2x18 and 2x19


I have been a good girl, I didn't write in five days, I caught up some sleep, and what did I get in return? "YOU WILL NOT GO NEAR THE COMPUTER AFTER 9:30 IN THE EVENING ANYMORE!"
I hate you mom.

But you know what? I don't care. I'll just set the alarm clock sooner. Like, 3:30 in the morning.


Adjusting to our reality, part 26: So strange

The door opened, and Katherine sat down as if she had been the perfectly obedient vampire she was supposed to be.

Right. She had been. Up to some point. That is, she had obeyed Klaus. She had no choice about that. But after some time she had grown bored. There was no more alcohol in the apartment, and that sucked. So she had grabbed a pen and a piece of paper, and written every single insult she could think of. She couldn't go out? Very well. She'd redecorate.

It was Klaus.

The doppelganger wasn't sure whether or not it was a good thing. If it had been one of the Original's witches, her piece of art would have been thrown away before Klaus could see it. That would have been a shame. But she wasn't sure how he'd react.

Maybe, if she could piss him off enough, he'd put her out of her misery.

Make no mistake. Katherine wasn't one to wish to be killed. But that'd still be better than suffering for centuries and seeing the original vampire enjoy his revenge – you know, on her.

Klaus frowned when he saw her work, but he wasn't exactly angry. In fact, he seemed to have other things on his mind. And to be in pain. Which was great.

"You really did that? Are you twelve years old or what?"

Katherine pouted. Damn. Another failed attempt, then.

"Klaus. You're back... And you look baffled."

Yup. That was it. He seemed to be really, really uncomfortable. Surely something had happened. And not anything. You didn't make a thousand-years-old vampire uncomfortable with a dirty joke. She knew. She had tried. Many times.

Klaus didn't even try to deny it. He sat on the couch, and sighed.

When he borrowed someone else's body, he seemed to be somewhat more open to others. Or maybe he was faking it. It wouldn't have been a surprise if he did. I open up to you, you tell me all I want to know, that kind of thing. As if Katherine would be honest if he was.

"Your former boy toy kissed the history teacher."

It took some time for Katherine to process the information.

Former boy toy. Damon, obviously. To kiss. Action. Including lips on lips. History teacher. Alaric Saltzman. Currently possessed by Klaus. Damon. Alaric. Klaus. Kiss. Men. Damon had kissed Alaric Saltzman. Damon had kissed Alaric Saltzman. Damon had kissed Alaric Saltzman.

Really?

Katherine coughed. It was too much information.

"My form... Damon did what?"

Klaus glared at her.

Yup. Damon had kissed the history teacher. For real. That was... unexpected.

And terribly, terribly interesting. Katherine couldn't resist the temptation. It was way too hilarious, even thinking about Klaus fighting the urge to punch, or even kill on the spot, the man who was kissing him while he was in another body than his own. But having unexpected relationships tumbling onto you was the risk, when you invaded other people's personal space. And body jumping was a serious personal space invasion. So the Original'd better not complain about that.

"So basically, Damon kissed you."

Why? was an interesting question. Maybe the vampire had been stone drunk, but still, it didn't sound like him. From what she knew – and Katherine had kept an eye on him as she had on Stefan during the last decades, though not for the same reasons – Damon Salvatore was exclusively straight. For him to kiss a man out of the blue was... unlooked-for.

Klaus gave her a death glare. That was serious.

"He confessed to him. And it was I who heard it. And who felt the kiss."

Damon had conf...! Whatever. That was... That... She didn't even have words to name what it was.

Certainly, Katherine didn't love Damon. Still, she kind of liked him. He had been nice, and playing with him had been interesting. Of course, she'd wouldn't sacrifice herself for him if she had to, but it was this way with everyone. She wasn't even sure if she'd have sacrificed her life for Stefan. And she loved him. That said it all.

"And the worst in all that, is that there was just this much warmth in this man's chest after the confession. As much warmth as when something brings the conversation round the case of his girlfriend, Jenna. And that's disturbing."

Klaus went to the bathroom, leaving the doppelganger alone in the room. Good. She always felt better when he wasn't around. After all, he was the original asshole who wanted her tortured for centuries, maybe millennia. Even her boredom being relieved couldn't match the thought of a slow, agonizing death.

Then she picked up the strange scent. It was blood. But she hadn't sensed it before. As if it wasn't exactly blood. Which was strange. Even vampire blood smelled almost the same as human blood, and that was why vampires weren't usually able to tell their own kind before seeing more obvious hints. Such as, healing wounds, or vampire-mode face. Obvious hints.

Klaus walked in the main room again. He wasn't wearing any shirt, and handed her a towel.

"Help me with this."

Then he sat down, showing her the teacher's back, and she saw.

Katherine saw the scar, bleeding heavily, as if the skin had cracked. Maybe it had.

"What the hell is that?!"

"That, Dear, is the Falkenbach Seal. You heard me say it already, this man is cursed to the bone. And the seal doesn't like magic very much. So could you, please, and when I say please I oviously mean that as an order, clean the wound, Katerina? I just ruined a shirt because of this, and I don't intend to walk aroung half naked."

