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Green Thumb | K.M

One shot | Established Relationship | Fluff | Masterlist | WC: 3.2K

Klaus found himself reflecting on the small deception. In a thousand years of manipulation, compulsion, and strategic lies, this was perhaps the most innocent untruth he'd ever perpetuated, a magical garden to make a stubborn woman smile.

After all, what was the point of being the most powerful creature on earth if he couldn't occasionally bend reality to make the woman he loved happy?

The garden had been Y/N's idea. A small plot in the courtyard of the Mikaelson compound where she could grow herbs, flowers, and vegetables. "Something alive that doesn't require blood to survive," she'd explained with a wry smile when she first proposed it to Klaus.

He'd indulged her, of course. Had helped clear the space, ordered the finest soil, acquired rare seeds from around the world. Whatever Y/N wanted, Y/N received. A policy that still bemused his siblings but had become second nature to Klaus.

What neither of them had anticipated was Y/N's spectacular lack of gardening talent.

"I don't understand," she muttered one morning, kneeling in the dirt and frowning at a row of withered seedlings. "I followed the instructions exactly. Six hours of sunlight, watered every other day, organic fertilizer..."

Klaus leaned against a nearby column, watching her with fond amusement. "Perhaps they're simply not suited to the New Orleans climate, love."

Y/N shot him a look that could wither plants faster than her black thumb. "The gardening book specifically listed these as suitable for Zone 9. We are in Zone 9, Niklaus."

He raised his hands in surrender. "Far be it from me to question your botanical expertise."

"I don't have botanical expertise," she admitted with a sigh, sitting back on her heels. "But I should be able to keep basic herbs alive. I mean, humans have been growing food for thousands of years. It's not rocket science."

"To be fair," Klaus offered, "most humans throughout history devoted their entire lives to agriculture. You're attempting to master it in your spare time between a full-time job and dating the Original Hybrid."

"Dating?" Y/N's lips quirked up. "Is that what we're calling this? Dating?"

Klaus moved behind her, placing his hands on her shoulders and leaning down to murmur in her ear. "Would you prefer 'torrid love affair'? 'Epic supernatural romance'? 'Stockholm syndrome with exceptional sex'?"

She laughed despite her frustration, leaning back against him. "You're trying to distract me from my gardening failure."

"Is it working?"

"Maybe," she conceded. "But I'm not giving up yet."

· · ─────────── ·· ────────── · ·

Three weeks later, the situation had only deteriorated. What had started as a few struggling seedlings had become a veritable plant graveyard. Despite Y/N's increasingly desperate efforts, changing watering schedules, adding different fertilizers, moving pots to various locations around the compound, nothing survived more than a few days under her care.

Klaus found her one evening sitting cross-legged beside her failed garden, a gardening book open in her lap, her expression one of grim determination tinged with defeat.

"Perhaps it's time to consider alternative hobbies," he suggested gently, settling beside her. "Painting, perhaps? I could teach you."

"I'm not giving up," Y/N insisted, though her voice lacked conviction. "I just need to figure out what I'm doing wrong."

"You've tried everything in that book and several others," Klaus pointed out. "Sometimes, love, nature simply refuses to cooperate."

She closed the book with a snap. "It's just so frustrating. I wanted to grow my own herbs for cooking, maybe some flowers..." Her voice trailed off, and she gestured at the sad collection of withered plants. "Instead, I've created a plant cemetery."

Klaus felt a familiar tightening in his chest, the peculiar ache that came whenever Y/N was unhappy and he couldn't immediately fix the situation. A thousand years ago, he would have scoffed at such trivial distress. Now, the sight of her disappointment affected him more deeply than he cared to admit.

"Give it time," he said, pressing a kiss to her temple. "Perhaps they'll rally yet."

But they both knew they wouldn't.

Three days later, Klaus cornered Freya in her study, closing the door firmly behind him.

"I need a favor," he said without preamble.

Freya looked up from the grimoire she'd been studying, eyebrow raised. "Good morning to you too, brother."

"Yes, yes, pleasantries aside," Klaus waved his hand impatiently. "I require "Yes, yes, pleasantries aside," Klaus waved his hand impatiently. "I require your magical assistance with a rather... delicate matter."

Freya closed her grimoire, giving him her full attention. She'd learned that when Klaus called something "delicate," it usually meant trouble. "What have you done now?"

"Nothing," he replied, looking mildly offended. "This concerns Y/N's garden."

"Her failed garden?" Freya clarified with a small smile. "The one that's become something of a family joke?"

