Two Lost Souls

Only The Strong Survive

Your time has come

You can stand or you can run

But don't keep it all inside

Cause you gotta understand

That there ain't no second chance

No one gets outta here alive

Only the strong survive

It's been over two weeks since she arrived in New Orleans, and Caroline and the originals have settled into what some would call a routine. She spends her nights and most of her mornings with Klaus, either at the house or out, and she can't help but notice that he never kills anyone, nor does he pressure her into doing so, when they're together. He knows that his siblings will make her turn her emotions back on if she breaks their rules. Now, she knows that his tolerance and self-control are most likely due to the fact that she's quite simply more useful and fun to him with her humanity off, but she has to wonder if there isn't some part of him that simply doesn't want to put her through the anguish of feeling again.

That's something worth digging into.

Her afternoons are spent with either Rebekah or Elijah, discussing strategy and sharing ideas and information, or wandering the city by herself while Klaus goes hunting, not-so-secretly followed by whichever of his siblings is assigned to damage control that day.

Elijah is a master at this fake seduction game they're playing, her supposedly unconsciously and him quite obviously consciously, but they haven't been able to get a reaction out of Klaus yet. Not surprising since things haven't progressed past a lingering hand on the small of her back whenever he's guiding her somewhere. It's going to take more than that to trigger Klaus' territorial streak, they both know that, but Elijah is intent on keeping it slow and subtle, and that's fine with Caroline. She's well fed, well fucked, as safe as she's going to be given the circumstances, her accommodations are downright luxurious and she's partying almost every night, indulging in more alcohol and blood than she ever thought possible. What more could she want?

All in all, things are pretty comfortable, which is why she knows that they're about to go downhill. This can't last. For one thing, Rebekah and Elijah are bound to grow impatient at some point and when they do, they'll resort to drastic measures she doesn't want to think about. For another, every time she leaves the house on her own, she can feel Marcel's men following her every step. She's given up on trying to shake them. Let them get bored out of their mind watching her err aimlessly in the streets. Sooner or later, Marcel will snap and have them take her, she's sure of it and she's fine with it. Not only must he believe that the few bodies Elijah and Rebekah haven't been able to hide are her doing, despite the lack of evidence against her, but she also knows there's something he wants from her. She doesn't believe for a second that she's still alive thanks to her looks. Men as ruthless as he is supposed to be don't leave potential threats alone just because they think they're pretty.

What it is about her that intrigues him that much, she doesn't know. She figures she'll find out soon enough. She's not too concerned about it.

"You know, lesser men would find your distraction more than a little off-putting."

Shaking her head and wincing when the motion has droplets of shampoo sliding down her forehead and into her eyes, she moves a little to stand under the spray, letting the water roll down her face before she can look at Klaus, who is busy running the lavender scented soap all over her upper body now that he's done washing himself and she's done lathering shampoo in her hair.

They ended up in the shower after round number two that night. It really was supposed to be just to relax and clean up, but it seems he now has other ideas, judging by his semi-erect cock. Shrugging a little, she tilts her head back and runs her fingers through her hair, sighing as she rinses it.