Request: “Hello! Could you maybe possibly do a diego fic where the reader is in a depressive episode and he spends the entire day just lying with them in bed and comforting them? Thank you!!! Have a nice day <3”
requested by anonymous
Word count: 771
Pairing: Diego Hargreeves x Gender Neutral! Reader
Warnings: depressive episode, angsty but fluffy
A/n: I was in my feels when writing this. (Btw I was listening to Formidable by top when writing this) Please let me know your thoughts on it and reblog if you can <3
“Honey?” Diego’s voice echoed around the quiet apartment while he stepped inside. He scrunched his eyebrows in worry when he didn’t get anything in return.
You heard him stumble like always when he tried to take his shoes off without holding onto anything nearby. Usually, you’d at least smile at that action, but today you couldn’t muster up the energy to do so. Hell, you couldn’t even remember when was the last time you left the bed to take a shower or eat something that wasn’t dry cereal.
When you heard Diego’s steps nearing the door to your bedroom, you pulled the comforter even further up your face. You didn’t want him to see you this way, but what could you possibly do when he was already outside the door to your room?
You wanted to tell him to go away and leave you alone, but the words wouldn’t escape your parted lips no matter how much you wanted to get them out.
There was a soft knock on the wooden door before it opened wide with a painful creak.
“There you are,” Diego said when his eyes found your silhouette hidden underneath the covers. His voice turned cheerful now that he’s found you. “What are you doing in bed? It’s afternoon.”
He stepped closer before sitting down on the edge of the bed, his hand gently pulling off the comforter so he could look at your beautiful face. But when your eyes didn’t meet his, and a smile didn’t take over your features, he took a deep sigh.
“It’s back, isn’t it?” Diego reached out his hand to push a lonely strand of hair away from your forehead.
You nodded weakly in response, and it was all it took for your partner to spring into action. He left your side for a few minutes disappearing into the bathroom before you could hear the sound of running water. When he came back, he quickly threw the covers off of you and lifted you up into his arms. You looked at him confused while he carried you towards the bathroom.
“Diego, what are you doing?” you asked, holding onto his neck with your arms loosely thrown over his shoulders. You didn’t have to worry about falling because Diego would never let that happen.
Inside the bathroom, he sat you down on the edge of the tub, helping you get out of your clothes so you could step into the bubbly water. You curled your legs up, resting your head on your knees and watching how the water rippled with your movement before it stilled again.
Diego took care of you, gently splashing the warm water onto your back and arms. He even washed and conditioned your hair, sculpting a mohawk on top of your head and making you smile weakly at his antics. His heart flapped cheerfully at that sight, and he wished that grin would stay on your face forever.
When the water got cold, Diego decided it was time to finish the bath. He helped you climb out of the bathtub and left you in the room alone so you could dress in the clothes he placed on the edge of the sink. In the meantime, Diego grabbed your laptop from the desk and put on one of your favorite shows. He thought about running to the kitchen to get some snacks but decided against it because he wasn’t sure if he would even find anything in the cupboards.
Entering the room, you frantically searched for your partner’s silhouette. At first, you didn’t really want him to see you in this state, but his presence made the bad thoughts in your head too foggy to focus on. Diego’s gentle words and touch made you feel lighter and more present. You weren’t sure you could get out of your mind that fast without him.
“Chop chop, get in,” Diego’s voice beckoned, making your eyes snap in his direction, and in what seemed like seconds, you were already crawling underneath the covers beside him. “Still too far away.” The man sighed, pulling you closer, so your side was pressed tightly to his body.
“Thank you, Diego,” you mumbled after a few minutes of silence between you. You were so lucky to have him in your life.
“What are you thanking me for?” He kissed your forehead, leaning his cheek on the top of your head. “I’m just here for you to remind you how strong you are. And you’ll get through whatever is bothering you, love.”
Diego will make sure of it. He wasn’t going to leave you alone with your thoughts.
