Many Happy Returns
Synopsis: Niklaus has been acting strange all morning, and Elijah finds himself slightly concerned about what he might be planning.
Niklaus had been acting strange all morning. He was walking through the compound at ungodly hours, and several times Elijah was sure he had heard muffled curses coming from the kitchen.
Were Elijah another man, one who knew his brother less well, he might have been worried. As he wasn't, and had had the unfortunate pleasure of having had to deal with Niklaus' antics for ten centuries, he merely suppressed a sigh and steeled himself for the inevitable fallout his brother's actions were likely to entail.
Perhaps he could keep the body count to a minimum this time and save them all the headache of having to compel someone to sort out the bodies.
"Niklaus," he asked as his brother passed through the sitting room for the third time in an hour. "What on earth are you doing?"
His brother waved his concerns away, dislodging some white powder from the sleeves of his dark sweater as he moved. "Nothing you need concern yourself with, brother. Everything is under control."
The implication that there was something that needed to be under control did nothing to alleviate Elijah's concerns, but before he could continue his questioning, Klaus had left the room again, heading back into the house, presumably towards the kitchen.
Elijah looked at the empty doorway for a moment, considering going after him, before deciding he'd probably soon find out what was going on anyway.
He turned back to his book. Perhaps this way he could actually get some reading done before whatever Niklaus was cooking up now exploded and they were all left to deal with cleaning up in aftermath.
An hour or so later, Elijah had been making significant headway in his book, although he did wish that he were reading it in the original Russian instead of the subpar English translation. He was sure he still had a first edition of the book lying in one of their properties somewhere, he ought to look into it.
Rebekah entered the sitting room, dropped down on the sofa across from Elijah and sighed deeply. "Remind me not to go back in there until Nik is done being an idiot."
Elijah raised his brows.
"He dismissed the cook for today," Rebekah confided to him. "If he burns the compound down to the ground, please know that I told you so."
"I don't suppose you can tell me what he is up to?" Elijah asked his sister.
Rebekah rolled her eyes. "I can't help you there. Nik has me sworn to secrecy, he would never forgive me if I told on him."
Elijah frowned. This was getting more and more absurd.
"I suppose I will just ask Niklaus himself," he murmured, getting to his feet and putting his book on a side table.
Rebekah let out a laugh. "Good luck with that," she said. "When you see him, do tell him I'm not helping him anymore. This whole thing crossed the line into ridiculousness two hours ago."
"I'll be sure to let him know," Elijah said dryly.
"He should have just stuck to his silly drawings," Rebekah mumbled as he crossed the room, and he could practically hear her roll her eyes.
In the hallway leading up to the kitchen Elijah was sure he heard more muffled cursing, only the sound was oddly muted, in a way it shouldn't be if there were just the closed door blocking it. This was curious.
Even more curious was the way he had to come to a stop several feet from the kitchen door, feeling as though an invisible boundary kept him from moving forward. He tested it with the toe of his shoe, but merely seemed to hit a wall he couldn't see, and reaching with his hand he felt a slight static that he had learned to associate with magic.
Casting his eyes to the ceiling, he suppressed another sigh.
Two minutes later, he found himself in the study.
"Freya," Elijah asked with impressive patience. "Why is there a boundary spell around the kitchen?"
"Niklaus asked me to put one up," his sister said absently, flipping through another book.
"To keep himself from burning the house down?" Elijah asked skeptically. His brother was hardly known for his attention to safety.
The corner of Freya's lips quirked up into a smile. "Not exactly."
She didn't seem inclined to explain further, although she did look up at him with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes, so Elijah had a feeling he was about to hit another dead end in his investigation.
"I suppose you were sworn to secrecy as well," he said, resigned.
Freya bit her lip to hide a grin, and nodded. "Sorry, brother," she said. "But I'm sure you will find out what this is all about soon enough."
"I can hardly wait," Elijah said dryly.
"You don't have to worry," Freya reassured him, getting up and lightly touching his arm. She quirked a smile. "It's highly unlikely this particular plot will result in more than a slightly charred kitchen area."
Elijah smiled, amused despite his annoyance at the secrecy.
"Why don't you go do something else?" Freya suggested. "Niklaus will probably be done by dinner."
Although he was still curious, Elijah realised that further investigation would also require more effort, and quite frankly, motivation he didn't truly have. As he was now mostly reassured he wouldn't have to deal with another imminent disaster made worse by his brother, Elijah gave her a nod and walked back to the door.
An idea occurred to him as he was about to leave, and he paused in the doorway.
"Would I be right in assuming the boundary spell does also keep any potential fires from spreading to the rest of the house?"
Freya blinked at him. "Of course," she said.
Elijah nodded. That seemed like a good precaution.
When he returned to the sitting room Rebekah had left, and Elijah settled back into his favourite armchair, opening his book again. It was rare that they had a quiet day with their family, but perhaps he could still enjoy some of it, despite his brother's plotting.
The hours of the afternoon passed quietly.
