short stories #2

eyes shut ; klaus and isadora (pt. 2)

It was silent for almost four minutes as the friends stared at each other.

"You're... you're dead," Violet whispered, looking fixedly at the triplets, specifically Quigley. "Kit said... The Great Unknown... took you..."

Quigley smiled sadly. "Surprise, Baudelaires."

Another pause.

Violet rushed forward and hugged her friends. Klaus joined in. As the five friends stood at the doorway, happy that the others were safe and willing to let the questions wait until tomorrow, Isadora caught Klaus's gaze and they stared at each other as Duncan and Quigley rested their heads on Violet's shoulders. Klaus felt the heat in his cheeks rose  as the poet let herself smile. "Hi, Klaus." She pushed his glasses up his nose. "Long time no see."

"Vi, Kla?" Came a voice from behind the huddle of friends. The group turned consecutively to see Beatrice standing in the entrance to the hallway that held the bedrooms. She rubbed her eyes and clutched her teddy bear. "Who?" She babbled, which meant something like 'who are the strange people that I've never met standing at the doorway?'

"Hiya Bea, sorry for waking you." Violet walked over and picked up the tiny baby. "This is Kit Snicket's daughter: Beatrice."

The triplets smiled. "We thought we'd never find you," Duncan said, tediously stepping into the apartment so he stood right next to his siblings. Klaus noticed him glancing into the corners of the dark living room as he closed the door, as if he was afraid something would attack him at any minute. All three Quagmires looked tired, bedraggled, and worst of all, terrified.

"Where's Sunny?" Isadora asked, breaking the silence.

Violet grinned. "Sleeping. It would take a hurricane to wake that girl up. Speaking of Sunny, you look starving. Although I'm nowhere near my sister's level of culinary expertise, I can make you some pasta puttanesca if you want."

"That'd actually be really nice, thank you," Quigley said.

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The five friends sat, enjoying pasta puttanesca at 1:38 AM (Bea had gone back to the room Violet, Sunny and her shared). They laughed, threw bits of food at eachother, and try to defer that the night would end at some point, and so would their fading peace. Halfway through the meal, Klaus caught Isadora's eye and didn't notice what he'd missed until Duncan leaned his head briefly on his shoulder from laughing so hard. He turned his head. He'd missed a joke. 

As the laughter died down and the friends tiredly put their plates in the sink, Quigley picked up his coat which had been lying on the back of his chair. It was the exact same blue one that he'd worn when disguising himself as a Snow Scout in the Mortmain Mountains.

"Well, uh..." he eyed his siblings. "We better uh, get going-"

"Why don't you stay?" Violet asked suddenly. "You must be tired after a long journey, so you must stay at least for tonight. Or maybe for longer. We need to know what happened to you. You'll have to stay on the couch for tonight, but tomorrow we can go into town and buy you some bedding."

The triplets smiled.

"It'll be cramped, with seven of us in a two bedroom apartment, of course," Klaus spoke up. "But in two years Violet will turn eighteen as will be granted access to the Baudelaire fortune."

"We'll be a family." Violet's eyes glistened with tears.

The Quagmires looked between each other.

"Sounds good to me." Duncan grinned.

"Me too," Quigley answered.

"Thank you Baudelaires, I'm not usually an exciter

But you just made the world seem a little bit brighter," Isadora said, smiling shyly at Klaus. Her words hung in the air, washing over the friends. Finally Violet broke the trance. 

"I'll get you some blankets," she said softly. The Quagmire boys walked over to the couch and sat down. Duncan glanced back at Isadora and Klaus, but Quigley tapped his shoulder knowingly, and they faced the fire, letting the two have a private moment.

"Are you ok?" Klaus asked her. 

"If I'm being honest, no," Isadora whispered. "It was so hard to find you. The entire city thinks you're dead. We thought you were dead. What if you really were dead? I probably would've written some really sad poetry or something, and I hate overtly sad poetry. Don't you dare die Klaus Baudelaire, or I might kill you. Wait. I couldn't kill you if-"

The frantic poet's whispered cries was subdued as Klaus hugged her tight. 

"Isa... it's ok."

They stood in eachother's arms, swaying slightly as Isadora's breathing slowed. Finally, Klaus whispered.

"You should sleep, it's  getting late." He felt her nod, and she loosened the hug to look up at him.

"Klaus Baudelaire, the day is done,

But I hope you'll be there to share the next one." 

And the Quagmire triplet stood on her tiptoes and kissed the middle Baudelaire softly on the cheek. She slipped out of his arms and walked over to her brother's, and Klaus went to bed a little happier than before.