———
When I wake, the first thing I notice is how warm I am.
I burrow further into the comforting feeling, only to be shaken gently by Nik's chuckle.
I look up to see the wide smile lighting up his face. It's then that I realize where the warmth was emanating from.
I laugh with him before burying my face into his bare chest.
I sigh contentedly as his fingers lightly glide up and down my exposed back.
"Good morning, my love." Nik's says, his voice thick from sleep.
"Good morning!" I look up with a cheesy grin.
"Sleep well?" He asks with a smirk.
"Like a rock." I reply, tracing his upturned lips gently with my finger.
"Must've been tired, for some unknown reason..." Nik shrugs with a smirk.
I bury my face into his neck, hiding the blush that dusted my cheeks as I thought about last night's activities.
"Don't hide, I was there too you know." Nik laughs loudly.
I only grunt into his neck in response, not wanting to move.
There was only a moment of silence before I felt Nik's fingers tickle my sides as he chuckled.
I squirmed, erupting into a fit of laughter. "Nik! S-stop, please!" I manage to giggle out.
He does halt the attack, but not without some cocky commentary. "That's the opposite of what you were saying last night."
I groan, rolling to the edge of the bed and pulling on Nik's discarded t-shirt, thanking my past self for putting on underwear last night.
"You're evil, you know that?" I question jokingly, still sitting on the edge of the bed.
"Nothing I haven't heard before, Angel." He smirks.
"Whatever, Niklaus. I'm gonna go take a shower." I chuckle, using his full name for emphasis.
I stand from the bed, taking one step before I had to sit back down.
Nik bursts into laughter much to my annoyance.
"Shut up." I groan, hiding my face in my hands.
———
Nik and I sat side by side, painting in the parlor.
I glanced over at his painting before looking back at mine with a loud sigh. "Nik, mine looks like trash." I whine.
"Nonsense! It's beautiful." Nik reassures, planting a kiss on my temple.
"That's really cute and all, but I'm not buying it." I reply.
Nik chuckles before speaking again. "I do think it's quite lovely. And it's only your first painting, you'll get better with practice. Not to mention you have an excellent teacher."
"Can't argue there." I smile, earning a gentle kiss on the lips.
We pull apart as Stefan enters the room with a fake gagging noise.
"Hey Steffy." I greet.
"Hey Ivy."
Stefan walks over and looks at our paintings.
"Did you seriously paint a bowl of ice cream?" He chuckles, looking at my masterpiece.
"Yes. Nik told me to pick something I was passionate about for inspiration. I thought it was the only plausible choice." I respond confidently.
"Tell her how good it looks, she's doubting her obvious talent." Nik says.
Stefan shoots him a skeptical look, only earning a threatening glare in response.
Stefan immediately spins back towards me. "Best painting I've ever seen." He compliments.
I smile, going back to adding my final touches.
Stefan then takes a moment to look at Nik's painting. "Looks like a giant snowflake." He states.
"I prefer to think of it as an expression of postmodernism. It's my donation to the Winter Wonderland charity event." Nik explains.
"Yes, and if you look closely at mine you can see the ice cream melting a little bit. This is meant to represent the issue of climate change." I go into detail about my obviously thought induscing work.
"You literally just made that up." Stefan states.
"Yep." I confirm.
Our attention is drawn to the entrance of the room as Adrian, one of Nik's hybrids, walks in.
"You said it was urgent." Adrian says, looking at Nik.
"Yes, take this to the Mystic Grill immediately." Nik says, gesturing to his painting.
"You want me to be a delivery guy?" Adrian grumbles.
Nik takes a few menacing steps forward. "What I want is for you to do whatever I say. Without the attitude."
Adrian grimaces and walks over to the painting. He picks it up and starts to leave the room.
"And be careful with that. It's still wet." Nik calls after him.
"Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves, you know." Stefan remarks.
"What is the point of my hybrids being sired to me if I can't maximize on the benefits of free labour?" Nik questions.
"Nikky, sweetheart, I think Stefan may have a point. They're still people." I scold softly.
