Author's note: Thanks for all the wonderful reviews, kudos and notes you've been sending my way — I really appreciate your encouragement with this story!

There was something deeply satisfying about slicing the boxes in preparation for an earth ritual known as recycling. Klaus sneered at the miniscule blade, aptly called cutter of boxes, and while this rudimentary tool performed its function, it paled in comparison to his vast collection of ancestral stygian iron blades back in hell. If only Caroline knew of his prowess with a sword, she'd cast aside these...distractions. Muttering under his breath, he seized the edge of another box, mercilessly plying his blade as he stubbornly reminded himself that he did not care in the slightest about the rubbish nonsense Caroline was subjecting herself to.

With a snarl, he hurled another flattened box onto the pile, barely refraining from nicking himself with the puny blade. Caroline was preparing to participate in a time-honored human courting ritual called a date. And it did not trouble him in the slightest. Klaus was vexed merely because...well, because this stack of boxes kept shifting and he preferred them neat and orderly and that was all there was to it.

"Klaus?"

Suddenly, his workspace was far too confining and flooded with the scents of lemon and sandalwood. It was a fragrance Caroline only seemed to wear for more momentous occasions. But that was an insignificant detail that barely caught his attention. His knuckles turned white from clenching the blade's cracked plastic handle. "Yes, sweetheart?"

Other than the slight nervousness to her steps, Klaus found no fault in Caroline. She was radiant in shimmering gold, the short hemline giving him a tantalizing view of her toned legs. "Um, so are you all set? I left you a list in chronological order and all my numbers plus my email and..." she trailed off at the exasperation she must've seen on his face.

"I've closed your restaurant on multiple occasions now," Klaus reminded her, a hint of amusement coloring his tone despite his irritation at those...boxes. Inconvenient, obstinate troublesome boxes.

A faint blush colored her cheeks as Caroline hurriedly told him, "I know and I have complete faith in you; I'm just freaking out a little." Giving a nervous giggle, she added, "You know how dating apps can be."

Dating apps, he'd come to understand, appeared to be a precursor to the dating ritual. Based on Caroline's various affronted expressions for the past week as she obsessively clicked through her talking device, it appeared to be an unsavory component to dating. Human courtship rituals seemed to be needlessly complex.

She self-consciously tugged at her gold bracelet, its whimsical coils fashioned to mimic a serpent. He idly wondered whether she might enjoy a stroll among the pits of orifice snakes. The hissing could be quite melodic. See? Courting rituals didn't have to be complicated.

"Do I look ok," Caroline asked, her hopeful voice making him feel...agitated. Or, possibly hungry? It was difficult to keep track of the flood of unfamiliar emotions that seemed to course through his body on a regular basis these days.

Klaus had to make an effort not to stare too long. She was indescribably lovely, with her blonde waves cascading down her back like a golden cape. No doubt her hopelessly inferior date would agree. "You're stunning, sweetheart." Even more beautiful than a demon blood harvest.

Caroline favored him with a smile so radiant that it shamed the sunshine, and as she walked out the door, he felt another peculiar jab to his core. But he was probably just hungry. And nothing more.

Inventory was a task just as tedious here as it was in hell. He did miss the pitchforks, though. The rattling at the back door caught his attention, and he watched the security monitor in confusion as Caroline kept jabbing various keys into the air and swaying on her feet. Concerned, he quickly opened the door, his questions dying on his lips as she fell into his arms.

Giggling, Caroline glanced up at him, blue eyes wide but unfocused as she hiccupped, "My keys didn't — didn't work. Thank — thanks for that." Blowing away a bit of hair that had fallen across her nose, she added with a hint of awe, "You're so dependidubible...depindibble... depen...trusty."

Trusty? Klaus felt himself grow uncomfortably warm underneath her somewhat hazy stare. He'd been called any number of things both fair and foul over the millennia, but no one had ever deemed him trustworthy.

"Unlike some people," she muttered, stumbling into him as he slowly led her toward her office.

Carefully setting her down on the old couch in the corner, he asked curiously, "What do you mean, love?"

Gripping a fuzzy pillow tightly, Caroline angrily ground out, "I was GHOSTED! I mean, seriously?! What kind of grown-ass man pulls that fuckboy ghosting shit?!"

While she began to yank out small threads from the pillow, Klaus looked on in confusion, trying to understand this ghosting. From the context, this unforgivable act wasn't actually related to apparitions bound to the earth. Instead, it seemed to signify a negative connotation related to her date's behavior.

