A/N- As promised, Lilith moving into New Orleans. But I switched out with Elijah halfway because it's hard and annoying to write an entire chapter from the pov of a kitten.
Lilith ran, faster than she had ever run in her short, little life.
Diving into the room, she looked about wildly before she saw what she'd sought.
Scrambling into the large space, she burrowed under the coverings and held her breath, making herself as small as possible.
If she stayed hidden, everything would be alright.
The door opens with a creak and drags along the wooden floor, a heavy footstep followed by another and another, slow, cautious.
Creature pauses and Lilith's heart stops.
The light momentarily blinds her as the coverings are removed and creature bends down to grab her. She yowls threateningly and digs her claws into the covering but creature has a hand under her belly and lifts her up to face him,
"Hello little one," creature says, "I am afraid that I shall have to remove you from your newest hiding spot."
No.
He places her down on the carpet and she dives back to the large suitcase but he closes the lid and zips it up, refusing her entry even as she claws at the side,
"Sorry." Creature says, but she doesn't think he's sorry at all, why would he be? He was leaving.
With mistress.
Mistress was leaving.
Mistress and daughter of mistress and creature of mistress were all going away.
And Lilith would be left alone.
And without mistress the bad boys would come back and she would die.
With her heart pounding, she races down the hallway, looking about for another suitcase to hide in, but they are all closed.
In desperation, she sees mistress' handbag and tries to scramble into that, caught by mistress with her lower half hanging out.
"Lilith," Mistress smirks, "What are you doing?"
She scoops her up and Lilith meows and rubs her head against her neck tenderly, telling mistress how much she loved her and how proud she was to serve her.
"I love you too," Mistress purred, kissing her on the head, "But you aren't going in my handbag, you won't fit."
Lilith cries heartbrokenly and attracts daughter of mistress and creature,
"What is wrong with her?" daughter asks, "Is she sick?"
Creature reaches out and strokes her fur but she hisses at him.
Creature was the reason mistress was leaving, she was sure of it.
"I believe that little Lilith is somewhat concerned about her position in our voyage." Creature suggests and she buries her claws in mistress' jacket, clinging to her for dear life,
"Oh sweetie," Mistress coos, "Of course you're coming with us!"
Lilith stops crying and lifts her head to look into mistress' eyes, she was coming? She wasn't going to be left alone?
Good.
Lilith yowled at the strange cage before her and pointedly turned her back. She would not go into the cage.
Mistress' creature, her other pet, sighed, "It's alright Lilith, it's called an airplane, it shall take us to New Orleans."
She snorted in disgust and he sighed again, scooping down to pick her up and slide her into his jacket,
"Is that better?" he asks and she ponders a moment before turning her head to hear his heartbeat. She's purring as they make the quick journey outside, enfolded in the warm wool, her little ears covered and protected against the roar of the airplane engines.
She was set down inside the plane and looked around with curiosity.
There are leather couches and televisions, it looks like a room back at home, except for the strange small windows. She climbs onto the couch and looks outside, meowing with interest at the strange creatures working around the airplane.
"We'll be taking off soon, little one," Mistress' other Pet told her, "Would you like to watch?"
Mistress curled up beside her two pets as the airplane began moving, faster and faster until it is no longer on the ground and they are in the clouds.
Her little ears hurt, but Lilith keeps her eyes on the sky, wondering if she'd see any birds, a creature comes and lays a bowl of salmon down for her but Lilith ignores her. Daughter of mistress has gone into the big room with the two men and the switches that Lilith wasn't allowed to play with, while Mistress and her other pet have gone into the bathroom.
Mistress and other pet disappear together a lot. Lilith knows that when they do that Mistress will take off her clothes and often make funny noises and that Lilith isn't allowed into the room when they are together.
Strange.
Elijah smothers Katerina's moan with a kiss, "My darling, she will hear you!"
Katerina rolls her eyes, "She's a cat, Elijah," she pants, "Even as my familiar she doesn't have the necessary skills to judge."
Elijah rather doubted that but he doesn't stop thrusting deep inside his lover, his fiancée, bringing her closer and closer to orgasm.
Admittedly, he would have rather not made love to her in an airplane bathroom, even one on a private jet with its own shower, proper ventilation and cleaned within an inch of its life, unfortunately Katerina had demanded it, citing that it was necessary to join the Mile High Club.
The things he did for the woman he loved.
Either out of respect for him, or that she'd remembered that her daughter was on the plane, in the cockpit but still possibly within supernatural earshot, she buries her face in his shoulder as she climaxes, her fingers burying themselves in his hair as he falls to pieces, murmuring endearments as he comes inside her.
When they're cleaned up, all evidence of their entanglement gone, they emerge into the passenger area to see Lilith has fallen asleep, lying on her back with her paws out, her tiny stomach rises and falls with each intake of breath and Elijah resists the urge to rub her chest. Best to let her sleep through this strange adventure.
