Let's Try This Again: Frederich And Claude

"You're sister is right, Claude." Frederich replied, staring down at him. "Go home. You have other obligations, obviously."

He yawned loudly, reaching for the hairbrush he had tossed aside the night before. It was just out of reach, much to his annoyance.

"My only obligation is you," he said passionately, meeting Frederich's eyes. "Please, give me a chance--I'll do anything."

Sigrid opened her mouth to say something again, then closed it. More mascara dripped off of her cheeks and onto her wrinkled green sweater-vest.

Frederich stared at him with his one good eye. He opened his mouth to speak, before he closed it again.

"Frederich!!" shouted a voice. "Frederich, I found a customer!"

A tall girl jogged in from the front door. Upon seeing the mess, she frowned.

"Frederich, what did I tell you about poltergeists? They just make messes, don't invite them into the shop, stupid!" she groaned. "I'm not cleaning this up! Oh. Who are your friends? Oh my GOD Frederich, you made some poor woman cry!"

She moved over to Sigrid, sidestepping the mess. "Are you alright? I know, my brother is such a jerk, but don't worry, I'll fix anything he's done to you!"

"He stole my brother," she sniffled, rubbing her eyes. "Just make him give me brother back! He's an evil brother-stealer, he doesn't know what's good for Claude and he'll just make him miserable."

Claude groaned quietly.

"Sigrid, you need to leave. You're making it hard for me to apologize--"

"You don't know what you're saying!" she exclaimed. "You don't know what's good for you either, or you'd just come back!"

"Everybody shut up," Frederich snapped, standing up. "Faith, take that harpy out of this office right now. Claude, clean up this mess right now before I decide to throw you out for good."

"Yes, Frederich," he said, hurriedly picking up shards of broken clock with his bare hands.

Sigrid glared at Frederich.

"Hey! Talk to me, you asshole--I'm only here because of you! Don't shove this onto your sister, you weak jerk!"

Faith grabbed Sigrid and shoved her out the door. She tried to be gentle, but Faith wasn't a gentle person.

"If Frederich says to throw you out, you must have really made him mad. You broke that clock, didn't you?" She asked. "Is Claude your brother?"

Back inside the store, Frederich groaned. Claude wasn't worth all the trouble, but getting him to leave was impossible. "Claude, when you're done, I need you to carry me to my bedroom."

"Yes, yes he is," hissed Sigrid, "Now let me go so I can teach your shithead brother some manners!" She struggled against Faith, resisting to urge to punch her in the teeth.

Claude's face turned pink.

"Y-you mean it? You want me to...touch you?" He stood up, having gathered the last of the shards. "I'd love to, Frederich..."

"You should let him do what he wants, then. If he's making a mistake, he'll figure it out." She replied, blocking the doorway with her body. "Trust me."

Frederich stared at him.

"When you're done putting me to bed, leave and go take care of your sister, then tend the shop. I need sleep."

"No he won't!" exclaimed Sigrid as she attempted to muscle past Faith. "You don't get it! My brother doesn't know what he wants, he's been really confused since the accident--he doesn't understand his purpode, or what the Lord has in store for him."

She punched the wall right next to Faith's head, leaving a dent behind.

"Get out of my way. Don't think I wouldn't hurt someone to help my brother.". She sniffled, and that sniffle turned into a sneer. "You must not understand, having a horrible brother like that, but I'll do anything for my brother--I'm his sidter and I love him, and it's my job to take care of him."

"O-of course, Frederich," stammered Claude in the other room, still caught up on the idea of touching Frederich's smooth, pale skin. He ran to the kitchen and dumped the shards in the trash.

"Ready." he asked nervously upon return, more to himself than to Frederich.

Faith just stared at her.

"You can't force him to be happy, you idiot!" she snapped. "Come back when you've grown up!!"

Frederich sighed deeply. "Hurry up."

Sigrid punched Faith in the stomach and tried to push past her.

"Get out of my way!"

Claude picked up Frederich without much of a problem, but he did't attempt to make his way uo the stairs; instead, he stared at his face and sighed dreamily.

"you have nice eyes," he rhapsodized.

Faith ground her teeth together.

"You're such a child. Leave or I'll call the police." she replied.

Frederich glared at Claude. "Hurry. Up."

"I'll call the fucking police on your people for stealing my brother!" she screamed shrilly, tackling Faith. "Get out of my way or I'll kill you, I want my brother!"

