Notes: Lightly edited 11/17.
Oh How Strange – Part Two
(The continuing adventures of Caroline and werewolfpuppy!Klaus. Part One is the third drabble in chapter 11. Rated K+.)
Caroline decides to send Enzo home. She loves that he's gung ho to help but he's a fly by the seat of his pants kind of guy and he'd just get in the way of her serious plotting. He doesn't want to leave, argues until Caroline insists. She gets up and physically yanks him out of the dining room chair. She waves Klaus away when he tries to follow, "Klaus, stay."
That earns her a growl, and she throws him an apologetic look. "Yeah, that was rude. Sorry."
Caroline hauls Enzo towards the door, plowing over his reluctance. "Seriously, Enzo," Caroline assures him, "plausible deniability is a good thing here. Take my word for it. Rebekah Mikaelson? She's a heinous, sadistic bitch. Her only redeeming quality is her killer taste in shoes."
"That's not very nice, Caroline."
Caroline does her best to reign in her irritation. "Rebekah is a thousand years old. I'm pretty sure she invented some of the torture techniques those Augustine weirdos used on you. Probably perfected them on the guys who refused to kiss her ring or whatever. The Original does never throw anything out. I don't even want to know what kind of creepy implements of pain and misery they have lying around"
If anything, that little tidbit of information only serves to intrigue Enzo more. Which is super gross, and not something Caroline wants to think about.
"She sounds truly delightful."
"I swear to god, Enzo," Caroline says, shooting him a hard look, "if Rebekah has long distance hypnotized you into doing her bidding I will kill you before she can."
"Nonsense, Gorgeous," Enzo replies, looking at her like she'd said something ridiculous. "You know I'm always on your side."
Caroline pauses in front of her door, nodding in agreement and appreciation, "That's cause my side's the right side, duh."
Enzo chuckles. He wraps an arm around her shoulders affectionately, "Right, if you say so. Promise you'll call me if you need anything? Dog sitter, road trip buddy, help with body disposal?"
Caroline musters a smile, "Will do. Just… don't say anything to anyone, okay? Especially not to Damon. You weren't around back then but he was constantly concocting these terrible 'Let's Kill Klaus!' plans. For a solid two years. I don't trust him not to jump on this and try again and I really don't want to be the one to explain to Elena that her boyfriend got himself brutally murdered for being an idiot?"
"Oh, well if it's for Elena," Enzo drawls sarcastically.
Caroline rolls her eyes, unwilling to defend Elena for the umpteenth time. It's a pointless effort as Enzo's opinion was set. Privately she could admit that he wasn't exactly wrong about some of her friend's less than stellar qualities. He didn't have the lifetime of memories, of sleepovers and pinky promises, to color his perspective like Caroline did. "And for me," she reminds him.
He softens slightly, giving her a nod, before leaving. Caroline breathes a sigh of relief. That nod was as good as an oath signed in blood from Enzo. She trusted him not to break it.
Klaus, currently pacing along the edge of her table, probably didn't share her faith.
Well, that was just too damn bad. Caroline was pretty sure that, as the only member of the team currently in possession of opposable thumbs, she was automatically the captain.
She leans back against the closed door, considering her next move. Klaus eyes her, his agitation evident in his bared teeth and the way his gaze never leaves her, even as he continued his restless movements.
Caroline totally gets that Klaus is a control freak. Knows that part of him has been honed over the years to an insane degree, that this situation must be incredibly difficult for him. Just the thought of being in his shoes makes her shudder and she wasn't even a fraction as paranoid. Not to mention, Klaus kind of loved to throw around the "I'm the Big Bad Hybrid, Fear Me!" card and that wasn't exactly an option at the moment.
He's trapped in a body that's tiny and fluffy and adorable. He's not the least bit intimidating. That had to be humiliating.
He trusts her with this. Trusts that she's be willing to help him, won't take advantage of him. That was kind of a huge deal.
Caroline's almost afraid to consider the implications of that. It's hard to think about what his trust says about the way he feels about her, how clearly it indicates that the time and distance she'd asked for hadn't changed his mind.
Klaus is clearly growing impatient with her silence, her lack of action, and he lets out a sharp bark. Caroline pushes off the door, shushing him, "I'm pretty sure I'm not supposed to have pets so if you could not do that I would appreciate it."
