Part Eleven: Business or Pleasure?

Klaus wandered into the house at around five forty-five, alarming Rebekah once again.

"You've been staying out all night," said Rebekah from the piano room, where she kept the textbooks she'd accumulated over the years. Because they lived forever, vampires had to develop pretentious hobbies such as memorizing piano and learning a multitude of languages to pass the time. Rebekah was currently in the process of brushing up on her Italian skills.

"I've been busy," said Klaus simply. He crashed onto the couch in the living room, which was separated from the piano room with an open archway. Within seconds CNN was broadcasting dry human news. Klaus liked to watch what petty destruction humans were bringing upon themselves now and again.

"What have you been busy with?" asked Rebekah, trying to sound casual. It bothered her that Klaus was always up to something and he only included her when he needed something from her. Klaus sighed huffily, annoyed.

"Rebekah, do you enjoy patronizing me? Trying to find out where I've been? Does it make you feel like a parent? What's it like, knowing you can never truly be in control of anyone?" Rebekah frowned, flipping a page in the book she was reading.

"It makes me feel like an older sister. And despite what you may wish, Nik, I am still your older sister. So I have every right to ask where you've been. I have every right to worry." At this, Klaus let out a genuine laugh.

"Please, don't even pretend like you're worried. You're nosy, that's all."

"I think you've been meeting someone," said Rebekah quickly. "Who is she?" Klaus decided he was officially tired of Rebekah trying to wiggle her way into his business.

"She's a beautiful, five hundred-year-old vampire. A thousand times as beautiful as you could ever be. Now stop asking me or I'll dagger you and put you back in your Rebekah-sized shoebox, dear sister." Rebekah frowned, the sting of the jibe sinking in. She knew he really would do it, too. Not only that, but he was definitely lying, telling her whatever she suspected to make her shut up. She didn't reply. There was no point. Klaus was heartless. Maybe one day he would start being her little brother again and forget the horrible person he'd become.

One day, she would prove to him that it was worth being her little brother again.

After an hour of watching the news in silence, Klaus stood and shut the TV off. He'd concluded that world today was full of misery, as usual, and he had bigger and better things to think about. He marched back outside and sped over to the Salvatore Mansion, wondering about his hunch regarding Rin's new abilities.

Though he could have walked in if he wanted to, Klaus decided he'd have a better chance of overhearing the brothers outside, near the window. Damon and Stefan were in the kitchen, discussing their respective issues.

"I don't know, I feel like I'm losing her," said Stefan. Probably referring to Elena. Damon rolled his eyes. Stefan was always overly concerned about "losing Elena". He'd been complaining about it since the beginning of their relationship. Damon wouldn't have minded if Stefan "lost" Elena at all. That way, he might have a damn chance with her. His mind jumped to Rin – after their first lesson he'd realized she was certainly inciting, but he couldn't let himself fall in love with another human girl. Falling for Elena had been grueling enough.

"You always feel like you're losing her. Calm down, Stefan, if you were actually losing her you know she'd already be coming after me," Damon flashed his brother a smile depicting nothing but the shallowest of faux warmth.

"Shut up, Damon. You know I don't find that funny."

"I didn't say you were supposed to find it funny, brother. Anyway, what're you up to today? I've got jack shit to do," said Damon, finally coming out of the pantry. He'd found what he was looking for – the box of Swarovski crystal shot glasses he'd lost last week while "cleaning". Stefan sighed.

"Nothing really; I was thinking of maybe taking Elena out. We haven't gone down by the river at night recently and she really enjoyed that last time." Damon was ready to gag. He hated hearing Stefan talk about Elena. It seemed recently he didn't talk about much else. Their "brotherly" moments were nothing more than Stefan either expressing concern or fawning over Elena. He carried the shot glasses into the living room and Stefan wandered in soon after. "Do you think that's a good idea?" Damon placed the box onto a console table and turned around.

"Totally, Stefan. Go for it," he said, still smiling in a way that implied he really, really did not care. Stefan got the hint and didn't mention Elena again.

"You know, you should seriously develop a new hobby aside from drinking."

"Why? Concerned about my liver?"

Klaus had a feeling he would be waiting quite a while before Rin was mentioned, if she was mentioned at all. The Salvatore brothers were obviously up to their usual, mindless antics and he was getting nowhere like this. There was always the option of sauntering in and asking, but then he ran the risk of looking overly suspicious about a girl he did not yet have much of an affiliation with, especially if he was wrong. He would have to squeeze the information out of Rin later. He turned on his heel and sped back home, annoyed at his lack of results.

Rin, meanwhile, had passed out around six o'clock. She'd felt horribly drained, almost as if going through some kind of withdrawal. Even after she awoke at three PM, she didn't feel fully rested. Everything looked dull and lifeless without her enhanced vision. She sighed as she munched on her daily combination of strawberries and Swiss cheese. Feeling subdued and tired, she decided to stray from her usual healthy diet and heated up a small personal pizza in the microwave. Suddenly, her phone beeped. A text message from another unknown number read "Let me in." She rolled her eyes, having a feeling she knew who was at her door. She realized she probably looked exhausted and she'd fallen asleep in nothing but a giant blue t-shirt and hadn't changed yet. Whatever, it's just Klaus, she thought. He didn't know anyone she knew and he wasn't worth impressing.

"You know you could have just knocked," she said, annoyed, as she swung open the door.

"Ah, but that would be surrendering to what you wanted me to do, and I'd rather save you that satisfaction," said Klaus with a condescending grin.

