#and the fact that this sexy bastard is a COIN COLLECTOR!!! and he has a dog named dime <3 | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

supremeuppityone · 6 years

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The Old Megalomaniac and the Sea

This was written for KC Week Day 8. Klaus isn’t entirely sure how he ended up on a dolphin-watching tour, but the mysterious blonde captain is rather enchanting and the gentle waves are quite relaxing...almost like magic.

“Luck is a thing that comes in many forms and who can recognize her?”

― Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea

An army of dolphins. The idea had merit, Klaus thought to himself as he recalled the utter stupidity of the hybrids he’d sired in preparation for the battle against Mikael. He leaned against the padded bench seat of the pontoon boat, an unusual calmness settling over him as he watched the gentle rise and fall of the waves as several dolphins frolicked in the distance.

Klaus basked in the blinding lights as he stood on the stage, addressing the crowd as he mockingly taunted the Mystic Falls group who no doubt would attempt to foil his plans. “Thank you for being here with me to celebrate! It’s been a long time coming!” As he basked in the sunlight, he recalled the anticipation he felt that night, knowing that his father would die at his hand, despite whatever lies the Mystic Falls group tried to feed him about Mikael already being dead.

He blinked, realizing that he couldn’t quite recall how he came to be sitting alone in a boat on what appeared to be the Gulf. A soft laugh behind him gave him pause. As he turned around, he was greeted by a pair of blue eyes that regarded him in amusement. Tipping the brim of her faded baseball cap emblazoned with, “Good vibes happen on the tides,” she said, “You’ve been deep in thought for awhile. Is everything ok?”

While Klaus couldn’t exactly recall how he came to be there, he did recognize the stunning blonde at the wheel. After he’d broken his curse and he’d set out in search of werewolves, he’d made his way to Florida and a charming coastal town had proven to be home to a few werewolves he could add to his army. As he’d wandered among the docks to seek out his recruits who were fishermen by trade, his attention had been diverted by a lovely blonde rinsing off a boat that gave dolphin-watching tours.

His attempts to chat her up had been frustrating as she’d narrowed those fierce blue eyes of hers and gave him the brush off each time. Finally, he’d grumbled that he was even willing to go on her bloody tourist trap cruise if it meant he could get to know her, but the feisty boat captain had smiled an oddly sad smile and replied enigmatically, “It’s not time.”

He’d been both confused and charmed by the mysterious woman, but then Stefan had lured him back to Mystic Falls by claiming Mikael was dead, and he had no choice but to take his freshly made hybrids and leave. He’d been intending to seek her out again once he’d eliminated the threat of Mikael for good, and he was pleased to see he’d clearly followed through on the promise he’d made to himself.

Realizing he’d been staring at the beautiful woman for a shade longer than was deemed polite, Klaus shyly ducked his curly head, answering with, “I can honestly say sweetheart I feel more peaceful than I have in years.” He added flirtatiously, “It must be your superior seafaring abilities, sweetheart.”

She laughed in delight, her twin blonde braids flirting with the thin straps of her black tank top. “Usually the people I transport aren’t nearly as charming as you seem to be. You can call me Caroline.” She jerked her thumb behind her, pointing to two enormous black dogs that seemed to be the result of a Staffordshire shagging a bulldozer. “And that’s Acheron and Styx.”

He blinked in surprise. How the bloody hell had he not sensed those beasts? “Interesting names for your companions. A fan of the classics, Caroline?”

“You could say that,” she replied with a saucy wink that made him twitch pleasurably.

Smoothly sliding over to the bench seat across from where she was driving the boat, he told her with a sexy smirk, “You can call me Klaus. And you could say I am a classic, love.” The Gulf breeze brought an unexpected chill with it, sending a shiver down his spine as he recalled Mikael’s taunts: “The big bad wolf. You haven't changed. Still hiding behind your playthings like a coward.”

“Something on your mind, cheeky classic guy,” Caroline asked curiously, bringing him out of his dark thoughts.

