Empath ‣ Klaus Mikaelson [1]

Twenty-Eight

Talia and Klaus departed for their trip. Talia suggested they stopped at Stanford, California before heading to Portland where they expected werewolves to be. She had only spent about a year on campus before she couldn't afford to stay any longer, taking her classes online, but she loved every moment of it. When she asked him if they could spend a day or two there, he knew he couldn't deny her of it.

They arrived late in the night, so Talia went to sleep with Klaus at her side. When she woke up, she found she was alone in bed.

"Nik?" she murmured, rubbing her eyes as she slowly sat up. 

"I'm right here," he said, standing by the window of their hotel room with a canvas on his easel, spattered in paints.

"What are you painting?" she asked, standing up and moving to meet him. She came up behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist. She then placed a kiss on his neck, looking at the painting.

"The view," he answered. "I know you loved living at Stanford for a year. Sightseeing and all. Most of all, I remember you once telling me in a dream you loved the view. I wanted to give you a permanent piece of it."

"You made this for me?" she asked, admiring the landscape painting of what lied before them outside the window. 

"Of course," he replied.

"You're gonna make me cry," she said, wiping away a tear. "It's too early for me to start crying. Stop being so romantic."

"No can do," he said, turning around to face her.

"You're perfect," she murmured, giving him a kiss. 

"Far from it, darling."

"To me you are." She placed her arms around his neck and chuckled. "Are we really gonna be one of those couples?"

"Those couples?"

"Couples that never fight and are really adorable but somehow really nauseating at the same time?"

"We've argued before."

"True. Promise me we'll get in scuffles from time to time so we aren't insufferable."

"I promise."

She gave him a chaste kiss and said, "Do you want to go sightseeing?"

"Do you?"

"If we don't get out of this room soon, we'll never leave."

"Really?" He smirked.

She crinkled her nose and said, "Dirty dog."

The hybrid raised an eyebrow in amusement.

"Bad choice of words."

"You'll pay for that," he said, his tone playfully dark, eyebrows raised.

"Cash or credit?"

"Neither," he responded, picking up a dirty paintbrush and brushing it on her nose. A sky blue color covered her nose.

"You did not just do that!" she exclaimed, trying to wipe the paint off her nose with her finger.

"I did," he said smugly. "What do you plan to do about it, love?"

She gave him a kiss in retaliation. When he was distracted by it, she dipped her fingers onto the palette, still covered in paint, and smeared it across his cheek.

That act of war resulted in a battle with paints. The end result was two grown adults covered nearly head to toe in paint of different colors. It was so amusing to Klaus that he didn't mind that his paints were being wasted. Besides, he enjoyed watching Talia's nose scrunch up in frustration when he evaded her attacks.