Klaus's expression darkened. "A joke that's causing her considerable distress, which I find far less amusing."

"And what exactly would you like me to do about it?" Freya asked, though the knowing look in her eyes suggested she'd already guessed.

"A simple spell," Klaus said, pacing now. "Something to ensure the plants thrive despite her... limitations in this particular area."

Freya leaned back in her chair, studying her brother with open curiosity. "You want me to magically fix her gardening skills?"

"Not her skills. Just the results," he clarified. "She's tried everything, Freya. Followed every instruction, bought every recommended product. She's even taken to talking to the bloody plants. Nothing works."

"And rather than letting her accept that gardening isn't her forte, you want me to create the illusion of success?" There was no judgment in Freya's voice, merely amusement and a touch of wonder at how thoroughly this human woman had transformed her brother.

Klaus stopped pacing, his expression unexpectedly vulnerable. "You didn't see her face yesterday. She looks at those dead plants as if they're a personal failure."

"And you can't bear to see her disappointed," Freya finished for him, her voice softening.

"Will you help or not?" Klaus demanded, deflecting from the emotion in his voice.

Freya stood, already mentally cataloging which spell would work best. "Of course I'll help. But I have one condition."

"Name it."

"You admit to me, right here, that you're doing this because you love her."

Klaus stiffened, his jaw tightening. Even now, after all he and Y/N had shared, saying those words aloud felt like exposing a vital weakness.

"Is that really necessary?" he asked stiffly.

"Consider it payment for my services," Freya replied with a small smile.

Klaus exhaled sharply through his nose, glancing toward the ceiling as if seeking divine intervention. Finally, he met his sister's gaze. "Fine. I'm doing this because I love her. Satisfied?"

"Immensely," Freya said, her smile widening. "Now, there's one more thing you should know. This spell won't make her a good gardener. It will just make these specific plants thrive. If she tries to grow anything new..."

"Then we'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Klaus finished. "For now, I just want her current efforts to succeed."

"And no one can ever tell her," he added, his voice dropping to a dangerous timbre. "Not you, not Elijah, certainly not Kol. She can never know I interfered."

"Because she's stubborn and would see it as cheating?" Freya guessed.

"Because she values her independence and her humanity," Klaus corrected. "She wants to succeed on her own merits, not through supernatural intervention."

"Your secret is safe," Freya promised. "Though I must say, brother, your willingness to use magic to make your girlfriend happy while respecting her principles is... unexpectedly sweet."

Klaus scowled. "I'm not sweet."

"Of course not," Freya agreed, her eyes twinkling. "You're terrifying. The most fearsome creature to walk the earth. Who happens to be magically growing flowers for his girlfriend."

"Just cast the bloody spell," Klaus growled, but there was no real anger in his voice.

· · ─────────── ·· ────────── · ·

The next morning, Y/N went out to the courtyard to check on her dying garden, coffee mug in hand, expecting the usual scene of botanical devastation. Instead, she stopped short, nearly spilling her coffee in shock.

Where yesterday there had been wilted leaves and bare soil, now vibrant green shoots pushed upward. The herbs she'd planted weeks ago, basil, thyme, rosemary, had suddenly sprouted healthy leaves. The zinnias and marigolds she'd given up for dead displayed tiny buds. Even the tomato plants, which had been nothing but brown stalks, now showed signs of new growth.

"What in the world?" she whispered, setting her mug down and kneeling to inspect the miraculous transformation.

Klaus, who had been watching from the shadows, stepped into the courtyard with a carefully neutral expression. "Something wrong, love?"

"Look at this!" Y/N exclaimed, gesturing at the garden. "Everything's growing! I don't understand, yesterday they were all practically dead."

Klaus peered at the plants with exaggerated curiosity. "Perhaps your persistence finally paid off. Or maybe they simply needed time to establish their roots."

"Maybe," Y/N said skeptically, gently touching a basil leaf as if afraid it might disintegrate under her fingers. "It's just so... sudden."

"Nature can be mysterious," Klaus offered, fighting to keep his expression innocent. "Didn't you mention something about plants responding to positive energy? Perhaps all your talking to them finally got through."

Y/N's face lit up with a smile so radiant it made the small deception entirely worthwhile. "You think so? I felt ridiculous doing it, but the book said plants respond to voices, so..."

"Clearly, they were listening," Klaus said, wrapping an arm around her waist and pressing a kiss to her temple. The joy in her eyes stirred something warm in his chest, a feeling he was still getting accustomed to after centuries of coldness.