Klaus sighed, letting his gaze drift to the horizon, where the endless blue water seemed to beckon him. “Family troubles,” he offered, hating the hurt that tinged his voice as Mikael’s voice echoed in his mind: “Nobody cares about you any more, boy! What do you have other than those whose loyalty you forced? No one.”

She nodded knowingly. “Yeah, I know what you mean. My parents are the personification of primordial darkness.”

Taking in the way the sun gleamed in her hair and the brightness of her smile, he snorted derisively. “Rubbish. You’re a creature of light, anyone could see that.”

The blush that stained her cheeks was immensely gratifying. Clearly embarrassed by his flirtation, she hastily asked, “What about you then? Which relative is giving you trouble?”

Frowning at the reminder, Klaus answered, “My father. Well, the bastard I’d thought was my father. We recently had a...battle and despite knowing that the vendetta has been settled, I somehow still feel as though things are unfinished.” He was surprised at how easily the words tumbled from his lips, no regrets at having revealed his innermost concerns. As the waves gently rocked the boat, the peaceful calm returned, and he found himself returning Caroline’s soft smile.

“I’ve seen my share of people with unfinished business,” she mused, sliding a finger along the opening of a dusty jar full of coins, “It’s easy for people to get lost down here.” Scrunching her nose adorably at him, she added, “You don’t seem the type though — there’s an inner strength you have that’s unusual in someone so young.”

He chuckled at her ridiculous comment, closing his eyes momentarily at the curious noise the edge of the glass made as she continued to trace it with her finger. It was almost like a melody, one he couldn’t quite place but it felt like home. When he looked at her again, he was pleased to catch her returning his gaze with something akin to curiosity and perhaps even a hint of lust. “You flatter me, love. Although I must confess I’m a bit older than I look.”

A metallic glint from a sunbeam caught his attention, and he noticed that the jar contained a variety of coins from all over the world. He was taken by surprise when he realized he didn’t recognize some of them, which appeared quite old. Arching a brow, he gestured toward the jar, “That’s quite the coin collection you have, sweetheart.”

“People pay what they can afford,” Caroline answered with a shrug, “you could say I’m a collector.”

Klaus was surprised by his wistful tone when he admitted, “In my time, I was a collector as well. Rare and beautiful artwork, some of which I flatter myself into thinking I’d inspired.”

“And some of which you created yourself,” she said shrewdly, casually steering the boat as it gliding smoothly along the current. Noting his surprise, she explained, “You’re obviously a creator; I could sense it.”

Such an intuitive creature, he thought. He wondered what else she could sense about him. He was surprised when Acheron and Styx suddenly approached him, one placing its massive head on his knee and the other nudging his hand until he started petting him. Sighing contentedly, he scratched behind their ears, not even minding the puddles of drool seeping into his clothes. Once he broke his curse and became a hybrid, he’d found that most animals were wary of him, sensing his ‘otherness’ and marking him as an even larger threat than when he was an Original vampire. However, these two beasts showed no signs of nervousness; in fact, whenever he tried to stop petting them, they seemed to take turns nudging him with a cold, wet nose or insistent paw.

Noticing her pets’ antics, Caroline grumbled, “Acheron, Styx, down.” They immediately stopped pestering Klaus and lay on the floor between them, taking up all but a tiny sliver of space between their feet with their immense yet strangely calming presence.

He was silent as he considered Caroline’s companions along with her enigmatic words during the cruise. Normally, his hybrid senses delivered nearly everything he needed to know about a person, but for some reason, he felt off. While his millennia of experience told him he wasn’t in any danger from Caroline or her odd companions, he still understood that he was missing something. There was something ‘other’ about Caroline that he didn’t understand how he could’ve overlooked. Searching for clues, he hastily put together the dogs’ unusual names and the ancient coins he saw peeking through her tip jar, and finally guessed, “You’re a Nereid, aren’t you, love?”

“Because I have an affinity for the Gulf,” she asked with a knowing smile, “Trust me, anyone down here can make that claim; they wouldn’t put up with the ridiculous humidity otherwise.”

