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#also it's 3am so this is not proof read and I'm tired
robinswise · 11 months
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okayyyy unpopular opinion that will more then likely turn into a rant!
EDDIE 'THE FREAK' MUNSON IS THE BANE OF MY EXISTENCE
AAAAAA
ok.
I. Do. Not. Like. Eddie. Munson.
Just to get this out of the way, I don't hate Joseph Quinn at all, he's a great actor, but I hate Eddie.
OKAY I NEED TO ACTUALLY GET TO THE POINT-
Eddie is an asshole
Why couldn't he push the dnd campaign to a different day? Is there a reason? I don't think there was, I don't remember there being one and when I googled it, sure enough, there doesn't seem to be a reason.
Really couldn't his role have been given to pretty much any of the characters?
Mike.
Lucas.
Dustin.
Jonathan would've made the most sense (to me) if he wasn't in Cali (in season 1 we know some people thought Jonathan might've k!lled Will, so they could've thought he did the same to Chrissy)
Even Steve.
Honestly, even Max could've been given the role
Also, I don't dislike most people who like Eddie, alot of them are just really obsessed (like a scary level of obsession)
ALSO STEDDIE-
I posted about them positively one time a while ago but no I do not ship them.
The context for that post was that I didn't hate Steddie - at the time I even vaguely liked them (or more specifically, I liked the way that certain people wrote them) but I didn't ship them, they just made the most sense for that specific idea and I didn't hate them at the time.
I was reading something that was part of a longer series of posts and the person had hinted that Stonathan would be in it but then suddenly Eddie appeared and Steddie was heavily implied - which normally wouldn't be an issue but they didn't tag it with Eddie or Steddie.
Anyways, Argyle is in my opinion the better character added in season 4.
Another thing, it didn't bother me initially but Eddie stans acting like Eddie and Dustin's friendship is so unique is really annoying to me-
Because- no- like sure, he's close with Eddie, but the friendship is not unique whatsoever, in terms of older brother like friends he had Steve, in terms of outcast nerds who like dnd he had the party, and in terms of friends with attitude problems he had Mike and Max
Also, was his death really all that shocking? It fit the st formula perfectly! Introduce a new character just to k!ll them off
Benny
Barb
Bob
Billy
Even in search 4 we got Chrissy Fred and Patrick
About his crazy fans - not all are like this, I've met some genuinely nice Eddie fans who've written genuinely good Steddie ficlets - but was sending death threats necessary? Because I just don't get why that whole thing happened.
I think Eddie coming back in any form other then a flashback or Vecna vision would just maks me upset tbh, like actually, what would be the point? They already pulled "look he's actually alive!" Trick with Hopper (and to an extent, Will) so doing it a third time (even for such a fan favorite) would just feel lazy to me
Also, in my opinion, Will would dislike Eddie, so many people say that Will would love him but to me, I feel like it would be very out of character for him to like Eddie (knowing that Will doesn't like extra attention - at least not from people who might judge and/or ridicule him - and Eddie actively draws it)
I feel like the fact we only got a reaction to Eddie's death from Dustin and Wayne is really telling as to how little importance he actually had, because even Mike who was friends with Eddie didn't know about his death - or at least his reaction wasn't important enough to show.
I found Eddie's guitar solo to be very pointless and even rather boring.
Also, there are people who ship Eddie with Billy?? Ew.
Even as someone who does not like Eddie at all I can confidently say that he deserves better and would probably not fall for that walking piece of dog shit (once again, I don't hate Dacre Montgomery I just hate Billy)
Anyways, in short, I don't mind Joseph Quinn or Eddie's fans, I know there's definitely worse characters in the show, and at the end of the day I'm just a nerd on the internet who's been fixated on the same subject for probably way to long so it's fine to have a different opinion then me
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shigarakisslutbag · 7 months
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This isnt directly a request but if you do end up getting inspiration out of this then im glad! (wouldn't complain lol) Imagine how Shiggy would act if some villain with a big loving heart came in and just- somewhat adopted him. Shiggy gets injured? They're there soothing and scolding him. Ranting about video games or heroes? They're patiently listening. Makes my heart so happy negl.
