After a month of silence, Diego's girlfriend showed up at 2:00 in the morning on Klaus' doorstep.
"I need your help."
Klaus blinked sleepily at her, still half-asleep and more confused than fearing for his life (considering she'd tried to kill his family). Then his bleary eyes took in the way she was trembling, and the slightly manic glint in her eyes. He noticed the wailing ghosts that were following her and the way she seemed to flinch at their shouts.
("Klaus," Ben would've warned him if he were there, that reprimanding tone saved just for when he was doing something particularly stupid.)
(Ben wasn't there. He was gone.)
Klaus blinked at Lila again before pulling the door open wider and shuffling to the side. "Come in."
Klaus didn't know whether he or Lila were more surprised at his easy acceptance, but she stepped into his apartment and he closed the door behind her.
He stumbled into the living room, followed by Lila and her ghostly entourage, and made his way to the adjoining kitchen. Out of some instinctive part of his powers, Klaus suspected, the clamour of the ghosts dimmed as they walked, to a manageable level.
"Sit," he instructed, gesturing at the couch.
He started the kettle and located two mugs. "You here to kill me?" he yawned, throwing the question over his shoulder. "Because that would be a real damper on our relationship."
"You'd already be dead by now."
"Fair enough," Klaus agreed, shrugging.
So, this was the girlfriend Diego had spent the past month searching for. They'd met only briefly in that barn before she'd fled. She'd grown her hair out a little since then, but also seemed less put-together. Her clothes were rumpled and a few days old (Klaus knew the signs), and her hair was unkempt. Regardless, she'd thrown out that self-assured comment about her ability to kill him.
Definitely Diego's type.
While the microwave was going, Klaus ventured into the living room, heading to where Lila was perched uncomfortably on the edge of the couch.
Her eyes narrowed as he neared, and when he reached out to poke her, a hand shot out to enclose his wrist in a deadly grip. Undeterred, and far too used to the same treatment from Five, Klaus used his other hand to prod at her extended arm.
"You're freezing," he acknowledged, confirming what he'd already suspected. Shaking off her grasp, he grabbed for the blanket draped over the arm of the couch and threw it around her. "Here."
Klaus didn't wait to see if she accepted the blanket, instead stumbling back to the kitchen as the microwave sounded. With barely a second thought, he side-stepped one of the ghosts that had followed Lila in, dragging a hand over his mouth with a yawn.
He retrieved the two mugs from the microwave and re-entered the living room, setting one down in front of Lila before seating himself opposite her, cradling his own mug.
Lila had pulled the blanket closer around her, but sat up straight, looking down at the mug with disdain and something akin to offense. "I'm not going accept some foreign drink from the brother of my parents' killer, Klaus."
Well, she knew his name at least. That was something. The association with her parents' murder though, he could do without.
Klaus tiredly raised his eyebrows. "What do you think I did? Poisoned it?"
Lila's glared intensified. "Yes. I'm not as dumb as Diego."
That made Klaus pause, tilting his head curiously. "You poisoned my brother?"
"Drugged him." Lila stiffened, drawing herself up tighter like she expected some sort of violent response from him.
(Come on, Klaus, he could practically hear Ben protesting. If that's not a red flag, I don't know what is.)
Klaus yawned. "That makes sense."
Defensively. "Oh, yeah?"
"You can kick Diego's ass and you outsmarted him." Klaus counted them off on his fingers. "You're definitely his type."
That, at least, finally coaxed a small smile from Lila before she frowned again at the mug. "I'm still not drinking that."
Klaus rolled his eyes and placed his own mug on the table, pushing it toward her. "I'll swap you. It's getting cold."
Lila watched carefully as Klaus took her mug and brought it to his lips, taking a large gulp. She didn't relax until she saw him swallow, finally reaching for the mug on the coffee table.
She sniffed at it and looked at him in surprise. "It's hot chocolate." He nodded and she scowled. "I'm not fucking seven years old."
Klaus yawned again, before gesturing vaguely at the spirits in the room. "Being surrounded by the dead tends to make things a little chilly. Hot chocolate warms you through."