Katerina pours them both a glass of champagne and sits back on the opposite couch, patting the seat beside her in invitation. She falls silent as they both contemplate her kitten.
She had agreed to return to New Orleans with him but clearly she still had some lingering concerns, not the least would be clawing her way back into society after her very clear humiliation and the disaster of the wedding.
"Who resurrected you mother?" she asked suddenly and Elijah wished he could do more than shrug,
"I'm afraid that neither Niklaus nor I have discovered the culprits yet, although considering how badly events turned out, I would assume it to be someone with many a regret over their actions."
She hums in acknowledgement and sips at her champagne, clearly steeling herself for further conversation and he wonders what could possibly be the topic that she has to worry about him,
"My darling," he takes her free hand and turns it over to kiss the palm and wrist, "Whatever is the matter?"
She sighs, and tilts her head back against the couch, closing her eyes against the sunlight filtering through the window,
"I want to keep practising my magic, Elijah," she confesses, "I know you and Klaus will make every effort to protect me, that New Orleans is probably safe but I want to learn how to fight against supernatural creatures and how to protect myself. My magic is the best weapon I have."
He turns in his seat and reaches over to play with her curls, falling back against the leather, stroking them and twisting them around his finger,
"I have no right to ask you to suppress something that is quite obviously a part of you."
She smiles, watching his finger as it twists around her curl, "It won't make us any friends," she explains,
"Traveller magic is hard to understand, it doesn't care for the balance of Nature, Constantine once called it the darkest form of magic there is, which it isn't…" she adds hurriedly, "It's just the oldest and some people don't get that."
Elijah hums and his mouth presses into a thin line. He has many an opinion about Constantine, most of which were formed when he saw the future alcoholic manhandling Katerina as a form of greeting.
While Elijah wouldn't call him the worst thing to have come out of the United Kingdom, he would certainly make the top five in the list.
"You're worried about the witches taking issue with you?" he suspects and she nods,
"Well, considering that they're still trying to recover from their last two revolts against us, I would say that they would be foolish beyond belief to try a third time, however, I have no qualms making it quite clear to them that the third time would not be the charm and that any attempt against you would result in their violent extinction in Louisiana."
"My hero," she salutes him with her flute of champagne, nearly draining it and silently holding it out for him to refill,
"It is not for love of you alone that I would undertake such a blood task," he admits as he pours, "Rather, how tired I am getting of the witches always being the source of discord in the city."
Unfortunately witches everywhere had a tendency to consider themselves superior to werewolves- furry, killing monsters- and vampires- bloodsucking demons. Whether or not they themselves needed blood or human sacrifice to harness their magic. They considered themselves the keepers of the balance and maintained their idea of it with fanaticism that often blinded them to any other method or peaceful way.
So the knowledge that their beloved city was being ruled over by vampires was an eternal thorn in their side. One they occasionally tried to dislodge to disastrous results.
Still, Katerina's desires aside, Elijah suspected that it would be quite useful to have a loyal witch in the family.
They distract themselves with a movie and Katerina falls asleep with her head on his lap, her breathing syncing in time to Lilith's, much to Elijah's amusement. Nadia stuck her head into the room at one point to offer him blood but he silently declined, enjoying the rather human moment and not wishing to taint it with his vampirism.
Lilith was the first to wake shortly before the plane began its descent. She stretched luxuriously, yawning as she flexed her legs, she leapt off the couch and padded over to them, jumping up and looking at Katerina wonderingly,
"She still sleeps," he told her quietly, "It is best that we do not wake her."
Lilith nods and sits down beside him, tilting her head,
"We're going to New Orleans," he explains, "It is very warm there and there are two large houses that we live in, with my brother, his girlfriend and his son, often my other siblings join us as well."
It is strange, having a conversation with an animal, but it is amusing. And, thankfully, not considered madness in this day and age. Elijah had seen many a person talking to their pet with more respect than they would their own children and he at least knew Lilith, as Katerina's familiar, could comprehend him.
It was nice to have this animal presence, this loyalty and friendship readily available. He hadn't had that in centuries. Mikael had always slaughtered their pets when he'd found them and it had become too difficult and too cruel to keep creatures while running to survive.
But now, Mikael was dead and Lilith was rubbing her head against his watch to mark it with her scent.
Caroline is waiting for them at the arrival gate, her hands laden with all the duty-free purchases she'd made after compelling her way through to the departures lounge. Her smile is genuine and beside him, Katerina visibly relaxes.
"It's so good to see you," she gushes as she comes around the barrier to hug her in greeting,
"New Orleans has been so boring without you here and no-one can shop like you and the parties are so blah, even though I've been emailing suggestions but I'm thinking of opening my own event planning company and I reckon you could help me with the higher end…why does Elijah have a cat?"