Me: I'm going to write such a lewd fic. So much sex. No feelings. Only smexy shenanigans. A lot of them. You can't stop me. I'm feeling nothing. I'm here for a good time only. No angst. Nothing.
The Story, actually writing itself: hold my beer
Me:
The Story:
Me: please no
The Story:
Me:
The Story:
Me:
Me:
Me: ,, oh but of course they are crying and professing each other undying love now
for my readers, i really think you’ll like the next chapter. i’m excited about it—it’s a really important one, and i hope you feel as fulfilled as i do finally wrapping up the story as it comes a full circle. thank you again as always — it’ll be out tomorrow <3
In which Five can time travel, but can't control it, and ever since he was a child he's been accidentally travelling forwards and backwards all over his own and Klaus' timeline.
Its friggin fantastic, guys. So good. Check it out, trust me.
Summary: Y/N’s boyfriend broke up with her unexpectedly and the Hargreeves goes and finds out the truth.
Pairing: Hargreeves x sibling!reader
Title Reference: Better Than Revenge x Taylor Swift
Word Count: 2.1k words
Warning: swearing, violence
✤ · ✤ · ✤ · ✤ · ✤
It was all so sudden, I thought that me and him were alright. We've just got back from a trip couple of days ago, taking cute couple pictures and posting it on social media.
Every night, he told me that he loved me and he would never let me go. It took us hours to even hop out of the hotel bed because he would want to cuddle with me all morning. All the love he shared that I thought was genuine didn't mean anything to him.
Was a blind? Was I too naive? Should I have known me and him were in a fake relationship this whole time? Did I waste a year and a half of my life thinking that he loved me? I didn't know what was real anymore.
The only truth that came out of this was that my boyfriend and I were over with. Everything else was a blur.
'Y/N?' Allison tapped me on my shoulder. 'Are you coming inside?'
I've been in my head all day since I got the breakup text from my boyfriend, I totally forgot that I was outside sitting next to Ben's memorial statue.
As I continued to stare at the ground, I shook my head. 'No, thanks.'
'It's about to rain, you should come inside.' Allison still sat beside me even with the complicated weather outside, concerned as she knew something was wrong with her sister. 'What's wrong?'
'You know the best days of my life was supposed to be this trip with my boyfriend?' I slightly chuckled, feeling stupid about myself as I said those words at loud. 'Turns out I was wrong.'
'What did John do?'
I bit my lips and sighed; I couldn't even blame him really. 'It's all my fault. For believing that this was all true, for thinking that he was happy with the relationship. I'm so fucking stupid.'
'What did he say to you?'
'He said enough.'
Allison quickly stood up and left my side. 'I'll be inside, come join me soon okay?'
✤ · ✤ · ✤ · ✤ · ✤
Allison POV;
The things that Y/N said hit a nerve. I already knew something was not right with the relationship. There was always something off with John but I figured if Y/N trusted him, I should too.
I've should've trusted my guts.
It was one thing to hurt my sister's feelings but to make Y/N sad to a point where she sat in the rain made me very upset and angry.
Y/N was the cheeriest one out of the bunch, constantly making us smile when we're down. Her smile was how we all got through the day, especially during our childhood with our so-called father.
It always took a lot for her to get mad or upset about anything. This already proved that John had something to hide and I would do anything to find out what was going on with his life.
I didn't want to leave Y/N alone under the dark, gray clouds but she seemed as though she was not going anywhere at all. I gave a kiss on the top of head before I walked back into the building.
'What's wrong with her?' Diego peeked through the window, watching Y/N leaning next to Ben's statue.
'John broke up with her and I'm going to find out exactly why.' I flared my nose, infuriated about this situation between my sister and her ex-boyfriend.
Diego furrowed his eyebrows, confused about everything. 'W-wait, John and her broke up? Didn't they just come back from their cute little trip?'
