Housewarming | Nik & Elijah

wemadeourselvesmonsters:

Elijah nodded once. “New Orleans is as close to home as we’ve had in a very long time. He was happy there.” A smile lit his face. He loved to talk of traveling. “Perhaps one day you will take an extended trip with your young man. I’ve been a lot of places. More places recently, actually. Travel is so much easier now.”

“I love the thrill of finding new places. It never diminishes. New Orleans was a favorite. We spent a few centuries there.” He tapped his chair arm. “France was another favored place. Rebekah enjoyed it. I should take her for a small trip there again… Let her loose on the shops in Paris…”

His eyes met Nik’s. “That was a memorable meeting, yes. I’m not angry. He did what he felt was right.”

He
couldn’t even imagine what it was like going to places on horses. Or
maybe even walk for days to reach the next village. He liked the idea
of having woods all around you, it made him think of freedom, a life
that his wolf would embrace in a way that the human part never could.

“Never
been there – and I’m not sure I’ll be doing a lot of traveling. I
hate flying, I – when Ric and I went from Mystic Falls to New York
for a weekend – it was bad. He had to distract me the entire
flight. And now, when we visit his parents, he holds my hand and I
try not to die of shame.”

Actually,
it wasn’t as bad as the first time anymore, but he would never be a
fan of it. Never.

Nik
searched Elijah’s eyes for a moment, not really understanding what
had happened between him and Alaric – but he believed him. His
brother wouldn’t hurt Ric, that much he could tell. Maybe wouldn’t
have even before he showed up to talk to him. It made him breathe a
little easier, at least there was one Mikaelson Ric would be safe
around.

“Thanks…
I… I won’t pretend I know what’s happened between you, but…
thanks.”

Housewarming | Nik & Elijah

wemadeourselvesmonsters:

Elijah stared a moment before looking away with an undignified snort. “Deal, little brother.” He was already thinking about which journals to let him read. “So we’ll skip 1492, 2012, and a few other years…Because those were far too eventful years.” The Original looked away. “Perhaps the time leading up to our fleeing New Orleans. And a few memorable years in Russia.”

“I’ll tell her you wish to meet her.” He sighed. “Kol can wait.”

It was mostly the fact that Kol was just so unpredictable that kept Elijah away. He wished it were not so.

“I have no idea where he is at the moment. Rebekah may know. She’s the one who always knows.”

“Klaus mentioned New Orleans. It sounded like a home. I’ve never been to any place except New York and Mystic. What’s it like to travel the world? I mean, you must have been everywhere by now, right? How many languages do you speak?”

Funny how both Klaus and Elijah reacted the same when it came to Kol. Maybe he should avoid meeting him until he had found out more about him.

“So… how did you meet Ric? He said something about daggering you — if that’s too personal, forget that I ask, but… Are you angry at him?”

Is he safe around you?

Housewarming | Nik & Elijah

wemadeourselvesmonsters:

“Perhaps you and I share more than we thought.” He chuckled. “I try to make time. Daily. Boring read, I tell you, but there are hundreds of years worth of them. Some were lost, of course, but I still have many.”

He had let few people read his journals over the centuries, but if asked, he would hand them over to Nik without hesitation. He was his brother, and had a right to know anything he wished about their family.

“Rebekah will just dote on you. I can see it now,” he mused. 

“Ah. Our Kol is volatile. Unpredictable. I tend to avoid him, if that gives you any clue about him.” A situation that never failed to make Elijah blue.

“Well… we can make a deal. I can show you some of my sketches I would never show to anyone else – and you let me read some of the interesting stuff? Preferably something that doesn’t end with ‘and then Klaus slaughtered the village’…”

He was trying to turn it into a joke, but it didn’t quite work. He knew what Klaus was capable of.

“I can’t wait to meet her, but Kol…”

Maybe it would be a good idea to stay away from him then. If even someone like Elijah didn’t feel comfortable around him…

“I guess – well, maybe I should just get to know all of you first and then him. Is he even around? No one really talks about him.”

