𝐆𝐎𝐋𝐃 𝐁𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐃, ᴺᴷ | ON HOLD

06

present time.

Arriving back to Lucien's penthouse, she noticed men coming in and out with boxes in their hands. Stepping inside, she saw a blonde woman, who she found out was named Camille, and a man sleeping on the couches in the living room. She didn't pay much attention to them, she simply walked into the room she laid in at night and set forth to Lucien's master bathroom.

A bath was what she wanted. She ushered lavender and vanilla soap into the bath water, adding some vervain as well. She had been bathing in vervain for nearly four hundred years now. It was a good way to continue her immunity to the herb.

Stepping out of her white plush robe, she sat in the tub of water. A platter on top held a notebook along with a pen as well as a bag of blood and a glass of orange juice. Weirdly enough, that was her favorite combination of the two liquids.

Bathing, she reflected on her day and began thinking about the past. She thought about Kol, and the first time they met. His intentions were to eat her, but she proved she was worth keeping around. She remembered Niklaus' touch. A millennium ago, his touch was fragile; almost as if he could break her.

His hands that held her arms were rough still but didn't hold the same fragility they did a thousand years ago. She remembered a story he told her a few days after they had met. One that entailed how he knew how to wield a blade because of his father. One that ended in him showing her a small faded scar from when he was boy. The roughness was because of his will to strive for his father's approval, even if he'd get beat for his best efforts.

She smiled faintly at the thought of Niklaus as a boy, she also observed how much better he smelled. She remembered how he smelled of faint iron and mint. The metallic smell from blood and the mint from a salve he'd put on his arms. Now though, his cologne was rich and earthy but a metallic smell still lingered. Lost in her thoughts, she aimlessly wrote.

Lucien walked into the scene of his best friend writing in his bath tub. He smiled faintly and knocked lightly to get her attention.

"Hi Lu," Eris smiled.

"Hi E," he smiled back walking towards one a chair and sitting next to her friend in the tub.

"How was your day?" He asked taking the glass of orange juice and sipping it.

"Quite eventful, but I did run into Niklaus again. I don't know Lu, I thought I was ready." She said running her hand on the side of  bath.

"You don't have to be ready, E. You don't have to speak to him or look at him or breath the same air as him. It's your choice. Who gives a fuck about anything else." He said with care.

"Lucien, you know I love you right?" She said timidly.

Lucien laughed wholeheartedly, "Yes Eris Laurent, I know you love me,"

Eris didn't look to her friend. She was saddened today. She was reminded of so many things that caused her pain. From losing her tragic nightmare to the poverty she faced.

"Eris, why the long face?" Lucien stated seeing as her face was contorted in emotions.

"Last night, I saw Tristen." She let out a shaky breath.

Lucien felt a pang of guilt in his chest. He knew about the horrors Eris had endured because of him. The physical and mental trauma he left her with.

"I don't know," she stuttered, "I saw him and it was like I was that thirteen year old girl all over again," she let out a sob.

Quickly Lucien moved to the side of the tub and held her hand tight. That was her nightmare he realized. He was guilty. He felt guilty.

"What do you want me to do? I'll make it better Eris, I promise." He said stroking her hair as she sobbed into his chest.