Omg anon I actually really like this idea lol. I have no idea how I would write it as a fic or even organized headcanons BUT I will most certainly give you my disorganized thoughts on this because I have no self control.
APOLOGIES because I'm writing this at 1:33pm and I am very tired (but will likely not sleep until 3am.), THEREFORE, I probably have many typos because I didn't proof read an I am so sorry lol. Anyways, hope you enjoy my thoughts on this, feel free to add anything, I don't mind going back and forth on this topic (this goes for anyone btw! Not just anon. I love hearing everyone's thoughts on concepts I write for)
I feel like in this scenario of reader being a villain, reader's motives are either out of spite towards their hatred for capitalism or they're just kind of... goofy...and unhinged... in a bad way .. thatcopsandheroesdontlike YOU GET THE PICTURE OK? (Use your imagination bestie)
But regaRDLESS, you have a huge soft spot (and maybe some hard spots;) ) for shigaraki.
Which actually just ends up with you having a lot of compassion and care towards him. You can tell he's been through a lot. anyone can. and seeing him having clear struggles in his physical life and internal conflicts, you can't help but want to, well, help him.
I won't go into a huge back story because I simply... am tired LOL. But somewhere along the way shigaraki let you grace him with your presence.
So now you're here with your adopted introverted son and guiding him through his life full of terrorism, tyrants, and genocide 🫶 (you don't quite understand how he's both introverted and a menace to society at the same time. Shigaraki is what happens when an introvert just gets really fed up with capitalism ig)
BUT I DIGRESS
Shigaraki actually really appreciates you're presence. Will he admit it? FUCK NO LMAO. he'd rather twist his eyelids off and eat them before telling your annoying ass he appreciates you. But he does. Just trust me, he does.
Besides spinner, no one really listens to his rants about video games, players, the fall of society. Dabi refers to him as "a cartoon villain on heroin who monologues " shigaraki didn't like that very much
But you listen. You really listen. You ask him questions, you validate his feelings and concerns, you make sure he knows that he's making progress, ect. You don't just hear what he says, you listen. You engage. Which is something he's needed for a very long time.
Especially when he gets injured, is when he gets the most attention from you. Honestly sometimes he wants to hurt himself just hear you cry over him LOL. He's low-key obsessed with you but don't ever bring it up if you notice.
Like the one time he came back to the bar after the U.S.J incident, all bloody with bullets wounds, you were... not handling it well to say the least. Lol. Shigaraki was fine, just chilling on the floor cursing the hero bastards, as he calls them. But you were "dramatic" as shigaraki says. "I'll be fine I'll just stick some bread in bullet holes and cover them with plastic wrap"
???
????!!!!
SHIGARAKI YOU SUPID FUCK
You, much to his dismay, disinfected the wound with alcohol and with kurogiris help stitched up the wounds and wrapped them with a compression bandage and made him rest while checking in every so often to change out his gauze and bandages and cleaning the wounds again.
You also checked in quite a bit to make sure he was hydrated (with water because all the idiot drinks are energy drinks and alcohol)
Going back to listening to his interests, you both share some of the same interests so it helps a lot with your bond with the leader of the league. Even political views.
He listens to you too, even if he doesn't understand some of your interests or is very knowledgeable on certain topics you enjoy, he loves listening to you. He actually thinks your way of speaking and the way your voice sounds is very, very cute. But again, he'll never tell you. He's too embarrassed to and doesn't want to ruin,,,, whatever reputation he thinks he has.
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governmentcoverups · 2 years
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Season 4 vol 2 spoilers kinda (random thoughts or things that happened idk read if your bored.)
