#tua countdown prompts

[fiyero3305]

TUA Fic: Witchy Prompts: 05

Witchy Prompts via @myloveforhergoeson

05. Fangs

Ben has to admit, as he reclines in his bed, that Klaus’s pleading eyes are very effective. However–

“Not a chance, Klaus”

“Come on Bennerino! You know they won’t hurt me” He reaches out to one of the tentacles, which nudges against his hand like a cat seeking caresses before gently winding its way around his wrist as Klaus strokes it “See? They love me” and as if to illustrate the point, more tentacles wind their way up Klaus’s body. They drape themselves over his shoulders, ruffle his hair affectionately, and again, Ben can’t deny the effect it has on him. He’s spent his life hating and fearing this monster inside him, always sick at the knowledge of what they could do, what they have done to other living things. The line between boy and monster has never been clear and the hatred for one tends to bleed into the other.

But then there’s Klaus.

Klaus who doesn’t look at any part of Ben with disgust or fear; who has greater faith that Ben won’t ever hurt him than Ben does himself; who embraces the aspects of Ben that he feels the greatest shame over. In Klaus’s voice, somehow “The Horror” is an affectionate pet name.

“I don’t even know if it’s possible”

Klaus’s pout disappears immediately and Ben hates that he already knows he’s winning.

“Only one way to find out, right?” he says, practically vibrating with excitement.

“Or we don’t have to find out at all, actually”

“But it would be so cool!”

“Considering the risk is potentially death the reward of ‘cool’ doesn’t seem to really justify it, Klaus”

“I’ll be ok. I’ll hold my breath!”

Ben isn’t confused by the classic Klaus non-sequitur. After all, tentacle = squid = underwater, obviously, but his concern is that there’s likely more going on in The Horror’s dimension than water.

“And what will you do if it’s an environment that’s toxic to humans? Or if there are things in there besides The Horror?”

“They’ll protect me”

...let him come...

Ben so rarely hears the will of The Horror so clearly. Usually it’s just vague senses of want or aggression, so this fully formed sentence makes him take notice.

You can’t let anything happen to him.

Ben is given a feeling of reassurance in response, but it’s not enough. If they want him they’re gonna have to be just as clear and forceful in their promise of protection as they are in their desire for connection.

I mean it. If anything happens to him I will end your journeys to this world. You will never taste blood again. I will ensure that you get nothing and you can whither away.

...he will be safe...

Ben sighs. When the two most insufferable influences in his life are working toward the same goal he has no choice but to acquiesce.

“OK, fine” he finally sighs “I don’t know why you’re so set on this, but let’s go” Ben lifts his shirt, exposing the glowing portal from which the tentacles extend. They begin retracting, reeling Klaus in as they go. Klaus, for his part, eagerly crawls forward and allows himself to be guided toward the unknown.

Stop. Let him enter at his own pace.

Dutifully, if reluctantly, the Horror unwinds its tentacles from Klaus, who holds his face just above the entrance to their world, hands placed on either side of Ben.

“I’m giving you 10 seconds and then I’m yanking your scrawny ass out”

“OK” Klaus says, showing not quite fear, but definitely a degree of awe that borders on fear. “Hold my hand?” He asks, almost shyly, as he lowers himself to lay on Ben and free his hand from supporting himself. Ben clasps it firmly and locks their eyes together, trying to impart a sense of security that he himself does not feel. It must work because Klaus smiles and begins lowering his face to the portal. He takes a deep breath and holds it just before crossing that threshold and the second his nose disappears within, Ben begins his countdown.

10… 9… 8… 7… 6… 5… 4… 3… 2… 1

With one hand still holding Klaus’s, he uses the other to shove against his shoulder and force him out. Perhaps he pushes a little harder than he needed to because Klaus’s head is whipped with a gasp.

“Klaus are you OK?”

Klaus is coughing and sputtering and when Ben gets a good look at his face it looks shell-shocked. He rushes to hold his shoulders.

“Klaus are you OK? Answer me!” His brother begins laughing, but the crazed look remains in his eyes and the laughter is manic more than mirthful. Ben grabs his face and holds his gaze. “Klaus come on, calm down. Calm down” He slides his hands down and begins rubbing his arms. “You’re here with me, with Ben. We’re in my room. Please breathe”

Slowly Klaus’s eyes focus on Ben’s and the manic laughter subsides. He leans forward to rest his head on Ben’s shoulder and sighs, then slumps fully against him “I’m so tired Benny” he slurs into Ben’s shirt. Ben scoots back against his headboard and lets Klaus lay against him. “Thought you were gonna get me after 10 seconds? That’s what you said”

“I did. Probably more like nine and a half actually.”

