( freya's closet door is the first slam. the second is the door leading to the common room they all share. the third, however, is more of a clank: klaus nearly shatters the top of the crystal decanter as he reaches to pour himself a hefty drink, which he with eagerness and no pause at all, downs three-quarters of.
the cause is obvious.
with a surly look kol's way, his jaw tightening and lips pursing as he reaches to top himself off, he accuses, ) What are you looking at?
Trouble in paradise, brother? [He asks from where he's perched in a chair, perking an eyebrow at the vehement actions of his older brother as he slams his way through the room and into a glass of bourbon.
Kol hasn't been shy to let his opinion of this entire matter be well-known. He doesn't like, nor see a single ounce of redeemability in, Leopold Fitz. He'd rather just kill the bloke enough to let Wonderland do whatever it is it does after they reach that upper-limit of allowances.
Oh, shut it, Kol, ( is klaus' brilliant and scathing reply, dealt on an agitated and weary growl. he's well aware of kol's stance on the matter of leopold fitz. while he certainly can't blame his brother for his point of view — scratch that, actually, he can...
what he also he can do is understand it, but he's in no mood to hear him rub it in.
he moves away from the drink cart aimlessly, glass full again and in hand, and takes a much smaller sip. )
( for a moment he's full of derision; the idea of sharing with kol the many levels of his frustration, heartbreak, and utter rage seems so futile and absurd his eyes nearly roll. kol, who admittedly hates leopold fitz to the marrow of his bones. kol, who delighted and would no doubt continue to delight in his brutal torture and death to no literal end.
that is not the man in which he will confide.
in the same moment, he considers it's the perfect man to bear the weight of his current ire.
klaus turns to kol, and bites out, ) Do you have any idea what he was like before all this?
( he already has one teenager to contend with, kol!!
also as if he wasn't expecting this answer or some form of it. he is unamused, his expression flat and baleful. )No, because this is the only way you've cared to know him. ( some might call this an unfair accusation, but kol has had plenty of opportunity to consider his and freya's devotion to not only containing leopold, but returning him to his former state.
he's been far too content to linger instead on his own anger. ) Do you truly believe Freya and I have been extending ourselves over his imprisonment and the state of his mind simply for the pleasure of our time? ( his voice is booming slightly; if the mikaelson common room is not spelled, the neighbors are certainly getting an earful.
his voice softens, but not at all for a lack of fierceness. ) Why on earth would I believe you care one iota what's troubling me?
[And yet here's another, even if he's eternally technically twenty-something. Or so. Ish.]
He was already this lovely ray of sunshine when I got here, Nik! Can't very well know someone I had no chance to meet. [That's just basic truth, thankyouvermuch. And no, he doesn't care that the literal is not what Klaus meant, either.]
Yes, because you're such a saint, you couldn't possibly be taking the mick with some bloke. I forgot.
[He's not sure if that last comment was a general-Nik thing, or a Nik-remembering-what-Kol-was-doing thing, given when he's from and the odd sort of footing that, and Wonderland memories, have set them on since he returned. But it still stings like fire, like it always does, when his siblings assume he has no amount of depth to the care he has for them.
And he reacts, as he always does, like an animal pinned in a corner lashing out from either fear or anger--]
( perhaps there's a reason they do assume. kol's ostracism was hardly only the result of his, elijah's, and rebekah's bond. perhaps he was too young to comprehend the immensity what held them together, too young to take part in wiping the blood off klaus' face and too young to understand what a protection that was. just as then, it's easier to sit by along the outskirts and play the poor, singled-out victim.
easier to renounce all responsibility for his family on the grounds that they've slighted or abandoned him.
the ball of frustration in klaus is tight. they are more alike than klaus can bear to comprehend at the moment, and kol is more the little brother from their youth than he can handle. his voice is a growl; his grip is so tight around his tumbler that the glass is in danger of cracking. ) Don't be a bloody idiot; you know very well this isn't about revenge. ( obvious, as far as he's concerned. klaus, yes; he has been known for that. the least kol could do was find the benefit of the doubt for freya.
he gestures next door. ) He sacrificed his life for our sister; have you asked her about that? ( emotions rise and burst inside of him; he holds his palm, open, over his chest. ) He was the first person here to care about your niece— ( his eyes fill; his cheeks warm. he fights the tenderness strangling his lungs. he swallows it down. his hand folds into a fist. ) —But you don't give a damn, do you, because it's not about you.
[To hear Kol tell it, that is absolutely what it was-- middle child being shoved to the sides and told he matters less, always on the outskirts never in the inner circle. But perhaps it was. His age. His perceptions, skewed as they may have ever been. Still are to this day. In this moment.
Kol hasn't moved from his perch. He's not concerned about his brother's very clear show of anger, if he decides to be completely idiotic, Kol can protect himself. But he doesn't really think that's what will happen, either. He isn't actually the focus in this, even if he is, currently, the target of Nik's ire.]