"I can't believe it worked," she said, leaning into him. "I was ready to give up."

"Lucky for us you didn't," Klaus replied. "I'm looking forward to fresh herbs in our meals."

Over the next few weeks, Y/N's garden flourished beyond anyone's expectations, except perhaps Freya's, who had put considerable power into her spell. The herbs grew lush and fragrant, the flowers bloomed in brilliant colors, and even the vegetables began producing. Y/N spent hours tending to her thriving plants, her earlier frustration replaced by enthusiasm and pride.

Klaus often found reasons to be in the courtyard during her gardening time, ostensibly working on sketches or reading, but primarily to watch the contentment on her face as she harvested basil or trimmed back the flourishing rosemary.

"You've become quite the gardener," he commented one afternoon as she arranged freshly cut flowers in a vase.

"I guess I just needed to find my green thumb," she replied, her cheeks flushed with pleasure. "Though I still can't explain why everything suddenly started growing all at once."

"Some mysteries are best left unexplained," Klaus said smoothly, pulling her into his lap and effectively distracting her from further questions with a kiss.

· · ─────────── ·· ────────── · ·

The true test came when Kol, never one to resist stirring trouble, almost gave the game away during a family dinner where Y/N had proudly served a salad featuring herbs from her garden.

"These herbs are practically magical," Kol remarked with deliberate emphasis, shooting a knowing look at Klaus. "One might even say supernaturally delicious."

Klaus's foot connected sharply with Kol's shin under the table, causing his brother to wince.

"They're just fresh," Y/N said, oblivious to the silent exchange. "Makes all the difference."

"Indeed," Elijah agreed smoothly, having been briefed on the situation by Freya. "Freshness is key. You've done remarkably well with that garden, Y/N."

"Thanks," she beamed. "I'm thinking of expanding it next spring. Maybe adding some berry bushes and more vegetables."

Klaus caught Freya's eye across the table, a silent communication passing between them. They'd need to renew the spell, perhaps strengthen it for the new additions. Whatever it took to maintain the illusion of Y/N's gardening success.

Later that night, as they prepared for bed, Y/N looked thoughtful. "You know, it's strange... I was so terrible at gardening for weeks, and then suddenly everything worked perfectly."

Klaus tensed slightly, keeping his voice casual. "Perhaps you simply needed to find your rhythm. Most skills improve with practice."

"Maybe," she agreed, though she still looked puzzled. "Or maybe..."

Klaus raised an eyebrow, his heart rate picking up slightly. "Maybe?"

Y/N's expression cleared, and she smiled. "Maybe I'm just better at this than I thought. Everyone has hidden talents, right?"

Relief washed through him. "Right you are, love. And yours, apparently, is bringing things to life."

The irony of his statement wasn't lost on him, this stubborn human who refused vampirism, who clung fiercely to her mortality and humanity, had indeed brought something back to life. Not just plants, but parts of himself he'd thought long dead.

As Y/N drifted off to sleep beside him, Klaus found himself reflecting on the small deception. In a thousand years of manipulation, compulsion, and strategic lies, this was perhaps the most innocent untruth he'd ever perpetuated, a magical garden to make a stubborn woman smile.

His siblings might tease him for it, might see it as further evidence of how thoroughly Y/N had softened him. But Klaus found he didn't care. The secret garden would remain just that, a secret testament to how far he would go to spare her even the smallest disappointment.

After all, what was the point of being the most powerful creature on earth if he couldn't occasionally bend reality to make the woman he loved happy?

· · ─────────── ·· ────────── · ·

Klaus was so absorbed in his painting, a landscape of the French Quarter at dusk, with subtle hues of purple and gold bleeding into the twilight sky, that he didn't hear Y/N's approach until she was already in the doorway. Years of heightened senses should have alerted him, but something about her presence had become so familiar, so integral to his surroundings, that she could move through his awareness without triggering his usual vigilance.

"What's this, love?" he asked, turning from his canvas, paintbrush still in hand. A small dot of cobalt blue stained his thumb, and a smudge of ochre marked his forearm where he'd absentmindedly wiped it.

Y/N stood in the doorway with an uncharacteristically sheepish smile, her hands concealed behind her back. She wore simple denim shorts and a loose white blouse, her golden-brown hair falling in waves around her shoulders. Even in such casual attire, the sight of her caused a momentary pause in Klaus's breathing, a physiological response that would have mortified him had anyone else witnessed it.

"Close your eyes," she instructed, her voice carrying a hint of excitement.

Klaus arched an eyebrow. "You know how I feel about surprises, sweetheart."