Lila flinched at the mention of the ghosts but sipped at the hot chocolate hesitantly. "You know why I'm here then?"
Klaus let his eyes wander over the ghosts filling the room. Under his attention, their volume grew, rising above the unpleasant backing track of screaming and wailing to the level it had been at before entering his apartment.
Lila, Lila, Lila, Lila, Lila, Lila, Lila, Lila, Lila, Lila, Lila, Lila.
A nice switch-up in pace really. He was beginning to think the dead could only manage his name.
"I didn't think you'd picked up my power," Klaus offered honestly. "Sorry."
(Don't apologise to her, Klaus! Ben's voice pleaded in his head. Get out! Get help!)
Lila scowled down at her mug. "Why are you sorry? I'm the one who tried to steal your power without knowing anything about it."
"And now you can't shut it off," Klaus acknowledged. "They don't ever shut up. They don't even understand what's happening anymore. Just a bunch of screaming corpses. And all they know is you."
Lila tried to hide the slight trembling of her hands by lowering her mug to rest on her knee. "Can you- can you help?"
Klaus paused before setting his mug down and stretching languidly. He hadn't done much with his powers lately. Ever since Ben had…
Died, Klaus firmly reminded himself. Again.
He couldn't live in pretence about it. His siblings had been tiptoeing around him about Ben's second death, and they hadn't pushed him to train. Klaus barely bothered to banish spirits anymore, preferring their incessant wailing to the quiet of his apartment, empty of Ben's previous constant presence.
None of his siblings had even asked him to use his powers lately. But studying the woman sitting across from with the dark, uncertain eyes, who was clearly holding herself together through only a determination and grit that reminded Klaus of himself on the streets, he found he didn't mind.
Klaus closed his eyes and reached out, letting that blue light envelop his hands and that coldness sweep through him. He focused his attention on the ghosts that had followed Lila in, grasping them firmly in his mind. He opened his eyes to smile at them, holding out his left palm.
"Goodbye." With a push, most of them were gone.
Lila stared at him with wide eyes for a few seconds before she frowned, tilting her head and watching him intensely. After a moment, her hands flickered blue, but for only a second before they were back to normal.
"It's not a different power," Klaus offered when she scowled at her failure. "They're all one and the same. Don't think you can steal what you already have."
Lila deflated, pulling the blanket closer around her, staring down at her lap.
"It's not a permanent fix," Klaus informed her. "I can keep them away until I fall asleep, but that's when they tend to come back. Some ghosts just can't take a hint."
Lila scoffed softly, glaring at her mug. "Yeah, no shit."
"You can take the couch." Klaus stood, downing the rest of his hot chocolate. "I think it pulls out. But only if you promise not to murder me in my sleep."
(Please tell me you're not inviting her to stay for the night. Klaus.)
Lila looked up at that, raising an eyebrow at him. "And what about in the morning?"
Klaus shrugged and winked at her. "We'll get there when we get there."
She smiled.
He stumbled in the direction of his bedroom, snagging his headphones and Walkman from his bedside table. Re-entering the living room, he offered them to Lila.
"Music helps to block them out. Especially if you're having trouble sleeping."
Klaus had noticed the dark bags under her eyes. He knew better than anyone how the screams of the dead could keep you awake at night, and how foggy it made your head feel, operating on such little sleep.
A wave of his GOODBYE hand. "Night Lila."
He didn't hear a response as he exited the room, still exhausted and clambered into bed.
He could deal with this in the morning.
Klaus paused in the doorway to his bedroom, squeezing his eyes shut before opening them again. The mound of blankets on his couch didn't disappear.
"Huh," Klaus mused. "So, that wasn't a dream." He instinctively glanced toward his left, his eyes reflexively seeking Ben before he remembered.
Dead. Right.
Klaus stretched before stumbling into the kitchen to start the kettle and begin making breakfast.
So, Diego's girlfriend was here. In his apartment.
Diego had been searching for her ever since she'd fled. He was occasionally gone for entire days at a time, checking out some lead or another, but always circling back to them, to check in and spend time with their broken and healing family.
