Kayla is a littleredmess (![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} littleredmess) wrote in ![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small} madisonvalley,@ 2023-03-29 14:48:00 |
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| Entry tags: | !completed gdoc, kayla powell (littleredmess), kol mikaelson (vindictiveness), logan danvers (logandanvers), ~2023 march |
Who: Kayla, Kol, Logan D
What: Kayla introduces Kol to Lo
Where: Kayla’s and Kol’s apartment
When: backdated to the night after fight club
Warnings: Kol is a warning, right?
Status: g-doc
Kayla, thankfully, didn’t have any homework tonight, having worked ahead the night before. Not having much of a social life helped her stay ahead of her studies. Honestly, she really needed to make some friends and do things like game night. A part of her wished she’d signed up for speed dating, just to meet more people her age.
Tonight, though, she could barely get through the meal. Kayla felt nervous, not knowing how Kol meeting Logan would go. Ordinarily she would have invited Alyssa to come and be a buffer, but right now she didn’t want to bother Kol’s sister. Not when the blonde had an art show fast approaching.
After dinner and dishes, Kayla raced upstairs to change out of her llama pj bottoms into an actual outfit, which amounted to her jeans and the grey hoodie/leather jacket combo she wore almost all of the time.
“Kol. Please don’t be too hard on him? Please.” Kayla didn’t point out she’d been nice to Allison and was even willing to move in with the couple.
Kol had just finished putting away the last of the dinner dishes when he heard Kayla come racing back downstairs. Smiling to himself, the vampire quickly poured himself a glass of bourbon and made his way into the living room. He claimed a seat on the couch and set his glass on the table just as Kayla entered. He wasn’t surprised to see her in her ‘normal’ attire. He also wasn’t surprised when she pleaded with him to not be too hard on Logan.
The original vampire chuckled. “I’m not going to flash my fangs and make him pee his pants, love. I’m not that cruel.” Okay, he was, but not to someone that Kayla cared about. As long as the guy wasn’t a dick or treated Kayla like trash, he would have nothing to fear from Kol.
“Look, darling. As long as he isn’t a dick and doesn’t treat you poorly, I’ll have no reason to give him an example of what the Spanish Inquisition was like,” he added, reaching for his glass of bourbon to take a sip. “But, if he is any of the above, then I will be harsh and cruel.”
Logan was a nervous wreck, but he was trying to keep his worries from running away with him. He really cared about Kayla, so he wanted Kol to like him -- or at least accept him without hating him too much.
But, he cared enough about Kayla to jump through whatever hoops that he might be needed to jump through. She was what was important here and he hoped that meant that her guardian would give him a chance.
His wounds from the night before had healed completely, so he wasn’t showing up at their place looking as if he had been beating up thugs or anything like that. He was wearing jeans and a royal blue sweatshirt. It wasn’t really that cold out any longer, but it was cool enough for most people to wear light jackets while outside.
As he raised his hand to knock, he had the fleeting though that he really hoped Kayla had warned Kol that he was a werewolf.
Kayla had, in fact, mentioned to Kol that Logan and Kate were werewolves. She saw no reason to hide that fact from her vampire guardian. After all, Kol could smell it right away and it wasn’t as though he had no familiarity with werewolves, given Klaus and Hope.
It occurred to Kayla how absolutely fucking normal this felt, even if it involved a vampire, a werewolf, and her, a human. And maybe, a part of her wanted to cry in relief at how absolutely normal it felt to introduce a boy to Kol. Kayla walked over and hugged her guardian, a rare show of affection from the brunette. Obviously she recognized how close she and Kol grew over their time living together. “Thank you.”
“If he turns out to be a complete dick, you can do whatever.” Kayla heard the knock and looked at Kol. “Do you want to answer the door?”
When Kayla walked over and hugged him, Kol was momentarily surprised at the gesture. Thankfully, he managed to avoid spilling his bourbon as he set the glass down and then returned the hug. “Of course, love. I’m not a complete monster,” he replied. Mostly. Kol could certainly be a monster, but right now, he wasn’t going to show that side unless Logan pissed him off or hurt Kayla.
Given his heightened senses, Kol knew immediately when Logan was at the door before the young man even knocked. Yes, he could smell he was a wolf too. Kol refrained from wrinkling his nose. When it came to smells, wolves were a mixed bag. Some smelled fine and others had a…unique scent. Logan was of the latter. It wasn’t terrible just…potent.
Right on cue, he knocked and Kayla looked at Kol, asking if he wanted to answer it. The vampire figured Kayla would want to answer it, but if she wished him to, Kol wouldn’t argue it. They certainly couldn’t just leave the boy outside while they figured it out. “Sure, love.” Kol released his ward and stood, walking over to the door and unlocking it. He could hear Logan’s heartbeat and pulse; the young man was nervous. Kol couldn’t blame him.
