Of Birds and Triangles
In which Caroline sees Klaus' tattoos. I did research and stuff. Set in 4x18, because of the spoiler from Plec that Klaus would be diseased and shirtless.
Caroline was getting really, really frustrated with him. He didn't want to tell her what was wrong with him, and he kept throwing the blankets she had piled on him off, only to bring them back over him a minute later. She was getting seriously worried, and she didn't like it. He was sweating, and then he was shivering. He was coughing, then asking for blood bag after blood bag.
But that wasn't the real source of her frustrations. No, she wasn't angry frustrated, she was feeling a little sexually frustrated. He had, not a second earlier, peeled off his shirt, tossing it across his living room, leaving his muscular torso revealed to her eyes. She needed a distraction, anything to stop her thoughts of running her hands over the smooth expanse of muscle, licking her way down, further, and further… "Why birds?" She burst out suddenly, shocking them both.
Coughs wracked Klaus' body, before he responded. "Freedom. Birds in flight mean freedom. I got them after my curse was lifted. I was finally whole again without the restraints my mother had put on me."
She nodded, understanding a little more about him, wondering what it must have felt like to be constrained, to not be your whole self, before she held out her wrist for him to look at; it seemed that they had another thing in common, as strange a phenomena to her, but almost… comforting in a way. It reassured her that he wasn't all bad, at least not as bad as he sometimes appeared to be. "I got a bird because I wanted to be free. I wasn't sure from what, but I knew that there was something holding me back. I guess I understand now. It was myself." She paused, trying to look anywhere but his chest, before she remembered the other tattoo she had seen. "And the triangle?"
"Oh, there's many things behind that one love." Klaus paused, reaching for the blood bag on the table as he fought off another coughing fit, taking a long draught before continuing. "Triangles stand for creativity, and that appealed to the artist in me. The points also represent the three main phases of the moon, waxing, waning, and full, and that was my homage to my werewolf side. It also stands for fire the way I have mine; I suppose I got it because I could have died by fire when Alaric staked me, but I survived."
She peeled her shoe off, putting her foot up on his leg to show him the tiny star on it. "I got this because I've always had a fascination with stars. They're bright, and beautiful, but fleeting. I guess at the time I sort of sympathized with them."
"And now you're beautiful and ageless." She nodded her assent to his words before he pressed on. "It seems we have another thing love. Who would have thought?"
Caroline was tempted to once more respond that they did not have things, but they did. Oh, but they did, and it was obvious, even to her. "I guess we do."
Wait a second. Did she just bond with the original vampire? Oh shit. If his smirk said one thing, it said he was never, ever going to let her go back to pretending that she hated him. And all because she had to ask him about his stupid tattoos.