'He's a fucking liar is what it is. I swe-'
'Allison, are you sure he's a prick?' Diego tried to be civil which I completely understood but something about my instincts told me otherwise. 'We have zero proof of why this man broke up with Y/N.'
'That's what I'm trying to find out. I just don't trust him. It doesn't make any sense at all.' I rolled my eyes, taking a deep breath. 'You can watch Y/N while I go do some digging.'
Diego chuckled, 'Are you kidding me? I'm coming with you. Let's expose this man.'
✤ · ✤ · ✤ · ✤ · ✤
Diego POV;
Luther, Vanya and Five were left with Y/N at home to make sure she was comfortable and feeling better. We also had to be extra careful about Y/N finding out about us stalking her old boyfriend.
If Y/N even got a hint about me, Klaus and Allison's whereabouts, her emotions will get the best of her and she will not hesitate to use her ultrasonic scream to try to get to us.
Y/N was the most level headed out of all the Hargreeves but her number one pet peeve was people digging through private lives. Her finding out the truth especially in the fragile state she was in would ruin us.
And seeing her hatred towards paparazzi and the way she fought them off on her off days as Number Eight, I would never want to be Y/N's enemy.
Which was why Allison, Klaus and I, the mouthy triggering siblings had to leave the house. Klaus and I privately argued that Five should've been with us but with his smart mouth, we knew he was going to use his "genius brain" as an excuse to stay and distract Y/N.
Klaus didn't like that, given the fact that Y/N and him were tight like glue. But everyone knew that Klaus was the number one person that needed to leave the house.
'Why can't I stay with Y/N?' Klaus whined, 'You know I suck at these investigating type missions. I could be a great caregiver to our sweet sister. I would give her some warm tea-'
'We haven't even pulled over to John's house and you're already running your mouth. That's why.' I turned around toward Klaus who was laying down in the back of the car as Allison drove my car. 'You'd be the first one to tell Y/N our secret and we can't risk that, dude.'
Allison looked at our brother from the mirror, smiling. 'Don't worry Klaus, she will be fine. I promise.'
✤ · ✤ · ✤ · ✤ · ✤
Klaus POV;
The car suddenly stopped moving, Allison and Diego unbuckled their seatbelts. Ben, who was squished to the side where my legs rested rolled his eyes. 'You could've saved me some space for me to sit.'
'You're a ghost, why does it matter?' I replied back to him, I didn't think that he'd cramp up while I laid down in the back. 'Besides, my legs were on your lap so you should be fine.'
'Who are you talking to?' Diego asked me as he watched me get out of the car.
'Nobody.'
Ben yelled, just like he always does whenever I claim that I talk to myself. He had to realize we were here for Y/N, Ben can have his moment to shine some other time.
Diego, Ben and I followed Allison into John's house. Y/N used to bring Allison and I here often to hang out with John, we knew where he hid his spare key.
'Let's split up and look for some clues. It's got to be in here somewhere.' Allison mumbled, walking upstairs.
'Psst, Klaus!' Diego pointed behind him, 'You want to partner up? Maybe if we do it together it'll be faster.'
'Why are you whispering? The man isn't even here.' I chuckled at my brother, 'I think working together would take more time.'
Diego hissed, 'Fine! Be that way and go with your imaginary friend.'
'Why are you so upset? You really love me, don't you Diego?'
He pulled out his knife, looking at me intensely without saying any word. I knew Diego was sensitive but I didn't think that would trigger him to throw a knife at my face.
'I'm sorr-' before I was able to finish my apology, Diego struck his knife next to my head, hearing a loud groan from behind.
'Allison! I got him!' Diego shouted as he quickly got up and ran past me. I turned around and saw John lying on the ground, holding his shoulder in pain.
'What are you crazy fuckers doing here.' John winched.
Diego pulled the knife out of him, wiping the blood off with John's shirt before he put it back on his harness. 'Given the circumstances, I do not appreciate your tone dude.'
