"Enjoying the food, love?" Klaus asks with an amused smirk as he watches the small woman eat her food.
She looks up from eating her hamburger to face him shyly from underneath her long lashes as she places her burger back onto her plate, "no please, don't stop on my account" he waves a hand.
"I've never eaten food before" she adds as she takes a sip from her milkshake.
They were amazing!
They are definitely going to be a favourite of hers she can just tell.
As a reaper she didn't require sustenance of any kind. Just as long as she reaped souls she'd be perfectly fine.
"Never?"
"Never."
"So you just...came into existence?" He asks, trying to get a read from her. His mind is slowly starting to come to terms with the fact that she wasn't human or any of the supernaturals that he's been used to. "Do you have a father or mother?" He asks her curiously.
"Do you think I could get another of these?" She diverts, not wanting to talk about the topic of how she came to be, as she finishes off her milkshake.
Klaus knows when he's being distracted from something but he'll humour her for now.
"Of course, love" he says as he gestures for a waitress to head their way, "although I wonder how you'll fit all that food in such a tiny body" he says with a wink as she rolls her eyes at him as the waitress fixes her skirt as she approaches them.
"Do you need anything else, sir?" She asks, flattering her eyes at him as her eyes scan over him in evident appreciation.
Now he's flattered, he really is, because he knows how most women react to him but as pretty as she is she's not exactly to his particular tastes.
"Another milkshake, sweetheart" he says as he turns to face Rose, who was looking between the two of them curiously before going back to her hamburger.
Even though Klaus noticed the way that she looked at them. It would be his fortune if she were jealous.
"Sure thing" the waitress says, her voice dripping sweetness, "what flavour will it be?" She asks him, not sparing a glance in Rose's way as her eyes land on his ruby red lips before moving on to appreciate him in general.
"Rose, love" he says with a smirk as the brunette lifts her head to face him, a little bit of ketchup on her lower lip. "What flavour will it be?" He asks amusedly as the waitress tries to hide her disgust at the sight of Rose, clearly she thinks that she isn't worth Klaus' time or of being referred to as love by him.
"This flavour was satisfactory enough" the reaper says, gesturing to her empty glass as the waitress nods as she jots down bubblegum on her pad.
"Anything for you?" Their waitress, Taylor, according to her name tag, asks Klaus as she turns to face him again, making sure to show in her eyes that she's more than ready to offer him anything else that he might like if he wants.
"No love, that'll be all" he says, dismissing her as he grabs a serviette and hands it to Rose, who narrows her eyes confusedly. "You have a little something here, love" he says, pointing to the spot as Taylor walks off, shaking her hips in hopes that Klaus will pay attention to her as she does.
Rose wipes her lip as she looks at the ketchup on the serviette with a frown.
"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" She asks him accusingly.
"I happened to think it made you look all the more gorgeous, love" he says with a chortle as she kicks him from underneath the table.
She looks a little surprised at her own actions but the look disappears only to be replaced by a smile as she starts to giggle when he narrows his eyes at her.
Some men have died for a lot less and here she is, kicking the Original Hybrid in the shin for not telling her that she had ketchup on her lower lip.
Klaus' fierce look dissolves into a slight smile when he catches wind of her musical laughter as she covers her mouth to smother her laughter.
"Sorry" she says, even though her tone clearly gives away that she isn't sorry about it in the least. "You have no idea how funny you look when you do that" she says as she lifts her eyes to face him, her eyes twinkling as they do. "It makes you look like a...a bear" she adds as Klaus chortles at the comparison. "A really grumpy bear" she adds as her laughter dies down.
"Did you just compare me to a bear?"
"It's your fault entirely" she says with a smirk as another waitress clears away her dirty dishes. "Do you think I might find something to help me get back home in the Mystic Falls library?" She asks him.
"Highly unlikely, love. Their selection of the written word is rather limited. The library in my house however is another story entirely" he says with obvious pride.
"I'll get started on that as soon as I get back" she says, rolling her eyes at him as Taylor returns with her milkshake.