Housewarming | Nik & Elijah

wemadeourselvesmonsters:

Elijah’s eyes grew wide and he chuckled. “Your Rebekah and mine are… the same. She is much easier to get along with if simply given her way. She is happy, so we’re all happy. Well, most of us.” 

He took the camera to study the girl in the photo. Younger than the Rebekah now, in this space, but he recognized her. More polished than the girl in the photo, but the same. And he knew her a thousand years ago as well. “She’s always been pouty,” he mused as he returned the phone. “I’ve none of my sister on my device at the moment. Sadly.”

“It matters not why she was angry. If she is like mine… well, the storms are violent, but they pass quickly. Relatively so.”

“Well, you are a person. You draw to make you happy. That is just as noble.” It was a concept he understood. “I write. In a journal, nothing other than my day to day thoughts oftentimes, but if I do not get it out, my mind feels… full. Too full.” 

Nik nodded.

“That’s what I mean, I hate it when I can’t draw for a while. When there’s no time or I can’t sit down – I really hate it.”

And how cool would that be? To read Elijah’s book? Read about things that happened a hundred years ago, things he’d seen with his own eyes? History. Something Nik had never really been interested in – he had always lived in the here and now, always cared about the presence and tried to leave the past behind – but now that a part of it was literally sitting in front of him he was curious.

“I don’t feel noble at all,” he grinned, taking a sip of his drink. “But I really want to meet her. And Kol.”

Although, maybe that wasn’t a good idea. He couldn’t say why, but the idea of meeting an alternate universe version of his unpredictable little brother was making him feel nervous.

“Or… you know, maybe not. We didn’t really – I mean, not that he would know about it, but my Kol and I, we had sort of a falling out and I haven’t talked to him for a year. Is… How is your Kol? How do he and Klaus get along?”

Housewarming | Nik & Elijah

wemadeourselvesmonsters:

Rebekah wanted to be normal, but she was an excellent vampire, one who tended to be vicious in her anger at the unfairness of her existence. Elijah never blamed her, they all coped how they knew how.

He chuckled. “I’ve heard people in town mention such about her. Fairly certain she’s deserving of it.” The vampire tilted his head with a smile. “She does, as she did when she was a child and as she has done for years. It’s a sight to see, her throwing a tantrum. Has this line…” he gestured between his own eyes. “When she’s angry it gets deep.”

“It is incredibly boring, so no need to attempt feigning interest.” Elijah was not a man of exciting hobbies. 

Elijah nodded, recalling his own Niklaus constantly making art as a child. Whittling figurines or drawing with burnt sticks. Anything to make their world beautiful. He blinked up at Nik and smiled. “You want to make others happy with your work. Give them heroes to love. Admirable.”

“My Bekah, she starts throwing things. And yelling, sometimes. And if she doesn’t get what she wants, she’ll ignore you. For days. And glare at you. Hide your stuff… You know, it’s just so much easier to give her whatever she wants and to keep her happy.”

He pulled out his cell phone, searching for a photo before he handed it over to Elijah. It was one of three he had left of her, Rebekah glaring at someone behind the camera with her arms crossed in front of her chest.

“I don’t remember why she was mad at me, I think I drew in one of her school books. I used to do that a lot, you know? Never realized I was doing it, got me into so much trouble at home.”

He frowned them, thinking about what Elijah was saying. And shook his head.

“No, I’m not – I’ve never drawn to make others happy. I mean, I know many people like what I do and that I’m talented, but it’s never been about them. I just… I need to get my ideas out of my head or I’ll go crazy. I can’t – It’s like they are all yelling at me, in my head, you know? And they won’t shut up unless I listen. And draw. It’s… it’s difficult to explain, but I get nervous if I can’t… It’s weird.”

I’m weird.

But it was a weirdness he no longer felt bad about and so his smile stayed on his lips.

Housewarming | Nik & Elijah

wemadeourselvespumpkins:

He could see the disbelief on Nik’s face and chalked it up to their growing up in vastly different eras. The Mikaelsons in this time had grown up a thousand years ago, and then the women had to be as fierce as the men or they would likely not survive. He was proud of all of his siblings. Always had been in his own way.