"Of course, wouldn't want to make things too easy. Where'd you get my number?" she said as she slammed her phone down on the counter. It was dark and messy in her apartment with the curtains drawn and various pairs of shoes and clothes strewn about, results of her and Breezy's party-prep time. Her voice was still slightly cracked from sleep as well. It was strange having Klaus in her apartment during the day.

"Asked my pet hybrid to get it from Bonnie," said Klaus, as if this was a perfectly normal thing to do.

"You realize you could have just asked me?" Klaus didn't have a response to that. He'd been pretty sure she wouldn't have given him her number if he'd asked.

"I'm a little curious," he started, ignoring what she'd said as he leaned his elbows on the counter. He noted the heavy dark circles under her eyes and the new sallowness of her skin tone. "Where did Rin, an inexperienced, hardly supernatural being with no connections whatsoever, learn how to choose a source to feed on?" Rin grabbed a glass of orange juice and took a sip, staring at Klaus. He was suspicious, but she would handle it. She placed the glass on the table and looked back at him.

"Internet," she said simply.

"Really? There's an online community for telepaths? Funny, because in all of my thousand or so years, I've never come across another."

"Found a speculation site run by psychics. Turns out they were onto something," she said evenly. Rin was a practiced liar – it came from years of convincing bartenders and bouncers she was twenty-one. Klaus decided he still wasn't getting anywhere. She was keeping something from him. He could have compelled it out of her, but Klaus' power-trip was getting people to come to him on their own accord. He would get her to tell him eventually, and she would do it willingly.

"Interesting. You'll have to show me sometime. Anyway, I decided on our next training session. I want you to learn how to transmit something other than pain." Rin took another slow sip from her orange juice.

"Something other than pain? Such as?" She raised a brow with a small smile, remembering Damon's comment when he'd first learned about her powers.

"Please, if you were going to transmit that I'd make you do it willingly and manually. Temperature, sound, visions – you must learn how to change the sensory experience of your target."

"Willingly and manually, huh? I see you've been thinking about this," added Rin, ignoring what he asked her to do. Klaus suddenly lost his cool again and slammed his fist on the counter. Rin merely rolled her eyes. She would have loved to drain him of his energy again but she was so exhausted she couldn't even muster up the strength required to do that. He was always just a ball of rage and it made her want to cut him down to size.

"Pay attention, human. I'm not interested in your sarcastic advances." Classic Klaus. Always boiling over with rage. She remembered the lovely sensations that had washed over her as he fed on her. If only that were Damon, she thought.

"Would you be interested in my serious advances?" she asked, twirling her hair and smiling with faux provocation. Pushing him and watching him snap was a great deal of fun, especially now that she knew he wouldn't kill her – he'd proved that last night. Klaus took a deep breath, composing himself.

"Stop toying. Come up with a way to control your powers to make what I want happen. Understand?" Rin dropped her hair and placed her elbows on the table, mirroring Klaus, and leaned forward, letting the scoop neck of her t-shirt dip forward just enough to flash a little cleavage.

"You'd love for me to make whatever you want happen, Niklaus, wouldn't you?" she said breathily, wondering just how far she could push him. Watching boys crumble with lust was one of her favorite pastimes. Klaus glared at her, but not before glancing down ever so slightly. Rin was satisfied and leaned back again, picking up her glass once more.

"Of course, glad we're on the same page, Rin," he said, still glaring. "Now figure it out because I'm not telling you when our next training session is. Be ready." With that, he marched across the kitchenette and slammed the door shut behind him, leaving Rin rolling her eyes once more and sipping on her orange juice. He was so cute when he was angry, now that Rin knew she could take him. She couldn't help but wonder - since she could handle Klaus, could she handle Damon as well? She hadn't done any serious damage during their training session but she hadn't been attacking him the same way she'd attacked Klaus. Was she stronger than a vampire now? Stronger than all vampires?

She wasn't sure. But she'd make sure to find out next time she trained with Damon.

Rin had completely forgotten that she was supposed to be learning self-control with him.

This is exactly what Damon was thinking about as he stared at the television, which was playing a bizarre show in which parents dressed up their children for beauty pageants. I guess when you only have one life to live you have to take advantage of your kids' lives too, he thought in between pondering his new status as a mentor, sipping on red wine. He was getting sick of brandy.

He'd realized that it was going to take a ton of work to teach Rin self-control. He'd had to compel her to stop draining him last time. Eventually, she would have to learn how to stop herself. But Damon knew the temptation – when he'd first become a vampire it had seemed impossible to keep himself from simply draining each of his victims dry. It had taken a lot of time for him to realize that it wasn't practical to kill everyone. He would have to talk to her before she used her powers again. Deciding to set that up now, he sent her a text message: "meet at grill, 7pm?"

Rin read the message as she guzzled coffee on the couch in a feeble attempt to wake herself up. Was he asking her out? Or was this mentor business? Either way, she wondered if it was a good idea to meet with Damon – Klaus was definitely onto her, and she wouldn't put it past him to follow her around without her knowledge. Hell, she wouldn't put it past him to follow her around with her knowledge.

But she couldn't resist. She wanted to know if he wanted to see her for a lesson or just because he wanted to. Damon was fun, and he made her want to let loose. She would just have to be careful to shake Klaus if she found him tailing her. "sure, is this for business or pleasure?" she asked. Her phone blinked a moment later with his response.

"both. see you there." Rin smiled. Perfect.