Kol opened the door and offered the young man on the other side his best attempt at a genuine smile. “Logan, pleasure to meet you finally. Come in.” Once the young man was inside and the door shut behind him, Kol offered his hand. “I’m Kol. Kayla’s told me a bit about you.”
Logan had been hoping to see Kayla first, but he was an adaptle Danvers so he smiled politely at Kol as he entered the home. He gave Kayla a small smile before he turned and shook the hand that was offered.
“It’s nice to meet you, sir,” Logan said politely. “Kayla has told me just a little bit about you, but I hope I am allowed around her so that I can get to know her family better, as well.”
Let it not be said that Logan didn’t know how to say the right things with them also being the things he honestly felt. For a long time he had gotten along better with adults rather than teenagers because of the way most teenagers acted.
“Are you one of the ones that have been here in Madison Valley for a little while?”
Kayla needed a few extra seconds to collect herself when she realized that she had no idea how to handle something normal. Kol answering the door provided her the extra few seconds required. She at least looked less panicky and wore a smile on her face. Truthfully, Kayla didn’t know why Logan liked her, but she felt pleased he did, because the brunette really liked Logan.
She walked over and hugged Logan, brief, though, to allow Logan and Kol a chance to talk. “Do you want something to drink? We have water, lemonade, iced tea, and…” she stopped, forgetting for a second, “oh! And Coke. Plus coffee.” Kayla didn’t often drink soda, but she’d had a craving. Thankfully, while Kol didn’t approve of Kayla drinking alcohol, he knew better than to interfere with her coffee habits.
She currently had ice water in the living room. Obviously, Kol had a glass of bourbon, so he didn’t need a refresher yet.
“Please, call me Kol. Sir sounds so stuffy and stiff,” Kol replied, releasing the young man’s hand. “And as long as you treat her well, you’ll be allowed around her.” It was Kol’s stipulation that anyone Kayla dated treat her well and that if there was any sex involved, protection was used. Kol hadn’t added in this tidbit because he didn’t want to embarrass Kayla. But he’d already made her aware of it. Oh how much fun that conversation had been.
Kol stepped back, allowing Kayla room to hug Logan, and offer him something to drink. Obviously, she didn’t offer alcohol. Kol wasn’t interested in being the guardian that gave alcohol to underaged individuals. Unless you happened to be Alyssa. There were exceptions to every rule.
Logan smiled, hugging Kayla back when she came over to him. He looked at her, making sure she saw how much he was happy to be here.
“Iced tea sounds good if it’s not too much trouble, please,” Logan responded after a quick thought. He didn’t drink soda often, but he did like his caffeine. Tea seemed to be one of the drinks he really liked and he tried not to drink coffee too much at night.
“Thank you, Kol,” Logan said politely. “I care a lot about Kayla and I don’t know how anyone could treat her badly.” The idea really did seem to confuse him.
Thank goodness that the sex thing wasn’t mentioned because Logan would have wanted to sink through the floor in embarrassment.
Kayla wanted to forget about that entire conversation, considering she’d used protection every time she and Nick hooked up. She had no desire for a child and the human didn’t think Kol was ready for anyone to call him grandpa. Plus, venereal diseases didn’t interest Kayla either. The smile brought one to Kayla’s face and she said, “No trouble at all!.”
She returned a moment later with the iced tea and realized, belatedly, neither of them answered Logan’s question. “Kol’s been here,” Kayla paused. “Almost a year?” Kayla knew Kol had told her, but she’d kind of forgotten, especially when she understood he’d been here briefly with a different face.
If asked about the Alyssa exception, Kayla would say since she’d lived over ninety years, she should be allowed to drink without hassle. Kayla was still actually a teen. The difference between the two made sense for Kol’s exception, even if it bugged Kayla, although far less now.
At Logan’s comment about I don’t know how anyone could treat her badly the teen froze. Completely. While she’d given a brief explanation to Logan, Kol was the one who picked up the pieces when the teen returned from home. Although, she wouldn’t be surprised or upset if he told Allison and/or Alyssa. Memories of her father flooded back into her brain and the brunette tried to reply. Finally she managed a “Should we go sit?”
Kayla brought Logan the ice tea. The smell of lemon filled Kol’s nose and he nodded at Kayla’s words. “About a year or so, yeah.” It was hard to believe he’d been in Madison Valley for that long, but Kol didn’t regret the time spent under the Dome. It allowed him to make actual friends and even to find love. He would not trade the experience for anything in the world.
Kol noticed Kayla stiffen, frozen, because of Logan’s comment. The original vampire focused his gaze on Logan, trying not to draw attention to Kayla’s reaction. “That makes two of us, but yeah, let’s sit, okay?” Kol led the way to the couch and took a seat. He gestured to the empty cushion beside him. “So, Logan, why don’t you tell me a bit about yourself?”
