"Explain, Finn." Elijah demands when Kol enters the study.
Kol plops down on the nearest couch and looks up at Finn, intrigued. If he didn't like Finn's story, he could still enjoy the beating that would ensue. Maybe he'd even be the one to put that dagger in his heart, it would be a welcome change.
Finn clears his throat. He looks at his siblings one by one before slowly shifting in his seat. He'd been brooding and pondering how to share the news with his siblings since meeting Daisy. They would probably want to kill him for helping his mother. But they were not without fault either, they had shut him out time and time again until Niklaus had the opportunity to lock him away. Finn suppresses a slight shudder at the memory of his coffin.
"Our mother," Finn starts before correcting himself. "Esther, she wants to kill us, and it regrets me to tell you that I was willing to help her, until now." Finn looks down remorsefully, rubbing his hands together.
"Of course. Finn the favorite, the sacrificial lamb." Niklaus scoffs, narrowing his eyes at Finn.
"Why would she want to kill us? She said she wanted to reunite our family, she loves us." Rebekah comments, looking confused and a little hurt at the idea that her mother was set on killing them.
"She told me she had seen our wrongdoings on the other side, seen what kind of monsters we had become. That we're... an abomination. She sees it as her duty to kill us." Finn replies, wincing a little at the words that now sounded too harsh and coarse to him.
Rebekah purses her lips, before jutting her chin out, not willing to let her brothers see the effect these words had on her. She had mourned her mother in the past, she could do it again. This time it would be easier, the woman hated what she was, so she could in turn hate Esther.
"So, miss Gilbert lied straight to my face, how delightful." Elijah grits, lip curling up a little in annoyance. He had hoped the Gilbert girl was a reliable source, that he could trust her, but of course, she would always prefer her own safety to that of others. Their death would mean peace to her, a threat taken away.
"What did you get out of this? Out of betraying your siblings?" Kol snaps, glaring at Finn.
"She promised to release me from an eternity of shame. Convinced me that I wouldn't have to continue being a monster." Finn whispers.
Kol looks deeply offended. If Finn already labeled himself a monster, it didn't do anything beneficial to Kol, who had about 600 more years to propagate terror than his oldest brother.
"Monst-" Kol shouts before he gets cut off by Elijah.
"Hush, Kol. You would be the last person who can judge us morally, or need I remind you of your... curricular activitiesin 1821?" Elijah comments dryly, fixing his little brother with a stern gaze.
"Finn, if 'being released from an eternity of shame' sounded so wondrous to you, why did you stop us from drinking the champagne? What could have possibly changed your mind?" Niklaus spits out while pacing the room, throwing dirty glances at Finn from time to time.
"I met my soulmate... my person." Finn admits, looking bashful.
Rebekah's gaze immediately softens. The disarmament in Finn's voice and the genuine look in his eyes touched her deeply. The fact that he had found his soulmate, just like Kol, made her romantic heart beat faster.
"Yeah, I don't need to hear about that strumpet. Sage was it?" Kol taunts, looking thoroughly disgusted at the memory of the vexatious woman.
"No not... Sage, I met her this evening." Finn grimaces a little upon uttering Sage's name, not liking to be reminded of his past lover when he had just found his mate.
"How nice, Finn finds real love, and who might this soulmate be? Then I will know who to retaliate against if I find out you betrayed us after all." Niklaus threatens.
Finn growls. The thought that Niklaus would harm his mate was enough for Finn to fly out of his chair and grab Niklaus roughly by his collar. He would rather lie in his casket for another 900 years than let Niklaus harm his mate.
Niklaus responds to this with a boisterous growl of his own before ripping himself away from Finn's grip. He did not take kindly to being attacked, and certainly not from (potential) traitors. His irises become yellow briefly and Niklaus feels his fangs pressing against his gums, keen to pop out if the threat is maintained.
Finn and Niklaus were now chest to chest, both snarling and growling at the other.