All of Diego's leads, however, had turned up empty. Five had even allowed Diego a few highly supervised trips with the briefcase, but they'd never even come close to her.
And yet here she was, in his living room, of all places.
Klaus should call Diego. He knew he should.
But he couldn't bring himself to.
They'd shattered Lila's world in that barn, upheaved everything she thought true. She'd run for a reason and it was clear that she hadn't wanted to stick around with them for family bonding. Klaus couldn't begrudge her that. He didn't actually know how long it had been for her, but she was allowed time to process things.
On the other hand, his family had a strict new rule about keeping secrets: don't.
Which, Klaus reasoned, was fair enough. Secrets got them Vanya quietly losing her powers when she was four years old, and being reduced to ordinariness. It got them Vanya, growing up, believing she wasn't special, until it hurt so bad that she wrote a book with all of the Academy's dirtiest secrets. It got them Vanya realising her life was a lie and it got them an exploded moon and at least two apocalypses.
He'd have to tell them eventually, Klaus concluded. But he'd leave it for now. Who knows? Lila could leave within the day and he'd be free to tell his family without infringing on her comfort.
"Do you think she's one of those heathens like Five that have their coffee black?" Klaus pondered aloud, his ears straining for a response that would never come.
Except-
"Do you usually talk to yourself?"
Klaus yelped, dropping a teaspoon to the floor. He turned to face Lila, recovering quickly and throwing an arm out in a vague gesture at the room. "Not to myself, dear. To the dead."
Lila was unimpressed. "Funny, because I don't see any of these lot responding."
Klaus took a moment to blink at the four wailing ghosts in the kitchen, clearly far from any shred of sanity, before refocusing on Lila. "Huh." He tilted his head at her appraisingly. "That would've worked for any of my siblings."
Lila rolled her eyes, sitting on a stool near the counter and stretching. "When are the Brady Bunch getting here? I doubt they'll be pleased to see me, and I'd like some notice before they try to kill me."
Contrary to last night, this morning Lila was all smirks. There was a self-assuredness in the way that she propped her feet up on the other chair, leaning against the wall. Her posture was straighter, and although she was wearing the same clothes as the night before, something about the way she idly played with a thread on her sleeve, paying him no mind, oozed confidence.
Klaus waggled a finger at her. "No murder before breakfast, capiche?" She rolled her eyes. "And I haven't told them."
(He could practically hear Ben's groan and reprimand for giving away that none of his family would know where to start if he turned up dead.)
Lila scoffed, not bothering to look up. "Yeah, right."
"We're not exactly the poster family for communication," Klaus pointed out, waving his hands in emphasis. "I'm 90% sure that if anyone in this family sat down to talk shit out, we could've avoided like two apocalypses."
Lila frowned and there was open confusion on her face for a moment. "But Mom said…" she trailed off, her expression being schooled back into that lazy half-smile.
Her mother, the Handler. The woman who'd used and lied to Lila her whole life. Klaus knew the feeling.
"She was wrong about that, at least," Klaus offered gently. "We're the most dysfunctional family you'll ever meet. Five messed up time-travel and got stuck in the apocalypse when we were thirteen, and when the rest of us were eighteen, we all went our separate ways. This is the first time we've been attempting regular communication in like thirteen years."
Lila blinked. "That is pretty messed up."
Klaus hummed in agreement before depositing a mug in front of her. "How do you like your coffee?"
Lila eyed the drink warily. "I'm warning you, if it is drugged or poisoned, I will have enough time to kill you before it takes me down."
Klaus raised his hands in surrender but grimaced when Lila hesitantly sipped at the coffee, black, no sugar. "You're a heathen," Klaus concluded.
He spun away from her, dancing over to the toaster. "I don't actually know how to cook," Klaus admitted, with a wave of the hand at the various shiny, fancy kitchen appliances decorating the kitchen. "But I made Pop-Tarts."
Klaus set a generous plate of Pop-Tarts on the counter between them (he wasn't sure when she'd last eaten) and snagged a chocolate one for himself.
Lila promptly snatched the Pop-Tart from his hand, sniffing it suspiciously before taking a bite.
"Jesus!" Klaus protested. "I told you, I'm not going to fucking poison you."
