Notes: So this is my first attempt at writing Klaroline. It's pretty fluffy and takes place about three years post the S6 and S2 midseason finales of both TVD and TO. I haven't watched all of the first or second season of TO so some of the details might be wrong. I'm terrible at titles so I stole this one from The Same Tattoos by Fences. Hope you enjoy! Reviews are always welcome and appreciated.
PS: To those who have me on alert because of The 100, I'm so sorry! 2014 got crazy and I got blocked. I am working on it though! Expect Three's a Crowd first.
Like A Sun Shines
Buzz. Buzz.
Buzz.
Buzz.
Buzz.
Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.
Buzz.
Buzz. Buzz.
Buzz.
Buzz.
Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.
Klaus shifts his eyes from the half done canvas in front of him towards his phone. The phone's been clattering against the polished wood of his desk across the room for close to twenty minutes and he'd been doing his very best to ignore it. It's unlikely be important because not many people text him. The Quarter has been relatively calm these last few weeks and if something drastic had happened Marcel likely would have sent Joshua or the sullen dark haired girl to him directly.
Buzz.
Buzz.
Klaus finds himself sighing and putting down his paintbrush. He fixes himself a glass of bourbon.
Buzz.
His phone is in his hand in the next instant and, just as he's suspected, it's not important.
It's just Kol.
His brother has become incredibly fond of all the different ways 21st century technology could be used to annoy his siblings. Kol liked to change Elijah's ringtones to obnoxious pop songs or the most profane rap music he could find. He was constantly swiping Bekah's phone from her purse and sending text messages to whomever her latest dalliance was. And to Klaus he sent as many text messages as he could when a single one would usually suffice.
Klaus debates reading them later but the painting really wasn't turning out like he'd wanted it to so he unlocks the screen. It turns out to be the correct decision.
KOL:
[Wednesday 4:17]
Ran into an old friend of ours...
KOL:
[Wednesday 4:17]
Of yours, really.
KOL:
[Wednesday 4:18]
She's as delectable as the last time I saw her in that dingy little bar in Mystic Falls.
KOL:
[Wednesday 4:19]
It might be worth my liver.
KOL:
[Wednesday 4:20]
Any pointers? I'm not quite as good looking as used to be.
KOL:
[Wednesday 4:21]
Have you heard from Elijah?
KOL:
[Wednesday 4:21]
He's certainly taking his sweet time.
KOL:
[Wednesday 4:21]
Probably squiring the wolf girl and your spawn to every tourist trap in the Bay Area.
KOL:
[Wednesday 4:22]
I'd like my body back sometime this decade.
KOL:
[Wednesday 4:23]
I actually have to exercise when I eat beignets.
KOL:
[Wednesday 4:23]
It's tedious.
KOL:
[Wednesday 4:24]
Though I am still the most handsome Mikealson.
KOL:
[Wednesday 4:26]
This truly is the golden age of women's clothing, brother.
KOL:
[Wednesday 4:28]
Nik
KOL:
[Wednesday 4:28]
Klaus
KOL:
[Wednesday 4:28]
Niklaus
KOL:
[Wednesday 4:29]
The Bennett witch is here too.
KOL:
[Wednesday 4:30]
Decisions, decisions.
KOL:
[Wednesday 4:33]
Damn it. They know I'm me. Damn those anchor powers.
Klaus finds himself blinking down at his phone for an embarrassingly long length of time while he filters his brother's usual nonsense and the pertinent information sinks into his brain.
Caroline is in New Orleans.
It's been nearly four years since Klaus saw her last, in the woods behind the Salvatore boarding house. Just under three since he's heard from her directly when he'd received a card thanking him for the flowers he'd sent when Sherriff Forbes had passed on. She had crossed his mind often in that time. He knew she'd been travelling. Associates in various cities around the globe had standing orders to contact him should a young, blonde vampire named Caroline pass through and to ensure she remained unbothered. He'd gotten several reports and photographs. She'd been in Portland and Vancouver with Stefan. Atlanta with a group that included Rebekah's quarterback fling, Tyler Lockwood, and a blonde with curly hair and a fondness for black eyeliner. New York and Boston with an older vampire who called himself Enzo. Austin with the doppelgänger. Miami with the doppelgänger and the Bennett witch.