'See, I knew you Hargreeves were crazy. I don't know how I put up with you and your sister for nearly two years.'
'Now that's when you stop talking.' Diego stuck his finger into his knife wound, making John scream louder than he was before. 'I'm telling you, shut the fuck up before we do more harm.'
'Okay, okay!' John yelled, still grabbing onto his shoulder. All I could think about was how infected his shoulder was going to be after all this mess.
As I stared at John's wound, I went back to thinking about my poor sister. 'Why did you break up with Y/N?'
✤ · ✤ · ✤ · ✤ · ✤
Y/N’s POV;
'Rock, paper, scissors, shoot.' Luther and Vanya said in sync. They have been at it for about an hour now, I've never seen two human beings intrigued in this boring game before.
Five just stared at them with an angry face like always, all he has been doing was mumbling to himself and complaining about something I couldn't hear from here.
'What are you guys doing exactly?' I questioned my brothers and sister that has been in the living room with me for over an hour doing nothing.
At first it was odd that they were sitting with me, quiet and not saying a word but I didn't question anything. Now it was weird of them to be here as if they were keeping an eye on me.
'Just keeping you company.' Luther grinned, 'Do you need anything?'
'No, thanks.' I gave him a soft smile, asking an additional question. 'Did Allison say anything to you guys?'
I was in such an emotional state, I blurted the end of my relationship to Allison without thinking of anything. What happened between me and John was over, clearly over and if he wanted that I couldn't say no.
Knowing how overprotective Allison can get of me, I was worried what trouble she got herself into. I hoped she wasn't doing what I thought she might be doing.
'Nope, nothing.' Five, Luther and Vanya all said in the same tone.
'Y/N!' I heard Klaus screaming from the front door, rushing inside to come see me. 'He's a fucking dickhead!'
'Who?' I asked Klaus as he was trying to catch a breath, leaning into the couch to rest.
'Your fucking boyfriend, that's who.' Diego walked in right behind Klaus, anger flushed all over his face.
Allison rolled her eyes, hitting Diego's shoulder while standing next to him. 'You don't have to say it like that, geez.'
'What did you guys find at his house?' Luther asked.
'At his hou-' I looked at the three of them, confused. 'What did you guys do?'
'While Vanya, Luther and I were here distracting you Klaus, Allison and Diego went to John's house to find clues as to why he broke up with you.' Five summarized, with a big smirk on his face.
My eye shifted towards Allison, slowly shaking my head. 'You know how I feel about this.'
'Hear me out, okay? He-'
Diego cut Allison off, 'He had a ultrasound picture in his hand Y/N. John is a fucking asshole and I was so close to punchin-'
'He what?' Luther yelled, immediately standing up and towering over everybody. 'Where is he right now?'
'Laying down on his living room floor because Diego threw a knife through his shoulder.' Klaus added.
'Y/N, I'm so sorry okay? But I had to go see for myself and you being sad is the last thing I want to see.' Allison took a step closer to me. 'You we're blaming yourself about this breakup and I didn't want you to do that. That's why I went.'
There were no words left to say; I felt angry, sad, disappointed that my boyfriend of almost two years had a different girl the whole time. John was even about to have a family with some other woman.
I clenched my first as I thought about John, the more flashbacks I had of our "happy times" the angrier I got.
My siblings started to notice the change of my expressions. Klaus' eyes widened, 'Are you okay Y/N?'
'Come on guys, let's go get him.' I took my jacket from the couch, quickly putting them on as I walked towards the front door. All my siblings started to cheer as they walked next to me, Diego and Klaus hugging me from each side.
'Let's get this son of a bitch!' Diego screamed with his fist in the air.
Hiiii im looking for a tua fic and i was wondering if you could help me. Klaus dies and he family is sad obvi, i rember his funeral had press and eventualy klaus woke up and dug himself up from the grave
I’m sorry I haven’t read it and I tried a quick search and found nothing. Anyone else know?
