A Root in Dry Soil

by Rorry Lamb

He's all crisp lines and polite smiles, the textbook definition of a gentleman. But then he looks at her and his eyes burn with something that completely contradicts his gentle appearance. Eloise knows she should run. Running is smart, running is safe. But she's always been attracted to danger and Elijah Mikaelson? Well, he's the textbook definition of that too.

11. Chapter 11

Hi everyone!

Sorry for the wait, it's been a crazy couple of months and I've kind of been pulled away from the writing. With the Hols coming up I should be able to turn out more chapters and maybe even through out a couple of stories that I have saved in my documents. I'm hoping to spit out a Harry Potter fic as well as another Vampire Diaries fic but I'm not sure if I'm feeling a Klaus, Kol, or Damon fic - I have really early stage rough drafts written up so if you want to shoot a preference in the comments or something you can. Can't say it'll be the character you want but you never know.

And on that topic, I did intend for this chapter to be an Elijah chapter but he's such a hard character for me to write and I feel like I don't give his inner thoughts much credit. So instead of a full length chapter I've given you guys a little snippet into his thoughts and feelings toward Eloise. This may be a reoccurring thing for every eleventh chapter but I haven't decided yet.

Rate, Reccomend, Review,

Thank you all,

Rorry.

---

The drive back to the boarding house is relatively quiet considering Eloise sends out a message asking for Damon to bring everyone in Elena's circle to the house for an emergency meeting regarding Klaus. The pretty eyed vampire doesn't ask questions, which surprises Eloise, but he does demand that she be home in the next twenty minutes so clearly he's not as disinterested in her meeting with Klaus as he wants to seem. Eloise bites into her lip as she turns off the main road and onto the one that'll take her to the Boarding house. Klaus hadn't been nearly as troublesome to deal with as she'd been lead to believe and despite his reasonable anger Eloise also hadn't thought him to be too unpleasant either. His attempt to threaten her was certainly unwelcome, but other than that Eloise can't see why everyone who's interacted with him claims he's so unreasonable. Maybe they just weren't dealing with him correctly. Or maybe he's as psychotic as everyone claims and he's just biding him time, but Eloise doubts that.

When she gets to the house Damon is waiting for her at the door looking relieved beyond reasonable measure at seeing her alive and whole. Eloise pats him on the shoulder as she passes through the front door, absently noting the tension that's making the muscle beneath his shoulders tighten.

"I'm fine, Damon, not a scratch on me." Eloise says as she's kicking off her shoes.

"What happened?"

"Elijah told me that Klaus likes to body hop to spy on people. I figured that out of the group he'd probably try hopping into Alaric, so we went to his apartment and talked to Klaus." Eloise glances around, "Where is everyone?"

"On their way. Stefan and Elena were up to God knows what, Caroline was with Matt, Bonnie's been trying to get the Martins to give her her powers back so I assume Jeremy's with her and then, of course, we have John Gilbert coming as well."

"Sounds lovely."

Damon scoffs but doesn't comment, instead he ambles off to the study where Eloise assumes they're going to be holding this little meeting regarding Elena's safety. He's pouring himself a drink when Eloise walks in. She's not surprised. Damon curbs his thirst with alcohol, sex, and all sorts of other unhealthy coping mechanisms that Eloise has had to learn to deal with. Does she wish he weren't drinking now? Before the meeting that'll be detrimental to Elena's safety? Yes, of course she does, but she's also aware that sometimes you have to roll with Damon's punches. Eloise lowers herself into an arm chair and not long after Damon disappears into the house. She assumes it's because people have finally started showing up.

The doppelganger and Stefan come in first - both look nervous and maybe even a little relieved - followed closely by John Gilbert, Caroline, Bonnie, and then Jeremy last. Eloise hasn't had the displeasure of meeting John but seeing as he tried to kill Damon only a few days ago she's bound and determined to not like him. At all. Not even a little bit. She doesn't even smile when he offers her a tight lipped grimace that's probably supposed to be a smile of his own. Because fuck him. Eloise doesn't owe John Gilbert shit. Still, catching flies - and killing them, but that's another matter entirely - is easier to do when one is using honey as a lure instead of vinegar, so Eloise nods politely before turning to face Elena.

