[for Klaus and Obi-Wan]

[fifthbeatle]

Since December, Viktor has felt disconnected. He pulled his loved ones close. He dove into work. All of the "no" projects became yeses. Every weekday, he teaches, tutors, plays, comes home to change. Late nights blend into early mornings, full of coffee and squinting at the previous night's texts -- mostly to make sure he didn't send anything he'll regret to one particular party.

While his students and coworkers may not see the creeping mania, Viktor's siblings certainly have. He has the sense they're all watching him closely, checking to see if the smallest time bomb with the longest fuse is sizzling toward the biggest explosion.

But that's his bullshit and he knows it. They care, and they're right: Viktor's not in a great place. He doesn't know what to do about it.

As always, Klaus has some (cooky) ideas. As Viktor makes it a habit to say yes to his family, he knows how he ended up here, on the roof standing at the lip of the pool in board shorts and a long-sleeved rash guard he purchased back when he had tits to worry about. He's already shivering, everyone's breath visible on this crisp, cold winter weekend day. He glances up doubtfully at Klaus and Obi-Wan. Surely there are other ways to shake his depression loose.

"Can't we get in the hot tub instead?"

Comments

[terriblymisguided]

“What, so we can relax?” Klaus asks indignantly, standing on the end of the diving board in nothing but a pair of purple speedos, curls twisted over one bare, goose-pimpled shoulder. “Nay! We are going to invigorate ourselves! Wake up the mind, and— Obi-Wan, take off that robe! I know they have ice planets where you’re from. You’ll be fine.”

Perhaps this is a zanier one of his ideas, but he couldn’t stand to see Viktor moping around the house any longer and if he has to act like a demanding idiot to shake up this new, sad routine of his, then so be it.

“Maybe we can go in the hot tub after,” he relents, bouncing on the end of the diving board without jumping off quite yet. “Maybe!”

[larger_world]

Obi-Wan has no issue with what they’re doing and is already in the process of removing his robe when Klaus calls out to him. He folds it carefully over the arm of a chair, left in a pair of black trunks, and he arches an eyebrow playfully in Klaus’s direction.

“Cold water immersion is a common meditative practice,” he points out and, to prove his point, he sits on the edge of the pool, then slips gracefully into the water, as if he doesn’t even feel the cold. He does, of course, but it’s hardly the worst discomfort he’s ever felt. “We shouldn’t stay in longer than ten minutes.”

[fifthbeatle]

Viktor laughs. Klaus' support is evident. Each of them knows what it's like to be asked to fit to a mold that doesn't suit them. Viktor is desperate to feel something other than the prevailing ick. Klaus and Obi-Wan are gracious enough to meet him where he's at.

"Well, if it's only ten minutes," Viktor murmurs, lips twisting into a small smile. Ten minutes seems like a fucking lifetime to be in cold water. He drops a foot in and recoils almost instantly. He laughs. Klaus is an errant gust of wind from being in the pool. Obi-Wan is already chest-deep.

Fuck it.

Viktor paces himself over a few steps and jumps in. What was it he said all those years ago? New timeline, new me? That's the pool of energy he'd like to drown in.

[terriblymisguided]

Klaus watches with a wide grin on his face as the two people he loves most in the world get into the pool in ways that sum up their personalities. Obi-Wan is placid and practical while Viktor hesitates before diving in all at once. Klaus lets out an animal howl before running along the diving board and bouncing off of the end of it, doing a full flip before cannonballing spectacularly between them.

The water feels like knives slicing into his skin and he breaks the surface with another holler, shaking his hair out and giving a full body shudder as he treads water.

“Holy shit,” he laughs out, looking from Viktor to Obi-Wan. He looks utterly calm and unruffled, so Klaus sweeps his hand along the surface of the water to splash him in the face.

[larger_world]

Water dripping from the ends of his hair, from his eyelashes, Obi-Wan looks to Viktor and says, "Did I not mention meditative?"

The cold is deep and invigorating and he's not bothered by the splashing, the dives and the cannonballs, and the wall of water that's been sent toward him. He blinks the water from his eyes, then sinks lower, until he's up to his neck.

"So how are we feeling, men?" he asks.

