"The farther we go down this dirt road, the more I have to wonder if we're being sent out here to get murdered," Dave mused as he drove them out into the middle of nowhere, Ben constantly re-checking his map to make sure they really were going the right way.
"Ooh, that would be an exciting start to our show!" Klaus said, feet on the dashboard. "Not exactly the ghost hunting we imagined, but I'm still down."
"Of course you are," Dave said, smiling at him as he reached out to take his hand.
"Oh, there it is, take a right up here," Ben said, pointing to a driveway almost obscured by the underbrush.
It was an old run down single story house, windows boarded up and the lawn overgrown. Klaus didn't see any ghosts yet, but that didn't really mean anything, they could be lurking anywhere. Honestly though, even if they never saw any ghosts, he and Dave could still probably come up with enough content to make an amusing enough video. They were good at improvising.
"I know it doesn't look like much," Ben said as they all climbed out of the car and started gathering up their gear from the trunk. "But, surprisingly, most people don't actually want their reputation to be ruined for the sake of filming the first episode of an internet show. An old abandoned house was the best we could swing."
"Are you kidding? It's perfect!" Dave said, throwing his arms in the air for emphasis and Klaus couldn't help but smile at how excited he looked.
"Yeah, we can make our magic work anywhere," Klaus said, rubbing his hands together.
"I don't know what you guys had in mind, but usually these types of videos start by going over the history of the building. Unfortunately this place doesn't have much beyond a sad old man who lived out here alone," Ben began.
"Way ahead of you!" Dave said. "I spent most of last night reading everything I could find on it!"
"Nerd," Klaus said, kissing his cheek.
"Seriously, I don't mind you guys using my computer, but once classes start up again I'm gonna need it back, so you should really think about getting your own," Ben said.
Klaus waved a dismissive hand at Ben as he turned to Dave. "Got enough to spin a tale or two up, love?"
"Of course," Dave said.
"Great, let's get started then!"
"Maybe we should film an introduction out here before we lose the sunlight," Ben suggested.
"Good idea. Thanks for helping out, by the way," Klaus said to Ben. "Who better to have help hunt ghosts than a former ghost?"
"Who better to have help than someone who actually has a computer and knows how to use it," Ben corrected. "You're useless and Dave still has a long way to go."
"Hey, I'm not completely useless with computers," Klaus objected.
"Being famous on Vine doesn't count, especially now that it's gone."
"Rude."
"What's Vine?" Dave chimed in.
"I should see if I can find a compilation somewhere, you should really know what kind of man you're dating," Ben said.
"You have no idea who you're talking to," Klaus laughed. "He would have been right there doing them with me."
"Damn, you're right, what have I gotten myself into?"
"Sorry bro, looks like you're doomed to spend your second life watching me do stupidly dangerous stunts too."
"At least I can bring the aid kit now."
"Oh man, can you imagine having a bad trip in a place like this?" Dave said, slowly spinning the camera around the room to get plenty of footage of the decay and rot. The sun had almost set completely now so Klaus was setting up some lamps and flashlights.
"Don't need to," Klaus said, winking at him.
"No way, really?"
"Oh you bet. I thought this place looked familiar. Honestly, if there's an abandoned building in town, I've probably gotten high in it at some point."
"You are one of a kind, you know that?" Dave said.
"And thank god for that, I'm sure," Klaus said, striking a pose.
"And I'm the lucky one who gets you all to myself," Dave said, putting his arm around Klaus' shoulders and pulling him close to place a kiss on his cheek.
"Aw, babe!" Klaus wasn't sure he'd ever really get used to Dave's casual affection, but he certainly appreciated it.
"So what's next?" Ben called as he entered the house with some more lighting equipment and a bag of snacks.
"I thought we could start by going down that nice creepy hallway," Klaus said, gesturing.
"Have you seen anything yet?" Dave asked, handing the camera back to Ben.
"Nah, and I don't really want to try to summon them up and ruin the authenticity. Let's face it, if there's any ghosties here, they're probably waiting to jump out and spook me."
"To be fair," Dave said. "If I was a ghost, I'd probably want to fuck with people too."
"I mean, that's pretty much what I did," Ben said with a shrug, readying the camera. "Mostly just Klaus though."