She sets it in front of Rose with a loud clank, almost spilling it all over her as she does.
"Sorry" she says, her voice icy. "Enjoy your milkshake, ma'am" she adds with a tight smile before walking off as Klaus watches her leave with a small frown.
If Rose noticed the attitude then she clearly chooses not to point it out.
Klaus can't help thinking how if it had been Rebekah then the girl might have been dead before they even left the diner.
"She likes you" Rose tells him, surprising him with her observation. He thought she couldn't see it but clearly he had been underestimating her.
"How unfortunate for me" Klaus replies as Rose lifts her eyes from her shake to face him, fighting back a smile.
"I think you mean to say how unfortunate for me seeing as how I am probably the one that she is likely stabbing to death a thousand times over in her mind" she says as Klaus laughs at her words.
A true Klaus Mikaelson laugh of amusement that makes his dimples sink in.
Rose can't help but feel an unfamiliar warmth at the sight as she goes back to drinking her milkshake as they make small talk, never truly talking about her and yet never talking about him.
Anyone else would be unnerved by it but both of them are quite content with it.
~Fall on me~
"Rebekah" Klaus comments in surprise when he sees his sister standing across from Elijah, alive and kicking.
How in the hell did she get out?
"Hello Nik" she scowls at him before her blue eyes land on the woman that he was with.
So this must be the fabled Rosella that had brought Kol back from the dead only to be banished from her home because of it.
Rose looks between the two siblings awkwardly.
Clearly Rebekah was still upset with him for daggering her.
"And you must be Rosella" she acknowledges the girl before taking in her attire, clothing which all belonged to her.
"Yes, I'm Rosella but please, call me Ro or Rose" the caramel skinned woman says politely as Rebekah nods.
The air in the room was tense.
"Oh Nik, you're back" Kol says as he makes his way over to them, "Elijah and I figured out where you hid Bekah" he adds happily as the temperature in the room drops significantly, "you're getting rather predictable, brother" he adds with an evil and baiting half smirk just for good measure as Rose looks between the four siblings nervously, like she's intruding on a family moment.
Which she kind of is.
She's nervous because she can feel the tension escalating as she glances at all of them nervously.
Rebekah was calm throughout all of this, which was suspicious for everyone as they were all expecting her to at least lash out at Klaus or even throw something at him.
Elijah was ignoring Klaus' glare at him for defying him by bringing Rebekah back while there was still the issue of the cure and the White Oak stake being in the possession of the Salvatores and Kol looked like a child on Christmas morning, clearly he was enjoying the tension.
"Rose perhaps it would be best if you went upstairs" Elijah suggests as the temperature dropped even more.
Rebekah was livid with Niklaus and the reaper might get caught in the crossfire when she bubbles over.
She was angry because he used her and her weakness for Stefan to dagger her.
He exploited her belief in one day receiving her own happily ever after.
"Sure" Rose nods, "thanks for dinner, Klaus" she says as the hybrid nods, his eyes never straying from his siblings.
The tension in the room was escalating and would eventually bubble over.
"Anytime, love" he answers as she walks off.
In a flash he has glass pieces in his face as Rebekah attacks, giving no warning. Elijah tries to intervene as his two siblings go head to head while Kol grabs a seat and watches the fight take place.
Every time he blinked they were fighting in a different style.
He finds it ironic that these two are the ones fighting since they were usually as thick as thieves, even though Klaus never allowed Rebekah the opportunity to meet a man and fall in love.
Not for long at least.
"Let me go, Eli! Release me!" She shouts angrily when he pulls her back from Niklaus whose eyes had turned golden in the midst of their fighting.
He had even bitten her but due to her rage at the time she couldn't feel the effects start to kick in.
His bite wouldn't kill her but it would hurt like a bitch and likely cause some severe hallucinations.
"You're horrible!" She shouts at him as she fights against Elijah's hold. "You're horrible and I hate you!" She screams, oblivious of how her words were breaking his heart.
She knows better than anyone to say something like that to him considering how deeply he felt things but right now she can't be bothered to care.
