TUMBLR PROMPT from shhevjyd

As usual I don't own TVD or TO.

She was Kol's friend first. Apparently they had been friends for centuries, though none of them knew, but of course Kol always had a habit of seeking out the extraordinary; it should have come as no surprise that during his nomadic years he encountered her.

Kol's discovery of her was not in any way shape or form strange, but his friendship was. If Klaus' soul was black, Kol's was all the darker. And yet, friends they were.

To her it was only natural to act when Kol was murdered. That was how the family came to know her. Like her kind, she possessed an ability to walk between realms, so stepping into the Other Side had been easy – a simple matter of stretching her wings. And three months after his baby brother's demise he returned to the Governor's Mansion to find Kol pouring tea and sharing a shockingly pleasant conversation with the then pregnant Hayley and a woman whose beauty struck him to the core.

Kol had been fast to warn his brothers away from her – not a problem where Elijah was concerned, as he had eyes only for Hayley.

She quickly expressed her desire to stay for no other reason than to keep Kol out of trouble.

Upon reflection Klaus remained unaware of when it started. The process was so gradual that he was halfway through before realizing he had begun, and though he had never been one prone to fits of romance – it was Rebekah's territory and he was more than happy to leave her to it – that blasted Jane Austin quote perfectly summed up his situation.

He had no business caring for her – no business developing feelings. She was his polar opposite. Where he was wicked, she was kind. Where he was damned, she was innocent. Where he was the embodiment of everything evil in the world, she was a literal angel.

Literally… an angel.

He can still remember the first time he had seen her wings, unfurling from wherever she concealed them in a flurry of iridescent feathers to disturb the air as she carried his young daughter to safety high above the vampires' stupid enough to come for her. A few of those feathers had littered the ground after and at her request he had scoured the street for each and every one lest they fall into the possession of someone less than savory.

Those were the early days before he fully trusted her, so he had taken a single feather to Freya; the power in that one specimen rivaled the mystical energy found in Elena Gilbert's veins.

In retrospect that might have been the moment he felt something a smidge beyond gratitude for saving his precious daughter's life – not that he would ever admit Hope was in real danger – because if he had felt nothing he might have exploited the power she possessed, getting Freya to harness the energy to create a spell strong enough to keep her safe from all of his enemies regardless of whatever objections Kol would have raised.

She had grown steadily in his affections over the past four years, always around, always encouraging the family to put aside their differences, and surprisingly never losing her innocence. He had once thought it impossible to embrace immortality with clean hands, but then he met her.

"What are you doing?" Her lyrical voice washed over him, snapping Klaus from his reverie.

He lifted his eyes from his bloodied knuckles and the feather that never seemed to attract grime.

"Seraphina?"

"Yes," she slipped into the room, seeming to float across the floor. Her fingers trailed across the table, expertly avoiding the spilled wine and broken glass. "You've been staring at your hands for nearly five minutes. I was watching."

"I know," he bluffed, "I heard you."

"Liar," the edges of her mouth tipped up, but her sparkling eyes revealed no malice – just teasing. "I was on the plain between, or have your almighty hybrid senses grown so great you can hear the ethereal?"

"My senses would surprise you," he ran a finger over the feather in his hand, hidden beneath the table's edge. "Where is Hope?"

"Once the threat was gone I placed her back in her room," her smile softened. "She slept through the whole ordeal, blissfully unaware of the turmoil in her home."

He nodded, eyes focused on her glittering gaze; a slight glow lit up the cerulean blue, betraying what she truly was but only to those who dared hold her in their eyes.

"Your ability to carry her into a realm of safety is nothing short of astounding," he breathed.

"Do my ears deceive me?" She pulled out a chair and sat, folding her arms on the table. "Did the Klaus Mikaelson just pay me an honest compliment?"

"Was I being too subtle?" He smirked. "Would you rather I remarked on the luminance of your eyes, or the sweet brilliance of your smile?" His words succeeded in both shocking him and bringing a pretty flush to her cheeks.

She lowered her eyes, daring only to watch through her lashes until the colour faded from her skin, and delicately cleared her throat.

"You didn't answer my question."

"Forgive me, sweetheart," a line appeared between his brows, "it's been a long hard day. What was your question?"

"I asked what you were doing." She reminded, finally bringing her eyes back to his face. The pink tint across his cheekbones did not go unnoticed, nor did the way he couldn't quite meet her eyes.

Wordlessly he held up the feather.

The breath stilled in her lungs.

"You still have this?" She questioned, rather stupidly she thought since the evidence was less than an inch from her nose.

"I couldn't bring myself to burn it," he shrugged.

"So you didn't take it to Freya?" She cocked an eyebrow.

"No, I did," he tilted his head. "I know what it can do, and I promise you I'd never use that information against you, and no that decision had nothing to do with Kol having my head if I did. I should have burnt it after."

"So why didn't you?" She folded her ankles, resisting the urge to stand up.

He frowned, knowing now the true reason but not sure if he dared admit it. He had no business feeling the way he did, but as he had said the day had been long and taken a toll; he had no remaining energy for deceit.

"It's the only part of you I could ever hope to possess," he sighed, voice a low rumble.

"Possess?" Her brows lowered, but something shone in her eyes, and for a moment all to brief the colour gave way to pure light. "You would possess me?"

"No," he frowned as her shoulders slouched. "I would never presume to possess you. In spite of the company you keep – and you should truly consider finding a new best friend – you are far too good to be corrupted by me."