He growls softly and Caroline rushes to clarify, "Yes, I know. You're not a pet. But I can't exactly say, 'Hey, here's my old friend Klaus! He's usually taller, and a little more man shaped, so don't kick me out because I'm totally not actually breaking my lease agreement' without freaking people out. I do not want to be known as the crazy lady in 4B."
Klaus settles down during her ramble, stretching his body out and resting his head on his paws. Caroline sits down once more, setting the notepad in front of her, picking up her pen. She taps it on the table a few times, biting her lip and trying to think of a way to phrase her next question delicately. She decides that there really wasn't a way to do so, and wasn't it a good thing that Klaus had always found her bluntness more charming than irritating?
"So…" Caroline begins, drawing out the word. Klaus' head tips quizzically to the side and she blurts out the rest, "Just to clarify. You're totally, you know, you, in there? I don't have to worry about you peeing on the carpet or eating my shoes?"
Caroline's pretty sure from the way his head lifts, how he manages to look almost mortally offended, that he's 100% Klaus under the fur. She holds up her hands, a placating gesture, "Just checking, geez."
He still looks miffed, which is pretty impressive, in Caroline's opinion. She sighs, decides to try to smooth things over. "Okay. So despite the fact that talking to you like this is really, really creepy and awkward, I recognize that you have way more experience with this whole tracking down your enemies thing. So I might as well make use of your brain. Since you claim it's in working order."
He perks up, hopping to his feet, tail wagging slightly.
It's a struggle not to react, because he's freaking adorable and she kind of wants to snuggle him. She suspects that Klaus would not be cool with that.
Or he would and it would be weird. He's been surprisingly into post coital cuddling, and really good at it, even though they'd done it on the forest floor.
That memory is not even the tiniest bit helpful right now.
Caroline rips a piece of paper out of her notebook, writes out 'YES' and 'NO' in large print, darkening the letters, and then spacing the pages a foot or so apart on the table. Can he read like this? Caroline's not sure, and she doesn't want to ask him, given his previous reaction. She just taps them pointedly as she speaks, "I'm going to ask you questions. Touch this one for yes, and this one for no, and let's start to work this mess out, okay?"
He moves to the one she'd indicated for 'Yes' setting his two front paws on the paper and looking up at her expectantly.
Caroline cracks a smile, shakes her head, and picks up her pen again, trying to decide the best place to start.
And maybe it's a struggle, to focus on the situation at hand. Usually, she prides herself on her ability to focus during a crisis, to compartmentalize, and do what she needs to. But now, her mind keeps wandering. While this is a situation that needs a solution, and she's determined that she'll find it, it's (for once) not life or death.
Klaus is safe and that's a relief. He's right in front of her, but he's really not, and that's what's bothering her. Caroline's finding it hard to ignore the not so small part of her that really, really misses the sound of his voice.
She and Klaus have managed to work out a rough plan for the next three days (Day One: supplies and logistics, Day Two: travel, Day Three: tracking a witch) when a pained groan sounds from the living room.
Right. She'd totally forgotten about her guest. Klaus looks passed her, but he doesn't seem agitated. Caroline assumes the vampire on her couch is not a threat. Klaus obviously doesn't consider the younger vampire dangerous, so she spins in her chair, pasting on what she hopes is a welcoming smile and waving, "Hi. You're Josh, right? I'm Caroline. Sorry about the neck snapping. Did you want a blood bag?"
He rises from the couch, stretching out his arms. He opens his mouth to reply, but his eyes drift past her and he immediately snaps it shut. "Uh, no. I'm good."
Caroline turns her head to look at Klaus suspiciously. It seems impossible to her, that he's capable of intimidating anyone right now, but she swears it's him that's making Josh uneasy.
"Are you sure? It's no trouble. And I feel kind of bad that you ended up temporarily dead, when you were only doing Klaus a favor. My friend Enzo's not really a big fan of strangers."
Josh's eyes widen at the word favor, an incredulous look crossing his face.
Caroline glances at Klaus again, putting the pieces together, "Ah, so coming here wasn't a favor, huh? Come on. I thought the whole hybrid debacle would have been a wakeup call. A lesson about how not to go about the care and feeding of your minions. I guess not."
"Not a big fan of the word minion," Josh mutters.
She turns back to him, "Who's Rebekah holding hostage?" Caroline asks knowingly.