"I spoke with Klaus today, he's agreed to let you live past the ritual and not interfere with you're life so long as you provide a blood donation every other month." Eloise tells the brunette.

"That's it?" Elena asks, disbelief clear in her tone.

"Mhm. As long as no one attempts to foil his plans." Eloise glances toward Damon and Stefan but continues on, "During the full moon I'll provide a werewolf and a vampire for the sacrifice, Elena-" she's cut off by none other than John fucking Gilbert "-What about Elena?"

Eloise tries not to glare at the man but it's so very, very difficult when he's sitting there looking at her like she's just condemned his daughter to a permanent death. Which, wouldn't have been unlikely had she been any other witch.

"There are several options we have; I can link your life force to that of another, Elijah has a potion he meant to use on Katherine when she was human, or if you'd rather, I can attempt putting another person's consciousness in your body. Seeing as it's your blood he needs to for the ritual and not your soul I think it could work." Eloise says.

"This is crazy! Are we really going to go through with this?" John yells, rising from his chair furiously, "How do we know we can trust you? For all we know you've been working with Klaus!"

Around them the room goes tense. Eloise can tell that Bonnie agrees with John to an extend, possibly Caroline as well seeing as she's never really interacted with the blonde vampire, but it's also clear from Elena's horror at John's reaction that she trusts Eloise. And that, children, is all that matters.

"I have been working with Klaus, all day, in fact. I've been working to keep Elena and everyone she cares about in this wretched little town safe while you go running around trying to kill Klaus. You're a human hunter, John, do you honestly think Klaus is afraid of you? Had you continued going about as you have it's likely Klaus would have gone on with the ritual, killed Elena, and then terrorized the lot of you. At least I'm offering reasonable solutions."

"Reasonable solutions? You're a witch! What kind of solution is helping Klaus break the Sun and Moon Curse?" John snaps at her.

"The one that keeps you, Jenna, Jeremy, all of Elena's friends, and a lot of innocent people in this town alive." Eloise scoffs at the sudden redness in John's cheeks, "Do you think I care about some stupid curse? Werewolves, vampires, witches, humans, we're nothing more than animals still learning how to crawl. You might act like a good person but you're no better than Klaus at the end of the day. You lie and cheat and kill just as much as he does. At least he doesn't go around acting like something he's not."

"Alright children, that's enough," Stefan says, pulling everyone's attention to him, "shouldn't we ask Elena what she wants to do?"

"Of course, Elena, what do you want to do about this?" John demands, clearly hoping that she'll balk at the idea of being reasonable and going through with the ritual.

"I," Elena licks her bottom lip and looks to Eloise - check fucking mate - with big doe eyes before she says, "How would the linking work?"

Eloise rolls her shoulders as she begins explaining, "We'd find someone who's either willing to give their life for yours or someone who's going to die anyway and we link your life force to theirs. Essentially what'll happen is that when Klaus kills you during the ritual you'll come back and the person you're linked to will remain permanently dead."

"That's..."

"This is the big leagues Elena. You have other options, and this is going to be emotionally traumatizing no matter what, but you have to ask yourself something."

"What's that?"

"Do you want to grow up, get married, have babies, and live a good life before you die? Because if the answer is yes you need to be willing to fight for that shit. You're the doppelganger, Elena, there's always going to be someone who wants your head on a pike. So you really you only have two options; Get fucked, or do the fucking." Eloise notes the tension in Elena's posture and shakes her head, "I'm not asking you to stop caring, and I'm definitely not asking you to do what Katherine did because we all know how that ends. What I'm asking you to do is realize that things are going to get messy and adjust accordingly... So, what's it gonna be Elena? Get fucked, or do the fucking?"

It's silent for a long moment. Everyone seems to be holding their breath, waiting for Elena's reaction to Eloise's words because, yeah, they weren't nice but everyone's been treating Elena with kid gloves. She has to realize that things are going to get bad for her and everyone around her because she's the doppelganger. She's not stupid. Everyone else just seems to think that they can protect her, that they can lay their lives down for her and expect her to be ok with it and how is that fair? How is that hot more harmful than letting her find ways to protect herself, and her family as well, from the big bads in the night? Eloise was raised by witches willing to rip a hole in the universe if it meant protecting their own. She might not have been totally cool with their methods but Eloise respects the hell out of how they maintained their familial beliefs.

