{Every day's another shot

[bestfuneralever]

Who: Klaus + Various
When: Month of May
Where: Solvunn + the Horizon
What: Various threads through the month
Warnings: Klaus' life lends itself to flippant references to child abuse/neglect/violence, mentioned and played out use of drugs/alcohol/other facets of addiction, mentions of death/the dead/ghosts, descriptions of depression/anxiety/panic attacks/suicidal ideation/PTSD; will clearly mark if-when it comes up.

I got high hopes lots of potential

But all I do is fuck it up

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{Mind set on overdrive » Solvunn, Primary Settlement » Louis » backdated, early/mid April

[bestfuneralever]

Klaus has been in this strange new world for long enough he's already started to adapt. That stage never takes long for him, he's a chameleon to his surroundings, and he fell easily in step with the things his host family required of him in exchange for a roof over his head. He's had worse places to stay for more, so by all accounts, it's a pretty sweet gig, if he does say so himself.

While the rest of the house sleeps, Klaus slips outside and just... wanders for awhile. Aimless. No destination in mind. He just needs the time alone to try to center himself. That's what he keeps telling himself. He's just been too busy with all the newness of everything in this world. That's obviously why he hasn't seen Ben since he got here.

His powers were dampened that first week, but he could feel it was much closer to the surface now than it was. That's what makes him think it's a prime time to try to argue his long-dead brother to the surface and out of hiding.

He wanders a well-worn path in the woods not far from the edges of the settlement. It's better if... people don't see him talking to dead air. Even with the acceptance of magic in this place, he's just used to keeping his gifts more close to the vest than he did in his Academy days. People tend to think you're more than a little head-touched when you seem to be arguing with yourself.

"Okay," he murmurs under his breath with a roll of his neck, shaking out from his shoulders down his arms and his hands all in an easy glide of almost a single motion. "Come on, you can do this..." He takes in a slow, deep breath and curls his fingers into fists, trying to focus all of his thoughts on Ben and manifesting him the way he had in the theater. With that focus, his hands start glowing with a soft blue light that comes in a quick burst and sputters and dies out a moment or two later.

This becomes a cycle for a long stretch of time. Sometimes his attempts are interspersed with random interjections- "Come on!" and "Ben, I swear to CHRIST!" and "Please, please, please." ad other various swears and utterances. i Each time he tries anew, it fails. And each time, that light gets dimmer and dimmer, expending more energy than he's used to, in the effort of calling on his brother.

"Quit ignoring me, you ASSHOLE!" he shouts into the darkness, finally throwing his hands up in defeat. Despite the anger in his voice, it's softer than he'd like, watery the way he can feel the edges of his eyes getting. This can't be happening.

It just can't.

Can it?

[mobezon]

It hasn’t been long since Louis has returned from Nocwich, from having taken the cure to a succumbing he’ll surely still feel months later. At some point he’ll acknowledge it, and chip away the remains of residue still threatening to overcome him. He spent two weeks down there and two surviving in a tundra of snowy mountains. There are aspects of Louis’ life that he still hasn’t dealt with, and it’s been decades. He knows it’ll take some time. Today is not the day. He’d taken to walking almost every night since there are few people out past midnight.

He likes his alone time. Louis had been careful not to disturb Carl when he slipped out of their shared space. What he doesn't expect is to be walking by the woods and hearing mummers that end up frustrated yells. It's a crisp sound against his inhuman hearing, and he can make out every single word. Not everyone goes into the woods. Now that he can focus on it, there's a heartbeat. It's new. When someone's emotion is strong enough, sometimes unfiltered thoughts can come through, and the anger is reflected in broken pieces of words from brain to being said out loud.

He's quick when he arrives at the end of the edge, first watching before approaching. It isn't helping his case of creepy vampire doings he falls into, but he has to assess if it's safe enough to approach. All he witnesses is a young man with a faint glow to his hands. Now that he's more used to magic as a concept, he wonders if the stranger is magic touched? Certainly it has to be a new Summoned?

He makes his presence clear as he approaches, his steps quiet. It's his voice that gives him away, his accent hints of scattered places.

"I don't think this Ben of yours is going to hear you. Something else might."

[bestfuneralever]

He spins on his heel when he hears the footsteps, startled by the sudden interruption. It's made a little better by the fact that the guy is super pretty.

Even if he has to be Wrong.

"No, he's just- he's being an ass," he says, folding his arms across his shoulders. "He does this sometimes-" he seems to be talking to nothing, but calls sharply over his shoulder, "Like a brat!"

He's not ready to accept the possibility Tall, Dark, and Sexy is right yet.

[mobezon]

It could be the nature of his kind, but there's no denying the base. Louis knows he can be a striking sight. He would find it amusing if he didn't see the young man was having a crisis. Louis takes in the stranger's full attire, finding he has a sort of grunge aesthetic and he can smell the hint of weed underneath the fabric of the clothes. The other reminds him of his time when he frequented gay bars since there was no lacking in the sight of men like him going in and out.

"I've been well acquainted with a brat in my life," he states in a dry tone. He's mostly trying to ease the atmosphere as he steps closer, the moonlight making him gleam (but not sparkle - not to be mistaken). To an actual question.

"Unless. You speak as if he's nearby, but I'd know if someone else was around here." Heartbeats. He can only sense two.

[bestfuneralever]

"Haven't we all," he mutters, just a little annoyed. Or trying to force that up in place of everything else that threatens to topple over on top of him.

He frowns a little and slowly turns toward him. "You wouldn't be able to see him. He's a ghost." A beat. "I mean that literally. Not as a figurative expression. I- I'm a medium." For better or worse.

