princess | kol mikaelson

09 | smells like teen spirit

A newly showered Kol wearing only a towel hanging dangerously low on his hips was staring back at her in amusement, water dripping from his damp hair down his skin. A smirk stretched across his face, not showing any sign of embarrassment of being caught half-naked; though, she supposed he didn't have anything to be embarrassed about.

"Sorry, the door was open," Anastasia apologised, suddenly finding the ceiling rather interesting as she turned her back to him. During the first seventeen years of her life, Anastasia lived the sheltered life of a grand duchess, meaning the only interactions she had with boys her age were strictly supervised and courteous. After that she'd been under strict watch from the Original Hybrid and while she had a few short 'romances' when Niklaus wasn't there to murder the poor boy, she could not claim to be an expert in these situations. "Uh, I just wanted to tell you that I think I know where Jeremy Gilbert will be tonight."

"That's splendid, princess," Kol said, amusement clear in his voice. He loved this. "Didn't your mother teach you it is bad manners to turn your back to the person you're speaking to?"

"Trust me, if my mother saw this – me having my back turn would be the least of her worries," Anastasia muttered. She could only imagine the Empress of Russia's pure horror if she'd walked in on her youngest daughter and a half-naked man.

Kol chuckled and Anastasia froze when he suddenly stood right behind her. He did not touch her in any way, but she'd only have to step back a few millimetres for that to change. "You were saying something about Jared's-"

"Jeremy's."

"- whereabouts," Kol finished, unbothered by the correction. He'd not remember the name anyway. "Care to share?"

"We could wait until you're more – appropriately dressed," Anastasia told him, intending to leave the room; suddenly it felt rather awkward that she hadn't left immediately. "I should probably call Nik anyway. He'll be waiting for an update."

Anastasia managed to take one step before she bumped into Kol's chest, sending her stumbling backwards, "I hate that vampire speed," Anastasia narrowed her eyes up at him, tilting her head upwards to avoid her gaze getting stuck on the v-line visible above the towel. It would not be good for his already big ego.

"There is a party tonight at one of Jeremy's classmates' house," Anastasia revealed, hoping that giving him the information he wanted would get her out of this with some dignity. "It's our best shot right now."

Not to mention that a party would be the perfect opportunity to approach Jeremy without alerting suspicion. The only parties she'd ever attended were balls or masquerades but if tv-series or movies had some truth to them these kind of high school parties tended to get out of hand; a guest list was never set in stone – with the guests inviting their friends, who invited their friends and so on – meaning they hopefully could just blend in.

"Sounds thrilling," Kol said dryly. "I can't remember the last time I attended a real party."

"Old age does that to one's memory," Anastasia patted his shoulder. "It's nothing to be embarrassed about."

.•° ♛ °•.

Ten seconds into Anastasia's first high school party and she'd already determined that she was no fan. It was held in a fairly big house – nothing compared to the Mikaelson mansion but she supposed it was more spacious than an average home – but with all the teenages inside, it felt like entering a shoe box. Some kind of horrendous music blared from the loudspeakers, loud enough to burst a few eardrums.