"It's a good surprise," she insisted. "Nothing that will trigger your paranoid instincts, I promise."

"My instincts have kept me alive for a millennium," he reminded her, but he set down his paintbrush and closed his eyes anyway, a small smile playing at the corners of his lips.

He heard her light footsteps approach, caught the scent of her, vanilla and something uniquely Y/N, mingled now with a fresh floral fragrance. He felt her presence directly in front of him, sensed her slight nervousness in the quickened pace of her heartbeat.

"Alright, open," she said.

Klaus opened his eyes to find Y/N presenting him with a small bouquet of flowers. They were clearly hand-picked from her garden, zinnias in vibrant oranges and reds, sprigs of lavender, and delicate cosmos in soft pink, all tied together with a simple twine ribbon. The arrangement was modest but thoughtfully assembled, the colors complementing each other in a way that suggested she'd put considerable care into the selection.

"I picked you flowers from my garden," she said, almost shyly, a faint blush coloring her cheeks.

For a moment, Klaus simply stared at the bouquet, genuinely taken aback. In his long existence, he'd received countless gifts, offerings born of fear, political alliance, or desire for favor. But this simple bouquet, presented without agenda or expectation, left him momentarily speechless.

These were the flowers Freya's spell had nurtured, the garden he'd secretly ensured would thrive solely to spare Y/N disappointment. And now she was sharing its success with him, turning what had begun as his deception into a genuine gift.

"No one's given me flowers before," he admitted, his voice softer than usual as he accepted the bouquet.

Y/N's eyes widened slightly. "Never?"

"Not like this," Klaus said, bringing the flowers closer to inhale their scent. "Not without wanting something in return."

"Well, that's ridiculous," Y/N declared. "You should have received flowers at least a few dozen times by now. Consider this making up for lost time."

The absurdity of it, the Original Hybrid standing in his studio with paint-stained hands, holding a modest bouquet of garden flowers, would have been laughable to anyone who knew his reputation. Yet the gesture touched something in him, something that had been dormant for centuries before Y/N had awakened it.

"They're beautiful," he said, meeting her gaze with unusual openness. "Thank you."

"I thought they might inspire you," she explained, gesturing toward his painting. "You're always bringing me things, those first edition books last week, the earrings from Paris before that. I wanted to give you something too, even if it's just flowers."

Klaus set the bouquet carefully on a nearby table, then pulled Y/N to him. "They're perfect," he murmured against her hair. "Though I should warn you that in Victorian times, giving flowers had very specific meanings. Different blooms conveyed different sentiments."

"Oh?" Y/N leaned back to look up at him. "And what do these say?"

Klaus's lips curved into a smile as he traced a finger along the edge of a zinnia petal. "Zinnias symbolize endurance," he explained, "as well as thoughts of absent friends. Lavender represents devotion and virtue." His finger moved to touch one of the cosmos blooms. "And cosmos flowers represent order and harmony, but also..." he paused, his smile turning slightly wicked, "...passionate love."

Y/N's blush deepened. "I didn't know any of that. I just picked the ones I thought looked pretty together."

"A fortunate coincidence, then," Klaus said, though his eyes held a knowing glint. "Or perhaps your subconscious was trying to tell me something?"

"Maybe it was," she admitted, rising on her tiptoes to press a kiss to his lips. "Or maybe I just wanted to see the great Klaus Mikaelson holding a bouquet of flowers."

Klaus laughed, a genuine sound that few besides Y/N ever heard. "And how do I look?"

"Surprisingly natural," she replied, her hazel eyes warm with affection. "Though the paint smudges help offset the potential damage to your fearsome reputation."

"My reputation will survive," he assured her, pulling her closer. "Though if Kol sees this, I'll never hear the end of it."

"Your secret's safe with me," Y/N promised, unaware of the irony of her words, given the secret he was keeping about her garden. "I won't tell anyone I made the big bad hybrid smile with a bunch of flowers."

As Klaus held her, inhaling the mingled scents of Y/N and the blooms she'd cultivated, he felt a strange contentment settle over him. The flowers were a tangible reminder of his deception, yes, but also of how deeply he cared for this stubborn, magnificent human who had somehow worked her way past his defenses.

Later, after Y/N had left him to return to his painting, Klaus found himself placing the bouquet where he could see it as he worked. The flowers would inspire a new painting, he decided, one that captured not just their physical beauty, but the sentiment behind them.

I hope you enjoyed this. I thought it was cute :) Feel free to send in any requests.

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