Just a short drabble that was inspired by the blizzard in February. I love the playful side of Klaus, so I decided to write a little something about it. Enjoy!
Caroline gave a very unladylike grunt as she threw another pile of snow from her path. She had never seen this much snow in her life. She and Klaus had bought a house in rural New York two years after Caroline graduated high school.
Caroline was currently shoveling a path from the front porch to the mailbox, dressed in a large down coat and Ugg boots, purely because she didn't want any humans who happened to walk by to get suspicious. Even as a vampire, shoveling that much snow was hard. She probably would have broken a sweat if she were still human. About halfway down the drive, Caroline felt his presence.
"Caroline?" Klaus called. "What the bloody hell are you doing?"
Caroline rolled her eyes, not stopping. "What does it look like? I'm shoveling."
"I can see that. May I ask why?"
She sighed and turned around to face him. His face showed a combination of confusion and the ever present smirk that, Caroline had come to realize, had many meanings. At the moment, she was pretty sure it was a sort of mocking smirk that showed his love for the way she desperately clung to her humanity.
"Because that's what you do when it snows." She said condescendingly. "And would you please put on a shirt?" She growled, finally noticing his less than appropriate attire. He stood on the porch in nothing but his boxers.
"Is it distracting you, love?" He asked as his smirk grew wider.
Caroline stepped a little closer and lowered her voice so only Klaus would hear.
"No, it's not normal! It's freezing out here, Nik! You of all people should know about playing human."
"Who am I hiding from, sweetheart?" He swept his arms out indicating the silence around him.
If she listened hard enough, Caroline could hear their neighbors to right, the Watsons, eating breakfast and making sleepy conversation. The Montgomery's still slept soundly to her left, and the Fitzgerald's dog across the street, shifted uncomfortably in its crate where it had been left the evening before. Caroline knew he was right, but didn't want to give him the satisfaction of admitting it, so she crossed her arms and pouted.
"How long have you been a vampire?" She asked as though she spoke to a child.
"Why?" He asked.
"How long?" She insisted.
Head tilted to the left, Klaus narrowed his eyes, trying to figure out where she was going with this.
"I've lost count." He said evasively.
Caroline huffed with impatience.
"You've been immortal for… practically ever, and you still insist on playing the lines."
"I don't understand." Klaus said, shifting his weight from one leg to the other.
"You're always pushing the boundaries! You know how important it is to blend in, yet you constantly flaunt your superiority. I know you love to have your ego stroked, but it's only been fifteen years and frankly, I'm getting tired of it."
"My ego is not the only thing I like to be stroked." Klaus winked, his signature smirk falling back into place.
"Incorrigible!" She groaned, throwing her hands in the air. "Completely pointless."
Caroline turned her back to her husband and took the shovel in hand once more.
She was about to pick up another pile of snow, when something hit her in the right shoulder blade. Dropping the shovel, she spun around to yell at Klaus but the spot where he had been standing was now vacant. She scanned the yard with narrowed eyes but couldn't spot him anywhere.
Figuring he went back inside, Caroline turned around for a third time. She heard the faintest chuckle and ducked just in time to see a snowball fly over her head. Stealthily gathering snow in her hand, she stood up slowly, listening hard to locate him. If it was a snowball fight he wanted, a snowball fight is what he would get. Her eyes snapped to her right where, a few feet away, a pile of snow shifted.
"Ha!" She threw her snowball at the mound and frowned in confusion when she heard it hit the ground behind it. Walking over to it, she saw the bare footprints where Klaus had been crouching. There was a trail of footprints leading to the wooded edge of the property.
"It can't be that easy." Caroline muttered. If there was one thing she knew about her Nik, it was that he was cunning. She noticed there was another trail leading to the side of the house, where Klaus undoubtedly stood watching her with amusement. Grabbing another handful of snow, Caroline quickly turned and flung it in his direction. There was a cloud of white powder as the snowball hit the wall.
"You'll have to be quicker than that, love." He whispered in her ear from directly behind her.
She gasped and spun around but, of course, he was gone. Fine. If that's how he was going to be, she could be just as sneaky.
"All right, Klaus. You win. I give up." She called.
Caroline held her breath and waited for some sign of him. A few seconds later, she picked up the crunch of the snow under his feet as Klaus came out from his hiding spot. She zeroed in and ran at him at vamp-speed, tackling him to the ground before he knew what hit him.
He hit the ground with a soft "oof", as Caroline landed on top of him. Hands on either side of his head, she hovered over him and smiled sweetly.
"That'll teach you to throw snowballs at me." She grumbled.
"If this is the result," Klaus said, swiftly rolling Caroline under him, mimicking her position. "I should provoke you more often."
"Careful, there could be some serious consequences." She warned, putting a hand to his chest, attempting to push him off her. "I might start withholding things from you."
"Oh really?" He said, bringing his face within inches of hers. "Such as?" He nudged her nose with his.
"Such as stroking things that aren't your ego." Caroline breathed.
Klaus chuckled. "Really, love? I reckon you'd give up long before I came begging."
"Hmm." Caroline brought her lips within a hairs breadth of his. "We'll see about that."
With that, she jumped up, knocking Klaus over into the snow and scurried up the porch and into the house.
"I don't think so, sweetheart." Klaus growled, running after her, throwing the front door closed behind him.
Caroline spent the remainder of the day trying and failing, to withhold everything she could from her hybrid spouse. Looking back, she may not have tried that hard.
So? What'd you think? Reviews are appreciated!