A/N: Hello, readers! One of my favorite authors does this thing where she writes her story, but then takes all of the little deleted scenes and what-ifs and drabbles and fluff and whatnot that she couldn't fit into the actual plot, and posts them into a different "story" that's just a series of mostly unconnected one-shots. There may be outtakes too.

These all occur within the universe of my other story, Red Queen, and some of them will contain spoilers for that, so the chapter titles in the dropdown are a funny little number code. The first number is the season of Red Queen, and the second number is the chapter. This one is 1.09 so it may contain spoilers up to Season 1, Chapter 9.

I'd like to say that you can still read and enjoy these without reading Red Queen, but I'm not sure about all of them. Some stuff may not make a great deal of sense. But, hey, if you're cool with that, then by all means, read on!

Walls

Typically, when Klaus entered his house, the only sounds were the movements and vital signs of his staff. Lately, he'd grown accustomed to the additional sounds of all the medical equipment in the East Wing. Since Caroline had recently awoken, he'd been astounded by how quiet the house was every time he'd walked through the door and nothing was beeping or hissing or whirring.

But today, as he returned home, he heard strange voices and the sounds of car engines—and some unnatural animal noises. Confused, he sped silently to the doorway of the living room, only to find Caroline sitting on the couch, watching some action movie on his television. That made a lot more sense. He leaned against the doorframe for a moment, noiselessly watching her. It was good—incredibly good—to see her up and about. She looked so amazingly natural, lounging on his sofa, television remote on one knee, and a mug of something steaming on the other. She wore jeans and a Mystic Fall High School sweatshirt, and her hair was pulled back into a messy loop at the top of her head. She wasn't trying to impress anybody today. She was just making herself completely at home.

He wondered how long she would stay. She'd only been conscious for a few days, and didn't have a daylight ring yet, but Terry was going to make her a new one tomorrow morning. Still, her well-meaning friends had brought half of her possessions over while she was comatose; was she really up to moving back home right away, once it was safe for her to leave the shelter of his double-paned and tempered windows? She was still weak and ill. She still needed Meredith and Terry to keep an eye on her. Soon, her vampire body would regain its strength, and eventually she'd leave, but for now, here she was. In his house. Living her life.

They'd always had walls between them, from the moment they first met. He was dark, charming, clever, and perfectly in control. She was alluring, saucy, and fearless. They had similarities, yes, but like the same poles of two magnets, the moment they got close to one another, they flew back apart. Would the walls come down, with them living in the same house?

But, he wondered, a little distracted, what was this movie was she watching, anyway? A Tyrannosaurus Rex was ripping a man in half on the screen; there was blood everywhere. Caroline was a vampire, and had lost plenty of people to paranormal violence. It seemed odd that she would be watching something like this for entertainment.

"Care to join me?" She didn't turn her head all the way, but shifted it to the side, indicating him.

One of the best things about being a thousand-year-old immortal was that Klaus was quite good at acting unfazed. He needed that experience now; he wasn't entirely sure how long he'd been standing there, or when she'd realized he was watching her. He hadn't intended to stalk her in his own house—he didn't normally stand around like a slack-jawed fool.

"What are you watching?" he asked, with a touch of incredulity, stepping down the two stairs and into the room.

"Jurassic Park," she admitted with a little laugh, looking up at him as he came within her field of vision. "Not a lot of plot—mostly just a bunch of people running from dinosaurs. And the one poor main character who's completely hopeless at dealing with kids."

There it was. An easy, natural smile, a little sparkle in her eyes. No affectations, no acting… The walls that usually stood between them had been pulled silently off to one side like a curtain. What would happen if he sat down? Would she turn her attention back to the movie, or would they talk? This was possibly the first time they'd been alone in a room together, without some angle going on, or some acting playing into things, or some desperate situation occupying both of their thoughts. No one was dying, no one was plotting… He'd wanted this, from the first time he spoke with her, if he was honest with himself.

But suddenly, he felt nervous. How would she react to him, with the walls down? She seemed to like him, but was that only when she was putting it on? Did she only like the personality he affected for her? Granted, he knew that she often glimpsed the real him; she'd see through the cracks in his façade, or make them when none were to be found. But that was wholly different from taking the mask off entirely…

"I'll pass, thanks," he said, casually glancing at the TV and then turning to leave.

"Oh, okay," she responded. "Not your kind of movie?"

She sounded a little disappointed. Confidence thrilled through him. She thought—perhaps hoped?—that it was only the movie he wanted to avoid. He wasn't about to act indecisive now, but as he walked away, he knew that there would be a next time.

"It's the sound effects," he invented casually before leaving her line of sight. She nodded. "They didn't actually sound anything like that," he added from the doorway. She nodded again.

Then she whirled around to stare at him over the back of the couch, wide-eyes, mouth open.

"I knew it. I KNEW IT!" She exclaimed, laughing. "You ARE as old as the dinosaurs!"

Klaus smiled over his shoulder, that one special smile that he reserved only for her, and then vanished into the hallway, her laughter ringing in his ears. Yes, there would be a next time. And next time he'd sit down.

A/N: Well, there it is. 950 words, no plot, just fluff and a little bit of angst, and dinosaurs. This is what happens when I decide to watch Jurassic Park while working on Red Queen…

This story will be updated with radically varying frequency—basically just when I think of stuff and get around to it. I have an alternate first chapter in the works; that'll probably come next. TTFN, folks! :-)