"How could you say something like that?" She shook her head, regarding him through wide eyes.

"I'm the devil in disguise, love, and you, well," he looked her up and down, waving the feather pointedly.

She bristled, feeling the telltale tingle in her shoulder blades of suppressed power.

"My wrath can be every bit as terrible as yours," she crossed her arms. "Haven't you ever heard of avenging angels?"

"You don't have a wrathful bone in your body, Seraphina," he chuckled. "If you did I'm visited it on my head more than once, and your rescue of Kol would have been far more dramatic."

"Who needs drama?" She scoffed. Her eyes fell to the feather in his hand. "Is that your blood?"

"Would yes or no make you feel better?" He placed his stolen prize on the table.

She chewed her bottom lip and decided to change the topic back to possession. She had heard many men use the word 'possess' in regards to her over her countless centuries, but never before had the word been spoken with such reverence. When people coveted her they did so for the power she could grant, but it had been years and Klaus' tone said he had no desire to use her – at least not for anything beyond ferrying his child to safety in a pinch.

"You wish to possess me?" She tilted her head, hair slipping forward over her shoulders. "That pitiful feather is nothing – it's long since lost its luster."

"What do you mean?" He glanced to the table.

"It's dead," she ran a finger over it. "Very little power remains inside now."

"I'm not interested in it for power," he inhaled slowly, "more the reminder of the woman it came from."

"You need a reminder?" She stood up, reaching for the zipper at her throat. "That's a poor reminder of me."

His mouth went dry as she pulled, revealing inch after inch of smooth skin that his fingers itched to trace, his tongue to worship. When she was left in a strapless bra he attempted to swallow the sudden lump in his throat.

She dropped the fabric on her discarded seat, exhaling in a rush. Wings unfurled from her back spanning twice her body height and reaching out to kiss either side of the dining room.

"It's a pale comparison," she twirled the white feather between her fingers, "don't you think?"

"Sera..." He cleared his throat, straightening his spine as she stepped closer. Her wings gleamed in the darkness and he had to admit she was right because the feathers still attached to her body held an iridescence he had only seen in his memory.

"You wish to possess me?" She repeated her question, stepping closer. Her thigh brushed his knee, naturally slotting between his legs.

"Forgive me, Seraphina," he gripped the arms of his chair, "I spoke out of turn."

"You make a habit of that," she blinked slowly, "but for the first time in months I think you've actually spoken your mind. And do you know how I know?" She leaned down, bending slightly. Her tongue darted out to lick her lips when his eyes flickered briefly to her chest.

He shook his head.

"Because you were holding my feather," her breath fanned over his chin. "And my feathers inspire honesty; it's impossible to lie when touching one."

"Then I suppose it's fortuitous that you've not caught me with it until now," his hand rose a few inches and he forced it back down, unwilling to smear her skin with the blood still clinging to him. "I'm not holding it," he warned.

"I'm hoping you'll be honest anyway," she shrugged, wings rising several inches. "I've grown tired of this dance; we've been stuck in it too long."

He swallowed. Where the bloody hell was Kol when he needed him? He would have taken one look at their proximity and given Klaus an earful for daring to corrupt his friend.

"What would you know?" He lifted his chin.

"Many desire me for many reasons," she bent her knee, lifting her leg to rest alongside his on the wide seat. "What do you want from me? What part of me would you possess?"

Her other leg came up so she straddled his thighs. She held the back of his chair and slowly curled her wings, closing him into a circle; the soft light from her wings cast deep shadows along his face. Somehow she managed to hover away from his body – straddling, but never breaching the quarter inch of space to touch.

"Please tell me," she implored, eyes wide.

"You," he brought his hand up, slowly hovering just above her skin from hip to breast and further towards her jaw. "I have fallen for you. I don't know when it happened; I was too far gone before I even realized it. All I know is that I want you: body, heart and soul; I want everything you are, Seraphina, and I shall never have it, so leave me with my feather."

"Who says you could 'never have it'?" She tilted her head, skin tingling pleasantly beneath the brief touch of his fingers.

"I say," he met her eyes, "and anyone who looked upon you would say it as well. I'm not good enough for you, and I never will be. You deserve someone better."

"What if I don't want better?" She dropped her hand to hover over his cheek, tracing the air above his features close enough to feel the heat under his skin. "What if I want someone willing to violate everything under the sun in the name of protecting loved ones? What I want who strives to do right by people that matter?"

Her fingers caught his bottom lip and slipped towards the dimple in his cheek. The more she spoke the harder his delirious smile became to hide.

"What if I want you too?"

His eyes flickered briefly towards the wings on either side of his chair. "Did you just compel the truth out of me?"

"I'm no vampire," she snickered.

"But your wings…"

"Are not touching you," she shook her head. She curled her fingers around his wrist, coaxing his palm beneath her hair and flat over her breastbone where her heart raced.

"I'm covered in blood," he made a half-hearted attempt to pull away.

"I don't care," she held him fast. "I would give this to you with a single condition."

"You come with conditions?" He meant the question to be teasing, but her swiftly closing proximity made it a breath of air.

"Don't break it."

It only grew harder to breathe when pressed her soft lips to his. He had experienced many first kisses in his thousand years of life varying in intensity from alright to burning with passion. Somehow her mouth coaxed a fire into his blood and a profound sense of calm into his heart.

He wrapped one hand around her waist, dragging up her spine until softness touched his wrist.

It was right; he knew it deep down just as he knew his answering words were a lie no matter how much he wished them to be true.

"Never."