And now she is in his city.
But she hasn't called him.
Were he just a man he'd probably need to sit down right about now. As it is he merely drains the drink in his hand and dials Kol's number.
The little miscreant doesn't deign to answer, of course.
Klaus wracks his brain for a moment but he has no knowledge of any specific plans his brother may have had for today. Kol usually haunts witch friendly bars and various magic shops these days. Places that Klaus isn't strictly welcome in, even with the uneasy peace among the supernatural factions. But then, what's the point of being king of such a fine city if he's not welcome in any establishment within it? Klaus knows he's smirking and he's glad Elijah's currently in San Francisco tracking down a lead on an artifact they need for a ritual to restore Kol's Original body. There's no one around to lecture him about decorum and not antagonizing the witches and so Klaus leaves the house and goes to do just that.
It's more than an hour later when he finally finds Kol at Rousseau's, of all places. He has called Kol eleven times. He's been to two magic shops, a coffeehouse and another bar and he is not in a good mood. It plummets further when he sees his brother sitting at a table with Davina, Bonnie Bennett and a blonde who is not Caroline Forbes. He stalks towards the table, situated in the back, and the other patrons are quick to get out of his way. On any other day it would be gratifying, but not today. Today he barely notices.
"Brother," Kol calls, raising his arms and the beverage in his hand narrowly avoids sloshing out of its glass and onto Bonnie Bennett, "join us!"
Camille offers him a smile and a little wave. Both the Bennett witch and Davina Claire avoid looking at him. Neither attempts to make his brain burst, so Klaus counts that as progress. He yanks a chair from a neighbouring table and sits down on it, "Is there something wrong with your phone Kol? Did your incessant text messaging finally break it?"
Kol adopts the wide eyed look of innocence that stopped working on Klaus more than a thousand years ago, when Kol was about seven and Klaus was left to mind him and Rebekah while Elijah and Finn hunted with Mikeal, and Esther had her hands full with an infant. Kol makes a show of fishing his phone out of his pocket, "I do apologize. It's awfully noisy in here and it'd be rather rude to be glued to my phone in the company of three such lovely ladies. Would you like a drink, Nik?"
Klaus grits his teeth and reminds himself that, in his current form, Kol is far too fragile to survive the things Klaus itches to do to him. He makes a mental note though, to drive several pieces of glass into hard to reach places at a later date. "No, Kol. I would not. What I would like..."
"Is to see Caroline?" Bonnie interrupts him coolly.
Klaus glares at her, "Bonnie Bennett. It's been awhile. You're as brave as I remember. I do like the haircut."
She smiles at him, though it is with little genuine amusement. "I've died a few times. Faced bigger, badder, villains than you, Klaus. I even spent some time in a freaky prison dimension with a psycho power sucking witch but you don't care about me. Caroline left. About forty-five minutes ago."
It eats at him, to have to ask anything of someone who has tried to kill him so many times. But he manages it, "Where did she go?"
Bonnie shifts a little in her seat and takes a sip of her drink, "She went to find you," she answers finally.
Klaus doesn't even try to stop the pleased grin that spreads across his face, "Did she now?"
"I'm so lost," Cami says.
Kol pats her hand, "Don't worry darling. I'll fill you in."
Klaus wonders if he should be concerned about the heavily embellished version of events that Kol is sure to impart to Cami about their most recent stay in Mystic Falls but he decides that he doesn't care. He's watching Bonnie and he can tell that she's not happy to be here. She's not happy that Caroline's here for him.
And that makes him hopeful.
"I did give her your direction, brother. You must have just missed each other," Kol's smirking at him and maybe he won't maim his brother quite so much. Klaus is just about to take his leave but he finds he cannot move from his chair.
It's Davina who feels the full weight of his glare then. It's become a habit as lately she's the only witch bold enough to act against him. Her power, and her connections, cause her to fear him less than most. She holds up her hands, pretence of supplication "Wasn't me. This time."
And so Klaus shifts his gaze and finds Bonnie's angry green eyes with his and waits for her to speak, "I do not like you. I will never like you. I will never like that Caroline likes you."