So what duffers, you were just queerbaiting all along? The parallels, the byler evidence, all of it for nothing? Before volume 2 I had no doubt about byler and I 100% thought it was gonna be cannon but the love confession threw me off and I'm in tears rn, byler has been one of my #1 ships since last year. I can't imagine how other bylers feel who have been in the fandom since the beginning of the show. The 210+ page slides of byler? Mike pinning, the Mike voice, 'crazy together', Everything just for it to be nothing?
I don't understand, I had so much hope and I wasn't prepared for that scene. I went in there thinking Mike couldn't say it. What throws me off is how Mike says he loved el since they first met, but then Mike pushed el away because he thought she lied about finding will at the quarry. Also heros playing during that one song line when hugging his mom?
Obviously there's a theory about Mike only liking El when she looks like a boy but idk. Bylers, do not lose hope, maybe there's a ton of proof in season 4.
Atleast we got half host will in Hawkins. That to me makes me a bit happy. It disappointed me though, I feel like it was an average season, not really that dark to me like the duffers were saying. Also will didn't come out. We were left on the weirdest cliff hanger.
Did you see how the romantic pairings were at the end when el is picking up the dead flower? J0pp3r, byler and j4ncy, idk could be a coincidence because I don't really believe in those pairing things that much.
It's disappointing to me how I woke up early yesterday morning due to a family matter and couldn't go back to sleep and I'm still not the tiniest bit tired - I've been up for like 24 hours.
Poor Eddie, atleast he died a hero. I think max is gonna be okay because everyone else who was put into a coma was okay, like Henry and if I remember correctly El was put into one too.
Around 2:58-59am before stranger things me and my friend were up waiting for it over text and I said I was having hiccups because I was and she had them too and right at 3am they stopped, that was weird. tell me If you had them too so like we know the duffers sold their soul or sum - im jk but the hiccup thing is weird.
Also I was crying over the love confession when my cat started to meow and I was like whatt? Because I thought she needed food or something and no, there was a frog and it was wet and it basically came out of the middle of nowhere, I'm not joking.
The way Mike didn't notice will was basically sobbing when he gave the painting - why not comfort your friend or ask why he's crying, or did he understand? Jonathan definitely understood and why bring up the Lego thing to talk about it?
Also Jason is just deed now? He got ripped apart by the gate😗✌
I really want will to be a villain now, from how obvious his feelings are and how heartbroken he was in s3 and like tryna hide it or sum in s4(honestly I saw him being a shipper but I didn't think it was gonna be like that) he deserves his actual villain arc but I don't think we'll get it since nothing good ever happens for us. And plus the timing is probably gonna skip like a week or so because of the big gate around Hawkins unless nothing happens but vecnas gonna strike again.
Also am I the only person missing how El brought Max back to life? Also what's with her now? The new her is cool and stuff but kinda scares me cause idk what she's doing. Go girlboss😘
Thanks Noah for trolling, we were rooting for you anyways
I think im gonna take a shower from all the stuff on my long sleeves and I might wash clothes to wear my sweet silk pjs. Wish you bylers luck. Thanks for coming to my (i hope your enjoying your chicken) ted talk.
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highgaarden · 7 years
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ok so bc I'm all like DON'T GIVE UP THE SUPERPOWERS wrt Caro rn I thought why not request a canon-compliant superhero non-AU for Caro where somewhere down the line she decides to ~use her powers for good~ and do the vigilante thing, mask and everything (no stupid impractical costume tho). Extra points if she and Bonnie form a whole Witch/Vampire superhero team. Klaus can read abt it in the paper and figure out it's Caro+Bonnie and be amused and be into it. ♥♥♥
i tried my best. also, i have no clue what’s going on in the originals, but from scraps i get an a very helpful explanation from my friend anne, i sort of got the gist of it, tried to work more of the plot into this, and then decided to just… not. much apologies, please be kind to my v. confused self should you decide to leave a review.
12:51;
or: a superheroes origin story in five parts. 