Keep your family close and rip anyone who dares to harm then to shreds.

She and Elena aren't family. Shit, they're not even friends. But Elena is a seventeen year old girl with a family that loves her and friends that would die for her and a world out to get her because she's a fucking doppelganger. Is it so wrong for her to be empathetic to that? Can't she be willing to admit that Elena isn't her favorite person but still try and help her? Because no one deserves to live their life afraid. No one deserves to feel like they're the reason everyone around them is dying.

"I think... Can it be someone who's done something bad, at least? I don't want to kill anyone who doesn't deserve it." Elena says, but she still looks like she isn't totally convinced.

"Elena," Bonnie begins and her tone is reprimanding, but Elena just shakes her head and says, "No, Bonnie, I get that this isn't... I get that this isn't right ok? I get it. But this is my choice and I'm making it and you can't stop me."

"But you're agreeing to kill someone, Elena, we just want to make sure you know what you're doing." Caroline says, far more sympathetic than Bonnie had been and seemingly far more concerned.

Elena nods slowly and tells the blonde, "I want to go to college, Caroline, and I want to get married. Kids might not be an option for me but I want things that I won't get if I'm dead... and Klaus promised to not mess with any of us right?" Eloise nods and Elena continues, "So we can all be relatively happy and assured that so long as I'm giving blood Klaus is going to keep this town safe."

"You honestly think Klaus is going to protect Mystic Falls? He's an Original and a vampire. You can't trust him!" John practically yells at the girl, who flinches but doesn't back down.

"This is my line in the sand, Uncle John." Elena tells the older man, the two stare at each other for a long moment before the hunter deflates and Elena turns to Eloise once more, "I want to speak with Klaus."

"I'll get a hold of Elijah and set something up. I'm sure he'd be more than willing to meet with you."

Elena nods, stands, and faces the rest of the room so she can say, "I know that none of you like this, I'm not overly fond of the idea myself, but I need you to trust that I know what I'm doing."

Then she's gone, striding from the room with Stefan trailing behind her. Caroline goes after them, so does Jeremy, but the rest of the people who'd sat in on the meeting remain and none of them look pleased. None more so than John, who keeps glaring at her like he's trying to set her on fire. Eloise smiles at him, all teeth and sharp angles and wicked, gleaming eyes. Because again, fuck him.

Seconds pass before any of them move and surprisingly enough it's the Bennett witch. She rises smoothly, nods once to Eloise, and then leaves the study without saying a thing to anyone. Keeping her thoughts about the whole situation private is probably a good thing. John Gilbert doesn't need anymore fuel added to this fire. The moment the door closes behind Bonnie, however, John rounds on Eloise with a snarl and jabs his finger at her which causes Damon to take a threatening step forward.

"If Elena dies because of you, if she doesn't come back, I'm going to kill you."

"Promises, promises, John... If I didn't know any better I'd think you were actually capable of keeping them."

"Watch yourself." John steps closer, pulling his shoulders back in an attempt to look big, Eloise just thinks he looks scared. "You may be a powerful witch but I know plenty of witches who don't like their kind cavorting around with the enemy."

Eloise has never responded well to threats.

"I think you're forgetting that I currently have two Original vampires in my good graces. I wonder how they're react to hearing that John Gilbert's brother was part of the society that tortured, experimented on, and slaughtered vampires for fun? Spoiler alert: not well." Eloise rises so that she's nose-to-nose with John and before she steps away she says, "You're playing with the big boys now, John, so I'd watch yourself a little more carefully yeah?"

And then she's walking out of the study, Damon following closely behind. The two of them ignore John raving as they make their way to Eloise's room where they can have some privacy to have the conversation that clearly needs to be had. Damon knows Eloise wouldn't have brought up Augustine without damn good reason, and she certainly wouldn't have made a comment about telling Klaus and Elijah just to rile John up. So yes, a conversation about what's going to happen and what Eloise has done needs to take place before either of them do anything else.

Once the door is closed and locked and the room spelled silent Eloise begins stripping out of her day clothes so she can change into something comfier while Damon goes to lounge on the bed. When Eloise is done changing she goes to join him, slipping in between him and the wall and pressing close to Damon's warmth. He wraps his arms around her, pulling her close, and plants a kiss on the crown of her head where he can actually reach without straining. For a moment they bask in the quietness of it. But only for a moment.

