Kraken stared after Vanya as she ran away. He was beyond shocked, beyond the point where he could even run after her or split before the cops came. He just stood there, trying to figure out what the hell had just happened. When he realized that his brain just wasn't up to the task he decided that he'd find out from the girl herself.
"What was that about?" asked Jen as she came up behind him.
He swore inside, which was mildly tame since he was just getting ready to go after her. Thoroughly irritated he snapped out;
"I have no fucking clue, alright?"
"Geez," she said, sounding disdainful, "Okay, okay, not something you want to get into. Well, come on."
There was a pause as his brain tried to digest this information.
"Where?"
"You were walking me home, remember?" she said, putting particular force on the last word, "I mean, I know things got messed-up there with your sister, but you couldn't have forgotten it that soon."
In his experience Kraken had found out that many crimes weren't intentional. Many of them were founded in stress and done on the spur of the moment. He had never really understood how a person could let something like that happen though. Control was something that he prided himself on, so he'd never given it much thought. Now though, now he understood completely. Now he could fucking sympathize.
However, he did not commit a crime. No, that would only be caused by a complete lack of control and he still had some. So what he did next was the closest thing he could do.
"You know what?" he said harshly, "I don't know how to politely break-up with someone, never gave it a try, so I'm going to have to do this the blunt way. You were a fucking mistake. You irritate the hell out of me, your nickname made me sick, and I never want to see you again. That good enough for ya?"
Jen stared at him, her mouth slightly open and her eyes wide.
"I…I…I…" she sputtered.
"Yeah, I thought it would be," he said.
Swiveling away from her he darted down the street. Soon it started raining, but he was used to running in the rain. He found a shoe on the sidewalk as he continued, which worried him. Vanya wasn't a runner, but if she had left a shoe behind that meant serious business. He continued on before reaching the Hargreeves manor, hoping that she was there and in the mood for a talk.
.
.
.
"Let's just calm down," Horror said after a few minutes, "Alright?"
There had been a lapse in Vanya's sobs, so he figured it was a good time to suggest a bit of a break. She gave him a small nod and he gently guided her to the couch. Vanya sat down weakly, not bothering to wipe away her tears. To him, and this was a rather biased opinion since Horror was such an optimist, she looked like a mess.
As inconspicuously as possible he looked down at her feet. They were scratched up but so far they hadn't started to bleed much. There was at least that to be thankful for. On the other hand, she was barefoot in the first place and he distinctly remembered her wearing shoes. That couldn't be good.
He picked up a glass of water from the coffee table and offered it to her. Horror thanked his lucky stars that all of the soda, juice, milk, and coffee had been mixed into the giant punch bowl earlier that evening by Séance in an attempt to make 'the ultimate drink'. Well, not so much thanked as saw the reason for, since he wouldn't have had water otherwise. By the time he and Pogo had gotten down there it was a mess, but again with the reason.
She half snatched it out of his hands and started gulping it down. When she finished he could see that she was still thirsty, but she'd probably get sick if she had more. Vanya looked at him before sighing.
"Sorry I ruined your sweater," she said.
Horror looked down and shrugged.
"Just mascara, lipstick, and water," he said, remembering how everything had been running, "Nothing that won't come out. At least it cleaned up your face."
Not even the corners of her mouth twitched. She just stared miserably at the floor.
"Hey hey," he said, hugging her, "Can't be that bad."
"You weren't there," she said, sniffling again.
Vanya leaned her head onto his shirt, seemingly grateful for something to lean on.
"Just tell me about it, alright?" he asked soothingly.
Looking up at him she opened her mouth, as if to speak. Then the front door opened.
.
.
.
Kraken walked inside and stopped dead. Both Horror and Vanya were looking at him. He felt an odd surge of anger and oddly enough, jealousy. Inside he knew that it was unjustified, because it was Horror of all people. Even so, if anyone should've been comforting her after the events of the night, it should've been him.
There was very little time for him to contemplate this though. The next thing he knew Vanya had scrambled from her place on the couch and bolted up the stairs. He started after her, only to be stopped by a slimy tentacle. Furiously he looked at Horror, who to his surprise didn't flinch under his glare.
"What did you do?" asked Horror, his voice trembling, "She was nearly fine!"
Looking away from Horror he saw that Vanya had already reached the top of the stairs. Seconds later there was a loud slam as the door to her room shut. Kraken growled. He could've reached her if Horror hadn't interfered.
"Don't interfere in things you don't know shit about!" he snapped at Horror before running outside again.
Using his drainpipe of choice he scaled the wall. There was still some time to figure out what was going on. It took him very little time to get up to the second story and even less to get to the appropriate window. Just as he was about to lift the sill Vanya's hand shot out on the other side. In one swift movement she locked it and drew the curtains.
He stared at the glass as the rain beat down on it. The anger that had been building was leeching away and giving in to something cold. No matter how bad things had gotten between them she had always left the window open. The latch had never really been locked, he'd only ever asked out of courtesy. It was never ever locked, and Vanya had just locked it.