Klaus/Caroline, Bonnie/Damon | wc. 3705 | ch. 1/5
read on: AO3 / ff.net
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PartOne
InWhich Everybody’s Week Must Have Been Pretty Rough
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The weekend after Klaus escaped from his wall, he sat down in his studywith three bottles of liquor and double that amount of fresh blood, a steakcooked medium rare, and five years’ worth of newspapers to catch up with theworld.
Freya regarded him curiously. “You could have done away with the mess.We just ordered those new tablets.”
Rebekah was much ruder about the piles he left. She was probably stillmad she had had to miss four seasons of Supernaturalin order to save his skin.
Klaus didn’t answer them. He continued skimming the pages with aprevailing interest, rubbing ink and paper between his fingers. He soon foundthat he hadn’t missed much in his Marcel-imposed exile; that the mundanities oflife had persevered through the years.
His thoughts started to wonder when he was three-years deep into hiscatching up. Nothing caught his eye, and he was starting to feel the gratitudeof being able to sit in a comfortable armchair as opposed to being shackled toa floor dusted with rubble chip away.
Until he saw it.
He read the little opinion piece, then read it again, and a third timefor good measure.
And then he called Damon Salvatore.
At that point, not even Damon knew of their little hijinks despite havingmoved himself into their apartment. He used the pretence of “keeping an eye onthem” to make it past the front door. The living room became his sanctum santorum, and the couch he tookrefuge in constantly smelled like booze and Doritos.
Caroline was not happy with this arrangement, and made sure to be veryvocal about it every chance she got.
Sometimes it ranged from loud, to shrill, towake-your-neighbours-up-at-3am-because-Damon-you-fuck-you-left-your-underwear-in-my-laundry-basket piercing.
Tonight, Damon had the apartment to himself, and was glad for the peaceand quiet. Caroline was out on a date, and Bonnie was at the library borrowinga book. She was always at the library borrowing books, and he liked tellingpeople how bookish she was in a tone that was both patronizing and fond. It hadtaken some time, but he had finally perfected it.
In the middle of his Grey’sAnatomy rerun (“Denny? You chosea dying sack of meat over Alex? Really,Izzie?” he yelled at the tv), his phone rang.
It was Klaus. He hadn’t heard from the fucker in more than a decade, andwas immediately suspicious.
“City Morgue,” he answered cautiously.
“Just to be clear, you’re still second best,” came the familiar gout ofKlaus’s voice. “I only called you because Stefan’s number seems to not beworking, mate.”
“That’s ‘cause it’s not,” Damon said. “How do you still have mine?”
“If I wanted idle chit chat I would’ve resurrected Finn again.”
Damon muted the tv and got to his feet. “And yet here you are, makingidle chit chat.”
“I merely called to enquire about Caroline and Bonnie’s wellbeing.”
“They’re fine,” Damon said shortly.
“You best make sure they’re getting adequate rest for all thecrime-fighting they’re doing,” Klaus said, and killed the line.
Damon spat out his bourbon.
That’s how it all started, really.
Caroline was having a crummy night. The sole of her shoe had torn awayas she was chasing her assailant across the rooftops of Midtown, and it nowflapped with every step she took, and slowed her down considerably.
“I’m gonna get you, Raul!” she yelled, to make up for how she was losinghim, fast. “Your album sucked!”
Raul the Eurovision Vampire came to a screeching halt. He was screechingquite literally, because of all the insults Caroline had hurled at him in thepast week of stalking him, this one hurt the most.
“And your win last year?” Caroline continued as she hauled herself overa crumbling ledge. “Total pandering.”
Raul hissed and bared his fangs. “You know nothing of talent, sillygirl. If you did you wouldn’t be spending your nights in cowardice, hiding yourface with a gaudy mask. A poor man’s Catwoman.”
Caroline bristled, because it had taken her and Bonnie splurging on asewing course in Uptown to get their stitching just right.
“And you would’ve gotten more than a deal sponsoring mattresses afteryou won Eurovision,” she retorted, and Raul actually looked pained.