Logan noticed Kayla’s reaction, but didn’t know how much he was allowed to comfort her while this was all going on. Obviously there was something that he may not know all about if his words that were meant to be reassuring had caused that stuttered reaction. He was quick to see that Kol was wanting him not to pay too much attention to her reaction, so he did his best to put it aside for right now.
“How do you like Madison?” Logan asked. “I’ve only been here a few months, but my twin sister has been here for a few years. It’s still hard to wrap my head around that.”
At his question, Logan blushed a little bit. “Well, I like sports sometimes, but I enjoy writing much more. I like dancing and I definitely love to run -- in both of my forms. My mom is the alpha of our pack and my sister and I take her lessons very seriously since one of us will be the alpha one day and one of us will be the right hand of the alpha.”
Kayla managed to pull herself together after about ten seconds and mouthed a thank you in the direction of Kol. It wasn’t that she kept it from Logan, but speaking about everything at home brought up some memories and she still needed to process them.
Since the question seemed aimed at Kol, Kayla didn’t respond. She hadn’t met Kate yet, not really, although Alyssa assured her it would be fine. The brunette listened while Logan spoke, content to drink her water at the moment.
Obviously Kayla knew nothing of werewolf politics, but she did think it seemed a little monarchical to the human. Not that she’d say so. She did throw a smile in Lo’s direction, though.
Once they were all seated, Kol leaned back against the couch and turned his attention to the young man beside him and his question. “Oh, no complaints on my end. I made some friends, found a wonderful woman, and actually get on well with most of my family.” Kol reached for his glass of bourbon and took a sip. Outside of the comment that had put Kayla on edge, Kol thought the entire situation was going rather well. He hadn’t flashed any fangs nor tossed Logan out of the house yet.
Glass still in hand and resting on his knee, Kol listened as Logan told him a bit about himself. Obviously, the vampire noticed the blush, but it actually left a good impression. It showed the young man was rather humble. He found Logan’s interest in writing curious. It didn’t surprise him that Logan liked running as a wolf. From his niece, he knew it could be quite freeing. The pack politics caught his attention. So, between him and Kate, one of them would be alpha and the other the alpha’s right hand. Kol always thought wolves fought for the title, but perhaps it was a bit more civilized than he realized.
“Do you publish anything you write?” Kol asked, raising the glass to his lips to take another sip.
Logan knew that packs in other places probably had other ways of doing things, but his own mother had been picked to be leader by their former alpha… and had won a chess match in order to take over the pack. Logan still found it amusing all of these years later.
“This place seems really good for that. I’ve made several friends here -- even if I had to wrap my head around the differences in my family. But I have good friends like Alyssa… and I’ve met Kayla.” He gave her a smile.
“Oh, nothing yet. I… um… not even my twin has seen any of my writing and I usually share almost everything with her. I haven’t really thought about if I want to have anything published or not, but it could be cool to see my name in print somewhere.”
When Logan stopped speaking, and without thinking, Kayla commented, “Is there anyone in this town who isn’t good friends with Alyssa?” She didn’t say it meanly, given she rather liked Kol’s sister. But it felt like the blonde knew literally everyone and they all liked her. In fact, in another life, Kayla would probably hate her, except the fairy girl was so damn nice.
She looked sheepish. “Sorry that was not intended to be said outside of my own head. Logan is a good dancer.” The human finally asked, “So Alphahood is like the British monarchy? Passes from parent to child?” Kayla didn’t understand it at all and it sounded…so strange to her.
Kayla’s comment earned her a chuckle from her guardian. “At this point? Probably bloody not.” Alyssa was friendly and people seemed to gravitate towards her. She did not judge either. It didn’t really surprise Kol to hear that Logan was friends with his sister. If anything, it earned him points with the original vampire.
“Well, if you ever decide to share your work, I would be interested in reading it,” Kol added, returning his focus to Logan beside him. “I’m always curious as to what modern artists come up with. How they view the world.” Having lived through centuries of artwork, Kol already had a good grasp on the classics, but modern artwork was still something he was becoming familiar with. He blamed his brother for locking him in a box for a few decades.
Kol fell silent as Kayla inquired about the process of selecting a new Alpha. Instead, he sipped his bourbon and waited to hear Logan’s response. He too was eager for a better understanding of how the Pack hierarchy functioned.
“She was one of the first people I met when I arrived,” Logan said with a smile. “I was a bit overwhelmed by everything and we started talking. My friend, Chloe, likes her a lot. Apparently there was some time travel craziness where they were best friends.”
He nodded at Kol and his eyes showed gratitude and sincerity. “Thank you, Kol. I will keep that in mind.”