"Calm down, both of you. No one is attacking anyone. Tell us Finn, who might this lovely person be?" Elijah asks, placing a firm hand on Niklaus' shoulder to pull him back. He looks interestedly at his older brother, after finding his own mate, he could sympathize with Finn. Elijah knew exactly how miraculous it could feel to find your soulmate.
"Miss Daisy Landry." Finn replies, smiling softly at the memory of his pretty mate and the way her hands had felt in his.
For a moment it is dead silent.
Rebekah gives Finn a puzzled look. From what she understood Daisy was Kol's soulmate. She immediately wonders whether one of them may have made a mistake, or whether it is a supernatural phenomenon. Soulmates were only couples until now, Rebekah had never heard of three, but she couldn't shut it out either.
"Finn, I know you're a dullard, but I do hope sincerely that you're joking." Niklaus comments, looking appraisingly at his elder brother.
"Daisy? My Daisy?" Kol asks while jumping up from his spot on the couch. He was looking thoroughly insulted at the idea of Finn claiming his mate.
"Your Daisy? No, absolutely not!" Niklaus protests, now turning to Kol.
"You are all mistaken. Miss Landry is mine." Elijah interrupts. He looks at each of his brothers with disdain. Fighting his siblings was not unfamiliar territory, and he was certainly willing to attack his brothers for his mate.
"Oh jesus, stop talking about the poor girl like she's an object." Rebekah interjects, breaking her brothers apart. "Sit down."
Reluctantly the men retake their seats, glaring heatedly at each other.
"Could it be possible that Daisy is the soulmate to all of you?" Rebekah asks, looking at her brothers one by one.
"Absolutely not!" Niklaus shouts. He is about to jump up again but remains seated after a reprimanding look of Rebekah.
"I have never heard of it?" Finn replies. In his human years, he had never kept busy with such matters, and in his years as a vampire, he had other things that kept him occupied.
"Sharing? My daisy? With these nitwits? No way!" Kol growls, veins crackling beneath his eyes.
Niklaus rolls his eyes at the insult, not expecting much else from his childish little brother.
"Perhaps. I don't believe any one of us is faking our attraction to Miss Landry." Elijah replies. "We can research this later, right now we must deal with our... mother."
"What do you reckon we can do?" Rebekah asks. She was a little take aback by the easy flip of the conversation. All the brothers now seemed set on ridding themselves of the witch. There was no sign of their previous hostility left.
"I suggest good old-fashioned matricide." Niklaus smirks while getting up, ready for some brutality.
• • •
"Tell me all about the ball." Daisy's mother looks eagerly at Daisy. She had patiently waited all evening and a big part of the morning to hear the latest gossip and all the details on the newest inhabitants of the mansion.
"It was impressive. The mansion was immense and beautifully decorated, there were those cute lights cords all over the place. You know-the ones we also wanted for our home during Christmas?" Daisy asks, snapping with her finger to recollect the memory.
Daisy's mother nods impatiently, keen to hear more.
"There was soft music, champagne. Oh! There were servants everywhere, it almost resembled a palace. And everyone looked super beautiful! I even danced." Daisy rambles enthusiastically.
"I didn't get a chance to meet Mrs. Mikaelson but her children were great. They were all very polite and I had some engaging conversations with them. I even danced with two of them."
"Ah yes, I had Carol on the line earlier, she told me you looked very elegant, dancing with them. What are their names?" Daisy's mother asks, smiling suggestively at her daughter.
"Rebekah, Finn, Kol, Elijah and Niklaus." Daisy ticks the names of her fingers as she recites them. "I danced with Elijah and Niklaus."
"Interesting names... how old are they?"
"I'm not sure. I think Kol and Rebekah are around my age. The others could be around twenty? Late twenty?" Daisy answers, tearing a piece of her croissant, doing her best not to look bashful while talking with her mother about the Mikaelsons.
"Well, be careful. You know what I say about dating older men." Daisy's mother jokes.
"What? Mom! I'm not going to date any of them!" Daisy exclaims looking a little offended at the suggestion that she would leave Jason for one of the Mikaelsons.
"Why not, they sound like perfectly well-mannered young men, exactly what you need." Daisy's mother encourages, wagging her eyebrows a little.