"And I told you, I'm not as dumb as Diego," Lila countered.
"Okay." Klaus nodded to himself. "We can get over this."
Slowly, so she didn't take his movement as aggressive, Klaus reached for the plate between them. Carefully, Klaus broke each Pop-Tart in half, pushing one half toward Lila and one half toward himself.
"I eat, you eat," Klaus negotiated. "It's not poisoned, but if it was, I'd drop dead first. Okay?"
Klaus reached for a blueberry Pop-Tart and Lila mirrored his actions. After carefully watching Klaus take a bite and swallow, she seemed willing to do the same.
"I'm not going to hurt you," Klaus promised with only a hint of exasperation. "You're the one who came here. You could probably kill me without lifting a finger."
(What a fantastic idea, Klaus, Ben snarked. Remind her of her world-ending powers.)
But Lila jerkily nodded and relaxed incrementally.
"I have work today," Klaus informed her, snagging another Pop-Tart. "I can get rid of as many of the nastier ghosts as I can before going – you know, without passing out – but it's probably best if you don't come to the coffee shop. Five tends to show throughout the day, and you don't want to catch him before he gets his coffee."
Lila scowled at the mention of Five, and Klaus immediately winced. Stupid. He'd forgotten their entire altercation with Lila was because of her grudge against Five. Because his time-travelling, assassin little brother had killed her parents.
Klaus assumed that Lila didn't want to actually kill his brother. Not actively, at least, because they hadn't heard anything from Five about seeing her. But it was still careless of Klaus to bring him up like that (he could practically hear Ben chastising him).
"You can stick around here if you want," Klaus offered, in an attempt at a recovery. "But please don't destroy the place, I don't wanna have to explain that to my family. You're welcome to anything in the kitchen, including the appliances – I'm dead serious here, Lila, if you wanted to steal that blender, my siblings might get off my back about eating healthier."
That lessened Lila's scowl, and Klaus reached for another Pop-Tart half.
"I get off at two," Klaus informed her.
That would give Lila plenty of time to ransack his apartment for any money or food that she wanted (he would be sure to leave his money somewhere obvious) and make her escape, unnoticed, if she so pleased. Klaus wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if he returned to an empty apartment.
They ate in silence for a few minutes more before Klaus glanced at the clock (a hideous thing, really, with plain, bold numbers against a white face) and decided it was time to head off.
Despite being full, he stuffed the last half Pop-Tart in his mouth, to hopefully assure Lila of her safety in eating all the Pop-Tarts, and wandered toward his bedroom.
He paired a simple black skirt with a white dress shirt, twirling absentmindedly in the mirror. "What do you think, Benny?"
Nothing but silence greeted him. (That was okay. Klaus was getting used to the painful ache in his chest everything that happened.)
Instead, Klaus carefully applied his eyeliner and a dark red lipstick, removed all the money from his wallet to place in his bedside drawer, and snagged his small backpack from the floor.
Lila was still in the kitchen when Klaus exited, picking at a Pop-Tart, so he twirled, spreading his arms. "Opinions?"
Lila's expression softened as she looked him over, and for the first time, Klaus didn't feel like she was waiting for him to attack her, or was readying to attack him. The gentleness quickly faded, but Lila's smile didn't.
"Suits you," she offered, tilting her head.
"Danke!" Klaus beamed at her. He pulled on his boots before heading for the door. "Remember Lila – the blender. It has to go before I get forced into another one of those disgusting health smoothies."
Klaus took a moment to breathe in deeply before focusing on the ghosts surrounding Lila, a blue glow lighting up his hands before he pushed at them, and they disappeared.
He smiled at his success, ignoring the drain on his energy. "Bye Lila!"
Klaus flicked the lock into place before closing the door behind him, but didn't bother with the deadlock, not wanting Lila to feel like he was trying to trap her. (Far from it. Klaus knew she'd picked up Five's powers. No lock could pose a significant obstacle to her.)
The small coffee shop that Klaus had grown to love was just two blocks away. It had been Vanya's suggestion that he get a job, something to occupy himself with, even if they could all live comfortably off their dearly departed father's money. And after he'd done little but lay around his new apartment for two weeks, a job had been chosen for him.