"Anyway, when he didn't show up and then ignored my texts, I stayed at the bar to drink my feelings." In a loud stage whisper, she confessed, "I was a very thirsty girl."

Klaus was unsure of what to say. From her painfully long pause, it was obvious he was expected to convey some sort of emotion. But which one? He grumbled in annoyance — humans had far too many unnecessary emotions. Earlier, when he'd learned of Caroline's date, he'd been...agitated. But then again, those bloody boxes had been quite vexing. Yes, it was likely the boxes had...agitated him.

But now, in the face of her disappointment and sadness, he felt a fiery rage surge through his body at the thought of Caroline being ill-used by an insignificant human. If they were in hell, he already would've sent for the tongue shavers, ordering the rustiest blade in all the dimensions to be used on her deceitful date.

Instead, he gingerly sat beside her, loathing how powerless he felt in that moment. Klaus leaned forward, concern coloring his tone as he said, "Your date is a worthless excuse for a human. Would you like me to flay him with the skin intact or in long strips, sweetheart?"

Caroline seemed to be contemplating his question, her stare still somewhat unfocused as she fuzzily replied, "No one's ever offered to flay for me. It's just so...so...and then she hiccupped in his face, emitting the overwhelming smell of spirits, not to mention beer.

Her overindulgence was a sight to behold, and he was reminded of the Third Circle of hell in which gluttony was punished. Of course, his pretentious elder brother, Elijah, held dominion over that place, eagerly doling out punishments to the gluttonous damned souls. Elijah used to strut about the stinking pools of human fat, purposely treading on the heads of the perpetually drowning souls. (Although, Klaus and his siblings always swore that the worst part of Elijah's torture was when he would read aloud from his tedious attempts at journaling.)

"Men suck," Caroline unexpectedly said, fingers clumsily trying to tie some of her strands of hair into a knot. "Well, maybe not real men. But boys, yeah, boys — they all suck."

Klaus wisely nodded, understanding that she was lamenting the inferiority of human males, but uncertain of an appropriate response. She needed him to be...indignant on her behalf? Or, perhaps angry? Sad? The longer she gazed at him, her blue eyes brimming with tears yet dawning with new hope, he began to panic. Say something. Anything. "Uh, so an animated movie then?"

He'd noticed that often Caroline would watch those excessively cheerful movies in which the characters inexplicably would burst into song, and she seemed to take great joy in explaining the various plots to him. At her confused expression, he suggested, "Perhaps the one with the sullen fish woman and the incredibly resourceful octopus?"

Her melodic giggles went on and on, causing her whole body to shake as she wiped away tears. "You actually want to watch The Little Mermaid with me," she asked incredulously. "You hatteded...hateded...hated that movie!"

"I just want you to feel better," he said, abruptly fetching her lap machine so she wouldn't notice the sudden flush to his neck. And why did his ears feel hot? He busied himself locating the correct files as he'd watch her do before, quickly glancing up to gauge her reaction.

Her mouth flopped open and she blinked rapidly, shaking her head as tears began to fall in earnest. His hands twitched and he felt the urge to do...something (although what he'd intended to do wasn't exactly clear). "Klaus," she said, insistently patting the couch cushion next to her, "you dear, sweet man."

He ducked his head shyly, biting his lip to keep from smirking. He was none of those things. But perhaps Caroline brought it out of him. He watched her during the movie (he refused to watch that cursed movie again as he understood it to be a bleak drama depicting the tragic fall of a mighty ruler — such a waste of a clever sea witch.)

Klaus marveled at Caroline's expressive face, committing every movement to memory. Her mannerisms were a curious contradiction of mirth and sorrow that made Klaus uncomfortable as it seemed yet again she required some sort of emotional display from him. She was sitting so close. When Caroline rested her head on his shoulder with a tiny, sleepy sigh, he held himself rigidly in place, considering his options. He sensed that this could be a precursor to another human mating ritual, but it somehow felt...wrong to take advantage of this moment.

She began humming along to the fearless sea witch's musings about the poor, unfortunate souls under her dominion, and he felt that odd fluttering in his chest once more. Caroline clearly enjoyed a bold leader. And he enjoyed this feisty, bossy little human who was kind-hearted to a fault. Grumbling good-naturedly, he settled more comfortably into the couch, Caroline starting to softly snore in his arms.

A prince of hell shouldn't have feelings. And yet, he did.