"Rebekah..." Elijah says, hoping to get her to stop before she says something she won't be able to take back, "calm yourself sister. Everything is alright now" he says as she collapses in his arms, sobbing softly as she does.
"All I've ever wanted was one thing" she says as Elijah tries to comfort her, "but you'll never let me have it" she realises.
Her brother would likely dagger her before ever letting her have happiness with someone that wasn't him or their family.
"Will you?" She adds acidly as she lifts her eyes to face Klaus who wore his mask of indifference. That was always his best defense when something was really emotionally hurting him. "You're a real arse, you know" she adds.
"Now Bekah, let's not pretend we don't know how Nik gets his jollies from stuffing us all into boxes" Kol says with an eye roll at his sister's dramatics.
She should be the last person to talk considering she has betrayed him a thousand times over for Nik.
"To protect you all!" Klaus shouts at them, "so that we could one day become a family!" He defends himself. His siblings don't understand and always vilify him.
That's all he's ever been to them ever since Henrik's death. He could see it in their eyes.
They didn't really care about him.
Or so he felt.
"A family, Nik?" Kol asks with a snort, "Then why replace us with hybrids?" He asks bitterly.
"They were meant to protect us–"
"To protect you, you mean" Rebekah retorts harshly as she gathers herself as Elijah finally releases her. "The truth is that you don't care about the lot of us, Nik. You only care about yourself" she adds acidly as Klaus' face returns to normal as he stares at his sister in shock.
"Well she's not wrong there" Kol says in boredom, making a face of agreement.
"Rebekah, Kol, enough of this now" Elijah says.
This has gone on for much too long and eventually one of them would say something that they wouldn't be able to take back.
"Why? It's the truth isn't it?" Rebekah asks, "Nik doesn't care about anyone that isn't him" she adds. "Not anymore at least" she adds with what should appear to be a casual shrug, even though it was laced with unspeakable amounts of pain and betrayal.
"Stop" Klaus says, breathing heavily as his nostrils flare as his eyes turn golden and his hybrid face appears. "Stop before you push me over the edge" he warns his siblings.
He can't believe that his sweet Bekah was the one saying these things about him. The one that knows him better than he knows himself sometimes.
"And then what Nik? You'll dagger us?" Kol asks him mockingly.
Klaus vamps over to him but Kol expects it and breaks the door, defending himself with the makeshift stake as he stabs his brother in the shoulder with it, his own vampire face appearing.
"Enough!" Elijah's authoritative voice fills the room as his brothers turn to face him, "I said enough" he adds fiercely as Klaus removes the makeshift dagger with a groan of pain as he and Kol glare daggers at each other. "You're all acting like children" he tells them, looking between all of his siblings. "We have hurt each other over these thousand years together, yes, but we are a family..."
"Speak for yourself" Kol retorts, cutting his brother off, "you've all been alive much longer than I have. Kol, the unstable Mikaelson. The one who always gets betrayed first" he adds bitterly as he lets some of the hatred that he's felt toward his siblings simmer. Showing them a glimpse of it. "All of you have betrayed me! Have turned your backs on me!" He shouts angrily.
"Poor child..." Klaus mocks, "do you want us to apologise for that brother?"
"No" Kol says angrily, "I don't want your apologies Niklaus" he adds venomously, "they would mean little to me after all the betrayals I've suffered at your hands" he adds.
Nik always makes it as if they are on the same side before stabbing him in the back – literally at times – and he's sick of it.
He's sick of all of it. The endless cycle of betrayal.
"Kol, Niklaus has daggered all of us..." Rebekah points out
"Really Bekah?" He snorts derisively as he turns to face his sister, "because while you ran around chasing after his adoptive son I lay dead in a box. Finn was daggered for 900 years!" He shouts as Rebekah flinches at his mention of Marcel. He was a sore spot for everyone but none more so than Rebekah. "You traded me for an outsider and left me in a box to rot" he says as his voice cracks slightly at the anger he felt toward them for replacing him with Marcellus.