Freya told me. [is the simple answer he gets to that.] It doesn't make sense, nothing I've ever heard about him has matched my experiences. Doppelgangers exist, Nik, we know that better than anyone. How are you so certain that your mate is even sti--
[The words die on his tongue as Hope is, for some reason, brought into the conversation. She is this absolute miracle of a thing in this family and it pulls at him, even to have her mentioned.] What does Hope have to do with this?
No, I have no reason to care about someone who only saw fit to make me a bloody science experiment! [He's on his feet now, hands animated as he shouts. The thing about arguments is everyone tends to lose their heads during them and one of two things happen: Feelings that are hidden away, but truer than anything in the world, bubble to the surface. Or words are weaponized, points made only to wound, regardless of their truth.
Kol too frequently chooses the second option.] If it'd been Rebekah in his lab, you'd never have hesitated, friend or foe, murder would be the only option. Brutally, and as many times as it took to stick.
( kol isn't the reason for his ire. it grates, yes, that his little brother has not held nor expressed any concern or considered intimating any help throughout this long and arduous process. it grates more than that superficial offer that he has not cared to understand why. perhaps the blame of that, in all actuality might rest in part on klaus' shoulders: he has not bothered to communicate the rage and grief and heartbreak he has felt; he has not given kol the benefit of the doubt.
the truth is: there is no convenient place to direct his ire: it does not belong anywhere. he is angry and he is hurt by circumstance, and little else. he has lost his friend: nearly, so completely, lost this friend who has stood by his side through betrayal and loyalty, through thick and thin. who has loved him and angered him and pledged himself to his family.
he is not certain leopold can be saved. hope has everything to do with this, because she's the reason that brought them together, the reason leopold even honored their friendship, the reason klaus knew he could trust him.
kol's responding anger falls on deaf ears, if only because in the moment, it merely proves his point: kol cares for nothing save himself. and the mention of rebekah: that is the last straw.
quiet, wrathful, he had watched kol's outburst, but now he moves forward, quick as a whip, his fist curled around kol's collar. he lifts him inches off the ground, his voice echoing in the small space. ) If I had been here, neither you nor Rebekah would have made it to that table! ( with a harsh, shaking breath, he lets kol drop, all but throwing him into his vacated seat.
there's another truth, bubbling to klaus' surface. he could have prevented it. he would have. he's responsible. he knows he is not, but how couldn't he be, in some way? )
[If Kol only cares for himself, it's only because it was a taught and learned behavior. Between his self-inflicted isolation and every slight he ever felt was directed toward him, he learned that he was the only person he could count on to not betray him in someway. Perhaps it's childish to hang onto perceived slights and petty jealousies from their childhood, but it's the sort of thing that sinks down and slides through every inch of him, had long-since attached itself to his bones and his heart and it won't be refused so easily.
He doesn't have time to stop Klaus from grabbing him, but it's only his collar he's holding him by and Kol brings one hand up in a thinly veiled threat:] Unhand me, brother.
[Whether the way his brother tosses him like a ragdoll back onto the seat was his own choice or the impending aneurysm didn't matter-- he released him and Kol's left to stare up at him, and let his words sink in.
He isn't sure if it's guilt at not being there to stop it or something else layered under it all, but it still has an impact; leaves behind a mark under Kol's skin, screaming that Klaus cared.]
Perhaps. [He mutters.] But you weren't. And I did. So, I really don't think I'm going to set that aside purely for the sake of your bestie.
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2019-03-26 11:06 am (UTC)the cause is obvious.
with a surly look kol's way, his jaw tightening and lips pursing as he reaches to top himself off, he accuses, ) What are you looking at?
no subject
Date: 2019-03-27 12:21 am (UTC)Kol hasn't been shy to let his opinion of this entire matter be well-known. He doesn't like, nor see a single ounce of redeemability in, Leopold Fitz. He'd rather just kill the bloke enough to let Wonderland do whatever it is it does after they reach that upper-limit of allowances.
But apparently that isn't allowed.]
no subject
Date: 2019-03-27 01:57 am (UTC)what he also he can do is understand it, but he's in no mood to hear him rub it in.
he moves away from the drink cart aimlessly, glass full again and in hand, and takes a much smaller sip. )
no subject
Date: 2019-03-29 04:24 am (UTC)Kol may not care one wit about Fitz, but he does care about Nik. Sort of. Sometimes. It's complicated, but at least he's family.]
no subject
Date: 2019-04-01 06:34 pm (UTC)that is not the man in which he will confide.
in the same moment, he considers it's the perfect man to bear the weight of his current ire.
klaus turns to kol, and bites out, ) Do you have any idea what he was like before all this?
no subject
Date: 2019-04-01 07:34 pm (UTC)He shrugs, hands spreading.] How could I, Nik? This is the only way I've ever known him.