"Who did you tell?" Damon asks, voice soft and full of fear.

"I told Elijah about Augustine, he said he would handle it."

"You and Pretty Boy Original seem close."

"Comes with trying to kill someone I guess."

Damon chuckles but it sounds a little hollow.

"We gave Katherine to Klaus." Eloise tells him and Damon stills as she says, "Maybe we'll actually get to cash in on that ritual thing."

"You're terrible."

"I love you too, Damon."

Damon's fingers pull at her hair, gently pulling apart the knots and rats that have accumulated over the day. Eloise sinks into the pleasure the act gives her and squeezes Damon's side in thanks. He plays with her hair for a long time, long enough that Eloise's eyes start getting heavier and heavier until she's only just barely able to keep them open. So she stops trying after awhile, allows herself to be pulled into a land of mist and shadow where images from her childhood play before her like a movie on a film reel. She can't really make sense of anything but it's not a bad dream, not really, it's just quiet. Soft. Eloise feels contentment among the muted colors and sounds and feeling of magic that brushes across her skin.

Come home, Lou! Come home!

When she wakes Eloise is greeted by an empty bed. She isn't surprised. Damon's an early riser and he likes to get his feedings in early so he doesn't have to listen to Elena or Stefan bitch to him about his feeding habits. Eloise doesn't blame them. Damon's messy as hell and he's ruined two pairs of good jeans being a sloppy asshole. Rolling out of bed Eloise decides to forego changing into actual clothes and just grabs her phone before making her way to the kitchen for some breakfast. Seeing as Damon hasn't been awesome this morning and made her something fancy Eloise is reduced to popping bagels into the toaster. Dammit. She's become expectant. That's unfortunate considering she's going to be doing all the cooking when she gets back to the apartment as a treat to Miranda for holding down the fort for so long. It'd be nice if Damon came with and make them all breakfast. They could snuggle and watch crappy romcoms or something. Maybe Miranda and Damon would hit it off and Eloise wouldn't have to listen to Damon bemoan his chances - or lack-there-of - with the doppelganger. For a while anyway. The Doppelganger allure would pull him back in again at some point but it'd be nice to have a month or two off. Eloise pulls her bagel out of the toaster, butters both sides, and goes to take a seat at the island just as Elena come rounding the corner.

Speak of the devil, Eloise thinks a little bitterly.

"Is it alright if we talk to Klaus today?" Elena asks hesitantly.

"He's at Ric's apartment. I'm sure he'd love to see you." Eloise tells her after she's swallowed her bagel.

Elena picks at her thumb to redirect nervous energy and asks, "Will you go with me? I know we've asked a lot of you these past couple of days but you're the only one who's had a successful time talking to Klaus and maybe if things go south it'd be best if you were there."

"Thinking of trying to kill him?"

"No... I just want to talk about the sacrifice... and some other stuff."

The other girl's awkward, uncomfortable shuffling makes Eloise sigh. Realistically, it would be best if Eloise went with her to talk to Klaus. Anyone else might end up pissing Klaus off and then where would they be? Dead. According to Elijah Klaus isn't very good at controlling his temper.

"Fine, let me get changed."

"Really? Thank you so much, Eloise!"

Eloise waves her off as she exits the kitchen. Since when did she sign up as a peacemaker? She gets being Damon's best witch, because, hello, clearly she is the best witch, but being a babysitter-bodyguard combo isn't what she'd expected out of today. Hopefully this'll be a short visit because Eloise doesn't really want to put on adult pants. She ends up putting on a pair of leggings and a cable knit sweater because it's the comfiest outfit she has in her wardrobe and makes her way back downstairs where Elena is waiting for her... Along with Caroline Forbes. The perky blonde vampire offers a hesitant smile when she sees Eloise. Neither of them have really interacted, Eloise only knows Caroline as the vampire Katherine turned - and, of course, as the girl she told Damon off for using to get to Stefan and Elena but no one needs to know about that just yet - so there isn't really any sort of opinion the witch has for the vampire. So she smiles back as she adjusts her purse.

"I told Elijah we were coming, he promised to meet us at the apartment." Eloise says, steadfastly ignoring the look Caroline gives her.