[fifthbeatle]

Viktor shakes and smooths out his hair. Remember when he hated the pool? Long, heavy hair, arms always crossing to cover his chest.

He smiles, eyes wide. "It's not bad, actually," he murmurs. Lips curling into an all-out grin, he splashes Klaus, pre-empting quick retaliation with a kick off the floor. He glides back and wades in deeper water.

Deeper for him. Klaus and Obi-Wan could probably stand just fine.

[terriblymisguided]

"Us Hargreeves are very adaptable," Klaus points out, spluttering a little when Viktor splashes him. He watches his brother bob backwards, clocks when his toes leave the ground, and smirks as he easily walks past him. "Except for when it comes to being tall."

He splashes Viktor on his way by and then loops an arm around his waist under the water, dragging him deeper into the pool and toward Obi-Wan. "Should we let this sage Jedi lead us in meditation? Or are we just playing?"

[larger_world]

"I have absolutely no idea why we're here," Obi-Wan lies. He understands Klaus quite well by now, has seen his concern for Viktor, and shares it in some aspects. He also believes Viktor has learned peace to an extent and how to harness it when required.

"Besides the invigorating cold before a nice soak in the hot tub," he adds, his grin teasing. "I wasn't aware I was going to be leading a class."

[fifthbeatle]

Viktor lets himself be scooped and dragged, the stabbing knives of the cold slice at his feet -- and he doesn't mind. Tired of feeling sad and dejected, he doesn't mind tackling new sensations. It means he's still alive.

"It's definitely not a school day." He tries to wriggle out from Klaus' grasp, but Viktor is an easily portable package within his brother's vast wingspan. He clasps his ice-cold hands onto Klaus' neck, an attempted distraction during which he can break free.

"Guess I forgot," Viktor reports, a little smile sweeping over his lips like cold breath on a windowpane. "How resilient we are."

[terriblymisguided]

"What, are you gonna strangle me to death?" Klaus jokes when Viktor's hands go around his neck, but otherwise not reacting. "Don't waste your strength."

He smiles and presses his lips to Viktor's temple, hugging him tightly against his chest. He shoots Obi-Wan a mischievous look and then concentrates hard, floating up out of the pool and bringing Viktor with him, holding on tight and stopping once they're a few feet over the water.

"I'll always be able to remind you just how much," Klaus tells him, smiling innocently before suddenly letting go of Viktor so he falls back into the pool, cackling happily and lifting his fingers in a wave. "Love you!"

[larger_world]

"See, this is an example of using your powers for evil," Obi-Wan lectures and he might have been serious if not for the twinkling in his eyes. He moves smoothly through the water toward Viktor, offering him a hand.

"You ought to float yourself over to the hot tub and make sure it's ready for us," he adds, smiling. "I think it's about time we retreat from the cold."

[fifthbeatle]

Viktor thrives under his brother's affection. When he needs a hug, he's never aware of it until after it happens. Even if he could ask, he would never need to. Klaus, Luther and Obi-Wan are always willing to provide whether Viktor knows what he needs or not.

As they literally float away, Viktor starts to get suspicious. He narrows his eyes. "Klaus," he murmurs in warning. He's struggling to get away and gets out "don't!" before he finds himself submerged.

Viktor uses his arms and legs to buoy himself to the surface. "Asshole!" Viktor crows, splashing water his way with one arm.

Rather than further retaliate, he takes Obi-Wan's hand. He could levitate Klaus over to the hot tub or further, but there's too much baggage there for all of them.

[terriblymisguided]

Klaus cackles, pleased with himself and his brotherly antics, and then snaps his fingers and points at Obi-Wan as he hovers above the water, shivering and dripping. Heat does sound good.

He hovers towards the edge of the pool and lands gracefully on his feet, skipping over to the hot tub to yank the cover off and turn on the jets. The hot tub comes to life, gurgling with bubbles and glowing with purple lights, and Klaus grabs a canned cocktail from the mini fridge before climbing in and cracking it open, sipping from the can as he stretches his arm out alongside the edge of the tub.

"Join me, boys," he calls out happily. "I promise not to dunk anyone. I do not promise to not kiss my boyfriend."