Author's Note:
Hello folks! With all the doom and gloom on Tumblr these days, I thought our little fandom could use some lighthearted fluff and I also thought this would be so fun to write. Although, these characters are a much lighter version of themselves, I feel like with time, they'll find the depth and beauty of what we love about Klaus and Caroline.
For now, however, just enjoy the story. It's silly and fun! Also, you will see some slight parallels to The Big Bang Theory...my main inspiration for this story.
Thank you to Kate, Christine, Angel, and a little bit of Lea, for helping me make sense.
"Heal me!"
"There's too many of them, we aren't prepared!"
"We need better fucking weapons!"
"He's too powerful!"
"Listen to me! We got this! Kol, back the fuck up and get the ones behind us! Bonnie, keep doing what you're doing and heal like you've never healed before! Jeremy, you are the best hunter around, you can do this! Now, draw the attention of the others your direction and I'll take care of him."
Klaus maneuvers forward, his shield held strong and his sword swinging with diligence and purpose. They have not come all this way, and gotten this close to their target, for it to all go to waste. They will vanquish this creature and succeed in this quest.
"Bonnie, keep it up, we've almost got him!"
The small caster keeps her hands raised high, the power of the earth moving through her elvan frame and shooting through her fingers. Green light illuminates her friends, resurrecting them each time they near death.
"That's it, one more strike and we've got him!"
"Kol, pull...PULL!"
The solid figure in front of Klaus, as well as his minions, collectively drop to the floor. Success is theirs as the loot drops and is distributed to the guild.
It only took them three hours, but this dungeon has paid off, as Klaus' worgen is now wielding a new shield, and a new pair of boots.
"If we had to do that raid one more time, I swear to God, I would've quit this stupid game," Klaus hears Bonnie say over his headset.
"Yeah right, Bon, you know you can't stay away," Kol interjects.
"Well, I gotta log and open the shop, Kol you coming in later?"
"Yeah, I'll be there."
"Alright, good job, guys! Same time tomorrow?"
"Yeah."
"Yeah."
"Like I got anything better to do?" Kol laughs.
\-[0]-[0]-/
With his index finger, and out of habit more than necessity, Klaus pushes the center of his thick black framed glasses back to his face. He peers at the clock, stretches his arms and flexes his fingers. After staring at his computer for the better part of the morning, getting lost in a world of heroics and dungeons, he and his guild have once again mastered the newest expansion of World of Warcraft.
He stands to stretch and makes his way out of his office, bringing the cash drawer with him and sliding it in place. He picks up a nearby rag and glass cleaner, spraying down the counter and removing the lingering fingerprints from yesterdays patrons. He peers inside to see the many collectibles. The Caped Crusader, The Man of Steel, and The Amazon Princess peer back at him. Their faces bringing a familiar comfort to him since he was a small child.
After ensuring the glass cases are locked and secured, he moves to the other side to inspect the shelves. He received a new shipment of the latest Fantastic Four yesterday afternoon, and so he jostles things around and reorganizes to make room for the newest edition. Before placing the final comic, he removes it from its plastic protection and brings it under his nose, inhaling that fresh-off-the-press smell. He has read it more than once already, being certain to do the appropriate amount of research for his patrons...but one more time couldn't hurt. What would it look like if the owner of the number one comic book store in town isn't completely up to date with each edition that he has in stock?
He takes the comic back behind the counter and becomes enthralled with the foursome's latest conquest. He can appreciate all comics, the newer ones appealing to the younger generations, with their darker drawings and darker themes, but nothing brings him more pleasure than the vintage collection of first editions he has hidden safely away at the bank. The original adventures of Spiderman, Batman and Robin, The Hulk and many more, remaining in mint condition; never disturbed and forever holding their value.
As he nears the end of the story, he doesn't bother to look up when he hears the chime of the doorbell. "We're not open yet," he mumbles and keeps to the pages in front of him.
"Oh, sorry," he hears a woman's voice.
Wait? A woman?
Klaus' head shoots up from the counter and toward the door, the female vibrato causing alarm and shock to go off in his head. The typical woman that comes into his store, rare as it may be, is nothing like the woman he sees before him now.
The sun beams behind her, illuminating her silhouette. If he wasn't a rational man and lived in a fantasy world, (okay, so he collects comic books and plays World of Warcraft, what's your point?), he would think that Susan Storm just jumped off the pages and manifested in front of him. In fact, a number of sexy female heroines rush to his mind as he gazes upon the beauty. The blonde soft curls of Supergirl, the brilliant ice blue eyes of Wonder Woman, and the never ending, perfectly toned, wish they would wrap themselves around me legs of Emma Frost. Bad and beautiful, the White Queen will forever and always hold a special place in his...um...heart.
"I- I'm sorry, I can come back later," she says and begins to leave.
It takes him longer than one would consider polite, blame it on the dropped jaw and lack of coherent thinking, before he clears his throat and speaks, "Wait, we can- we can open the store a little early."
"We?" she asks and steps inside, peering around at the empty shop.
He once again adjusts his glasses, his nervous habit causing his gaze to drift away from her face and down to...her cleavage. Okay, maybe not so far down. He shakes his head and smiles up at her.
"Uh, I mean, I- I can open the store early, it's just me," he smiles gingerly and moves past her to turn the sign to 'open'. Sweet Jesus, is that her that smells like vanilla?
"You don't have to do that, I just wanted to meet my new neighbor," she smiles warmly and extends her hand. "Caroline," she offers.
"Klaus." He takes her hand, "So, you're our new neighbor?"