"Alright," the blonde says after a second, "I left the car running so we should probably go."

She did, in fact, not leave the car running but the fib managed to get them all into action so Eloise can't lie and say she's not impressed. From the Boarding house to Alaric's apartment Caroline and Eloise strike up easy conversation and the brunette's surprised to learn that she genuinely likes Caroline. She's funny and sweet and ridiculously smart for a girl who's been given the nickname Vampire Barbie. Eloise decides that if Caroline ever needs anything she'll be the first in line to offer assistance. It's weird how quickly she accumulates people into her circle these days, already she's added two and that's just wild to Eloise because she normally doesn't get this attached to random strangers. She decides to blame it on Caroline's bubbly personality and just leaves well enough alone.

The lot around Alaric's apartment is pretty much empty when they pull in, the exception being Elijah's car and three others that Eloise doesn't recognize. Deciding that they best get this over with as quickly as possible Eloise steps out of the car, waits for the others, and then makes her way into the apartment building without so much as a second thought. She'll need to talk to Alaric about the security measures on the apartment building because it's honestly really worrisome that Eloise can just walk in and up to whichever apartment she pleases without anything to stop her aside from a flimsy wooden door... of course, this isn't exactly a town full of petty crime so maybe there not being a lot of security measures makes sense. Eloise purses her lips as she stops in front of Alaric's door.

"You ready?" Caroline asks, sliding closer to Elena like a sort of vampire shield.

"Uh-huh."

Eloise knocks on the front door of the apartment and within seconds the vampire wearing Alaric's skin like a meat suit opens the front door. Eyes rove over Eloise, then more hesitantly over Caroline, and then come to a complete stop when they land on Elena.

"Ah, you must be Elena," Klaus' smile is oddly pleasant, "Would you like to come in?"

When he steps aside the three girls step into the apartment to find Katherine standing stiffly next to the kitchen counter. She looks positively awful but Eloise can't bring herself to feel anything for the dark eyed vampire as she makes her way into the sitting area where Elijah is sitting on the couch. Elena is quick to claim one of the empty arm chairs, Caroline makes sure to stand behind her so that should anything go wrong she'll be able to whisk Elena out of harms way, and Klaus makes sure to take the other chair closest to Elena. It's a weird seating arrangement but it seems to work for them.

"I'd like to talk about the ritual." Elena says, managing to sound far more collected than they all know she is.

"Of course."

"I've agreed to go through the ritual and donate blood," Elena glances at Eloise, "but I'd like you to do something for me in return."

Klaus laughs, actually laughs, and turns to Elijah so he can say, "She's a spirited little thing isn't she?"

"Very."

"What is it you'd like from me, Elena?" Klaus asks, face jovial.

"I want you to leave my friends and family out of the ritual... and out of any plans you have after it." Elena says.

Eloise has to admit, Elena has some pretty big balls, considering. Too bad she doesn't seem to realize that Klaus is going to do whatever the fuck he wants to do. If he wants to compel Stefan to strip naked and run through the streets, then he's going to do compel Stefan to strip naked and run through the streets. But it's cute that Elena thinks she can keep him from doing that.

"Is this one of your friends Elena? Caroline, is it?" Klaus asks, looking over Elena's shoulder at the pretty blue-eyed vampire standing behind her, when she glares at him in response it only makes Klaus smile. "Well, you have nothing to fear from me. You participate in the ritual and all you're little friends will remain safe and happy for the remainder of their existence."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that." Klaus spreads his hands out in front of him in a sort of what-can-you-do gesture and says nothing else.

Nodding, Elena rises from her chair with a soft, "Thank you." and goes to shake Klaus' hand.

The two shake on it and that's the end of the meeting. Elena bids everyone good day and makes for the door, Eloise nods to the two originals before she goes to follow, but it's Caroline who lingers just long enough to raise an imperious eyebrow at Klaus when she notices him ogling her. Watching them is like watching children interact. Klaus seems to find pleasure in Caroline's ire, Caroline just looks like she wants to shove Klaus out of his chair and onto the the floor. Amusing, but not exactly justifiable considering he hasn't really done anything yet.

"I hope to see you around, love." Klaus says, clearly trying to taunt her.

Caroline, bless her, rises to the occasion with a scathing, "I'd rather be skinned alive, thanks."