The doppelganger eyed the history teacher's assets, and thought it wouldn't do anyone any harm if he did. But who was she to talk back to the great Niklaus?

So she complied, and started to clean the wound.

The smell was so strange, enticing as any human's blood, of course, but freaking her out a bit, that she had to ask. Maybe Klaus wouldn't answer. Maybe he didn't know either. But she had to ask.

"What is wrong with this blood? It gives me the chills."

She heard the body scrounger sneer, but he answered. He apparently was a lot more disturbed by Damon's unexpected kiss than he wanted her to know. Because when Klaus was almost nice like he was at the moment, either he wanted something, or he was deeply troubled by something.

Well, Katherine could understand how disturbing it was to be suddenly kissed by someone you'd never think would do that. Like, Damon kissing the history teacher.

Damn. That was still as hilarious as before.

"Feels like it's kind of poisonous, doesn't it? It isn't. But it's filled with magic, as it comes from the scar and not any other wound. The seal has more than a thousand years of history, like the Falkenbach Curse. This blood is corrupted by a several-centuries-old curse, habitually filtered by the eight-pointed seal. Which is a bit saturated right now."

Well. It was one hell of a curse, then.

When most of the blood had been removed, Klaus asked her to put a bandage on the scar, so that he wouldn't soak the sheets, and he went to bed.

Time to sleep, even more for an Original borrowing a human body. Sleep was necessary for a vampire. Many reasons. First one being, your mind needed a timeout once in a while, or you simply went crazy. Also, sleeping made vampires feel better, like for anybody else.

And Klaus hadn't allowed Katherine to sleep.

Bastard.

She waited for him to wake up, restraining herself from grabbing a pen and drawing him a mustache. He'd certainly wake up, and be mad at her. She didn't want Klaus to be any angrier at her than he already was. Lately, she hadn't had to stab herself, cut her throat open or write an apology letter with her own blood, which was pretty valuable progress. The doppelganger wasn't going to give him a reminder of how much he wanted her to suffer.

Klaus didn't even look at her in the morning, and that was a freaking great thing. He had shit to do, such as, threatening people, making evil plans, killing people... He wasn't supposed to come back to the loft before the evening. Maybe a bit boring, but freaking great still.

Then Katherine had this surprise.

Someone knocked on the door, and, even though she couldn't open the door or answer, the outside world opened to her once more. The outside world looked a lot like Damon.

"So you're not dead. Shame."

"Why, thank you. I'm happy to see you too, Honey."

The two vampire stared at each other for some time, then the woman who was with Damon came into the loft, while, threshold taken into account, the older Salvatore stayed in the hallway.

"I heard something interesting, yesterday evening."

Damon stiffened.

"From Klaus. About you."

"Couldn't he simply shut up?"

"Well, I think you traumatized him. And I'm curious. How the hell did you end up falling in love with a man, Damon? That's so unlike you, I'm bewildered."

The younger vampire bit his lip not to say anything. Katherine didn't look bewildered, at all, and she was definitely enjoying this. He wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of seeing him as helpless as he actually was.

"That's none of your concern, Katherine. And Alaric is a thousand time better than you were, so I think my taste is becoming better with time."

She pretended to be outraged. This was so much fun.

"Oh my, Damon! What would your father say? His oldest son in love with a man!"

"I don't give a damn about what his opinion would be. I gave up pleasing him the day he killed me. Or, even before that, but this day was the day I didn't give a shit anymore for real. And fuck, it's not like I will ever get my love back."

Katherine didn't tell him about the ghost emotions Klaus had experienced. Not because she was a selfish woman. She was selfish, sure. But she wasn't against being kind when it cost her nothing. She only wasn't even positive that the history teacher would survive the possession. It was better not to get Damon's hopes up.

The woman who had come with the vampire rejoined them.

"No one else in there, Damon. You want me to look for something in particular?"

"No, thank you, Andie."

Damon gave the doppelganger a last look and smirked. For a change, something good. Katherine, locked in an apartment with her sworn ennemy. Great. He could still console himself with that.

And damn. He still cared. After all she had done. He refrained a sigh, and grinned instead.

"I've got a present for you."

Vervain.

"But did you deserve it? After all, you gave Klaus all the informations he needed to impersonate Ric. And before you say anything, yes, I know he compelled you, but still. Maybe you could... say something about his plans?"

"Sorry, mouth locked."

"Then, no vervain for you. Be happily compelled for the rest of your miserable life."

Andie interrupted, while checking her phone. She was waiting for someone to call her back.

"I manage pretty well with that, actually."

"Andie, I don't want to kill you, torture you or do you any harm, so it's not exactly the same."

"I'm just saying, you know..."

Damon and the woman prepared to leave, and Katherine felt she had to find something, fast, or she wouldn't get that damn vervain.

Then she remembered the night Klaus had possessed Alaric Saltzman.

"Wait, Damon! I might have something interesting to give you, even if I can't say anything."

Damon frowned, and saw her disappearing into the loft. When she came back, she had an amethist ring engraved with an eight-pointed star in the middle of the stone in her hand, that she gave to him.

"I have no idea what it is exactly, but your friend is cursed, and when Klaus, in his body, touched it, he looked like he felt as much pain as we do when we touch vervain. You might need it."