"Love you too, bro," Klaus said as he turned to the hallway. He skipped up to the closest door, drumming his hands on it as he raised his voice. "Wakey, wakey! Any ghosts in there? It's time to get to haunting!"
"Yeah, we're just a couple of useless fools in deeper than we realize," Dave said, voice also raised. "We'd certainly deserve a good haunting right about now!"
"Come haunt us, what are you waiting for? time to come out and do your thing!"
"I don't want to tell you how to do your jobs," Dave said, "but there's a doorway here, it'd be a perfect place for you to jump out and scare me. I'd love that."
He jumped around the corner, looking excited and ready for anything, but nothing happened. He looked very disappointed.
"How about this," Klaus said, patting Dave sympathetically on the back. "How about, if you don't do a good enough job spooking us, we'll never leave. This'll be our home now."
"Oh, I like it," Dave said. "Here that ghosts? This place is ours now! Unless you want to get out here and defend it."
"Yeah, come on, fight me!" Klaus says, then to Dave adds, "God I hope a ghost jumps out and murders me. That'd be so cool."
"That is definitely something I'd love to see," Dave agreed. "Well, maybe not the murder part, I don't know how to avenge you if it's a ghost."
"I'm sure you'll figure it out."
It was thirsty work, running around yelling at nothing. The first hallway a bust, they took a moment to grab some water before heading to the nearest bedroom to give it a shot. Klaus doubted they'd find anything in here either, but he might as well have a little fun with it. He kicked the door completely open and charged right in. Movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention and threw him off. Reflexively he chucked his water bottle at whatever it was.
"Christ!" he exclaimed as he realized it was the ghost of an old woman, pale and gaunt. The water bottle flew through her and clattered harmlessly against the far wall.
"Ghost?" Dave guessed. Then he held out his own bottle of water. "Want to try again?"
The ghost didn't look all that surprised to see them and Klaus wondered if they were the first to come barging in here ghost hunting. Probably not. He also wondered if this ghost had been here the first time he'd visited. Hopefully she wouldn't remember him if so. She said something in a language he didn't know which was impressive because he knew quite a few. You pick a lot up when you have people shouting at you your whole life in various languages.
"Yes, yes, hello," he said, waving a hand. "I have no idea what you're saying."
"Is she not going to attack us?" Dave asked, looking crestfallen.
"Nah, she looks harmless enough. Hey how about this!" He grabbed Dave, pulling him forward so they were standing in the ghost. The ghost made some sort of exclamation but Klaus ignored her. "One thing people get wrong is the whole cold spot thing. When you're standing right on top of a ghost, it doesn't really feel like anything. Do you feel any different, Dave?"
"No, not really," he said. "Wait. Wait, hang on, it's starting to feel a little cold now. What's happening?"
"Oh. Oh actually, she found that very offensive." Klaus said, hand on Dave's arm as he urged him a couple steps back as the ghost started yelling at them, gesturing wildly. "Look, miss, I'm very sorry, we didn't-" He stopped because she was clearly not listening, and instead began shuffling Dave and Ben out of the room. "Oh, yeah, we should go. We should definitely go, hurry."
Dave practically giggled as the three of them fled and Klaus couldn't help but join in.
"Were you getting scolded or was she crying?" Dave asked once they were a few rooms away. "Because that'll decide how funny I think all that was."
"She was absolutely pissed" Klaus exclaimed. "I was afraid for my life!"
"At least we know how the whole cold spot thing works now," Dave said. "Just don't make them angry! Unless of course you could do with a nice cool breeze."
"Can you imagine doing this for a living?" Dave said excitedly as he dropped to the floor, leaning against the wall, water in hand as they took a break. Klaus sat down next to him and laid with his head in Dave's lap.
"You realize that if this takes off and we really can make a living this way, we'd essentially be being paid to mess around and have fun," Klaus said, grinning up at him. "No more job applications for me, and no more mopping for you!"
"So you're really okay with this?" Dave asked, suddenly looking concerned, his hands brushing through Klaus' hair, massaging his scalp.
"What, are you kidding? Of course I am! Why wouldn't I be?"
"Well, I mean, you have spent most of your life trying to avoid seeing ghosts. Now we're seeking them out. How does that feel?"
"Kind of amazing actually," Klaus said with a laugh. "It's like I'm finally getting my revenge, keeping them up all night for a change."