The apartment, on the other hand, had been Allison's idea. Vanya, Luther and Five had all moved back into the Academy, out of convenience more than anything else. Allison spent alternating weeks in LA and at the Academy, still working on gaining visitation rights with Claire. Klaus, on the other hand, had declared he'd rather go back to the streets than continue to live in that shithole, and he'd meant it. Though Diego was often away, searching for Lila, he'd agreed, preferring his boiler room of a home to the Academy and the years of trauma they'd suffered there.
The apartment had been a compromise. Allison had set it up for him, overseeing the decoration and furnishing herself. And Klaus spent his days somewhere that wasn't the back of an alleyway or a rehab centre.
Klaus didn't like the apartment. He didn't like its classy, modern design, or all the fancy kitchen appliances or even the stylish blue and grey quilt on his bed.
He didn't tell them that.
His family were doing great. Vanya was creating some happy memories in the Academy, Luther was learning to live as a capable member of society, Five was working with Vanya to train her powers. Every Sunday, they'd have dinner together, like a normal, functional family.
They were doing great. Klaus wasn't.
Only two other people were working when Klaus slipped into Carla's Coffees, calling a cheery greeting before disappearing into the staffroom to drop off his bag and put on his apron. Carla, a warm yet brisk woman who took no shit from anyone and was also the owner of the business, and Sasha, her nibling, a sarcastic, though well-meaning person that Klaus had taken to immediately.
Sasha caught Klaus' arm the second he exited the staffroom. "The demon-child is back," they informed him dryly, as if Klaus couldn't already tell by the commotion of the spirits. "He's been waiting for you."
Sure enough, Five appeared (not literally – he didn't use his powers in public that much) on the other side of the counter as Klaus approached.
"You're late," Five informed him, scowling.
"Only by two minutes."
Five's scowl deepened. "That's enough time for you to be murdered in some back alley somewhere."
(Klaus chose not to mention how that was more likely to occur in his apartment than outside it, considering recent events.)
"Aww." Klaus placed a hand against his heart. "You were worried!"
Five scoffed, looking away. "Hardly. I need you to make my coffee."
"Sasha could do that," Klaus felt the need to point out.
"I have no proof that they won't poison me."
Klaus rolled his eyes. People nowadays were so untrusting. (Klaus was perfectly aware that Five had run a background check on both Carla and Sasha and turned up nothing to suggest they were considering adding murder to their repertoires.)
"It is tempting," Sasha whispered in his ear as they passed. Five caught it though and glared at their back.
"Okay, no riling up the little man before he gets his coffee," Klaus called to Sasha, waving off the smirk they threw over their shoulder in response before starting on Five's coffee.
"So, why are you late?"
"Jesus, Five." Klaus' tone was a mixture of affection and exasperation. "Everything's fine. Sometimes people are a few minutes late, but that doesn't mean they've been murdered or that there's some conspiracy going on, okay? I'm going good. How's Vanya's training going?"
Five's glare lessened. "Good. She's getting a lot more precise in her control."
"That's fantastic!" Klaus clapped his hands together. "Can't wait to see that whenever I see her next."
"Sunday evening," Five stated sternly. "Same as every other week."
"Yeah, yeah." Klaus waved him off as he placed a lid on his coffee cup, pushing it forward. "Here's your disgusting, sugarless coffee, you heathen. Don't kill anyone."
Five grabbed the coffee and headed for the other end of the coffee shop, rounding the corner near the bathroom moments before a flash of blue briefly lit the hallway.
"I don't know how you deal with him." Sasha shook their head. "If he was my brother, I would've killed him by now."
Klaus grinned at them, beginning to wipe down the counter. "Oh, we've all had the urge, believe me."
(He didn't notice the figure on the roof of the store opposite the coffee shop, watching him, before it too disappeared in a flash of blue light.)
Klaus did not return to an empty apartment.
"Huh." He blinked. "You're still here."
Lila was lounging on his couch but shot him a glare. "Hoping otherwise?"