Actual, legit pain.
Caroline sighed. “Look, I’ll cut you a deal. See this stake here? Iwon’t stick it in your heart if you meet my conditions.”
Raul warily eyed the stake she was twirling between her fingers.Normally he would have told her to kiss his ass, but he was cornered, and hedidn’t fancy becoming a splat on the sidewalk.
That, and he was afraid of heights.
“And the conditions are?” he asked finally.
Caroline took a moment to rip the failing sole completely off her shoe.It came off with one clean pull, and when she looked up Raul was still there,which meant there was still hope for a redemption arc for him.
She gave him a winsome smile. “Do you have a pen?”
Bonnie slid in through her bedroom window, heady with glory. She hadgotten better at sneaking in and out at odd hours, but evidently not by much,since she managed to wake Damon up.
This was because he was in her bed when she threw herself on it.
“Damon, what the hell?”
Damon awoke with a snort. “A-ha! Proofof your foolhardy life choices!”
Bonnie rolled her eyes and unhooked her cape. She made a mental note to passCaroline twenty dollars. “Took you long enough to realize.”
“I am living with hoodwinks.”Damon pouted. “How could you not have let me in on this secret?”
“Damon, you helped me with laundry last week. You literally foldedpieces of my costume. It had my alter ego name on stitched across the front.”She swung her feet and walked to the paper partition by her dresser, where shewiggled out of her outfit safe from Damon’s prying eyes into a worn Whitmoresweater and blue shorts with lightning patterns on them.
“Are those anti-aging potions you’re brewing finally screwin’ with yourhead?” Damon was still on a roll. “You know how I had to find out? Klaus!”
“Klaus is alive?” Bonnie asked.
“Yes, and even in his state of barely living he ousted you and BlondeDistraction’s sly night crime-kicking.”
Bonnie started to respond, but then got sidetracked. “Blonde Distraction?”
“Uh – yeah.” He fiddled with his phone. “Blonde Distraction and FeistyFire.”
“That is fucking terrible,” Bonnie said mildly. “And not even ournames.”
“That’s what I call you in my blog, which I only update when I’m drunk. I’vebeen following you for years. Checkout the threads!” Damon waved his phone in her face.
“Are you drunk right now?” she asked.
“Yes,” Damon said sulkily, “but only half-stupid. You were never at thelibrary, were you?”
“Well, you were really sweet about it—”
“And you kept missing all those scrabble/pizza nights!” Damon howledinto his hands, betrayal gutting him like a fish.
“Damon,” Bonnie narrowed her eyes. “I’m tired. “The next time you spendthe night in my bed, I’m burning your brains out.”
“Reduced to being treated as one of your petty criminals,” Damonsniffed. “So be it. Our friendship always had an expiry date, huh?”
Damon slinked out of her room. Bonnie considered calling after him, butfigured she’d reason in the morning. For now, she had a huge bruise in her sideto nurse, and sleep was calling.
It started with scaring off new vampires from innocent clubgoers, andthen keeping the pasty creep-o’s who lived in the apartment adjacent to theirsin line when bodies started piling up in their shared dumpster.
Caroline hadn’t blown all her cash for an apartment in New York just forit to be crawling with the diseased, depravity and blood, so she took it uponherself to clean it up. An act of charity, if you will.
At night, she donned a mask and put on sensible boots. No stupidimpractical spandex for her, nor did she for a minute entertain midriff-baringleather, no matter how hot she might have looked.
Sipping from her thermos of warmed AB, she kneeled by stone gargoylesand prowled through the night. Afterwards she would either jump from rooftop torooftop, or practice her parkour, feeling invincible and (not gonna lie) reallyfucking cool.
At around 1am she got the read from Bonnie (in other words, Bonnietexted her in their coded-emoji) that their target for the night had arrived.