“I am more than certain she’d love that. Rebekah is busy being a,” he floundered for the term for a moment before it came to him, “a mean girl.” Elijah chuckled. “She’s aching to have a normal life and to act as if she were human. Some days she succeeds. I can see if she would make a time to meet you?”

That Mikael was gone now was cause for Elijah thanking any higher power he could recall. The man being dead was something to be thankful for. He could not destroy them now.

“Kol is volatile. He has a hair-trigger temper and a warped sense of fun. The latter was not always the case, but over the centuries…” he trailed off. And did not speak of the fact that Kol had reasons to be angry. Being boxed was not something any of the siblings enjoyed. 

A smile lit the Original’s face. 

“Ah, mostly I keep up with the market to increase the family’s funds. I read, often, to keep busy.” Elijah paused and shrugged. “I babysit thousand year old children more often than I like.” Turning the tables, Elijah leaned forward. “And are you planning to make art professionally? You’ve loved to draw since childhood?”

Of all his siblings, it was Rebekah who he just couldn’t picture as a vampire, but, knowing her, she was probably the most vicious of them all. Well, after his own evil twin.

“I’d like that. It’s weird to see how different you all are, but… I don’t know why or how, but I can still see my family in you. And mean girl really sounds like her. Does your Rebekah stomp her feet and storm out of the room if she doesn’t get what she wants?”

Have a normal life and act human? Maybe they were more similar than he thought?

Increase the family’s funds?

“That… Uhm, that sounds… Interesting.” Well, not really.

“I don’t remember when I started drawing, I just know there’s always been sketches everywhere I went. I know I’m talented but I feel like I want to take a break from it at the moment. Ric told me to go back to art school, but it doesn’t feel right. I know I could probably make a living out of it… You know, back home, I’ve always wanted to become a cartoonist. I wanted to create my own superheroes and become famous.”

He shrugged, it was difficult putting this into words, he had never before talked about his dreams, not like this.

“I still… I want that. I want to be creative and draw, but… Not right now.”

Housewarming | Nik & Elijah

wemadeourselvesmonsters:

Elijah could see the confusion and shock on Nik’s face. He tilted his head at him. “Here, she is a very protective sister. She was a warrior in her own way even as a child.” He smiled as he thought back to little Rebekah wanting to play with swords like her brothers. It faded at the memory of her with a sword creeping towards Mikael. That had terrified him. He would have lost her. And Mikael probably would have killed Niklaus too. Blamed him for it.

“Our father was an evil man. No matter the time or place. Something in him was broken and he was evil. That’s truly the only thing I know. You never deserved how he treated you. It was not your fault that our mother fell into bed with another man.” His jaw clenched. “And he would hit us all in our time, it was expected. It’s how you taught your children. He was just harder on Niklaus. Though, truthfully, Kol was the most out of line…”

His eyes crinkled as he smiled at his brother. Another time, another him, it did not matter. Nik was his brother as surely as Niklaus or Kol were. “I understand, brother. I am here. If you need me. Yes.”         

He couldn’t see it, at all. Rebekah, his Rebekah, she was a wild little thing, she was brave and she was loud – but he would never have called her a warrior. It was a weird idea, one that didn’t really make sense to him, but he could tell by the way Elijah’s face changed when he talked about her that his brother was proud of his – of their sister.

“I really want to meet her, here. Do you think she would… I mean, I know she’s very busy and I know she’s different, but do you think she would like to meet me?”

Mikael, an evil person? Definitely. He would never understand it, never understand the hatred this man harbored toward him, but, thank God, that was over now. He was safe here.

“Kol is weird, always has been weird. He’s… some days you can’t talk to him at all and then he suddenly punches people for the weirdest things. You know, I’m not exactly the most social person most days, but he’s… I don’t understand him, but he’ll always be my brother.”

Like you.

“So, what do you do all day?”