Then she's gone. Striding from the apartment in a mass of sunshine curls and pretty, high heeled boots. Elena shuffles awkwardly for a moment, unsure of whether or not she should follow after Caroline, but ultimately decides that Klaus has nothing else to say to her and disappears into the hall. Eloise lingers though, because if Caroline and Elena leave then she can just catch a ride with Elijah. Or call Damon and make him come get her. Either one.

"Well," Klaus chirps, "she's a fiery one."

"And she'd probably be more than willing to kick your ass if your into that kind of thing." Eloise intones, because Caroline and her might not be close but she knows a fighter when she sees one.

Klaus' smile is positively delighted.

"It would seem Mystic Falls has gotten far more entertaining!"

Elijah blinks at his brother, "indeed."

"Alright, well, you have my number. Call me if you need anything." Eloise says as she turns to exit the apartment building.

Alaric's apartment door swings shut with a soft thump and Eloise hesitates for only a moment before making her way to the parking lot where she finds Elena and Caroline waiting for her in the car. She slips into the backseat quietly while Elena and Caroline bitch about how much of a pig Klaus is.

~X~

Kol - there wild brother, their magic-loving brother, the brother Elijah failed to protect - would have liked Eloise, not only for her magical prowess but for the lack of fear she shows Klaus. The thought pains him. Knowing that Kol might have been able to make a genuine friend in Eloise, or perhaps find something in himself that he lost the night their mother stripped him of his magic, and that it is in part Elijah's fault that he has been robbed of it doesn't sit well with the oldest undaggered Original. Elijah stares at the space Eloise had occupied moments earlier. The scent of lemons and rosemary is the only thing that remains of her now, the rhythmic thumping of her heart disappearing beneath the roar of a car engine that he's inclined to presume Miss Forbes drove them to the history teacher's apartment with. He wonders if Eloise would find his youngest sibling amusing or if she would be inclined to see him as more of an annoyance than anything else. Kol - for all his wicked humor and boyish charm - has the ability to enrage the most saintly of people.

"Pinning after your witch already, Elijah?" He hears Niklaus ask him and when he turns to look at his brother he finds that Klaus has begun gently pushing hair over Katerina's trembling shoulders.

"She's not my witch." Elijah replies, careful to keep his tone even.

"But of course she is brother! You've already made your intentions quite clear!"

Elijah frowns, "What intentions?"

Klaus' fingers flex around Katerina's neck and the resulting crunch isn't nearly as gruesome as watching the lovely doppelganger's body drop boneless to the floor where she lands in a heap of limbs, toffee curls, and sallow flesh. Obviously, Niklaus hasn't been feeding her. Desiccation is an excellent way to keep a vampire complacent. Elijah would know, he's utilized that particular downfall of vampirism more than once. Seeing Katerina brought so low is strange to him, however, she'd always been something of a mirage; lovely and shimmering but unobtainable. Now that she's been captured, kept from her much needed nourishment, and left to ponder how much longer she's going to live... well, Elijah can't bring it in himself to truly care. Sympathetic, perhaps, does she truly deserve to die on his brother's alter when she's fought so long and so hard? Elijah isn't so unfeeling that he won't sympathize with a dying woman but he also can't stir up the emotion needed to go against his brother and help her escape.

"Come now, Elijah, don't play coy. I see the way you watch her." Klaus smiles as he takes a seat opposite Elijah, "It's really very compelling."

"I'm certain I don't know what you're talking about." Elijah manages to shove out from between his teeth.

That is a lie.

Eloise Brathwaite is funny, and kind, and loyal beyond reason - it is the kind of loyalty that inspires loyalty and devotion, the kind that makes men like Klaus covet people like Eloise - and Elijah respects how strong she is as a person of this day and age. In the little time they've known each other Elijah can't help the growing fondness he has for the young witch who has shown Elijah nothing but kindness and compassion when he has done very little to deserve it. Fondness will soon give way to something stronger, something far more dangerous, and Elijah is genuinely startled by how deeply his regard for her runs... though, it's not completely unexpected. Elijah has never known a single person in all his years as a vampire who hasn't expected or wanted something from him whether it be sex, power, or protection. Even the lovers Elijah has taken throughout his long life had wanted something from him. It is the genuine affection with which Eloise treats him that has Elijah yearning.