"You wanted to turn the boy! My son!" Klaus defends, remembering the crazed look in Kol's eyes in New Orleans, having fed Marcellus his blood and ready to turn the boy that Klaus saw as his own child.
"Brother..." Elijah says hesitantly when he sees the anger in Kol's eyes.
It was clear that Kol held a lot of hatred toward his siblings, but none more so than Niklaus. He can see that they were far from achieving the peace that he envisioned them finally having someday.
"Always and Forever was the worst mistake we ever made" Kol says to them as his siblings stare at him in shock, "and more than anything I regret that pledge" he adds as tears stream down Rebekah's face at his words, Elijah looks taken aback by his words and Klaus is trying to hide his own hurt at Kol's words.
The youngest Mikaelson flashes out the room less than a second later, leaving his siblings behind in a state of shock unlike any other.
Meanwhile, upstairs Rosella was listening to the Mikaelsons as they shout at each other before she assumes Kol leaves and there is no longer anymore shouting and screaming.
She's been alive for over 3,000 years and in those years she's seen a lot of things.
Kol was right when he said that all the Mikaelsons did was betray each other but even so, they all also loved each other very much and would severely punish anyone who came for their family members, even if they were angry at one another during that time.
Rose sighs sadly at it all before heading into the bathroom to take a shower.
After her shower when Rosella walks out of her bathroom she's surprised to find Rebekah standing by the window of her room, staring out of it.
She was obviously deep in thought about something.
"You sure took your time" the blonde comments as she turns to face Rose. She's unsure what to say to Rebekah. "I'm sorry that you had to be subjected to myself and my siblings arguing but you're going to have to get used to it if you plan on staying here for long, love" she adds, both apologetic and non-apologetic at the same time as she crosses her arms over her chest with a blank face.
Rose would have never thought such a thing possible but she's quickly found that the Mikaelsons make the impossible, possible.
Clearly Rebekah has no idea just how much she is like her brother with regards to the terms of endearment.
All of them seemed to favour them, but she has yet to hear Elijah use one. He was usually just formal.
"Please" Rose waves a dismissive hand, "I was a reaper during the Dark Ages, I'm positive I'll be just fine" she adds as Rebekah offers her a small smirk in response.
Clearly she had been testing to see how much of a backbone Rose has and if her smirk is anything to go by then she's happy with the answer that she received.
"There are clothes for you in the wardrobe but we'll go shopping tomorrow" the blonde says as she heads for the door, "with Nik's card of course" she adds with a cheeky smile as she turns to face Rose over her shoulder as Rose returns the mischievous smile with one of her own.
Klaus owes her for what he put her through and she planned to put a huge dent in his card as payback.
"Who else's?" She asks as Rebekah chortles in response.
"See you tomorrow, reaper" Rebekah says as she heads out the door.
"See you tomorrow, vampire" Rose retorts as Rebekah closes the door behind her.
~Fall on me~
"Keeping busy, love?" Klaus asks Rose when he walks into the library and finds her standing in front of a desk, books scattered across the surface, covering every inch of the desk as she lifts her head to face him, offering him a small smile in response.
"I couldn't sleep" she confesses casually.
The notion of sleeping was completely foreign to her and she might have to take a while before learning to do so.
She's been alive for over 3,000 years without any sleep because she didn't have flesh and now all of a sudden she's human, with a beating heart and she gets hungry and needs sleep and even though she knows that she's supposed to sleep in order to function properly, her brain finds the notion completely ridiculous.
"So I decided to do a bit of studying" she says as he walks over to her, picking up one of the books from the desk and reading the page that she had left open.
It's a Latin passage about a priest who claimed to see a dark entity claim a man's soul as the priest had been performing the man's Last Rites. Clearly the entity had been a reaper since Rose was reading about it.
"Just how many languages do you speak, love?" Klaus asks her curiously as he places the book back to face her.
The book was in Old Latin, something that none of the scientists today could translate, even if they wanted to.
Which made him curious with just how many languages Rose could actually speak.
"All of them" she confesses with a casual shrug as if it's a normal thing.