Housewarming | Nik & Elijah

wemadeourselvesmonsters:

“I know. I know you can’t force love. It comes in it’s own time. One day I might be lucky enough to love someone who stands the test of time.” He understood loneliness. It was a nearly constant state of being with him unless he found temporary companionship, or was with his siblings. He felt at times they were his true soulmates. 

Elijah nodded. “Of course Rebekah tried. She tried for you here too. I’m not sure he would have hurt her had he seen her trying to kill him in his sleep… but it was a chance I couldn’t let her take. She was always more brave than us. The most like you, actually, I’ve always thought.” He looked to his hands. “She should have left for you. Your mother. Not mine. Mine had no options. Yours did.” There were always options in this modern time for women with husbands that were abusive.

“I do not understand his needless cruelty. I can be cruel, have no doubt about that, but I am never needlessly so. Perhaps that is his one influence on me.” It was a thought. Though, he’d had moments, done things, that were too cruel. He regretted them though. Their father seemed to never regret hurting Niklaus. Or the rest of them.

“You had a good family. Other than the parents, anyway, it sounds like. Luck was on your side. And, Alaric, of course, does a lot to make up for what you lacked growing up.”

“I love you, brother.” Elijah smiled sadly. “It may not be the same, I may not be the same, but the love is there and it always will be, no matter where or what place you come from. I hope that’s a comfort since you no longer have them.”

Nik was stunned. Rebekah – the other Rebekah – she had tried to kill Mikael? To protect hi-Klaus? Did he know about it?

Nik couldn’t imagine what he would have done if something like that had happened in his family. Rebekah was so young, still a teenager, she would never – but what did Elijah always say? The times were different, apparently she was a lot more different than he thought. Did his own Rebekah – did she have it in her as well? They’d become so distant, were barely talking to each other anymore, had she ever thought about this? About doing something drastic like that?

“I was always closest to you, I’ve… I couldn’t imagine my life without you. Rebekah – she was so young. She didn’t really understand what was happening, but she always tried to help me somehow. And Kol… Kol stopped Mikael, once. He got between me and Mikael and… and Mikael hit him… It was horrible.”

He sighed, shaking his head.

“I don’t know why he did it. I think… sometimes I wonder… I mean, now that I know… Now that we found out that he isn’t really my biological father… I sometimes think he knew. Maybe he found out somehow. I don’t know. He never said anything, he never explained anything, he just – he decided where I would stay or that I couldn’t go out – and that was it.”

Okay…

“I….”

He didn’t know what to say. Elijah and him, they didn’t talk about it, they never really said it.

“I’m glad I found you. I mean, it’s weird, it is, you’re so different, but you feel so much the same – I don’t know how to explain it. You’re him but you’re not and it’s okay. And I still miss him a lot, but… not that much, you know? I’m – I’m really glad I found you.”

Housewarming | Nik & Elijah

wemadeourselvesmonsters:

Elijah chuckled. “There have been people I love. I’ve made vampires to keep them by my side, but the love never fades, but it does change sometimes.” It was so very odd to speak to Nik about this. Seemed his younger brother could teach him more about the subject. “But the years wear on you and sometimes it is very hard to keep with a person for so very long. Not to say that if I found the right person, that the years wouldn’t be an issue. I think you could be right about the forever.”

“So long as you’re happy, I am happy. So long as he’s good to you, I won’t break anything of his.” Elijah chuckled. “I will be the gentleman you know I am with your mate. Promise.”

If honest with himself, he envied that his brother was so content. It was low to think that way. And the vampire pushed the envious thoughts away.

It was so hard to condemn his mother for the hell that Niklaus went through. It was also not hard to see that Nik had gone through it too and he wished he could turn the clocks back and save them. Both of them.  “Did your Elijah stop…?” he trailed off, unwilling to say more, to show that he had been too weak to defend Niklaus. He should have stopped Mikael, a long time before they ever became vampires.

Elijah forced a smile. Memories were painful and it was his curse to remember so well. “No. She is nothing now. The same as him. We’re all the better for it, and safer.” He frowned. “I have so many people that I care for now, that their loss is not so great as it would have been before.”

