#also the second of the two fics that truly spawned my Klaus and Dave obsession and gave rise to my tag for them

[hermitreunited]

Oddities Observed, Vietnam 1968

Oddities Observed, Vietnam 1968 by momebie (katilara)

Fandom: The Umbrella Academy

Summary: “There are people who care whether you live or die,” Dave said, because he felt it needed saying. He couldn’t imagine not caring. This man was erratic, but he was also fragile in a way Dave couldn’t quite put his finger on given how he was apparently also indestructible, and deeply intuitive about people and their moods. When he wasn’t as high as the army doctors’ pills and black-market heroin would allow, he was paying attention. Dave knew, because while Klaus was paying attention to the others, he was paying attention to Klaus.

“Do you think?” Klaus pulled a joint out of his metal cigarette case, lit it, and took a hit. He offered it to Dave, who didn’t take it. He was always offering his things to Dave, even when he knew they weren’t things Dave wanted.

“Yes,” he said. “I do.”

(Or, Vietnam, but from Dave's point of view.)

Rating: M⎜Word Count: 17k+⎜Complete (1/1)

Confession time, fam. Dave and Klaus is one of those ships that I liked but didn’t have strong feelings for since obviously we don’t see a lot of them together in the show. But then sometimes, along comes a fic that takes your passing interest and turns it into a full blown obsession and this here is one of those fics. Instant classic tbqh

The characterization of Klaus is so absolutely on point that I assume this is all basically canon for this offscreen time, and the characterization of Dave is so strong that I’m pretty sure it’s the basis for nearly all of my headcanons about him. So obviously it’s stunningly romantic and a close, insightful look at our mutual favorite chaotic disaster.

It doesn’t matter how many times I go back and re-read this, there are swooning lines that make me  s c r e e c h  every time. The scenes that aren’t primarily about the romance of it all, moments of Klaus engaging with the other men and the peculiarities of him being a person out of time and seeing the dead, these moments  really stand out to me and I find myself thinking about them a lot. But also yeah I think a lot about their love. There’s so much love in this fic I can’t hardly stand it.

“Klaus,” Dave said again. “Klaus, Klaus, Klaus, Klaus.” Each successive repetition of the name came out just a little quieter than the last. He wished he could also fade them out, let himself become a current that flowed out and away from this place and took both of them with it to the South China Sea.

“That’s my name,” Klaus said with a tired huff. “Don’t wear it out.”

“Oh.” Dave licked his lips. “If only you’d let me.”

TW: Drug Use, Major Character Death (boo to canon)