It's normal for her though.
She's been alive for a long time so she's got an itinerary of languages.
How else is she supposed to communicate with people when she's taking them to the Judgment Plane?
"Impressive" Klaus admits
"You learn to pick stuff along the way" she shrugs as if it isn't a big deal. "So why are you still up?" She asks him, careful not to give away that she had heard his argument with his siblings and everything that they said.
Klaus doesn't like it when people are aware of his weaknesses.
"Much like you I'm plagued by restlessness" he replies casually as he goes to pour himself a glass of bourbon from the liqueur cabinet in the corner of the large library.
There was literally liquor in every corner of the house.
Vampires were fans of it and she's certain that they were the biggest market for alcohol companies. They probably made up 90% of their markets.
Apparently they say it helps with the hunger but Rose doesn't know whether that's really true since she isn't a vampire.
"Why not do something to occupy your time?" She asks him curiously as she looks up from one of the books to face him as he makes his way back to her. "Like paint" she suggests, knowing of his love of painting.
Over the years she had seen how he liked to paint whenever he was mulling something over or even as a way of calming himself from a potentially angering situation.
Even as a human he liked to paint. Making his own paints from the plants and berries around him.
"Just how much do you know about us, love?" He asks, careful not to show his paranoia at someone who knows more about his family than he probably does.
He's not sure he likes the fact that Rose seems to know so much about him and his family.
"Enough" she offers vaguely, sighing in annoyance as she closes one of the books when she can't find the information that she needs.
She won't give too much information away or she'd be in even more trouble with her mother when she eventually returned to the Reaper Plane.
After she finally figured out how to get back there.
"Can't find anything?" He asks her, seeing the frustration on her face. She nods. "Maybe you could use a break then, hey love?" He says as he downs the bourbon in one gulp before placing the glass on another of the tables in the library. "Come with me" he says as he heads for the door.
"I have to put the books back first" she replies, looking between him and the books that she had been reading. Wondering whether to follow him or whether to stay and do that first.
"Never mind the books. You can do that later" he says dismissively as she shrugs before following him as he leads her to one of the many rooms in the mansion.
He opens the door for her and she steps inside.
Her eyes widen when she sees what's inside.
The room was large and spacious and filled with paintings.
Some finished and some unfinished.
Klaus' art studio was his sanctuary so she's surprised that he's letting her into it.
Only the (VERY) trusted few were ever allowed to even step into his art studio over the years.
"You're letting me into your private space?" She asks as she turns to face him with slight suspicion. "I hope that it isn't so you can kill me privately or threaten to maim me" she teases him as he chortles as he walks past her with his dimpled half smile to head toward the piece that he was working on.
"I'll make sure to write it down and put it into consideration" he tells her as she looks around the room at all of his paintings as he sits in front of his current piece, grabbing his paints as he does.
He starts to mix them in order to get the colours that he wants.
Rose slowly makes her way toward him as she eyes his current piece. It looked like a meadow. A very familiar looking meadow.
She can't recall where she's seen it before. It's at the tip of her tongue.
"It's gorgeous" she compliment from behind him. Klaus doesn't like how weird his body reacts to the sound of her voice coming from behind him and he settles on it being because he can't see her, even if he can feel her.
He can hear her heartbeat.
He can smell her scent, which was a surprisingly pleasant smell of lavender and vanilla because of the lotion Rebekah had given her along with some of her clothes.
He had been surprised when his sister agreed to giving Rose some of her clothes after Elijah suggested it.
Even his brother had appeared surprised if the slight look of shock on his face had been anything to go by. They pinned it down on her being distracted by what Kol had told them.
In all honesty they all were.
"It's incomplete, love" he replies, recalling his siblings' words with a heavy heart.
Why couldn't they understand that he had been protecting them? That everything he does is to protect them?
They have their arguments like any other siblings but they are family at the end of the day.
"Nonetheless" she retorts, "where is it?" She asks him as she stands directly beside him, completely oblivious to the thoughts running rampant in his mind.