This is about the Icarus boy, the one who flies and who falls and burns and drowns and comes up covered in blood and swinging.
This is about the Kronos boy, the boy with his restart’s and his loops and his seconds, not decades.
This is about the Odysseus boy, with his ten year war and ten year journey and a family who doesn’t know he is coming home.
(this is about the boy with so many ties to greek myths i could not possibly name them all)
This is the boy with his pride and his time and his loyalty loyalty loyalty.
This is the boy who’s not looking for happy, the boy who is haunted by his father with his i told you so’s, the boy who lives with corpses and- what i did, i did for my family.
This is the boy named Five, a boy from a life gone past, a 58 year old man who grew up in a world that was destroyed 13 times over in the body of someone too young for his time.
---
It starts with pride, a table, a meal and a knife, and regret regret regret.
Or maybe it starts the first time he sees Number Four getting hit with his father’s cane, overwhelmed with protectiveness and something in him that tells him to hide it, love is a weakness number five, you must never let it corrupt you.
Or perhaps it starts with destiny. With-
On the 12th hour of the first day of October 1989, 43 women around the world gave birth.
This was unusual only in the fact that none of these women had been pregnant when the day first began.
Regardless of whenwhyhow it happens, it does, he pushes through time and he falls, he flies higher and higher and suddenly he’s drowning in ash.
Here, I wrote a fluffy fic about our favorite kiddos ruining Veginald’s holiday party.
REGINALD THROWS A CHRISTMAS PARTY: IT GOES AS EXPECTED
"Typical," Five spat as he listened to Grace's announcement about the Christmas party. "Dad even knows how to take the fun out of holidays. I'm sure this soiree will be full of big shot politicians or whoever he's trying to schmooze these days."
He turned and started pacing around the room, hands pulling at his hair. "And what do we get to do? We get to perform tricks, like the trained monkeys that we are."
"Hey!" Luther responded. "Five, that's enough. Remember Dad's lecture? About how we need to show good manners at all times? This could be an opportunity for the Umbrella Academy."
Five scoffed and turned away. He was sick of Number One's blind obedience and repetition of Dad's rhetoric.
Apparently, he wasn't the only one. "Opportunity, my ass," muttered Diego. "He just wants to humiliate us."
"Diego! Language." Grace interjected. Once delivering the announcement she had stood calmly, allowing the children the opportunity to speak, but foul language always triggered her circuits.
"You boys are just spoilsports," Allison decried even as her eyes lit up with excitement. "This is going to be so much fun!"
"Really?" Viktor asked with awe. "Are you going to sing a solo, Allison? Gosh, I would be scared to sing in front of so many people."
In reality, Viktor was just praying that he wouldn't be excluded from this event. It's not like performing at a Christmas party required one to be special, right?
"Have you picked out a song, Allison?" Grace asked.
Allison took a breath, and set a smile on her face in contrast to her scowling brothers. "I'm going to sing…'All I Want for Christmas is -" and she pointed at Luther as she belted out the words "Youuuuuuuu'."
Luther turned a shade of crimson and looked away as the other children rolled their eyes simultaneously.
Grace simply nodded. "That sounds lovely, dear." She turned to the cluster of boys slumped on the couch. "Klaus, Ben, do you know what you want to do?" Grace asked. Klaus nodded his head vigorously while Ben shook his side to side fearfully. "Remember children, we need to tell your father tomorrow what you will be performing, so if you don't have a song you want to sing, I suggest you use the rest of this library research period to find one."
"This is stupid," said Diego, crossing his arms across his chest and leaning back against the couch cushions.
"We could sing a song together," Luther suggested, and the others immediately scowled. "As a team. How about the '12 Days of Christmas'?"
A collective groan chased its way around the room.
"Luther, if you think I'm singing five golden rings, you've got another thing coming" Five hissed. He knew he had hit the mark when he saw Luther scowl, his face turning even redder.