Niklaus didn't appear from the kitchen, but Elijah didn't hear any further sounds, so it was unlikely he had set the place on fire so far. As for his sisters, both of them seemed to make themselves scarce. Hayley and Hope were in the bayou visiting the pack, and would only return the next day, so the compound felt almost deserted.
As it was, Elijah passed an afternoon in peace, with only a few moments where his thoughts would wander back to the mystery of whatever his brother might be plotting. Freya's reassurance that it was nothing dangerous helped, although it did nothing to alleviate his curiosity.
It was towards the end of the afternoon when Rebekah came to find him.
"Elijah," she called, and he looked up as she waltzed back into the sitting room.
He put aside his book. "What is it?"
"Nik sent me to fetch you," Rebekah said, rolling her eyes.
She didn't seem as annoyed about being bossed around by her brother as Elijah would have expected. In fact, she seemed to almost be vibrating with excitement, which made him suspicious, although he kept it from showing.
He followed her as she led him through the hallways to the dining room, pausing at the door to let him go in first. He stepped inside, curious what all this secrecy had been about.
The first thing Elijah noticed as he entered the dining room was his brother standing at the head of the table, grinning widely. The second was the cake, placed rather prominently on the table in front of him. It was of a significant size, two tiers high, with what looked like white frosting covering it.
In the middle of the second tier, a single candle burned merrily.
Freya walked up to him, kissing his cheek. "Happy birthday, Elijah."
"The cake is for you," Klaus added, pride in his voice, and suddenly everything seemed to fall into place. The cake, the secrecy, Freya trying to restrain her laughter earlier.
Elijah was speechless. "You baked me a cake?" he finally managed, his voice coming out slightly strangled.
"For your birthday, yes," Klaus said casually. "It's been ages since we celebrated a birthday—let alone yours—so I figured I might give it a go. It was simple enough, really."
Rebekah's cough sounded suspiciously like a laugh.
"Yes, it only burned twice," she commented under her breath.
Klaus glared at her. "Anyway," he said, turning back to Elijah. "Happy birthday, brother."
A birthday cake. Niklaus had baked him a cake, for his birthday. Elijah was still having trouble wrapping his head around that, and yet there the cake was on the table, with its single candle lit.
He walked closer to inspect the cake better. He could smell the sugar of the frosting even from here. It looked delicious, but it was the gesture more than the taste that concerned Elijah. For all the plans he had imagined his brother to be cooking up, this was not one of them.
Belatedly he realised what the white powder on his brother's sleeves earlier must have been.
"It's a pity Hayley and Hope aren't here to see it tonight," Rebekah mused, looking at the candle.
"Good point," Klaus said, and to Elijah's surprise he pulled a photo camera from somewhere, bending over the cake to get a good view.
"Hope would want to see the cake," he said defensively when he saw Elijah looking.
Elijah raised his eyebrows. "By all means, carry on," he said, amused.
A little stiffly, Klaus snapped a few quick pictures of the birthday cake before they cut it.
Waiting patiently for his brother to finish, Elijah reached for the knife which lay on the on the table.
"You still have to blow out the candle," Klaus reminded him.
Elijah blinked at him.
"And make a wish!" Rebekah said, sounding like she was trying not to laugh.
"Is this really—" he started.
"Yes," Klaus said. "We're doing this properly. Here, take a seat."
He drew out the chair at the head of the table for Elijah, who paused for a second, then sat down.
"Would you like to sing for me as well?" Elijah asked dryly.
Klaus grinned. "I think we'll leave that until Hope comes back."
"I'm sure Hayley and Hope would like to be here to celebrate your birthday as well," Freya added.
Elijah looked up curiously. He had been wondering about that, it seemed odd to celebrate with half the family absent. "Why not wait until tomorrow?"
"Nik suddenly decided that since we always used to celebrate it on this date we should do so again this year," Rebekah told him. "He was quite insistent."
Klaus shrugged. "The cake tastes best when it's served on the same day. We can always have a do-over tomorrow."
He took a seat at Elijah's right, with Freya coming to sit on Klaus' right. Rebekah sat in the chair at Elijah's left hand. Someone—probably the butler—had been thoughtful enough to provide them all with plates and silver cutlery.
"Don't forget to make a wish," Rebekah told him.
Obediently, Elijah looked at the single candle for a long moment, trying to come up with something to wish for. It wasn't hard, his wishes had not changed much over the years. Settling on something, he leaned forward and blew gently.
The candle went out.
Klaus, Rebekah, and Freya clapped politely for a few seconds, and Elijah carefully pulled the still-smoking candle from the frosting, laying it to the side.
His brother passed him the knife, gesturing for him to get on with cutting the cake.
It turned out to be a sponge cake, with raspberry jam, judging by the scent. It seemed like his brother's day in the kitchen had paid off, as the cake looked delicious.
Cutting even slices of the cake, Elijah distributed them on his siblings' plates. He made sure to save a slice for Hope and Hayley as well, covering the rest of the cake with a silver bowl Freya handed him, made especially for that purpose.
