smoking kills - klaus hargreeves | the umbrella academy

chapter seven

"nice decor." marie's eyes trailed along the empty pale blue walls. klaus's curtains and bedsheets were both a very gray shade of blue. he had a few textbooks on a small bookshelf, a dresser with a pile of clothes strewn across the top, and a messy desk filled with notebooks, pens, and other office supplies. there was almost no decor, no sense of personality, save for the mess and a handful of candles settled about. marie said, still looking around, "very... clinical."

"i wanted it to feel like a hospital in here." klaus flopped down onto his bed, laying on his back. marie sat next to him. diego took his place in klaus's desk chair, and allison leaned against the desk next to him.

"our dad only lets us have decorations if we can make the case that they're some sort of educational, and klaus doesn't like anything to do with being smart," diego said. klaus clicked his teeth at the slight insult, but diego continued. "he tried to put up pages from a playboy magazine and when our dad asked him how it was educational, klaus said that he's trying to become the new michelangelo."

the kids laughed. allison said, "god, he did do that, didn't he?"

"i don't see how playboy is any different from that david statue! i still stand by what i said. the naked body is a beautiful piece of art." klaus grinned and gestured at the walls with his hands. "i should be allowed to have those tasteful and classy ladies all over my walls!"

"you're an idiot, but your dad... he's a bit of an asshole, huh?" marie asked.

"yes," klaus answered quickly.

"well..." allison and diego said in unison, then looked at each other.

allison chose to continue. "he's doing what he thinks is best, is all."

klaus laughed. "yeah, that's one way of putting it."

"what's that supposed to mean?" marie asked.

"he's training us to do something good with our powers. fight evil. be heroes," diego said.

allison added, "his methods can be a bit... questionable at times—"

"she means his methods are awful. like, it's-a-miracle-none-of-us-have-died-yet awful," klaus interjected. marie's eyes widened a bit.

"that's a little bit extreme, klaus," allison said.

"just because you can't handle some of the ways he trains us doesn't mean that you almost died," diego said.

"it's not that i can't handle it, it's that it affects almost—you know what? nevermind. it's not worth it explaining it to you, and we have a guest. let's show her something cool and not talk about our daddy issues." klaus got up from his bed and walked over to his desk, rifling through the drawers.

"yeah, i didn't want to say anything, but it was getting a little bit awkward in here." with how dry marie's tone was, allison would've apologized if it weren't for the fact that klaus looked back at marie and grinned—and, more importantly, she gave a small smile back.

"i would like to point out that it's klaus that has daddy issues, not us," diego said. klaus knocked into him while rummaging through the drawers, definitely on purpose. diego shoved him back. "dude, what are you even looking for in there?"

"just something cool..." klaus trailed off. diego rolled his eyes.

"so..." marie eye's scanned between allison and diego. "what are your guys's names? i'm marie."

"oh wow, sorry, we haven't introduced ourselves. i'm allison. nice to meet you."

the two girls smiled at each other. marie said, "nice to meet you, too."