[In the immortal words of teenagers everywhere: Duh.]
no subject
Date: 2019-04-01 08:05 pm (UTC)also as if he wasn't expecting this answer or some form of it. he is unamused, his expression flat and baleful. ) No, because this is the only way you've cared to know him. ( some might call this an unfair accusation, but kol has had plenty of opportunity to consider his and freya's devotion to not only containing leopold, but returning him to his former state.
he's been far too content to linger instead on his own anger. ) Do you truly believe Freya and I have been extending ourselves over his imprisonment and the state of his mind simply for the pleasure of our time? ( his voice is booming slightly; if the mikaelson common room is not spelled, the neighbors are certainly getting an earful.
his voice softens, but not at all for a lack of fierceness. ) Why on earth would I believe you care one iota what's troubling me?
no subject
Date: 2019-04-01 09:21 pm (UTC)He was already this lovely ray of sunshine when I got here, Nik! Can't very well know someone I had no chance to meet. [That's just basic truth, thankyouvermuch. And no, he doesn't care that the literal is not what Klaus meant, either.]
Yes, because you're such a saint, you couldn't possibly be taking the mick with some bloke. I forgot.
[He's not sure if that last comment was a general-Nik thing, or a Nik-remembering-what-Kol-was-doing thing, given when he's from and the odd sort of footing that, and Wonderland memories, have set them on since he returned. But it still stings like fire, like it always does, when his siblings assume he has no amount of depth to the care he has for them.
And he reacts, as he always does, like an animal pinned in a corner lashing out from either fear or anger--]
I don't know, Nik... you tell me.
no subject
Date: 2019-04-02 01:08 am (UTC)easier to renounce all responsibility for his family on the grounds that they've slighted or abandoned him.
the ball of frustration in klaus is tight. they are more alike than klaus can bear to comprehend at the moment, and kol is more the little brother from their youth than he can handle. his voice is a growl; his grip is so tight around his tumbler that the glass is in danger of cracking. ) Don't be a bloody idiot; you know very well this isn't about revenge. ( obvious, as far as he's concerned. klaus, yes; he has been known for that. the least kol could do was find the benefit of the doubt for freya.
he gestures next door. ) He sacrificed his life for our sister; have you asked her about that? ( emotions rise and burst inside of him; he holds his palm, open, over his chest. ) He was the first person here to care about your niece— ( his eyes fill; his cheeks warm. he fights the tenderness strangling his lungs. he swallows it down. his hand folds into a fist. ) —But you don't give a damn, do you, because it's not about you.
no subject
Date: 2019-04-02 04:02 pm (UTC)Kol hasn't moved from his perch. He's not concerned about his brother's very clear show of anger, if he decides to be completely idiotic, Kol can protect himself. But he doesn't really think that's what will happen, either. He isn't actually the focus in this, even if he is, currently, the target of Nik's ire.]
Freya told me. [is the simple answer he gets to that.] It doesn't make sense, nothing I've ever heard about him has matched my experiences. Doppelgangers exist, Nik, we know that better than anyone. How are you so certain that your mate is even sti--
[The words die on his tongue as Hope is, for some reason, brought into the conversation. She is this absolute miracle of a thing in this family and it pulls at him, even to have her mentioned.] What does Hope have to do with this?
No, I have no reason to care about someone who only saw fit to make me a bloody science experiment! [He's on his feet now, hands animated as he shouts. The thing about arguments is everyone tends to lose their heads during them and one of two things happen: Feelings that are hidden away, but truer than anything in the world, bubble to the surface. Or words are weaponized, points made only to wound, regardless of their truth.
Kol too frequently chooses the second option.] If it'd been Rebekah in his lab, you'd never have hesitated, friend or foe, murder would be the only option. Brutally, and as many times as it took to stick.
no subject
Date: 2019-04-08 03:10 pm (UTC)the truth is: there is no convenient place to direct his ire: it does not belong anywhere. he is angry and he is hurt by circumstance, and little else. he has lost his friend: nearly, so completely, lost this friend who has stood by his side through betrayal and loyalty, through thick and thin. who has loved him and angered him and pledged himself to his family.
he is not certain leopold can be saved. hope has everything to do with this, because she's the reason that brought them together, the reason leopold even honored their friendship, the reason klaus knew he could trust him.
kol's responding anger falls on deaf ears, if only because in the moment, it merely proves his point: kol cares for nothing save himself. and the mention of rebekah: that is the last straw.
quiet, wrathful, he had watched kol's outburst, but now he moves forward, quick as a whip, his fist curled around kol's collar. he lifts him inches off the ground, his voice echoing in the small space. ) If I had been here, neither you nor Rebekah would have made it to that table! ( with a harsh, shaking breath, he lets kol drop, all but throwing him into his vacated seat.
there's another truth, bubbling to klaus' surface. he could have prevented it. he would have. he's responsible. he knows he is not, but how couldn't he be, in some way? )
no subject
Date: 2019-04-09 01:16 am (UTC)He doesn't have time to stop Klaus from grabbing him, but it's only his collar he's holding him by and Kol brings one hand up in a thinly veiled threat:] Unhand me, brother.
[Whether the way his brother tosses him like a ragdoll back onto the seat was his own choice or the impending aneurysm didn't matter-- he released him and Kol's left to stare up at him, and let his words sink in.
He isn't sure if it's guilt at not being there to stop it or something else layered under it all, but it still has an impact; leaves behind a mark under Kol's skin, screaming that Klaus cared.]
Perhaps. [He mutters.] But you weren't. And I did. So, I really don't think I'm going to set that aside purely for the sake of your bestie.