Empath ‣ Klaus Mikaelson [1]

Forty-One

"How are Caroline and Jonas doing?"

"Good. I feel bad we missed our Tuesday night dinner with them, but my mom did invite Jonas over and she loves him. Says he's a perfect gentleman. Now, you have real competition if you want her approval."

"I don't already have her approval? I did get her blessing."

"Yeah, but now she's met Jonas and you need to step up your game."

He chuckled. "I'll try."

"Good. I'm gonna make coffee now. Stop distracting me."

She kissed his cheek and began to make herself a pot of coffee. Klaus stayed in bed just a little longer before he got up, got ready for the day, and joined his fiancee. He sat on the couch, watching in amusement as Talia smacked the coffee machine for not working fast enough. The thought that her obsession with coffee and alcohol was only going to increase when she turned into a vampire was slightly terrifying considering the fact she was assaulting the machine and her emotions weren't even heightened yet.

She smiled when it started working. She joined Klaus on the couch with a fresh cup of black coffee in hand.

"I know you said there were no evil schemes, but I think there are," Talia said, taking a sip of her coffee and burning her tongue, though that didn't stop her from consuming the caffeinated beverage. "What's the plan for today?"

"Surviving seems to be at the top of the list," Klaus replied, tucking some of her messy blonde hair behind her ear. "But I may plan a visit to the ex vampire hunter turned history teacher with an evil alter ego to find the missing stakes."

"I'm sure Stefan and Damon are already on the case," she guessed. "I mean, it's either find the stakes or face your wrath."

"It seems the new doppelganger is in on finding the stakes as well, as far as I can remember," he informed.

Her face contorted in confusion. "I thought she wanted nothing more than to kill you."

"I'm sure she does, but she's been questioning her morals after Caroline gave her an earful."

"I can't believe I almost forgot about that," she murmured. "Caroline's probably been feeling a little lonely after she told off her friends. We should invite Caroline and Jonas to dinner tonight with Mom to make up for not being there Tuesday night."

"We were reasonably held up. Trying not to get killed and whatnot."

"Yeah, I know, but I did make a casserole the other day and it will go to waste. I don't like wasting things."

"I know."

She finished her first mug of coffee, placing the empty cup on the coffee table as she curled into her fiance's side. "So you're gonna speak with Alaric?"

"And hopefully his evil counterpart. Why?"

"I wanna talk to Alaric before he goes, you know, to the dark side."

"How come?"

"He's still kind of a friend."

"He nearly killed you."

"That was the evil counterpart."

"It's still not a great idea."

"Then maybe we can use my presence to draw out the evil Alaric. I mean, it's probably mad it didn't kill me."

"Which would be the exact reason for you not to go."

"You'd be there. Evil counterpart or not, Alaric's human and can be subdued with a knock on the noggin. And, not to boost your ego, you're the toughest vampire out there."