Sanguis • Ben Hargreeves¹

eleven

"Eden?" Allison asked, walking over to the clearly drunk woman.

She turned her head, ginger hair falling behind her head. Eden presented a lopsided grin, and she took another shot.

"Hey~ Allison~" Eden drawled, swaying slightly. "What's... Up~"

"Are you... Drunk?" She questioned.

"Maybe a little~" Eden imitated putting two fingers slightly apart, about to take another shot of vodka.

Allison quickly took the glass from Eden and dumped it, causing the girl to frown. "W- are you okay?"

"Of course I am~" She responded, trying to take the glass back.

"But- this doesn't seem like-"

"Allison let's go we have- what's going on?" Diego walked in, cutting Allison off.

Eden turned to look at Diego, a large smile on her face. "Diego! Hi~"

"What is up with her?" He whispered to Allison, confusedly looking at Eden.

"She's drunk." She whispered back. "I think it's because of Ben."

Diego sighed. "We need to go, now."

"I know, Diego. But we can't just leave her here like..." Allison gestured to the woman. "... This."

"You're right. Let's put the alcohol away and take her to bed." He agreed. "After we have to go."

"That's fine with me." She said.

Allison and Diego began putting all of the bottles of alcohol in places Eden couldn't get to, and then Diego picked her up. The two started walking up the stairs while Eden swung her legs, humming.

"Did you know I've only been in love once~" Eden drunkenly asked.

"No, I didn't." Allison responded.

"The thing is, I never told him how I felt~" She laughed sadly. "And then he died."

Allison and Diego stayed silent, sending each other worried looks. The rest of the time no one spoke, until they made it to Eden's room. The ginger woman's eyelids slowly started to close, and Diego gently placed her onto the bed. Afterward, both adults left the house; slight worry still evident in both of their minds.

✧⁠◝⁠(⁠⁰⁠▿⁠⁰⁠)⁠◜⁠✧

A loud bell rang in Eden's ears. She awoke with a banging headache, causing her to groan. She rubbed her face and slowly sat up, her headache intensifying.

"Wakey, wakey! Eggs and bakey!" Klaus said in a sing-song voice, outside in the hall.

Eden sighed out and rubbed her temples. Klaus continued talking, but she tuned out the man. She stood up, stabled herself, and began to make her way toward the door. Opening it, Eden was greeted with a smiley Klaus.

"Eden, sis, hey!" He exclaimed. "You will never believe what just happened."

"What?" Eden grumbled out a response.

"He finally popped his cherry." Klaus laughed. "Can you believe it? Our beloved brother!"

"It's not that big of a deal." Eden replied.

"Of course it i- oh! I get it!" He chuckled. "You haven't had sex before!"

Flustered, Eden started walking away. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"You so haven't." He followed after her. "C'mon, no need to hide it from your dear older brother."

"I have my reasons." Eden sat down at the table in the kitchen.

Before Klaus could continue the conversation, Luther came into the kitchen wearing a sweater with the hood up. Luther sat down at the counter, next to Eden.

"Here we go. This'll fix you both." Klaus said, pouring coffee into four cups.

Five took the cup from Luther as soon as he walked in, than he sat down. Eden pushed her cup in front of Luther, smiling at the man. He gratefully took the cup and sipped it. Eden watched at Klaus put coffee into a cup with an empty seat behind it.

"Jesus. Who do I gotta kill to get a decent cup of coffee?" Five complained.

"Sorry our bean juice isn't refined enough for your pallet." Eden grumbled, laying her head in her arms that rested on the table.

"Can we get started, please?" Luther mumbled.

"Anyone seen any of the others? Diego? Allison? No? All right, then, this is the closest thing to a quorum..." Klaus banged in the table causing both Luther and Eden to cover their ears in pain. "... That we're gonna get. Now, listening up. There's no easy way to say this, so I'm just gonna spit it out."

Eden looked up at Klaus slowly and painfully, waiting for him to continue. He stayed silent for a few seconds before Luther spoke up. "Klaus."

"I conjured dad last night." Klaus said.

"What?" Eden questioned, sitting up slightly straighter.

"I thought you said you haven't been able to conjure anyone in years." Luther said.

"Ah, yes, I know, but I'm sober. Ta-da!" He did small jazz hands. "I got clean, yesterday, to talk to someone special, and ended up having this... Conversation with dear old daddy himself."

"Congratulations, Klaus. I'm proud of you." Eden smiled.

"Thank you." Klaus put a hand to his heart and smiled back.

"Has anyone got some aspirin?" Luther asked.

"Top shelf, next to the crackers." Five pointed with his cup.

"Hey, hey, hey. This is serious, guys, all right? This really happened, I swear." Klaus told the two guys, knowing Eden probably believed him.

"Okay, fine. I'll play. What did the old man have to say?" Five feigned interest, Klaus didn't realize this though.

"Well, he gave me the usual lecture about my appearance and my failures in life." He started. "Yada yada yada, no surprise there. Even the afterlife couldn't soften a hardass like dad, right?"

"Sounds like him, go on." Eden nodded.

"But he did mention something about his murder, or lack thereof, because..." Klaus trailed off, adding suspense. "He killed himself."

"I don't have time for your games, Klaus." Luther rolled his eyes.

"Luther, don't be an ass!" Eden told the man.

"I'm telling you the truth, Luther. I'm telling you the truth." Klaus put his arm out to try and stop Luther from leaving.

"Why'd he do it, then?" Five asked.

"He said it was the only way to get us all home again."

"No. Dad wouldn't just kill himself." Luther denied.

Eden groaned. She knew Luther would deny this possibility for as long as possible, but it seems as though it was the most logical. She could tell Luther would keep denying it so Eden started tuning him out, waiting for the conversation to be over.