"I do not need a 'well-mannered young man', I already have one. Besides that, I'm pretty sure it would be illegal for me to date any of them."
"It's only two more months, honey." Daisy's mother coees, purposefully ignoring her daughter's comment regarding Jason.
Daisy groans in fake annoyance. Sometimes she felt that her mother was the hormonal teenager of the two.
• • •
Daisy walks into the Grill, curiously gazing around at the customers. It was a quiet Sunday afternoon. She quickly looks away when she sees her history teacher sitting at one of the tables. Apparently, he was on a date.
Daisy walks over to the bar and bumps into Matt on the way. "Matt! I was just looking for you." Daisy smiles up at him before her eyes land on his arm. "What happened to you?!" Daisy looks troubled and stops herself from being cast.
Matt glances briefly at Kol, who was seated in one of the booths with the rest of his siblings. "Accident." Matt lies and gives Daisy a languid grin to show that he doesn't mind much and that he's alright.
"I heard you also had a little accident?" Matt asks, trying to distract Daisy from staring at his arm. He points to her right hand, where the cut was visible.
"It's fine. Nothing compared to you." Daisy smiles. "If you need to rest I can take up a few of your shifts these coming weeks?"
"Thank you, Daisy. That would be great. Here let me get you a drink, on me." Matt offers, not sure how else to repay her kindness.
Daisy follows Matt to the bar, she patiently waits by the bar, curious to see what he would come up with. Normally when she and Matt closed up they would make crazy drinks to celebrate the end of another long shift. Often pineapple juice and a whole lot of whipped cream were incorporated in their atrocious inventions.
"Hello, love." Niklaus greets, smiling warmly at Daisy. He actively takes in her appearance. Her hair was in a casual ponytail with strands protruding here and there. Her demeanor was relaxed and he thought she looked cutesy in her baggy sweater.
Daisy is startled by the sudden voice. She looks to her left to see Niklaus.
"Hello, Niklaus." Daisy greets timidly. She was still a bit ashamed that she had flirted so shamelessly with him only after a five-minute dance.
"Nik." He softly corrects, subtly placing his hand on the bar near Daisy's.
"Nik." Daisy repeats a bright smile appearing on her face.
"Here you go, Dais." Matt hands Daisy a cocktail glass filled with a sky-blue liquid, topped off with a dense layer of whip cream and a cherry.
Matt looks briefly at Niklaus and frowns slightly when he sees Niklaus's hand near Daisy's. He narrows his eyes slightly at the hybrid.
Niklaus, in turn, glowers at the quarterback, daring him to say anything that would upset his mate or make him appear bad to her.
"Thank you!" Daisy giggles, already looking forward to trying the monstrous creation before her. She had missed the silent interaction between the two, too busy trying to decipher what the little floating bubbles in the glass were.
"Join us." Niklaus offers, as another employee places a few glasses filled with an amber-colored liquid in front of him, he was quite eager to spend more time with her.
Daisy gives him a puzzled look until she follows his gaze to a booth where the rest of the Mikaelson siblings were seated.
Daisy meets Kol's eye and Kol waves enthusiastically to her. She was relieved to see that Kol had no bruises from last night's fight.
She shifts her gaze back to Niklaus, who was still awaiting her answer. She gives a small nod and picks her own drink up along with two of the glasses that are standing in front of Niklaus, the least she could do after last night was helping him carry the drinks.
"Hi, guys." Daisy greets, smiling warmly at the Mikaelsons.
Finn moves further into the booth to make room for her and Niklaus.
Daisy places the glasses with alcohol in front of Finn and Elijah before taking a seat, Niklaus promptly filling the space on her other side.
"Good to see you again, Angel." Kol nods, grinning broadly at the girl upon seeing her cheeks flush.
Daisy blinks and looks at him in surprise, before remembering that Kol had previously asked her if he should call her Angel or Darling.
"How are you doing, Kol?" Daisy asks while poking at the cherry in her drink.
