Two Lost Souls

Not My Idea

You thought I was a little girl

You thought I was a little mouse

You thought you'd take me by surprise

Now I'm here burning down your house

This is not my idea of a good time

They time it perfectly. Not that she expected anything less from Elijah. As soon as Rebekah sends them a text to let them know that Klaus is on his way back, they take their position, her pressed up against the wall, him before her, one hand next to her head, the other resting lightly on her hip, one of his legs nudging hers open. And they wait. When Elijah hears his brother's footsteps nearing the front door, he presses his lips to hers and she opens her mouth to let him in. She even throws in a moan or two – not completely fake either, Elijah is a good kisser, it's just that she isn't really in the mood given what's at stake here – and rests her hands on his shoulders.

This is how Klaus finds them when he enters the house. Even with her eyes closed, she's acutely aware of his presence only a few feet away and of his stare on them. Pushing it to the back of her mind, she fakes ignorance and lets one of her hands travel down Elijah's chest and around his waist to the small of his back, pulling him closer to her. His kiss deepens in response, and this is when Klaus decides to make his presence officially known.

"Don't let me interrupt."

Elijah jumps back as if he's been burnt and her eyes snap open, settling on Klaus and noting the lack of, well, anything on his face. No rage, hurt, betrayal, not even a hint of disgust or amusement. Seriously?

"Niklaus, I..." Elijah starts, attempting to placate him even though it's pretty obvious he doesn't need to.

"Don't bother," Klaus says, cutting him off, his voice even, revealing nothing, before he turns to Caroline. "When you're done with my brother, join me in my room, will you, love?"

She has about one second to get over their failure, analyze all the data at her disposal, and make a decision. As soon as she does, her tongue darts out to lick her lips, catching the lingering taste of Elijah's kiss, and she throws the dark haired original a heated look before focusing on Klaus.

"Sure. Could take a while, though," she warns, her voice intentionally low as she tries to provoke him.

Klaus smirks.

"Have fun."

With that, he walks away, leaving Elijah and Caroline to shake their heads after him as he disappears up the stairs. Once he's out of sight, they look at each other, seeing the same thought reflected in the other's eyes.

Well. There goes that plan.

Then she sees something shift in Elijah, his posture straightening as he seems to recover from his disappointment and quickly settles on a new plan of action.

"I apologize, Miss Forbes. That was highly inappropriate. It won't happen again."

Damage control, she understands instantly. He's making it clear to Klaus – in case he's eavesdropping – that he was the instigator and that she had nothing to do with this apart from getting caught up in the moment, which is understandable seeing as she has no emotion and it's easy to get lost in something physical in these conditions. Elijah is trying to make sure his brother can't blame her, whether he figures out that this was only a ploy to get him to react or not. They need at least one of them to stay on the hybrid's good side, and right now she's the most likely candidate.

"I guess I'll be joining your brother sooner than expected, then."

Elijah nods, his eyes serious as he tries to convey something else to her – a warning, she thinks – but she just frowns at him, having no idea what it could be. He gives a slight shake of his head, signaling that it doesn't matter, and she shrugs in disinterest. Whatever it was, she'll know soon enough.