Like a root in dry soil branching deeper and deeper into the earth in search of water, Elijah has spent his entire existence searching for something that he's never been able to name but has possibly found in Eloise.

The realization of how deeply affected he is by her terrifies him a great deal.

"Playing hard to get, Elijah? I never took you for the type." Klaus taunts, and Elijah merely blinks at him.

Klaus has always enjoyed his games. This is one Elijah is uncomfortably familiar with because it's one he's found himself playing many times in the past. First with Tatia, then with Katerina, and Aya, and then finally with Celeste. His feelings for them had run deep then and Klaus had liked to taunt him for it, because to his brother love would only ever be a weakness. He could never understand why Elijah cared so deeply for something that could be taken from him. Elijah never had a good enough explanation to give him. And so the taunts continued, the game was played, and then everything would end in blood and death - not all of which was Niklaus' fault. His brother may be volatile but he has never acted without reason.

"I fail to see why this is a necessary topic of conversation." Elijah retorts to which Klaus smiles.

"If it's any help," his brother says, voice light and pleasant, "I rather approve of this one. You're past interests were always so dull that I never understood why you took a liking to them in the first place."

Elijah wants to tell Klaus that he was also in love with Tatia, and perhaps even Katerina for a brief moment, but he's smarter than that. He's played these games too many times, lost too many times, he will not provoke his brother over something so simple as a conversation involving his love life.

"I'm certain Eloise will be happy to hear you hold her in such high regards." He tells Klaus.

She probably would be pleased.

Eloise is the type of woman, Elijah suspects, that laughs in the face of danger.

Across from him Klaus rises and makes for the bedroom, pausing only long enough to turn and face Elijah so he can say, "I'd be careful if I were you, Elijah, she's quite a vibrant little thing. I'd hate for you to loose her to another," and then, "Be sure to close the door behind you on your way out."

Elijah waits until the sound of water can be heard in the bathroom before he rises, adjusts his suit jacket, and strides from the apartment. Being dismissed from Klaus' presence is of no consequence to him, not when the tension between them is still so palpable. Having time to himself allows Elijah the opportunity to see to his own needs without having to stop to cater to his brother. Hopefully, the bridges that were burnt between Klaus and Elijah can be mended in the time it takes to complete the ritual. Elijah needs it to be enough time. For while he has no intention of killing Klaus any longer his brother won't tell him where he keeps the rest of their family, which makes setting them free infinitely harder than it would have been before their falling out. For a brief moment Elijah thinks of using Eloise to locate them, but the thought is there and gone in seconds. He won't put Eloise in that kind on danger again. Not when Klaus is already so fond of her. If he were to see anything she does as a betrayal Elijah can only imagine the hell he would unleash upon her, upon this town, upon everyone she has ever loved, and the knowledge that he would be the reason for such devastation in her life causes him remorse.

No, best to keep Eloise out of the conflict brewing between him and Klaus as best he is able.

At least that way she would be safe from the fallout should he fail to free his siblings and placate Klaus.

Sighing sharply through his nose, the Original gets into his car and begins the drive back to Richmond where his apartment is. Normally he would stay close to Klaus - close to Eloise - but he thinks that while he can't actively search for his siblings he might as well do something productive. Something like look into this Augustine that Eloise spoke to him about. Finding out what he can about the organization might just be what he needs to keep his mind free of more troublesome thoughts, it would also serve the purpose of helping him find a way to bring Augustine to its knees, which would absolutely delight Eloise. Not, of course, that that is the only reason he is planning on destroying such a distasteful organization... but it's certainly a contributing factor.

Elijah knows his faults. He's a monster and he loves the way monsters tend to: too fast, too hard, falling, falling, falling without thought of the consequences or care for who he may hurt in the process. While he may not love Eloise Brathwait, Elijah can see himself being so in the future should she continue to give him those dimpled smiles as she topples mountain and turns iron into ore.

It's frightening, he should distance himself from the situation before things end poorly for Eloise - because it always ends poorly for those who find themselves the receiver of his affections - but no matter how easy it would be for Elijah to walk away now he finds the thought... absolutely repulsive. Because he may not love Eloise or be loved by her in return but he could be, one day, and it is the promise of maybe that has him so enthralled with the idea of loving Eloise Brathwaite.