"Uh-huh, just started leasing the space next door." Caroline steps further into the shop, and Klaus takes advantage of her back turned to take in more of her form.
He was right about the legs. They went on forever. Her black high heels and incredibly short shorts are leaving little room for his imagination, while her low cut and sleeveless blouse hangs loose and slightly transparent, revealing a very faint (if he squints just so) outline of her bra... or is that a tank top?
"Oh, I remember Sailor Moon!"
Her voice brings him back to the here and now. Of course she would find the one and only rack that is specifically catered to girls. Again...not normally girls like her, but girls just the same.
"You like Sailor Moon?"
"I don't know a girl like me that doesn't," she laughs and begins to flip through the first few pages of the book. "Sexy, smart, crime fighting teenagers. Seemed pretty great when I was sixteen."
Interesting, he thinks. Where are all these girls like her that she speaks of? She is certainly the first of her kind that he's come across in the store, outside his baby sister of course...oh and Bonnie, but neither of them count. Perhaps there's a secret society of hot, female comic book connoisseurs that he's unaware of. Well, that's why they're secret, he realizes and chuckles to himself.
"You like manga?" he asks hesitantly.
"Manga?" She gives him a quizzical look.
"Umm, comic books?" he tries a different approach and points at the book in her hand.
"Oh no, I just watched the Sailor Moon TV show after school, comic books have always been way too geeky for me," she blurts nonchalantly, as if she's not talking to a comic book store owner.
Klaus' head lowers to the ground and he raises his eyebrows, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable and a bit defensive. Thank you Caroline, for reminding me of why I have no time for girls like you, he thinks.
"Yes, well, it was nice meeting you and all, but I should really get back to...uh," he glances at the comic opened on the counter, and hesitates. He doesn't know why but her little comment affects him, "uh, I need to straighten a few more things before I actually open."
"Oh, darn it, I did it again, I went and shot my mouth off without thinking," she walks toward the counter and gives him that same winning smile from before. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that you're a-...well, that you're a gee-...I mean, look at you, and your accent is just-, well...obviously you're not a geek," she finally says and throws a hand out at him.
He glances down at his jeans and faded Captain America t-shirt. Even with his geek persona, he's never considered himself a geek in the traditional sense of the word. He keeps himself fit, exercises his body and his mind. Not to mention he and his family run a successful business. He's always felt like the admiration he has for all things nerdy, is just an ironic quirk that he's had since he could remember. A typical collector, is captivated by the stories, mostly looking for an escape from an otherwise nominal existence. Not to mention the women have become more fantastic with the evolution of the artwork, their bodies becoming less and less realistic as their busts get bigger and their waists get smaller. Being an artist himself, spending hours tracing and retracing the human form, he has an appreciation for more than what the run of the mill comic book collector has.
And comics have never wholly defined him.
When he looks back at her, he's not entirely positive, but it looks as though she's blushing. He can't help but snicker as she stares at her feet and tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. Although, he would never admit to being a ladies man, it doesn't go unnoticed to him when a girl seems to show interest. But whether or not he has the nerve to make a move is a completely different thing. She glances up at him through fluttered lashes, and he gets lost in her Wonder Woman baby blues once more.
What was he saying again?
He shifts uncomfortably, and adjusts his glasses once more (he can't help it, it's a nervous tick, okay?). "Uh, well, it's okay," he smiles a tight lipped smile at her. "I'm aware of the special clientele that comes into my shop," he offers, hoping to make her feel better.
She laughs nervously and nods her head. "So, this is your shop?"
"Yeah...well, my family's. My siblings and I own it."
"Hmm, that's nice," she says and he hears in her voice that she means it.
They spend a moment longer in silence, neither one really knowing where to take the conversation from there.
"So, you're leasing the space next door?" Klaus says, breaking the silence. "What kind of shop are you opening?"
"It's a boutique...clothes...well, mostly French clothes."
French clothes? Klaus didn't realize there was a difference in the clothes that were worn here and in other countries. Although he can appreciate the little outfit she's wearing now, his interest in this subject goes about as far as his interest in the Sailor Moon novel she's grasping. "I see," is all he says.
She stands there for a moment longer before speaking. "Well, I should head back," and throws a thumb over her shoulder. "It was really nice meeting you Klaus." She turns to leave but before reaching the door she turns quickly back around. "Oh, oops," she says and scurries back to replace the Sailor Moon book she still has in her possession. She takes two steps backward and gives him a sweet wave before turning and exiting the shop.
Klaus gives her a small wave in return and then just stares in her wake, the subtle scent of vanilla still lingers in the air. His moment of reverie and recollection of what just transpired between them quickly fades away as the door to the shop opens again. This time it's his brother Elijah, a box of doughnuts in hand. He peers out the door one more time before closing the gap between them.
"Do we have a new neighbor?" he asks Klaus.
"Um, yeah, looks like."
Elijah notices Klaus' face and just shakes his head. The look of love struck nerd written all over it.
"What?" Klaus asks, noticing his brother's stare. He's trying to show as much indifference about Caroline as he can muster.
"That girl is not going to have coitus with you," Elijah plainly states.
"What?! That's not even- I wasn't thinking that she-" he grabs the comic off the counter and walks across the store to place it back on the shelf. "Shove off, Elijah!"
Hahaha! Elijah will be my Sheldon, and you will love it!
Don't forget to find me and follow me on Tumblr. Jomosfamilyjewels is where you'll find me.
Also, if you wouldn't mind spending a moment to review, I would love you forever.