Who: Elijah and Laurence What: A random run-in at a coffee shop and are exceedingly polite at one another Where: A coffee shop When: End of May, before Elijah's transition Ratings/Warnings: Low/none Status: Completely
Unlike the rest of modern society, Elijah was a man of simple tastes. Of course he preferred the highest quality things but never in an ostentatious manner. Simple well-crafted pieces, like a perfectly fitted suit or a well made cappuccino pleased him most. None of this non-fat, half caf, five pumps of sugary syrup…. It was too much.
Stepping up to the counter of the local coffeehouse, he ordered. A cappuccino and some pain au chocolat. Dropping his change into the tip jar, he stepped away to find a table. It was more crowded than normal that morning and in an effort to allow a young woman room to pass, he brushed one of the small tables.
“I do beg your pardon,” Elijah turned to face the man whose table he had just rattled. “I’m not normally so clumsy.”
**
Laurence had been reading the news on his phone when someone brushed against his table, a plain black coffee and a scone set in front of him. He would have paid it hardly any mind if the man in question hadn’t apologized afterward, and so Laurence looked up from his phone. “It’s no trouble,” Laurence assured him, taking in the man’s appearance and then glancing around the coffee shop to realize that the place was filled nearly to the brim. “If you were looking for a place to sit, there is plenty of room at my table,” Laurence offered, always preferring company and conversation to sitting on his lonesome.
** Elijah hesitated a moment but nodded, setting his cup and plate down before sliding easily into the chair across from the other man. “Thank you,” he answered, offering a small smile.
“It will be a nice change of pace to have some conversation over breakfast, after all.”
**
Laurence turned off the screen of his phone and slipped it into his breast pocket. “I couldn’t agree more,” Laurence said. “And there’s no sense in you standing when I have a perfectly empty seat right here. I’m William Laurence.”
** “Elijah Mikaelson,” he answered with a slight incline of his head. “A pleasure.” This Laurence may or may not know the prominent Mikaelson family, but if not Elijah was hardly the type to flaunt anything.
“And what is your profession, Mr. Laurence?”
**
“Any relation to Mikael Mikaelson?” Laurence asked. He had made the acquaintance of the congressman, though Laurence had made it a point to become familiar with all who represented California.
“I am-” Laurence started, prepared to introduce himself as a captain in the Royal Navy, but he checked himself, “the liaison officer between the United States Navy and the British Royal Navy.”
** “My father,” Elijah allowed. “Though I hope you won’t judge me by him.” Successful though Mikael was, he was not the sort of man any of his children aspired to be. Most of them didn’t even aspire to love their mother, Finn being the exception to prove that rule.
“I am honored, then. I’m in finance, though nothing quite as important as your position.”
**
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Laurence assured him. “My own father is in politics as well, so I can certainly understand the position that it can put you in.” For the most part, Laurence agreed with his father’s political positions, though his father was hardly a warm man in his personal life. But it had often put Laurence, who rarely spoke of politics, in an awkward position.
“I would hardly say that. The world needs money; it’s a very respectable profession. How long have you been in finance?”
** Then it seemed he understood at least part of the struggle the Mikaelson siblings lived with. Not many would, after all. Most children seemed to have at least a sense of kindred with their parents. Elijah was not quite so lucky.
“Quite some time. Nearly a decade, in fact. I’ve just worked my way up in the world a bit. I manage a hedge fund. And you’re being kind. The world also needs protection, a task at which the naval forces excel.
**
“Perhaps we can agree that both jobs are of equal import,” Laurence said with a smile. He had no interest in getting into an argument on the matter. The protections that the navy offered the world were important indeed, but so was economic stability. As the third son, Laurence wasn’t set to inherit much, of any, of his father’s wealth, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t grown up seeing just how important it was to manage properly.
“Have you always lived in the Orange County then?” he asked. It seemed likely, especially if his father was a congressman, but it never hurt to ask as opposed to making assumptions.
** “So stipulated.” Elijah was enjoying this conversation more than he had thought he would. It was nice to interact with someone whose temperament seemed more similar to his own than any of his siblings. And to not have to manage a rather sizeable ego.
A nod. “I have,” he confirmed. “I’m quite fond of it. There are certain eccentricities to be dealt with, though I’m sure that’s true of any place in the world. And, having lived elsewhere, I did miss it. Boston, for all its charms, didn’t have quite the same welcoming air.”
**
Laurence’s lips quirked into a smile. He too found himself enjoying his conversation with Elijah. It was always a pleasure to meet another who could be considered something of a gentleman.
“I have been all around the world, and they do all have their own quirks. Nothing quite like those of the Orange County, though.” It seemed that many of the Orange County residents were blind to the strange things that happened here though, and so he wouldn’t go into much detail lest Elijah mistook him for a madman. “But the people here are certainly the friendliest I’ve ever had the pleasure of encountering. I’ve not been able to make the acquaintance of the locals in other areas of the world with quite the ease that I’ve found here.”