From five stories above she followed the sound of his footsteps throughthe alleyway, waiting to catch a heartbeat. When none came, she knew that hewas the one. His steps faltered when he heard a noise behind him. Caroline tookthe opportunity to jump down on him.
“Hello,” she smiled sweetly, when he was thrashing and spittingunderneath her. She was sitting on his back, which couldn’t be comfortable.
“Killing. Maiming. Money-laundering.” Bonnie came slowly from the mouthof the alleyway, her cape flowing behind her. “That last one’s kind of random,but the other shit we have on you—yikes.”
Caroline gathered his hair in her gloved hands and yanked hard. Thevampire cried out, enraged, but didn’t look away from her piercing gaze.
“You’ve got a locker full of civilians waiting like lambs forslaughter,” she said slowly, so he might not miss the threat in her voice.“Tell us where they are and you get to live.”
“I’m gonna have to call your bluff,” he rasped. “I’ve cut a pretty gooddeal, and ain’t no stinkin’ blonde and her twitchy sidekick are gonna stop me.”
Bonnie’s face darkened.
“Oooh,” Caroline whistled. “Bad choice of words there, bud. She’s not mysidekick. We’re partners. I kick ass, she takes names. Sometimes I take names,and she kicks ass. Though ‘kick’ might not be the right verb here…”
“I prefer not having to touch you scum,” Bonnie said, and from herfingers erupted flames.
Caroline smiled, eyes shining brightly in the fear that Bonnie hadincited into the now-still vampire.
“What are vampires most afraid of?” Caroline whispered into his fear.
“Werewolf venom.”
Caroline clicks her tongue. “No, the other thing.”
The vampire, cold sweat on his forehead, hesitated. ‘Uh—stakes?”
Caroline knuckled the base of his skull. “Fire, you moron. She’s waving it right in your face!”
It didn’t help that he passed out immediately.
Bonnie sighed and dropped her hands. The alley dimmed once again. “Canwe talk about this whole intimidation tactic thing?”
Caroline refused to look her in the eye.
It took about twenty minutes for him to come to, by which time Carolinehad gotten bored of sitting on his back and had decided to chain him to thedumpster instead.
After they heckled and tortured the information out of him, Carolinepulled out the usual contract – stating that no further harm would come to himfrom their hands if he got the hell out of the city and signed along the dottedline – when he started monologueing and posturing in a way that was really, really familiar.
Caroline pulled the pen away from his trembling grasp for it. Shesquinted in the dark alley, trying to make out his eyes.
“Caroline?” Bonnie asked, but Caroline barely heard.
The vampire was still monologueing, and Caroline felt a rising anger.She knew a compelled gaze anywhere.
“Damn it, Bon.”
Her fist swung out of her own accord, knocking the vampire out cold.There was a satisfying crack accompanying the slump of his neck, and Carolinedusted her hands off.
Bonnie eyed his body with distaste. “Harsh, Care. Don’t you usually waitfor them to sign the contract first?”
True to his word, Damon had indeed started a blog following the accountsof Blonde Distraction and Feisty Fire (not their actual names, but given thefact that he only ever blogged when he was drunk, he never bothered to learntheir real names) and their vigilante crime-fighting on his blog, WatchOutVillainz.com.
It was a smorgasbord of garish colour, Comic Sans, and badly-wordedheadings.
Klaus would never admit it, but he loved reading it.
He followed it with the same tenacity Caroline had for new episodes ofThe Bachelor, and one night even set up a username for himself to partake inthe lengthy discussions over who Blonde Distraction and Feisty Fire might be.
His username was entirely anonymous, and he enjoyed having a persona toparade as he took down trolls and ventured the tags, verbally maiming anyoneand everyone who dared speak ill of Blonde Distraction or Feisty Fire.
Granted, he didn’t care much for the witch, but thought that Carolinewould like it if he were to stand up for her too, so he did.
Damon showed up at his hotel room one night sullen-faced. “Get off mywebsite.”
“Make me,” Klaus said, typing progressively faster on his keyboard.