He thought for a moment and grinned at both Kayla and Kol. “Would you believe that my grandfather lost a chess match with my mother?” He nodded. “I swear, that’s how my mother became the alpha. Jeremy challenged her to a chess match because he decided she would be the best one to be alpha after him. She won.”
Kayla appreciated the chuckle from her guardian. And, she knew it would make Kol like Logan a little more if he was friends with Alyssa. The brunette knew enough of Klaus to know he’d locked Kol in a box for a few decades. What Klaus hoped to accomplish, besides ensuring his brother’s animosity, Kayla couldn’t fucking say.
“Oh, is that the same time where Alyssa and you were actually siblings?” Kayla mused out loud to Kol. “I’m glad you met her. She’s really sweet.”
Kayla took a sip of water. “That is certainly not the way I thought a new Alpha would be chosen.”
“She has a kind, open heart,” Kol added. “I’m glad you befriended her.” Alyssa was one of the few who did not judge Kol for his past transgressions. She was capable of seeing him for being more than a monster and that was always something Kol could appreciate. The vampire did hide a grin behind his glass of bourbon when Kayla mentioned Kol and Alyssa as siblings. “I believe so, love. Of course, that entire situation only served to bring Alyssa and I closer as siblings in this reality.” So, he couldn’t be too upset with the circumstances.
Kol picked up on the sincerity in Logan’s expression and the vampire nodded. “Of course. As I said, I am always curious to see what a modern view looks like. As a werewolf, I imagine you possess a unique perspective.”
Much like Kayla, Kol had not expected the role of Alpha to be decided by a chess match. It amused Kol. “Me either. It’s amusing. I rather like it.”
Logan relaxed a little bit more. “Alyssa is sweet and she wouldn’t let me be shy and hide when I got here. I think it surprised Kate that I actually talked to people when I arrived instead of staying in the background like I do at home.”
Logan was usually the one to get dragged places by his sister, but being here had helped him with that. After all, he had met Kayla on his own and wasn’t dragged into anything when it came to her. He had honestly wanted to get to know her when they met.
He nodded. “Jeremy had been teaching mom things about leading the Pack for years and he finally decided that he wanted to retire, so he challenged mom to a Chess match. It wasn’t until she won that she found out what the stakes were.”
“That’s not surprising.” Kayla’s first morning in this town? Alyssa brought brunch by and introduced herself, trying to fill the quiet spaces while Kol dealt with his break with Allison. Not that Kayla knew what bothered Kol and just assumed he was another adult male who was disappointed in her simply for existing. But, without the blonde, Kayla might have chosen a different path upon her arrival.
“Kate seems more outgoing, based on what I’ve seen on the network.” Kayla didn’t know what to think about Logan’s sister, and figured Kol meeting Logan was the first hurdle. She really cared about Lo and couldn’t say why, exactly. A small part of him reminded her of her mom, yes, but he was just nice and good. And she wanted to keep spending time with him.
“That must have been surprising?”
“That sounds like Alyssa,” Kol replied. The Netherling was friendly and encouraged others to be social. Kol knew a lot of that had to do with how accepting she was of everyone. It helped people to feel safe with her.
Considering Kol had really only come to know of Logan’s existence because of Kayla, Kol would agree Kate was the far more social, visible twin. But he didn’t comment on it. His relationship with Logan’s sister definitely contained elements that were better left out of this conversation.
“At least it’s better than watching two wolves tear each other apart for the title.” Not that Kol had witnessed such an experience, but he was pretty sure there was almost always some violence to it. This sounded far more kinder for both parties involved.
“From what she tells us, it was very surprising. It happened when Kate and I were about three or four, so as you can imagine, it is one of my favorite stories about mom and Jeremy.” Logan looked from Kayla back to Kol.
“It really is. I don’t think anyone would have been able to take over the Pack if the only way was to tear each other apart. Jeremy is like our grandfather for me and Kate, and he is like the father of so many others of the wolves in the North America Pack. If he didn’t want to step down, no one would have issued a challenge from inside the Pack.”
Kayla still found werewolf politics confusing, but at least this sounded mature. “I’m glad. That it worked out well for everyone.” She smiled. While violence wasn’t totally separate from her life, the human preferred her chaos to entail pills and alcohol at clubs, or sex, not violence. And those things felt further away from her the longer she lived in Madison Valley.
She grinned at Kol. “Something tells me it works differently in your world.” Not that she judged.
Given Kol wasn’t a werewolf, he didn’t particularly care if Kayla judged at all. “Well, I’m glad your mother didn’t end up having to slaughter your grandfather then. It would certainly not have been such a delightful, cute story.” And probably not one you would have shared with your children either.
“But why don’t we move on to something that doesn’t involve the complexities of werewolf politics across different universes.”