Their Raven

Chapter 35

Damon lay in Klaus's arms beneath a canopy of stars, his head resting on Klaus's bare chest. Their skin was still warm from the fevered union, but the moment now was calm, soft—like the air had stilled just for them.

The firefly glow of Damon's magic had faded to gentle embers, lingering faintly where their bodies touched. The phoenix mark pulsed softly above Klaus's heart like a heartbeat, a quiet reminder of what had passed between them.

Klaus's fingers ran lazily through Damon's hair, twisting the dark strands, his other hand drawing idle shapes on Damon's bare back.

"You always like stargazing with your lovers?" Damon asked sleepily, the corners of his lips tugging up.

"I've never done this with anyone," Klaus murmured. "You're... fire and fury and heartbreak and hope."

Damon snorted. "Poetic."

"I'm ancient. I have my moments."

A comfortable silence fell between them, broken only by the occasional chirp of crickets and the steady beat of Klaus's heart under Damon's cheek.

Damon titled his head slightly to look up. "What happens now?" Klaus glanced down at him, eyes shinning. "Now? Now we go home."

The front door creaked open slowly as Damon stepped through, shirt still untucked, curls wild, lips kiss-swollen, with Klaus a smug step behind him,

Waiting in the foyer — arms crossed and brows lifted — were Kol and Elijah.

Kol's eyes narrowed instantly at the state of them both. "Bloody hell," Kol muttered. "You didn't..."

Klaus stepped beside Damon with a self-satisfied smirk. "We did."

Elijah exhaled through his nose, lips twitching like he couldn't decide whether to be disappointed or murderous. "So much for restraint."

Damon, catching the shift in tension, let out a tiny, high-pitched, "I'm gonna shower," and vampire-zoomed up the stairs so face his socks nearly flew off."

As the sound of the bathroom door slammed echoed upstairs, Kol rounded on Klaus.

"You arrogant prick," Kol hissed. "You bit him, didn't you. That wasn't your choice to make."

Klaus's expression shifted from smug to steel. "He wanted it. He wanted me. Or are you jealous, little brother?"

Kol growled low in his throat, anger spreading through his body.

Elijah stepped forward, is jaw tight. "This was supposed to build, Niklaus. You rushed it. We were all supposed to—"

"—to what?" Klaus interrupted, voice rising. "Take turns? Pretend this isn't real? Damon's not some toy for the three of us to pass around."

Kol's eyes narrowed instantly. "You don't get. To claim him just because you couldn't keep it in your pants."

"You wouldn't know love if it hit you in the face," Klaus spat. Kol stepped forward. "Try me, brother."

Before a punch could be thrown, a loud voice cut through the air. "Oh for God's sake—"

Rebekah entered the room in a cloud of fashion, fury, and the scent of expensive perfume. Her heels clicked across the hardwood floor like a countdown to hell.

"I was literally on a white sand beach with two stunning Italian twins when I was demanded to come back, only to find out its because baby vamp upstairs isn't just a vampire and he's now practically living here," she snapped, storming in into the room. "And now I find the three of you acting like lovesick morons."

"Rebekah—" Klaus began, but she raised a hand.

"No. Bloody shut it. You—" she pointed at Klaus "—look like you just rolled out of a romance novel. You—" she turned to Kol "—have your murder face on. And you—" she gave Elijah a sharp look "—look like Mikeal just walked in."

She paused, staring at all three of them with righteous judgement.

"Grow the fuck up! You're all centuries old and you're fighting over one man like a bunch of horny schoolboys. If you want him — and we all know you do — then try not scaring him off my acting like cavemen with childish temper tantrums."

Kol muttered, "He's not just a man..."

Rebekah raised a brow. "No. He's Damon Le Rouge. And he just gave his heart and his magic to one of you. Maybe instead of pissing all over each other like territorial wolves, try focusing on not breaking the heart of the only person in the world who could actually survive you lot."

The brothers stood in silence.

Then, from upstairs, they heard the water shut off.

A moment later, Damon's footsteps padded lightly across the floor. The tension in the room thickened again. Klaus's smirk returned faintly.

"Don't" Elijah warned.

"I'm just saying," Klaus muttered, "he marked me."

"One more word, Nik." Rebekah hissed, "and I swear I will dagger you myself."

Klaus wisely shut up not but not without punching Kol in the stomach. Making Kol groan and punch him in the arm.

As Damon came back down the stairs, damp curls sticking to his forehead, freshly showered in a worn shirt which is Klaus's and joggers, he paused at the top step and looked at the four of them, still silent and frozen like guilt kids caught with their hand in the cookie jar.

"...Did I miss something?"

"No," Rebekah said, beaming as she pushed between her brothers and opened her arms wide. "Welcome home, little witch."

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Hope you all enjoyed my darlings.