Bring Me To Life | The Originals (1)

Long Way Back From Hell

"Eat." Marcel ordered sternly as he set a porcelain plate down in front of the brunette witch sitting on the opposite side of the counter and she pursed her lips in slight annoyance as she lifted her head to meet his gaze. The delicious smell of crispy bacon wafted from the plate set in front of her, coupled with handmade pancakes and fresh cut fruit, it looked as though it could've been photographed for a magazine. Normally, she would've been thrilled to be on the receiving end of one of Marcel's meals, having tasted one of his home-cooking more than once but she knew that he had only put in the effort because he felt sorry for her.

"I'm not hungry, Marcel." Imogen said in a small voice, the grief evident in her voice as she tried to push the plate back across the counter. There was a part in the back of her mind that knew his concern was probably justified, she hadn't exactly handled Davina's death with the class she normally exhibited.

Learning about Sophie's death had sent a sharp pain through her chest, like getting struck by an arrow out of nowhere but she buried her emotions down deep underneath the hardened exterior and compartmentalised it to the back of her mind to deal with at a later date. The French Quarter was in the middle of a civil war and she was one of the key players in the fight to rid Celeste back to the depths of hell. If she was going to be at the top of her game, she needed to think about everything logically and prioritise what was most important aspect of her life. Everything Imogen had ever done was for one reason and that wasn't about to change as long as there was a chance to bring Davina back to life.

"I said, 'eat'."

"And I said, 'I'm not hungry'."

"Imogen, come on. It will make me feel better." He told her innocently as he leaned his crossed arms on the counter across from her, tilting his head to the side with a small genuine smile. She scowled at him in exasperation, knowing that he was trying to guilt her into doing something that actually benefited her instead of him.

"Fine." She spat out through gritted teeth as she pulled the plate back towards her, narrowing her eyes at the smug grin that spread across his lips. She shook her head to herself as she took the fork he'd placed beside her plate, attempting to ignore his searing gaze and stabbed one of the strawberries with more force than necessary before popping it into her mouth, "You happy?"

"Thrilled." Marcel acknowledged in amusement as he pushed himself off of the counter and she grumbled under her breath with a roll of her eyes as she continued eating the food in front of her.

"Shouldn't you be out looking for Klaus and Rebekah?" Imogen asked nonchalantly as she picked up one of the freshly baked bagels from the bakery down the street and took a bite as she quirked an eyebrow at him.

"I got people on it. But right now, I'm biggest problem is sitting right across from me." he remarked teasingly with a charming grin as he lifted his mug of freshly brewed coffee to his lips. She smiled sarcastically in response while continuing to chew and inclined her head as she held her bagel up slightly in acknowledgement. "Besides, when your best friend attempts to kill herself - "

"I didn't try to kill myself!"

"- you put everything else aside and make sure that she doesn't try again." He finished pointedly with a slightly raised voice, ignoring her offended interruption and she rolled her eyes at him as she took another almost savage bite of her bagel.

"I didn't try to kill myself. I made a calculated strategic manoeuvre." She reminded him with a quirked eyebrow, a playful lilt in her voice as she tilted her head to the side and he placed his coffee down on the counter as he matched her amused smirk. "It only works if Celeste continues to think I'm dead, so I'll be staying indoors for the foreseeable future. And I have to wait out the vampire blood in my system before I do anything stupid and life threatening."