"Well, have at it," Klaus said, urging them to eat. "Bon appétit."
Elijah smiled. Turning to his own plate, he cut off a small bite with his fork and brought it to his mouth. It was not bad at all, the frosting melting on his tongue and the jam tasting of raspberries as he expected.
"It's good," he told Niklaus.
Klaus smiled, looking genuinely pleased.
"I like the jam," Freya said.
"It's certainly a whole lot better than I expected given the process that went into making it," Rebekah quipped, but she smiled at her brother as she said it.
Klaus rolled his eyes.
"What do you propose to do for dinner tonight?" Elijah asked his brother, putting his fork down for the moment. "I was told you dismissed the cook for today, presumably to make the cake in peace."
Klaus shrugged. "We can eat out, I asked Jeeves to make reservations at one of the best restaurants in the city earlier today."
Next to him, Freya frowned slightly in confusion.
"How diligent of you," Elijah said dryly.
He did wonder how much longer it would take for Niklaus to discover that their butler's name was actually James and had been so for the past year they had him in their employ. Then again, that was assuming Niklaus even cared and wasn't doing it on purpose.
"Don't worry, Elijah," Niklaus said, eyes glittering with amusement. "The quality will no doubt satisfy even you."
"That is certainly a relief," Elijah said with a straight face.
"We should still give our presents before we go," Rebekah suggested.
Elijah turned to her. "Your presents?"
His sister nodded. "Niklaus isn't the only one who prepared something for your birthday," she said.
Elijah was touched. He had not expected anything, hadn't even remembered the significance of today, but now it turned out his siblings had all been waiting to surprise him.
"Unlike Niklaus, the culinary arts aren't really my forté," Rebekah said with a smirk at Klaus. "So I bought us two tickets to the opera that's playing in town."
Elijah smiled, thinking of the times they had visited the opera together back when they lived in New Orleans before. No doubt Rebekah had thought of the same thing. It was a long time since they last went out together.
"Thank you, sister," he said, leaning forward to press a kiss to her cheek. "I will gladly accompany you."
Rebekah smiled back at him. "Happy birthday, Elijah," she said sincerely.
As he turned to look at Freya where she sat further down the table, Elijah saw her take something small from under the table, and hold it out to him.
"It's a protection charm," Freya explained. "Against magical attacks. It only works the once, but should another witch try to incapacitate you it will nullify the attempt. It should give you enough time to respond and keep you from being caught off guard."
He took the small wooden plate from her, recognising the rune she had carved in it as one symbolising protection and defense against evil.
"Thank you," Elijah said, smiling at her. It was a very practical gift, but a thoughtful one, and one that would no doubt come in handy someday. "I'll be sure to carry it with me."
He put it in the breast pocket of his suit jacket, where it would rest close to his heart.
"This has been a wonderful surprise," he told his siblings. "I never expected anything of the sort."
They smiled back at him, Klaus smirking.
"It's been far too long since we celebrated one of our birthdays," Rebekah said wistfully. "How old are you now, Elijah?"
"Quite old," he said, not feeling like doing the calculation. He hadn't really kept track, aside from roughly noting the passing of centuries. It wasn't like they had truly aged in the last thousand years.
"The only one who celebrated their birthday with any kind of regularity was Niklaus," Rebekah told Freya, who looked at their brother with a smile.
Klaus shrugged. "It seemed a shame to miss the opportunity for a party."
"I seem to recall you once throwing three birthday parties in the same year," Elijah said, amused. "Inviting the same nobles and waiting for someone to protest."
His brother smirked. "Only one ever did. Just goes to show how little they truly cared about the reasons for their festivities."
"Those feasts back then were quite fun," Rebekah sighed wistfully. "They had this marzipan cake at one point, I haven't tasted one like it since."
Listening to his siblings' reminiscing, and Klaus and Rebekah's explanations to Freya about what the best sweets were, Elijah turned back to his cake. He took another bite, bringing the familiar taste of raspberry to his tongue once again.
The flavour of it made him remember late-summer days so very long ago, when he had hunted for wild raspberries with his siblings, collecting them in a big basket so their mother could make jam out of it later. They would go out for the whole day, away from the village, with just Finn and Elijah to keep an eye on the younger children.
Kol and Rebekah would run around playing and only occasionally looking for raspberries, with Niklaus looking at them fondly as he tried to focus on their task, until eventually he would be drawn into their games.
Finn tended to be distant at first, but towards the end of the afternoon even he would be smiling as he and Elijah carried Kol and Rebekah back to the village after their siblings had exhausted themselves. Elijah still remembered vividly the way Niklaus used to hold on to his tunic while they walked, more tired than he wanted to admit.
The taste of raspberry jam had always been a favourite of Elijah. Taking another bite of his cake, he reflected that apparently he was not the only one who remembered that.
A/N: Written for tumblr user rafaelsolanoes who has had to put up with me sending them terrible headcanons every few days.
I thought I would write something happy/fluffy/non-angsty to make up for my super angst-filled NYE drabble. Hope you enjoy!