The frantic energy needs release and so he's pacing again. "Dead doesn't mean gone when you're me!" he throws his hands up in exasperation. "And ohhh, I know he hates it, he hates... being stuck with me, but this is- it- it's really a bad time for the games, yanno?"

The words spill out of him, utterly unprompted, rapid-fire, voice pitched a little higher as the panic starts to sink in. "And it has to be that. Because nothing else makes sense, right? I-it's been thirteen years and it's always. Been. The same."

[mobezon]

It’s quite the information. Paired off with the frantic energy would put anyone off. Louis has had his share of dealing with frantic on levels that included bizarre behavior. However, it’s when he knew the behavior, and right now it’s a random stranger. Who can see ghosts.

He has to find a way to stay rooted. He makes sure to keep a respectful distance, his speed still a backdrop in case anything occurs he has to be quick about. While Klaus’ voice is pitched, Louis’ will remain calm.

“Ever visited New Orleans? Growing up I was told it was one of the most haunted places. My mama was superstitious, but she was also Catholic. Told me every little thing would open a gateway to Hell if I didn’t behave. Now I’m undead. Not a ghost. Tell me about your Ben? Could help me in understanding.” Thirteen years is a long time, and Louis has a theory that Klaus won’t like so he needs him on a less frantic level to tell him. It’s his attempt.

[bestfuneralever]

He lets out a brittle bark of a laugh. "Fuck no! I don't want to go to the most haunted places in the world, dude. These aren't the friendly Casper kinda ghosts, okay, they're fucking terrifying. Blood-soaked, wounds on display... I was four the first time I really remember seeing one of them-" He presses his palms to his eyes and lets out a soft, frustrated noise. "I never asked for this..." It's an abysmal, miserable murmur of words drowned in agony.

He sinks where he stands, flopping haplessly on his back on the forest floor, staring blankly up at the canopy of trees above him. "He's my brother... he's Korean and a know-it-all brat bookworm... and I can't..." He shakes his head, "I can't do this. I can't do any of this without him..."

The thing is... while the rest of his siblings had been forced to get used to the idea of there only being six of them, Klaus never had. Not really. Ben never really... left. Faced with the utter lack of him, the grief he'd never had a reason to process is slamming into him like a sack of bricks and Klaus is just... not doing so well with any of it.

[mobezon]

Louis tilts his head as he watches Klaus sink to the floor. He's been there, but in a quieter manner that could be seen as dramatic to surround himself with books and let his house become a mess for years. It reminds him of when Claudia left and he didn't have anyone to reach out to but his own thoughts. What had been something he rejected in his innate vampire nature, had become a comfort in other ways. Louis steps forward and leans down, deciding he's going to make a bold choice. Klaus is too distress that he figures he might have to. He's not about to leave him here in the woods to become someone's lunch.

"You've been given something out of your control. I know the feeling of never having to be alone." He means literal since he's had Claudia in his head on occasion, then he had Armand in his head. Louis never truly gave himself time to be without a companion. Vampires were creatures that needed to be with one another no matter how much he rejected what their practices brought. In Abraxas he's left alone in ways he isn't able to reach out in intimate encounters. "Now we have to."

He gently pushes into Klaus' mind. It won't solve it, but it's a temporary relief if Klaus chooses to take what he is offering - a moment of understanding.

You can do it.

[bestfuneralever]

Another time, not being currently swallowed whole by grief he never went through all those years ago when he tethered Ben to stay– because he's pretty sure that's what happened, anyway– he might latch onto that shared experience a little more. Maybe another time, they can revisit the idea.

"I don't want to..." he murmurs, his tone still full of misery. His fingers curl into a tight grip on his hair as he curls a little in on himself, it's an all too familiar position he finds himself in more often than not. Sometimes from a night after blackout levels of inebriation, but more often from trying to escape the ghosts. All except one, anyway.

He's wildly perceptible to all forms of mental influence, and grasping wildly at trying to not fall into a complete panic attack on the forest floor. So that tiny nudge is all it really takes, he clings to the feeling slipping into his mind. Something calmer than he is right now. Something knowing. Something... understanding in a deeper way than he can even really manage to comprehend right now.

"You don't know that... you can't know that..." but at least the words come out a little steadier this time.

[mobezon]

There's an irony to the way Louis is trying to in some way hypnotize the panic stricken man on the floor out of his funk. He's been there before, but the circumstances are wildly different, and he isn't aiming to seduce into a bite. He wouldn't do that to someone else, at least the turning part. He vowed never to have a fledging and he is going to the grave with it. Louis' gaze is unreadable at first, but then it softens immediately. He can admit when he is wrong.

"I don't. I do know it's just us here. Solvunn ain't so bad. If you need someone to lead you back to the settlement, I won't let anything happen to you." His next movement is bold, since words seem to be escalating, and with a gentle squeeze of his hands over Klaus' cheeks where he steadies his face so he can look at him, to focus on Louis alone.

"What if Ben wants you to move forward? See what the next day brings? Brothers tend to be well-meaning." Which is far too familiar and will always be a wound to Louis' failed attempts with his own brother. A sigh, then, "They should be. Come. Sit up. We'll walk out of here together."

[bestfuneralever]

"It shouldn't be..." he murmurs, something soft and a little whiny. It's been the same for so long, it's the disruption of change in something he's only now realizing he took so for granted that's wrecking him.

He's still mostly a heap of a person on the forest floor, but it's impossible not to pay attention when the other man forces his gaze toward him like that. Klaus looks a right miserable mess, but his eyes are on the man with his hands on his cheeks.

"He would, that asshole," He laughs, a brittle trill of a sound, at those words. But it's just enough to pull him just a little bit out of his own head. He pushes himself haphazardly up to his feet and takes a deep breath in. "Okay," he mumbles in half-hearted compliance to the suggestion to make their way back to the village.