His Muse (Klaus Mikaelson/The Vampire Diaries)

Chapter Nine

Klaus called Bethany, and asked if she was available to meet and go painting - which, of course, she was.

As he saw her sitting at the gazebo in the town square, Klaus took a moment to admire the blonde; she was truly beautiful! The rays of the sun crowned the top of her head like a halo, and it made Klaus think of the irony that he - the devil - was gifted with a mate who was, obviously, an angel. He was too far gone, for any kind of redemption, however.

Bethany had her art supplies with her, and Klaus approached her from the front so that he would not startle her with his silent footsteps.

Bethany greeted him with that beaming smile of hers, "Hi, Nik!"

"Hello, sweetheart." He charmed her with a smile of his own, "I'm glad you agreed to come."

"I was wondering when you'd call." She replied, and then her eyes suddenly widened slightly. "Not that I was waiting, or anything. I mean, I was. But..." She blushed, and Klaus had to chuckle. He knew that she fancied him, and he was pleased. "Can we go and paint now, so an animal can attack us and kill me and make me feel a little less embarrassed?"

He helped carry her things to his car, and he drove them to where he had taken her when they had done 'supernatural entity ass-kicking', when he had been posing as Alaric.

"You look like you recognise this spot?" He teased her, as they set up their easels. Rather than set his up to sit beside her, Klaus had set his up opposite - but where he would be able to see her face. He wanted to paint her, and what better way to do that than by painting someone when they didn't realise they were the muse.

Especially, when she just assumed he had done so to 'keep watch behind her'.

She stuttered a little, and Klaus realised that he found it to be rather endearing. "I may have been here once or twice, with Alaric." She froze, "Or, you know, not Alaric. Because that would be weird."

"Tell me about yourself." Klaus suggested then, giving her a moment to recover from his teasing. "You said that you have a sister?"

"Yes, Caroline Forbes. Captain of the Cheerleading squad, and the town bitch. I don't think she particularly means to be, but she has a habit of opening her mouth and inserting her foot in the worst ways possible."

"Sounds like my little sister." Klaus replied, "Although, Rebekah does intend to be mean. She finds happiness in making other people miserable."

"Do you have any more siblings?"

"Yes, I have three brothers too." He replied, "Two older and one younger."

"Do you get along well? I can imagine a lot of arguing when you were growing up."

He had to laugh at that. "We had our differences, yes." He replied, "And we fought as siblings would. I won, of course." He had their bodies to prove it.

"Caroline and I used to fight all the time, when we were kids." Klaus watched her dip her paintbrush into a mixture of blues, "It was only over who would get to eat the last brownie, though."

"And who won?" He would be disappointed, if his mate wasn't as competitive as he.

"Me usually, but then she would start crying and I'd end up giving her half of it."

As Klaus got to know his mate a little better, he set to work at mixing the perfect colour palette. Her skin was ivory, with just a hint of peach, and her hair was a golden wheat. Her eyes, however, he couldn't decide if their green was emerald or hellebore.

She caught his eye then, and blushed. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Like what?" He played coy, shooting her an innocent smile. "Am I not allowed to admire someone so beautiful?"