Who: Klaus and Nina What: Klaus tries to compel Nina Where: Electric Lady? When: Mon night? Warnings: low Status: g-doc
Nina, with a fake ID in her hand, made her way to one of the bars in town. She wanted to explore them all. Unlike back home, this place had rules about underage drinking, which the Corpsewitch found rather annoying. Back home, she had her own business, ran cons and schemes with the other Crows, fell in love, and watched as Matthias died in her arms. Besides, Eve didn’t seem to care if she drank and this way hopefully she and Kaz could run cons at the casino.
She still found the modern clothing strange, and instead found herself in a dress with leggings. While showing off cleavage didn’t bother her, exactly, especially since Nina possessed a rather healthy dose of it, she still needed time to get used to pants and the short skirts. Tonight she wore a cute pair of wide leg pants and a black scooped top, with a rainbow pattern.
The bartender looked at her ID and shrugged, before pouring a glass of whiskey for the Grisha.
Although Verdant was his favorite place to enjoy his liquor, Klaus visited all the pubs in town at one point or another. And that included The Electric Lady. They had a rather large collection of whiskeys and bourbons, which he always enjoyed. His ID was not fake, and he’d been old enough to drink for a thousand years, so he didn’t worry about showing his ID when the bartender asked for it. The girl beside him, though…well, he noticed something about her that wasn’t quite human. And that maybe wasn’t quite honest. Not that he cared about that other than for his own curiosity, of course.
“Good evening,” he smiled at her. “I don’t believe I’ve seen you before.”
*** Nina was…not not human? Her body acted like a human’s. She would age and die like a human. But, as a Grisha she held powers and as a Corpsewitch? Well, the brunette could animate and control the dead and spread disease. Needed to do so to remain healthy, a side effect of taking Parem. And something about the man…pricked her powers.
“Good evening,” Nina replied, a smile on her face. She could charm most people, it’s partly why Kaz brought her on as a Crow, since other Heartrenders existed. But then everything changed and now Nina found herself at a bar.
“Oh. I’m new…I’ve been here about a month? I’m Nina.” The bartender passed her the drink and Nina took a sip. At least whiskey existed back home.
“Hmm,” he said, thoughtfully. Immune to compulsion, he wasn’t easily charmed unless there was actual reason for him to be. And while the girl was pretty enough, she wasn’t his type. And there was something…wild about her. He had no idea what it was, but he didn’t trust her.
And he was usually right when he didn’t trust someone. He’d had more than enough experience in deciding who was and who was not trustworthy.
“Whiskey,” he said, raising an eyebrow. “A good choice.”
And not a choice every woman would have made.
*** Nina would laugh at being described as wild. She’d been part of the Second Army and contained a type of discipline only found in the military. Of course, as a teen, Nina still had an enjoyment for life, but she’d grown up fast. The man speaking to her gave her some Fjerdan vibes and not in a good way.
She looked at her drink. “It’s an alcohol I recognize from home that I like.” A lot of the drinks here she didn’t recognize, but Nina knew she liked whiskey well enough, so why not? The Grisha certainly didn’t see a reason to not order it.
The Grisha offered a smile, though. “And you are…?”
“Klaus Mikaelson,” he said. He rarely had to introduce himself anymore, not in Madison Valley, but she was newish, apparently. And very young, although in some ways she seemed older.
He did not tell her what he was. There was no point in that.
“Somehow I don’t think you’re old enough to be drinking whiskey.”
By the laws of this time, anyway. He didn’t take those very seriously. His whole family had been drinking wine by the time they were ten or eleven, and they’d turned out well enough.
*** “Nice to meet you, Klaus Mikaelson,” Nina responded with a friendly smile. The Grisha’s hands rested around her glass of whiskey for now, not needing to cast her powers. Given she didn’t plan on mentioning her being a Grisha, and a Corpsewitch at that, Nina wouldn’t blame the man for not revealing his species.
A shrug. “We don’t have drinking ages back home.” The Grisha lifted her glass to her lips. “Nobody would bat an eye there and I don’t quite understand the need for the rule here.”
“Nor do I,” he said, agreeing with her completely on that. “It seems like a silly rule to me.” She was clearly from the past, but how far...that was the question. Likely sometime during his lifetime, but that didn’t necessarily narrow it down.
He paused. He was growing curious about her, but she didn’t seem terribly open about telling him things. Time to use a little compulsion.
He met her eyes, and after a moment, he spoke.
“What do you do where you’re from?”
It seemed a good place to start.
*** Not that Nina thought like a five year old should get drunk, but if you lived in the Barrell? Nobody cared. Literally. The Grisha took a sip of her whiskey.
When he met her eyes and asked his question, a slight feeling of telling him the truth came to the forefront of her brain. Like having a Heartrender enter someone’s brain. But, the feeling passed and instead Nina found herself curious. Something about him spoke of death, but the Corpsewitch couldn’t say how.
She shrugged, not breaking eye contact. “Surviving, I suppose, as most do.” Burying Matthias. Running cons. Getting to a point of not needing Parem. Nina didn’t know exactly what just transpired, but something felt off to her.
