Sanctuaries: A Klaroline Fanfiction

7: Shenanigans

The next morning, the women found themselves alone in the house. Klaus had gone off to whatever today's mission was, Elijah was meeting some finance guy and the Salvatore brothers had decided on an early morning visit to Remy's. Now the four of them were gathered in the kitchen over coffee, blood bags and bagels, discussing last night's events. Rebekah explained that ever since they had come of age, Klaus and Kol had been constantly clashing over almost everything. Kol had always been trying to find his place among the brothers, but with the roles of the tyrant ruler and the controlled, appeasing éminence grise already cast, he hadn't found a niche for himself to this day.

"The funny thing is," she sighed, "that Nik and Kol have much more in common than they would ever care to admit. They are stubborn, hot-headed, impulsive and can be downright cruel. On the upside, both of them care very deeply when they care, they can be fun, adventurous and life with them is never dull. It is just that I simply can't imagine that after a thousand years of rivalry and fighting, they will ever find a way to just be brothers. Nik and Elijah did, but then their relationship has always been a different one."

Caroline took a sip of her blood and smiled at her sister-in-law. "I don't want to pretend to know them as well as you do, Bekah, but I think there is some hope. After what happened in France, when Kol learned about Klaus and Henrik, he didn't provoke Klaus for ages. He treated him the way he usually treats Elijah, so maybe if we wait for another thousand years, there might be a light at the end of the tunnel."

Eyeing the choice of bagels on the large plate, Rebekah finally settled for cinnamon raisin and loaded a hefty helping of cream cheese onto one half. "Kol was in shock, as was I. I still can't wrap my head around what my father did to them, Henrik especially. And Nik sitting through all that torture, pretending to be immobilized… I think that apart from the shock, that was what impressed Kol the most, and he saw Nik differently for a while. He has always admired him, ever since he was a little boy, and even more so after the events in Tiffauges. But at some point, they just fell back into old patterns, and it certainly did not help that Nik kicked him out of the house and Kol retaliated by playing Marcel's BFF."

With a thoughtful expression, Caroline pursed her lips. "Do you think Kol was really just trying to piss off Klaus? What if he actually chose to side with Marcel after all?"

Rebekah shook her head. "Kol has always despised Marcel – he kept saying he was nothing but a boor, but I believe he was a little jealous back in the day when Nik spent so much time roaming the world with Marcel. Still, it was not only jealousy. Elijah, Kol and I never liked the man in the least, and I would find it beyond surprising if Kol changed his stance so drastically. No, he always knows exactly how to get to Nik and how to upset him the very most. You could safely say that no one in the world is as proficient in provoking Nik as Kol is."

"And I thought Damon and Stefan had issues," Elena commented dryly. "It seems Elijah is the only member of our old boys' club that could be considered remotely normal."

Silv and Rebekah exchanged a glance. "Oh, I don't know about that," the Original grinned. "He can be quite something, too. He is just more skilled at hiding his less presentable sides. But I do have the feeling that this whole relationship slash marriage thing bodes rather well for all of them."

"Ahm…" Caroline interjected, raising a finger. With a snicker, Rebekah rolled her eyes.

"Yes, all right, it bodes well for all of us. Myself included." They had to laugh, and Caroline exchanged a quick look with Elena. How far had they come from the days when Rebekah had been an almost bigger plague than her brother!

With a grin, Silv took a sip of blood and gazed at the others. "We just need to find someone for Kol eventually, then."

"Didn't Klaus say that this Davina has her sights set on Kol?" Caroline asked.