"No one," Josh denies, "I'm only here under threats of my own excruciatingly death. One hybrid bite is more than enough for me."
Caroline can relate to that feeling. "Ugh, tell me about it. I've had two."
Klaus nudges her elbow with his nose, and Caroline stiffens, moving her arm away.
Scratch missing the sound of his voice. She's pretty sure he wouldn't have been able to resist pointing out that she had, in fact, been bitten more than twice.
She'd voluntarily had his teeth in her thigh, and in her throat, that day in the woods. Excruciating death had been the last thing one her mind.
Klaus knew it. He'd delight in reminding her of how pleasurable she'd found it.
Caroline gets up, going into the kitchen and pulling two blood bags out of her crisper. She tosses one at Josh. He catches it neatly, once again looking uncertainly at Klaus.
"Ignore him," Caroline instructs. "He's been told that if he bites anyone on my watch my willingness to help him will become nonexistent. You're safe."
Josh hesitates for another few seconds before he opens the bag and takes a sip. "Thank you," he says politely, once nearly half of it is gone.
"You're welcome. Can I ask how you're getting home?"
He'd driven here, she knows. And according to Rebekah, the vehicle he'd driven from New Orleans is now at her disposal. And Caroline's almost certain that, after forcing the poor guy to do their bidding, neither Rebekah nor Klaus would have spared a thought for his safe return home.
A long suffering expression crosses Josh' face, telling her that she's correct in her assumptions. "I think I'm going to need directions to the nearest bus station."
Caroline throws Klaus an unimpressed look, "No need. I'll drive you to the airport. Klaus will pay for your ticket home. He'll even splurge for first class."
If Klaus could roll his eyes at her, he totally would. He's the one who gave her free rein with his credit card, so really it's his own fault.
It's nearly midnight, when they get home from the airport, and Caroline sets the tote bag she'd used as a makeshift carrier for Klaus down. He had not been happy, when she'd produced it, snarling and going rigid when she'd tried to put him into the bag. Caroline had held firm because she really didn't want to get kicked out of her apartment. She'd offered to let Klaus stay behind, but he'd refused, and had sat between her and Josh in the front seat of his SUV on the way to the airport.
She's not entirely sure why. He's gotten chatty with her on the drive and the conversation had told her that Josh was a younger vampire than she was, unlikely to overpower her. He didn't seem the type to even try – she hadn't registered even a single speck of ruthlessness in him. Plus, he'd been pretty cute, talking about his boyfriend, so Klaus couldn't be jealous.
Caroline wishes Klaus could just tell her what he's thinking. She's back to missing his voice.
Klaus wriggles out of the tote bag, but he doesn't go far. He lets out a yawn and lies down on it, struggling to keep his eyes open.
Caroline debates just letting him sleep there, because he looks comfortable enough. Her feet remain glued to the floor, something refusing to let her walk away.
"You are such a sucker, Caroline Forbes," she mutters to herself, before she bends and scoops Klaus up. He presses his nose to her neck, letting out a soft tired noise. Entering her room, she sets him on her bed. She takes a step back, pointing down at him sternly, "Do not get any ideas. This is just for a minute. You're totally sleeping on the floor."
His tail beats against the mattress half-heartedly for a moment, and Caroline takes that as his agreement to her terms.
Which turns out to be a mistake.
The next morning Caroline wakes up with his small form curled into her side, despite the nest of blankets and cushions she'd painstakingly set up for him to sleep in.
His eyes crack open when she moves, the blue of them wary, like he expects to be scolded. But Caroline's still tired, and if there's one thing she's learned, in her dealings with Klaus, it's to pick her battles.
It's probably less dangerous to have him in her bed now than to have him there when he's himself, isn't it?
She rolls over, buries herself under her quilt, and feels him recline next to her. The absurdity of the situation, hits her again, all at once, and she starts to laugh, trying to muffle the sounds in her pillow. He must feel it because he picks his way around her, his slight weight barely shaking the mattress. He nudges her with his head, until she looks at him, sitting down next to her pillow. She tries her hardest to calm down, "I'm sorry. It's just... I bet this is the last way you imagined getting into my bed, huh?"
Klaus does not appear to share her amusement. Caroline's positive she's never seen a non-animated animal's face look so disgusted.
She might be a terrible person but his reaction only makes her laugh harder.
