her eyes slightly. "Well?"
"Well, what?" He is being quite a little shit and he knows it.
"Well," she says, now getting impatient. "Do you want to fuck me or not?"
Oh, she is very forward.
"Hmm," he tilts his head, looking thoughtful and dragging this out more because it's fun and watching her get impatient is funny and he thinks perhaps that this is a pretty effective form of foreplay. Because, even though he was interested in possibly having sex with the hot girl from the night before when he woke up, now he is horny for this Spitfire sitting across the couch from him, headache or not. "I think so, sure."
"Sure?" She scoffs but Klaus has already moved towards her and before she can say anything else, he is kissing her which she responds to immediately, kissing him back and moving to straddle him.
Spitfire, Klaus decides, is a pretty apt description.
Author's Note: Hey guys! So I know that it's been a while since I've updated... well, anything but here I am back with... well, this. State of Grace is a companion piece to the main project I'm working on, an Umbrella Academy fic titled Orpheus. I decided to do this for a couple of reasons, 1.) because I love my pansexual bby Klaus and have 0 self-control 2.) because I'm not actually posting Orpheus until I have it completely written (it's only going to be ten chapters so don't worry) but I wanted to have something to post because I am terribly impatient 3.) I had the idea for Luna's character and fell in love 4.) because this would give me the chance to play around with a writing style and themes that I haven't really written before.
This is meant to be a no stress project, to be worked on when I need a break from Orpheus or when I am just brimming with muse for Luna and Klaus. As such, I can't even pretend to promise consistent uploads because I honestly don't know when I'll upload next. Don't worry though because each entry is going to be done like a oneshot so you don't really need to worry about cliffhangers or anything.
Consider this a warning for the rest of State of Grace, it will explore such controversial themes as drug use, alcoholism and sex (there's gonna be a lot of smut y'all). If this isn't your thing then that is absolutely fine and perhaps you'll decide to give Orpheus a try and find that more to your liking.
I should establish this now that, while the events that occur in State of Grace are canon in Orpheus, Luna will not be appearing in that story.
I also want to state, for the record that I do not own The Umbrella Academy or any of it's characters!
As always, if you want to receive updates on the progress for this or see any of the things I've made for this or any of my other fics, you can follow me on tumblr at harleyquinnzelz!