Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries or its characters. If i did, The Originals would never have happened, Kol would be alive and happily causing mayhem somewhere, and Klaus and Caroline would be travelling the world and sexing it up.

This one combines two prompts, tried to keep this one short and sweet.

IamKatherine- When Klaus sees Caroline's press conference

Peanut mm- Klaus and Thomas' reunion in the hospital when he wakes up

"Welcome back Mr Windsor." The nurse begins with a smile as she closes the door behind her. "You've given us all a bit of a fright."

He accepts the cup of water she pours out gratefully, sipping slowly as he tries to get used to talking again. He'd had nurses hovering since he'd come around earlier this morning, probably at Caroline's instruction.

He was already in one of the best hospital rooms, a part of him wondered what other strings she'd pulled on his behalf, using her name and title to get only the best.

"Is Caroline okay?" He breathes out hoarsely as the nurse nods once in confirmation. He lets out a soft sigh of relief. There really only had been so much that he could do to ensure her safety, despite everything that had happened that night.

"The Queen is fine." She replies, and he's suddenly reminded of the uniqueness of his situation, to be able to be on first name basis with the Queen of Qirevia. "She was very worried about you. She's a brave woman. I don't know if I couldn't have carried on as normal the way she has over the past few days."

That would be Elijah's influence. Although he and his older sibling had their moments, he was grateful for Elijah's presence in Caroline's life, and the foresight his older brother obviously had into how Caroline's mind worked.

Although she would have been initially resistant and railed against him as much as possible, distracting her with work was probably the best thing Elijah could have done for her. It kept her grounded, kept her focused, and allowed her to focus her energies on what she did best rather than worrying about him.

He lets the nurse help him sit up as she takes his vitals, noting his blood pressure, heart rate, and oxygen uptake on a chart at the foot of his bed.

"You'll likely feel very weak for the next couple of days, if not weeks." The nurse begins, pressing a button by his bed, no doubt to page a doctor. "Of course, it helps that your body was in peak physical condition when you were poisoned."

He nods once to himself.

"Do they know what the poison was?"

The nurse frowns, glancing at his chart, flipping over papers as if to see if someone had made a note of it.

"I'm not exactly sure myself; you'll have to ask the doctor who administered the antidote to you. He'll be able to answer any questions you may have."

He continues to sip at the water.

"Could you let my father know that I'm awake?" He asks politely as the nurse gives him a kind smile.

"Of course. I believe your brother Elijah also left his number with the nurse at the desk; I'll make sure that the Queen is informed as well. The press conference she gave when she mentioned you was so sweet."

With that she gives him a quick smile and vacates the room before he can ask what on earth she meant.

She's very quickly replaced by his doctor, who checks him over again with a somewhat resigned expression on his face.

"You're a very lucky man Mr Windsor." The doctor finally pronounces, scribbling something else down on his chart. "A few more hours and you wouldn't be with us right now. You have your father to thank for that."

The doctor fills in some of the gaps that had been missing, but he still doesn't have the whole picture. All he knows is that his father and Enzo Augustine of all people had shown up in combat gear at the 11th hour with an antidote to the Mortlock poison that had almost killed him.

The doctor switches on the TV for him before he leaves, as if sensing his boredom and desire to leave the hospital and get back to the palace.

He's most surprised when a televised replay of a palace press conference pops up on his screen. That in and of itself is rare enough. Caroline appears, a defiant tilt to her chin. She looks pale and drawn, but still carries herself with that same confidence she always does.

"Welcome and thank you all for coming on such short notice. I'm sure you're all wondering why you're here, so I'm going to make this as brief as I possibly can."

Of course, it doesn't escape his notice that her hands are shaking, and she grips the podium in front of her a little tighter. He watches as she takes a deep breath, as if to steel herself for whatever she is going to say next.

"The issue of my marriage is one that has been a highly contentious topic these past few months. And while this isn't the reason that I've called you together, I may as well clear the air now. I am in love with a man called Niklaus Windsor."

His breath catches in his throat as he watches her, the raw emotion on display across her face. She always had been rubbish at hiding her emotions from those who knew her best.

"Niklaus is the sole heir to the Windsor seat at Chatsworth, and for these past few months he has also served as my bodyguard. We have been in a relationship for some time, and I intend to marry him I he'll have me."

Of course, it was so like her to do something like this. Not only did it garner sympathy politically, it was something to get off her chest, even if she couldn't admit it to him at the time. It makes him love her even more, if at all possible.

The door opens and his father slips into the room, eyes bright with emotion as the older man's eyes land on him.

He lets his father pull him into a crushing hug. He and Thomas had never been afraid of showing emotion around each other, their bond closer than most.

"Thank you for saving my life or so I hear." He tells his father once they've pulled apart and Thomas has dropped into the seat beside his bed.

"It won't be the last I'm sure." Thomas remarks with a quick grin before turning to the TV, smile settling on his lips when he sees the tail end of Caroline's press conference. "That speech will go down in history you know."

He shifts on the bed, crossing his arms over her chest. He was so damn proud of her, even if she'd made their relationship public without consulting him first. He would have done the same if their positions were reversed.

"She's something else." He finally settles on as his father turns back to him.

"When are you going to ask her to marry you Nik?"

The question is seemingly innocent, but god it hits him all at once that this is going to be his life if they do marry, not that there's any question of anything happening otherwise.

"She has to ask me, as you very well know old man. Hopefully she has the same future for us in mind as I do."

His father settles in for one of those long conversations that they do so well, and he finally, finally gets the whole picture. It's not surprising, that Acamos is openly moving against them, but it's the first time in a long time that they've been so openly aggressive.

Prince Erik continues to be a troublesome little asshole, and it would be so easy to just have him assassinated, but Caroline had more honour than that, and didn't believe in openly moving against another monarch. It was infuriating, but it also made sense. It was what made her such a respected ruler.

Finally, finally, his father turns to him with another mischievous smile.

"I'm sure you're eager to get out. Let's go distract the nurses at the front desk."

He doesn't think he's ever moved faster, poisoning or not.

AN: I always loved the relationship between Klaus and Thomas in Uneasy Lies, and it's been so great to explore it more in these snapshots. Klaus was never really loved by his mother, but Thomas loved him unconditionally and was never ashamed of him.