Pure Reluctance (Klaus Mikaelson) ON HOLD

I.III

Hunting Party for Two

~~~~~~~~

"She was worth
whatever chaos she brought
to the table,
and he knew it."

-Atticus

  -and then when I was what, 16, was it? Yeah, 16, she thought it'd be funny to hide an entire can of crickets in my closet, live crickets, Camille! Does that not scream 'deranged' to you?!"

"Hey" Nixie protested, throwing a handful of popcorn at her brother who gestured wildly towards her in a 'see?!' motion and the blonde bartender couldn't help but laugh at the sibling's antics, Nixie's eyes however were narrowed, "Cami is here to listen to my problems, not yours!"

"We don't want to damage the poor woman's brains with your issues" Gale retorted with a snort, holding his hands up to block anymore popcorn that might've come flying at him but when nothing hit him, he peaked his left eye open only to get smacked in the face with the entire bowl, "see, Camille?! It's no wonder you have no friends in this city, sister."

"Cami's my friend" Nixie defended, "isn't that right, Cami?"

Amused smile dropping at the sudden inclusion to their argument, the blonde let out a nervous laugh, "of course." She blinked as her words set off another argument between the two siblings to the point where her farewells went deaf to their ears as the two threw insults back and forth and Cami let out a quiet chuckle as she snuck towards the front door seeing how she had a shift in 15 minutes she needed head out for. Her fingers latched around the handle with every intention of making a silent exit until a voice startled her causing her to gasp and whip around to face the culprit as she stammered out a breathless, "w-what?"

"I said she enjoys your company" Klaus' dimple caved as he bit back the amused grin threatening to form at how easily he startled her.

Catching onto the 'she' he was referring to as Nixie, Cami's shoulders loosened as she finally allowed herself to breathe, "she's great" she admitted, "her and her brother are definitely a trip."

"She is great" the hybrid hummed in agreement as he took a step closer causing the woman's metaphorical shackles to raise, "she seems to sense that you have the capacity for understanding someone of her 'complexity'."

"I don't think of Nixie as complex" Cami somewhat defended without realizing she had nothing to actually defend to the man who's entire being was focused around loving said woman, "I think she surrounds herself with the wrong people and is too selfless to truly understand what may be good for others is not always good for yourself."

Klaus took the jab with a large stride that put him directly in front of the bartender and let out a throaty chuckle as her pupils shrunk in both fear and nervousness, "I can see why she likes you, Cami" he muttered causing her breath to hitch, "which is why my plans for you and Marcel are gonna have to be our little secret."

"Plans?"

Klaus took a step back, his eyes dilating as hers did the same, "I'm afraid this is only the beginning, Camille."

***

"Wait, wait, wait, slow down" Nixie instructed, holding her phone up to her ear with her left hand while her right continued digging through the cereal box not caring as some of it spilt over the sides and onto the counter, "Marcel has you doing what?"

"He's got me playing nanny with some girl he's mentoring" Cami's voice flowed through the other end of the speaker, her ears catching the sound of rustling plastic on Nixie's side but not bothering to comment on it, "I guess she's going through a really rough time" she repeated the vampire's words from earlier, "rebelling against authority, anger issues, that sort of thing. I guess with my psych degree he figured I could set her straight, and as much as I tried to turn him down something told me I needed to do this, so.."