** “Indeed,” Elijah answered, a slight smile spreading. “Though it seems to have become all the quirkier since I was a child. In fact I’m rather amazed that any outsider would decide to stay. Though I do suppose that the ambiance offers a certain appeal.” Amid trips to the far past and other strange happenings.
“As I said, it is home to me...and I have a rather large family here, as well.”
**
“I’m afraid some of us don’t have any choice but to stay,” Laurence said, though he hoped that the joking tone in his voice was obvious. For all the strangeness, Orange County did have a certain charm about it that he found near irresistible. It felt like home in a way that no where but the sea had felt before, and while he loved England with all his heart, with his entire being, he found that he wished to stay in California more than he desired to go back home.
“Is that so? Lots of siblings, or do you have a large extended family?” he asked.
** “Because it’s enchanted you so entirely?” Elijah questioned, eyes twinkling as he looked across the table. “There is something almost...magical about it.” A careful turn of phrase that would mean nothing to the uninitiated. And for those who had experienced Orange County’s quirks, it meant so much more.
“Quite a few siblings. No extended family to speak of but my brothers and sisters are rather close.”
**
It was a curious turn of phrase, and one that Laurence was sure that he could read more deeply into. “I’ve heard claim that it’s the home of the most magical place on Earth,” he said, a little teasingly. “Though I would think that most of the people who claim that aren’t quite aware of all the strangeness that happens here on a regular basis. I’ve experienced some of the peculiarities myself.” More than some of them. When he’d moved to the OC the first time, all he had been aware of were the dreams, but between the killer rabbits and the strange, prehistoric dream he’d shared with a young woman, he was quickly learning that it wasn’t limited to only that.
“That sounds nice,” he said. “I have two older brothers myself, though I’m afraid we’re not as close as we could otherwise be.” His eldest brother had been trained by their father to be his heir, and his middle brother had gone on to join the church at their father’s wish. Laurence himself had defied his father’s desire for him to join his brother in the clergy, and had been at sea for most of his life since he was sixteen. Still, he was sure that, had he ever required their assistance, his brothers would help him with no questions asked.
** “In more ways than one,” Elijah returned, the corners of his lips turning up. “You’re quite right, though. Most people who say such aren’t aware of any of the happenings that seem to interrupt our lives on a somewhat regular basis.
“I am closer to some of my siblings than others,” Elijah allowed. “But that is surely always the case. And my younger brothers can be…”. He hesitated a moment, trying to find a politic word. “Trying.” Perhaps not so politic.
**
The corner of Laurence’s lips twitched upward, wondering if his own elder brothers had ever used such words to describe him. Most likely they had, back when he had been younger and trying so hard to enlist despite his father’s wishes. It was the way of siblings, he supposed.
“So I take it you have the dreams as well, then?” he ventured.
** “I have,” Elijah confessed. “An entirely different life from my current one though, for better or worse, my family remained the same.”
His head tilted in curiosity, studying Laurence. “Is it the same for you? The same players but a different life?”
**
“To some extent,” Laurence said. “My family is much the same, as is my former lieutenant and my ex-fiance.” And in both worlds, the engagement had been ended due to his career. In his dreams, she had been fine with him being in the Navy, though she had not been willing to accept his transfer to the Ariel Corps, for which he could hardly blame her. Here, his time away had grown to be too much for her, which again was something he couldn’t blame her for, though he still felt some resentment toward it, along with the guilt associated with resenting her. “I’ve yet to meet any of the others from my dreams in the waking world, however. I’m given to understand that there are quite a few people who share dreams, though I’ve never met another who shares them with me.”
** “That must be difficult.” Having his family there, knowing they were going through the same things he was and experiencing the same dreams, at least in large part, made it more bearable. Going through everything alone was almost unfathomable.
“I have been quite lucky in that respect. And, though we have only just met, if ever you need someone who might understand the trials associated with this double life, I would be honored to offer my assistance. Even if it’s something as simple as coffee.
**
“It can be trying at times,” Laurence said. There were several beings from his dreams that he wished he could speak to. While his dreams hadn’t been particularly traumatic thus far, it still felt lonely that there was no one who experienced them alongside him.
He smiled then, gratefully. “I think I would like that very much, Mr. Mikaelson. Perhaps we might exchange numbers?”
** “I can only imagine.” Elijah’s dreams had been toward the traumatic end of the spectrum. An abusive father, forced to change into a monster by a witchy mother, a thousand years of running whilst dealing with familial drama…. It was most definitely a good thing that Elijah had something of a support system in place. Even if Laurence’s dreams weren’t at the same level of intensity, it must have been horrible to not have someone who understood.
“Of course,” he nodded, removing his cell phone from his breast pocket.