THE ARTIST |Klaus M. Human AU

01. The Desperete Artist

A/N: Please vote and comment. I'm so sorry for taking so long to update! Enjoy!

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July, 1996

Niklaus was an artist, not an athlete. Seeing him practically running through the municipal art gallery in his expensive tuxedo was more than a little unusual. With his trembling lips, shaking hands and frowning eyebrows, he rushed from one room to the other, his inquiring gaze making sure his paintings were still where he last saw them.

The other artists and the few art critics, who arrived early to the VIP exposition, gazed at him occasionally, curiosity making their eyes shine as gossip poured from their lips. Niklaus smiled politely whenever he caught someone's eye, but it would be a lie to say he paid them much attention. He would have cared a lot about them on any other night. The opinion of his peers mattered to him. However, it was nothing compared to the opinion of his father.

Mikael was rarely late, and Klaus took his father's ten minute delay harshly. The only apparent solution to his intense anxiety was to drink all the wine he could find. Klaus had half a mind to call his mother, begging her to tell him Mikael was coming. Surely, Esther could convince her husband to come to their son's exhibition, even if she had to drag him there.

Thankfully, Niklaus had not made the mistake of telling his colleges his father would come to the exposition—in fear of something like this. He told no one but Camille. It was more than a little unusual for family members of the artists to come to the exhibition on its 'first' day. The early exposition was only meant for the artists themselves and art critics. The actual opening day was only next week.

With a glass in his hand, a faithful watch on his wrist, and a desperate look stamped all over his face, Klaus waited by a table near the door of the gallery. Outside, pouring rain and thunders muffled the laughs and soft music from within the adorned building.

"You should drink some water." Cami's voice jerked Klaus back to reality.

Raising his shining eyes to meet her, Klaus smiled as Cami walks towards him, her white dress floating around her. He instinctively hid his half empty glass of wine—the third he had consumed in the last 15 minutes.

"After the way you ran," she said, jesting as she wrapped her arm around his shoulder. "Gosh!" She chuckled, looking down, "I can't believe you managed not to fall wearing those shoes!" Cami smiled, pointing at Klaus's old pair of dance shoes. "I like them by the way—the shoes... They're really pretty..." she added promptly, after realizing Klaus had turned red and wanted to crawl into a hole.