"Shouldn't you know this seeing as you are the 21 year old, 3,000 year old reaper?" He asks amusedly as he turns to face her, a small gleam of mirth in his periwinkle blue eyes.
So Elijah told him about that.
"I think you forget that in 3,000 years I wasn't just twiddling my thumbs in one place on Earth" she retorts with a pointed look directed at him as he chortles at her sassy response, "where is it?" She repeats, gesturing back to the painting.
Fighting to keep her smile off her face at the sight of him smiling.
Why is it that when he's happy then she feels happy too?
Why are human emotions so confusing?
"It's the meadow myself and my siblings used to play in, when we were children" he admits honestly, a hint of emotion in his voice as he turns to face the painting in front of him.
"Yes" Rose agrees the longer she stares at the painting, "yes, I remember it now" she admits, "Its the meadow near what is now The Falls" she says when she recalls it.
Klaus nods at this as he continues to paint his piece. His mind was on his siblings and their confrontation. Kol still hadn't come back but he wouldn't be surprised if he found out that his brother had slaughtered people.
That's usually how Kol dealt with his anger. In truth it's how they all dealt with their anger.
"What's this one?" She asks when she sees that there's a canvas that he had covered with a white cloth as she walks around him to go and check it out.
Klaus vamps over to the canvas and pulls it out of her reach as she arches an eyebrow at his action.
Suspicious.
"It's not finished" Klaus says to her. That can't be the only reason he'd be so protective toward it.
She's seen some of his other incomplete work so what was so different about this one?
"When did you start it?" She asks, pretending not to be a little more curious about the painting that he was hiding from her.
If he thinks that she'll be squeamish at a gory sight then he has another thing coming.
"Today" he admits. "I told you, love, I was restless" he says with his classic and charming half smile in order to try and distract her from asking anymore questions about the painting. "This painting you aren't allowed to touch" he says as she nods at his words.
Maybe it was a pony, for that blonde girl he fancied so much.
Caroline, was it?
"Very well" she nods, holding her hands up in surrender. "I know better than to look at things I've clearly been warned from looking at" she adds, "you can rest assured that I won't look at the painting" she tells him sincerely.
"And you just expect me to believe that, love? Are you not familiar with the phrase 'curiosity killed the cat?' He asks amusedly.
He was well aware just how dangerous curiosity can be. He's had a firsthand experience in it.
He had been curious to see the wolves changing a thousand years ago and his curiosity had cost his younger brother his life.
It was something he always wished that he could take back.
"My word is my bond, Niklaus" she says, crossing her arms over her chest at him with a frown for his distrust of her. She takes honour very seriously and she doesn't appreciate the mocking and distrust in his tone. "Perhaps I've overstayed my welcome" she says as she heads for the door, obviously offended.
Klaus blocks her with his body as she glares up at him.
"Quite feisty aren't you?" He asks her, "I'm sorry if I offended you, love" he adds.
He had heard the hint of a little malice in her voice when she turned to leave so clearly she took her honour quite seriously.
"If?"
"For" he replies with a small smirk when she crosses her arms at him in what she must assume to be an intimidating stance.
The action makes her look annoyed more than intimidating, and yet also a little cute. He's finding that he quite enjoys being in the presence of the short reaper.
She was an inch of two shorter than him but he liked feeling like he towered over her.
They didn't even notice how close they were standing to each other until she took a step back, looking away from him for a millisecond.
She doesn't like the unfamiliar sensation that she feels when they had been looking into each other's eyes.
"I think I'll go to bed now, I'm starting to feel a little tired" she lies with a fake yawn.
"Of course, love" Klaus says with a semi-smug smirk as he stands aside so that she can pass. He can clearly see that she was trying to fight her attraction toward him. "Good night then" he says as she grabs the door handle to walk out.
"Good night" she replies, not daring to look back at him so that he can see how flushed he made her.
She races back to her bedroom and closes the doors behind her with an exhale.
How could she go from upset with him to flustered in the blink of an eye?
She doesn't understand all these different emotions happening to her all at once but she understands one thing.
She needs to get back home, soon.