Shifting a bit underneath her flirtatious gaze, he responded gruffly, “Also your beauty, sweetheart. I’d consider it an honor if you’d permit me to paint you.”

“I think I’d like that,” she answered a bit breathlessly as she steered the boat toward a vibrant sunset. However, she grew unusually serious as she told him, “But I’m not a child of Nereus.”

Before Klaus could ask what troubled her, he was struck again by the echo in his mind, thinking back to some of his final words to Mikael as he threatened to end the doppelganger’s life: “My whole life you've underestimated me. If you kill her you lose your leverage. So, go ahead. Go on. Kill her. Come on, old man. Kill her. Kill her!” And then the Mystic Falls gang created a distraction as they double-crossed Mikael, while Klaus grappled for the white oak stake. Ending Mikael’s life had been his life’s quest for hundreds of years, and when he finally plunged that weapon into his cold, dead heart, he felt...odd. Why couldn’t he remember that moment? The details of his battle with Mikael were suspiciously blurry and he couldn’t understand why.

Suddenly realizing that they couldn’t possibly have been on the boat long enough for it to be sunset, not to mention that he’d never seen a sunset with ribbons of blackest night like the one they were heading toward, he carefully asked, “Then what are you, sweetheart?”

Caroline’s beautiful blue eyes darkened into twin glowing coals, reflecting the same darkness that threaded into the unusual sunset. As though sensing his disquiet, she placed a comforting hand on his arm, telling him, “Before time began, I was called Charon.” At his confused expression, she hastily explained, “The gods aren’t as the stories would have you believe. We appear as we choose. Tell me, Klaus, would you prefer to ferry lost souls to the underworld as a haggard, bitter old man, or a sassy little blonde with a fondness for dimpled bad boys?”

Her flirtations charmed him despite what he now knew deep in his soul to be the truth of his battle with Mikael. It was Mikael who had plunged the white oak stake into his heart. Mikael had killed him. Not ready to contemplate what that dark knowledge meant, he cleared his throat and flicked his gaze to the two enormous dogs at their feet, asking, “I don’t recall Charon having pets, love, wherever did you find them?”

Caroline chuckled, her twinkling eyes resuming their innocent blue as she told him, “Hades freaks out if Cerberus isn’t guarding the underworld at all times, so he stubbornly only lets me take two out of the three heads with me when I’m out on the boat.”

Blinking as the fog from his mind lifted, Klaus saw how the beasts merged into a two-headed dog. They whimpered, nudging his hands until he petted them once more, while a massive tail whipped against his legs with a force that would’ve knocked him down had he not already been sitting. With a sigh of resignation, Klaus asked her softly, “Mikael killed me. Now what is to become of me?”

Caroline’s powerful gaze studied him in a way that was far from unsettling. If anything, it drew him near and warmed him from top to bottom, igniting a flush across his cheeks that he was helpless to stop. Seeming to reach a decision, she nodded to herself and switched off the boat, the curious sunset before them fading away into glorious day once more. “You’re far too intriguing to be trapped in the underworld, Klaus. So, I’ve decided to revoke your boarding pass.”

She helped him to his feet, slinging her pale arms around his neck as she toyed with his dirty blonde curls. At his gobsmacked expression, she whispered, “So, go get your revenge. I can’t wait to watch you kick Mikael’s ass.”

As much as Klaus wanted to celebrate the fact that he would be given a second chance, an almost suffocating sadness gripped his heart. Barely believing the words that hastily tumbled from his lips, he protested, “But I want to stay here with you, sweetheart.”

Caroline pulled him in for a passionate kiss, both of them pouring everything left unsaid between them in that powerful moment of blissful connection. Pulling back slightly, she mumbled against his lips with a wicked smile, “Who said you’d be going alone? I’m long overdue for a vacation. And you better pack your paintbrush.”

#kcweek18 #klaroline fanfiction #Klaroline #uppity bitch fanfic

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