"Fine. I'll ease up." Nik sighs before turning to Stefan. "What are you doing here?"
"Elena is sired to Damon." Stefan reveals.
"I intuited as much." Nik replies.
"Which means I need to find the cure now more than ever and yet here you are making postmodern snowflakes." Stefan adds.
"I've delivered." Nik pauses and grabs a cloth to wipe the paint off his hands.
Nik then continues his explanation, while simultaneously gently wiping the paint off of my hands
"I retrieved the Hunter's sword from Italy which we'll use to decipher the map hidden in the Hunter's mark. You're the one who is supposed to deliver the Hunter and his mark."
"Well, Jeremy is the hunter, and he has to keep killing vampires to complete his mark, but we can't quite figure out how to keep him from killing us." Stefan responds.
Nik finishes cleaning my hands, leaving a gentle kiss on my palm.
"Sounds like quite the chore. Which is why I feel perfectly justified doing a little charity work." Nik says.
"Hmm, or maybe you're lying about having found the sword." Stefan accuses.
"Why would I lie to you, Stefan?" Nik asks.
He then strides past Stefan and towards a vault in the other room. "We're in this together." Nik calls back at the vampire.
Stefan and I follow Nik into the other room.
Nik turns the dial on the vault and opens it up, taking out a beautifully made sword.
"The hilt acts as a cipher which we'll use to decode the marks on Jeremy's tattoo when he's killed enough vampires to complete it." Nik explains.
He places the sword down on a table and I immediately go to pick it up.
"It's freaking awesome!" I exclaim, pretending to fight off some bad guys.
"Okay, let's not swing around a heavy weapon." Nik says gently, grabbing the sword from my hands putting it back on the table.
Nik then plops down on the sofa and I follow with a frown. Stefan picks up the sword to examine it.
"Oh, so he can touch it but not me?" I grumble.
"I'm not fighting imaginary enemies with it." Stefan retorts.
I send him my super intimidating glare.
He chuckles, which I find weird, but I guess he just needed an excuse to look away from my clearly very scary gaze.
Yup, that's definitely it.
"I heard you moved out of your house." Nik speaks to Stefan.
"Oh my god! Do you need a place to stay? We've got a lot of guest rooms." I offer, feeling bad for the vampire.
"Bit of a martyr move, hm?" Nik says before Stefan can respond.
"I'm not here to bond, Klaus." Stefan replies, placing the sword back on the table.
"Oh, on the contrary, I think right now I'm the best friend you've got." Nik retorts.
"Thanks for the offer Ivy, but I think I'll have to pass." Stefan says before leaving.
"You scared him off." I grumble.
"Sorry, angel." Nik chuckles.
———
I glance around at everyone in the mystic grill. It was very cold outside and I wanted hot chocolate.
Unfortunately for just about everyone around me, one cup had turned into four and I was buzzing with a sugar high.
I pause as I see Caroline admiring the snowflake Nik painted, it was now up for display waiting to be purchased.
I drag Nik over to her while calling her name.
"Hey, Ivy!" She smiles, pulling me into a warm hug.
"Oh my god you're freezing!" She gasps as we make contact.
"I know! I don't feel cold though, just really jittery, like if there was a trampoline in here I'd go feral." I ramble.
"How much sugar did you give her?" Caroline scolds my soulmate.
"I tried to stop her, she threatened to bite me." Nik replies with an exasperated sigh.
I giggle and chomp on the air for emphasis.
"Don't worry she'll crash in about an hour." Caroline chuckles.
"Prepare for the most exciting hour of your life!" I grin jumping onto Nik's back.
He laughs, grabbing the back of my thighs so I won't fall.
"Nice snowflake, by the way." Caroline compliments.
"Is my work really that literal?" Nik asks.
"I'm serious. There's something...lonely about it." Caroline adds.
"I'm gonna take that as a compliment." Nik states.
"Do you think anyone would've bought my painting if I had brought it?" I ask, still hanging from Nik's back.
"I would have." Nik answers immediately.
"Really? for how much?" I ask excitedly.
"What price would you set it at?" Nik questions.