Damon failed to make him, and returned home, turning all his loyalfollowers on one hybrid_master_127. Unfortunately, Klaus seemed to have accrueda cluster of minions of his own in his short time of perusingWatchOutVillainz.com, and they threatened to hack into the mainframe of one ofhis life’s most precious work.
Damon, having limited knowledge of IT, highly doubted the existence of amainframe and whether or not it could be hacked.
In the end decided to play it safe, and Klaus stayed.
The way Caroline figured out it was Klaus who had been sending thugvamps her way was almost as fast as him discovering their true identities asthe Vigilantes of the Manhattan Bridge Overpass.
A week after Damon had almost thrashed his hotel room, Klaus opens thedoor to his magnificently ransacked quarters. Caroline was sitting on whatappeared to be the cracked granite of his bathtub, in his living room, with herlegs crossed. She was still in her mask and boots.
“What is wrong with you?” sheyelled. “Why can’t you pick up the phone and call like a normal person?”
“That would have ruined the fun,” Klaus replied. “Besides, would youhave answered?”
Caroline hesitated.
“I thought so.”
“You never answered any of mycalls.”
“I was chained up in a wall, love.”
Caroline considered this. “Hm.”
Klaus picked his way towards her, straightening lamps as he went. Minutegoosefeathers floated about his shoulders; the pillows had all been spearedonto the ceiling fan like kebabs. “It was all too easy to suss out it was you.”
Caroline refused to bite. Instead, she stayed silent, watching him comecloser and closer.
“You offered them redemption instead of gutting them alive, in documentform to boot.” Klaus sounded reproachful and he righted an upset table to hidehis exasperation. “Furthermore, Bonnie made no secret of her pyromanicabilities. She was always very artful with that certain power of hers.”
“You compelled yourself a massacre just to draw me out,” she hissed. “Ihappen to take my craft very seriously—”
“I know, love. I’m not laughing.” And indeed he wasn’t. In fact, he sortof admired the spirit in which she undertook her task. In all honesty, he believedthis to be a phase—it took him a while to process the fact that she’d chosen tospend her eternity (or at least, a significant early part of it) doing this.
“So why are you here?” Caroline asked.
“Because.” He paused. Why was hehere? Papa Tunde’s torment had left him withered and raw; Hayley and Freya hadgone to the ends of the earth to release him and when he’d woken up Hope waswell in her teen years. Despite the world staying to same, too much of what hecared about had changed. He needed—he needed to make sure, needed to see forhimself, how she was.
Perhaps she was right. A phone call would have worked better.
“I wanted to offer my services,” is what he decided on at last.
Caroline snorted so loud he thought it was a piece of his ceiling fallingon them.
“I know all the criminals in this city,” he insisted, dogging her downthe street. Caroline walked remarkably fast in the night. She had left her maskin the debris of his room, stating she had ‘plenty more’.
“I’d rather go to vampire jail,” she told him sedately.
“Ah, that rather poorly masked vampire rehab you set up,” he said,falling into step with her. “The Elizabeth-Bill Institute for the MorallyBankrupt. I was just short of amused as to what an easy target you madeyourself.”
“And yet the only person who managed to figure it all out was you,” shesaid.
“Well—Kol did, too. We were playing crime-bingo with your exploits.”Klaus grinned. “I was one money-launder away from a win, so I decided to pullthings to my favour.”
“I’ll wall you in myself,” she seethed.
“Oh, where will you possibly find the time in between all thiscrime-fighting?”
Caroline whipped around, fangs bared. “Leave me alone, Klaus.”
“How are the twins?” he asked gently.
“None of your business.”
“They should be around Hope’s age, shouldn’t they?”
“Stop talking about them.”
Caroline took a detour through an alleyway, and with more agility thanKlaus expected, climbed her way up the side of a building, all to get away fromhim.
Klaus weighed his options, then hefted himself up after her.