Hmm. That was a bit odd. Her answer, while likely not untrue, was vaguer than he expected. Humans usually fell completely under his control with just a tiny bit of compulsion. And he’d never had trouble compelling a human before.
He doubled down, trying to get control of her mind.
“And how do you go about surviving?”
As far as getting to know a person went, this certainly felt like the strangest route. The Grisha couldn’t decide how to play this, as the tickle to be completely honest affected her less this time. But, he obviously expected something to happen.
She opened her mouth and then tilted her head. Her powers itched underneath her skin. Nina finally commented, “Indentured servitude.” Again the truth, but vague. A sip of whiskey and her eyes looked at him with curiosity. “You don’t waste time with small talk, do you?”
Klaus could be social and get to know people if he really wanted to, but it took so much time, and he wasn’t excited at the prospect. Compulsion was so much easier. It was strange, though, because it seemed that it wasn’t working, and that was not a problem he often had.
“I’ve never seen the point,” he answered honestly. “This isn’t working on you, is it?” He paused. “Why is that? What are you?”
*** Nina blinked in confusion. “What isn’t working on me?” She didn’t feel unsafe, exactly, but she still missed her Heartrender powers in these moments. They came in handier. A zombie army didn’t exactly remain inconspicuous.
Given how Grisha could be treated back home and that she’d been kidnapped as a ‘witch’, the Corpsewitch didn’t feel like answering, for her own safety. She did, however, want to tell Kaz about everything.
Finally, the brunette settled on saying, “What are you? You’re not alive, or at least not in the traditional sense. And you aren’t dead in the traditional sense either.” Her powers recognized death, but Nina couldn’t control him like a corpse. And, she bet as a Heartrender, only her manipulation of emotions would work on Klaus.
“I am both dead and alive,” he said, not sure if she’d really understand what he meant, but saying it anyway. “I am an original vampire. I have lived for a thousand years, and yet I am not alive. I have no heartbeat and can only survive on the lives of others.”
He was curious how she knew that. Maybe she was a necromancer. There were enough of those here.
“As for what isn’t working on you…my compulsion. I’ve rarely had any problems with it working on a human who has not taken vervain. So, again, the question you didn’t answer…what are you?”
*** Nina considered her options again, but he’d been honest, so she thought she should be, even while Kaz, in her brain, yelled at her. “So, I assume original in this case means first and not unique? Not that you aren’t unique.” The Grisha didn’t want to out herself or anyone else, if other Grisha from home ended up here.
“So you can make people tell you things.” Interesting. Now she definitely needed to tell Kaz about this interaction and vervain. While not interested in making an enemy, Nina didn’t know how well she could keep the secret of who she was if she openly admitted to Klaus. Instead, she said, “I have the ability to animate corpses.” She could build a fucking army of them, or spread disease, but she didn’t mention these things to him.
“Original means first, yes,” he nodded. Of course, he wasn’t telling her everything either - he’d left out the werewolf part. “All vampires in my world are descended from me or one of my siblings.” Some of them had turned more than he had…he liked to think that he only turned the ones who would make good vampires. Not everyone could handle the lifestyle.
“Among other things.”
When she spoke, he raised an eyebrow.
“A necromancer. It has been…some time since I have met one with any talent.”
*** Nina didn’t press, because she’d learned enough information for the evening, when really she’d set out to enjoy a drink. Then the last name clicked in Nina’s head. “Is your sister Rebekah? My friend from home lives with her. Alyssa is his guardian.”
She shrugged. “It was not a talent I set out to have.” What the hell was a necromancer? Nina would have to look into it to keep up this ruse, apparently. “But, it’s a talent which I can’t avoid.” Literally. If a Grisha didn’t use his, her, or their powers, they’d get sick. Which she didn’t like, especially as the only known Corpsewitch these days. Spending time in the a damn cemetery never made her happy.
“Yes, Rebekah is my baby sister,” he said, ignoring the mention of Alyssa. He didn’t hate her, but he also didn’t consider her his sister. He thought for a moment. “The serious kid with the limp is your friend?”
He laughed.
“I don’t think many set out to be a necromancer. It’s messy work.” And many people were terribly frightened or put off by the dead. He’d been around them for too long for it to bother him, but he was not a normal human.
Nina didn’t really care much about who people considered family. Chosen family was chosen family. Just look at the Crows. She didn’t know Rebekah or Alyssa well, just that they considered each other family, based on what she gathered from conversations with Kaz.
The description of Kaz, while accurate, bothered Nina. She could say shit about her friend, but nobody outside the Crows could. “Yes. Kaz is my friend.” Her surrogate brother truthfully.
“You’re telling me. At least laundry is much easier here than at home.” Nina offered a grin. She wasn’t frightened anymore, although her powers changing sure as shit scared her in the beginning, not helped by her body’s need for more Parem.
“I should go, but it was nice to chat with you.” Nina left enough cash to cover her drink at tip. “Have a good night.”
“Seems like a weird kid. It’s always good to have friends, though.”
Klaus didn’t really care if she liked the way he referred to Kaz. He wasn’t afraid of a couple of kids, no matter how much they commanded attention among humans.
He nodded, turning back to his own drink. He’d definitely think of what he’d learned from her - to him knowledge was one of the most important currency.