Before he could reply, Five continued. "Besides, I'm not singing, with you or anybody else. Viktor can play the violin and I'll accompany him on the piano."
Viktor looked over at Five, her eyes wide and hopeful. "Really? You - you mean that?"
"Sure," Five shrugged. "Why not. It's the best shitty option. Pick out what you want - I don't really care. Just find me the sheet music today so I'll have enough time to practice." With that, sat down in one of the library's big oak chairs, pulled the notebook he always carried out of his pocket, and began ignoring his siblings.
"Oh!" Viktor exclaimed. "Oh, thank you, Five! I’ll go pick something right now. Mom?" he turned to Grace. "Do we have sheet music in the library?"
Grace nodded. "Yes dear, I believe we do. Does anyone else want to look at sheet music?"
"I don't need sheet music, I know the words already," Allison said. "And I don't want Five to accompany me, anyway."
"Good, cuz i didn't offer," Five muttered, not looking up.
"I'll accompany you, dear" said Grace. "What did you say you wanted to sing? All I Want for Christmas? Is that by Irving Berlin? He's your father's favorite, you know."
"No, it's by Mariah Carey!" Klaus rolled his eyes and swayed his hips, mimicking Allison's earlier movements lewdly. "All want for Christmas is yooooouuuuu!" Luther's ears turned an additional shade of red.
“Ok, come on, we have to pick something to sing,” Luther says through gritted teeth. “How about ‘White Christmas’?” Diego and Ben both shook their heads vehemently. Now that they knew it was Dad’s favorite, anything by Irving Berlin was off limits.
“Hey we should do something fun. Like, 'Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer’?” Klaus looked around hopefully, but saw no takers. “Ok, what about ‘Frosty the Snowman’?”
“Klaus, we’re almost eleven. Not six. Let’s quit it with the kids songs.”
Klaus huffed and scowled at his brother. “Well everybody likes ‘Jingle Bells’,” he muttered.
Diego looked up at that, an idea forming in his brain on how to make the best of a bad situation. “Hey! I want to do ‘Jingle Bells’. Ben, you in?"
"Ugh, fine I guess."
"Good. You can sing and I'll do the bells," Diego smirked.
"Damn it, that's not fair Diego!" Ben protested.
"This whole situation is not fair, Ben," Diego said with a shrug. It’s either that or you sing with these idiots." He gestured over to Numbers One and Four.
"Alright, great, ‘Jingle Bells’ it is.” Luther looks around at his team. “That just leaves me and...Klaus?”
Klaus’s eyes lit up and he gave Luther a wicked smile. "Hey, I know what we can do. How about we show off those new dance moves Mom taught us?" He stood up and mimicked waltzing around the room holding an invisible partner.
"I’m not dancing with you, Klaus." It was Luther’s turn to roll his eyes.
"Whyyyyy noooot" Klaus whined, pouting at Luther as he continued twirling.
"What about...Little Drummer Boy?"
"Oh, fucking Christ, no!" Klaus yelled.
"Klaus! Language!" Grace’s smile transformed into the admonishment frown that Klaus was all too familiar with.
"Sorry, Mom," Klaus grumbled. "But Luther has the...stupidest ideas."
"How about -” Luther searched his brain for an idea. “-Silent Night’?"
Klaus rolled his eyes. "Oh, fine. I don’t even care anymore."
“Now that that’s decided, maybe we can get back to ‘Silent Reading Time’” Five muttered again from his chair.
The show went off....well no one would say without a hitch. But it went off just the same.
Allison insisted on going first (of course) and while her exuberance embraced the spirit of the holidays, her propensity to barely miss the high notes while making up for the lacking pitch with excessive volume was more than enough to put a small crease between Reginald’s eyes.
