Series of Unfortunate Events One-shots, What-ifs, and Drabbles

Coping Mechanisms, or The Lack Thereof

For Violet, her interest in everything had gone down. She only cared about three things, and they were Klaus, Sunny, and her inventions. She took care of her siblings with almost manic ferocity, making sure they wanted for nothing, trying to make sure they were happy. She woke Klaus from his nightmares when she could. She helped Sunny with her homework. She made damn sure that her siblings weren't being harassed or bullied at school. And with the time and energy she had left, she devoted the rest of herself to her work. She drew up new blueprints every day. Her workroom was filled with gears and wires and levers and pulleys, and empty coffee cups that had missed the trash can, and a stack of dirty plates Violet had never taken back to the kitchen. It felt easier, now that her interest was zeroed in on three things. She only had to care about three things. She only had to think about three things. Just Klaus, Sunny, and her work. She didn't have to think about the emptiness she felt sometimes. She didn't have to think about her parents and their lies. She definitely didn't have to think about Count Olaf. No. She could just focus on the three things she loved more than anything else in the world, and that was enough.

For Klaus, everything had to be perfect. He worked himself to the bone trying to exceed his own high standards; for his schoolwork, for the way his clothes hung, for the way he ate. He spent less and less time with his siblings, preferring instead to read and reread an essay he'd written for his English class that wasn't quite good enough for him, or write just a few more words on the lab report he had for Physics. He barely ever read for fun anymore. He woke up three hours earlier than either of his siblings. When else would he have the time to jog and then shower and make sure every hair was perfectly in place, and then iron the clothes he was going to wear until they were perfectly wrinkle-free, and then comb his hair one more time, and then organize and reorganize his backpack, and then when he finally did have breakfast with his siblings, he'd brush his teeth, then again, and again, to make sure he didn't have any food particles stuck between his teeth, and then he'd brush once more, just to be sure, and then he had time to go over his homework just once more, and then, then he could get in the car to go to school. That way, he wouldn't have time to think about anything deeper than face value.

For Sunny, it was easiest to simply pretend that everything was fine. It was simpler to push any complicated feelings aside in favor of just living in the moment. After all, kids her age weren't supposed to have complicated emotions. If she could just pretend she was interested in slim paperback novels about warrior cats or playing make-believe games at recess with her peers, then maybe she would feel happy. It was easier than confronting the depth of shame and confusion she felt whenever she thought about the past. She could just focus on the now. Let Violet coddle her, allow Klaus his space. She threw herself into school, though that was a joke and barely took up a quarter of her brain. She did her best to make friends. She tried to be helpful to her teacher and her classmates. Her classmates were nice, mostly. They never asked why she knew all the things she knew, they just accepted it. It was hard, though, when grammar made her think of poor Aunt Josephine, and the cacophony that was music class made her think of Vice Principal Nero, and Carmelita Spats by extension. But she kept busy, hanging out with friends, keeping her mind on simple things, and never thinking about Count Olaf.