Vanya didn't want to say things changed, because to the others, they haven't.
Ben and her were the only ones who remembered, and it seemed that made a world of difference in how Vanya communicated. She still wasn't speaking. To anyone. But armed with a notepad and a pen she was able to communicate easier.
It was easier because she didn't make a sound outside the flipping of a page. She made sure to steal one of the silent, gliding pens. Father didn't mind too much, because at least now she responded to his questions.
She tried not to notice his increasingly deepening stares. They held something she didn't want to examine too long.
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"Vanya, do you want to sneak out to Griddy's?" Vanya paused at Ben's mischievous question. Ben was more carefree nowadays, at least more than she remembered him being as a child. And from what he'd told her about his time as Klaus's broken impulse control.
It seems that he was enjoying his time with a sober Klaus. And the fact that Klaus wouldn't even think about drugs and alcohol until he was fourteen. So he didn't even have to worry until they all turned fourteen. By that time, Ben would be there to put a hard stop to anything Klaus would try.
Vanya almost wanted to step in and help too. But she always felt too awkward.
She wrote 'Sure.', and turned back to the drawing her and Ben were making.
It was horrible by all means, but Ben took pleasure in the simplest things nowadays. Scribbling on a piece of paper without care was one of those things.
The drawing was their collaborative rendition of their family. They exaggerated Luther's buffness, similar to how he'd been when they were thirty years old. Diego was in his BDSM gear wielding a knife. Made Allison's hair poofy and blonde, put her in a pretty dress.
They avoided all references to drugs when drawing Klaus. Klaus was the most eccentrically dressed, bright pink skirt, puke green top, and an electric blue boa.
They left Five alone. They put him in his usual outfit, the Academy uniform. Both out of respect and fear.
Ben let her draw him. She exaggerated the fact that he read, and drew books stacked on his head. (She avoided drawing him in dark clothes or with tentacles. She wasn't sure where he stood on that.)
In return, she let him draw her. He drew her in the outfit she'd worn the day of father's funeral. She laughed at that, he captured her fashion sense. Then he drew a donut into her hand and couldn't stop laughing. (She was relieved he'd avoided any mention of music.)
Mother was drawn in with the utmost of care, she was the most detailed one drawn. Her usual beautiful skirt was colored in with light pink, and her curls a bright yellow.
Father and Pogo were drawn haphazardly in the cramped open space of the paper. The sun in the corner took up more space than the two of them combined.
Everyone was drawn as a stick figure.
Ben pinned their drawing on the fridge with a devil may care smile. Vanya tried to hide her grin, but imagining everyone's reaction to it broke her control.
Father wouldn't care, but he cared for little. Luther would sputter at it, Allison would would do a double take before getting a snack, Diego and Five would squint at it and then walk away like they'd never seen anything, and Klaus would giggle and add something to it.
Vanya muffled her giggles and let Ben drag her up to his room. His room varied little compared to hers, his was just full of more books. She would've said less music sheets, but she'd stuffed those into shoe boxes under her bed. Vanya immediately felt better after that, so she didn't think long on it.
Ben pushed her towards his bed and went for a notebook hidden under piles of books. He found a sharpie not long after.
"Okay, so what's our game plan? Sneak out now when no one expects it, or nine at night when everyone will expect us to, and only have thirty minutes to shove as many donuts in our mouths?" Vanya raised her eyebrows at him and tried not to laugh. That was a common theme between the two of them nowadays. He said something ridiculous, and she tried not to laugh at him.
"Yeah, that was a stupid question. Should we bring Klaus along? We might need his lock picking to get back in." Vanya frowned and looked away in consideration. They might need Klaus' skills, but she didn't exactly want someone else involved in their stuff. Klaus didn't even have his Clarity yet.
She shook her head. As much as she wanted to connect more with her brother, he would either push her to the side and she'd be left out or they'd accidentally isolate Klaus with their secrets. She didn't want to risk either.
Ben frowned in disappointment, but his goofy smile returned not long after.
"Gotcha, so how much money were you able to stash up? I've got forty-two dollars under my bed." Ben dove under the bed and retrieved the shoe box. Vanya flashed him a thirty-seven with her fingers.
"We'll be able to by so many donuts." Ben slapped the bills into her hand. She was the more responsible one when it came to holding onto things. He was too used to not having to hold onto things, and often left them behind.
Vanya sent him a small smile. He got up and opened his window, he left through first.
Ben had explained earlier, that his tentacles had no violent inclinations towards her. Anyone, actually. (Except their father, Ben did his best to stay away from father.) So it would be better if he went first, ready to catch her if anything went wrong. A very real possibility in her clumsy body.
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The waitress at Griddy's was a pleasant woman named Agnes. She treated them like normal kids and let them sit at the counter. That was unusual because the counter was reserved for quick (adult) customers.
Ben and Vanya didn't care for that fact though, and just ordered as many donuts as they could with seventy-nine dollars. Which was a lot, Vanya forgot how much prices had risen since she was a kid. Here, a donut cost her twenty-five cents, but in her old time they were two dollars.
So, yeah, they had way too many donuts.
Ben turned to her with an unsure smile. Vanya put her index fingers to the corners of her lips and drew up, sent a thumbs up, and dug in. Ben worried too much, whatever they didn't eat, they could just donate to a local shelter, or bring back to the Academy.
Ben grabbed a glazed donut and Vanya a bear claw. They toasted with them and dug in.
Vanya was five donuts in, when the men with guns burst in.
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Five watched Ben and Vanya. They'd changed.
Vanya's change was more obvious. She'd gone mute, and basically cut all contact with everyone outside of necessity. (It hurt, that she would do that to him. They were supposed to be close, but she cut all contact with him.) She'd stopped smiling.
Ben's was almost unnoticeable, but he'd been watching him. Especially after Ben started hanging out with Vanya more, and she'd started smiling again. (Didn't that make him mad.) Ben's change was that he watched everyone with wet eyes. They were directed with more frequency towards him, Klaus, and Vanya.
He'd stewed on that. Almost overflowing with the need to confront them and ask what the hell was going on. He'd wait a bit longer, let those two settle, then he'd ambush them with questions.
He couldn't stand being left in the dark.
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some notes (because i wasn't able to get around to it in the chapter): if u couldn't notice, ben was overcompensating, trying to cheer vanya up at the expense of handling his own feelings. some insight into five, bc vanya is a really bad narrator. ben is taking any chance he can to touch anything and everything.
I Can't Believe BDSM Isn't A Word According To My Spellcheck.
this story is very fly by the seat of my pants, so if there's something you want to see, leave a comment below and i'll see what i can do. mostly because this is a test of patience for me, usually i post a fic and update once a year, so yeah.