"I'm glad," Dave said, adjusting to pull Klaus closer into his arms so he could capture his lips in a quick kiss. "Hey, I just wanna make sure you know, I'm proud of you."
"Aw, come on," Klaus said, trying to brush aside the compliment, giving Dave's shoulder a shove but it was half-hearted and he didn't pull away.
"No I mean it," Dave continued. "Look how far you've come, how long you've been sober. I know how hard this has been on you, I just want you to know that what you've done is no easy feat. No matter what the future holds, and no matter what you decide to do, I'm just so proud of you."
Most people seemed to think that all this was just Klaus doing the bare minimum, nothing to be proud of. It was discouraging, especially with how much Klaus struggled with it, but it was also weird for someone to actually acknowledge how hard he was trying. Weird, but nice, knowing he didn't have to pretend with Dave, that he wanted to celebrate even the seemingly inconsequential because it was important to Klaus.
"Okay, we were trying to have a moment and talking about messing with ghosts, it's not fair to turn it around on me like that. If I cry it's gonna smudge my eyeliner and I've gotta go back on camera like that, Dave!"
"Sorry, sorry," Dave said, but he was grinning and didn't look at all apologetic. Still, he pulled Klaus into another hug and Klaus couldn't complain about that.
Klaus readjusted so he could wrap his arms around Dave as well, kissing him. All of this was more than a little terrifying. Getting clean had been the hardest thing Klaus had ever done and it was still a daily struggle. But he didn't have to do it alone. Things had looked bleak his entire life, but maybe things were starting to look up. He had Dave again, and he was happy. Happier than he thought possible, feeling so incredibly fond and happy and grateful.
The last bit of their stay involved them sleeping in the house. Ben left, planning to return to pick them up in the morning. This time, Dave was the light sleeper, startling awake every time the house settled. Nestled against his chest Klaus actually slept okay for a change, spirits reaching out to him through dreams bothering him more than any of the ghosts hanging around there. Waking up in Dave's arms always made him forget the dreams, though.
"Morning," he said, sitting up to place a kiss on Dave's nose.
"How about we pretend it's not," Dave said, voice groggy.
"But I'm hungry," Klaus said, managing to disentangle his limbs from Dave.
"Oh, food does sound good," Dave admitted, following reluctantly as they crawled out of their blankets and moved to the kitchen.
It was cold this early in the morning in the old drafty house, but that hardly mattered. They draped a blanket over their shoulders and huddled together, sharing a chair as they sifted through the grocery bag of food they'd brought. Klaus couldn't help but smile as he watched Dave whisper a bracha before they began eating and somehow all of this felt different than any other meal they'd shared together; more intimate, more like home.
Not the building itself of course, the place didn't matter. Maybe it had something to do with being alone in an empty house together. Well, mostly empty if you didn't count the ghost. She at least was keeping to herself since their encounter the night before. But with the early morning sunlight streaming in through the windows dying everything golden, Klaus wondered if this was what it would be like, sharing a life with Dave.
Klaus' future had seemed like some sort of unimaginable, unattainable thing. He only ever lived in the moment because who knew what next week would bring? Nothing ever remained the same and each day saw him in a completely different place with completely different people. It was easier not to get attached to anything. Who even knew if there would even be a future?
But then he'd met Dave, and even with the war raging all around them, somehow it became the easiest thing in the world imagining spending the rest of his life with Dave. Even if everything else changed, he would always have this one constant, this one person he wanted to be happy, to make proud. Suddenly the idea of a future was exciting, even just figuring out the mundane felt like an adventure together. He thought he'd lost Dave once before, and he wouldn't risk their time together again.
"Not exactly Mom's cooking, but not a bad way to start the morning," he said, not really sure how to even put everything he was feeling into words. He reached out and took Dave's hand, squeezing gently.
"You're always a good way to start the morning," Dave said, kissing his cheek. "Nothing else really matters."
"Aw, sap. Even waking up in an old abandoned house?" Klaus elbowed him gently.
"I'd certainly prefer a building with heating, but yeah," Dave laughed. "Speaking of, do we have to start living here? Who won the house in the end, us or that ghost lady?"
"Oh she definitely won, hands down," Klaus said. "She was terrifying."