Internally Klaus can't help but feel pleased at the last part of that statement. He'd known, after the hours they'd spent together in the woods that it wasn't her feelings for him that were stopping her from coming with him, but her ties to her human life, to her friends, and so he'd been prepared to wait. Focusing on Bonnie he raises a brow and says, "Your point, Witch? Because none of that is shocking to me."
Bonnie's head tilts lightly, as she continues to study him. "I never thought that you actually felt something for her, you know. It's a surprise to me that you feel anything at all."
"Careful. Wouldn't want to hurt my delicate feelings, would you?"
That caused her to roll her eyes. "But Caroline thinks you do. Honestly, I kind of thought you'd forget all about her once she gave in to you."
Klaus feels a growl building in his throat and he strains against the invisible bonds, "That point? I suggest you make it quickly."
"But you've been surprisingly respectful of her wishes these last few years. You could have swooped in after her mom died. I think she would have been happy to let you take her away. But you didn't. You let her live, and grieve."
"Because she's stronger than your merry band ever gave her credit for."
He can feel Cami and Davina looking at him as if they've never seen him before but he doesn't feel like he owes either of them explanations.
Bonnie softens, if infinitesimally. "I know. That's why I agreed to come here with her. Though don't think we don't know about the vamp big brother program you're running."
"Habit, sweetheart. When you're on the run it helps to have eyes and ears in all sorts of places."
"Caroline's my best friend. And I'll stand by her even if I don't agree with her. I want you to remember that, and remember how close I came to putting you down, back in Mystic Falls."
Klaus nods, as much as he is able to, and Bonnie releases him from the magic that had been holding him still. He itches to retaliate but knows that he cannot. Not if he wants Caroline to ever want to stay.
Klaus stands, grabs the drink Kol has just poured and knocks it back, "Should I be expecting an influx of you people into my city then? More lectures? I'll have to warn Rebekah to stay in San Francisco if the Salvatore's will be descending upon us."
"No. Well, maybe Enzo. Caroline called him a couple days ago to tell him where we were heading and he mentioned he'd never been here. He might show up. You never know with him."
Klaus stiffens before he can stop himself but Kol pipes up before he can question Bonnie further, "I don't remember an Enzo. Another suitor, perhaps?"
Bonnie snorts, "Some say he's her type, but no. They're just friends," she meets Klaus' eyes again; "you might actually like him."
"I doubt that," Kol answers. "Nik doesn't like very many people. He's a bit of a curmudgeon, really." Klaus barely resists the urge to smack Kol in the back of the head.
"Well, Enzo tends to get murdery when people upset Caroline. And Caroline would get very upset, should someone murder Enzo," Bonnie shrugs, "I don't really get it but I was dead for a while there."
"Join the club," Kol tips his glass towards her in a mock toast.
Klaus files that information away, "Well, as lovely as catching up with you has been, Bonnie dear, I'm afraid I must be..."
Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.
Klaus pins Kol with a look but his brother's fingers are nowhere near his phone. Klaus pulls his own out of his pocket and does his best to fight a smile, "...going."
And Klaus leaves the table and the bar without a backward glance even as Kol shouts after him, "I guess I won't be coming home tonight, then?" Because that is an exceedingly stupid question that does not deserve an answer.
Buzz. Buzz.
Klaus glances at his phone again. And stops in his tracks. But only for a second and then he's flashing, thankful that the humans in this part of town know to ignore strange happenings. Thankful that hybrids are that extra bit faster than vampires.
CAROLINE:
[Wednesday 5:52]
You know, when you were pitching New Orleans, you seriously should have led with this pool.
CAROLINE:
[Wednesday 5:52]
I love it and it'll take some serious convincing to get me to ever leave it once I get in.
CAROLINE:
[Wednesday 5:52]
I'm talking a truckload of beignets. And blood bags. High quality booze.
CAROLINE:
[Wednesday 5:52]
Not that you'd suddenly start drinking Old Crow, you snob.
CAROLINE:
[Wednesday 5:54]
I'm going in.
CAROLINE:
[Wednesday 5:52]
And I'm naked, FYI.