Empath ‣ Klaus Mikaelson [1]

Thirty-Nine

A few days staying inside caused both Talia and Klaus to be extremely bored. They enjoyed each other's presence and did find ways to be entertained, but after a while, getting wine drunk and reading through Talia's bookshelves were activities now becoming monotonous.

Klaus left the apartment every once in a while to keep in contact with Rebekah and get any information they can about the white oak in Mystic Falls. Talia, not willing to risk her life or anyone else's, would stay home. She often called Caroline and, after being arrested, she called Alaric. Even though she knew there was a divide and they were taking sides, Alaric had been nothing but nice to her. He also did not know Kol was linked to Talia and, from what she heard, he felt absolutely terrible, especially since he was convinced he had unintentionally killed her.

Even though she didn't like that he was helping them try to take down the Originals, he still had a soft spot for her. And she admittedly liked their friendship. It also felt like she had a link to Jenna and everyone else. Talia didn't exactly want to be around the gang anymore after they tried to kill her, her fiance, and his family which was slowly becoming her own, but she did miss them. Damon was fun and she knew the teenagers. Hell, she even babysat all of them at one point or another. Her father was right though: nostalgia wasn't enough to keep them from wanting to hurt her.

But she kept in contact with Alaric Saltzman. She felt bad for him and genuinely believed that the Alaric she knew would never commit such awful crimes. That was her first mistake.

Klaus had been busy. Talia missed him often, but she knew it was necessary. When he returned from each busy day, he would tell her everything about it and let her know how much he missed her. She was thankful he was telling her everything and was a little glad that he missed her too whenever they were apart. It made her feel less irrational about missing him.

She did go over to the Gilbert house the previous day with Klaus standing guard outside as he was not allowed in. Elena was out and so Alaric and Talia had some coffee on the porch and chatted. He even seemed to be warming up to Klaus, deciding that the guy maybe had a redeemable quality. Alaric informed them they were going to see if something was wrong with his brain and Talia wished him the best of luck.

Talia had been lounging around the house when Alaric gave her a call. Confused, she answered.

"Hello?" Talia asked.

"Hey," Alaric replied.

"What's up, Al?" she asked.

"I, uh, well, I'm apparently unwell and alone," he answered.

"Do you want a buddy?"

"Yeah. That's why I called."

"Are you okay? I mean, what happened?"

"Nothing wrong medically. They're still concerned that I'm a danger to myself."

"I don't see how. You couldn't hurt a fly."

"I'm a semi-retired vampire hunter."

"A really bad one, though."

"Yeah, that's fair," he said with a chuckle.

"I mean, where's Meredith?"

"Working and not wanting to see me right now."

"I'm sorry. I'm sure she's just trying to figure this out."

"I hope so." He sighed. 

"I'd have to talk to Nik, but I could swing by and get you the beer I tried to share with you that one day Nik stole your body."