Nik grinned to himself.

“If Ric could hear me talking like that he’d probably laugh at me or call me a romantic idiot or something, but he’s just the same, you know? He was lonely here, before he met me, miserable. I don’t think he’d have expected someone like me to change his life and I think that’s the point. Sometimes you don’t have to look for love, sometimes it will just find you. You can’t force it.”

The thought of Mikael made him turn serious again. He hesitated for a moment, didn’t know if he should tell Elijah the truth about his younger self, there was something about how Elijah looked that made him hesitate.

“He tried to,” he said after a long moment. “He tried, they all did, even Bex. But he couldn’t really stop him, it was… It was difficult. If he said I wouldn’t go with them for a holiday or something, there was nothing he could do. He stayed home with me, once, didn’t go with them, and Mikael made him pay. He got into so much trouble for it and I couldn’t… I didn’t want that for him.”

He sighed, ran a hand through his hair, then looked at Elijah with a shrug.

“I never blamed him. Or any of them. Except for her. It wasn’t their fault. And they always found a way to make me feel better, they always brought me presents and stuff.”

And they’d always made him feel special, he could always count on his sibs. Until Alaric had found him – and he’d left them. That was something he couldn’t talk about, it was too painful.

“I love them, all of them. I don’t know what I would have done without them.”

Housewarming | Nik & Elijah

wemadeourselvesmonsters:

“I’m glad no matter which world I’m in I am an over-protective big brother. It’s a comfort, actually.” He chuckled about it. “Seventeen, that was so long ago for me. I can barely recall it anymore.” Elijah’s expression went thoughtful. “Though I do know I was in love then and I swore it was forever.” Of course, it was not. It never was.

Elijah snorted, the sound undignified. “I could kick Alaric’s ass if he treats you wrong. I think it sounds like a good enough threat for him.” He would for sure punch the ever loving hell out of Alaric if he hurt Nik. He would not tolerate that. Even if he thought he would like being Alaric’s friend.

He frowned at Nik, wishing he could take those memories from him. His Niklaus was emotionally stunted because of their father, he was broken. At least Nik did not have a thousand years of Mikael to overcome, but even one was too much. “She was not strong enough to leave him. She would be left without support. And I think she loved him.” The Original looked away. “She loved us so much when we were human. Then she turned us into what we are and hated us from that moment on.  She used to be a good mother.” It was easier to talk about her before all the death.

“Of course. It’s not been a thousand years of loneliness, Nik. I had Katerina for a while. Celeste in New Orleans.” He smiled a bit at him. “I’ve had love. It hurts when it’s gone, but I have to keep going on.” He shook his head. “Do not apologize. I’m not so easy to hurt as that.” Elijah smiled softly. “I’m glad you’re here, that we’ve found each other.”

Nik cocked his head, regarding Elijah with a thoughtful look.

“I think love works. Forever. You just have to find the right person.” He grinned and winked at him. “And maybe not live longer than a normal human. Not sure if it would work for thousand years, guess that would have to be one hell of a person to stay together with for that long.”

Of course, he and Alaric, they were forever, there was not a single doubt about it in his mind.

Elijah’s threat made him laugh.

“That will never happen, not saying he’s a saint, but he’d never -” He broke off, shaking his head. “Nevermind, guess I should stop talking like that. He makes me happy, he’s the perfect mate for me. Always will be, no matter which universe I go to.”

It was what he told himself sometimes, that his mother didn’t have a choice, that she had to stay with Mikael, that leaving him would have changed their lives too much – that she didn’t really want to stay with him. But then he always started thinking about how his own happiness should have been reason enough for her to leave, that she should have done it for him to keep him safe, that a mother should always put her children above anything else… And that was always the point where he had to stop and distract himself with something because it was just too painful.

“She could have stopped him so many times, she could have done something, but she never did. I can’t forgive her, not anymore… But… She’s no longer part of my life. Not here, not where I come from… Ric and my friends, they are my family. And they look out for me.”