"A gazillion dollars!" I answer.
"Then I'll take it for a gazillion and one." Nik decides.
"He's so perfect!" I exclaim, squishing his cheeks together, making him do a kissy face.
Caroline laughs at my antics before going to text somebody.
———
After Caroline had left the grill, I accidentally knocked over a glass of water when I was jumping up and down.
Unsurprisingly, Nik told me to take a walk around the town square to tire myself out.
It had worked for the most part. I wasn't tired just yet, but I was at a neutral state.
"Walking all by yourself?" I hear Stefan's voice come up beside me.
"I went sugar crazed." I state unashamed.
"Ah, some things never change..." Stefan jokes. I giggle.
I stop when I notice Stefan watching something, I follow his gaze to see Nik talking with Hayley.
Hayley then walks off with an expression I can't read. I follow after Stefan as he moves toward Nik.
"Hey, what were talking to Hayley about?" I ask, watching as he smiles at my presence.
"I'll tell you at home, Angel." He responds.
"Okay." I smile.
I wonder if she was asking about me. Maybe she
was gathering intel for a sister surprise!
Probably not...
"Where have you been all day?" Nik asks Stefan.
"I've been around." Stefan answers vaguely.
"I'm not interested in vagary, Stefan. You've been dodgy and Caroline was rather adamant on keeping Ivy and I entertained, which I've come to recognize as a tool of distraction, now, do you have something to share with me or should I compel it out of you?" Nik says confidently.
"I broke into your safe to look for the sword." Stefan admits.
"Why?" Nik questions.
"Maybe because it's freaking cool!" I interject excitedly.
"Because I don't trust you." Stefan answers, ignoring my comment.
"I showed you the sword. I explained its value. I've been on your side the entire time. What do you want from me? A secret brotherhood handshake?" Nik asks sarcastically.
"I found the letters. You've had a few pen-pals over the centuries." Stefan states accusingly.
"What's he talking about?" I ask, very confused.
"Well, is keeping my victims' letters really so different from writing their names on a wall? Like you did, Ripper?" Nik questions.
I furrow my eyebrows.
He kept his victims letters?
Nik pauses as he sees Adrian walking through Town square. He turns to me with a small smile.
"Would you mind going home a bit early love? I'm sure Stefan can take you." Nik asks softly.
"Oh, yeah. Of course. If that's okay with Stefan?"
"Sure." Stefan replies.
Nik nods and walks a few steps before turning back around.
"Loneliness, Stefan." He pauses waiting until Stefan is paying attention. "That's why you and I memorialize our dead. There's the briefest of moments before we kill where we literally hold their life in our hands and then we rip it away. And we're left with nothing. So, gathering other peoples' letters or writing their names on a wall is a reminder that in the end we're left infinitely and utterly alone."
Nik turns and walks off with Adrian as Stefan and I watch them go. I frown slightly at what he said.
He didn't have to be lonely anymore. I was here.
I'll always be here.
———
Basically as soon as I got to my bed I passed out.
The sugar rush is sweet at first but god help me when I crash.
Tibbles and I slept peacefully beside one another.
We both jump awake, hearing the door slam.
I groan, rolling out of bed and trotting downstairs.
My groggy state immediately disappears as my eyes rest on Nik's blood-covered frame.
"Nik! What's wrong? Are you okay?" I question, instantly rushing over to him.
"My hybrids...I killed them all." He admits looking a bit numb and a bit angry at the same time.
"What? Why?" I ask with wide eyes.
"They were plotting to kill me. All of them broke the sire bond. That's what Hayley was telling me earlier." Nik says.
"Okay. Come on." I sigh, gently grabbing his hand and leading him to a bathroom.
"Where are we going?" He asks quietly.
"I'm gonna clean you up." I tell him softly.
When we reach the bathroom, I sit him on the edge of the tub as I wet a washcloth.
After I had gently scrubbed away the blood from his skin, the rest of the night was spent cuddling and watching movies.
———
Me ignoring half the episode's plot and writing mostly klivy fluff is soooo super cute.