He found her sitting on a rooftop edge, the city pulsating beneath them.He sat down beside her and was surprised when she offered him a thermos ofblood. It was still warm.
“Where were you keeping that?” he asked admiringly, studying her outfit.
She sent him a look that could kill, and went back to countingheadlights. “Please don’t tell anyone,” she said quietly, after a while.
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” he said. He cleared his throat and glanced ather. “When did it start?”
Caroline shuts her eyes. “A few years ago. Josie and Lizzie were growingup pretty fast. Alaric—he, well. Didn’t want me to have…” she gestured vaguely,“words were exchanged. I decided that if I could do my part to help in anyother way, I’d do it.”
“You’ll soon be bored with the futility of it, I imagine.”
“I’ve got an end goal in mind,” she said absently.
After a fashion he realized she had stopped counting headlights and wasfocused on a window in the building across the cobweb of streets. Two girls,remarkably alike, were pulling the curtains closed for the night.
“They’re nocturnal creatures,” he said softly. “If I could venture a guess,just like their mother.”
Caroline didn’t answer. Instead, she rested her head on his shoulder. Hestiffened in surprise, but she didn’t comment on it, neither did she move away.“Next time, just call. You can’t base my reactions on the girl you knew tenyears ago.”
“Some things will always remain singular,” he said. He wasn’t speakingabout her. She hoped she saw it in the look he was giving her.
Caroline pulled away slowly. For a long time, she only looked at him.Klaus took a chance and reached for her hand, after which she tangled herfingers in his. They stayed that way for only a short moment, but the feelingof her palm, soft in his, lingered long after she’d slid her thermos back intoits hiding place on her body and left.
Damon had taken to fixing them breakfast in the wee hours of the morningwhen they finally returned. He reasoned that it was the least he could do, whatwith all the slander he keeps slinging their way on his website.
“To blindside the scrutinizing eyes of the public!” he insisted,flipping pancakes.
However, when Caroline returned home with an extra guest, his spatulafell onto the island with a smack.
“I refuse to feed him,” he told Bonnie. So offended was he that Carolinehad brought Klaus home that he refused to speak to Caroline too. Looking rightthrough them, he pointed out, “And I only made pancakes for three.”
Damon gestured angrily at the table, where three immaculate plates piledhigh with pancakes and cream had been set.
Klaus scowled. “But there’s four more, burning, by the way, on theskillet.” He tried not to sound too indignant.
“You kidding me? These are all for Bonnie!”
As the two immortal beings squabbled, Caroline speared a triangle ofpancake with her fork. Bonnie sipped her glass of orange juice. It felt strangefor the apartment to be so full, especially with the presence of Damon’s entireliquor cabinet dotting every corner.
Klaus finally wrestled himself a seat next to Caroline, but not beforeflicking off Damon’s shirt that had been slung over the back of the chair with dispassion.
“That’s it! I’m done! You can make breakfast yourselves from now on!” Damon yanked off his apron and was gonewith a huff.
“Does this happen a lot?” Klaus enquired, sniffing around a piece ofbacon.
“More times than you can imagine,” Bonnie said.
In the coming days, Klaus visited more often. His hotel room had beenproperly demolished, he took to reminding Caroline, who sighed and held out atowel for him to use her shower.
Bonnie delighted in the fact that she now has leverage against having abroody roommate/parasite, seeing as Caroline had one of her own now, too.
Damon continued to be miserable.
Klaus continued to goad them with his offer.
Caroline and Bonnie continued their crime-fighting.
“Let’s not make this routine,” Bonnie told Caroline as she garrotted avampire who had been hell-bent on chowing down on a family of four. “By nextweek we kick them out.”
“You got it, Bon,” Caroline said, waving the contract in the chokingvampire’s face. “We’re burning the couch. And can we finally talk about that cape of yours?”
Bonnie rolled her eyes, but nodded her agreement as the vampire veryreluctantly signed her name along the dotted line.
tbc
9B��`
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