"More like, expecting," Klaus admitted.
He dropped his backpack on the floor and sank into the couch opposite Lila. "So, what do you want from me?"
Lila waved a hand in the general direction of the kitchen. "They came back after a few hours."
Lila, Lila, Lila, Lila, Lila, Lila, Lila, Lila, Lila.
Klaus frowned at the ghosts. He was too tired to banish them all – it'd been a long day at work, and he'd already pushed them away this morning, so the exhaustion was starting to pull at him. Regardless, he tugged at that coldness that had settled under his skin long ago, letting it wash over him and a faint blue light engulf his hands. With a wave of his GOODBYE hand, three of the loudest ghosts were slammed backwards, through the wall, to God knows where.
"That's all I can do right now," Klaus said apologetically. "I'm kinda tired."
Lila swung her legs off the couch to sit facing him. She gestured to where the ghosts had previously been. "That's what I want from you. I want you to teach me how to do that."
Klaus' jaw dropped. "You-? I can't-? You realise I barely have a handle on this, right?"
Lila shrugged (and didn't she seem a whole lot better after a good night's sleep and some temporary peace from the dead?). "Doesn't matter. Whatever you've got is better than what I have. I can't deal with ghosts screaming in my ears 24/7."
That… was a valid point. Klaus wouldn't want to subject anyone to that. He knew how badly it messed him up.
Klaus hesitated. He thought of the years he'd spent on the streets, high or drunk out of his mind because he couldn't deal with his powers. He remembered all the overdoses in alleyways, waking up in ambulances, the fact that he knew an EMT by first-name basis at this point and the workers at the rehab centre who were more familiar with him than his own family at times.
But… he also thought of the child he'd once been, terrified at the mangled corpses that followed him around, screaming for his help. He remembered how alone he'd felt, none of his siblings understanding how his powers worked or why he was too weak to use them.
He wouldn't wish that on Lila. Never.
"I can't make any promises," Klaus said, finally meeting her eyes. "I don't know how to teach you, I've only been able to kind of control my powers for a few years now. But I swear, I'll do my best to help you."
(He could almost hear Ben's sigh, partly amused annoyance, partly begrudging understanding, as he offered to empower the one person who could kill his family.)
Lila was smiling, a kind of nervous, uncertain but pleased upward turn of the lips.
"I'll need to understand how your powers work too," Klaus pointed out. "Are you comfortable with that?"
Lila hesitated, doubt flashing in her eyes, before she nodded. "Not like you can do much with the information."
"Okay." There'd been an idea playing at the back of his mind, an idle curiosity that could actually be useful. "Lila, can you use more than one power at once?"
The half-smile on Lila's lips disappeared and she shook her head, watching him with dark eyes.
"So, when you use one of the others' powers, do you see the ghosts?" Klaus queried. He rushed to continue. "Obviously, don't try Vanya's power right now, I like my apartment not blown up. But could you like, rumour me to pick up that cushion?"
The guarded look in Lila's gaze faded as she too considered the possibility. "I heard a rumour that you picked up that cushion."
Klaus felt himself go slack, his muscles moving involuntarily to reach for and grasp the cushion. He shook his head vigorously once he had control again.
Damn those words had sounded strange not coming from his sister's mouth.
"Did it work?" he asked eagerly. "Did they disappear?"
Lila nodded slowly. "Yes… but I can't exactly go around rumouring people all the time."
Klaus nodded, still deliberating. "Did you… did you pick up Diego's power?"
Lila nodded more quickly this time and Klaus grinned, standing and rushing down the hallway to snatch a knife from his bedroom. He reapproached Lila, setting it on the coffee table between them.
"I stole it off Diego," Klaus admitted. "One of his fancy knives for bending. Obviously, it's still not exactly subtle, but if you could just focus on moving the knife, instead of the ghosts?"
(You even brought her your own murder weapon, Ben snarked in his head. Don't do all the work for her, Klaus.)
Lila reached for the knife hesitantly. She lightly tossed it into the air and then suddenly it was dancing, swishing through the air in a lazy figure eight, traced by the movement of Lila's hand.
"They quiet?" Klaus asked gently.
