End of the Beginning [Five]

Five

Coffee or tea?

Emery sprinted forward, pulling open one of the large doors with considerable force and slipping inside, eyes going wide as he was forced to duck when he saw laser beams of green sweep past him, arcing overhead and destroying everything in its wake.

"Merde! Holy fucking shit, you almost killed me!" He cursed, words slipping out before he had the chance to remind himself to speak English. He coughed, spluttering as debris rained down on him from a broken pillar that had been seared and split in half. It seemed that the recent renewal of powers came with some heightened side effects.

The shouting stopped in an instant, eight sets of eyes staring at him in shock, both at his words and at the person they belonged to.

It was Luther who broke the astounded silence. He wore nothing but a g-string and an old house coat that covered little else and showed the full extent of his returned ape features on full display.

"Emery!" He called out, voice exuberated as he swept Emery up with strong arms and twirled him around in a wide circle.

Emery swore again, watching as the world spun before righting itself when Luther relented and set him down.

"You're here!" He exclaimed.

Emery, despite not expecting the sudden onslaught of affection, couldn't contain his grin upon seeing everyone again.

"I am." He said lightly, eyes dancing around as he looked around.

The sight was nearly comical.

Everyone looked pale, eyes wide with bags beneath them, and yet they were all donning looks of surprise or pure joy. Ben was plastered on the yellow couch with old doily designs of white etched onto the cushions, two tentacle tails peaking out from the bottom of his shirt, and Klaus raced toward him, dropping a paper bag that he had in his hands for whatever reason and catching Emery in a rib-shattering hug.

"Emerinooooo." He sing-sung, continuing the unrelenting hug for a moment before he dramatically broke away and extended his arms outward. Emery could see he wore bright blue latex gloves and a black mask that covered his lips and slightly obscured his voice. His eyes, however, conveyed all the grins that the mask covered up. "Oh my god do you have any idea how worried we were about you?" He clutched a hand to his chest and leaned in as if he were about to convey a great secret though he spoke with such a volume that everyone could hear anyway. "I'm just surprised we haven't killed each other yet without you to glue us together."

"Hey, Klaus, what happened to the whole germaphobe thing?" Allison asked, crossing her arms as she noted the interaction.

Emery eyed the girl, searching his heart for any contempt that he might feel about the girl's untimely betrayal. It lingered there sure, the hate. But he decided he didn't need to face it yet.

"It's Emery!" Klaus explained like it was obvious. "Emery who can do no wrong! Oh, you've grown up! You're all handsome now ooh la la." He waggled his eyebrows. "I can spare a hug for mi persona favorita!" Klaus winked, clapping giddily. "Ooo and you brought a puppy!" He exclaimed, stooping low to pet the dog as Adele wagged her tail happily, oblivious to the near-death experience she had gone through.

Klaus kneeled as he gushed over the puppy. "What's your name my pretty little princess? Or prince? Oh, aren't you just a sight for sore eyes? So cute!"

"Adele." Emery supplied.

Klaus gasped. "Like the singer?"

"Like the singer."

"That is... awesome! Oh, Adele, you've got the prettiest eyes and I could just die!" Klaus went on, brushing his hands through Adele's hair, pushing it back so he could better see her eyes.