“Felt soooo long”

“I’m sorry”

“Mmm, ‘snot your fault. I wanted to do it”

“Were you scared?”

“...no. It was just really intense”

“What did you see?”

“So much Benny” He rests a hand on Ben’s stomach “God, you have so much in there. More than tentacles… so many eyes… and swirling parts… and fangs, God the FANGS”

For a moment, Ben is worried that they’ve lost something. That Klaus has finally seen enough to hate the monster that is Ben. That now he’ll look at him with the fear and disgust Ben sees every day in the mirror. But then, thankfully

“I can’t wait to see it again”

[mintski]

season two countdown prompts ↪ july 22-24, favourite superpower: allison’s reality manipulation “I heard a rumour that you loved me”

[seance]

trying to think about the prompts of tua week and i don’t know what it says about me, the fact that i basically want to use the same choices i made in july 2020 for the countdown to S2 challenge 🤡 like my brain really can’t let S1 go, we’re stuck in the past like some war widow or something

[evesbeve]

TUA Inktober (Day 29. Isolation)

“Official” TUA Inktober Prompt List by @totallyevan

Five is alone. Ben is alone. Vanya is alone. They’re all alone.

(Read this on AO3 and FFN!)

___

Five is alone.

His lungs fill up with dust and he coughs loudly but no one can hear him. He trips and falls on rocks but no one can pick him up. He tries to find shelter in what has remained of the city’s buildings, but no one is home with him.

He doesn’t have a home anymore. There’s only a seemingly endless abyss he will never be able to escape from. He walks and walks, but everything’s the same; broken. Abandoned. Dead.

And then there’s Dolores.

.

Ben is alone.

He cries himself to sleep and wonders why the monster in his stomach won’t stop bothering him. He releases it every few days anyway. It kills, Ben kills, and then it goes back in. No one else gets it. It’s like he’s living on a countdown, and at any given moment he could—

He dies. Actually, literally dies. His family doesn’t know he’s calling for them as they mourn him. It’s like he’s watching a movie he cannot pause, which just so happens to be his life, his reality; he’s alone.

And then there’s Klaus.

.

Vanya is alone.

She’s always been. From the moment she’s born, it’s decided she’s the ordinary one. The one that’s not special, that doesn’t have a purpose. The one that deserves to be left aside as everyone spends time together, that Dad hates.

She moves out, and she’s still alone. She learns to cook, clean, pay bills, work. She’s on her own, until she isn’t. She’ll never forget the innocence in Leonard’s eyes, or the corruption in Harold’s. Once he’s gone, Vanya is alone again.

Until she isn’t. There’s something growing inside her, something she doesn’t want to fight anymore. She doesn’t remember how she gets to that point, and she thinks her family might be yelling at her to stop, but she doesn’t. She embraces that something.

And then there’s no one.

[mintski]

season two countdown prompts ↪ july 16-19, favourite quote: changes (season 1, episode 9) “vanya, you need me”

[mintski]

season two countdown prompts ↪ july 12-15, favourite sad scene: run boy run (season 1, episode 2) “there’s nothing you can do. there’s nothing any of you can do.”

[mintski]

season two countdown prompts ↪ july 25-27, favourite episode: number five (season 1, episode 5) “I lost someone. The only person I've ever truly loved more than myself.”

[mintski]

season two countdown prompts ↪ july 1-3, favourite sibling: klaus hargreeves "eternal peace is probably overrated"

[mintski]

season two countdown prompts ↪ july 19-21, favourite musical sequence: changes (season 1, episode 9) “all die young, when love is love and when you are young”

[mintski]

season two countdown prompts ↪ july 4-6, favourite side character: cha cha “we get to visit exotic places, meet new people, and then kill 'em.”

[mintski]

season two countdown prompts ↪ july 10-12, favourite funny scene: I heard a rumour (season 1, episode 8) “don’t be so shy, big guy. you needed it! not a lot of ladies on the moon, I assume.”

bonus: