klaus mikaelson (howeverlong) wrote in carnaval_logs, |
Most didn't realize Klaus was capable of human emotion. Klaus thought that really, most people actually forgot he had been human. He grew up human, he had been an adult when his parents chose to turn him and his siblings into vampires. He'd had a brief lifetime's worth of humanity. He used to have so much compassion and empathy and love. For the most part, even Klaus chose to forget those things. Elijah was always quick to remind him, but he had been the only one over the centuries who refused to let those parts of Klaus vanish. For centuries, only Elijah and Rebekah could ever draw them out. And then he met Caroline.
So the fact he was capable of understanding wasn't outside the realm of possibility, though even Klaus found himself floored by just how human he was capable of being when pushed by the blonde. It helped that they were both in this oddity together. They were both displaced and so perhaps the fact he was, for once, utterly incapable of controlling the situation, helped make Klaus more docile than he would have been otherwise. His quarrel wasn't with Caroline, after all, she was just as out of place as he was. They were the same.
But even with that, Klaus had never expected Caroline's reaction. She didn't shove him off or duck out from under his arm. She didn't lash out with an insult. She hugged him. Klaus tensed, taken by surprise as she shifted against him. He found himself thankful she couldn't see the surprised look on his face; no one should be so moved by so basic a gesture. But then, when was the last time he had ever actually been hugged? Instead of letting the moment pass by while he sat in shock, though, Klaus shifted as well so that he could bring his other arm in and wrap it around Caroline's small frame.
For all he knew, her friends would pop up sooner or later and this would be cast aside as if it never happened. She would join her merry band and he would become the enemy all over again. So Klaus chose to take the moment for what it was - the closest he had ever been to Caroline - and he relished it. He took in a breath and exhaled slowly, eyes shut as he allowed himself to actually take comfort in the rare offer of affection he had been given. "You needn't worry," he spoke after the lengthy silence he had taken, "I'll watch after you," Klaus promised.