Claude quickly pecked Frederich's forehead and hurried up the stairs, holding Frederich closer than necessary.

"D-d-do you want me to tuck you in?" he asked, trying to sound serious but failing. He had always dreamed of holding Frederich like this.

Faith grabbed Sigrid by the hair, forcefully pulling her off. This wasn't the first time she'd been attacked, and it certainly wouldn't be the last. People did crazy things when they were possessed. Unfortunately, Sigrid didn't have that excuse.

"You're brother made his choice, stupid or not!" she shouted.

Frederich shoved at Claude's face. This had been a mistake.

"Get off of me, you disgust me," he snapped, laying down on the bed himself. "Get out of here, and if I see you in this room when I wake up, I'm kicking you out for good."

"And now I've got to fix it!" she screamed back, tearing at Faith's hair. "LET ME GO!"

He blushed, hanging his head.

"...I'm sorry, Frederich. I'll be more serious from now on, I just--" He looked at Frederich sadly, then forced a smile. "I'm sorry. I'll see you when you wake up."

He tiptoed out and closed the door behind him, sighing deeply once he was alone in the hall. Why was he so bad at this?

Hearing the commotion going on downstairs, he made his way to the front door.

"You can't fix a mistake you haven't made!!" Faith shouted back, still attempting to hold her back by her hair. She didn't even like Claude, why was she even helping him?

When Claude saw what was going on, he grabbed his sister by the arms and pried her off of Faith.

"Sigrid, what the hell are you doing?!" he shouted, shoving her against a wall. "Calm the hell down!"

More mascara ran down her face, staining the wallpaper.

"J-just, just come home, Claude--everything'll be fine--just come back home to the van and we'll--"

"Sigrid, I'm getting really sick of this," he said firmly, gritting his teeth. "You never let me go anywhere on my own, you don't believe I'll make it with Frederich, you force me to participate in all of your stupid little experiments--I'm so sick of it, Sig. I live here now, and you have to deal with it. I told you I was doing this."

He opened the front door and shoved her out.

"I'm doing this for you too, you know. Get lost." He slammed the door and locked it--in her rage, Sigrid had broken off the bolt, but the rest of the door was only scuffed up.

"...I'm so sorry," he said to the girl still standing in the hall. "What's your name? I'm Claude, I live here now." He extended his hand. "Did that girl just now hurt you? I'm really sorry. We can get a first aid kit out, if you need it."

She shook his hand, then screamed.

"Oh my GOD!" she exclaimed, horrified. "Oh...oh my God you feel...horrible!" she shuddered. "You feel like death got horny and angry and sad all at once, what the hell?!"

She shuddered violently.

"Ew, ew, I'm gonna go shower, you...don't touch me," still disgusted, she moved upstairs shouting, "Hayden!! Get over here!"

"...Horny?" he asked, confused. Before he could finish asking what she meant, a ghost with a blue tint and an irritable expression floated down through the ceiling. He wore a dress shirt and suspenders, and what might have been slacks faded into a ghostly tail.

"The hell do you want, Faith?" he asked, rolling his eyes. "I'm trying to watch the orange broad on TV, don't just--oh, is this the kid?" He eyed Claude suspiciously. "I don't think I like him. Real men sleep with shirts on and don't dye their hair--is he a faggot?"

Claude just stared, unsure of what to say next. Normally the spirits he met were desperate and vengeful, not quite so...rude.

"I'm right here you know," he began slowly, "I can hear every--"

"Shut the hell up, you socialist punk," said Hayden, holding his nose up in the air. "I was talking to the lady."

"Yes, he's a faggot," Faith said, glaring at Claude. Then, she smiled. "Oh, that reminds me! The other day, Frederich called you, oh, what was it...oh right! He called you the really, really gay version of Neil Patrick Harris."

She giggled.

"Y-you get it? Because he's gay, but also an actor, but you act more gay than he is??" she looked excited for Hayden's reaction.

Hayden's eye twitched.

"...Get to your room, Faith. I have some talking to do with that freaking pinko bastard when he wakes up, and you're not allowed to be around with it because little girls shouldn't hear big boy conversations."

He crossed his arms, fuming.

"Oh man!" she frowned. "I wanted to see it! Frederich hasn't been sleeping much lately, so, I don't think he'll be waking up any time soon!"