Sir Hargreeves seemed to relax slightly (as much as relax was a verb that could be used to describe the uptight host) as Five and Vanya went next, playing a passable rendition of ‘Greensleeves’. Reginald was pleased to see that Number Five managed to smile and look relatively charming (if one didn't look too closely at the sarcasm buried beneath the smile). He didn’t notice that Vanya was as red as a beet because he didn’t look at Number Seven at all.
Numbers Two and Six (an odd pairing, thought Reginald absently) entered the stage area next. As Grace began playing the lively tune, Diego produced a set of sleighbells and began ringing them with forced enthusiasm. While his mouth moved at the appropriate times, it became quickly apparent that the only vocal sound was coming from Ben, a sound which grew quieter and quieter until it disappeared completely by the third verse, leaving Grace’s piano notes and Diego’s bell ringing to finish out the song.
Sir Reginald’s frown had returned.
As his guests clapped coolly and politely, he was glad to see the least disappointing child stepped out in front of the piano. Number One’s uniform was crisp, his hair was neat, and he stood with correct posture. Sir Reginald breathed an inaudible sigh of relief.
“Where is Klaus?” Luther whispered out of the corner of his mouth at Diego and Ben as he passed, but they only shrugged.
Well, the show must go on. Luther pasted on his best smile, and nodded to Grace solemnly. And, as rehearsed, he opened his mouth and took a breath just as the instrumental bars of the music led towards the start of the first verse. Luther had practiced those words with Grace relentlessly over the last week, until he could utter them in his sleep. He knew the words backwards and forwards, and even considered singing in the original German (which he spoke fluently).
Alas, Luther never got to utter a single syllable. Just as he opened his mouth, he saw a movement out of the corner of his eye. Klaus stumbled into the ballroom, his disheveled uniform covered by a rich velvet cape that bore a surprising resemblance to a curtain from one of the third floor guest rooms. There was a crown of tinsel jammed on his head crookedly, and several long garlands wrapped around his shoulders and torso.
Luther blew his cue. And the next one. And the one after that, as Grace circled back smoothly for the third time. He was frozen in place in horror at the sight before him.
Klaus appeared to be oblivious to the crowd, oblivious to the beat, but not quite oblivious to Luther as he shot his brother a dastardly wink as he spun past. Half a waltz, half ballet, and half a herb-induced trance, Klaus stumbled, bowed, and spun around for a good fifteen seconds before he finally crashed into one of the Christmas trees, causing it to topple over onto the piano with a tremendous crash.
That snapped Luther out of his trance. A quick look at their father showed barely restrained hostility. Luther was sure that it was only the presence of the many guests, some of which were chuckling politely, others who found a sudden interest in the buffet table, keeping Reginald's temper at bay.
Luther knew he was expected to fix this situation, so he did the only thing he could think of: he walked over to his brother, extracted the flailing mess of limbs from the tree's branches, slung him over his shoulder, and walked as quickly as decorum would allow out of the room.
“And to alllllll, a good night!” Klaus cried out, his voice carrying over the sound of the piano and echoing in the high ceilings of the Academy ballroom.
The other children scrambled to make their exits, trying to be invisible to their father's enraged stare. Ever unflappable, Grace played on, the piano music soothing over the sounds of the disaster children's shoes shuffling over the polished floors.
The children were each made to do seven days of dishes as a punishment.
Luther and Diego both handled their tasks with the usual competitive stoicism of Numbers One and Two.
Allison and Ben grumbled incessantly during their punishment days about how it was all just so unfair.
Viktor offered to do Five’s share. He felt bad, knowing that Five didn’t do anything to deserve the punishment.
“Oh, no way.” Five responded with an absent wave. When Viktor made to protest, he continued. “Klaus is going to do them, aren’t you?”
Klaus gave a wide grin.“Oh sure, fine, whatever. It was totally worth it. I mean did you guys see Dad's face? It was as red as Luther’s."
Unsurprisingly, the children were never again invited to Reginald’s annual holiday party.