Caroline stared at Lilith, purring away in Elijah's arms, "Seriously?!" she laughs,
"Green-eyed black cat? What, are we trying to get Katherine burnt at the stake now?"
Lilith yowls in apparent outrage that she would ever be considered a threat and pointedly turns her head away when Caroline offers her hand to smell.
Niklaus is awaiting them at the Garden District, having pointedly told Elijah to bring Katerina there. Elijah had replied that he could take his fiancée wherever he pleased but Niklaus had silenced him by suggesting that the Bourbon St manor would be too central, too public after her time away.
Katerina is listening to Caroline's seemingly endless updates about all the changes that had taken place since she had left last season, but he can see her growing nervous as they enter the driveway, her hand on the door even though she lingers climbing out of the car.
Niklaus and Erik are in the front yard, rolling a ball between them, he looks up as they approach,
"About time you returned." he snapped at Katerina,
"I'd have come back sooner if you weren't here." She retorts.
He chuckles and stands so that he can kiss her proffered cheek, the two of them enjoying the trade of insults and barbs for reasoning that escape the logic of any outsider.
Erik meanwhile, has spotted Lilith and is holding out his pudgy arms with excitement,
"Kitty!" he squeals and Elijah winces as he cautiously kneels down, keeping a firm hold of Lilith,
"Yes, Erik," he tells him, "This is a kitten and you have to be very gentle with her because she's very small and fragile."
Erik burbles with delight and Elijah puts Lilith down on the grass. Thankfully, she doesn't bolt away, but casts a cautious glance behind her to Katerina before extending her nose forward, sniffing delicately. Erik, strangely enough, doesn't reach for her or grab her against her will, he waits with perfect patience for her to come to him, chortling to himself when she puts her front paws on his bare knees so she can reach up at sniff at his face.
He beams and Elijah matches his smile when Lilith begins licking his cheek, he looks over his shoulder when he hears a clicking noise and sees Caroline has her camera out,
"You guys don't take nearly enough photos of him." She complains,
"How's he supposed to look back fondly on his childhood?"
"He won't ever have the chance," Nadia interjects, catching their attention, she jerks her chin,
"Lilith is eating him as we speak."
All eyes shoot back to see that Lilith is indeed biting Erik's cheek, dragging her small teeth down in the clear attempt to eat him. Katerina darts forward and picks her kitten up,
"Lilith," she scolds, tapping her on the nose, "We don't eat humans!"
Lilith puts her paw to her mouth and meows with faux innocence, causing Katerina to roll her eyes,
"Yes, I know that Elijah and Nadia eat humans but that's no excuse. You can't!"
Erik is still laughing to himself, apparently not concerned in the least that another creature had tried to consume him. The marks are already beginning to fade when he becomes reabsorbed by the ball, rolling it back over to his father.
Katerina, meanwhile, carried Lilith inside, still scolding her, even as she's stroking her ears. Elijah follows her up the stairs to their apartment, where she pauses momentarily on the threshold, he hears a sharp intake of breath before she decidedly puts Lilith down and gives her rump a push into the room.
"This is your new home," she coos, "All yours, to make entirely your own."
Elijah stands at her shoulder, trying to give her space as she steels herself to walk into the room,
"Should we perhaps get new bedsheets?" he suggests quietly as Lilith jumps onto the bed,
"Only, I do think the white isn't the best colour for our black kitten."
Katerina hums in agreement and finally propels herself forward into the room,
"Perhaps we should redecorate?" she muses, "Some bolder colours…maybe some new furniture…"
Lilith has found Katerina's pillow and is now kneading it determinedly while purring, Elijah smiles at the kitten before approaching his fiancée and resting his hands on her shoulders, rubbing them tenderly,
"It is alright if you need time to get used to living here once more," he tells her, kissing the side of her neck,
"I will wait for however long you need."
She nods, "Thank-you."
She quickly comes up with the excuse of needing a bath, disappearing into the ensuite and Elijah, at a loss of what to do, turns back towards Lilith,
"Do you need time to acquaint yourself my little darling?" he teases, tickling her stomach as she rolls over onto her back and tries to catch his hand with her paws,
"Oh, but you and I are going to have great fun here, aren't we?"
She purrs and the setting sun through the window makes him wonder how much of the house he'll need to cat proof.
Katerina's return to New Orleans was quite welcomed by polite society, who hoped to see less of the Mikaelson massacres and more of the Petrova parties, as Caroline so eloquently put it. They also learnt to adjust themselves to the little black kitten who often popped up between the Garden District and Bourbon St, with her red diamond collar and the manner in which she sat in on the supernatural meetings, which she was in no way allowed to be ejected from under any circumstances.
Although questions were asked when she received her own seat in the Mikaelson box at the Opera House.
A/N- I know I don't update as frequently as you would all like, I don't do this maliciously, I am trying but I have a busy, exhausting life.