Lila kept her eyes fixated on the knife. "Yep."
Klaus clapped his hands together in excitement. "This is good! Until you have my powers under control, you have other ways to deal with the ghosts."
Lila sighed, and suddenly the knife clattered to the floor. "How the hell do you deal with this?"
Klaus blinked. "Well, it's different for you. I've been dealing, or deliberately not dealing with this for my whole life."
"Even when you were a kid?"
"As long as I can remember."
"Fuck," Lila breathed. "How the hell are you still sane?"
Klaus shrugged. "Honestly? Alcohol. And drugs. I got hooked as a teenager – it makes the ghosts quiet. I can't see them when I'm high."
"Really?"
"Really." Klaus pulled himself out of his thoughts to waggle a finger at her. "But, no. You're not going down that route, young lady. It's a temporary solution to a more permanent problem."
Lila rolled her eyes but grinned at him. "Sure thing, Klaus."
Klaus liked her smile – there was a lazy, self-assured quality to it that suited her.
"We should also establish some things," Klaus stated, sitting up straighter. "I have work from 10-2 on weekdays. I don't have any problem with you staying here, if you want to, and money shouldn't be a problem. While I'm at work, I don't really care what you do, but please don't murder any of my siblings. I don't need another dead sibling following me around and criticising my life choices for all eternity."
Lila cocked an eyebrow at that last sentence but nodded. "If Five comes near me, I can't make any promises. He killed my parents."
Klaus winced and nodded. "Fair enough, but don't seek him out." He hesitated. "For what it's worth, Diego didn't know about what Five did. None of us did."
Lila hesitated before nodding, and Klaus hurried onward.
"On that uncomfortable subject – I have to tell my family." A sour look came over Lila's face and he rushed to continue talking. "I'll make sure they stay away and you don't even have to see them. But Diego's going insane searching for you and he's driving the rest of us up the walls. I think he'd like to know you're safe."
Lila's bitter expression faded to a kind of hesitant curiosity. "He's really looking for me?"
Klaus laughed softly. "Lila, he's kind of crazy about you."
Lila smiled, bashful but gratified. (Oh yeah, Diego's feelings were definitely reciprocated, Klaus concluded.)
"So, is that okay?" Klaus pressed after a moment.
"As long as you can keep them away," Lila agreed.
"They've got like a shit-ton of ghosts following them anyway," Klaus rationalised. "It's probably not great for them to be around you."
Lila nodded firmly in agreement. "No thanks."
"I think that's it," Klaus concluded. He pulled off his boots to slump back onto the couch, curling into himself and shooting Lila a pleading look. "Would you be a dear and make me tea? Please?"
(He held an abstract hope that by showing he trusted her, she'd begin to return the trust.)
Lila rolled her eyes, but stood. "Fine, lazy."
Klaus readjusted himself so he could see her moving around the kitchen, starting the kettle. "Tea's in the-" he cut himself off as Lila reached for the correct canister without hesitation. "Never mind, of course you know."
His eyes lazily landed on the blender. "Lilaaa! I told you to get rid of that thing!"
Lila let out a short laugh.
"You know your boyfriend has like a ridiculous thing about healthy food, right?" Klaus pointed out, noticing the way Lila tensed at the word boyfriend before relaxing and smiling slightly. "He's the whole 'my body is a temple' type."
Lila winked at him. "Well, it pays off. Have you seen his body?"
"Gross," Klaus complained, waving her off. "I don't need to be thinking these things about my own brother."
The kettle finished boiling and Klaus watched languidly as Lila poured the water into his mug.
"Be a dear and add a teaspoon of sugar please," Klaus requested, rolling back onto the couch to stare at the ceiling.
A few seconds later, Lila neared him to place the mug on the coffee table.
"Thank you!" Klaus reached for the mug, cradling its warmth in his hands before taking a sip.
He immediately spat it out, his head jerking to glare at Lila. "What the hell? I said, sugar not salt!"
Lila smiled at him sweetly. "Then make your own tea, asshole."
Diego, Klaus decided, had excellent taste in women.
(He could almost hear Ben's laughter.)