Kol gives her a puzzled look before he sees Niklaus gesturing to his own neck. "I'm perfectly fine, darling. Damon is a lot less impressive than he likes to believe." Kol teases as soon as he understands Niklaus's hint.
"Good, I'm glad to hear that." Daisy replies, she had been quite worried last night. She felt guilty for what had happened, maybe she should have warned them for Damon Salvatore.
Daisy wonders briefly if all the Mikaelsons used pet names for people they had just met.
"Did you enjoy the ball?" Rebekah asks, disrupting Daisy's train of thought. Rebekah was pleasantly surprised that this conversation had been remarkably civil. So far she hadn't heard a single grunt or growl, and no one has been staked or daggered, and overall success.
"I had a great time, I did not expect it to be so much fun." Daisy confesses. Then she realizes that the evening itself hadn't been much fun, she had waited for Jason outside for nothing, apologized for the broken vase she didn't break, was abandoned by Jason, and had watched Damon Salvatore attack one of the new residents.
The only enjoyable events of the evening had been the dance and meeting and conversing with the Mikaelsons. "How about you guys?" Daisy asks, forcing herself to stop pondering over matters she could not change.
"I had a marvelous evening, love. I got to meet you and I had some pleasant bonding time with my siblings." Niklaus smiles warmly at Daisy. He must say the jointly murdering of Esther had indeed bonded them.
"I had a 'blast', my love." Finn replies, smiling a little to himself at the foreign word he had picked up last night during the ball.
"Very well indeed, meeting you had been the highlight of my evening." Elijah replies truthfully, grinning sheepishly at his mate.
"I had a very enjoyable evening, Angel. I do however regret not getting to dance with you." Kol admits, narrowing his eyes momentarily at Niklaus, who had whisked Daisy away before he got the chance.
"I loved it, but I love every occasion that requires a pretty dress." Rebekah grins, looking at Niklaus for a second, who had almost always been the supplier of those dresses.
"Will you guys also be joining me-Rebekah in high school?" Daisy asks, shaking her solemn thoughts away.
Kol grins, noticing her slip up. "Yes, from tomorrow on you can stare at me instead of the blackboard."
Daisy narrows her eyes playfully at Kol, not sure if he was joking or not about the staring part. She was sure plenty of other girls would be staring at him, no need to add to that.
"We can have lunch together!" Rebekah offers, grinning at the brunette. She was eager to get to know her brothers' mate, after all, they were going to be sisters-in-law.
Daisy nods enthusiastically, she was sure Jason and his friends wouldn't mind if she invited two new people to their group. She takes a small sip from her drink, nose scrunching up when the sugary drink hits her tastebuds. Matt didn't hold back on the syrup this time.
Daisy glances curiously at Elijah, Niklaus, and Finn.
"I'm afraid that my other brothers and I are a bit too old for high school, but we would of course love to keep you company outside of your studies." Elijah offers, smiling kindly at his mate.
"Bekah and I could take you to our home tomorrow, after school?" Kol suggests, smiling hopefully at Daisy.
"I would love to." Daisy replies. "Would it be alright if I ask Jason? I'm sure he would love to get to know you guys better." Daisy thought this was the perfect opportunity for a second impression for her boyfriend. Suppose she became friends with the Mikaelsons, she would like her boyfriend to like them as well.
"The one from the va-" Kol groans as he is elbowed in the ribs by Elijah.
"Of course, my love. You are both very welcome." Finn replies instead. He gently brushes a loose strand of hair behind Daisy's ear. He knows he shouldn't have done it, he doesn't want to scare her away, but the temptation was too great. She was here, his mate was right here and he could touch her, hold her.
Daisy barely reacts, she doesn't slap his hand away or get angry, she just takes a sip of her drink. Besides the slight flush on her cheeks, there was no other sign that she had noticed Finn's feathery touch.
"I will let him know." Daisy replies, wiping the corner of her mouth with a napkin, not ready to look up, seeing as her cheeks were still quite pink.
• • •
"There are no other suspects. It's the obvious conclusion." Meredith says as she and Alaric walk by the booth with the Mikaelsons on their way to the bar.
