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-ˏˋ𝘾𝙃𝘼𝙋𝙏𝙀𝙍 𝙎𝙀𝙑𝙀𝙉 ˎˊ˗ ════ ⋆͛♡⋆͛ ════
Rory had a cigarette burning between her fingers, her hair tucked into a loose, low bun. The paint on her brush was spattered almost clumsily over the canvas in front of her, red mixing with the yellow tones. She honestly didn't have an artistic bone in her body, that was more Klaus' style, but she needed something to distract herself. She didn't have the inspiration to dance anymore, and honestly, she knew that staying within the walls of Klaus' mansion wasn't doing her any good.
"I didn't know you painted," Klaus crossed his arms over his chest as he leaned against the doorway to the balcony. Rory turned over to face him, stubbing her cigarette over the metal railing. "It's very... inspired."
"Don't make fun of me. You know I don't paint," Rory retorted, placing the brush down. She reached for the pack of gum in her back pocket, popping one in her mouth. She knew Klaus didn't mind it when she kissed him with cigarette breath, but she didn't want to subject him to it if she had a way to help it. "Besides, there's nothing much to do except be shitty at arts and crafts and wallow in my own misery."
"I thought you were going to speak to Elena today?" Klaus' question was innocent, but there was an agitated sheen in his eyes that always came up when he spoke about Rory's younger twin. Honestly, he did not give a rat's ass about the younger doppelganger, but if there was a cure out there, then he needed a blood bag for his hybrids. He wasn't going to use Rory, so Elena would have to do.
"I was, but then I chickened out. Hence the..." she gestured towards her stubbed out cigarettes in the ashtray. She ran a hand through her hair, falling onto the chair. "I have no idea what to say. Sorry for picking on you during your very difficult time of transitioning to a vampire and almost killing Matt in front of you?"
"I think you're overthinking this. And if I'm being honest, I don't think you have anything to apologise for," Klaus sat on the chair beside her, placing a hand on Rory's thigh. "Your sister has done equally as much to you as you have to her, and she has yet to speak up about it."
"But we're family, you know? It shouldn't be like that. We shouldn't want to hurt our family just because they hurt us. An eye for an eye will make the whole world go blind," Rory pulled her knees up against her chest, resting her chin against them. "I just want to make things right with my sister, Nik. I'm so tired of... avoiding her and pretending it doesn't hurt me inside to know that Elena and I won't be okay; she's my twin."
"Well, if you really intend on apologising to her—for whatever reason—then I'm sure she'll forgive you," Klaus leaned forward, pressing his lips against her forehead. "If it's one thing I know about you Gilbert women, it's that you're awfully forgiving, even when the one asking for forgiveness doesn't deserve it."
There was a guilty light in Klaus' eye, one that Rory doesn't fail to notice. She gave him a small smile, resting her palm against his cheek. She knew that he had been struggling to indulge in the relationship they had formed over the course of the few months—it was impossible to actually be a normal partner to Rory when the people around her would constantly remind him of all the bad things he did—and once in a while, he would fall back into the clutches of insecurity and self-hatred.