Alaric looks pointedly at Niklaus, before his eyes land on Daisy, one of his students, who was quietly sipping on a bright-colored beverage, not looking up.
Niklaus grabs Daisy's hand out of instinct. He feels the need to protect her from the approaching threat. Besides that, he, like his siblings, had become quite touch-starved over the years. Niklaus relishes in engulfing her smaller hand in his, cherishing the warm and soft skin of her hands and the slight spark it incited in his insides.
"Oh come on now. Let's not go blaming the new family in town just because you lot have got yourselves a killer at large." Niklaus jokes when the duo halts momentarily by their table, but his eyes held anything but humor.
Daisy doesn't respond, she was so deep in thought that she barely noticed that he had grabbed her hand. She'd heard of certain attacks, of course, but she'd thought they were accidents, not murders. She wondered if this was like the animal attacks from a while ago, which seemed to flare up in Mystic Falls every now and then.
Kol snarls a little at the hunter when he sees him staring at Daisy.
"Do you guys know Mr. Saltzman?" Daisy asks carefully when Mr. Saltzman has disappeared. She might have noticed it wrong, but the Mikaelsons seemed a little tense when her teacher approached them.
"Let's say, we used to be close, I even borrowed his clothes," Niklaus replies, smiling at Daisy while softly squeezing her hand. As soon as Jason was out of the picture and they had told Daisy everything, he could tell her about the time he had borrowed Alaric's body. She must find that story amusing, or so he hoped.
Daisy looks at Niklaus quizzically, she had never seen him before the ball, but apparently, he had lived here longer since he knows Mr. Saltzman. She is about to ask Niklaus another question when she sees Jason entering the Grill.
"Daisy!" Jason calls, walking up to the booth.
"Hi, swe-Jason." Daisy greets cheerily. She was happy she caught her slip up, Jason had asked her not to call him 'sweety' and honey' in public anymore. She thought it was cute that he got a little flustered, but she did herself from it as much as possible. Daisy nudges Niklaus gently to let him know she wanted to get out of the booth.
Daisy gets on her tippy toes to place a sweet kiss on Jason's lips.
"Can we go?" Jason asks, eyeing the Mikaelsons appraisingly. He didn't like Daisy hanging out with the guys she'd danced with yesterday. He wondered if they couldn't bother other girls.
"Umm, yes sure." Daisy looks sadly at her half-finished drink but nods anyway. "Before I forget, Jason, we have been invited to hang out at the Mikaelsons tomorrow, after school." Daisy adds, looking up pleadingly at her boyfriend.
"I might have football practice, Dais. You know this."
"But you never-" Daisy objects, not able to hide her disappointment in her voice.
"Dais." Jason cuts off, giving her a pointed look before walking towards the door.
Daisy sighs before nodding. She waves briefly at the Mikaelsons before following Jason towards the exit.
"Can't we just kill him?" Niklaus asks, looking disgusted at Jason's retreating back, ready to throw his glass against the boy's head. This was just ridiculous, he, the Original Hybrid, had to watch his mate get treated poorly by an adolescent scoundrel who wasn't even allowed to legally drink.
"I'm in!" Kol and Rebekah chime in simultaneously, both looking deeply unimpressed with the boy.
"No." Elijah decides, setting his glass down.
"Why not? Don't tell me you enjoyed that sight?" Niklaus asks while rolling his eyes. Elijah may be noble, but Niklaus knew he hated this situation as much as the rest of them.
Niklaus dares to gamble everything he owns, that Elijah was already fantasizing about ripping the heart out of the boy's body.
"Of course not, but he is Daisy's boyfriend, and killing him would surely upset her" Elijah replies mildly.
"So? We can comfort her." Kol points out matter-of-factly.
"I agree with our Happy Homicidal Maniac. After helping her through her mourning period, we can show her how real men treat their significant other." Niklaus nods his head and pats Kol's shoulder, happy to be in agreement with his brother again.
"We'll see." Elijah sighs, gazing longingly at the door Daisy had disappeared through.